Learning...

Puppies are like sponges - I can't believe how quickly they learn things - the good & the bad!
Of course I think Ditto is brilliant! She seems to be a thinker & can actually pay attention (for a short time, anyways). She can now sit, come when called, nose touch my hand, potty on command & tug. I really want to make sure she is well socialized, but I'm still careful where I take her until she's had her 2nd set of shots. She really holds her own with the other dogs & loves the game of chase! Her & Bizzie (her mum) play a lot until Biz has had enough of her!
She really gives it her all to try to jump up onto the couch but still can't quite make it - I figure another week or 2 & she'll be there! Then Biz won't be able to escape her sneak attacks!

While I'm spending lots of time with Ditto, I'm trying to get Bizzie back into shape. She wouldn't run at the last seminar I was at (last weekend) so I don't think she's ready yet - not sure if it's a physical or mental thing. It really took her a long time after her last litter to want to play agility. At least I can get her spayed soon - hopefully that will take care of the hormone issues.

I haven't done much training lately since I seem to have some problems with my hip - have been going to physio, so hope it's feeling better soon. Blast has been doing quite well, but we'll see what happens when we start to trial outdoors - he really has a hard time with distractions.

We have 3 trials coming up in the next little while, then it's our regionals, so hope we can keep it together! I even entered Boo in a trial - just in jumpers & a steeplechase run, so he will be very excited!

A Day in the Life of a Puppy

Puppies are so much fun! They play, play, play!

Gee, can I go play with the big kids?



Look- I can sit still for a nano second!

Puppy Love

Well, I did it! Decided to keep one of Bizzie's puppies. Once I made that decision, I had to decide which of the black & white girls to keep.... one of them looks exactly like Bizzie, the other one is a little bigger with more white blaze on her face. As it turned out, she chose me - I called her Ditto, and she is not the Bizzie look alike! She is the most people focused of the pups & so far has been awesome! She sleeps all night in her kennel, she travels well in the car, she plays tug. She already knows to potty on her "grass" which is a piece of artificial grass on the deck. Of course that may be the only grass we see this year - it's snowing like crazy right now - AGAIN!

I just love this little puppy - just hope I do all the right training things with her! She runs around with the other dogs & really holds her own - not intimidated by the bigger dogs - she dives under the coffee table & tries to play with them - even Boo, who is really not impressed! She torments her mom, grabbing her ears & hanging on them!

Puppy Fun

Bizzie's pups are almost 5 wks old now! I can't believe how fast the time went.
One week makes a huge difference.... they are running around & love to go backwards, which is really funny. They play fight & can make quite the noises.
Their ears are coming up now & they can eat from a bowl. They love to play in the water dish.
They are so cute I could sit & watch them all day!
Here are some head shots from this morning...



First is Sable Boy (Sting), then Sable Girl, then B & W Girl











B & W Girl - her ears are up now! She looks most like her momma

Puppy Love

This is the sable boy - I think he'll be very handsome!








This is a black & white girl - looks a lot like her momma!









Bizzie's puppies are just over 3 wks old now. This is the fun time when they start to be little dogs. They can now motor around pretty well & have started to play a bit with each other - kinda starts out by accident, so it's funny to watch. Next week I will move them into a bigger pen in the kitchen so they can get used to more activity & the other dogs running around & playing.
It will be interesting to see how Critter reacts - she had puppies last year & she's quite sure Bizzie needs her help right now. Bizzie doesn't really see it that way!

I'm anxious for Bizzie to get back into shape so that we can start training again. I would like to run her at regionals this June if she is ready, but if it's too much for her, we'll work up to it more slowly. I am taking her to a chiropractor in a couple of wks, so hopefully we'll see how she is. It took a very long time for her to recover mentally & physically from her last litter, so I hope I can have a better plan this time to get her back to having a fun time at agility.

Apart from agility, I've been working on more tricks with Blast. He loves to learn & at some point I'd like to do some freestyle with him. Right now we're working on weaving backwards through my legs. I need some ideas for some more cool tricks, so if you have any ideas, please let me know!

Puppy Update

Well, Bizzie's puppies are now 2 wks old. All doing well!

This is the sable boy. He's really adorable.

This is the sable girl. I haven't quite figured out who the noisy one is, but my money's on her!

Here are the black & white girls! I still have a soft spot for the black & whites!

The other dogs are quite jealous of all the attention that Bizzie & her pups get. Critter is very interested & is always trying to sneak in to see the pups. I'm sure she remembers her pups & is always watching Bizzie closely! The puppies are now starting to use their legs & climb out of their bed to find momma! One of them gets quite snarky when another puppy tries to move her from the milk bar! They are just now starting to get a personality - the next week will bring lots of changes!

Puppy Update

Puppies are now 8 days old, and about 12 oz. Bizzie is being a very good mom. It's so surprising to me how active these little guys are when they don't even have their eyes open yet! They are very vocal (hope that's not a prediction of the future!) They have lots of color, which I like. I haven't come up with any clever names for them yet, but think I may call one of them Dora the Explorer - she's always climbing out of the little donut bed & wandering around the crate screaming for her mommy!