Maine Millers

Tonight was Scout’s first puppy class (my second) and he got a good work out. We practiced attention, sit, sit stay, and loose leash walking. We have the sit down and the attention pretty well also, but we need some serious help with the loose leash walking. All the neighbors keep telling me how much bigger he is getting, we just don’t see it. I would guess he is around 20 pounds but that is a guess, we will find out next Friday at his vet appointment. I just hope he gets the loose leash walking soon or he will be tough to hold when he pulls.One thing I did decide in class was that I need 3 hands. We were practicing the sit/stay and you have him sit on your left, hold his collar with your left thumb and put treats out on the floor a foot or so out of his reach and tell him to stay. Then when he does stop pulling for the treats just click the clicker and give him a treat from the right hand while holding him with the left hand, stand on your head and spin clockwise at the same time…I just need three hands!

He seemed to travel better this time, not so nervous in the car and he just settled down in the crate. It might have been the fact that it wasn’t the usual car crate abut his regular house crate (we have three different ones). All four of us went to class so I had to turn the crate sideways in the back of the car instead of flipping down the seat and putting it front to back, he could not see us this way so maybe that was key?

Lot’s to practice this week…

Sorry, it’s been a while since I posted anything. Things have been hectic here lately. I am back to work so time is an issue. And we have been having company on and off for the last few weeks. At one point we had 8 people, 2 birds, and 3 dogs. It felt like a zoo.

Anyway, Scout is doing fine, he is 16 weeks old this past Monday and he has had two rounds of puppy shots and will get the third on August 25th. He is growing like a weed, at least that is what all the neighbors say when we go for a walk. I guess Michele and I don’t notice it since we see him all the time. One thing we have noticed is that his adolecent coat is starting to come through on his back, it is much coarser that the puppy coat and the red is deeper, a good thing is that he has kept his amber/green eyes and maybe they will stay that way (fingers crossed).

Tonight is the second class in a six week puppy class and it’s the first one we get to bring Scout along. I’ll post back as to how that goes. He has for class mates: a Jack Russel Terror, Lab mix, Boxer, Chinook, and two other that I cannot remember right now.

I’m getting tired of having to stand between the two dogs at meal time. Scout is such a pig, he inhales all his food and just dives into Taz’s bowl to try and finish off hers as well. The sad thing is she is letting him do it. I think it might be wise to start feeding when the other is outside? Just a thought. Of course Taz doesn’t eat every meal so that makes the food that much more important for HER to eat.

So we went to see our first agility trial this today. It was in Skowhegan which is about an hour and fifteen minutes north of Brunswick. It was the most beautiful day weather wise we have had in a long time, 80s and low humidity. The only down side was that there was no shade, unless you made your own. Poor Scout was hot in the shade not to mention the sun. He did manage to squeeze himself underneath the chairs to escape what he could. He was one hot dog.

Agility is pretty fun to watch in person, We have only seen it on TV up until now and it’s very different when you are not competing for the top national honors. It was very refreshing to see that people were allowed to retry obstacles that were giving them trouble. I think there is hope for us to be able to run in a couple of years give or take. Looks like the weave poles are the toughest to master, a good 75% of the dogs had to try more than once to get past them.

Hopefully I can start some basic puppy and obedience training soon, he is catching on with what I am doing at home but the formal setting will help reinforce some of the commands for me.

I don’t really want to know but if you are a dog they are like heaven. I have never seen them before and both dogs really love to chew on them. Scout just to satisfy his need to chew and Taz just to keep it from Scout. It’s pretty funny that if I get two of them and put them on the floor at the same time each do will take one. Ok, that’s not the funny part…Scout has this attitude that is: “it’s mine, all mine and not yours!” They can both be chewing them across the room from each other and Scout will get up and leave his, steal hers and start chewing on that one. Then Taz will pick up the one that Scout abandoned across the room and lie down and chew on that until he realizes that she has a different one than him and he will come and steal that one back. This will go on, and on, and on until some one (Taz) goes downstairs to get away or we put a stop to the games. Scout also is still having trouble holding them by himself. We have showed him how to put one paw over and one under the stick so the end is up in the air and easier to chew but this photo shows one of his favorite ways to chew them.