How I feed Washburn

In an attempt to train my dog that he only eats what I give him (not scraps that fall to the floor), Wash has to sit, and watch as I prepare his food at every meal. He watches me get his food ready, I put it down and he has to wait for me to give him a signal before he can go eat it.

He is very patient, and now will not eat without the signal. Good boy! But lately I've been pushing how long he has to wait. He doesn't move, he doesn't twitch but this is what has started happening. The longer he waits, the more he drools. Look closely.... ewwwwwwww. 

He's cute, but gross. I guess I won't make him wait so long anymore.

The reason I started this way of feeding has 2 reasons: 

1- avoids food aggression: He has to be in a calm, relaxed state before he eats, and he eats when I say so, not when he does.

2- avoids mooching/ food stealing: All food is mine. He can only have what I give him. 

Simple enough.

It works wonderfully for Washburn. Sometimes I take the food away for a moment during the meal to make sure he isn't possessive, or I'll touch him while he eats, or even put my hand in the food bowl. I am very confident that Washburn will be fine, BUT these are all risky, many dogs are territorial about their food, so be careful, start slow, start small. 

:) 

Any questions? 

-Brandolyn and the Drooly Dog

Play time!

There's an unwritten rule in my neighbourhood that everyday at the same time,that there will be at least 1 dog at the dog park and anyone else who has a dog who would like to play is welcome to come and join!

Whenever I get home from work in time, Wash and I walk over and I let him play with whoever shows up that day. Today there were only 3 other dogs, instead of our usual 9; all the other owners thought it might be too muddy.

Wash had a great time, as usual, and I get some social time with my neighbours.

I keep meaning to get pictures of the other dogs, but I always forget my phone, or forget to take pictures. Today, I remembered I had my phone, but only after one of the dogs had already left.

I introduce to you 3 of our 5 blondes:

Washburn

Sadie the Labrador Retriever

Spencer the Jack Russel/ Miniature Poodle cross!

They had a great time today! Look at these sillies!

Caption contest! 
What do you suppose they are saying?

-Brandolyn

More updates to come. (Lots of pictures on my phone!)

Getting to be a big puppy

I was just gushing over Washburn today and realized I haven't posted many pictures of him lately. He may not be all grown up yet, but he's getting there. Today at the dog park I noticed he's nearly as tall as the female chocolate lab who visits everyday. When did he get so big? *I'll try to remember to take pics at the dog park tomorrow*

He's not even 6 months old yet and still squats to pee! But I guess I should have seen this coming. He has all of his adult teeth now (I keep forgetting to post the comparison picture of the puppy teeth vs the adult teeth) and is nearly 50 lbs. He doesn't have accidents inside the house anymore, and walks into his crate at the end of the day to let me know it's bed time.

Either way, his training is going really well. He ran to me today when I called him at the dog park (granted most of the dogs had left at this point, but still an improvement) he understands: sit, down, leave it, go get it, relax, enough, let's go, inside, up and drop it (sometimes).

We've started doing agility training around school playgrounds. Last week was March Break so Washburn and I would walk school to school and plat around the jungle gyms and get him used to paying attention to me at new places.

My Boo and his chew bone! Couldn't you just squish him?!?

 More updates soon about: Neutering, Intermediate Training, grooming and more!

-Brandolyn

Winter wonderland

I know a lot of people who aren't fond of Winter, but I've always been a fan. I love winter sports, I love snowball fights and I love the crazy designs that Jack Frost paints across my windows. Sure it's cold, but look at how pretty it is!

Covered in a blanket of snow, my street and all my neighbours seem to be hibernating inside. When I took this picture I couldn't believe it. Before I got Washburn I would sleep the day away and when I finally woke up I would appreciate a snowy day from inside, wrapped in my down feather duvet, sipping hot chocolate. Now I'm up early enough to get the first tracks in the snow on fresh snowy mornings! It's cold, but the air is so crisp and fresh. I think it's sad that more people can't appreciate it. The night before I took this Wash and I took a midnight stroll. Here are a few of my favourite shots. 

 The one thing I didn't anticipate about having a dog in the winter is how hard it is to keep your dog, not to mention your house clean. Wash either comes home after every walk covered in matted snowballs, or soaked from the slush, or dripping from mud, dirt, and sand. He's so filthy that he knows to walk straight into the bathroom, step into the shower and wait for me to clean off his feet and belly. For whatever reason he hasn't gotten used to the idea of me washing him, but he knows enough to go to the shower... odd. 

Here's my little scruff ball, not looking quite as little as I think he should. Just turned 5 months, and dapper as ever, but you can tell that I need to trim the hair around his eyes. I call those wisps his wings, and when they  block the darkness of his eyes I know it's time for a trim! 

Tomorrow: Trim Wings. Clip Nails. Crazy Brushing Frenzy!

Washburn Update: 

-passed puppy classes. Intermediate starts in 2 weeks. 

-training is still constant. He's getting smarter, so taking more time to do simple commands. Has a problem with "Come", so taking away off leash privileges. 

-all his sharp puppy teeth are gone. Big round Adult teeth now. (Comparison pictures to come) 

Sorry for the Hiatus

I know there has been quite a gap between my last post, and this one, and I assure you it has not been because of a lack of material.

Wash's training has become a full time commitment (obviously)  but every week we get more "homework" and exercises to work on at home. The trainer suggests doing them several times a day, but if I don't work on them all day long, then Wash- in his terrible two's stage- will drive me crazy. With the combination of teething, adolescent hormones and an "I do what I want" attitude, I have a thoroughly exhausting little fluff ball.

He keeps me on my toes, especially on laundry day, when every piece of clothing I own becomes his new favourite chew toy. Even a couple days after laundry day, and I've put away all of my clothes, he still manages to trot around the house with a sock or underwear that he had hidden away on laundry day and kept for a rainy day.

Mostly he stays quiet inside the house, and is quiet when meeting new people or other dogs.
He still has a tendency to be rude with dogs. That's not to say that he's mean, but he will jump at them, jump on them, and pester them to play, even if they give him the "leave me alone" body language.

I don't mind him bugging other dogs because it gives the other dog every right to put him in his place and teach him what is acceptable; what their boundaries are, and how to be polite. It's a lot easier for a dog to teach another dog boundaries, than it is for a human to teach doggy boundaries.

That's it for now. He's socializing well, learning quickly and chewing through anything he can get his teeth on. He stole the BBQ brush the other day, and thought it was the tastiest stick he'd ever  found- to my great displeasure. (Please do not let your dog get a hold of a BBQ brush- the metal bristles are VERY dangerous if ingested. If they do get it, try to get it away from them as quickly as possible- if possible without turning it into the Holy Grail of Best Toy Ever) That is to say, distract them with something else, get them to drop it, and take it away subtly. If you take it away quickly, and hide it from your dog, they may become obsessed- and turn into Gollum with the One Ring- his Precious (without the massive weight/ hair loss.)

I thought I was wrapping up, but one more note- turning a toy into a "Precious" is one way of making old toys fun again. If your dog seems unenthusiastic about a toy, you may want to take it away in a grand gesture, then play with it yourself within range of your dog. Do not let your dog play with the toy, because right now, it is YOUR Precious- not theirs. You'll notice they will start to become mesmerized by your Precious- a toy they were previously ignoring. After a while- a day, two days or even an hour depending on your dog, you'll have a dog happy to play with an old toy.

-Brandolyn

Washburn Update:

-5 months old
-45 lbs
-25" tall at the shoulders
-Fully vaccinated
-Has just lost his last baby tooth

Wash snuggling with my little sis

Wash loves the snow. I think he missed his calling as a sled dog. 

Puppy Classes!

Wash and I started Puppy Classes last week at Petsmart. Petsmart was the cheapest place around for the amount of lessons, and realistically, I just want him socialized with other dogs and puppies. All the training tips are a bonus for me.

We have a small class, only 3 pups, and Wash is by far the biggest and also the oldest by a few weeks.

His classmates are Sparticus; the 3.5 month old Border Terrier (like Baxter from Anchorman) and Kobe (after Kobe Bryant, the basketball player) the 10 week old Airedale Terrier.

Last week we focused on our "good boy" voices. And our "hey" cut that out tones. Start calm, and stay clam, even when your dog is good- be calm and happy. It'll keep the dog from getting too over excited.

We also worked on the "Sit" command, and the "Release" to teach our dogs when we want them to stop performing a task.

We didn't run the dogs around too much, but Wash certainly was exhausted when we got home.

This week my man is coming with us to puppy class, and if I'm not mistaken we're showing off our "sits" and "releases" and then learning how to walk properly without pulling. Should be another exhausting day for Washburn.

Yesterday Wash was introduced to several dogs at a "pseudo" dog park. It's a fenced off place that parents bring their dogs right before they pick up their kids from school. Washburn met several dogs- and was a very well behaved little man!

He met; -Gromit the Eskimo dog/ Corgi cross
-Tag the Shetland Sheepdog
-Abby the Chocolate Lab
-Dala- the German Shepperd/ Collie cross
and (the other dogs I didn't catch their names) 1 Labrador Retriever, 1 Golden Retriever, 1 Water dog, 1 Poodle cross and a terrier of some kind.


He ran like the wind, and was very polite when he was introduced to the other dogs. It was amazing to see. (Also, he slept very well that afternoon.)

-Brandolyn

Teething

So my pup is almost 4 months old, and starting to lose his baby teeth.

He's very fussy with his toys and it took me a while to realize that some of his favourite toys are probably very painful for him, if his gums are sore: Tug of war rope or his chew bone.

He's still obsessed with ice cubes, which is a cheap toy option, but increases how frequently he needs to go out for pee breaks.

I gave in, and gave him a new toy; a stuffed Nemo toy. (sorry LN, but we knew he'd get him eventually) Nemo is small and soft, well made so he won't be destroyed easily- the only catch is he's not a dog toy, so supervision is (in my opinion) mandatory. He has beans, AND stuffing, and I don't want Wash to ingest either. So far, he's just happy nomming away, he's not ripping the poor thing apart.

Posing for the camera

Wash likes Sushi

Washburn the Anemone

Also, look at this pretty kitty I got to play with at work! (I mean, totally ignored while I worked.... definitely no cuddles were had.)

Brightest Green Eyes. M H-S you would have loved her! She's a snuggle buddy!

-Brandolyn