Working from home

Due to a snow/ice storm, I worked from home today.  Shasta spent about 90% of the day under my chair while I worked.  A great way to endear herself to me! 

What You Got In Mind Dad?

Quite the look in that photo, isn't it?  It was more shaping fun with the puppy teeter tonight.  I was working on getting her to tip the board on her own however she wanted.  What I ended up shaping was the chain of behavior where she would get on the board in the middle, go to the end that didn't tip, turn around on the board, then walk across the board until it tipped!  Over and over again.

What did dawn on me tonight is that every time I've taken her to shape on the puppy teeter, I'm ready to stop before she is.  I'm not a training fanatic but for a 9-10 week old puppy, that strikes me as rather amazing.

I have noticed that she is hesitent to go through doorways.  Is that a normal puppy deal?  I can't remember.  Not that she won't but she pretty much always stops and waits for me to invite her through.  Hopefully it's not an indicator of some future issue, I've been down that road with Mara.

Shasta's First Road Trip

It's been almost a week since the last post because we went on our first road trip this last weekend, to Davenport, IA.  Shasta is a great traveler in the vehicle.  She relaxes, sleeps and entertains herself.  What a relief, it's such an important attribute in our life.  She did well in the hotel too.  A little restless on night one and, of course, we have to give in a little in a hotel room to be courteous to the other guests. But she didn't take advantage and was settled the other two nights.

No surprise, but she was a hit at the show.  Joan Meyer kept coming to her with empty water bottles to play with her.  And she was ready to play any time she was asked.  We joked that I could be in trouble if we ever show under Joan and she has her bottle of water somewhere on the course!  I also had a number of people take her and walk her around the show without me: Joan Meyer, Tammy from Iowa (why can't I ever remember her last name) and Sandy Kott.  Great experience for Shasta.

We did some clicker training tonight on the teeter board again.  Fun!  She was really offering a lot of behaviors and it was fascinating to watch her stop at times and kind of look at the board like "what's getting that food?".  We did some board tipping.  And I also spent some time getting her to put all four feet on the board and wait on it.   She was offering a lot of behaviors and a number that I found cute and I would momentarily think about trying to shape a different behavior.  That led me to being inconsistent in envisioning what I wanted to click.  Hopefully it doesn't confuse her too much and I can have a clearer plan next time.

Life Turned Upside Down

I'm a creature of habit.  I love my routines.  A young puppy does not jive well with that.  It's such a disruption.  Shasta is probably about as good of a puppy as one could want in this regard but I'm a big enough baby that it's still a tough adjustment.

We did some more training yesterday.  More teeter board shaping.  I was getting all four feet on the teeter.  When she got a little bored with the board, I went about 15 feet away to start teaching touch.  What does Shasta do?  Turns away, runs 15 feet and starts walking on the teeter.  Must have done so about 10 times.  So cute, so amazing.

Today was our first real snow for Shasta.  I didn't get any play time out there but Kris said Shasta was "ballistic" in the snow this morning.  Disappointed to have missed it, hopefully she keeps that glee.

This photo is Shasta lying on Zenna.  C'mon, that's cute!  Zenna has really come around with Shasta, playing nicely with her for long stretches now before heading off to the sofa for safety (for now anyway!).  Sonic has been playing nicely too, just not as often as Zenna now.  But I thank them both for taking some puppy attention at this point in time.

First "Real" Training

I brought in the puppy teeter into the basement today and did some shaping/clicking with Shasta.  It's always so interesting to watch them try and figure it out.  We went from sniffing it, to touching it, to putting both front feet on to putting all four feet on the teeter.  Then I sat down on the tip side of it and went through the same process.   Not surprisingly she wasn't as happy about doing so on the tip side but still did it quite frequently.

Thanks to our mild winter, we played a few times in the back yard too, me, Sonic and Shasta.  Sonic played ball and Shasta mostly chased once Sonic got close enough returning the ball.  Shasta also played a little tug with a furry tail toy.

Steps Already?

Tonight Shasta walked down the steps to the back yard for the first time.  She gone up the steps since day one, today was the first time she tried to go down the steps and did so without stumbling.  Now we have to make sure she doesn't try to jump from the retaining wall part of the steps.  Always a scary transition with a puppy.

We loaded up the clicker a couple of more times tonight.  I thought she was correlating it tonight, that the treat came because of the click.

From the pictures, one would think she is always sleeping.  That is definitely not the case.  But that's when the pictures are easiest to take!

Take Your Puppy to Work Day

Shasta made the trip downtown to see people at Gray Plant.  She handled it all great, the crush of people to see her in the conference room, everyone bending over and reaching for her, none of it bothered her at all.  It was great to see.

We had to park three blocks away, it was also fascinating to see the looks of everyone on Nicollet Avenue Mall in the middle of the afternoon as we walked to the IDS.  Lots of cute dog comments from all walks of life that you see on Nicollet!

First Bit of Official Training

Today was a seminar with Stacy Goudy for the older dogs.  Shasta still went with to hang out.  And show how cute she is.

We did our first bit of "official" training tonight, a couple of sessions of loading up the clicker. 

Spying on Shasta

I finally got the network camera working, just in time for our first "normal" day of both of us working.  It's weird watching the dogs from work, they don't do much while we are gone!  Shasta was a very good puppy all day long from what we saw, no fits, no jumping against the xpen to bother Zenna, pretty much just sleeping.

Zenna played with Shasta a little for the first time tonight.  Unfortunately, most of the time Zenna still just lets Shasta "attack" her, pulling on Zenna's ears and such.

Shasta's First Vet Visit

Today was the first day Kris and I had to work but it was a shortened day as I went in late and Kris cut out early to take Shasta to the vet.   Besides a clean bill of health rumor has it she was a big hit with the staff.  Imagine that.

Shasta and Sonic have played together a few times tonight, with the two of them lying head-to-head and Sonic playing softly with her.

Shasta has also been following me around everywhere I go in the house.  And now, as I've been on the computer tonight, she's been lying on my foot multiple times.  Awesome!

She's already doing a lot of things that are tugging at the heart strings.  That feeling of attachment has started quickly.

The End of the First Weekend

Day 4 in our lives, day 3 at the show.  And it’s all much of the same at the show, Shasta continued to handle it all great.  Put her in the crate at the show and she lied down and slept.  Bring her out and she was active puppy.  How cool is that?

The best news? We moved her to the crate in the bedroom and she slept peacefully through the night, from 10:30-4:00. 

Day 3 - The Howl Arrives

Day 3 in our lives, day 2 at the show.  More of the same good things, she did great at the show, did great in the crate, did great hanging out and meeting everyone.   Spent a little time in the back yard after the show and she followed me wherever I went, whatever speed I went, never wandered even a little bit.  I think that’s a good sign for the things we want to do in the ring but regardless it was a good sign for being a lovable puppy.

Shasta showed a little more spunk today.  Little growls when playing with the toys, a little barking at the other dogs.  I guess she is getting a little more comfortable or confident already.

Other family dogs are still not interacting much although Shasta and Sonic spent a little time nibbling on each other.  I was proud of Sonic for it. 

Last night was a tough sleep night though.  Shasta wailed, LOUDLY, for 2 hours.  I was sure she would give up and go to sleep, but no deal.  Kris finally moved Shasta from the pen to a crate and laid on the floor next to the crate and she settled in for what remained of the night.  But there wasn’t much remaining. 

Day 2 - To The Show We Go

Day 2 and it's right to Immersion Therapy?  Right to the show, the Miniature Pinscher show at On The Run.  Of course, being a seven week two day old berner, Shasta was quite the hit at the show.  Nothing like the berner puppy teddy bear look to get lots of attention.  Shasta did great all day, I was really happy to see.  Could I already be a proud pap on day 2?  ;-)  She was a brave girl all day, had no trouble meeting everyone.  Was even quiet in the crate, well, after the very first couple of shrieks early in the morning.  But she was friendly and interactive with everyone.  Didn’t even sleep all that much.

Toni started showing her the rollover trick.  She sure doesn’t mind being on her back so did quite well with it, considering treats are good but not to die for at this age.  She spent a lot of time with Shannon Houg and Reeva, chewed a lot on Reeva’s leather leash.  Also spent quite a bit of time with Cami Roland, even had a good game of tug with Cami for a while.  It was her first real sign of any toy drive.

First night of sleep last night went pretty good.  She belted out her cries for about 30 minutes but the rest of the night went well.  I feel bad for them their first night without their littermates, it must be so traumatic.  But she survived it.

It’s amazing, again, to remember and realize just how much work they are at this age, the constant attention that is needed.  I value my daily routine so much, I am so bad at adjusting to changes to it.  And this is a big adjustment for me.  Hopefully it won’t be too long before we can get back to a new daily routine.

February 9, 2012 - Shasta's First Day

Day 1!!

Kris and Jess Larson went to Madison to meet Jayme and pick up the puppy.  They had to stop on the way in Mauston to bring cookies for Jayme to bring to the Hotze’s.  $50 worth of cookies!  Kris sent me a nice snapshot of the puppy’s first moments in the crate in the van.  So cute.  Kris said that Jayme said the puppy was very loud through much of the drive but was very quiet for her and Jess driving home in the van.  Can’t blame the puppy, first time without it’s littermates and all.

First sight was coming in the house and seeing her in a large crate in the living room.  So tiny!  It was a bit shocking.  But, being a seven week old berner, she was of course very cute.  She adapted very well to the other dogs in the house and all their activity.  Not afraid of them, not all over them.  All the dogs have been very good but Sonic has been especially good.  Outside of peeing a few times that is.   But he’s been very nice to puppy on day 1.

Right now I am pretty sure the name is going to be Shasta but it’s not a done deal yet.   I am a little worried about being able to get that name out quickly.  And what shortened nickname I am going to have.  But I otherwise really like the name Shasta.  I gave some thought to the name Shazaam but that seems like it should be a BC name.

She is very loud when she does cry and did a fair amount in the first hour or so.  Much better after that.  But when she cries, it’s LOUD.  She’s already spend quite a bit of time lying behind me, between me and the couch as I lie on the floor against the couch.  I like that!

Now we’ll see how the first night goes.  We are off to agility shoes at On The Run tomorrow.  It’s also going to be the coldest it’s been in quite a while in the morning during this very mild winter.  Hopefully she doesn’t scream all day at the show!