Sunday, January 30

How many ways...

How many ways are there to drink water?  According to Smokee there are 2 ways.

The first way - stand in one dish, drink from the other

The second way - when you're too tired to stand, lay on a shelf and drink

By the way, Smokee lost his first baby tooth.  Maybe the tooth fairy will bring him a new toy.

Sunday, January 30

Darcy Update

Darcy now has his own blog.  Check it out at http://www.dancingdarcy.blogspot.com/.
Or, click the link on the right side of this page, by Tug and Lucy's links.

Tuesday, January 25

Lucy Update

Lucy has her own blog.  Check it out at  http://lucy-lucy-lucyslife.blogspot.com/.
Or, click the link on the right side of this page, by Tug's link.

Sunday, January 23

Ups and downs.

Just when you think that potty training is going so well, you find it, some poopy in the house, hidden upstairs.  Heidi is a sneaky little thing, you think she's right behind you, but suddenly she is gone.  She can be really quiet when she wants to.  She can also be really noisy when she wants to - normally when she is trying to egg on Izzy to play with her. 

I put the little jingle bells on the door to encourage Heidi to signal when she needs to go outside.  It didn't take her long to figure out the bells.  Now, whenever she wants to go outside, she rings the bells.  The problem is, she wants to go outside all the time, not just to potty.  She goes outside to potty, comes back in, rings the bells, goes outside to play, comes back in, rings the bells again, goes outside to dig in the snow, comes back in, rings the bells....  So much for the bells. 

Heidi out in the snow

Wednesday - January 18

Smokee Update.

Smokee started puppy socialization classes this week.  His instructors sound awesome.  Smokee spent a bit of time hiding under chairs, but I'm sure he'll come out of his shell to play with the other puppies in the coming weeks.

Smokee taking a little nap - does this look comfortable to you?

Smokee after an outing in the snow

Monday - January 17

Darcy Update.

Suzie sent some new photo's of Darcy - who's looking all cute and fluffy.   The puppies are all getting so big.  Darcy started puppy socialization classes, and is signed up for puppy obedience in February. 

Darcy playing in the yard - I'm wondering where all their snow is?

Darcy smoozing for the camera - I think he's smiling

Monday - January 10

Heidi is growing up so fast.  We've been going to puppy socialization classes, which have been great.  She loves playing with the other puppies, and the little activities have been very helpful.  It's nice to get away from the house for one-on-one time with the little one.  We have also been working on shaping, which Heidi has picked up on quickly.  She's great at Sit, Down, and Give me 5.  Also working on standing and walking (for conformation), which is going well, but still have work to do.  We also still have a lot of work to do on come (come works when it's quite, but it's totally not proofed for outside).  We have also just started working on spinning in a circle.  We have played many shaping exercises with the box, including going into the box, going around the box, and stepping on top of the box. 

Potty training has been going pretty well.  We're not 100%, but getting there.  We don't have a clear signal for needing to go out, so I've decided to use jingle bells hanging on the door.  We just started it, so we'll see how it goes.

Heidi's favorite place to nap - in front of the door, with Moon as a pillow

Friday - January 7

It was a snowy day.  According to the dogs, it wasn't cold out, it was just right.  Perfect for running and wrestling.  Snowy days are outside play days.  Moon and Heidi love to gang up on Izzy.  Moon says that it's only fair, since Izzy usually picks on him. 

Moon & Heidi taking down Izzy in the fun wrestle game

Moon bounding back into the game

The three running dogs

Big, Medium, and Small.

Sunday - January 2

A new year.

It was a very cold day today.  But, we decided to venture outside to get some photos.  Heidi is 12 weeks old.  We have started puppy classes, which she loves - how fun is it to get to play with other puppies.  During the exercises where she gets introduced to new items, she just jumps right in - literally.  There was a small wagon, she jumped right in.  There was a small swimming pool, she jumped right in.  There was a box, she jumped right in.  This weekend we also started working on shaping, which is also going well. 

Heidi looking cute

Heidi side shot - working on standing to prepare for conformation

Heidi laying in the grass