Day 67 - Vet appointment (20.9 lbs)

Jedi wound down before we went to bed last night, so I decided to see how he would do out of the crate. Once again he lasted about two seconds on the bed. Initially he went straight to his crate and I thought he was out for the night, but after a bit he got up and went under the bed. I don't know what he was doing under there, but he was moving around and there was no way I was going to fall asleep while wondering what he was up to. I finally got up, called him out, and put him in his crate for the night. He stayed blessedly quiet this morning, including when the alarm went off, which was surprising.

This morning we continued to work on putting stuff into the smaller bowl. Jedi did well with all of the objects, including that deck of cards that was giving him trouble yesterday. We also worked on holding the smaller object and continue to see improvement. Finally, we worked on teaching Jedi to hold something in his mouth (specifically a leash). Secret has been invited to an audition on Friday and they would like the dog to be able to hold a leash in their mouth. Since I'm working with Secret on this behavior I figured I may as well work with Jedi as well. He's picking it up quickly.

I didn't get home from work until almost 1:00 and I had to jump straight into a meeting, so Jedi had to wait for his lunch today. He didn't seem to mind and crashed up behind my head for the duration of my meeting. Once that wrapped up we went into the bedroom where we again worked briefly on putting stuff in the bowl, but then spent the majority of the time working on holding the leash. He's got the idea down really well, we're just working on building duration now.

Jedi had a vet appointment at 2:30, so that ended up being his outing of the day. He was the only dog in the lobby when we got there, but he got to say hello to the office kitty, Olivia. He showed appropriate interest in her and was a good boy. I got there early, so we played tug until they were ready for us. Once we got checked in it was the big moment -- Time to put Jedi on the scale! Jana tried to get Jedi to sit for her on the scale and he was all over the place (as were the numbers). I guess Jedi doesn't sit well for others! I finally took over and he sat nice so that we could get an accurate weight -- He was 20.9 lbs today!

We passed time in the exam room with more tugging. Jedi really likes the tug toy with a bottle stuffed in it. I actually bought this toy at AKC Nationals this year, well before Jedi came home (I met the puppies for the first time on the way home on that trip). It's kind of big, though, so I was waiting for Jedi to get a little bigger before I brought it out. It's still a little big for him in that he can't get his mouth around the middle part, but he can grab the top up near the bungee and this seems to please him. He just loves crinkly bottles! When the vet tech came in the room Jedi was happy to say hello to a new friend -- especially because that friend came equipped with squeeze cheese. Jedi didn't even notice that he was getting his final distemper booster as he licked cheese off the wall. Next up is rabies in a few weeks, then I think we'll take a break. My vet recommends lepto because it's so prevalent in this area, but some of Jedi's relatives have had reactions in the past and I think I just want to wait on that for a bit. We'll see.

Jedi was ready for a nap when we got home, which was good since I had to get back to work. The dogs seem to know when it's 5:00, though, and they start to get a little more antsy and ready to do something.

Since Jedi technically got a pass on his outing with that trip to the vet, I took advantage of the fact that I didn't need to go anywhere and got my lawn mowed tonight. Jedi still tried to duck into the house when I brought the mower out of the garage, but I got him back out and he actually did really well while I mowed tonight. He pretty much spent the whole time under the deck, but he was watching calmly and didn't seem too worried about it. He ran around again when I stopped to move the agility equipment and stayed out for that last little bit that needed to be mowed. We chased tennis balls for a while when I was done because Jedi was staring at the door to the garage to give me a hint.

I left Jedi loose in the house while I went out to mow the front yard, but that didn't last very long because my lawnmower died. I needed to run to the store and debated leaving Jedi out. I got so far as to walk out the door into the garage before I turned back and put him in his crate. He may be an exceptionally good puppy, but he's also only four months old.... We'll get there, but for now he certainly doesn't mind getting a treat to go into his crate.

Jedi ate dinner out of a bowl tonight. I didn't get home from grocery shopping until 7:45 and I had a school seminar that started at 8:00. Jedi got the night off!