Day 9 - Memorial Park (Sparta)

After a fun weekend of playing, we moved back into another week of work (and playing). Jedi continues to do well during his time in the puppy pen and I continue to do as many meetings outdoors as I can. I'm going to be pretty tan this spring from all of our time outdoors, that's for sure.

When work was done, it was time for our outing of the day! Today I loaded up Kizzy and Jedi and we took a short drive over to Memorial Park here in Sparta. This was the first time I put Jedi in one of the big crates in the back, and I had the two dogs share one crate. While Jedi has never gone to the bathroom in a crate, he's also never had a lot of space in one to do so. Not to worry, we didn't have any issues. He also seemed to appreciate the sprawling space. Maybe he's starting to get too big for the puppy crate?

I parked near the entrance of the park to give us the most wandering room. I let Jedi drag the long line again today, figuring he would still have freedom to explore but we'd be "legal" in the city park. We started out by the playground equipment where there were a couple of kids playing, but Jedi didn't seem to notice them (too many new smells to check out).

This park is along a lake, but the fence provided a barrier between the dogs and the water. I'm not sure if Jedi knew it was there, but I didn't have to haul him back from the edge like I did at the river the other day.

We walked past the golf course, but there wasn't a lot going on there. We made our way around to the ball fields where there was a game in progress (looked like younger kids). This was a great experience for Jedi, as he got to hear the ping of the bat and cheering noise from the crowd.

On the way back to the van we ran into a couple of younger girls who asked if they could pet the dogs, so that was Jedi's people experience of the day (not like he has any problems with people, but always good to meet new humans). Then we stopped and explored the playground equipment and walked on the bark chips a bit to experience a new surface.

Before I put him back into the car I decided to have a quick tug session to reinforce playing in a new place again. I took this video to show that Jedi has taught himself to let go of a toy when I say, "ready," but then he decided to show the other fun thing he likes to do with this toy. So far this is the only toy he does this to. I guess he really likes it.  :o)

Day 8 - Airport Beach (9 weeks old!)

Jedi has been spending a LOT of time with Kizzy lately. I don't blame them, but he's never going to form relationships with the other dogs if she keeps hogging him all of the time. This morning Secret was actually starting to pay some attention to him outside, throwing play bows his way, etc. Unfortunately Kizzy kept getting in the way, so eventually I decided to lock the little dogs in the house and give Jedi some "big dog" time out in the sun. I had hoped that with Kizzy out of the way that Secret would have continued to initiate play, but she gave up and decided to lay in the sun. So we all hung out together, minus the little dogs, and I think it was a good thing. We should probably do it some more so that Jedi doesn't get hyper-focused on Kizzy.

It's been really warm lately (especially for April) -- We hit 80 again today, so, inspired by Jedi's success yesterday, I decided to take him and Secret to Airport Beach for a proper water introduction. Unfortunately while it was very warm outside, the water is still pretty cold. This is especially true for a wee puppy with a lot of fluff and no fat. Jedi tried really hard and really wanted to play, but in the end it was just too cold for him. I had to take pity on him as he stood shivering on the shore. He did get in a few good swims and even fetched a bumper, but we're going to have to wait until the water gets warmer.

When we got home I decided to finally train the older dogs. I set up an agility drill and planned on letting Jedi sit outside in the crate and watch. I think Kizzy had done one obstacle when the screaming started, so that didn't last long. It's not that I wouldn't love to have the distraction for training my dogs, but I didn't figure the neighbors would appreciate the volume and types of noises coming out of him. I moved the crate into the house and he got to continue his screaming there, as he still new there was fun stuff going on outside! Guess this is something we'll have to work on.

Day 7 - Jedi goes to a beach party

This morning we hung out and learned about weekends. I even got to stay in bed until almost 8:00 (granted, still letting him out twice in the night). I'm not sure why today would feel any different from the rest of the week since I worked from home, but for some reason it was. It felt harder, if that makes any sense at all! Thankfully after MUCH playing this morning, Jedi finally crashed and took a really long nap.

So long, in fact, that I was running a bit later than planned for our big outing of the day. One of my friend's dogs was diagnosed with prostate cancer earlier this year, so she was throwing him a birthday party (9th) today. She asked if I would bring the puppy along for her to meet, so of course I obliged and made that our field trip of the day.

The party was at a park on French Island. It had a small beach, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see what Jedi thought of the water. He wasn't sure at first, but then he turned into a little fish!

He looks a little different when he's all wet. Everyone remarked that he didn't look that little when I said he was only 7.7 lbs the other day. Well, when you see him wet I think you understand -- It's all fluff!!

No surprise, Jedi did great at the party, too. There were a bunch of kids there, which was actually a super great opportunity because I don't really spend any time around kids (so this aspect of socialization tends to be difficult for me). In addition to the birthday boy, Cash, another guest had brought a very well-behaved older dog. Jedi got to meet both of these dogs and it was a good, friendly, positive interaction. You can never get enough of those!

Day 6 - Jedi meets Lexie & Wes (my parent's house)

Today Jedi went to my parent's house for the first time, where he got to meet their dogs, Lexie (Scottish Terrier) and Wes (Westie). Lexie and Wes are always very appropriate with new dogs, so I knew they would be a good intro for Jedi. While we were there we took a short hike on the flatest part of the trail system behind the house (just a slight sloping climb on the way back). I took all five of my dogs, plus we had my parent's two, so it was quite the crew! Everyone had fun, and Jedi discovered mud in the natural spring (Secret showed him the way). Thankfully he didn't get too bad -- nothing like Secret who had to be hosed off before she could go in the house.

We also introduced Jedi to restrained recalls with the help of my dad. Oh my goodness, this was so fun! I used the racoon tail tug and he went bonkers -- screaming and everything! We definitely need to do more of these.

I mooched dinner off my parents while I was up there, so Jedi also got the experience of hanging out in a new house. So far as I know he didn't even have any accidents. Amazing!

Here's a peek into what my training room looks like right now. It's a mess, but boy is it fun! Jedi is doing awesome with his training for class. I had to do a new video already to show how fast he's progressing! We learned how to frog pose (legs stretched out backwards), can generalize our touch to different objects, and have moved into a smaller box. Next up is making sure I start rewarding from different sides so that he'll start to use his right paw for more touches, finding a smaller box, and working on duration of the frog pose.

Day 5 - Vet visit!

Jedi's trip of the day was for his first visit to the vet! Conveniently enough, my other dogs are all coming due for stuff right now, too. This is handy because I like to plan to take them in pairs if I can, but unfortunately since my dogs are coming due for stuff right now that means that everyone is due AND the puppy needs to go in. As a result, this trip to the vet included Secret, Kaiser, and Jedi. That was quite the handful.

Thankfully everyone was super well-behaved and did great! I was glad that they said they would weigh Jedi on the puppy scale, though, because I didn't think there was any way I'd be able to get him to sit on the big scale yet (especially with my hands full with the other dogs). The wee man weighs a whopping 7.7 lbs! When the puppies were born I think Jedi was tied for 2nd biggest, but he appears to be one of the smaller puppies at the moment. It will be interesting to see where everyone ends up.

In addition to his basic exam, Jedi got a puppy shot today. He also got hit up with the dewormer that his breeder sent home with him. The puppy pack that the vet gave us included a free dose of Frontline Plus. I don't think it works very well against ticks, but it was free, so I guess we'll use that this month. I'll have to figure out what to do after that. My other dogs wear Seresto collars due to Kaiser having a reaction to topicals, but that won't work for a growing puppy. His breeder is a fan of Bravecto. My vet doesn't carry it, but they do have Nextguard. I'll ask more about that on his next visit.

I was going to take Jedi on another outing tonight, but he was super tired so I opted to stay in. Of course he got his second wind after dinner, so I wore him out with play. I introduced the frisbee for the first time. Let's just say I'm a little in love with this puppy and all the awesome stuff he does!

Day 4 - Jedi meets Rascal (Bosshard Park)

Jedi's new adventure of the day was a trip to Bosshard Memorial Park in Sparta. I met my cousin, Bethany, and her wonderful border collie, Rascal. Because I knew it would be an easy jaunt around the park, I took Luke along for company and to give him some special time out of the house.

Rascal is a great dog. He loves everyone and is always very appropriate. I knew he'd be a great dog to do a dog meet with and I was right! We wandered around the park with Jedi dragging a long line and took several breaks to tug in new places. We walked next to the river, over a bridge, and through the playground equipment.

Once we explored everything we were able to just sit by the river and chat for a bit while the dogs hung out. I was glad I had the long line on Jedi then, because he really decided to investigate the river!

In other news, I'm thrilled to share Jedi's first video for our puppy class with Silvia Trkman. Over the last few sessions (reminder, we do 3 per day) I've really seen the light coming on and he's figuring things out!

Day 3 - Jedi goes to school

Today we continued settling into the routine of sleep/work/play. Jedi did well again last night, again getting up twice in the night to go outside (he pees and poops every time we go out, so I guess it's legit). I'm never one to push the whole sleeping through the night deal. I'd much rather take them out before they learn to fuss and wake me up. I'm a person who likes my sleep!

I was able to get a bit more work done today. Thankfully my wifi reaches out into the yard and I quickly learned that the easiest way to get through back-to-back meetings with a puppy is to sit outside so that you don't have to worry about accidents. As you can see, Jedi enjoys sunning himself!

Things are going well with all of the dogs. Kizzy has definitely taken a shine to Jedi. Kaiser can be a total jerk sometimes but mostly ignores him. Luke completely ignores him. I still monitor Secret closely, but for the most part she's ignoring him. Really, it's hard for anyone to get time with him thanks to Kizzy hogging him all the time.

Jedi's new experience of the day was accompanying me to teach classes tonight. It was graduation night for both puppy class and basic manners! I went to class super early in order to have a chance to play with Jedi in a new environment and give us time to go potty before everyone arrived. He did just super in his play session -- this puppy will play with anything, anywhere! He was even able to switch from food to toy and back again, something I will never take for granted after what I've gone through with my other dogs. So fun!

The classes each went walking outside during class and Jedi got to come along carried in my arms (he doesn't know how to walk on leash yet and that wasn't going to be his introduction). Lucky for me he's a light little squirt. He didn't mind being carried at all and did really well, taking in the world. He started to fuss towards the end of the second class, but thankfully there was an extra person there who could hold him so he wouldn't have to sit and cry in the crate. Class won't start again for another few weeks, so it will be a bit before he has to sit through that again. I'm looking forward to teaching the next set of puppy classes with a puppy of my own!

Day 2 - First hike!

Today was all about finding the new normal. Jedi did really well for his first night sleeping in a crate. I woke up twice and took him outside (the first time I just woke up, the second time he was getting restless). He was ready to get up a bit after 6:00, so I figured we'd just stay up and try to get him tired out a bit before I had to start work. By the way, being able to work from home while I raise Jedi is the biggest blessing ever!

Jedi was introduced to the clicker at breakfast. We are enrolled in Silvia Trkman's puppy class that starts tomorrow and I watched her Puppy Diary DVD in preparation. I'm going to try very hard to use all of Jedi's meals as training opportunities. We'll see how long this lasts. In his first session I just rewarded anything he did as a way of loading the clicker and getting him used to it. I tried mixing the food he was sent home with in with the Fromm I plan on feeding, but he ended up refusing to eat any of the stuff he came with and only eating the Fromm. I guess this means we'll be cutting over cold turkey. While I plan to feed kibble meals by hand, I also fed a canned food/yogurt/pumpkin mixture after our morning training session. I hope the pumpkin takes care of any stomach upset that might stem from the sudden change of food and all of the other changes to the little guy's life.

I quickly discovered that the easiest way to get through a work meeting was sitting inside the puppy pen. Admittedly there was a lot of distraction today, but I still managed to get my work done. Thankfully the weather was nice, so we have been able to spend a lot of time outside.

My mission is to get Jedi out and about to have as many new experiences at as many new places as possible for as long as I can manage. Our first outing was up to the Experimental Forest outside of Bangor. This is a nice big area of public-access land. There is a trail system, but I opted to just travel one of the big open field roads on this trek. Jedi did awesome! He doesn't have a lot of stamina yet (obviously) and I ended up carrying him as much as he ran, but boy can he run! He's a little bullet.

Welcome Home Jedi!

Today was a big day for Jedi. He made the big leap of leaving his remaining siblings and came home with me and my brood. It was a pretty exciting day for me as well, considering that I didn't know which puppy was coming home with me until I walked through the door. Jedi (formerly known as Atlas) was my "pick puppy" from the day the litter was born, mostly because he was the only black & white boy of the bunch (one black/white tri female, four blue merle boys, and one black/white boy). He continued to be my favorite as I watched the puppies grow up, but for various reasons I just never thought that would be my puppy so I tried to turn my attention to the others. Learning that this was my puppy made me over-the-moon happy and I pretty much floated through the seven-hour drive home.

Jedi was a super traveler. I also had Secret, Kaiser, and Kizzy along, as we'd just competed for two days at a trial in Chicago (my way of breaking up the trip a bit). We stopped about every two hours or so on way home and managed to make it home without any accidents. I took Jedi out separate from the others on stops, so they didn't formally meet until we got home.

Luke was first, because Luke is always first for this sort of thing. I also thought it was fitting because Jedi's name is in honor of Luke. While I didn't give him the name (he got it from the shelter), we've always kind of associated it with Star Wars (I think his sister's name was even Leia). Luke has aged a lot in the last few months and I have a feeling he won't be with us a year from now. I picked the name Jedi as a bit of a way to keep Luke alive in our memories, as we'll always think of him when we think of Star Wars. As expected, Luke pretty much ignored the puppy from the get-go.

Kizzy got to meet the puppy next and she loved him every bit as much as I thought she would. Kizzy does well with pretty much all dogs and she plays very appropriately, so I figured they would get on well together. Once Jedi started to get used to her he felt comfortable enough to begin engaging in play. Kizzy is thrilled to have a new tug buddy! It will be interesting to see how this relationship grows and develops as Jedi gets bigger and starts to overpower Kizzy. Will she think he's so entertaining when he can whip her around at the end of the toy?

I opted to wait on introducing Secret and Kaiser until they'd had a chance to discover each other through the x-pen in the house. They tend to be my problem children and will need a little more time to acclimate to the change. Things went well in the house, though, and we were able to have a supervised meeting outside during one of the times I took Jedi out to go potty.

I've made the decision to use a "puppy pen" to raise this puppy. I figure the x-pen will offer a bit more freedom than being locked in a crate all the time, but still keep him out of trouble and limit his access to self-reinforcement. I still plan on using a crate for at night and in the car. The puppy pen will primarily be utilized while I'm working from home and doing schoolwork. I removed the coffee table from the living room to make room for the pen. I'm using a tarp to try to avoid having to clean up too many accidents from the carpet. It's a good thing I don't care anything about my home decor, as this place has totally gone to the dogs now!