Happy New Year!

Here's to another great one!


Rumor and Zen


They are friends.


Rumor asks Zen if there is anything in her teeth.


Oh, he's a coordinated little dude.

Workout partner, Zen is not.

Nope, not a good workout partner. I usually run in the mornings, its something I do by myself that gives me time to think and keeps me healthy. Well, I'm a weenie about cold weather, and I was still running until it dropped below freezing at night. I think I ran once last week and once the week before because of cold. When you slack off because of a "good reason" its never easy to motivate yourself to get back out there. I recruited my mom to fix the treadmill, but it is still sitting in the front room broken and unused. I was beginning to feel bad about not exercising so I got a workout DVD and I was trying to do it this morning. A certain *ahem* puppy thought my workout looked fun as well. I made it most of the way through until it got to the part where you lay on the floor to do core exercises. Well, Zen was going to lay on me and strategically shove toys into my face. So, I cut the workout short today and now I know, he must be in the crate before I can attempt it again.

I never took him in to get weighed yesterday. We drove by the vet, but they closed for lunch and I had shopping to do and I just never made it back into that part of town. I will schedule his shots for later next week. I want him to have another good experience at the vet's office before going in to get shots. I will take him up there Monday or Wednesday and play on their scale.

So, what did Zen do yesterday? Well since it was half-day, I let him sit in the car while I was at work. Then he rode with me to the store and waited in the car while I shopped. He sat in the car while I got a hair cut then went to Harley's. Harley and Dustin and Mollie checked out my car and confirmed it is the catalytic converter, so they followed me to drop it by the muffler shop. Zen rode with Mollie and Dustin. The first car ride with people he barely knows. They said he spent most of his time licking the food smell off the passenger seat. Apparently Dustin spilled some food there recently and Zen thought it smelled good.

We did some training last night. Mostly working on the down command. Also his first session learning a hand touch. I guess I need to start naming things so he can really catch on to associating words with behaviors.

This morning he ate his breakfast out of the Bob-a-lot

Footwork!

It's fancy!

Zen's 2nd lesson on spinning around a "pedestal". The pedestal just happens to be my box I keep some sewing stuff in. It would probably be easier for him if I actually used something round, but he picked this up really quickly. Like, within the first minute of our first session yesterday.

The last part of the video is him putting all four feet on the box. I need to transition this it a food bowl, then progressively make the bowl smaller.



Since tomorrow is a half-day, between grocery shopping and my haircut I may sneak him up to the vet to get weighed. Last time he was 12 lbs. I think he has probably passed the 15lb mark now. I also need to schedule his next set of shots. He is due on Friday. I'm sure the vet is closed, so I will see if we can do next Monday or Wednesday.

I registered him online today. Pending AKC approval he is "On The Lamb It's All Good". Now I need to send in the microchip info. But first I need to enter our next agility trial :)

PS- Dremeled nails again. He is getting better and better. Going to keep doing it every other day or every three days. Doubt he will ever love it, but it will be easier not to have to fight an adult dog.

Aussies are bouncy.

I took Zen to Brenda's house last night. He met their 4 aussies, including Maguire. He liked all of them. Maguire is about 8 months old and he is WILD! He was so excited to see me and Zen that he was bouncy bouncy! He wasn't able to settle down, so we had to put him up to keep him from pouncing on Zen.

Zen also got to meet some of the boarding dogs. Brenda boards dogs in her kennel building and house and she had about 4 boarders there last night. So Zen met Barney and Tootsie the dachshunds and Zoe the shih tzu. He sniffed Licker the big bully/lab? mix through the kennel, but she is super rambunctious too, so we didn't let her out to play.

He handled it all really well, especially since he tends to be a weenie around new dogs. I think he is getting a little braver these days. He is definitely testing a few boundaries here and there. I think his teeth are coming in so he has been quite the chewer.

I just wish he would sleep through the night without having to go outside to potty.

12-27-09

Zen working for his dinner.

Yesterday was mostly uneventful. Zen and I went with Harley to ride trails in the Suzuki Samurai. Zen just chilled in the back seat. He didn't think much of it. He got to meet Bryan's ACD, Molly. Which of course means he met Bryan as well. He also experienced his first car wash. He didn't like the noise at first, but a couple of good treats had him convinced that everything was alright.

Back to work for me today. The only good thing about that is I have Friday off for New Year's Day.

2 out of 3 Dogs Agree!

Remote control trucks are semi-cool!

Harley got a remote control truck for christmas. Itis a racing truck or something, so it goes pretty fast. He thought it would be cool for the dogs to chase it. I could care less either way. Rumor shows no interest at all, Carrie will chase it until she gets tired, and Zen will chase it if Rumor isn't chase-able.

Carrie was actually going really fast after it, I don't think I have ever seen her really run like that. Thank goodness it isn't an obsession for any of mine though.


"Hey, you truck... STAY!"






His real favorite thing to chase.


"Yum, tire"



















Whoa! That was a lot of pictures. There were a few I uploaded to flickr, but didn't post.

I dremeled Zen's nails again tonight. I did it by myself. Not quite as easy, but it got done. The other two need it done, but eh. It can wait another day or two. Im headed to bed.

White Christmas FAIL!

lol No "snow" this morning. It was nice and sunny. I took the dogs to run, but Zen wasn't into it today. I think he was still overly tired from yesterday. He would run a little and chase after Rumor, but he didn't feel like fetching and stuck by me quite a bit.

He has had a growth spurt and his back legs are longer than the front. Its funny. He isn't a coordinated runner.

Zen spent quite a lot of time today napping. He napped in his crate, then napped in Harley's truck while we were visiting his family. A couple of people came out to say "hello" to him and he was cool with that. He would go right back to napping after he greeted everyone. About 7pm he finally perked up. He ate 1/2 a cup of kibble out of his stuff-a-ball and then felt like playing again.

We went by Dustin and Mollie's house where he met 3 of their dogs and a cat. He also sniffed a ferret. He was more interested in the ferret poop though. Then we went to the Albertson;s parking lot to watch Dustin and Harley run the remote control cars. Zen watched from my lap, then he wanted in on the action. He was really cute chasing after the cars. He didn;t do it very long before he was ready for another nap.

Pictures from today....


Crazy legs!


Being naughty and barking at Rumor.


"Hey, cool leaf!"


Rumor says; "eh, puppies!"


Yay for scratching!


Those long back legs

White Christmas?

It really happened. We are going to have a "white Christmas". It "snowed" tonight while Harley and I were driving around looking at Christmas lights. I swore it was just raining or heavily misting, but we stopped to let Zen potty and it really was snow. I use the term loosely too. I had a little dusting on my car when it came time to go home. If there is any left in the morning I will take a picture.

Zen went to PetSmart again today. He did really well. We also took him into Gander Mountain and he was good there. He did a lot of riding in the truck and slept while we went into TJ Maxx.

Harley's dad and step mom and step bro came over to his house to exchange gifts and Zen was there. He enjoyed everyone but got put back on the leash when he kept picking up unacceptable items as toys. Definitely need to work harder on his "off" command. He is a paper eater/shredder.

I finally made a montage of all the videos I have been promising. It's so hard to find songs I like that fit my videos and are long enough. I like the song I used on this one, but it wasn't long enough, so I played it twice.

Texas Tornado!

Zen's first big Texas rainstorm. He does not like it. lol Its raining really hard with lots of lightening and thunder. He doesn't like the thunder. He isn't freaking out, but his little ears go back every time. He doesn't seem to notice much in the house, but definitely when I take him out to potty. He doesn't want to walk out in the rain. He ran out with me and pee'd, but then he ran back into the garage. I wish I had a bag of shavings I could pour out onto the back porch or something. Just to get him pottying temporarily. It's supposed to be like this for the next few days, so if I get desperate I might.

The tornado sirens have gone off twice tonight and I expect them to go off a few more times. He wasn't as fazed by them as he is the thunder.

He got his first bath today. It went well. I got a little video :) We made a trip to PetSmart again. He picked out a toy, so since it was pay day he got it. Dinner was eaten playing on the baby buja board. He's coming along.

He and Carrie are playing now. :)

Zen works the Box

This morning's shaping session w/ his breakfast. Trying to learn about where those feet are. :)

Zen in Black and White

It's black and white because he doesn't want anyone to see him playing with a *pink* orbee. :)

Really its in b&w because the lighting is horrible in the house and so any pictures I take turn out dark. Plus I felt artistic tonight.

Harley picked Zen up while I was working today. They made a trip out to Bringle Lake Park where Harley says that a few kids fell in love with Zen. He said the parents did not appreciate the "mom we need a dog" comments they received afterwards.

Zen had his dinner on the buja board tonight. I had it on the tile floor at first, but he started really being put off by the loud noise. He isn't much for loud noises. I moved it onto the exercise mats though and he was mostly cool with that. He will have dinner on the buja board for the next few nights. He needs to get used to the movement and noise.

We walked 1.5 miles tonight. He is really starting to walk like a trooper. He was MUCH better tonight. When we made the loop around by the house he didn't even try to stop and insist that I was passing our house.

I work a half day tomorrow then I'm off Thursday and Friday so I'm looking forward to spending some extra time with the dogs. Uploading videos and stuff now, hopefully will have that all up soon.

Defeated!

I don't know....




but this looks like a puppy who got his nails dremeled tonight. With the help of my mom (thanks!) and some yummy raw beef roll. Success!

Zen's first Agility Trial

This weekend was the Knight Flyer Agility Trial in Carthage. I just drove back and forth both days, but I took all three dogs. As far as Q'ing we only came home with one. It was our starters standard (finally) and that gave Carrie the AD title. AD (agility dog) means she has all required legs in all starters classes and can move up to advanced in everything. She's already in masters classes, but the AD is a title of completing the starters level.

Anywho, Zen was GREAT! He had a good time. I put him in a soft-sided crate because they are easier to carry. Susan told me I was brave to be putting a puppy in a soft-sided, but Zen proved he could handle it. He was awesome. He seemed to just take everything in stride with the exception of a rude papillon. I had him out and was just walking him around and this papillon was struggling at the end of the leash "wanting to say hi." Zen did not, he thought this dog was being rude and the owner would not quit trying to allow her dog to advance on Zen. I just turned and walked away. No need for my puppy to have any bad experiences at trials. I later saw that dog lunging and barking at other dogs, so I'm glad I trusted my puppy. Some people just don't pay attention to body language.

Zen tugged with me indoors and out. He tugged with other people. (which I caught on tape) We played some fetch outside and he got his first lesson on going after rolling frisbees! Overall a very good weekend for the pupper. When we got home I met up with Harley and his friend Cody for an hour long hike/ball throwing fest at the lake. Harley took a few pictures which I hope he will send me. I have lots and lots of video to go through of the whole weekend, the lake, and a shaping session I had with Zen this morning. It was incredibly cute. I was working on the "down". Which he got, then added his own twist to. He scoots backwards while in the down position. I'm naming it "scoot". Hopefully he will catch on quickly to having behaviors under stimulus control and won't be offering "scoot" everytime he downs.

More later, I have to go to work.

Christmas Parade

Sorry if the filming induces sickness. Its hard to enjoy a parade, film, and hold a puppy all at the same time.

PS- I put dremel in the title of the last post but I didn't put why. Zen hates the dremel. Already. I picked him up to try it out when he was sleepy and I got one foot done then he realized what was happening and tried to bite the dremel. *sigh*

Running around and Dremels

Not much exciting happened today. I took my last final, so I'm out for the semester! I went and bought a 3-pack of tennis balls so I could take the dogs out to play chuck-it. Rumor will not play with tennis balls if she has the option of having her red bouncy ball. lol The other two were appreciative of the tennis balls.












These are pics from today. Enjoy! I'm working on the Christmas Parade footage!

Seriously?! This actually happened!

LOL and I can only prove it because I caught it on tape!



Not sure if the audio is going to be on there, they removed it, but should put it back up soon. Dang YouTube.

1st Update

Zen has been home for 5 days and it's already hard to remeber what all we have done together.

He is a super laid-back puppy. Content to just chill out and relax. In fact, a couple of people have already told me he isn't a normal puppy because he's not bouncing around and molesting people and other dogs. He does have quite the wild side though. :)

Just going to do a quick re-cap before bed. 5am comes early.

Zen's first day with me he rode a plane, met some people at the airport and rode about 10 escalators. Since it was my first time on a plane I don't get around airports very well and we did a lot of walking. We had to ride a bus back to the car and when we got there he was hand-fed his first meal while we watched planes take off. He slept the whole way home in his carrier except when I stopped at Taco Cabana. He felt I should share my food, but I didn't. His first night home he met Harley, then we made the drive to my house where he met Terra, my oldest dog. He wasn't quite sure about meeting other dogs yet, so Rumor and Carrie sniffed him through a covered crate. He slept the whole night through until we had to get up at 6am. Most of his meals have been spent learning his name, working the clicker, or getting used to enjoying the crate. He is pretty good at food dispensing toys.

The very next day, after I left for work Harley stopped by and picked him up. He spent the day at Harley's house just playing and hanging out. When I got off work we went to the Christmas parade. It was pretty crowded and Zen did really well. He mostly sat in my lap or was being held, but he met a few new people and saw lots of different things. The only part he wasn't thrilled about was when the drum-line came through. In his defense, they were LOUD! I do have video from the parade, but I will get it up as soon as I get time.

Saturday I had a few errands to run. (Getting dog food!) I took Zen along. He is getting really good about riding in the car. He just settles right in. He went with me into Tractor Supply and rode in the cart. He just sat on my jacket and took in the sights. Later on, he sat in the vehicle and slept while Harley and I ate lunch, then we took him into Bargain Depot. He again, got to ride in the cart and he was so well behaved. Harley thought we were going to get kicked out for bringing the dogs in but we didn't.

Sunday I took him out to the field with the girls to run and play. He mostly followed me while they fetched the chuck-it. He isn't real brave around bigger dogs yet. He is very appropriate though, keeps his space and doesn't offend them at all. He also got to visit Deidra's for the first time. He met 3 of her dogs and spent almost the whole time napping! He must have been super tired, because we were loud and having fun. Jenn and Terry were there and so was Luke! Zen was oh-so-polite with all of them.

Today he got to go to PetSmart for the first time. He walked on his own for most of it! He met a couple of other puppies there, they were about 2 months older than him and very bouncy. He didn't appreciate being bounced on, but he recovered very quickly and wasn't really bothered by it. He decided to just keep his distance and watch from beside Harley's leg.

He is really starting to tug with me and loves it. I have video of that too, and will post it later. He is quickly picking up "sit" with the clicker and he walked a whole lap and a half with us tonight. We worked up from half a lap to a whole lap, then added the other half tonight. The girls are getting used to him, so they still aren't loose together a whole lot, but I'm confident that will come soon.

Anyway, I will try to keep this updated frequently on things we are doing and what Zen is experiencing. It just seemed easier to put this on blogger than update my website so often.