Misc puppy adventures

 

I was too busy at both the beach and class to take photos,
so you get this random extra from yesterday :)

So this is a combination of the last two posts really :).  In that Luxor went to the beach AND she went swimming :).  Yesterday I decided to take her to the beach again.  She was still unsure about the water but then two paddle boarders went in and she went in at least a few steps to see what they were doing.

Since it was a nice enough day, I took off my shoes and socks, rolled up my pants, and went into the waves to see what she would do.

Step one - she had no issue coming to me when just her paws got wet but footing was solid.  However after a very short way, the sand drops steeply to about knee-deep on me.  This means swimming depth for Luxor.  BUT after only a couple feet, the sand is back at her easy walking depth for a decent while.  

She fell in once and didn’t love that, but didn’t panic.  Then she figured out if she swam just a bit she could stand and get all kinds of attention and treats, so that was fun and she did that a few times, swimming the gap each time.  

But then - my favourite part, she walked out deeper to where she had to swim again and swam parallel to the beach for a while (with me walking along side w the longline still attached of course!).  When she had enough she swam back to me where she could stand.  Then we went together back to the actual beach and did a bit of a run there.

After our swimming we went to the kids’ playground.  New footing, many children - several of which she got to meet, and - where there were no children - playground equipment!  Some of which was clearly built to accommodate parents supervising very small humans.  Or puppies ;).  She even started to go down a very small slide, but changed her mind at the last second and found the stairs.

The only thing she stressed at?  The only thing that got a mini bark?  A squirrel.  Completely traumatizing 😂 

Then today was a make-up puppy school day since I was out of town for her normal lesson on Wed.   Our first lesson was...  a bit wild.  Not gonna lie.  So wasn't sure how this would go but she was So Good.   She still isn't about to lie patiently at my side while all the instructions are given (I def took her bed away about 15 mins in so she didn't use it as a wrestle toy), but there was no jumping or barking or silliness.  But the part that really made me smile - we were doing 'response to name', but what they were actually trying to teach us was how to use the leash to get their attention if they're distracted.  So they had us work without the dog first (human instructor pretending to be dog), and then distracted the dog with a treat so that - theoretically - we would have to practice using the leash to regain their attention.   And the first time, I did.   I will acknowledge she did not spin and come instantly away from the treat.   But on the second time?   100% lol.  And then when we were practicing without the instructors, Every Time.   Not once did I need the leash, no matter what the distraction was (including a tug toy in her mouth).  Not ever using her name unless it's backed by a reward and a party is paying off.   lol when we meet people in public I tell them her name is Charlie - they can say that as often as they want without impacting our training.  At home we use PupPup, since that's how the breeder got the puppies attention.  At least twice I had instructors tell me to jackpot reward her because they were so impressed with how she responded to certain things.  So yeah, I'm pretty excited about that.   The not so great is the patience game - we work a LOT on this at home and it definitely has improved in public even since her last class, but has a way to go.  She did make one of the instructors laugh though when she was doing a sit at my side and saw a treat off to the side from the handler next to us.  She got the treat (less ideal) but did it by stretching *really* far and never actually broke the sit.   I love having a dog who knows how to negotiate ;-P.  Don't get me wrong - it's going to be a challenge at times.  But I appreciate the intelligence and it makes me laugh cause, well, I would've done the same ;-P

The FIVE hour drive home because I got stuck between the last place to get off the highway and where they closed it was, shall we say, less fun.  But puppy A - managed to hold her bladder the whole way, and B - got in a nap and was generally very well behaved.   So we're deeming that a win too and practice for the drive to the cottage in a few weeks.

Luxor's first beach visit

Contemplating the waves

We're nearing the end of the puppy experience window and it occurred to me that Luxor has never been to the beach.  Great day to remedy that - we had a service person at our house, which meant we had to move her pen; so when he arrived, Luxi and I went for a drive to a nearby beach.   Since I had the ideal-for-puppy-training trifecta of: before 9am, temp in mid-teens, and overcast.  None of which most people want for the beach.  Indeed - when we got there, there were exactly two other people there, enjoying books in beach chairs facing the waves.

Lots of new and exciting places to explore

So I put puppy on the long line and we went exploring.  I mostly just followed her around while she explored; I've done this before in a Canadian Tire 😂   Was a lot more work there cause she was on a normal length leash and I'm determined not to allow her to practice pulling on a leash -- which meant I had to be a very speedy walker to keep that leash loose while she explored since she doesn't know yet that that's actually her job ;).   On a beach, with a long-line, a different experience.  

The sand-walk

Today was So. Much. Fun.  And ALL the experiences for puppy.   So many new scents, textures, sounds, everything.   She was very confused by seagulls, why they were on the sand, and - when they flew away - she seemed not quite sure what had just happened.  But that was right at the start of the day and at that point there was So. Much. New. she quickly dismissed them from her mind and continued her adventure.  She got to run on the sand (both went and dry), a lovely sand-walk (not sure what it's called 😂 but basically a path over the sand, not paved but like a stiff outdoor carpet or plastic type material), concrete, normal pavement, log benches, metal chairs, sand-covered stairs, and probably other things I'm forgetting.

Front paws up

But most exciting for sure was the waves.   She did not choose to go in, but she did get close enough to get a quick drink.  And she watched them and walked along them for ages.  I was thrilled there was no barking (she discovered her voice this week and we've been working on rewarding quiet-dog behaviours since neither Chris nor I particularly want a barking dog).   I really enjoyed watching her learn about the waves - both the sound and the movement.  And also enjoyed that, while she wasn't into going into the water, she also by the end didn't care about it either.

Definitely wasn't sure about waves, but not overly concerned either

At one point a person went by on a bike with quite a large dog.   Luxor was interested in that, but didn't try to follow.  However she was fascinated with the dog's footprints in the wet sand.  Spent ages investigating one after another.  Then we did a little bit of learning to run ahead (instead of trying to herd me from behind) which once she understood she really seemed to enjoy.   Gave one burst of speed that was super impressive and I was sad I had to distract her from it because I didn't want her to hit the end of the long-line, esp going at that speed (we had a giant party when she came back to me ;).  

The waves were erasing the big-dog footprints!

Gradually other people started to appear, some she got to visit with, some she learned to be a patient dog and let others go by.   People both riding and walking bikes, a couple other dogs in the distance, a few people just walking, some kids, a couple sitting in beach chairs reading (one asked if she could meet the puppy so we went to visit).  But comparatively still extremely quite and calm way for her to learn.

She got to explore so many surfaces today.

I loved watching her play and explore.  I loved that throughout the whole thing she'd keep checking in (yeah - I know, not a teenager yet.   Loving it :) and that after a little while she had enough of a brain to do some minor training - things like sitting WAY off to the side when people went by.  She really does believe she's everybody's best friend and should demonstrate that with full-body enthusiasm, so we didn't try that anywhere actually near people 😂.   A mildly amusing moment - she is about as good as spotting animals as I am - right before we went home she was almost on top of a pigeon before she noticed it in the parking lot, and was dramatically surprised when it flew away.   

We got all four paws on this one :). 
For about 10 seconds ;)

We were there almost exactly an hour.  And she was asleep within moments of getting in the car.  Like, we hadn't left the parking lot yet.  I'm deeming that a win all around.   Esp as I'm still smiling hours later.

Running with Luxi out in front was my favourite part of the day :)
Surprising since I don't particularly enjoy running.
I suspect her enjoyment contributed to mine ❤️ 

Luxi learns to swim

 Luxi is three months old today, and today she swam for the first time!

She had another big day today - not entirely planned that way, but things happen 🤷‍♀️ 

So started w Luxi accompanying Chris on a random short errand, but they stumbled upon “touch the truck” an event for firefighters, police, and paramedics - and all their vehicles.   Now Chris is none of the above, but he did have an adorable black and white puppy with him so joined in.  Luxi got to meet and be fawned over many people - and also get introduced to a fire truck :).  Alas, no pictures, but super cute.

She came home and despite trying to convince us she wasn’t tired, had a great nap.

She loves the dog floaty
It has been a great way to introduce her to the concept

Then we went to Janie and Braulio’s for her next swimming lesson.  We started with the puppy floaty which she knows and is confident on.  Then we did some walking on the steps - she really doesn’t like this, and I wasn’t successful in convincing her to step in (it’s a bigger step than onto the floaty).  Then I held her in the water a foot or so away from Chris sitting on the steps, and holding her in the water, all four legs started going so he called her and I gave her a bit of a hand but mostly let her go.  Did it again and no hand required.  Win.   All The Treats.

So from there I moved farther and farther back.  About half way across the shallow end, I was ready to call it but C really wanted her to try the width, so we did - w me right with her in case of problem or misdirection.  I did have to redirect slightly (no deep end swimming today!) but didn’t have to help.  Gave her lots of treats and celebration.  She was looking like a drowned rat but not at all concerned.

So we brought the floaty back to have her and on something super easy, and then let her run around the yard and play w a toy we’d brought.  Wet puppy zoomies are just about the most fun thing ever!

Learning to be a patio puppy

Then the plan was to stop at the taco truck, which has picnic tables outside, for a quick dinner and “cafe puppy” socialization opportunity.  Except it was packed and the line was insane, so we skipped that step.  C suggested a patio which is way beyond her training but we knew this one and it was quiet and dog friendly so we tried it.   I had her bed (which she has very positive associations with), her dinner, and a couple chew toys.  She was *amazing* almost till the end.  Way longer than I would’ve expected, and way longer than was fair for her training and exp level.  Even at the end she wasn’t bad, just done.   So once our food eventually arrived we ate quickly and brought her home for a proper sleep.

And now it’s time to wake her up so she has time to be awake before bed 😂 

Luxor's crazy week

Miss Luxor has had an insane week!

Bringing you the adventures of your favourite ‘it’s-more-fun-to-have-friends-with-a-puppy-than-to-own-one’ Border Collie, let me introduce you to the insane chaos that has been Luxor’s week… ;)

So this week…. Which, keep in mind, is also combined with my full-time work schedule at a new job - so more work hours rather than less.

My hard work week one has paid off early.
She's a great car puppy.

We’ll start with Monday.  Monday nothing was planned for Luxor, other than being our puppy and continuing to learn life in our household.  However, Chris had borrowed my dad’s truck, so we decided she should add “riding in a truck” to her experiences and brought her with us when we went to return it.   This also meant she got her second visit with Coco and to run around the garden which is, basically, her favourite thing :)

With her friend Coco

Tuesday after work she got to have her second swimming experience at Janie and Braulio’s.   She’s very not sure this is a good life choice, but she does love running around the yard and playing with Braulio.  Lol She is great at running onto the dog floaty; it’s just actually being in the pool and steps towards actual swimming she’s not sure about.   

Couch time with Frankenduck
a favourite toy with a similar consistency to our couch

Wednesday was her first ever puppy class.  We went to McCann’s, which is a hike from here - with traffic it took us about an hour and a half.  So she was almost ready for a nap when we got there!   She was extremely excited about the other puppies and new people to play with.   But everything is well done and well controlled there so when it came time for actual training, she was well able to focus on me and do the tasks requested.  Given that I’ve been consuming McCann’s training videos (amongst others) for months - this was all super easy for her.  They did give me some good tips / tweaks re my timing / etc which was helpful.  We all know these classes are more about training the people than the puppy ;).  The class was 90 minutes (which surprised me) and Luxi’s brain fell out her ear at about 75.   The second trainer, who had come to meet Luxor when we first came in, came and snuggled her - at the same time quietly and calmly training her to take food gently while the lead instructor finished up (last 15 mins was questions/information/etc).   After class, she asked if we’re coming back for Grade 1 (yes), and if so, could she borrow Luxi as a demo-puppy.  Sure.  I wouldn’t realize till later what she meant, but just figured I’m happy to have a pro work with my puppy - esp when I’m there to watch.    One of the puppies there (looked lab-ish), slept through the vast majority of the class.  Part of me thinks how much easier that would make life, and part of me knows we’d very quickly be bored.  I have ambitions of agility - I need a puppy breed that’s also likely to come with a pretty strong work ethic.  Border Collie might be more than we can handle, but at least she isn’t likely to be lazy!

First day of Kindergarten!

Thursday - we should be done now right?  She’s 11 weeks old!  Yeah no, not quite.  Thursday was her vet appointment where she received 3 diff vaccines.  Suffice to say, she slept the rest of the day ;)  Thankfully no side effects other than tired.  Tired is okay once in a while ;).  She did wake up long enough for a quick visit to the pet store where she was thoroughly fawned over by the sales ladies and chauffeured around in a cart since she doesn't know how to walk on a leash yet. 

I was going to leave her home,
but Chris wanted her to come;
She loved it.

Friday - today had two exciting experiences, even though she was still mildly sleepy from yesterday.   The first was that she went at lunch she went to visit our groomer, Karleen, for a puppy nail trim.  She was apparently a superstar - it was super fast and they said zero issues.  Yeah handling practice win.   So then after work we went to do some exposure training (now that she’s had more shots).  I took her, her favourite chew toy, and a collection of treats to a local park that has a significant playground, to let her see the world.   Within seconds she met a tween-age-ish boy who was clearly on his way somewhere else and equally clearly adores puppies.   So that was a very positive experience for her.   Then there was a trio of three very young girls with their grandmother.  I was a lot more careful with them as they were in the 4-7 range and of course I have no idea what they know.  So explained that she doesn’t know not to use her teeth or not to jump on people yet.  The youngest wandered away blowing bubbles, the oldest was nervous and chose to just watch from a distance, and the middle child chose to pat her which went just fine :).  Then all three ran off to play and Luxi was mildly stunned by all the things that had happened in the first 2 mins of being there.   So at this point I took a seat at the most out-of-the-way bench and just let her watch the world.  A zillion scents, different textures (grass, gravel, whatever the squishy plastic stuff that covers new playgrounds is, dirt, etc), noises (laughing and squealing children, squeaky swings, dogs in the distance, adults loudly talking at their children playing, etc).  While she certainly didn’t reach a state I’d consider ‘settled’ lol she wasn’t overwhelmed once we weren’t with all the kids and was doing the border-collie watch and absorb.  We didn’t stay too long (it just *felt* that way) and then went home so she could really relax.

Extremely tired puppy

Saturday there was nothing on the schedule, but I had to go to the vet to collect some paperwork so decided to bring her with me, figuring I would likely take her back to the park, a friend pinged me that she was about half an hour away watching her fiancee fly model planes.  Well half an hour away is a lot closer than she usually is so I asked if puppies were allowed.  They were indeed, so our Saturday exposure was accidentally excellent.   Because A - I got to see a friend I haven’t seen in ages.   B - Luxi got to meet another (vaccinated) dog which went extremely well, and - importantly - got to learn she doesn’t get to meet ALL the dogs since there were two that were showing nervous behaviours and so I politely suggested they didn’t need to be friends which both owners took well.  In both cases Luxi got to calmly watch while those dogs were nearby but not with us.  And zero negative experiences.   There was also a 6yo girl whose parents were friends of my friends and who has a little puppy at home and was ALL OVER being friends with Luxi, while completely understanding about puppy biting / jumping / etc.  They played for *ages*.  It was awesome and supremely cute.   Luxor also got to hear some very scary loud noises (planes starting right beside her), all new scents, child leaving and coming back, and again - just being calm in a new environment.   She slept HARD after that :). Lol might be cumulative.   She slept through the whole drive home and then a solid two hours after we got back (not gonna lie, I took advantage of that for a nap myself ;))

Luxi meets Jill and airplanes

And Sunday concluded with another puppy class - this one is shorter and at a local facility in our area.   I would say the content and facility were fine -- I got a new approach to training her not to jump up that she learned in superfast.   But the professionalism isn't anywhere near the level of McCann's.   We’ll continue both in parallel for now and see how it goes.  But yeah.  Starting to understand why it feels like my life is 100% work and puppy.   But hey - gotta get it in in the exposure window right?    She was highly concerned about the garbage bag at the end of the driveway this week so that was a new thing ;).   So yeah, every little thing counts.   Somewhere I heard 90 things in 30 days — we won’t have any trouble hitting that at this rate.

Luxor aced the self-control part of puppy class;
100% due to the daily restraint-around-cats practice

Suffice to say she has Monday entirely off :).  Not doing anything other than very low-key meal-time training basics.   At least nobody can say we're not keeping her mentally engaged ;)

Luxi Learns to Bake

Right so since Luxi has been home I’ve been extremely diligent about either my eyes are on her actively supervising / playing with her / training.  Otherwise she has both a pen and a crate.  I use the crate when I want her to sleep, sometimes to eat, and occasionally just cause.   The pen goes around the crate so she can go in and out of it as she wants, but also gives her more room, so she can move around, play a little more, and have access to water.   

And now I understand why I haven’t been able to get anything done this week.  Lol because I *have* been paying full attention to the puppy pretty much whenever I could if she was awake.   Which I didn't realize until today when I didn't do it, how all-consuming it really is.

So today I randomly decided I wanted to bake cookies.   Our kitchen is easy enough to close off, so I figured that Luxi, who’d woken up not much earlier, instead of being in the pen could wander the kitchen while I made cookies, and get exposure to the noise of the blender and learn a different part of the house.  

Lol I see no way in which this can go wrong.  So we had an accident even before I got a single ingredient out *sigh*.  At least I was still mostly paying attention to her then and was able to interrupt and get her outside.   So once we were back in and the floor cleaned, start over….  A few seconds later I’m rescuing my back-door shoes from her attention.  Sigh.  Redirect and move shoes.   Moments later - trying to get into the cat food.  It’s reasonably puppy proof atm so I let that go for a few seconds before redirecting and she didn’t go back to it.  At this point there was very little left for her to get into so sb good to go ;)

Mori was most definitely NOT okay with this situation.
Note the spiky back, angry teeth, and completely ignoring high-value treats...

Until I started the mixer which was very scary for about 10 seconds but she got over it quickly.   Then Mori tried to come in the kitchen and both animals lost their minds.  Mori went into full on defence cat mode - back arched, growling and later hissing.   Have you ever pet a cat in that mode?  I hadn’t before today cause any cat doing that I’d expect to get clawed, but Mori I thought might actually settle if I pet him.  The hair on top of his spine became spiky - like it was so up it was hard to the touch and you could feel the ridge which I’m guessing was actually his spine.   (lol edited after - vet friend confirms spine and also the strength of those hair follicles when they stand up is unreasonable.   Which I honestly found very cool, so sharing here.) 

Luxi, otoh, just wants to be friends.

Luxi, otoh, was jumping around and barking with tail wagging excitedly.  Lol she hasn’t really learned to read the room ;).   The drama went on long enough that eventually even Nola popped her head up beside Mori to see what was going on.  She deemed this not worth her attention and left ;)  Mori eventually settled a little.  I won’t go so far as to say relaxed, and he definitely chose NOT to enter the kitchen.  But he watched from his perch above from a lying down position with no yelling and hissing so deemed that a win.

Shortly after this drama the cookies were ready to go in the oven, so I relocated both the gate and the puppy back to previously assigned locations and peace reigned once more.  Sort of.

Omg puppies are exhausting.  It’s a good thing they’re cute.   

And Nola, ever older and wiser, just supervises from a distance.

Luxi meets Coco and Bailey

So Luxi went to meet Coco and Bailey today.  For those who don’t know - those are my Mum’s Portuguese Water Dogs.  Before coming we’d planned that Coco would be on a leash - not because she’d do anything bad, but because she was likely to be extremely excited and I didn’t want Luxi to get squished!  Bailey otoh, is retired, a much calmer dog, and I trusted her completely to not cause any concerns.

Coco - trying her hardest to be calm until Luxi comes to her

These were both the right call - esp as Luxi read both their energy levels in a heartbeat.   She had zero concerns about Bailey, but took a long time looking at Coco then running away.  Then getting closer to Coco…. And running away.   And we just let her take all the time she wanted while both her and Coco’s tails wagged frantically.   

So none of this back and forth is videoed since I had concerns so my camera was away, but it all went really well.

Then we moved to a different part of the yard as Luxi got braver - treats brought all three dogs into range, and Luxi had *definitely* decided Coco was the fun one, and crawled OVER the saintly Bailey to get to Coco from a “safe” zone lol.

Drink time!   Coco for scale ;)
That water bowl got filled *many* times w all the running around

There was a lot of run to Coco, run away.  Run through the gardens, look at Coco, run away.   Over and over again.   Eventually she decided to come be brave and they met and Coco was SO good about being gentle with her.  The number of times Luxi’s limbs were inside Coco’s mouth is absolutely horrifying to me - yet not a scratch on her, never a yelp of any sort, zero concerns.  Crazy Coconut has become the responsible big sister.

Coco saves the day for Luxor,
who hasn't yet figured out how gravity works.
Paws prevent concussions!

Bailey watched this for a bit, decided it was too hot, and went back inside ;).  Bailey doesn’t do puppies.  She trained Coco - that’s enough.

Gradually we let Coco have more leash, and eventually Coco and Luxi were running around together.   Coco’s recalls are excellent, which was helpful when we decided maybe it was a bit much, cause Mum was able to call her off running w Luxor instantly.  

I'm still smiling from how much fun they were having

They played for a couple hours at least.  I think both dogs will be extremely tired tomorrow.   But a good introduction to “first dogs not related to”.   She also got to hear a lot of new sounds (people splashing in a pool, dogs barking, etc etc - sounds of summer in a suburban neighbourhood).  AND house line saved the day when she decided to go *under* the gate which she did with zero difficulty, but because I was well aware that was a possibility, I was standing there so able to stop her in a heartbeat.   In a few months she’ll be big enough that won’t be an option, but for now that yard is definitely not puppy proof 😂.   Fortunately as I was trying to figure out how to open the gate without letting her go, big dog in the other yard barked and she came running back in as fast as possible.  Win.

So yeah - controlled introduction for the win.   Great day and I now have a quiet house with a tired puppy and two completely chill cats.

New best buds