Pigging out on Sunday morning

Jan and I had a craving for some real breakfast, so this Sunday we went for the real deal: Bacon (turkey bacon, though!), sausage links, egg, hashbrowns, ketchup. Or in one word: YUMMY!

Field trip!

After a decent jogging run this morning (with Pepper of course!) we went on an extended field trip:

First stop - checking out a boarding kennel close by to see if that's an option for Pepper when we go vacation. Short answer - no chance.

Second stop - Grand Central Bakery for some yummy croissants. The gooooood stuff :).

Third stop - Sauvie Island. The first time for all of us. We got a little confused as the drive on the island is a lot longer than anticipated (we thought we got lost). Turns out we were doing just fine, just needed a bit more patience. The beach was beautiful and almost completely empty. We had big stretches without any other people near by, so we could use them to let Pepper roam around on the long leash (and practice the "Come!" some more, he's getting pretty good at it!). Of course, the long leash had its own challenges:

This was also Pepper's first encounter with a large body of water. He was... shall we call it hesitant?

A gift from Soso

When Jan returned Monday night from California, he brought a gift that Soso had picked for Pepper: A pink (of course :)) chewing-squeeky toy. And boy, did he love it! He proudly carried it around the house and got super-excited when he had the ring around his nose with the squeeky part in his mouth!
Abby and George on the other hand - well, they already knew he was crazy ;).

Doggie backpack

A good day!

Well, actually the day started pretty crappy: Jan left for California to attend a conference this weekend, leaving me and the beasties alone here. But besides that, the day turned out to be pretty awesome:

I got Pepper a bigger crate for home as well. Now I don't feel bad anymore when I see him crammed into the tiny one and know there's a bigger one that he clearly prefers right in my office. That now has the advantage that he can sleep in the crate as well, confining him to the lower level of the house (and thus giving the kitties the upper level). Let's see what happens when a great plan meets reality tonight :).

Early this afternoon I took Pepper on a walk to the dog park (~45 minutes one way). Instead of letting him run free within the fenced-off area, I stayed outside and kept him on a 30' training leash. And we practiced the "Pepper, come!" and "Pepper, let's go!" commands. And he did soooo well! What a good dog! 

When we finally got home after about 2.5 hours he was completely exhausted. And - a tired dog is a happy dog, so all was well.

Despite two lengthy walks I actually managed to get all the grading done, leaving tomorrow completely free for other work-related stuff (like working on a grant proposal, or on the paper, or preparing classes). That does sound pretty good!

And lastly, the doggy backpack that I had ordered arrived today. I figured it can serve two purposes: One, it gives Pepper a job, something important to do while on a walk. He carries the backpack which can contain, say, some water for him or us, or some tennis balls. So he feels pretty good about himself. And two, as we want to take him on hiking trips in the not-too-far future, I figured we start preparing him for that early on. After all, he can carry his own stuff, right?

So, bottom line: He did extremely well with the pack on the evening walk. He did try to bite into it a few times (mouthy lab, what can you do...), but I could always distract him with some food and a cheerful "Pepper, come!" or "Pepper, let's go!" (see how this afternoon already paid off?). He was also very focused the whole walk long, and diligently did every "Sit." and "Wait." to perfection. 

New crate!

Our new crate has finally arrived. It's a bit bigger than the old one, and I am planning on leaving it in the office so that I don't have to carry the old crate back and forth between home and the office. Plus, it can't hurt to give him a bit more space when I crate him during teaching time. It *just* barely fits into my car (not in the trunk, though). Dragging it into the office should be quite a task tomorrow (it's HEAVY!), but at least then I'll be all set.

In the mean time, George and Pepper got comfy tonight:

On Tuesday I started taking Pepper to the dog park for about 30 minutes or so on my way home from work. He LOVES it. But... we do have to work on his recall when there is a lot of distraction (like other dogs... doh). It's embarrassing if everyone in the dog park knows our dog's name because I keep calling and he keeps ignoring me ;). To be fair, it has gotten better already and with some more practice we should be ok!

Love this face!

George being serious. "So... you woke me up just to take this picture? Fine... but don't expect me to smile."

Sunday morning

It's raining cats and dogs outside! So (at least for now) it's best to stay inside and cuddle up.

Pepper's in the house!

And doing good.

Pepper & Abby

Both sleeping right next to each other:

We got the crate today and he's doing really well in it. I want to establish that crate time = resting time. That should help me in the office as well (I am planning on crating him when I teach so that he does not get himself into trouble by chewing up my stuff or scratching the door or... whatever else comes to his mind). Thus, I can also leave the door open without worrying about what he's doing and he can see what's going on outside.

I gave him a good leash-free run in the yard when I came home today (he LOVED it!), and a good long walk in the rain tonight. Now he's happily asleep in the crate, and Abby decided to join him in her carrier. I think this will work out nicely :). 

It has been an exhausting week but we have made such amazing progress with him. I got to remind myself that we've only had him for a week (it does feel longer :)). 

And more about Pepper

Walking on the leash - A (as in awesome!).

Riding in the car - A.

Being calm in the office so that I can get some work done - B+. Huge improvement over Tuesday. I did some retrieving with him outside the office before we went in and that seemed to help. Also, I started turning on the heater (which is very noisy) when I want him to lie down and snooze. And he seems to get that too. Of course, getting some playtime (off leash) with Daisy helps as well!

Being alone in the office or his room - B+. He's usually really good with that, but he does whine a little when there is activity outside and he is not allowed to join in (no surprise there, how unfair is that?!).

Feeding time - by now A-. There was a lot of barking when Abby and George got to eat out of his bowl first. But ever since the one water spray in his face when he started to get the barking fit in my office he seems to get it. (He's so smart, a blessing and a curse!). So now we have a quadruple stack in his bowl: His food at the bottom, then George's and Abby's bowls, then something for me on top, and there was no barking at all! I think he has fully accepted that he is the lowest in rank. Awesome!

Lastly, moving around freely in the house while respecting the kitties: C+. Got to work on that. Which I guess is fair as he so far has either been with me at work or mostly in his room, so the house is still brand new and exciting. Abby is wonderful with him. She lets him sniff her and when he gets too rough for her taste (which is pretty much every time), she raises a paw or hisses. Nothing really angry, just firmly telling him what's ok and what isn't. When she does that I typically reinforce the "Leave it!" and I'm sure we'll get there in time. George is still not too confident around Pepper, but again, once Pepper calms down more I am sure George will calm down as well.

First work day after the break

Driving 40 minutes with Pepper in the back - no problem.
Calming him down in the office so that I can get some work done: About 45 minutes. I assume that'll get better once we establish this routine.
Greeting two new people: Initial excitement, calming down after about a minute, polite greeting afterward.

All in all, I am very pleased :).

More Pepper

We've already made some good progress with Pepper. He usually sits nicely (although he can hardly contain himself, the whole dog is wiggling) when he greets us, he walks (mostly) nicely on the leash (unless there are other dogs or people, then he gets really excited), does "sit", "down", and has already learned "wait" (for example when I place food in front of him - he is pretty good with that already, although every now and then the whole dog is about to explode and we have to do the exercise a few times in a row before he does it correctly). All in all, he's about to become an awesome dog! 

What we really have to work on is his mouthy-ness: What's in his mouth is hard to get out, and I don't want my hands to get too close to his jaws when he gets into his "let's just grab whatever is here, it'll sure be the toy"-mode.

Here are a few more impressions of him:

Two pics taken by my Mom via Skype:

And a few photos taken this afternoon during our walk. 

Skiing at Timberline Lodge

  

Jan went skiing on Saturday (while I was doggy-sitting :)), and here are a few of his impressions (I should also mention the text I got "Have I mentioned that this is AWESOME?!" Sounds like someone had a blast!).

Meet: Pepper

Pepper tired after a long walk

, the latest furry member of our family. We just adopted him yesterday, but he seems to be a great dog with lots of potential. Sure, we have to work on his doggie manners a little - his previous owners did not put a lot of time in his training - but he seems very responsive and submissive. So we just have to be persistent and I'm sure he'll be an awesome dog! He is already walking much more politely on the leash (hardly any pulling anymore), and the jumping up on people has become less as well (he knows that sitting is the polite thing to do!).

I love the look on their faces:
"... you have got to be kidding me..."

Cautiously approaching

Amazingly the introduction to Abby and George went much smoother than hoped: There was some puffiness when we brought Pepper in the laundry room, but after feeding the cats outside that door they quickly calmed down. We then brought them into the bedroom to give Pepper a chance to sniff around the house before bringing him to his room - our exercise room. Abby and George were very curious and wanted to check that "big black thing" out. No puffing, no hissing, no swatting. Of course they are both very cautious around him (which is good) and for the most part he ignored them (which is also great). The latter has changed a little now that he has settled down a bit, but by keeping him on the leash when he is in the house and keeping an eye on them I'm sure we can make sure that he knows that they are part of the family. We also made sure to feed the cats first while he is watching.