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."