30 Things I'm Not Supposed to Eat

1. Mama's mouth guard
2. Coins
3. Nails
4. Screws
5. Spilled food on the sidewalk
6. Vomit outside the local bar
7. Coyote poop
8. Fox poop
9. Raccoon poop
10. Goose poop
11. Mama says, "POOP IN GENERAL!!!!"
12. Eyes off of stuffed animals
13. Stuffed animal fur
14. Any parts of stuffed animals
15. Books
16. Paperclips 
17. Pens (especially when Mama is trying to write with them)
18. Tacks
19. Glass shards
20. Random bits of plastic
21. Mousetraps
22. Mud
23. Bushes
24. Straws
25. Dead things on the side of the road
26. Fast food wrappers on the side of the road
27. Fast food bags on the side of the road
28. Fast food cups on the side of the road
29. Anything found on the side of the road
30. Paint balls (seriously, don't eat these, one will give you the runs for days)

Two Hikes for the Price of One

It was a nice day and Mama finished her chores early so we went for a hike. Mama decided to take me to a preserve that Merlin didn't get to go to very often because he was obsessed with the lady coyotes who lived there and would become an obnoxious piss-lickin' teeth clackin' fool. When they'd go to that preserve Mama said she could only walk six steps at a time because Merlin had to stop to sniff, lick, or pee on lady coyote markings. It usually took them about three hours to hike that preserve on a good day.

I really liked this hike because it was through woods and ravines and it did have a lot of interesting smells and I had to stop and be pet by a woman who said, "Boy that dog is really black!" and a man who thought it was funny that after Mama said, "No!" to me for trying to jump on him I jumped on her, but I didn't feel the need to stop every six steps so the hike only took us one and a half hours.

 What is this bridge for?

For when this creek at the bottom of the ravine rises

Steps up a hill

When we got back to the car I refused to get in it. After all, we take longer morning walks than that, even if they aren't through woody ravines. Mama argued with me for a bit and then she said, "How about we go to the preserve next door?" and I got in the car. We drove the three miles to the next preserve and I got to hike for another 45 minutes which made me happy.

 A boardwalk and a bridge in one

There were two of these big birds. I wanted to go see them up close but Mama said they would beat me up if I did. This one really didn't like me watching him.

And a big curvy boardwalk

Total miles hiked: 5

A Big First Month

Well, a lot has happened in my first month with Mama. I've learned to walk nicely on a leash. I've learned that cars are FUN!! I've learned that training means TREATS not hits. I've made three dog friends. Well, one dog friend named Daisy, one dog acquaintance named Roxy who was really good friends with my predecessor Merlin, but is tiny and I'm only allowed to walk with her and not play with her, and one dog named Buddy who tolerated me because our mamas are friends but when I went to say hi to him when his mama wasn't outside he gave me the stink-eye and went inside. I met some people named Grandma and Grandpa. I thought Grandma was great (and she said she really liked me) but I mostly ignored Grandpa. I learned that the feed store hands out cookies, but that Mama won't go inside just to get cookies, but she will allow me to sometimes go to the feeding dock for one. I've learned that crates are BORING places that you have to spend your day when you can't be trusted not to eat the house. I've learned to open the back gate, but I now know that Mama isn't as proud of this accomplishment as I am. And I've learned that when Mama says "Blah blah blah blah HIKE?" it means that we are going to have a great time.

I met Merlin's favorite vet who thought that I was a great dog, but agreed that there is something not right with my hip. She told Mama that she should make sure I take lots of walks and stay thin and take some joint supplements and we will worry about the hip when we need to worry about the hip. Mama says it is a good thing she already has a stroller and lifting harness as I may be needing them earlier than most dogs my size.

I think the most exciting thing is DAISY! Oh my she is wonderful. She is a boxer beagle mix and about 1/2 my size. She lives next to the park and we play run along the fence together. I didn't really care where I walked each morning until I met Daisy then after that I insist that we go to the park each morning. Sometimes she isn't out, but sometimes she is and oh boy is that fun! Last Saturday she wasn't out but her mama came out and said she was out walking with her boy. Mama and I continued on our walk and we met up with Daisy coming back from hers. We got to wrestle while wearing our leashes which was much more fun than running along the fence. Then, just as Mama was saying, "Well that's enough we should be heading home." Daisy slipped her harness and ran and ran around the park coming back to wrestle with me after each lap. Daisy's boy couldn't catch her. Mama couldn't let go of my leash to catch her because she knew that there'd be two out of control loose dogs if she did that. Daisy's dad and second boy came and tried to catch her, but they couldn't either. Then Mama said, "She'll follow Zorro, so I'm going to walk him back to your yard and we'll lure her into your yard with him." and that is what we did. I think it was mean to catch her like that, but it did let me know where Daisy's gate was. Mama had forgotten about my skill with gates. So today when we took our walk, Daisy was out in her yard and we played run along the fence for a little bit and then I thought we should go play Run Wild in the Park so I took off and ran to Daisy's gate. I was just unlocking it when Mama caught me. She took me back to the running side of the fence and I ran a little longer and then I ran back to the gate, but Mama caught me again. She said I am NOT allowed to let Daisy out of her yard and then she made me go home. Daisy and I were both very sad and we barked and whined until we couldn't see each other anymore.

Can we go see Daisy?

Oh and my confidence is really improved! Mama is glad I'm not scared of my own shadow anymore, but she says maybe I've gone a bit too far the other way. I have started demanding attention and sassing when she has food that I think I should have and, even though I know what she means when she says, "Spit!" I've decided it should mean "close your mouth and pretend you didn't pick anything up." Also I have started marking occasionally on our walks and I even lift my leg sometimes! Mama says I can keep doing that, but the honeymoon is over and now we need to start working on something called "manners".

Why Very Few Chores Got Done Tonight--Wordless Wednesday

I'm So Good!

I've had a great morning today and it is only 7:30!  First off, Mama had a very late night last night. She didn't get home until midnight and then we had to go outside and then play a bit because you have to play a bit after you get out of your crate. I woke up at 5:00 and I knew Mama would say it was too early so I was a good boy and entertained myself instead of waking her up. First I went and got my squeaky ball with feet.

I don't know if any of you have this toy, but it is lots of fun. It squeaks really well and because of the feet it bounces funny so you don't know where it is going to land. I played in the living room with it for a good half hour, squeaking it and tossing it around and chasing it. Sometimes it bounced into stuff and I had to move my toybox when it bounced behind it, but it was great fun as always. Then, I got my double squeaky squirrel. One squeaker goes "Eeee! Eeee!" and the other goes "Oooh! Oooh!" I played with that toy on the couch for awhile. Then after playing so nice and quietly by myself for about 45 minutes I decided to sit quietly and have a chew. I got my two foot antler out of the crate, which wasn't easy because Mama had bumped the crate when we came in from playing outside last night and the door had closed. So I had to bang on the door for a bit until I got it open. Then I had to get the antler out through the door of the crate, which took some work too. Then I took the antler onto the couch to chew. It was a little awkward jumping on the couch with the big antler, but after four tries I managed to do it without dropping it onto the hardwood. I chewed until I heard Mama getting up around 6:15 and then I ran in to tell her good morning and that it was breakfast time and to get praised for being such a good boy and letting her sleep in.

After I got fed and went potty we drove to the gas station for the Sunday paper and while I was sitting in the car waiting I came up with a fun idea. When she came back to the car she found me waiting in the driver's seat instead of in the back seat. She called through the window, "No dogs in front. Get back in back." I refused. She opened the door and I jumped out of the car. We walked around the car to my door and I hopped back in the back seat. Then while she walked back around the car to the front door I jumped back into the driver's seat. We repeated this game three times until Mama became a spoil sport and put my seatbelt on me. Mean Mama.

I Saw Horses!

Mama and I went for a hike this afternoon at ANOTHER new trail for me. There was a lake and I waded into it for a drink and there was a smell I didn't know and I got nervous and spent a lot of time whining and coming back to Mama for reassurance. Then when we got to the end of the trail I saw this:

 As you can see I was maybe just a bit freaked out by it. 

I'll biggify it so you can see better.

Mama said it was called a horse. I didn't want to go see it any closer. Instead I asked Mama if we could sit on a bench and snuggle a bit, so we did. Then, while we were sitting on the bench that horse thing started to come closer to us, but it had TWO HEADS!! It was almost as bad as a bicycle. I started to growl and Mama hushed me and said, "That is a horse and you don't growl at horses, or bark at horses or lunge at horses. If you do you can't go hiking anymore." Then she had me get up off the bench and stand behind it and be petted while the horse passed. Mama said to the horse, "Sorry, this is the first horse he's ever seen." and one of the heads said, "Well you have to have a first at some time." and I realized the second head was really a person on top of the horse and the horse became more interesting and less scary. When the horse got a good bit ahead of us Mama let me follow it and then all the weird smells I didn't understand at the beginning of the hike made sense and I was much more relaxed.

Horses smell funny but their poop can be yummy

I met three other horses and then that same white horse again as our hike went along and I stood quietly by Mama as she pet me and didn't growl or bark or lunge at the horses.

Total miles hiked: 5.5

An Update On My Training Goals

Brown means I'm working on it
Purple means I know it, but I don't like doing it so Mama doesn't consider it learned
Green means I have it down pat

• Sit
• Lie Down
• Wait
• Come
• Stay
• Head Down
• Heel
• Stop
• Whoa
• Come About
• Turn Right
• Turn Left
• Back Up
• In To Me
• Freeze
• Get Out 
• Spit
• Give It Me
• Paws Up
• Table Up
• Touch
• Bump
• Right Foot
• Left Foot
• Back Foot
• Where's Your Tail?
• Wag Your Tail
• Where's Your Nose? 
• Shake Hands
• High Five
• Turn Around
• Turn the Other Way
• Hit Your Mark
• Dead Dog
• Roll Over 
• Sit Up
• Dance
• Leave It
• Enough

Daylight Savings Day Walk

Today is something called Daylight Savings Day. I'm not sure what that means, but I LIKE IT!! Mama got up an hour early and gave me breakfast and then we went for a short walk and she did some chores and then she got our hiking stuff together. I thought we were going to get in the car and headed straight for the garage, but she said, no we were going to take a hike starting from the house. I didn't know it but we can get to a trailhead for the forest preserve by our house just by walking 2.5 miles! We walked to the trailhead and then on the trail and then we took a side trail we hadn't taken before and walked that to a big tunnel under a road and out to another trail which had a big boardwalk on it. We walked after the boardwalk for awhile and then Mama said it was time to turn around and head home. So we turned around. I got to see some dogs, but not talk to them because none of them liked other dogs. I also got to meet some people who did like dogs. Our hike from home took 4.5 hours and was amazingly fun. When we got home I ran in circles in the backyard for a bit and then went to sleep on the couch.

 Boardwalk

What happened here and how do I fix it?

Can we do this again tomorrow?

Total miles hiked 11.5

State Park Hike

Why was I ever afraid of the car? Today after Mama came back from doing something called, "having my taxes done" she said it was far too nice out to be doing chores and she put my leash on. I thought we were going for a walk and was all for it, but when I saw she wanted to get in the car I protested. I didn't protest for long though and jumped in the car by myself for the first time. Then we went for a ride and we stopped at someplace called a "state park". It was like the trail by our house except there were a lot of trees and hills and ditches with melted snow. There were a lot of other dogs walking there too and I even met a family where the little boy, who was about my size, played "tug the stick" with me. When we got back to the car I didn't hesitate at all, I just jumped right in and settled down for a nap. Then on the way home Mama and I stopped at a building and Mama went in and left me in the car and when she came out she had something called "gyros" and something else called "french fries". Let me tell you, both those things are WONDERFUL!! So, cars are NOT scary things at all. Bikes are scary though, and I still don't like the dog in the bedroom mirror.

 Nice view

 

But why do I have to stand in a big crate to see it?

Yee-haw!

Miles hiked 3.7 but it felt longer because of all the slushy snow.

My Training Goals

I came to live with Mama already knowing "Sit" and "Come" and in one walk I learned loose leash walking. Now we are working on more basic obedience and Mama says that we'll throw some tricks in soon too. Mama says that someone has a lot to answer for because when we started training I became very anxious, especially when I didn't understand something. Mama had to work with me a bit to make me understand that training is never scary or painful, it is only fun even if I make a mistake. Mistakes only mean Mama says, "Awww..." or "Nope." and I don't get a cookie instead of Mama saying, "Good!" or "Yes!" or "Right!" and I do get a cookie.  

Here are some of the things Merlin knew how to do. Mama is hoping I'll learn them too.

• Sit -- I knew this already
• Lie Down -- I learned this on Sunday
• Wait -- I'm working on this
• Come -- I knew this already
• Stay
• Heel
• Stop -- I'm working on this
• Whoa -- I'm working on this
• Come About
• Turn Right
• Turn Left
• Back Up
• In To Me -- I'm working on this
• Freeze
• Get Out 
• Spit -- I'm working on this
• Give It Me -- I'm working on this
• Paws Up
• Table Up
• Touch
• Bump
• Right Foot
• Left Foot
• Back Foot
• Where's Your Tail?
• Wag Your Tail
• Where's Your Nose? 
• Shake Hands
• Turn Around
• Turn the Other Way
• Hit Your Mark
• Dead Dog
• Roll Over 
• Sit Up
• Dance

Black and White Sunday (Sort Of)