A Couple Weeks

I was without a camera there for awhile.  My old one had a short in the battery compartment and would not work.  An online friend who is getting great pictures of her puppy said she was using a Coolpix.  I looked it up and decided it was affordable enough so we are back in puppy picture taking mode.  (Thanks Robin!)

Davy is learning lots of little life lessons.  No serious training yet (he just turned 12 weeks yesterday).  Davy rides my route with me every day.  I have already had to move him up a size in crates.  He greets people at work nicely and they all just love him.  He rides well in the van and doesn't fuss unless he really needs to go.  He does his business quickly no matter where I have to stop to get him out...busy downtown area, quiet end of a campus parking lot, off the highway along a gravel road.  I am only on the road about 4-5 hours/day and most days now he doesn't ask to get out.  Davy is pretty reliably housebroken.  He lets me know when he needs out by going to the kitchen gate or living room door.  I do not leave him unsupervised too long un-crated as I do think he would just go by the door if he asked and no one was there to let him out.

Davy has not been allowed to play with dogs outside my household yet.  He has only had his first shots (will get his next one tomorrow).  Davy has learned to watch and avoid stepping on Skylar and Maggie, the 7 and 16 year old Papillons.  They only had to tell him off a few times and he is very careful around them.  Chrissy, the 9 y.o. Rat Terrier wants nothing to do with him so she shows her pretty teeth and growls.  I think Davy sometimes sidles up very close just to get a rise out of her.  You can almost see him laughing as he dances away.    Dingo, 10 y/o labx. is very appropriate in teaching Davy some restraint in play and though Dingo doesn't play often, he will play with Davy.  Then there is Kooper, 1 y/o Boston.  Davy and Kooper are great playmates.  Tug, tear up the toy, chase each other, peek-a-boo through the outside steps.  I think that they will have even more fun when it is warm enough and less snow so that they can play and really run in the yard together. Davy would love to play outside for long periods of time, but Kooper does not like the cold at all.  Davy definitely inherited that refrigerator gene...he loves to play out in the snow even if no one else wants to be out.  I sometimes have to insist that he come in as some days are just too cold for much outside play. It has been interesting to watch the difference in play styles.  Dingo and Davy play a lot of quiet mouthing each others faces games, very quiet play.  Davy and Kooper play much rougher, noisier, teethier games. 

Davy has mastered the 13 steps up/down from the 2nd floor bedroom...good thing as my back was beginning to protest from carrying him up and down.  He is very good about play awhile, chill awhile.  His favorite place to chill is anywhere I am. He lays under my chair at the table where I have my laptop though he is about to outgrow that spot.  He loves it when I sit on the floor and he can come and sprawl on his side across my lap for me to rub his tummy. Davy settles well in a crate, on my lap, on the floor by my chair.  The only place we had trouble is the ex-pen I brought into the living room to contain him when no one can watch him.  I didn't want to just use the crate as I wanted him to have more room.  Davy had other ideas.  He doesn't mind the crate at all, but oh does he fuss and carry on about being in the ex-pen.  The ex-pen is now folded up and put away...we watch him or use the crate.  Oh well, I tried and we have our living room space back again.
Davy is also learning manners.  He sits to get his collar/lead on.  He sits at the gate between the kitchen and the living room until I open it.  He runs into his kitchen crate and sits until the food bowl is hung on the crate side.  All of these I have taught by saying/doing nothing but waiting.  I wait, he sits, magic things happen.  The sits have become automatic now without me having to wait.  Amazing how much a puppy can learn when a human just keeps their mouth shut!

I like the fuzzy puppy look so have not done a lot of grooming yet. I have cut Davy's nails twice now with very little fuss from him.  We work in short minute or two spurts with getting him use to the pin brush.  Eventually I will add more time and get more serious about the grooming, but for now the fuzzy puppy look is so in!

This puppy is amazing.  He housebroke with no problem.  He has on/off switches which I can for the most part signal to him...he can all out play, or he can quietly chill with the dogs/humans.  He is good in a crate and picks up manners quickly.  He plays appropriately or doesn't play depending on which of the other household dogs he is with.  He is a thinker and a sweet and gentle dog.  I sometimes think he has an old soul.  I keep waiting for the other shoe to fall and him to become a little terror...but then again, I have waited for 16 years for the other shoe to fall with my daughter and she is still a darn near perfect kid....near perfect kid, near perfect dog...who could ask for anything more?

               Taken 1/29/11.   Davy (11 wks. old) and Dingo.  Wonder what they lost in there? 

Taken 1/29/11.  Davy-11 weeks old.  Davy stands or sits on this top deck step a lot.  He gazes off into the distance looking like he is lost in thought most of the time.  Probably plotting world domination.

Taken 1/29/11.  Davy and Kooper playing tug.  For the first couple weeks Davy would lay down and Kooper would pull Davy across the floor...not anymore!

                                 Taken 2/5/11.  Big snow mountains are too much fun!

Taken 2/5/11.  Davy-12 weeks old.  This was taken as Davy got his first look at the chickens.  He didn't quite know what to think about them, so stood and pondered for awhile.  He did eventually go up to

the gate, but quickly got bored with that and headed back out to the snow mountains.