My first big boy walk and Penny

Every time Stephen and Kathy have taken me for a walk, they drive me in the moving crate to a park and the pack practices migrating there. Today, I showed them that I could walk along the roadside and Wait OK Heel before crossing a road. When we got to the park I met Penny, a Golden Retriever and her packmate Linda.

Then on the way back from the park I met Matt Llewellyn and Jamie. He is the lead real estate broker with Renaissance Real Estate and he has a dog named Bear. I didn't get to meet Bear this time, but maybe another time. When we got home the whole pack lapped up some water. Now, if you will excuse me, I need to take a nap.

The morning routine - Stephen on Yogi's pillow

Rottweilers like to be on a schedule. Stephen and Kathy both set their smartphone chewtoys to 5:55 in the morning so I can be outside to go potty by 6:00 AM. If I do my business at the potty properly I get my supplement right then.

When we get back in, Kathy brings out the husband, (why do they call a pillow a husband), and the pack lays down quiet.

Sometimes Stephen will lay down with me for an hour or two before he goes to play on his computer chewtoy.

Auburn Lakeland PetPros and Fetch Fail

Stephen and Kathy took me to PetPros today. One Tuesdays, senior citizens like Stephen get a discount. It was rainy and I was hoping for an indoor activity. The humans at PetPros were very nice to me and gave me not one but two treats, (or was it twenty, I still do not know how to count).

The first fieldtrip to Banker's Spit Stephen saw a retriever with a Chuckit chewtoy in his mouth. He was walking along the trail and looked supremely happy with the chewtoy. Retrievers are such simpletons. Any dog should know if you have a chewtoy in your mouth, you can't taste all the lovely things on the path like pinecones, rocks, and scented grass.

Stephen wants me to do something with the Chuckit. He throws it across the room. I dutifully walk over to it and bite it for a second. Now what do you want me to do? Then Kathy tried. Humans are slow to learn. I think they should just table this game till a trainer helps them.

Ellis Cove Trail and the Epic Fail

Today was really pretty and Stephen and Kathy decided to take leave and go to a nice place.  Trey drove the moving crate and pretty quickly we were in Olympia.

There were some great smells and I met some really wonderful canines. Unfortunately, the first that I met, three seconds passed before I wrote down his name and I forgot. Maybe his pack will see this post and tell me in a comment. He was nice though.

We walked a bit further down the trail. Because I am a large breed, the vet and my breeder told Stephen and Kathy not to let me go down stairs. That is the epic fail, the whole trail is stairs. I LOVED it! One one section of the trail there was a bit of sunlight and Kathy took a picture of Stephen and me.

We went a bit farther and I met Baylor and Nayla. They were a bit bigger than me, but they were awesome dogs.

On the way back I saw a bear climbing a tree. Well, maybe he was climbing. I think he was scared of me, because he was totally still. 

The plan had been to end the day with a dog friendly restaurant, but they were closed on Mondays. We tried to find another, but according to a waiter in a restaurant with outdoor tables, dogs are not allowed in restaurants in Thurston county.

Banker's Spit and Cooper

Today was a lovely day. It reminded me of Spokane. It was sunny, 25 degrees celsius, and Mount Ranier didn't even have a lenticular cloud covering it.  It was past my kibble time, but as a pack we decided to eat late and spend some more time outside. I can smell the moisture moving in so this was a wonderful choice. We went to the private Banker's Spit park.

I got to meet Cooper, a Pit Bull/Lab cross. He is a really good swimmer and he can retrieve, but he ate his frisbee. His pack seemed really nice too.

Pritchard Island Beach

After we left Seattle Stephen used his phone to query the Doogle search engine to find a park nearby so we could have a picnic lunch. The pack decided to visit Pritchard Island Beach Park on Lake Washington. It is a nice place and has some great smells. Picnics are more fun for me now, since I am a big puppy and can put my paws on the table and see what is going on. They told me I would be able to do this way back in littergarten, but when I do my pack barks Off and No Table Surfing; kill joys. I didn't know they knew about table surfing, just wait till they aren't around to bark at me, mua ha ha ha.

Goldmine Design and Alloy the White Dog

As we were leaving Pike Place, Kathy wanted to stop by Goldmine Design. They helped her make a custom ring a little over a year ago. According to the Doggle search engine, they were closed, however when we got there, Mary was hard at work. They enforce the Wait command with a buzzer. Mary was kind enough to come over and visit with us.

Before, we left, they let me Sniff Alloy in Real Life. He does have a faint scent, but it is more like human hands than a proper dog scent. He also didn't move a muscle. Maybe he is training to be a Swiss Guard.

When we got back outside Stephen took a picture of their window with his iPhone chewtoy. There is a dog that looks a lot like me trapped in that window; can you see him?

Pike Place - Chick magnet?

We went to Pike Place today. Wow it was crowded. There was no much noise, so many people, so many smells. My favorite sidewalk spots were Beecher's Cheese and the fish market. Those were some awesome smells. Every twenty feet we walked, somebody would ask to pet me; I bet I lost half of my puppy fur. If we go back I am going to bring my water bowl and label it Donations. Stephen and Trey, (the human in the plaid shirt below who is Kathy's brother), just shook their heads and said, "chick magnet". I am not sure I understand. There were a lot of girls wanting to pet me, but no chickens.

Manners unleashed; puppies can't have Rocky Road

Wow, a day after we had our first visitor, Andrew from Olympic Elevators, we have a new visitor. Chris is from Manners Unleashed in Puyallup. We just got finished. 90 minutes of treat after treat. Chris is different from any other human I have met, she doesn't always look at me. She looks away and I have to figure out why, what she wants me to do. Her goal is to help me get to a point where I do not have to be on lead all the time.

I was hoping Chris had come to help me understand something. Let me illustrate, I am sure you remember I Love Rocky Road. If you decide to watch the video, play close attention at about 1:31 into the music video. See that guy biting Wierd Al's leg? That is probably because he is a herding breed. According to the AKC, "All breeds share the fabulous ability to control the movement of other animals. The vast majority of Herding dogs, as household pets, never cross paths with a farm animal. Nevertheless, pure instinct prompts many of these dogs to gently herd their owners, especially the children of the family."

Where was I? Oh yes, Rottweilers are herding dogs. The problem is that Stephen and Kathy are defective. They don't want to be herded. I usually give Stephen a break, he is always off doing his own thing anyway. But not Kathy, she spends a lot of time with me, which means she needs me. The worst thing is they sometimes leave the room. Since, I really can't speak human I need to find a way to make them understand. I used the Google Canine to Human translator to find a catchy tune that makes my point. Stephen is a sucker for a catchy tune. Maybe Karma Chameleon will work?

Desert loving in your eyes all the way
If I listened to your commands would you say

I'm a pup without conviction
I'm a pup who doesn't know
How to sell a contradiction
You come and go
You come and go
What I'm looking for is consistency

[Chorus:]
Karma Karma Karma Karma Karma Chameleon
You come and go
You come and go
Loving would be easy if your colors were like my dream
Yellow, grey and blue
Yellow, grey and blue

I only speak a few human words at 14 weeks
And you used to be so sweet I heard you say

That our bonding is pack behavior
When we cling our love is strong
When you go you're gone forever
Or at least three seconds
At least three seconds

[Chorus]

Every day is like survival
I'm herding you, not a rival
Every day is like survival
I'm herding you, not my rival

I'm a pup without conviction
I'm a pup who doesn't know
How to sell a contradiction
You come and go
You come and go
What I'm looking for is consistency

Riding a purple dinosaur at Jenks Park

Jenks Park is a private park near where we live. Stephen and Kathy would prefer to walk there, but they do not understand how important it is to sniff everything and put lots of things in my mouth. So we took the truck.

It is on Lake Tapps and has a boat ramp and docks to launch smaller boats. Stephen promised to take me out in a boat after my next round of shots. We walked around and sniffed and played with my yellow frisbee. I still can't catch it, (help Indy help). But I can run over to it. Twice I even brought it back, it is important to keep the humans hoping.

Then we went to the playground to sniff some more and ride the purple dinosaur.

What dog doesn't like Digg? Andrew the elevator man.

The pack usually gets up at 6 AM so I can go outside to my bathroom and avoid a crate mishap. All in all things are going pretty well in that department. Then there is quiet time, where we read or reflect. We don't really start rolling till 8 or 9.

Stephen and Kathy don't usually let me have a paper book, but it is a good chance to check my PeeMail. It is amazing how much junk ends up in an inbox. But there is one mail that shows up that I like, it is called Digg. What puppy would not adore a mail service called Digg? I was born to dig!

Today they had a story about a Hip Hop classic from 1984 called Rockit by Herbie Hancock. I listened to it a couple of times on Snouttube. I love the combination of synthetic sounds and the analog scratching of an LP. Hey, I want to scratch an LP, (or maybe chew it).

I am not supposed to climb stairs until I am six months old and my bones are ready. So, we use the elevator. It is just like a crate, but has two doors for going in and two doors for going out. Between the doors and the motor it makes funny, but predictable noises. Two of the lights burned out and Andrew, the elevator man, came to check it out. This was our first visitor to the lair. Until now, the pack has just been Stephen, Kathy and me. Will he come back? He took off his boots when he came inside. There have never been boots on the landing since I have been in my forever home. He smells different than Stephen and Kathy. He smells different than me.

Sniffing Monty in Real Life

Leadin is cool, email is cool, but if you really want to get to know a puppy, there is no substitute for meeting in real life.

Kathy signed Stephen up to prepare some kibbles to take to Tim and Sue. I know he made a MEATloaf, but didn't share it with me. I smelled the lemony seafood stew, I haven't experienced all the benthic organisms, but I know salmon. My training treats are salmon. But they didn't share it with me.

But all is forgiven. I got to meet Monty today. We romped and played and puppy wrestled. After I got home I was exhausted. I slept for two hours, which is much longer than three seconds. Monty was a bit winded as well, but he was content to watch some television. He says he has learned a few human words. It is almost as good as Bitesetta Stone language software and you don't have the hassles of endless upgrades and licensing issues.

Banker's Spit and Freya

Stephen and Kathy try to take me somewhere every day. They call it socialization. Today, the weather was great, reminded me of my birthplace in Spokane. We went to a park called Banker's Spit. All of the land is fenced in, only the lake edge does not have fencing and dogs can go off lead.

Stephen and Kathy did not let me go off lead; something about my not having mastered the Come command. That's silly, Stephen slaps his leg twice, I come and get a treat, I think I have it mastered quite enough thank you.

Anyway, I met a Basset Hound that was off lead named Freya. She is four years old.

Stephen what is evolution?

I read about evolution on the Internet, but it doesn't make any sense to me. If I, or my children evolve we will not meet the AKC conformity tests, then we won't be Rottweilers any more. That doesn't sound good. Stephen, "Is evolution real"?

Stephen replied, "Well Yogi, if you ever read that I am the product of evolving from pond scum four billion years ago, no".

I thought to myself, four billion years ago, twenty eight billion in dog years and infinity in puppy years. That is a long time.

Stephen continued, "but you have to believe in natural selection, in fact you are a product of natural selection.". Remember Mora from the last two play times? She is an American Cocker Spaniel. She is in a class of dogs known as the sporting group. Her breed was recognized by the AKC in 1878. When and if she breeds, if no other dog can clear the fence in her yard, she will mate with another healthy American Cocker Spaniel. Her offspring will be American Cocker Spaniel's. If they are not, if they are different than they should be they should not be allowed to breed.

Stephen, "It is always that way"? "Heck no Yogi. Remember Moto from Petco Puppy Playtime yesterday? He is the product of mating a Boston Terrier with a Labrador Retriever. Some people call that result a Boston Labrador or Boston Lab."

"So Rottweilers have always existed?" "No Yogi. Your distant forefathers included Mastiffs. Your breed was developed as a herding dog, or drover and you came into existence about the time Jesus Christ walked the earth. You can also be an excellent search and rescue dog."

Hmmm, these are really deep thoughts for a 13 week old puppy. Even harder than doing four commands yesterday at Puppygarten.

"OK, OK, Stephen. If Rottweilers were selected to be herding dogs at some point in history. Where did dogs come from?"

"From wolves", Stephen relied. "But wolves and humans do not necessarily make good pack mates. Nobody knows when, nobody knows where, but somehow mankind became dogs' best friends. Here in North America, they have found people and dogs buried together."

"I still don't understand Stephen, do you believe in evolution"?

"Yogi, when I repeat myself it is not because I am senile, if you mean that I am the product of evolving from pond scum four billion years ago, no". If you mean a virus or bacteria can adapt to changing conditions including life saving drugs for humans and canines, yes. One of your ancestors had the gene for "long coat". Long coat means you cannot pass the conformity test for Rottweilers. They can't be bred. What you are talking about is a breed that is a variation on Rottweilers and variations happen all the time and not just in canines. Let's listen to two variations of the same song. Tiger Rag is one of the jazz standards, the equivalent of a Labrador Retriever in the Jazz music world. One of the most famous jazz musicians, Pete Fountain, played it on the Lawrence Welk show?"

Lawrence Welk?

Yeah, Yogi, like Geritol.

Geritol?

Nevermind Yogi, here is a variation on Tiger Rag by Charlie Parker, another famous musician.

Stephen, I like that one better.

Me too Yogi, it has a bit of bee bop mixed in to the variation.

I still don't understand evolution though.

I don't understand evolution either Yogi.

Victor falls - Youth pastors killed

The best route from our lair to the falls was Angeline Dr. That reminded me of the
Young family that was killed as they drove under an overpass that was undergoing construction. Josh and Vanessa Ellis were youth pastors at the EastPointe Foursquare Church in Puyallup, near Bonney Lake. They held a candlelight vigil and invited the first responders. Some of the youth got together and did a chalk art memorial.

I am not sure why they call it Victor falls. Stephen and Kathy said there was 70' of water falling like a really big shower, but I was to short to see over the cliff. They say it as series of falls, first three small ones then a big one. Maybe when Trey comes to visit he can help me get down to see it, I want to see the big shower.

There were a lot of new smells including a flower I had never smelled before. Kathy told me it was a Trillium and she had never seen one in the wild before. What is the wild?

Puppygarten IV and Puppy Playtime

Today we went to the Bonney Lake Petco for Puppygarten. We reviewed Stand and then had some more practice with Wait, then introduced Lay Down, (or Lay), and Come. I am good at Come, but I having trouble with Lay Down. For all my life with Stephen and Kathy, my best move to get a treat was a Sit. For commands, two of them new, was a lot for my 13 week old brain. When class was over, I took a nap in my mobile crate while Stephen and Kathy got lunch at Red Robin.

Then we went back for Puppy Playtime, I was so woozy when they got me out of my mobile crate, I just wanted to lay down in the parking lot. When we got into Petco, I met Moto, (short for motorcross because that is how his pack rolls).

He seemed shy and he was very small at ten weeks old, but he was actually the fiercest puppy at Playtime. Mora can back from last week and Lucy from my class came for the first time. She has been very shy, but she came out and mingled in the second half of playtime.

Re: PeeMail from Indy and Sniffipedia

Indy,

Kathy bought me a new yes, yes, chewtoy. It is a frisbee. Indy, I know you are really good at it. I can't seem to put it all together. If you get up this way, can you give me a few pointers? Good dog in advance. Y.

= = =

I had a good day yesterday, no crate mishaps. I did go poop in the driveway and Stephen and Kathy did not give me a treat. What's up with that? They seem to want me to go in my bathroom. I need to see if I can lay The Big Chill DVD chewtoy out for them to play. It has the famous Jeff Goldblum as Michael quote: "That's the great thing about the outdoors, it's one giant toilet." In addition to that sage piece of advice, that is one of my favorite soundtracks.

Stephen is trying to find a copy of the last printed copy of the Encyclopedia Britannica chewtoy. He is concerned that you cannot believe everything you read on the Internet. Really? With a peer edit system like Sniffipedia what could go wrong? But when he fell asleep, I jumped up on his computer. Hmmm. The Washington Post has a story about hoaxes, one of which, Jar’Edo Wens, an Australian god, lasted ten years. 

Linkedin Office Dog

Just saw a post on LeadIn. "If this gets 1000 likes, we can get an office dog!"

Stephen said he will give you a like as soon as I post this.

Fieldtrip to the kitchen

Stephen and Kathy put me in my upstairs crate while they eat. After they are finished, Stephen let me out. I still had my lead on, but no one was holding it so I could drag it around.

They let me into the kitchen. The last time I went there it didn't go so well. I got distressed when Kathy left the room and went pee pee, when Stephen was cleaning it up, I pooped. The pack does not really like it when you poop in the dining room. So for seven thousand years, (also known as a week), I couldn't visit the kitchen.

But tonight I was in the kitchen. Oh how glorious. Stephen cooks, people tell him he is a good boy cook. Don't know if that is true, might just be some more of that Petco psychopuppybabble positive reinforcement. But what is true is that he is fast in a kitchen, he was trained in school to cook, must be like puppygarten. However, when he worked for Bill Kertsos at the General Store in Fredericksburg, everything he had been taught was negated. Bill didn't mind if half the food ended on the floor as long as you were turning orders at the speed of a sighthound. If you are a puppy then Bill is the most awesome guy in the puppyverse.

Puppy's are not supposed to eat people food, so Kathy swept the kitchen. She used the broom dustpan combination, but I was in my crate so I couldn't bump the dustpan with my head and race her for the forbidden taste.

There wasn't much food, but there smells were there; oh such heavenly smells. Stephen was putting up the food and Kathy was washing dishes and I got to see the refrigerator with the door opened. Oh, that is an inspiring sight. Then he closed it and THERE WAS A DOG TRAPPED IN THE DOOR.

Rules and Regulations

Stephen here:

We are still patient, Yogi is making progress. And we are not as sleep deprived as we were two weeks ago. He even sleeps sometimes his rubber squeaky chicken watches over him. I bought that two weeks ago at Wal-Mart, I am amazed it is still going.

My 2nd favorite Rufus Wainwright song is Rules and regulations, now granted Yogi "dented" the lyrics, (good thing they weren't a chewtoy).

How does Yogi feel about the rules and regulations with his forever pack? You will have to ask him, but all I know it is the only way for humans who speak English to communicate and partner with a K9 friend who, amazingly enough, speaks canine, is to be very consistent. And part of that is establishing the rules and regulations. And that is two sided.

Kathy and I have agreed that when Yogi is in his crate with the door open, we will not reach inside. Unless he comes when bidden that is his private space. The most important rule on Yogi's side is to never, ever, bite a human unless another human is threatening Stephen or Kathy and even then, it is better to err on the side of just making noise; lots of noise, (and this puppy has a set of pipes).
===========================================
Rules and Regulations Lyrics by Rufus Wainwright, slightly modified by Yogi

I will never be as cute as you

According to the Board of Human Relations

I will never fly as high as you

According to the Board of Public Citations

These are just the rules and regulations

Of the birds and the bees, the earth and the trees

Not to mention God, not to mention God, all powerful

All my little life I've wanted to roam

Even if it was just inside my own home

And maybe chew some furniture

Then one little day I chanced to look back

Saw you sittin' there, not paying attention to me

These are just the rules and regulations

Of the birds and the bees, the earth, and the trees

Not to mention God, not to mention God, all powerful

These are just the rules and regulations

Yeah, these are just the rules and regulations

And I like every one, yes, I like every one

Must follow them, except when I don't, I am a puppy

Consistency and the booster shot

Curses. Crated again. One minute we were having cuddle time in Stephen and Kathy's bedroom and the next minute I was in the crate. I am innocent, honest I am. I want my lawyer.

I think my trip to the vet for my booster shot may have had something to do with it. I don't know what came over me, but I was in terror the whole time. Other than getting my temperature checked, it wasn't so bad.

Yes, I will admit to a small Puppy Surge, but that is perfectly normal. And yes, I will admit when I nipped Kathy I drew blood, but that is her fault. She has really thin skin.

Stephen just wandered over to his iPod and pulled down a song called Hot n Cold from iBark. Yogi, he said, "Is this song about you or about me?"

You change your mind
Like a girl changes clothes.
Yeah, you, packmate
Like a bitch, er uh dame
I would know
And you over think
Always speak
Caninelly

You should know
That we're so good for you
We're your forever pack

Cause you're hot then you're cold
You're yes then you're no
You're in then you're out
You sit then you're down
You're wrong when it's right
It's black and it's white
You nip, we break up
You lick, we make up
You don't really wanna stay, no
But you don't really wanna heel-o

We used to be
Just like pack
So in sync
The same energy
Now we're looking for a new trainer
One that makes house calls
Now you're mildly irritating

You should know that
You're gonna change
It just takes years in puppy time

Someone call the doctor
Got a case of a love bipolar
Stuck on a roller coaster
And I can't get off this ride

You change your mind
Like a girl changes clothes

Cause you're hot then you're cold
You're yes then you're no
You're in then you're out
You're stand then you're down
You're wrong when it's right
It's black and it's white, or maybe just grey
You nip, we break up
You lick, we make up

Sunday

Stephen and Kathy are getting ready to go. I know the pattern by now. They don't know that I can tell when they don't plan to take me. They take me out to my potty, and look at their watches. Dogs understand body language very well. Next comes the books covered with chewtoy protectors. I knew it! It is Sunday and they are going to church. Worse, they will leave in the evening for small group. Ever had a song you just can't get out of your head? It's that song the Dames and Sires used to sing. . .


Sunday, Sunday, so sad for me me
Sunday morning, it was all I hoped it would be
Oh, Sunday morning, Sunday morning couldn't guarantee
That Sunday evening, they would still be here with me
Sunday, Sunday, can't trust that day
Sunday, Sunday, sometimes it just turns out that way
Oh, Sunday morning, you gave me no warning of what was to be
Oh, Sunday, Sunday, how could you leave and not take me?
Every other day, every other day
Every other day of the week is fine, yeah
But whenever Sunday comes
But whenever Sunday comes
You can find me howling all of the time
Sunday, Sunday, so good to me
Sunday morning, it was all I hoped it would be
But Sunday morning, Sunday morning couldn't guarantee
That Sunday evening, you would still be here with me

Puppygarten III & Puppy Play Time

Last night was not so good, it would have been six nights in a row without a crate mishap. Today was crazy weather wise. For most of the day, half the sky was blue, half was grey, (I know, dogs can see blue and yellow and all the other colors are a shade of grey). When I went out for my morning constitutional balls of ice fell down on me. They weren't that big and would have made nice ice chewtoys, but Kathy pulled me away, she didn't me eating off the floor of my bathroom.

Puppygarten was a little less scary than last week. It was the same class, Lucy and Halle and we all sat in the same seats as last time. They took us on a field trip, we got to go through the aisles at Petco and practice the Leaveit command. Then it was back to school. Today we learned the stand command. Nikki said that if I show that was the most important command of all.

Then Stephen and Kathy went to Red Robbin to eat. They left me in my crate which was actually OK this time, I was tired after Puppygarten, so I took a nap.

Now that I am 12 weeks old, I can go to Puppy Play Time at Petco. It starts at 3:00. At first there three of us, Donnie, a schnauzer who is very energetic, (I finally understand what a party animal is).

I also met Mora, a cocker spaniel, who was a cute little thing, (La Mora means the blackberry in Spanish).

A little later Axel showed up with his pack. He is a five month old German Shepard with a great disposition. I was scared of him at first, but when he and Donnie were Sniffing In Real Life, (SIRL), I started nipping at Axel's tail.

At first he just looked confused. But then he would chase me. He is too tall to run under the chairs, but I could. Eventually we would meet up on the floor. Of course we all know I am dominant, but in the spirit of playtime, I let him put his paw on me once or twice.

Honest Kathy, I haven’t put anything in my mouth! Especially not a Salal salad!

Stephen just smiled and played a song from his iTunes collection, but it is also on YouTube.

His hair is black and mahogany
His tongue a sweet surprise
His paws are never cold
He's got Bette Davis eyes
He'll turn the music on you
You won't have to think twice
He's pure as New York snow
He’s got Bette Davis eyes

And He'll tease you
He'll unease you
All the better just to please you
He's precocious and He knows just
What it takes to make a packmate blush
He got Greta Garbo stand off sighs
He's got Bette Davis eyes

He'll let you take him to his forever home
It whets his appetite
He'll lay down on his doggie bed
He got Bette Davis eyes
He'll take a tumble on you
Roll you like you were dice
Until you come out blue
He's got Bette Davis eyes

He'll expose you, when he snows you
Off your feet with the kibble crumbs he throws you
He's ferocious and He knows just
What it takes to make a pro blush
All the pups think he's fun at puppy play time
He's got Bette Davis eyes

And he'll tease you
He'll unease you
All the better just to please ya
He's precocious, and He knows just
What it takes to make a packmate blush
All the pups think he's fun at puppy play time
He's got Bette Davis eyes

He'll tease you
He'll unease you
Just to please ya
He's got Bette Davis eyes
He'll expose you, when He snows you
He knows ya
He's got Bette Davis eyes

PeeMail from Indy

Yogi, you are sooooo cute.  Thanks for keeping us updated!  Here are two of me. My name is Indy.  I am doing so well.  Mike, Liz and Max say I am almost ready for my live in period with the trainer, (what's a live in period?).

It's only two weeks, but not sure what I will do without my pack.  Mike says he has have never seen a dog so keen on toys.  Frisbee is my absolute favorite, followed by anything made by ChuckIt!

Where was I, its been more than three seconds and I can't remember? Oh yes, pictures of me. We had just had an awesome walk on the beach on the east coast of Marrowstone Island.  The second is from a dinghy ride in Port Ludlow.

Well Yogi, let's keep in touch and I am looking forward to sniffing you in real life, (SIRL for the social media challenged readers).

The sun is out, can we go outside - Celtic Woman - I have my own chair

Kathy escaped from the office to take a shower. Stephen is engrossed with his Macpro chewtoy. He said he was doing something with LeadIn. But he did say after he invited all of the high performing GIAC test takers, he would do some work outside. What is a GIAC?

He did put on some music for me, called Celtic Woman, maybe we can go to their concert, June 4, in Spokane and I can see my breeder at King Rottweilers. I can even help drive. I have my license. I keep it on my collar and it is shaped like a bone. What was I talking about? It took me more than three seconds to think about Spokane. Oh yes, Celtic Woman. Here is a sampler from YouTube, my favorite song was The Voice, by Eimear Quinn. However, I must say the harmony with Danny Boy was amazing. Stephen had the sound turned down since he had to concentrate, but I have really keen hearing. The best rhythm was Níl Sé'n Lá, that is an amazing drummer, they even let him have a solo, (I hate being solo), but Mo Ghile Mear has two drummers. I have to go, it is my lunch time.

OK, I am back! Wow, guess what, there are now three chairs for the back yard. Two are on the Lanai, the other is in my bathroom. I have my own chair!

Angels in gas stations - Storm Large

Stephen and Kathy have a nasty habit, they run a robot vacuum cleaner they call Roomba constantly. It bumped my crate and that jarred my nerves.

Kathy picked me up and held me in my easy chair, (she thinks the chair is hers, but I shall prevail after I customize it a bit). Stephen put on some music, my favorite song of the set was Angels In Gas Stations by Storm Large. Stephen doesn't really appreciate Storm, but he has that song on his iPod chewtoy, he was thankful it seemed to calm me down. He has two other songs, one that is a duet called Happy days and Hallelujah. But I like Gas Stations the best.

The song is kind of confusing. What is an angel? What is a Gas Station? Why are Gas Stations in Angels?  I did find a poem on the Internet about entertaining angels, but I still do not understand. And who is God and how is He every damn where? I just turned 12 weeks old today, I should understand all this stuff. Well gotta go. I told Kathy I need to go potty, but I really want another shot at chewing the house down.

Puppy surge

Stephen here: please join me in a happy 12 weeks old salute to Yogi!

We have had our first 24 hour period without a potty mishap which is really good news. I was wondering if we were going to have the dubious distinction of being the biggest customer for Lysol Wipes on planet earth.

There are a few issues related to having a puppy still to address after potty training. One is that he has started eating our house; literally. He mostly focuses on one of the pillars for the backyard lanai. I guess we are going to have to move the "Go Potty" area further away from the house.

The craziest thing is "puppy surge". It is kind of like the "power surge" women sometimes experience in menopause, (puppy paws? puppypause?), but with a puppy. We will be playing with him, or just cuddling him, when this strange demon possessed look appears in his eyes and he becomes destructo dog. He nips, he wiggles, he becomes impossible to deal with. I know they say never use your crate to discipline a dog and I agree. But we have to use it as a fallout shelter. We do not raise our voices, or strike him in any way, but the crate seems to be the only thing that works. We have tried the "leadership", (formerly known as dominance), method of holding his muzzle, but invariably as soon as we let him go, he is back on the warpath.

Oh well, we still love him, want him to be in our pack, but jeepers, I hope this is a phase.

Another rainy day and Switched on Bach

The whole pack was having a hard day getting started today. Regardless we did. Kathy made Stephen coffee. Stephen graded multiple student papers and answered their questions. Stephen made his laptop play music, (I like music).

Today, he started with J.S. Bach: "Switched-On" Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G major, BWV 1048, 1. Allegro (Synthesized). I played along with my blue spikey squeaky ball.

I like synthesized music. Stanford University's most lucrative patent came from Dr. John Chowning in its music department. Over the course of two decades, (patents are only good for 20 people years, which is an infinite number of puppy years), his discovery, "frequency modulation synthesis," made the school more than $25 million in licensing fees. I sound really smart don't I? Don't take it too seriously, I read it on the Internet. The info came from a site called Digg and I love to dig. Oh do I love to dig. I dug up one of Kathy's Oregon grapes just yesterday.

Puppygarten class #2 Leaveit

Lucy and Halle arrived just as Kathy was bringing me in from the parking lot. First Nikki, our teacher, had us demonstrate Look and Sit. Then she started to explain Leaveit, which is a safety command. There are things that poisonous to dogs and even more things that are poisonous to puppies. There are also things that are valuable and should not be used as chewtoys like the family silver, china, or an embroidered Chinese had knotted rug.

Nikki had two systems for Leaveit and she broke the first system into three phases. The discerning canine will note that is three times the treats.

In phase one, she taught Stephen and Kathy to take the Leaveit object, t(he object the pack does not want me to touch or chew), in one hand and put a treat, (yum), in the other hand. They put the two hands at my eye level so I could see them well. Naturally, I went for the treat, and they said "Good Leaveit". Shoots pack, I can do this all day long.

In phase two, Kathy put the Leavit object in one hand and hide the hand with the treat behind her back. If I didn't go for the object, she rewarded me with the treat and said, "Good Leaveit".

In phase three, Stephen put the object on the floor. It was a Carob cookie that looks for all the world like a Chocolate chip cookie. It was really hard to resist, in fact I did not do very well. This is when Nikki taught the second system.

She put that lovely cookie on the floor and when I tried to get it she would block me with her legs and made jokes about dog soccer whatever that means. Eventually I got frustrated and sat, (if you are in Puppygarten, sit is a good bet to score a treat). As soon as I sat, Nikki said "Good Leaveit" and gave me a treat.

Harley and his forever home

We got to Petco early so we could pick up a few things and Stephen and Kathy were hoping I would tinkle in the parking lot and we met Harley and his pack. They had picked him up and were filling a shopping basket full with puppy necessities. Harley is eight weeks old, but he has been eating solid food for a week.

Blue Ball

It is easy to like my spikey blue ball
It is a yes, yes, chew toy
It is allowed to be with me in my crate
It is easy to grab with my teeth
It squeaks even louder than my chicken

PeeMail from Jack

Those three little words, "You've got mail", they can really brighten a day. Today I received an email from Jack. He is a service dog that lives in Arizona. Kathy says that is the ultimate achievement for a K9. It takes about 2,000 hours of training to be ready to certify. I hope I can be a service dog some day, but for now it would be great to be past crate mishaps.

Leap Year

I had another crate mishap early in the morning. We are having visitors today, so Kathy cleaned me up. I love my coconut puppy shampoo. I love getting toweled dry even better.

Mara came by to visit. She and Kathy were talking and Stephen came by to take me outside. Two lovely ladies, I had no intention of leaving my crate.

Stephen here. This evening I had to do a SANS NewsBites and a review of a student project. When that was done, I wanted to watch a movie, Leap Year. Yogi watched it a little, (I think), but he was much more interested in us.

Go around again dogs!

Stephen was reading Go, Dog. Go! to me. My second favorite line was the dog on the ferris wheel saying, "Go around again!". Then he put me down from his lap.

Sometimes, I get an energy surge and start jumping around, or try to get a tasty bite of a shoe or the bottom of a pants leg. I have to be careful, too much and I am back in the clink, I mean crate.

That's what happened, I went after Stephen's shoe, but he just started spinning his office chair. I ran as fast as I could, but could not catch that shoe, eventually I got tired and lay me down to sleep. Stephen said, "Go around again!" I just looked at him with tired eyes. So he picked me back up, Kathy came in and saw us and snapped a picture with Stephen's phone.

Kathy told me that when Stephen used to work at Fredericksburg pottery, all the potters worked from office chairs. They would roll over to get a lump of clay, center it, (kind of tricky when your chair has wheels), when they finished with the pot, roll over to put it on the drying rack. "No fair", I thought, "Stephen has had a lot of practice with those chairs".