Sherlock is 13 months old

Sherlock turned 13 months old today. He weighs 11.8lbs.

Noah is 7 months old

Noah turned 7 months old today. He weighs 22.6lbs and is 17" tall. His growth in terms of weight has slowed considerably. He used to average 4-5lbs a month and now it's around 2lbs a month. His legs should be finished growing, but he should fill out a bit. Given this growth curve, I think he will mature to a healthy weight of around 28 - 30lbs. As you can see from the picture, he is considerable taller, wider, and heavier than Sherlock now.

Some interesting behaviors have surfaced over the last month. I think Noah is going through his second fear period. He will freeze or run away when he notices something out of place or sees something he has never seen before. Thankfully, he only reacts to objects and is still as friendly towards people and other dogs as he has always been. The second behavior which I do not want to escalate is that he has started to resource guard from other dogs. Primarily, every time someone brings a toy into the dog run, if Noah ends up with it, once the other dogs start to chase him, he gets very tense and growls if they persist. I have been working on a drop it command. He tends to respond better to "out" than "drop it", so I am going to work on "out". I want to get to the point where I can yell "out" from across the park and have him drop whatever he has. Additionally, solidifying a better recall will help in these situations as well. He is still submissive towards adult dogs and continues to either flop on his back or lick at a dog's face. I think his guarding behavior stems from insecurity, so continuing with training will be great to strengthen his self-confidence. All in all, it's been a great month for Noah and he is maturing into a great dog.

Manhattan, the new Seattle?

It has been raining at least every other day for the past few weeks. I have never been to Seattle, but now I don't think I need to go. Here are a few pictures that I took tonight - I have always had a raincoat for Sherlock. If he gets slightly wet, he looks like a drowned rat, not to mention that he hates water. When we went hiking in February, he would find alternate routes to go in order to avoid stepping in a stream. I started to feel a little bit bad about not providing a raincoat for Noah, so I finally gave in and bought one for him. As you can see, Sherlock hates water while Noah loves it.

Sherlock graduates from Intermediate Level II

Sherlock graduated from Intermediate Level II at Who's Walking Who Dog Training in New York City. The class decided to have a working class instead of a graduation. Over the past 6 weeks, we have worked hard on a better understanding of basic commands. We have been practicing sit, down, and stand at a distance, using both verbal and nonverbal commands. My trainers have told me that dogs don't generalize so asking the dog to sit while he's by your feet is different from asking your dog to sit while he is 10 feet away. During the last two classes, we practiced heeling in and out of a line of chairs while other people were sitting in the chairs with their dogs on their left. We practiced giving sit/down/stand at a distance while sitting in chairs and while our backs were turned to the dogs. All of these are great exercises that I will have to continue on my own.

I am moving at the end of this month to Delaware, where I grew up. I have located what I think will be a good training school to continue training. I am excited to begin agility with Sherlock. I really don't know much about the sport, but I have a feeling that he will excel at this. Not only does he really enjoy working for me, but he has the drive to do what I ask, he's confident and decently quick and agile for his size. He may not be the fastest dog of his size, but where I think we will have an advantage is the fact that I already have off-leash control and that his focus on me is excellent.

During this off time between moving to DE and starting up new classes, I will have a few weeks to try and focus on a few things that I have been neglecting...

Goals for Sherlock:
1. Sit from a 20 foot distance
2. Stand using verbal command
3. Tighter heel and finishes
4. 3 minute sit-stay
5. 5 minute out of sight stay

Goals for Noah:
1. Understanding of finish left and right
2. Sit from a 20 foot distance
3. Stand using verbal command
4. Good foundation of heel
5. 3 minute sit-stay
6. 5 minute out of sight stay

I would like both of my dogs to pass the CGC test by the end of August. The biggest problem will be getting them to do the out of sight stay with a stranger for 3 minutes. Lots to work on.

Crate Training

I have recently begun to reevaluate the use of crates. I never technically crate trained Sherlock, but when he was under 5 months old, I would try to keep him in his crate for at least 15 minutes a day. In the summer, he actually preferred to sleep in his crate (as long as the door was open) because it was so hot. The only time Noah ever spent in a crate was during his flight from South Carolina to New York. At some point when he was around 4 months old, I tried to put him into his crate and he was incredibly scared. I realize now that it was disservice to both of them to not crate train. A crate should be a dog's safe haven. Any time the dog is stressed, it needs a place to go and relax without worrying about being bothered. So in the past week, I have slowly begun to reintroduce the crate to Sherlock. Last night, I began teaching him the command "crate". I threw a treat into the crate, pointed with my finger towards the crate while giving the command "crate". Once Sherlock retrieved the treat and was inside the crate, I signaled him down. Wow, what a fun game for him! Even Noah wanted to join the fun. However, he doesn't fit into any of the three crates I have. So I will need to buy a big crate for Noah.

Last night, I couldn't find Sherlock on his dog bed (where he normally naps) and I actually found him sleeping in his crate! Today has also been a pleasant surprise. Three times now, he has gone into his crate to nap. I think he likes the security of a crate and it's also a place where Noah cannot bother him. I can't wait to get a crate for Noah. I probably will not make them sleep in their crates, but I do want them both to be comfortable traveling in a crate, especially if I plan to compete with them. I am going to look into Susan Garrett's Crate Games DVD.

Spring 2009 Updates

I have been incredibly negligent with my postings! A lot to catch up on....

SHERLOCK:
4/17/09: Sherlock turns 1!!!
I threw a dog pawty for Sherlock and two of his friends from the park came over. I made dog cupcakes for the pups and a cake for the humans.

Here is the recipe that I used:

Dog Cupcakes with Carrots and Oats

Ingredients:
Muffins:
* 2 cups shredded carrots
* 3 eggs
* 1/2 cup applesauce, unsweetened
* 2 tsp. cinnamon
* 1/2 cup rolled oats
* 3 cups whole wheat flour
Frosting:
* 8 oz. low fat cream cheese, softened
* 1/4 cup applesauce, unsweetened
Instructions:
Muffins:
1. Preheat oven to 350° F
2. Lightly spray cups of muffin tin.
3. In a large bowl stir together the carrots, eggs and applesauce. Set aside.
4. In another medium bowl whisk together the cinnamon, oats and flour.
5. Slowly mix in the dry ingredients. Stir until well blended.
6. Spoon mixture into muffin tin. The dough will be thick, so you may wet your fingers to press the dough into place.
7. The dog cupcake will not rise very much, so do not worry about over filling the muffin tin.
8. Bake for 25 minutes.
9. Cool completely on a wire rack before frosting or serving.
Frosting:
1. Blend both ingredients with a hand mixer until well blended.
2. Spoon into a pastry bag for easy decorating.




3/23/09: Sherlock graduated from intermediate obedience level I. The trainers scored it out of 200 points and Sherlock passed with a score of 178. He failed to complete a full 1 minute sit-stay (-20) and sat a bit wide on the call to heel (-2). Despite these flaws, he did great! He's a very intelligent dog and of course it was my fault for not practicing these things more with him. I'm very proud of him.



NOAH:
Noah has entered the teenage phase. He no longer looks like a little puppy. At his 6 month mark, he weighed 20lbs and 17" tall! He is more confident, but still looks to Sherlock when he is unsure. He picks up on obedience commands quickly, but likes to weigh his options and takes longer to respond than Sherlock. He still receives a lot of compliments on his unique look - mainly due to his red coloring. Sometimes Sherlock gets jealous!

4/29/09: Noah graduated from intermediate obedience level I. He scored a 190 out of 200 points. Our biggest issue is still heeling. I haven't spent enough time practicing on heel. Normally I keep Noah in a loose leash walk and very infrequently ask for a tight heel. I will be taking a break from group classes for a month or so to work exclusively on what we have already learned and most importantly, to work on heel, before we begin more advanced training.


3/21/09: Noah graduated from basic obedience at Who's Walking Who Dog Training in New York City. He and a King Charles Cavalier were the only dogs to show up to graduation. Noah passed with flying colors. He was mellow and calm and did everything that I asked of him.