Leggy and Spooky

Switch is 16 weeks old. Oh my gosh, his legs just keep growing. The body, not so much. His muzzle took a definite growth spurt this week too. His ears are coming up and I can see "prick" ears on occasion. I will probably put Tear Mender on them in the next week or so. I hate having to fool with his ears, but I don't want prick ears.  He still has relatively sparse coat.

I spent the weekend judging in Hamilton, OH or somewhere near there. Switch was with me but he had to keep a low profile. He spent every day crated during the show hours. I felt somewhat guilty, but a lot of people work 8 or 9 hour days and "puppy" is crated. At least he was able to be with me on the trip instead of farmed out. Three of his litter mates were at the show. I did not get to visit with them since my judging duties kept me busy.   I got only a quick peek at them. Revel and CoMotion are similar in size and both have more coat than Switch. Lux is much larger than the others and has a LOT of coat. Too early to tell anything about final size, but I am happy that I have a smaller pup right now. I am still taking Switch out ever 15-20 minutes. I was on the third floor of the hotel and carrying a larger puppy up and down the steps to potty would have been very difficult. He is very good about asking to go potty at home but I don't know that he would do so at the hotel.

On the way home from Ohio, I stopped at the Drawbridge Inn in Ft. Mitchell, KY. I wanted to let the dogs run a bit and I know that site from numerous Nationals. It is treed with a lot of grass. We ended up down on what used to be tennis courts. It is now seeded and grassed and made for a nice place for the dogs to romp. It actually feels like you are in a bowl which is why I took the dogs down there. I knew that Switch and Boost could run without any danger. The trees were losing leaves and it was windy.   The wind blowing through the trees made a weird sound like hissing. Plus, there was an old basketball court down there and the nets were blowing in the wind. Switch was fine in the open field, but when we reached the old basketball court he hated it. He was freaked by the nets waving above him. Acted like the goals were monsters looming over him. I guess he is getting ready to enter the fear period.  In fact,  I am sure of it. Last night on his final potty trip, he got spooked by the Screech owl hooting. I have to admit that the owl does sound spooky.

I did NO training during the weekend. I was too exhausted after judging all day. The dogs and I just rolled around on the bed and watched TV.

Switch at 14 weeks

13 Weeks and Counting

I was in Alpharetta for an AKC trial with Rip and Stuff. Took Switch and Boost to the arena numerous times to socialize. Switch is going through a very leggy stage. All legs and short back. And that tail! It drags the ground all the time. This weekend, his ears took on a life of their own. Sometimes up. Sometimes down. Sometimes out. Sometimes inside out. I am amazed at all the configurations they can manage in a short time.  Still not planning to do much to his ears. But if he starts to look like a donkey, I might have to change my mind.

This trip, we had an upstairs room and the arena was also up a flight of stairs. Switch is a fast little stair stepper. Much faster than me going up. And going down, he ends with a nice leaping flourish.Yikes, I hope his contacts don't end up with that flourish leap. He met and played with a red BC pup that was the same age. The pup was from Hidden Valley kennels in Utah. She was shy and overwhelmed by the arena and people so their play was kind of subdued.  Funny, but that owner is also a long-time Dobe person.  I also saw another Dobe person with a young BC. I figure that pup to be 4 or 5 months old, but did not get a chance to talk to her about it. One afternoon, we went to the potty area at the hotel and met another 5 month old BC from Ignited kennel. They played a little, but the older dog in that pack was not too nice. I aborted that play session because of the adult bitch that kept acting ugly. 

It rained on Saturday night. Little Mr. Switch does not want to go out in the rain. I finally had to crate him for the night because he opted not to pee in the rain. Today, he found a nice GSD bitch to play with. Well, he played and she sniffed him. She allowed him to play with her ball and when she nudged to get it back, Switch was a little possessive. I have seen that possessive streak a few times. I am going to keep a close eye on it. For a puppy to challenge an adult, there is a lot of presence and it could lead to problems down the road. Better to recognize it and be proactive.

Had fun with him this week. I will be very happy when he is 100% potty trained. Accidents are fewer but still occur when he gets distracted by Boost.  Our training sessions are still dotted with multiple potty breaks. And oh my gosh! He is so handsome. :)

A Second Play Date

A Second Play Date

Here is the lazy way to blog in two places.  Click the link to see the blog about Switch and Tug. They had a great time on their play date.