she is playing dead.....

What a great day!  Lennon was a very good, but tired, girl this morning.  She rested up a bit to be ready before we took off to play with the other 3 locals from this litter.  Cara, Duncan, and Munroe were already at the animal hospital when we got there.  They were loose and allowed to romp for a bit before playing musical humans to school sit, down, and stand.  A couple of shots at "come" and the game was over.  She did an AWESOME job.  I love my little prodigy.  She really is one special puppy!  Tonight, she is one especially tired puppy.

Houdini Jr. strikes....and strikes again

Monday morning started out as typical as any since Lennon came home.  We romped and played, had breakfast (albeit not the same breakfast!), let the chickens out, then gathered her up to put her in her ex-pen for the day.  Well, Dad came down about lunchtime to feed her and let her out to potty and play.  She met him at the back door, having escaped the ex-pen in a fashion that would make her grandmother proud.  He stayed and played with her for about 3 hours, then put her back in the ex-pen about an hour before I was going to get home.  Imagine my surprise when I opened the door and there sat a little black puppy patiently waiting on me to come inside!  Lennon spent practically the whole day loose in the house, unsupervised.  There was barely any evidence that a 10 week old puppy spent the day loose in the house.  All of her toys had migrated from the living room to under the kitchen table, and there was a tiny wet spot on the rug in the kitchen.  She rearranged my VERY EXPENSIVE work boots, but didn’t leave a single mark on them.  How is that for luck and a good puppy?!?!?!  No more ex-pen for her!  She is now being crated when alone.

Monday evening was a blast.  We had some errands to run and ended up at Kathy’s house so she could play with her big brother Munroe.  They raced and ripped, bit and growled, and rolled and tumbled for about an hour and a half.  Mary and I took them down to the creek to play in the water, which was quite a treat.  She had a great time.  The ride home was a quiet one, she slept the entire way.  I had to carry her in and out of the house for the rest of the evening.  If allowed she would have just slept and peed in her sleep I think.  Even this morning she spent her time curled up on a blanket, too tired for her breakfast. 

She bounced right back...

The weekend has been a good one for Lennon, after the ickyness passed.  She did very well with going outside for potty breaks.  She even learned about the steps off the front deck.  After torrential downpours (much needed) for two days, our back yard is a bit of a mud wrestling pit.  I really need to do something about that.  We were going to put down grass seed, but the hardware store was out.  Their seed is on sale, $20 less than Lowes at the moment. 

Little Miss Priss had a big time entertaining company.  Saturday night Frankie and Andrea came over to see her.  Sunday she got to play with Michael and Danielle.  What a happy puppy.  She now goes twisting and wiggling up to David every time he comes in.  She is learning to retrieve for other people, although she gets a bit sticky and will grab the toy and come to me instead.  She managed to jump up on the couch twice this morning.  Looks like its time to re-evaluate where we put the out of bounds items (such as the laptop).   Anyhow-possibly off to play with her brother Munroe tonight as we have some business in Bedford to tend to. 

Staying in the crate in the bedroom is no issue now and we will be phasing out the puppy room this week.  Now-hopefully she will be a little better about coming to dad since she is realizing that strangers are just kibble dispensers in disguise! 

 

Tough day for my loving puppy...

Today was a stretch for my little black princess.  She woke up feeling bad, and got considerably worse throughout the morning.  Everyone knows when a lab refuses food there is something brewing.  But after sleeping and resting most of the day (and worrying me senseless) she seemed to perk up towards the end of the day.  She was able to eat a almost all of her lunch, but I had to feed it to her kibble by kibble. By dinner time she was perky and had a great appetite.  She ate her kibble and yogurt ravenously for the last two meals of the day.  She has really become a big fan of David in the last day or so.  All of that shyness and hesitation in the beginning seems to be well behind us now.  Puppy class got postponed for another week, which should give us a week to get over this little speed bump and resume training.  She is most definitely a retriever, it is by far her favorite thing to do. 

So...she really is the most wonderful little "person"

I'm sitting here typing this and getting the look of "what ya doing mom?"  I just want to pick her up and hug her and wonder just how she has gotten so big so quickly!  I think we're going to have to up the food a little, she is growing faster than I can remember anyone growing.  She has a couple favorite toys, one is a purple bear the other is a blue bunny that is half as big as she is.  The bear is a great retrieving toy, while the bunny just gets dragged from one end of the house to the other.  She has already decided that the rubbery squeaker toys aren't nearly as nice as the cloth ones, but she hasn't figured out how to de-squeak them, YET!  Nights in the crate are no trouble, and days in the puppy room aren't either.  She never ceases to amaze me, and reminds me so much of Willow-Dini's sister.  This puppy was meant for me, but she is starting to think David is ok too!

What to do with all this early morning energy?!?!

Its been a good morning.  Lennon enjoyed her first night in the bedroom instead of the puppy room, crated of course...I'm not that stupid!  She is doing so well.  True to what Kathy said, everybody deserves to be hero-worshipped by something.  She is stuck to me like glue.  She was better last night and at least willing to play with David some.  Auntie Mary came over and acted like a hotdog dispenser for a while and Lennon decided she might be ok after all.

She is lying in the floor chewing on a rawhide, FINALLY! She has insisted on chewing on me all morning. We're still trying to learn that arms and toes are not chew toys, and faces and hands for that matter.

Hopefully YouTube will hurry up and process the video I just posted.  We had a great time with retrieving the green alien this morning.

Also-we haven't had an accident in the house since yesterday morning and that was my fault....I let her out of the puppy room and she was trying so hard to make it outside.  We got almost through the kitchen and she couldn't wait anymore.  I should have carried her out, its a long trip from the puppy room to the door when you have a tiny but very full bladder!

A photo of the snatch and turn:

Finally-youtube success!

Another day in paradise

Life on the hill is excellent today.  Lennon did a little better for my dad.  Dad was thrilled with the new ladies.  The Barred Plymouth Rock ladies that is, day 1 and we have 3 fresh eggs.  After they settle down from the move they should be back to full production.  Well-Mary just got here, and we have a chicken with a damaged beak to fix...before and after pics to come!

First day of "mom goes to work"

Today has been a toughie for Ms. Lennon.  She had to go into her pen this morning so I could go to work.  My dad came and spent 3 hours with her in the middle of the day, but she isn't so sure she likes him a whole lot.  She really is "my" puppy and really not too much of a fan of David or my dad, unfortunately neither of them really understand training a dog.  I guess we're going to have to turn them into hot dog dispensers and hope for the best.  Even though her exercise pen was tied to two cinderblocks she still did some rearranging, she likes to play tug o war with the tarp and slide the pen around.  Anyhow-we're off to pick up our chickens in about 30 minutes...hopefully she'll enjoy the ride.  We worked on sit with early supper, and a little down, but she isn't understanding that one as well.  She is a sitting machine grabs her treat and returns to sit before you can get your thumb back on the clicker.

What a weekend!

Lennon went ALL NIGHT without a peep! AND without an accident! she thinks peeing outside is the best thing ever and a heck of an easy way to win hotdogs! Hand zen is going well, and she is a sitting machine. Took her all of about 30 seconds to realize that volunteering a sit in front of me would get her a C&T. I'd toss the hotdog about a foot from her, she'd gobble it off the floor, turn to look at me and slam that little but back on the floor! Today she gets to start hearing what its called. I'm so proud of the little black prodigy. Also-we got the chicken house and run done yesterday. Such a great weekend!

Oh what a day...

The girls had a great day today.  The gate is complete, so the yard is safe.  There is water in their kiddie pool, they are fed and romping in the yard before going to bed tonight.  In fact, I'm updating this while sitting in a folding chair in the dog yard.  Someone's little sister is not being cooperative and putting off doing her "business."  The girls went for a nice walk in the woods at hunting camp and spent a great deal of the afternoon riding in the car.  Yesterday they were a noisy bunch, but today the whining was kept to a minimum.  Hand Zen went a little better this morning, hot dogs are much better payment than kibble.  Albus finally settled down enough to be able to play with them today.  They even showed him what the kiddie pool was for.  He will step all 4 feet in, but there is no inclination to lay down yet.  Tomorrow we start on the chicken yard, and finishing up the temporary chicken house...   

Lennon is Home!

Lennon came home yesterday, with little sister Carabean for company until Sunday.  She is already doing GREAT!  We have had to put a little bitter apple on the furniture legs though!  She has learned that click=treat.  She has also decided that hot dog bites are the holy grail!