Another class

Cajsa and I had our third practice class for the Community Canine Good Citizenship on Thursday. We all met at the only building in town with an elevator! Small towns are unique for sure!

We continued our practice of properly going through doors. There are three options to teach your dog; sending them ahead of you through a doorway, having them wait and then calling them through after you or having them in the “heel” position and going through next to you.

We practiced sits and downs in the main hallway as customers for the local bank came in and out and passed the dogs.

We practiced leaving our dog and going out of site (into the bathroom) to make sure they weren’t anxious about us leaving them.

We also went into the bank and stood at one of the counters and pretending like we were doing business. The dogs must calming lay down or sit next to the handler.

Then it was time to head upstairs via the elevator, two dogs at a time. Once everyone was upstairs we practiced more things like leave your dog, walking the long hallway and calling them to us. Of course, the teacher always likes to leave a toy or stinky lunchmeat in the way as a distraction.

There was more practice of sit/stay and down/stay in tighter quarters, with alternate dogs doing one or the other.

And instead of taking the elevator back down, we did the stairs. Dogs should walk slightly behind or next to the handler and not pull them down the stairs!

We waited for everyone back in the main lobby.

Then we headed out to Main Street and walked down the sidewalk to a little outdoor cafe area. Here we practiced sitting at the table with our dog next to us and eating a snack. Sometime dogs want to beg or sniff at the food but they need to stay on the dog or sit quietly near or under the table. Learning good manners in public is important.

This week we’ll finish up class with our test. Hopefully all the dogs will pass!

 

 

Posted in adults, dogs, training | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Saturday snapshots

Puppies and chickens and a rabbit today 😉

The chickens love when I bring fresh picked grass Good morning, Fiver!

Fiver loves his salad from the garden. This morning it was carrots, Swiss chard and grass.

What’s that mom? They were curious and not bothered by the vibrating clippers.

Having fun with the sound app.

Anyone for tic-tac-toe?Who is under the slide?Can you see the tiny teeth of the puppy under the slide?😂Looks like Miss Panther is our sneaky hide-away pup!

So much puppy fun!

 

Posted in animals, Puppies | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

A lot of miles

I’ve been putting in a lot of miles lately! Besides doing puppy duty (and when I’m gone hubby steps in), the past week or so has been extra busy.

A week ago today, my friend and I drove south of Spokane to pick up my new horse. I’d love to share his story sometime if anyone is interested in hearing about a horse instead of dogs on the blog.

Then Sunday was puppy delivery day as I mentioned in a previous blog post.

Tuesday was another puppy delivery day as I handed off Babe to her new mom at the airport.

Wednesday we had the vet appointment for the Aussiedoodles.

Thursday was dog class again with Cajsa. (more on that later)

Today, I’m home but have an appointment with the horse masseuse for the new equine.

Sunday starts again with another trip to Spokane for Aussiedoodle delivery. And then another trip on Tuesday for one puppy who couldn’t make it Sunday.

There are still two sweet, Aussiedooodles girls available too so there may be more trips in the works for me!

Happy weekend everyone!❤️

Posted in Cavapoo | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

At the vet

Yesterday we were at the vet once again for puppy check-ups! With seven fuzzy puppies I used two crate to give them plenty of room. And since Sweetie is still here she  went along for the ride too.

Sometimes pups settle right down in the vehicle and other times they fuss a bit. So if there is fussing, I turn on the classical music and used a bit of Rowe Casa Organics Doggie Calming Spray to settle them down. It’s pretty normal for pups to fuss on their first car ride and then quiet down.

Once we arrived at the vet and checked in, I had time to get them out of the crates for a quick potty break before we went inside to see the doctor.

I took one crate at a time in while the others waited in the truck. The weather was nice, so no worries about anyone getting too warm.

First it was Panther’s turn.

Then it was Lynx’s turn

Sweetie supervising from the crate

Then Miss Bear got her exam.

Then it was Wolfie’s turn.

Rabbit was next.

Then our other boy, Bison had his turn.

And last but not least, it was Fox’s turn.

They were all so good for their check-ups and passed with flying colors!❤️

Posted in Aussiedoodle, vet | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

All ready!

Well, almost ready. The Aussiedoodles (oops!) litter are going in for their vet appointment today and then they are ready for their forever homes. We have four matched and still three available (two girls, one boy; Panther, Rabbit & Bison)

We’ll be meeting some of their families this next Sunday, September 24th in Spokane for delivery.

I’m hoping to get the last three matched up with loving families soon as I’d like to go visit my dad before winter. In fact, my SIL in California found a home for one of the pups, so now I “have” to go south to deliver at least one puppy! That will be fun!

The pups are using litter boxes to potty and also learning to go outside for potty breaks. They are learning to eat and sleep in their crate. They are all just adorable, playful, happy, and cuddly puppies. I think our last three available pups will end up in the 18-25 lb range. Of course, that is just a guess.

They will all have a thorough exam by our vet, their first Parvo/distemper vaccination, been dewormed and had a stool sample checked by our vet. Each pup will go home with a goody bag of puppy items and all the paperwork and health records it needs.

In the meantime we’ll continue to love and work with them. Today they’re playing inside as it’s cold and drizzly outside. But they’ve been having a blast having playtime in the yard too with the big dogs wandering around their play area and keeping them safe.

“Panther” (yellow/female) **AVAILABLE**

“Bison” (red/male) **AVAILABLE**

“Bear” (orange/female)

“Lynx” (blue/female)

“Wolf” (green/male)

“Fox” (pink/female)

“Rabbit” (purple/female) **AVAILABLE**

 

And for those of you who might be new here, the puppy parents are our fence-climbing mini Poodle, Sasha and our handsome farm dog, mini purebred Aussie, Cody (who was very happy to meet up with Sasha when she climbed the fence in full-blown heat! Such a naughty girl!) Both parents are health/genetic tested. Sasha is 12 lbs and Cody is 29lbs. and as I said, this was NOT a planned breeding.

💝💙

Posted in Aussiedoodle, Available, eight weeks, Puppies | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A fun update!

I recently received a fun update from our friend Katharine and her amazing dog, Toby!

Today was Toby’s first day of visiting at the hospital. He wagged his tail for a full hour and a half responding to all the people telling him how sweet he is! Below he is with Audrey, a nurse in the infusion clinic, who knew Karisto and Philia. (Actually I’ve known Audrey since she was a little girl at Neskowin Valley School!)

Toby surpassed my expectations for his calmness and eagerness to interact with people. I was so glad to be back doing what I LOVE after a full 3.5 year hiatus.

Shadow was very good while we were gone and kept Goody company. He was very curious sniffing trying to figure out  just where Toby had been all morning.

We’re so grateful that Pet Partners came into existence so that we can carry out this fun “work.!”

XXOO

Katharine”

❤️

Posted in adults, Cavapoo, update | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Farewells

Yesterday was puppy delivery day for Sally’s pups. Although we only had two go home yesterday; Honey and Sweetie. Babe’s mom couldn’t come until Tuesday. Although I like when the whole litter goes home at the same time, sometimes we have to make some adjustments to the delivery schedule. And Lovey is staying until next Sunday for a special reason (more on that later).

But before puppies went home, I met with our “Pinewood Retirement Home” crew; friends who are like family. They have adopted several of our retiring Cavaliers over the years and on this day they were taking my sweet Joy home. As much as it pained me to let her go, I knew she would have the best life with them. And I can only manage so many dogs at my house. They also have our Rosie who retired a couple years ago, and Joy’s littermate sister, Glory. I had asked them to bring Glory with them so Joy would feel more comfortable.

https://youtube.com/shorts/3Cu0tIADwNQ?si=8QrkTSMRN_I3Nlj4

Joy was so excited to see her sister!

As hard as it is too say good-bye, Joy will be so, so loved!

Honey’s parents drove all the way from Canada to pick up their little darling, who they are thinking of continuing to call Honey.

They were so please to finally meet and hold her. She will have a great life with them.

Sweetie’s mom fly in from across the country, but wasn’t able to get in until around noon, so Sweetie and I met her at the terminal.

Waiting for her mom.

I had to catch the first look when her mom saw Miss Sweetie.

https://youtube.com/shorts/NNuly9g9V_I?si=2gdNcZzH6bm2-xNc

I’m pretty sure it was love at first sight!

One of the ticket agents came over to meet Sweetie too.

Happy life, puppies!❤️

Posted in adults, Cavalier, Cavapoo, delivery day | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Saturday leftovers

I took so many puppy pictures yesterday that I couldn’t put them all in one post. So you get to see more of the fun today.

I set up a new play area out in the front/side yard where the big dogs hang out. And decided to let all the puppies romp and play together. They’re all similar in size, and even though Sally’s pups are a week older, I figured it was time to integrate them together.

They had so much fun!

They even had lunch outside before they went in and the humans headed to grandma’s house for their lunch.

Honey kind of stands out in this crowd 😉

Posted in Aussiedoodle, Cavapoo, eight weeks, F1b Cavapoo, Puppies, puppy enrichment, puppy socializing, seven weeks | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Saturday snapshots

Just some snippets from our day around the farm. Hope you enjoy!

We have a new horse. It’s a long story that I’ll share sometime. He’s a rescue❤️

The regulars 😉This is the first time I’ve seen him lay down and really relax. Can you see the Robin?

The wild birds And the domestic one

I wish we had grass but we just don’t have enough water for such luxuries Made fresh bread yesterday for lunch at grandma’s today

Cody that is for the puppies!A new play spotFull of puppies now!💙

Posted in animals, Aussiedoodle, Cavapoo | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Another class

Cajsa and I went to our second Community CGC class in town on Thursday. We met at our local North 40 with the other class members. The instructor always starts out with a warm-up session of just the basics to begin with. We did that in the parking lot before going into the store.

Then we practiced going through the automatic door a couple different ways; making the dogs wait and coming after us, having them “heel” beside us or them through ahead of the handler.

Once we got finished with practicing by the doors, we went into the store where we did sit/stays, down/stays and heeling in different parts of the store. The most tempting session was in front of the dog treats area. And when the teacher set a bowl of stinky cheese in the walkway and the dogs had to walk past it and leave it alone.

Of course, shoppers saw all the pretty dogs and wanted to pet them. Which was great practice for the dogs.

The guy in the biker jacket had a cute little dog in a sling pouch that he carried in front of him. It barked when it saw all the dogs. So our teacher asked if he would walk down the line of dogs. Another practice session of “leave it” if they were tempted to get up and see the little dog.

We practiced a lot of sit and downs with distractions. One was up at the busy check-out counter which is by the entrance. And to add to the distraction, the teacher kept going back in forth with carts, squeaky toys and such.

https://youtube.com/shorts/lzw6TQS3-bQ?si=yyIJW00Kpu2U1FSo

https://youtube.com/shorts/Onp0QzBJSi8?si=BRlk0PKvb1DxAZYs

Once we finished at that store we headed down the road to a local motel for more practice. First we headed into the lobby, went up to the counter and pretended to check in at the counter while our dog sat quietly next to us. Then into the sitting area, where our dogs were supposed to sit or lay quietly at our feet.

Next we headed outside and up to the second floor for more some “sit/wait/recall with distractions” pracitce

In this exercise you tell your dog to sit, give the “wait”command go a distance and call your dog to you. (“Wait” is different than “stay”. “Wait” means sit here where I left you until I call or release you to move or come to me. “Stay” means do not move, I will come back and give you the release command. I use “okay!”) Of course the teacher added a couple distractions that the dogs were supposed to pass as they went to their owners after being called. Cajsa doesn’t always want to “wait” and sometimes gets up to follow me. So we had to practice a couple times until she got it right. Her recall is spot on though, as she zooms straight to me and could care less about the distractions (usually).

https://youtube.com/shorts/faRffz9bkPI?si=lJKWadGNOK9ySvvo

https://youtube.com/shorts/sD__QaCP0oU?si=oTRVxtV7DH4oCGVJ

Once we worked on this for a while, we headed down close to the road to do more exercises near all the traffic.

Class finished and we crossed the busy road and went back to our vehicles at North 40.

“Really mom! You have a take a picture of me in the bathroom?”

 

Posted in dog, training | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment