Opps, I did it again

Wahoo! I found a very tasty hat in the guest bedroom. Jenn's sister Kim is here and someone left the door open to her room. I snuffled through all her clothes and things. I just had to check it all out.

It was so nice of her to leave the hat there just for me. Jenn was on her computer upstairs and I guess she thought I was sleeping. Ha! I was very quiet and carried the hat to my favorite spot downstairs next to the air vent. I got to chomp and drool all over the hat and then fall asleep on top of it. What fun!!

Then Jenn found me. Opps! She traded me the hat for a nice treat and then she gave me one of my own toys to chew on. She didn't get upset with me but with herself for not watching me and for not making sure the door to the guest room was closed.

Now she has to buy her sister a new hat and hopes that Kim doesn't find out that I drooled all over her clothes in her suitcase. Geez, that's kind of embarrassing for a dog trainer!

So what's my penchant for putting things in my mouth lately? Jenn says that I'm going through secondary chewing phase. This happens when puppies are in adolescence. We need to chew when we are bored, frustrated, or just whenever the need strikes. It's so important to continue to provide supervision and proper chews.

For more information about chewing phases and how to help your puppy, check out this article on dogstardaily.com.

I got an award!!

My friend Niamh, has given my blog the Arte y Pico Award! I am so excited. Thanks so much and here are the details about the award:

"This award was created to be given to bloggers who inspire others with their creativity and their talents, also for contributing to the blogging world in whatever medium. When you receive this award it is considered a special honor."

The RULES!You have to pick FIVE blogs that you consider deserve this award for creativity, design, interesting material and also contribute to the blogger community regardless of language. Each award has to have the name of the author and a link to his/her blog to be visited. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given him/her the award itself.

Award winners and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of the "Arte-y Pico" blog so everyone will know the origin of the award.

I've chosen the following blogs to receive the Arte y Pico Award:

My cousin Cookie, who lives in Portugal with her person Helena, shares a blog called Casa Calado.

My friend Garret, who I met in Puppy class, has his own blog called Garret Swirled.

My friend Ayla has a blog about her life too called A Dog's Life.

Thanks Niamh!!

Whoops! Dude, I am so busted.

Well, I got a little bored last night. Since Jenn and Eric were asleep, I decided to entertain myself my chewing the bottom of the bamboo chair. It felt really good in my teeth. But Eric woke up shortly after he heard the grinding noise I was making and he put me back in my crate. Jenn says that I've gotten a little too much freedom sleeping outside the crate at night. So back in the crate for sleeping at night. Bummer! And they sprayed the chair with that nasty "bitter" apple stuff. yuck. Jenn says she'll let me try again soon and earn my freedom back. Cool.

My new hobby-Agility

Jenn started taking me to Pre-Agility at the Animal Protection Society in Mebane. It's a beginner class for dogs that want to learn Agility.

Agility is an exciting dog sport where dogs and handlers run a course of obstacles. There are tunnels, jumps, an A-frame, dog walk, and a pause table. Now you can't run around all crazy. You have to go to each piece of equipment that your person tells you to. And you have to learn how to do each piece of equipment properly, so you don't get hurt.

Our instructor, Dean, teaches the dogs a new piece of equipment each week and teaches our handlers how to direct us on the course. Then we get to practice doing combinations of jump, tunnel, pause table, and we just learned the A-Frame.

Jenn says the hardest thing is keeping up with me and keeping me calm while I wait for my turn to go, go, go. It's frustrating for me to watch other dogs running. She tries to keep me calm, but I'm still a puppy don't you know. Jenn says that Agility will help me learn confidence, self-control and will channel my energy.

What to learn more about agility? Click here for a great page on Wikipedia.

I'm 10 months old!

I can't believe it! I'm 10 months old today. I feel more mature already. I got a new box project to celebrate and it is huge and exciting. The box is way bigger than me and Jenn said I could rip it up, up, up! She says that she finds it very funny that out of all the toys and such she has spent money on, my favorite thing in the whole world is still a plain cardboard box. Gotta go and work on my new box project. Oh wait, let me pose for you first.

Alpha Roll vs. Jelly Roll

What is an alpha roll anyway? Is it like a jelly roll? Yum! Jenn says it is not that type of roll.

She says that some people believed that physically disciplining a puppy by rolling a them onto their back and holding them down until they submit or shaking them by the scruff of the neck was a way for humans to show they were "alpha" or dominant. This was supposedly based on one observation of captive wolves, but it became popular a long time ago, before people understood how dogs learn and interpret information.

The real deal is that in any wolf pack, the leaders, which are a male and female breeding pair, are the LEAST violent. Violence within the pack is reserved for the lower members. By being outwarding violent, one shows their lack of leadership.

And the other very important things is that I'm not a wolf. And although I do share some DNA with those guys, I don't act like them or think like them anyway.

I'm glad that the only roll is our house is the jelly roll. Yum.

Want to learn more? Read this article by Lisa Mullinax, CPDT: Click here

Quiet Puppy Vs. Not!

I've developed quite a deep, seal-like bark. ORT!! ORT!!

Some puppies bark to get attention, or because they are frustrated or scared. Different barks mean different things in different situations.

I bark when I'm bored or when I want to start some doggy play action and also when I see deer outside the fence in the yard. I like barking to chase the deer away the most. Jenn says that I've saved her plants and vegetables many, many times and I'm a good puppy because I quiet down as soon as the deer are gone. At that point, my job is done.

My other barks are not so well received. I try really hard to use my bark so that someone will pay attention or play with me. Mostly, I get the cold shoulder. But when I'm quiet and calm, I get everything I want. Jenn says that as long as she and Eric are consistent and don't give me any attention for barking directly at them, that I will learn that barking doesn't work as a way to get attention. Being calm and quiet seems to do the trick.

The exception to the barking rules is when I have to do my business outside. Jenn and Eric have done a good job listening and they can tell the difference in my barking when I have to go, go, go.

Do you think your puppy barks too much or wonder what the barks mean? Check out this article on barking.

Big Sandy visits Brogden Middle School

Big Sandy visited Brogden Middle School and spent time with nice students attending an English as a second language summer camp. She was asked to show off some tricks and brought along a video of her sheepherding adventures to demonstrate that a three legged dog can do just about anything. After the visit, each student from the class sent Big Sandy a handwritten thank you note. She felt very special and thought that was so kind of them. The notes said she was intelligent, sweet, and invited her to come back again. Maybe I can go too next time!