Horrible Stinging Beasties!

My yard has been invaded by horrible stinging beasties called Yellow Jackets. They are small wasps that fly and sting and sting and sting. Yellow Jackets live in a nest underground and are very protective and can become aggressive in the summertime if you disturb them. Eric discovered a nest in our garden when he was picking cucumbers. A nest opening looks like this.
Here is their nest underneath Jenn and Eric's garden in my yard. This is right near where I like to play with my red ball! Jenn was worried the the Yellow Jackets would come after me or Bernie or Big Sandy.
Eric took care of the nest last night while the Yellow Jackets were sleeping. He poured something in their hole and quickly covered it up. I had to spend extra time inside today to make sure any angry nasties didn't return. I certainly hope they are gone! Jenn says that Yellow Jackets aren't all bad and they are beneficial if the nest isn't near people and pets.

Hot Puppy!

Ug, this weather. I am one hot puppy. This humidity really knocks out my energy. My new favorite places in the house are near the variety of air vents. The cold air comes out and feels so good. I can either put my body on top of the vent like this...
or sit so the cool air blows on my chest...
or on my paws. Very nice.
I also like to press my butt up against the toilet. Ahhh.I'll be so happy for some cooler weather so I can get back to my regular schedule of activities. Jenn is very careful that I don't get overheated outside. We take lots of breaks and she always has some water for me, even on our short walks. We also have to keep careful watch on Big Sandy, who is 15. She really feels the heat even more than me. Be especially careful with your older dogs when it gets hot outside. Make sure you keep your dogs from overheating by limiting their activity during the hottest parts of the day, always provide lots of fresh water, and never, ever leave your dog in a hot car. Check out this article on heat related illnesses:

Heat Related Illnesses in Dogs

My visit to Cary Academy

Today I visited Cary Academy's All About Animals summer camp. I had so much fun showing off my tricks and wiggling my butt. Jenn showed my Drill Team videos and all the kids wanted to pet me.

First, I showed off my talents with the Dog Brick puzzle.Then we talked about using positive reinforcement methods to train dogs and everyone wanted to do some clicker training with me. Jenn brought along a cardboard box to show how you can shape behaviors using the clicker and treats. Then we worked on roll over with the ClikStik. This is a handy little gadget that is a target stick with a clicker built in developed by dog trainer Terry Ryan.This was quite fun and then I got more pets from everyone. I think it was very nice to get all the attention and I get to go back next week and meet another group of campers.

My new friend Buster the kitty

Jenn and Eric took me over to Aron and Alexandra's house last night. I met a new friend Buster the kitty. He is so interesting and fascinating! I have never been so close to a kitty before. He even came right up to and rubbed his face onto mine. How cool is that?
I've got to tell you that secretly I was hoping that Buster might run from me and we could play chase. But Jenn says that kitties are not for chasing. I must be kind and gentle to kitties or they will not want to be my friends. So we played the sniff each other's butts game instead.
So can cats and dogs really get along? That depends on the individual cat and dog. Puppies need to be raised from a young age to respect kitties and other pets and to learn that chasing them is not appropriate. Kitties need to feel safe around dogs so they will not run (which can flip on the chase/prey instinct in some dogs).

Want to learn more about cats and dogs getting along? Here are some great articles to help you do smooth introductions between your felines and canines.

Cat Chasing
Making Peace Between Cats and Dogs
Dogs and Cats Can Live in Perfect Harmony In the Home, if Introduced the Right Way

Cheap Fun with the Bucket Beast!

I am the Bucket Beast!
Show me a plastic bucket with a few inches of water and I'll show you the most fun ever and how I become a scary monster. First, I run around as a warm up. Then I put my feet in the bucket.Then I shove my head inside the bucket and dig with my feet to slosh it all around.Behold the beast!Don't be scared-it's just me.Jenn thinks it is very funny that I have like a gazillion toys and yet my favorite things to play with are old cardboard boxes and plastic buckets. Puppies don't need you to spend big bucks to have big fun with them. You can have puppy fun on the cheap any old time. If all else fails, get silly!

I'm a Therapy Dog!

I took my certification test today with Therapy Dogs International and I passed! It was a very exciting day all around.

I started my day by visiting Laura, Anthony and Mona at their house while Jenn was teaching classes. Jenn thought I might burn off some energy playing with Mona and be relaxed for the TDI test. But I found a bucket filled with cool water and I had so much fun putting my head and feet in it. Laura had quite a job getting me cleaned up and dried before my TDI test.

Laura was nice enough to drive me over the meet Jenn for the test. I was really happy to wiggle my butt for the evaluator and for all the people there to help her. Jenn kept talking to me and telling me I was a good boy.

The TDI test is similar to the Canine Good Citizen test. These are some of the things I had to do:

• walk politely on the leash without pulling
  
• sit politely while people pet me and crowded around me
  
• let someone brush me and handle my ears and feet
  
• sit/down/stay/come
  
• walk through a crowd of people with walkers and wheelchairs and then politely say hello to them
  
• remain calm with banging and distractions
• be alone with a stranger for three minutes and be quiet and polite
  
• walk past a food bowl filled with wet dog food
  

Wow, that last one was hard! But Jenn told me to leave it and I did. And I did it all. Yeah for me!

For more information on TDI and how to help your dog become a TDI visiting friend, click here.

Jenn is at TTouch Training...

Jenn left this morning for another TTouch horse workshop in Virginia with Linda Tellington-Jones. Linda is a really wonderful person that I got to meet last year when she came here to do a training. I was just a puppy then, and Linda was so kind to me.
I was nervous and she did touches and strokes that made me release tension through my whole body. Linda developed the TTouch method, a gentle way of helping animals overcome fears, pains and increase learning potential. She started the work with horses to help them recover from injuries, overcome fears like having to load into a trailer and teach them how to take signals from the rider in the saddle. Jenn is learning from Linda about using TTouch on horses.
Jenn says that there is a lot of force and heavy handed training in working with horses. Lots of people think that you just have to show them who is boss by being physical and punishing them. Using the TTouch Method is a more nurturing way to connect with the horse without force. Here's Linda guiding a horse with her voice, light lead signals, and body movements.
That all seems pretty cool. I'm glad Jenn is learning more and I'm really glad she likes to practice TTouch with me. Jenn is presenting a TTouch workshop called "From Growing Pains to Aches and Pains" at the APS/Paws4Ever on May 20th, 7-9pm. It costs $10 at the door and all proceeds benefit Paws4Ever. You can come and learn about how TTouch can help your puppy live a great life.

Check out more about the Tellington TTouch Method.

I'm 20 months old!

Jenn wanted to get some even more handsome pictures of me since I'm officially 20 months old this month! She tried many methods to pose me with Big Sandy and Bernie. Bernie wanted to keep moving. That's OK-more pictures of just me.
All the azaleas were blooming, so she tried to get them in the picture too.
I like posing for pictures. Jenn said that her friend Meghan was going to come over and she was going to take some pictures for Jenn's website. I'll be all ready to pose for her too!

My Drill Team Performance Debut!

What an exciting weekend! I performed with the Paws4Ever Drill Team on Saturday at the YMCA Healthy Kids Event. We debuted our new routine called "25 Miles" which was choreographed by Sharon Ashe and also performed our routine to "I Will Survive". Sharon was also there and performed both routines with Bernie. They did great! I did great! It was really fun and afterwards, Jenn walked around with me and Bernie and we got lots of attention from people. I got to wiggle my butt and get lots of pats from adults and children. It was way fun. Jenn posted videos of our performances on YouTube.

25 Miles

I Will Survive

Dude, where are my feet?

One important thing in agility is for a puppy to know where his feet are. That may sound silly, but if I'm not aware of my feet, they could knock into the poles as I am going over a jump or I could lose my balance on obstacles like the dog walk. Learning where my feet are gives me awareness and helps my balance in agility and in general.One of the objects that can help me learn about the placement of my feet is a ladder placed on the ground. I step through the rungs one by one, lifting and placing each foot. Jenn and Eric built me my own plastic PVC ladder over the weekend. Why not just use a real ladder? Jenn wanted a lightweight ladder she could take with her so her canine clients could use it too. It is made of 1" PVC pipe, four PVC elbows, and 16 T-joints and cost about $20 for the materials. Eric cut the pieces with a saw and Jenn put the ladder together. She got instructions here on how the build a PVC ladder.