This past week brought lots of wonderful weather for the first fews days, and left us with a rainy mess for the weekend. We were lucky to be able to take the pups on lots of long walks and enjoy being on the verge of spring. They are continuing to improve their leash-walking skills, but there's still a lot to learn. Greg is very bold and regularly takes both of the pups out for a walk in the middle of the day. I am still hesitant about walking both at the same time, but he says it's pretty easy. It's funny how different their walking styles are. Lance trots along, tail up high, staying right to the left side. Occassionally he will just sit down for no reason though- we haven't quite figured that out yet. Jackson likes to be slightly ahead, and he loves to grab the part of the leash where it meets the collar and carry it in his mouth. We think it's the control freak in him. Now that daylight savings has passed and we have more daylight, we plan to incorporate an after-dinner walk into our nightly routine. Anything to tire these boys out is a good idea!
On Thursday we had a fence built, which makes me extremely happy! It's so nice to have a yard (even if it is small) for the boys to run around in off-leash. I still can't believe the fence was put up in just one day, and I'm so thankful that they got it done before the rain started. Since it's been raining for three straight days though, we haven't really let them run around much in the backyard. It's pretty much a mudpit right now. Hopefully a few days of sunshine will fix that. Thursday was also the first night of puppy kindergarten. Greg and I have been looking forward to starting this class ever since we brought Lance and Jackson home! We've both invested a lot of time in reading and researching proper puppy training techinques, but being in an actual class will really help. The class is run by Cari Messick, who owns
FitHound and was recommended by Jo Bighouse from the
Midas Touch. Cari teaches positive reinforcement training, which rewards for good behaviors, rather than punishing for bad. I've read over and over again that this is the most effective method of teaching, and have noticed that it's worked for us with the few tricks we've taught Jackson and Lance so far. For the first class, she asked that everyone's pups be left at home, so that she could easily cover the material for the 7-week course with fewer distractions.
Greg and I were really pleased that she has the same philosophy as us when it comes to what our dogs eat and play with- only natural and organic products and top-quality dog food. I'm not sure if everyone else in the class subscribes to those beliefs, but hopefully they will change their minds. The next 6 sessions (which start next week- no class this week) will be spent learning different commands, games and tricks. The pups will also have time to play and socialize with the other pups in the class. We're curious to see how this goes- as our boys have always had each other, and have also been around other dogs. We're predicting that Jackson will be bossy, and Lance will just happily play with whoever wants to play. And we're also hoping to learn to curb some of Jackson's "alpha-dog" behavior.
Cari gave us a homework assignment for the tenure of the course- to introduce the pups to at least 100 new people (and they must interact with them). This should be pretty easy for us, as we really enjoy taking them out to different places as much as possible. On Saturday, we got a head start on our homework. We went back to
Two Paws Up and brought the boys along this time. They managed to completely destory the zipper on the Big Shrimpy bed we got them last weekend, so we took the cover for repair. We also got two new (Big Shrimpy brand) crate pads, since they have managed to already chew up the ones I bought them from My Organic Market. It was a rainy, nasty day, but it was still great to get out. And we definintely got lots of interaction with different people, as it's hard to resist two cute little Golden pups.
Sunday was bath day- but this time we decided to try it out at home. We've taken the dogs to
Central Dawgma twice and used the self-serve "dawg wash" there, which has been great. But, since they get dirty so quickly, we know we'll have to wash them often, and it might be easier to do in our own tub. I started with Jackson, while Greg kept Lance occupied downstairs. It was not easy, since there's no removable shower head on the tub, and I had to rely on using a pitcher to rinse him off. Jackson seemed to be okay with the getting shampooed, but did not like being rinsed off after. After lots of patience, I finally got him rinsed and clean. Next up was Greg's turn- and I advised him that it might be easier to just get in the tub with Lance. He apparently had a much easier time than I did. I guess we'll keep working on this, but my conclusion is that it is just easier to take them back to the Dawg Wash.
This past week brought lots of wonderful weather for the first fews days, and left us with a rainy mess for the weekend. We were lucky to be able to take the pups on lots of long walks and enjoy being on the verge of spring. They are continuing to improve their leash-walking skills, but there's still a lot to learn. Greg is very bold and regularly takes both of the pups out for a walk in the middle of the day. I am still hesitant about walking both at the same time, but he says it's pretty easy. It's funny how different their walking styles are. Lance trots along, tail up high, staying right to the left side. Occassionally he will just sit down for no reason though- we haven't quite figured that out yet. Jackson likes to be slightly ahead, and he loves to grab the part of the leash where it meets the collar and carry it in his mouth. We think it's the control freak in him. Now that daylight savings has passed and we have more daylight, we plan to incorporate an after-dinner walk into our nightly routine. Anything to tire these boys out is a good idea! 
On Thursday we had a fence built, which makes me extremely happy! It's so nice to have a yard (even if it is small) for the boys to run around in off-leash. I still can't believe the fence was put up in just one day, and I'm so thankful that they got it done before the rain started. Since it's been raining for three straight days though, we haven't really let them run around much in the backyard. It's pretty much a mudpit right now. Hopefully a few days of sunshine will fix that. Thursday was also the first night of puppy kindergarten. Greg and I have been looking forward to starting this class ever since we brought Lance and Jackson home! We've both invested a lot of time in reading and researching proper puppy training techinques, but being in an actual class will really help. The class is run by Cari Messick, who owns FitHound and was recommended by Jo Bighouse from the Midas Touch. Cari teaches positive reinforcement training, which rewards for good behaviors, rather than punishing for bad. I've read over and over again that this is the most effective method of teaching, and have noticed that it's worked for us with the few tricks we've taught Jackson and Lance so far. For the first class, she asked that everyone's pups be left at home, so that she could easily cover the material for the 7-week course with fewer distractions. 
Greg and I were really pleased that she has the same philosophy as us when it comes to what our dogs eat and play with- only natural and organic products and top-quality dog food. I'm not sure if everyone else in the class subscribes to those beliefs, but hopefully they will change their minds. The next 6 sessions (which start next week- no class this week) will be spent learning different commands, games and tricks. The pups will also have time to play and socialize with the other pups in the class. We're curious to see how this goes- as our boys have always had each other, and have also been around other dogs. We're predicting that Jackson will be bossy, and Lance will just happily play with whoever wants to play. And we're also hoping to learn to curb some of Jackson's "alpha-dog" behavior. 
Cari gave us a homework assignment for the tenure of the course- to introduce the pups to at least 100 new people (and they must interact with them). This should be pretty easy for us, as we really enjoy taking them out to different places as much as possible. On Saturday, we got a head start on our homework. We went back to Two Paws Up and brought the boys along this time. They managed to completely destory the zipper on the Big Shrimpy bed we got them last weekend, so we took the cover for repair. We also got two new (Big Shrimpy brand) crate pads, since they have managed to already chew up the ones I bought them from My Organic Market. It was a rainy, nasty day, but it was still great to get out. And we definintely got lots of interaction with different people, as it's hard to resist two cute little Golden pups. 
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