More cell phone photos

Here are a few photos taken by various cell phones over the last few weeks:

This was taken by Brie when she came over to play with the boys while Greg and I were out in Baltimore a few weeks ago. She added a caption "Mom and Dad- we hope you are having fun!" The photo cracked me up!

I was missing the boys at work one day and asked Greg to email me a cute photo. This is what he sent:

This was taken at the end of an awesome walk on Friday afternoon. We walked for an hour and a half and could have kept going! The boys were great!

And this was after the walk (they were pooped!)

L&J had their first experience riding in the back of my car together on the way to surprise Greg at his mountain bike race on Sunday. They were GREAT! (It was hard to take a good photo- I snapped this real quick at a stop sign)

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Puppy teeth photo

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Baby teeth

We're finding them everywhere: baby teeth! I noticed Lance batting something around on the floor the other day- it looked like a little piece of plastic. So I went over to look, and sure enough- it was a little tooth! It looked like a molar- small and square. Our vet had told us that they would start to lose their baby teeth soon, so we were expecting it. Since then, we've found quite a few around the house. Last night I found a pointy little fang on Jackson's bed. We've started collecting them in a little jar, though I don't really know why. What do you do with those teeth? I just don't want to throw them away, but since I'm anti-pack-rat by nature, I probably will.
I think my mom did the same thing with my teeth when I was a kid- I wonder if they're still hanging around somewhere?

Puppy kindergarten was great again last night. We practiced "leave it," which is not so easy. We'll definitely have to do some more work with that. But, the most valuable was "drop it." Cari had a really great approach to teaching it using bully sticks. We'll definitely be practicing that one, since we have to use it so often.
One more session of Puppy K to go. Though the instruction that we are learning is invaluable, it will be so nice to have our Thursday nights back...

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Doggie Socialization

Puppy kindergarten was wonderful on Thursday- probably our best session yet! Because it was so nice outside, the instructor, Cari, took advantage and held class outside. The main focus of class that night was leash-walking, which our guys are pretty good with. For the first time since we started class, I took Jackson for the night and Greg worked with Lance. Lance gets distracted a lot easier than Jackson does, so it was nice to change it up. Cari remarked several times on how good the boys were doing with commands and leash walking and that it was obvious that we have been working with them at home a lot (we have!).

My mom had come over during the week to feed the dogs one night because we were in Baltimore for dinner and a lecture. She brought her co-worker Susan with her, who is a fellow Golden-lover. Apparently the boys went nuts when they came in to our house to take care of them- jumping around so uncontrollably that it was hard to get them to calm down. I noticed that they act a lot more hyper when they see new faces and just can't control their excitement. They act like this whenever we get into puppy kindergarten and whenever people come over. However, when we walk in the room, the look happy and tails are wagging, but they are no where near as nuts as they are around other people. I don't know if it's the smells or what, but we've got to figure out a way to calm them down.

We continue to try to introduce them to as many people as possible and take them out to different places each weekend. We hiked Gambrill again on Saturday (yellow trail),but made a quick stop to the Trail House first. The Trail House is this great outdoor store on Market Street that has all kinds of great hiking, kayaking, climbing, etc. gear. They are hosting a rock-climbing clinic next month that we needed to go sign up for in person. Since the Trail House is one of the dog-friendly stores downtown, we brought the pups along. Jackson was a little nutty and excited about walking on Market St. and seeing all the people, but Lance was great. Jackson eventually settled down, and Greg and I decided that we should walk them downtown more often to get them used to it., but for the first time, it was a real struggle. Generally we each take one pup and one of us is on front of the other. The pups have a hard time with this, because they both want to be up front. Greg suggested that he take both and I walk behind, but that didn't work so well either. We really love to hike together, so I'm hoping that we can find a way to make it work. We might have to each take one and go opposite ways on the trail for awhile, and hope that when the boys mature a little more, things will be better.

Greg went mountain biking for a good portion of the day on Sunday, so we decided against a hike that day. Instead, we took the boys for another walk downtown. We parked at Baker Park and walked down to Carroll Creek and all around, kind of making a big loop. We stopped by Accents at Shab Row, which is Jim and Marie Hamilton's (James and Michelle's parents) adorable store. They just got a 3 year old lab, and I wanted to introduce her to the boys. After that, we continued making the rounds, stopping at Firestones to introduce the pups to our friend Ian on the way. They boys were great the whole time, and of course they always get a lot of attention by passers-by. We'll definitely continue to bring them out to more and more places, hoping that it will help with training.

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Dogs take over the living room

My mom will cringe when she sees these (well, the photos of the pups on the couch anyway). We let the boys run around the living room each night for a while and they always go right for the couch first. They are still mainly confined to the kitchen, mainly because they are teething and will eat everything in sight.
These photos are from Sunday night:

Jackson sitting (he has the weirdest little sitting pose!)

Lance sitting

Lance takes over the coffee table

Jackson on his bed

Lance on the couch with the new West Paw frisbee I got him at M.O.M.'s that day

Lance and Jackson playing on the couch (it looks a lot more vicious than it really is!)

Lance taking over the couch

Lance dropped a toy, so he and Jackson try to find it

Jackson sitting right under Greg's legs

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Blackberry Photos

These photos are definitely not high quality, but sometimes your blackberry is the only camera in close proximity. Here are a few photos of "quiet moments" from the weekend...

A photo that Greg sent me at work on Friday

Greg "packing" (a term we learned from Staci this weekend) :)

Lance napping

A close-up of Jackson napping after a hike on Saturday

A close-up of the boys napping

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Another beautiful spring weekend!

We were terribly spoiled this weekend. After a week of warm (and a couple of days- a little too unseasonably warm) weather and a thunderstorm, the weekend brought cooler temperatures (but not too cool) and lots of sunshine. Absolutely perfect weather for running, biking and of course- hiking.
Not surprisingly, we took full advantage!
Prior to this weekend, we had taken the pups to several of the trails at Gambrill, but besides that, the only other place we've gone is the Watershed. It was time to branch out a little bit.

We took the boys to the Annapolis rock hike at the Applachian Trail, which is my favorite running trail, late in the afternoon on Saturday. I love this trail- it's pretty close to home and has some nice steep sections in the beginning. After that, it's relatively flat and great to run along. The turnaround point has a beautiful, rewarding overlook to take a brief moment of rest at before turning back. When we made it to the overlook, we stopped to take a few photos and were quickly the center of attention. There were quite a few people at the overlook that loved puppies and came over to pet and cuddle L&J. The boys certainly loved the attention. And I get it- if I saw the two of them I would do the same thing- they are just irresistible!

After we brought the boys back home and fed them dinner, Greg and I went out for dinner and a nice little date night. Although we are both totally restaurant snobs and very rarely eat at a "chain," there are a select few that we dine at. (We definitely prefer to support the local restaurants around Frederick- the food is such better quality and a lot of it comes from local farmers. Plus, it supports local business owners!) So, one of the chains that passes inspection is Bonefish.

We had a gift card and like to go there and eat at the bar. They have great bartenders, a nice selection of wine, and the food is pretty good. And it's always nice to  have someone else cook for you!

On Sunday morning I had to teach spin class and Greg went for a mountain bike ride. We wanted to get a somewhat early start on hiking, so we headed out to Sugarloaf mountain in the late morning. I've been wanting to go to Sugarloaf for the past several weekends, but since it's a little further away (as opposed to Gambrill which is pretty much in our backyard) we hadn't made it happen. But Sunday was the day. And it was packed! We had a great hike, which started out very flat with some downhill. Pretty boring. But when we got to the point that we started climbing up the mountain, things got a lot more exciting! By the time we hit the top and got to the overlook, the pups were exhausted. They were completely wiped out! We hung out at the top, tried to take a decent "family portrait" (without much success) and let them rest for a bit.

The hike down certainly was... interesting. Greg and I have definitely hiked our share of extremely steep and rocky declines before, but having two little puppies trying to pull you along was certainly a different experience. It was a little hard to keep balance, but we managed to all make it down safely.
By the time we made it home, the boys were pooped. Lance sprawled out on the kitchen floor, as he always does, and was out like a light. Jackson was out too- but I managed to get a shot of his "tired face" before he fell asleep.
Greg gave the pups a bath later (I refuse to bathe them in the tub at home- it sucks!) and according to him, the tub was filled with dirt after. There was a lot of rolling around in the dirt this weekend, so I'm not surprised. Nothing makes me happier than clean, tired puppies at the end of a wonderful weekend.

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Cuddling on the couch

Jackson loves to sit calmly and cuddle. If you sit on the floor, he'll crawl right onto your lap. If you are on the couch, he'll try to jump up and lay with you. I LOVE this about him.
Unfortunately, Lance is the complete opposite. He can not sit still. And if he's playing with something and Jackson sees it- the cuddle time with Jackson is short-lived. Here's a couple of photos from Saturday night that illustrate my point. First you have Greg, sitting nicely with Jackson on the couch. Then Lance pops his head up from behind the couch and runs across the room. Not shown is Jackson leaping off Greg's lap to chase after him. It was a nice moment at least.

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Solo time with Lance

Since I took Jackson to Gambrill on Tuesday, it was time to give Lance a shot at hiking solo. So, after work yesterday I quickly came home and got Lance together to head out to Gambrill. I was a little nervous about how he'd be in the car. When we first brought the boys home (and didn't have a car crate) Lance would be all over the place and whine and bark- just acting like a total nervous mess. Having the crate helped, and he's definitely gotten better with time. I decided to put him in the front seat next to me so that I could pet him for reassurance if he needed it. We left the house and set out for Gambrill and he was a little antsy at first- I think he really just didn't know what was going on. As we drove further though, he relaxed and ended up laying down and relaxing (you can see the progression through the photos I shot from my Blackberry).

We got out the trail and decided to start on the black (which begins with a steep incline) and merge with the green trail a little further in. Going this direction is a little more strenuous, but since Lance seems to have a little more energy than Jackson, I figured he would be just fine. When we first started, Lance sat right down and looked backward, as if he was waiting for Jackson. I asked him to get up and keep going, but he kept looking back. I think he just didn't get that Jackson wasn't there with him and wondered where he was. Luckily he got over this really quickly and we were on our way.

Lance did very well, and we ended up jogging through much of the trail. We finished in record time and little Lance was pooped by the time we finished the green trail. He was great on the ride home as well- just laid on the seat, happily panting away.

It's great to know that both of the pups can handle riding in my car. Now I just have to take them out together in my car to see how they do with that. Not that I'm in any big rush to find out...

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Solo time with Jackson

Yesterday I decided to take Jackson hiking, just by himself. Up until now, any car trip has been in Greg's SUV, because the travel crates easily fits inside. My Honda Accord is a lot smaller than his Ford Expedition, so by default he has the "dog car." I also have leather seats, so I'm a little weary of having the pups sit on them for fear that they will claw them up. Had I known that I would have two pups in my life, I would have made a different choice two years ago when I bought my car. And don't get me wrong- I love my car- it's beautiful and reliabale and suits me just find. It's just not conducive to having dogs. If I were to get a new car now, I'd get a 2010 Subaru Outback (plenty of room and the hatchback sure would come in handy!). Though I've never really considered getting a Honda Element, this totally has my heart! How adorable is that?

So, yesterday I lined my backseat with a blanket and led Jackson into my car. The nice thing is that he can actually climb right into my car. (Greg's SUV is so high off the ground that we have to pick the boys up to put them inside. And when they come out, they literally JUMP into our arms.) Jackson laid right down in the backseat and enjoyed the ride. He's always been great in the car, so that didn't really surprise me. We got to Gambrill and went on our way down the green trail. He was awesome, and it was nice to just have one pup there for a change. We ran a little bit (I'm not supposed to run them much as their hip and leg muscles are still developing so much) and had a great hike. It was also freakishly hot out, so we stopped for frequent water breaks (they pups like to drink right out of the bottle!).

By the time we got back to the car, he was pooped. I put him in the front seat on the way home (which is only a 10-minute drive) and he seemed happy and comfortable and was laid-back as ever. I managed to snap a few photos from my Blackberry, because he just looked so cute and content.

I'm taking Lance out today, so we'll see how that goes. Lance gets nervous in the car, so I'm hoping he'll be okay for the ride. We will see...

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Leaving our boys for the first time

This weekend was spring break for me. Well, I wouldn't even call it a "break" as we only had off Friday and Monday, but I'll take what I can get. The "break" started after work on Thursday, as we had our next session of puppy kindergarten. We took the boys hiking at Gambrill beforehand (again, to try to tire them out) and then it was off to class. No matter how much they play, the boys are always extremely high-strung when they get to class. Something about being around other people or other dogs... or the combination of both; they just go nuts. And it's weird- they interact with new people and dogs every day (especially on our almost daily hikes at Gambrill) so it's not like they never see anyone else. Maybe this is just puppy behavior and they will calm down in time. I hope so.
Lance and Jackson got to show off their skills using the commands "sit" and "down" (for lie down) and also practiced "come." They do very well with these commands at home, but when we are at Puppy K, the distractions just take over. At least we are not alone in that though, all puppies are pretty easily distracted. We do know that we want to arrange more play-dates with other dog (or puppy) owners that we know, so that they can be comfortable playing off-leash with other dogs. So I'll be asking anyone I know that has an energetic dog or two to get together with our guys.

We had tickets to the Red Sox/Nats game on Saturday, which we had bought months in advance (before we even had L&J). The game was at 4:00, but since it was down in DC, we planned on leaving the house around 2. We didn't know when we would be back, but figured it would be sometime after 8 pm. The pups would probably be fine going for 6 hours without being let out, but we would have felt really bad leaving them in a crate all day and then crating them again for the night shortly after we got home. Luckily, our good friends Brie and Mick volunteered to let the boys out, feed them, and play with them for a bit. Mick and Brie have had their two dogs since puppyhood (one of which is a Golden) and live close by, so it worked out wonderfully. They even took the guys on a long walk all around the neighborhood. Everything went smoothly. It's so nice to have friends around who will do these kinds of things for you in a pinch (and of course, we would happily return the favor anytime).

We left early Sunday morning for Bethany Beach for a (very brief) getaway. Mom and Joe had gotten Greg and I a gift certificate to the Addy Sea B&B, so we figured that this weekend would be the perfect time to use it. They agreed to watch L&J while we were gone, so we dropped the boys off Sunday morning and were on our way to the beach. Mom and Joe have Brady, who is a 10-year old Golden, so they had all three dogs to tend to. Brady has been around the boys a few times before, and it's been okay each time. L&J defintiely bounce all around and jump on Brady, but he lets them know who's boss. They give him a lot of exercise, too, which is good for him. They have an almost-acre fenced in yard, so there's a ton of room to run around. The only downside is that the boys eat everything in sight- from pinecones to sticks to grass- so Mom and Joe did a lot of running around after them.

Greg and I had a wonderful time at the beach- the weather could not have been better and it was pretty quiet, as it's still the off-season. I have to admit though, we talked about the pups a lot. There was a lot of "I wonder what the boys are doing..." and "Lance and Jackson would love this...." kind of talk. It didn't help that there were dogs everywhere, which made me wish they were with us! I got to pet plenty of other people's goldens and talked about our boys to them and compare stories. Yes, I am officially one of those people that talks about their dogs/kids/whatever all the time. How did that happen?
We got back to my mom's house early Monday afternoon. On the way we stopped at Bark! to get some pet food. I hadn't been in there, but absolutely love the other stores in the Conscious Corner (and the restaurant Great Sage). By the time we turned onto my parents' street, Greg and I were giddy with excitement to see the pups. We gave them hugs, hung around for a little bit, and were on our way. I think my parents had fun with them (okay I know they did) but they definitely had their hands full. And I'm sure Brady was happy to have the house back to himself.
When we got home on Monday, we had planned to take the boys for a hike at Gambrill. But, by this point, we had so much to do and were so tired that we bagged the idea. And L&J were exhausted. Since they did so much running around and playing, we didn't feel too guilty for not taking them out for one day.

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