Bite, Bite, Bite

Ambrose has very sharp little teeth that he uses all the time. Barbara says he is a little barracuda. So it is really important for him to learn bite inhibition so that by the time his adult teeth come in and his jaws get powerful, he knows how to control his mouth.

Bitey face games, or jaw fighting, teach us to control the force with which we bite and keeps our mouths soft. Who knew that something so fun is also a good way to learn an important skill?

Ambrose and I had a good game of bitey face today. Notice how my mouth is open but I am not biting down.



I am doing what trainers call self-handicapping. Instead of jumping on top of Ambrose, which I certainly could do, I am stretched out on my side to make the game more fair for him. This way he can lean over me and bite on me.




Then I take his muzzle in my mouth but I don't bite down.



This gives Ambrose confidence to play with me and understand that I won't hurt him.



Good bitey face games are reciprocal. That means that no one is in charge all the time. We reverse roles so that sometimes Ambrose gets to think he is controlling the game. Of course, I am really in charge!



Then I put my foot over his face. The game continues as long as Ambrose controls his mouth.



What usually happens is that eventually Ambrose bites me too hard and then I flip him off me and make him squeak. That ends the game and he learns that the game is over if he looses control of his mouth. After such a work out, we have to take a nap.



Ambrose also has to learn bite inhibition with people. Barbara doesn't play bitey face with him of course, but if he bites her hard when she is petting him, she gasps and takes her hands away. Already his bites are getting less intense. Puppies have a lot of things to learn. Now if I can only get him house trained.

Ambrose Visits the Veterinarian

Our people have a responsibility to help us stay healthy. They buy us really good food, exercise and train us. It also means that they have to take us to the veterinarian. Now I know some of you don't like to go to the vet's office but I really like my vets at Colony Park Animal Hospital. Barbara always makes the vet visits fun for me. I got lots of treats and petting there. Fortunately I am a healthy girl so I don't have to go very often, but I always have a big time when I do.

Ambrose had to go to see the vet for his vaccination and checkup. He seemed to really like the smells in the lobby.



Of course the receptionists and vet techs made a big fuss over him. Jessica gave him some treats too.



Dr. Allison was really gentle with Ambrose and gave him lots of peanut butter treats while he was on the table. When she looked in his eyes, he got a treat. When she looked in his ears, he got a treat. It was a complete treat fest, especially when he had to get his shot. He didn't even make a peep. Well he couldn't because his little mouth was stuffed with goodies!!!



I think he had a good time and will be happy to go for his check up in 3 weeks.

But outings are really tiring for puppies even when they are good outings. Ambrose came home and had to rest right away. Fortunately he is napping on his bed and not on mine for a change.

Snow Day

We woke up this morning to see that it had snowed overnight. I was very excited and did zoomies in the yard. Ambrose, of course, has never really seen snow but it did not phase him at all. He is a bold little guy.



He really enjoyed racing around in the snow and chewing on everything he could get his little mouth on.



It was hard to get good picture of him because he was always in motion but he had a great time.



We are getting along pretty well these days. We have had some good play times but of course I don't like Ambrose near me when I am chewing on a toy or eating. Barbara supervises us pretty carefully.



So after a lot of playtime outside we came in and Ambrose did some roaching on my bed with my fox stuffie!

My Boyfriends are Smart!

Two of my boyfriends, Roscoe and Riley, passed the Canine Good Citizen test this morning. They had to demonstrate that they could greet a friendly stranger nicely, sit politely for petting, be groomed, walk on a loose leash, walk through a crowd of people, do a sit, down and stay, come when called, sit politely to meet another dog, tolerate distractions and be left with a stranger for 3 minutes. They both did a great job.


Roscoe CGC



Riley CGC

Congratulations guys. Now they will go on to Therapy Dog class. They are both so friendly and sweet that I am sure that they will make great therapy dogs.


For those of you who are interested, Ambrose only peed 15 times yesterday. At this rate he will not get housetrained until 2012. Barbara says that all puppies do this and he won't have complete muscle control until about 16 weeks. She says I did the same thing but I do not think it is true. I was practically perfect as a puppy.

Ambrose is a fearless little guy and likes to walk through the woods with us and climb on logs and rocks.






He is also really good at destroying daffodils and crocuses.



We have had a few bitey face games, which have been fun, but it does not make up for his howling in his crate. He gets cranky in the evening and throws a temper tantrum when Barbara won't let him get on the couch with her. She puts him in time out for a few minutes (I think it should be for a few days) until he calms down. It is a lot of work being in charge of a puppy so I think I will take a nap while he is thrashing one of his little stuffies.

I am Trying to Like Ambrose

I really am trying to be a good big sister to Ambrose but it is very difficult. Let me fill you in on how hard it is to have a little puppy in the house.

First of all he pees constantly! I am not kidding. Yesterday he peed 17 times! Now most of those were outside because Barbara has him on a good schedule but a few times he did it in the house. I was shocked, I can tell you. I will not horrify you with the amount of pooping he did.

But the worst thing is that Ambrose has no personal space. I am a friendly girl but I do like to have some quiet times on my bed with a toy without being bothered. He came up to sniff me and I let him.



Then he sniffed my ear which actually was very nice.




We tried a gentle bitey face game (he has potential there).



But then he had to spoil it by trying to get my rabbit. See how stiff I have gotten.



Unfortunately he was oblivious to my body language and I had to growl at him. Ambrose ignored that too so I had to leap up and snap at him (no pictures of that). Then he got the message.

It is very exhausting to have a puppy in the house. I know everyone says that we will soon be great friends but I am not so sure.

He's Here

We had a very eventful weekend. On Sunday we drove down to Charlotte for a Carolina Trainers Forum meeting. I got to be the neutral dog in some training exercises. Not terribly exciting but there was more fun stuff to come. We went to South Carolina to see the new puppy Red Boy. You can see that he is a kissing boy.



Maise and Loghan are the parents of the litter and are very sweet dogs (although why Maisie wanted to have 10 puppies is beyond me). Loghan is actually my first cousin. He and Maisie both have their Junior Hunter titles and Loghan is a Champion.



Since they both are trained to hunt, they have quail at their house. I had never seen or smelled a quail before but when I got the chance I immediately went on point. Everyone was quite pleased with me. Of course I could do it. That's what Gordon Setters are bred to do.

We left Red Boy with his litter since we were going to spend the night with a dog trainer friend of Barbara's who lives nearby. You know that I find boyfriends wherever I go and this was no exception. Barbara's friend has a lab and a papillon. We got to run in the fenced yard and the lab, also named Logan, flirted with me a lot. That evening we had an excellent game of bitey face. Logan even let me put his whole muzzle in my mouth.





Monday morning we went back to pick up the puppy. I think he was sad to leave his family since he cried for awhile as we drove away. Fortunately he settled down in his crate once we got going.

Barbara has decided to call him Ambrose. It means immortal.

He follows me everywhere and will not leave me alone. He has even tried to nurse on me which I find very revolting. I am not his mother, thank goodness. I hope he gets over that idea very soon. The only time I like him is when he is sound asleep.

Preparing for the Puppy

I have taken Agatha and Archie's excellent advice about locking up my toys. We've gathered them up in a crate and I will be hiding them in the closet before the puppy comes home on Monday! Barbara has been puppy proofing and cleaning in preparation for his arrival. I hate to tell you the size of the dust bunnies we found behind the couch

She bought him a bed (which he will probably rip up) as well as a bunch of toys which I inspected thoroughly. Maybe he will leave mine alone if he has his own.



Then she picked up lots of Bitter Apple and Nature's Miracle in preparation for puppy chewing and puppy accidents. This worries me. What if this puppy chews on my bed or has an accident on it?

But my biggest concern is that Barbara will spend all her time with the puppy and not with me! We have our little routines and I don't want a puppy to mess them up.

Every morning we do ear rubs. Barbara rubs my ears and tells me how good and smart and pretty I am. I love the way the ear rubs feel and I lean into her hand and she rubs my ear even more.



You can see that it almost puts me into a trance.



What if this puppy takes up so much of her time that we don't have time for ear rubs and tracking and the dog park and other fun stuff?

A New Brother

On Saturday, Barbara came home smelling of puppies. Now I am used to her smelling of other dogs but it doesn't bother me too much. She trains them but then comes home to me. But this smell was Gordon Setter puppy smell. She said that I soon I might have a new brother.

Here he is.




What do you think? He has a very mushy face.




Here is a picture of me when I was a puppy. You can see that I was much cuter of course.



So she has decided to bring him into our home and we are going to get him on Sunday. She is frantically "puppy proofing" the house. She had better puppy proof my toys because I certainly don't want him to touch any of them especially my fish.

Barbara insists that I will love him and that it will be fun to have a puppy in the house. We will see.

Play Date with Riley

I got a very nice email from my boyfriend Riley. He realized how hard I have been working recently and he invited me over to his yard for a play date. He is so considerate, and handsome too.

Riley has a big fenced yard and a deck with lots of levels which are fun to jump on. We only have a boring, flat brick patio at home so his yard is a lot more fun.



I raced around his yard as fast as I could. Unfortunately I ran so fast I crashed into a lawn ornament and broke it! Barbara was not pleased.



Riley chased me but had a hard time catching me.




He tried but sometimes it was just easier to wait until I jumped on the deck to head me off.




After a lot of racing around we played a few bitey face games on the deck. Riley really likes that game but I like being chased even more.



I needed a big drink after all our exertions. Look how polite Riley is. He sat there so nicely while I drank up all the water! I do like my boyfriends to be deferential.

It was a great morning (even though the people had croissants with butter and jelly and Riley and I did not even get a taste) and helped me get out a lot of my setter energy.

Working Dog

Gordon Setters are Sporting Dogs. We were bred to hunt, point and carry birds around in our mouths. I look like a Sporting dog and I act like a Sporting dog but I am convinced that I entered the wrong Group in Mangominster 2009! Based on all that I've had to do lately I should have entered the Working Group.

Some of you may know that my person is a dog trainer. She helps people and their dogs with obedience and behavior problems. Some days I help her with her work with her students. Many of the dogs she works with weren't properly socialized when they were puppies and they are afraid of other dogs especially when they seen them out on walks. I am very confident and good around other dogs so I help Barbara desensitize them to me and teach them how to meet dogs nicely. I really don't know how she would manage with out me because I am the one with the good dog body language.

You can see from my schedule that I have been very busy.

Saturday: Help a Miniature Schnauzer learn to greet dogs properly. Practice with a pit bull mix so that she can walk past other dogs.

Monday: Socialize the puppies in the Junior Puppy class.

Tuesday: Demonstrate proper heeling to the Canine Good Citizen class as well as be the "neutral dog" that they have to sit and stay for. This was particularly hard as two of my boyfriends, Riley and Roscoe, are in that class and I couldn't play with them but had to set a good example. Very boring.

I understand that tomorrow I will be working with a German Shepherd puppy who is afraid of other dogs.





I know that there are child labor laws on the books but what about dog labor laws? And do I get paid for this? I do get to go through the drive through at Burger King and get the occasional cheeseburger or sometimes I can pick out a new stuffie at Phydeaux. But what about regular paychecks? Where are the vacation days and the 401 K plan?




See how exhausted I am! I am so tired that I can't even lift my head to play with my pelican stuffie.

Spa Day

I had a great time tracking yesterday morning with my BFF Ayla. We both found all our articles and I got sausage biscuit (yum!) and Ayla got steak! Then Barbara said that I was going to have a spa day. I thought that sounded like a great idea and had visions of mud baths, aromatherapy, massages and delicious spa cuisine.

Liar, liar, pants on fire! I was horrified to find myself at Max's Dog Wash and that Barbara had her bag of torture implements with her. I think that these gruesome tools look like they were invented by someone at the CIA!



Of course I had to have a bath, get trimmed and blown dry. I cannot stand the blow dryer.





Here are my before and after pictures.

Tufty



Not Tufty



Why did I have to undergo this cruelty to animals you ask? So I could get my picture taken for Mangominster 2009.

My Relentlessly Huge friend Mango has uncovered a big conspiracy in the judging of the Westminster Dog Show and has decided to run his own unbiased event in protest. All dogs are welcome, AKC or not. You can go to his blog to check out the rules and you have until Sunday at noon to send him your pictures. I am entering the Sporting Group and all I can say is that the prizes better be really good to make up for this grooming dog torture.

Bad Hair Day

I haven't been able to blog for over a week because Barbara went to another meeting. How boring for her! At least I got to play with my friends at K9 Kindercare.

Since I got back she has been making rude remarks about my fur. Well it did grow a lot while she was away.



I think it is because I run so fast at the dog park that I get that "windblown" look.



Barbara says that I look "tufty". Is that even a word? I think that she has a nerve considering what her hair looks like in the morning!



According to her, my feet look like bedroom slippers. I like them this way because I can drag more leaves into the house when the fur between my toes is long.



I have a sneaking suspicion that the grooming implements of torture will be making an appearance and that I will have a bath soon. Cruelty to animals!