Puppy's Progress

It's been a while since my last post. Sorry. My excuse: the dogs!! Jedi takes up most of my time. He has graciously pointed out all of our puppy-proofing shortcomings. (There are many.) He also lets us know when the carpet needs vacuuming and the trash needs to be emptied. He is so considerate! My office IS NOT puppy friendly, so I only check e-mail when he is sleeping. I should be sleeping when he's sleeping -- as he still doesn't sleep through the night -- but I am a Facebook and Pogo junkie. I need to log on regularly to get my fix.

Roxy gets along with Jedi most of the time. It's really cute to watch them play. However, Roxy tends to be territorial in the house and has been more aggressive than I would like, so we don't allow them together unsupervised. She bit Jedi pretty hard the other day. In just a few months he'll be bigger and stronger than she is. I wonder if that'll change her attitude.

We went to Howell Park today and my friend took some really nice pictures of the dogs. I especially like the picture above of the two of them together. Obviously my friend is much better at doggie photography than I am.

Jedi's training is coming along nicely. He knows his name and sits very well. We're working on "down" and "stand." He's also picking up "outside" and "house" from our frequent potty breaks. ;Jedi hasn't pooped inside since we brought him home 10 days ago. Peeing is a bit more difficult. He tries to tell us he needs to go, but there seems to only be 5-10 seconds between the whine and the squat. We're getting better at predicting his needs, and hope that his bladder control will catch up soon. Until then, we are stocking up on Nature's Miracle and paper towels.

We're taking short car rides daily to get Jedi acclimated to the car. Our family travels around town a lot, and I want him to think the car is no big deal. We're also trying to expose him to other strange things -- different people, umbrellas, skateboards, uneven surfaces, the sound of traffic, etc. -- during this short socialization window. So far he's taken everything in stride. The only thing that has really startled him was a Coke can on the floor. He barked at it and stalked it for several minutes. Once he realized the can wasn't a threat he pounced on it and showed it who was boss. Puppies are more entertaining than cable television!

Oh, I think Jedi is waking up!! Gotta go. -- K

P.S. I want to share a fun picture Hubby took of Jedi and Master Yoda (our only Christmas decoration this year). Yeah, I think we're a little nutty -- fun, but nutty.