Bowling Dinner Drinks

Well it was a pretty good date for Ilse and I.  This past Saturday the company I work for hosted a social event for their employees.  There was about 10 of us that went bowling in Cambridge to start off the evening.  It was going to be a long night out and Ilse was coming along for all of it.

Afterwards we went to a restaurant in Cambridge called "Kiwi".   We had a pretty good time, and Ilse was able to sit there quietly for most of the meal.  I could see she was having trouble staying still about midway through, so we went outside for a bit and I gave her a break.

After dinner, we went over to Moose Winooski's in Kitchener to watch NHL playoffs.   We were seated in the bar area, which has a floor, littered with peanut shells.   This was going to be a good test for Ilse.  While she was initially a bit interested in them, she gave up interest (after some coaching by myself).   We carried on with watching the game, and she laid by our feet.  After an exciting 3-2 overtime win by Ottawa [Go Sens Go!], we decided to call it a night.

Ilse still hasn't caught on to the fact that she can sleep whenever we are out and not moving around, but instead, she will just sit and watch everything going on, resulting in her being super tired when we get home or back in the car.   I think it took all of 1 minute for her to fall asleep in the car on the drive home.

It was a busy and long night for both of us, but I was proud of how well she did.   Still plenty of room for improvement, but a good outing overall.

Big Fetch for a Little Pup

A few weeks ago work took me to the exotic locale of Bruce County.   It was a long day and Ilse came along for the ride, to keep me company and to help navigate of course.

I was on a seemingly deserted country road and thought we could both use a break and get rid of some energy.  This was the result.

Nothing New

Well, not a whole lot has changed over here.  We go for walks and we play and we go out in public.

Last night I went for Mexican with a few friends in Cambridge.  While at the restaurant there was 2 young boys that were quite interested in Ilse (their parents ran the place).  So, they were constantly around and want to pet and interact with her.  What was good, was that Ilse did very well ignoring them and keeping focussed on me.  Despite missing out on conversation with friends, because I was watching these kids, it was a very good experience for Ilse and she did very well.

Oh, so I guess I lied, there is some new things going on.  A few nights ago, I purchased a new crate for Ilse, since she has grown into the one I had borrowed from EW.  She was a bit hesitant to it at first and whined a bit the first night, but I think she likes it now, and will go in there and sleep throughout the day.

Overall, things are good.   Here are some pictures! 

Which Way the Wind Blows

In my backyard there were a few things left here and there by the previous homeowners.  Ilse has been kind enough to find the majority of these things for me.  It seemed each time I let her out there for some free play time, she would rummage up something new.   However, in the last few weeks this has died down and I think she had collected all there was to be found.  As she collected it I placed it in this storage bench, so that she could not get at it. (these pictures were not taken in order, but rather taken and adjusted to better tell the story).

However, over the last few nights it had been windy, which resulted in this:

Bench lid blown open by the wind. Ilse checking it out.

Which resulted in this:

Oooooh, look at all the goodies in here.

 Which resulted in this:

BUSTED!

  Which resulted in this:

This was how things were in the bench before she went exploring:

Items place back in (after removed) to give context

For those keeping score at home, the only thing she didn't remove from the bench was one tennis ball, which she was in the process of doing when I caught her.

Needless to say the bench is closed up once again, and the so called "toys" are no longer in there.  She didn't seem to happy about my decision.

"Maybe if I look sad and cute, I can have them back."

"But they were fun... :( "

- PK & I

I thought I'd start with a photo.

While to most of you, this doesn't seem like anything out of the ordinary, it actually is.  This is not my bathtub.  This is my co-worker EW's bathtub.   Why am I bathing Ilse in someone else's home? Well, she didn't get muddy.

You may recall from earlier posts that Ilse and EW's dog Boomer have become pretty good friends, as seen below.

(Ilse is about the same size as Boomer now)

With them being good friends, EW and I decided to have a play date, they could run around, chase one another and have a good time.  I arrived at EW's house and Ilse has already caught on to where we are, so she gets pretty excited and takes some effort to calm her down.  Once she is calm and settled, we allowed the two to go in the backyard and play.  All was going great running here, running there, plenty of excitement!  Then Boomer decides he has to take care of some "business".  He finds a spot and tries to go start "filing his paperwork" when Ilse comes over and starts pestering him a bit.  Boomer stops, plays a bit more, then remembers, "This report is due, I need to do this now".  

Seeing that Ilse won't leave him alone, I call her over to me, and she comes more/less right away.  Boomer finishes up, and we let the two at it again.  After a little while longer, Boomer decides it's time to take a pee and Ilse seems not too interested, so we decided not to worry about it.  However, once Boomer had lifted his leg, Ilse appeared to be thinking "Ohhh, that seems interesting!"  and headed on over.  At which point she crawled under his stomach and placed her head right into his stream of pee.   

She can be quite the puppy at times!  This didn't seem to bother her at all and she just walked on over to the door and looked at us like, "Why are you guys looking at me so funny?", meanwhile you can clearly where Boomer had marked his territory.   But hey, if their friendship can get through that, I think they will be alright!

(is it over yet?)

(she doesn't seem to mind TOO much)

(we don't like to be watched)

Then of course we had to have some fun with her being all wrapped up in a blanket!

(Yay! All clean!)

If you want any additional information on NSD click here and on the word if you are interested in donating or volunteering.

- P&I

The People I Meet

First off, yes I know it has been FOREVER since my last entry and I apologize for that.  Work has been hectic as of late, and it seemed like typing away at the computer was the last thing I wanted to do.  You can't stay mad at this face though.  Believe me, I've tried.

Well before I get into the meat of it all, Ilse is doing well and is always seems to find new ways to make me go "aww".

One thing that I noticed about doing the whole "puppy raiser" thing is simply how difficult it can be to train a dog in public.  You run in to a lot of different situations some good, some bad.

The questioners, the "look, smile and go on with your day", the "aww"ers, the "pet without asking"ers, the "I'm going to pretend to not care but stare at you when you're not looking"ers, and my personal favourite, the "I'm going to tell you you're doing something wrong"ers.

Questioners:

While I don't mind at all when people ask about Ilse and who she will assist, sometimes I'll be out with others, and the person will ask a couple questions, then a couple more and for good measure about 7 more after that.  While I don't mind, it would be nice if people were able to realize, "oh this person might not have 30 minutes to spend answering how many times a day does she go to the bathroom.

"Look, smile and go on with your day"ers

These people are probably my favourite.  Don't get me wrong I enjoy meeting new people and talking to them, however it is nice to be able to focus on our training when we are out and I can add in distractions for her bit by bit.  Also, when people look and smile at me, it gives me a good feeling, just knowing that a stranger appreciates what I am doing.  On that note, if you haven't smiled at a stranger for something random lately, do it!  A smile has the power to change the course of someone's day.

"Aww"ers

These people mean well but quickly get caught up in puppy syndrome.  While they will ask if they can pet her (which I really appreciate) once they start petting her they will let her nip and jump and well... be a puppy.  But I can't be having that. I need Ilse to learn that doing that, is not acceptable behaviour.  The "aww"ers have resulted in me saying, "Yes, you can pet her; as long as she stays sitting, and if she nips or jumps, you need to stand up and ignore her".  (but people don't always comply).  But can you blame them really?  Look at this pup! (she looks huge in this picture!)

"Pet without asking"ers

These people drive me up the wall!!  Rule number 1 with pets; ALWAYS ask the owner if you can initiate contact with the animal.  You never know how they might react and it is for your safety and the dogs.  The animal could bit, or perhaps even have an allergy to something you recently touched.  Please people ask to pet!

"I'm going to pretend to not care but stare at you when you're not looking"ers

These people just make me laugh.  Their natural habitat is restaurants.   They will sit at their table and steal a look when I am engaged in a conversation.  It's okay to look, its not like I have two heads or something... although, it kinda seems that way, since she is with me about 16+ hours a day.  But, I enjoy looking over, catching your eye and having you quickly divert your line of sight back onto your entrée.

"I'm going to tell you you're doing something wrong"ers

Well, not sure what to say to these people, other than.  Okay, thanks for your input, but I will ignore you (for the most part).  For instance, I generally have a pocket full of kibble whenever we go out to reward Ilse when she performs an action/behaviour that I would like her to.  I have been told that this is a bad way of training an animal.   While this can be true if you need to dangle food in front of their face in order to get them to sit, I find its quite the opposite if you reward the behaviour after it occurs.  It's not a bribe, it's a "reward".

Lastly, this is one situation I had.  While finishing a meal at Boston Pizza with several colleagues I stood up to put on my coat.  Ilse decided, "I want to check out what's over there!" and began pulling quite hard on the leash.  This is a behaviour that is undesirable, so I performed a correction, which is a quick side-pull on her leash, which grabs her attention.  It shows her that what she is doing is non-desirable and most importantly non-aggressive.  However, after performing the correction, a man (larger than myself) comes over to me quite aggressively and sternly says "You need to have more respect for her!"  I was quite taken aback by it all and started to explain that it was a correction, but by then he was already walking back to his table.  I was confused by it, my colleagues were confused by it, the people at the table next to us were confused by it and the server was confused by it.  So, I learned some people aren't going to like what I do, but I guess you can't please everyone.

Sorry for having so long between posts.  If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments!

- P&I

Puppy's First "Real" Snow

Well winter has finally shown its big ugly head here in Waterloo.  I know myself and many others were enjoying the mild weather this far into December, we all knew it couldn't last forever.  This morning Ilse and I went for our walk in the -8°C (-18°C with wind) weather.   She didn't seem to mind, but I didn't particularly enjoy it.
Later on I decided that we should play in the back yard.  Here are some photos from that:

She was having a really good time playing with her kong so I decided to take a video of her.  Of course I had to add corny music to it.  Otherwise it wouldn't be nearly as adorable.

Overall, Ilse and I are doing well and are making progress in a lot of areas.  I will have more pictures from over the holidays and stories up soon.

First Trip Out

First off, it has been too long since my last post.  With it being the Christmas season, I'm sure you all know how busy things get.  

Anyways, last-last Friday (Dec. 16th) Ilse and I travelled to the wondrous Staples in Waterloo.  Two co-workers and I had to pick up some office supplies for the end of the work year, so we figured it would be a good opportunity to try our hand (and paws) at going out in public.  

I was pretty anxious about the outing and thought that it would be a disaster.  But, once again Ilse surprised me for the better.  She was very well behaved after the initial excitement wore down.  I was able to get her to settle down and listen and we worked on sitting/laying down and she did quite well.  

These were taken at Staples by my co-worker/friend EW.

Since then, we have been to several other places.  Mini-marts, the bank and Sobeys.  Each time she has performed well and draws a crowd.   It's definitely tough having people want to see her and play with her and having to let them know "yes you can, but you need to wait til she is ready".  Many people just want to pet her right away.  But with each outing she is getting better.

On one outing at Sobeys with my brother and Ilse, we both came to the realization that in public she likes to "show off"  meaning that she will behave better out then at home.  (this is not to say she is bad at home, she's good there too, just better when out with her jacket)

Happy 10th Week!

Well yesterday Ilse hit the 10 week old mark and well, looking back at how she used to be, she has improved heaps!

She is now consistently sitting on command, and we are working on down still.  As well she is walking very well with me, but still gets excited when seeing new people or other animals.  What I am really happy with, is that she will now sit and wait until I say 'ok' before getting her food.   We are also working on sitting at the door and only leaving when I say "forward"  and she is starting to get the concept.

I think she is more/less house broken now, I can't remember when her last accident was, so that's always a good thing.

However, I did see that she has started being more "whiny"  when it comes to be bedtime.  I know she's not hungry or thirsty.  I let her out before bed and she is getting walked 3 times a day, plus playtime, so I know she is tired.   The only thing I can think that might be disturbing her, is people coming in/out of the front door.   Either that or she is just getting very attached to being with me, in which case I will need to work on spending time apart from her.

All in all though, despite being very frustrated at times, and exhausted from getting up in the middle of the night to let her out.   She is coming along nicely and I am very proud of her progress.  

Making Friends

Well it's been a busy week with work, the house, and uh... what was that other thing?  OH RIGHT.  Ilse.   I guess I should start this post of with a moderately embarrassing correction.  Before I mentioned Ilse's name was pronounced "Ill-see", well in reality it is pronounced "Ill-sah".  My apologies to the sponsor of the puppy, we have made the switch and she is getting used to it now.  So, without further ado.... everyone meet, Ilse ("Ill-sah").  Haha.

"What do you mean, we can't play right now?"

This is what kills me about Ilse, her eyes always look like she is sad, despite being a pretty happy puppy.   It's hard to not give in to whatever she wants.  But I must stay strong! 

She is making excellent progress (in my opinion) in terms of training.   She will sit on command 100% of the time when focussed and slightly less so when moderately focussed.  However, we do still need to get her working on the focussing part.  But... we'll get there in time.   My goal is to have her responding to the 'down' command by Monday, so that is on tonight's agenda and this weekend.

Aside from training, she is just being the usual puppy and wants to make friends with anyone and everyone.  One of the good friends that she has made is my friend EW's 3.5 year old beagle named Boomer.   The two have played together a few times now, and they get along really well.  Boomer is very patient with Ilse and will play along, but keep her in check.  They are a lot of fun to watch when they are playing and here are some photos of it, courtesy of EW.

First Puppy Class and Puppy Sitting

Well this last weekend was quite hectic.  Working a part-time job on weekends to make some extra cash before the holidays left Ilse in the capable hands of some people.  On Friday night, Ilse was watched by my roommate KL, who left and then had her happily in her crate for when I arrived home later that night.  Of course, once I got home I wanted to see the little ball of fur, and she was pretty sleepy and I didn't get much out of her.  So, she went outside, then came and sleep at my feet as I watched TV.

On Saturday evening, my full time employer was hosting out annual Christmas party at the luxurious Langdon Hall in Cambridge, and event I did not want to miss.   So, my sister JK and her fiancée JB, took her in for the evening and she behaved pretty well.  (for a puppy).   I was really worried about handing her off for the night, its one thing for me to suffer through the whining and getting up at 4am, after all, I was the one that signed up for it, but to have someone else do it just seems unfair.   But as I was saying she was relatively well behaved, which was a relief, now the potential for my sister to watch her again still exists.  But then again who wouldn't want to spend time with this face? Here are some photos of their time together.  

Then tonight I had my first puppy class.   Unfortunately Ilse and I have not worked on "focus" enough yet, so she was a bit distracted by the other dogs in the class.  However, I did pick up some good info and will work with her on this and "down" over the week to come.  Oh, and on Friday night Ilse started to grasp the concept of "sit"  she still needs work on focusing on commands, however, when she is focussed she nails it!  I'm pretty proud of her, she learning quickly and putting pressure on me to keep up with her.

Another Day Down

I've now spent two complete days with Ilse and we are both starting to get more comfortable around each other.  I starting to develop a sense for when she has to go outside, and she is getting better at informing me when she needs to go.  I'm writing this just after she went to my office door, pawed at it and let out a small whine.   We quickly headed outside where she found a spot on the lawn.  So far no accidents in the house today (hopefully I didn't jinx it).

Well last night, as I mentioned before, my friend RB came over to visit and she brought her 2 year old Shih-poo "Maeby" over.  The two got along reasonable well, and the four of us went for a walk around the block.  It still amazes me how well Ilse is walking at her age.  She follows right behind me, sometime right beside me, and generally pays no attention to anything else.   Although this morning she wanted to go play with some kids who were walking to school.

After the walk we came inside and Maeby & Ilse played together for quite some time.   It was quite funny because originally Maeby was not interested in playing with Ilse and let that be known through some growling.  Ilse just looked at her, didn't make a sound back, and kept trying to play.   After several unsuccessful attempts of initiating play, Ilse gave up, and came to lie down beside and go to sleep.   This was when Maeby decides "Oh, well she's sleeping now, so.... let's play!"  and would run over to Ilse and wind her up to play. Here's a video of them playing nice.

Also, in between writing this today. I was able to get Ilse to sleep in her crate. As I think I mentioned before, she has taken to sleeping at my feet. So, I moved the crate to my feet, got her to go into the crate, then stuffed a foot in there with her til she fell asleep. Hopefully this will help her to associate the crate as her "den".

Oh and for the record... there are 2 red tone blankets in there, its not darker due to wetness.  (I thought it kinda looked like that at first).