Almost 11 weeks!

Well, Sagan is growing like a weed.  He looks a bit like a gangly teenager this week, gaining lots of height and little girth.  You can see that, as well as his lack of head (a new development) in the following awesome shot. :-)

Things continue to go well on the playing with Doppler front:

This week, Sagan got to spend a lot of time with me because I was on mid-winter break and then I had a snow day....  he tried to eat the blowing snow a few times outside:

Rest assured, though, that he is starting to become a precocious little puppy.  He has found the 2 or 3 places in the backyard where I cannot get to him....and he has found one high place in the fence that he can stick his head through.  He also loves my shoes, so everything is set on tables now in our house.  Yes, even dirty shoes.  And all Sagan can say is...."who, me?"

He also met a few people this week...some folks at my orthodontist's office, Cody-one of our housesitters, and he also had a playdate with his littermate Rye, and his Mom, Lucy.  Monique and I were stupid and didn't take pictures. :-/

Also this week, Sagan has been getting a little bolder with Winnie.  He risks the occasional sniff of Winnie, and since Winnie is totally blind, it always startles her into a soft growl.  

Training is going well.  He has picked up "down" pretty well this week, and we are starting to work on "come", "speak" (hey, he is doing it, so might as well take advantage so he can learn "quiet"), and "pull".

Training, YAY!

Sagan and I just had a good half hour with the clicker.  Worked on all the things he already knows, especially sit, watch, and touch.  Worked a bit on down, and a lot on shake.... a new one for him, and one he really likes.  Also working on increasing the length of eye contact with watch.....

On a blah note, he continues to have diarrhea.  Not quite sure what else to do about this.  Blah!

We took a little trip to Reber Ranch today.  He did very well, given his tentativeness earlier in the week.  We picked out a few new toys (The Kong wobble treat dispenser scares him right now, but we're click-treating it).  He loves the new snake toy.  We got it to save our fingers. :-)  But it turns out it was just the thing to encourage some safe play between Winnie and Sagan.  For those who don't know, Winnie is my totally blind (SARDS) and mostly deaf girl.  She has dog aggression issues.  It is always a challenge introducing a dog to her.

Trip to the Park and Week 2 with the Akers!

Sagan spent this week going to work either Ross or me....  and a new milestone this week:  Sagan no longer howls when put in the kennel in the car.  However, eating has been an issue this week (it is all I can do to get him to eat most of his kibble).  I think this is likely due to the metranidazole/flagyl he is on from last week.  Today was his last dose, so I am hopeful.

Another great milestone this week is that Doppler and Sagan are officially playing together well....

 Although Sagan knows that Doppler is in charge....

 For now....

Today, we took Sagan to Game Farm Park for a few purposes.  We put him on the long line to give him a little more freedom to run around than a leash would provide (and we've not worked on leash skills yet).  We also practiced "come" with him about 10 times.   He did pretty well at this!  Though only one of us could reinforce by hauling him in with the long line. :-)

We also took him to the park since he is showing some anxiety about people and about cars.  So we clicked and treated anytime someone walked by, or he looked at people.  What I was most impressed with in this is that I tried some of the commands he already knows to distract him from the people and/or cars.    He sat about 95% of the time I asked in the park...  touched about 90%, and watched me about 80% of the time.

Oh yeah, and he LOVES how the wind blows the leaves around. :-)  Other new things he encountered this week:  bicycles, suitcases, and robots. :-)

First Weekend!

So first the health issues....Sagan has some nasty diarrhea with blood in it.  We have him on some probiotics, and after a vet visit today, some metradinazole for flagellates.  He wasn't eating well for a day, so we made some chicken and white rice last night.  Today we are mixing the chicken and white rice with the kibble we're switching him too:  The Innova puppy food....

On a more fun note....  I had a couple of training breakthroughs with him.  We did some great training with squeaky toys over the weekend, and he was interested in some food treats today.  I have been working with him on:

Sit (he is very good at this and started before he left Monique's)
Watch (he is quite good at this)
Touch (Excellent at this, even though I realized it sounds an awful lot like watch.)
Down (So, so.  He dives under my leg to get a squeaky toy for down).
Leave it (to exchange one ball for another)

On another fun note, he and Doppler have figured out how to play together.  Video attached. Doppler will even play "handicapped tug of war" with Sagan...pulling more gently. I have learned to read Doppler's signals when he is done and needs a break.  Sagan is *very* cautious of Winnie. I realized that when Winnie corrected Sagan the other night, she actually punctured his cheek.  Oops.  Fortunately, the only lasting effect is that Sagan approach her carefully.

I also saw Sagan stalk his squeaky toys.

What he has been exposed to so far:  lots of students and teachers, 2 different schools, a park, a busy street, a vet office, bird noises, ferret noises, steps (at our house and at school)...???

New nicknames:  Sagan bacon, Shark Mouth Ooo Ha Ha.

Day 2

Wow, so I think we owe Monique a world of thanks for kenneling the little guy the week before he went home.  There was a total of one minute of light wimpering last night, and one successful potty break.  No accidents.   I had set an alarm for 2AM, and heard him jingling around about 1:30, so went ahead and took him out.  He went right away.  YAY for him and my sleep. :-)

The other dogs are trying to figure out what is going on.  Doppler looked like he was playbowing quite a bit last night, so I tried them together with no fence separating them.  Lots of fun for a minute and then Doppler pinned him and started a lot of really nasty sounding growling and snarling.  Doppler tends to have problems with a) puppies b) dogs smaller than him, and c) male dogs.  Three for three.  I tried again this morning, and Doppler was trying SO hard to please me. He looked at me the whole time the puppy was jumping at him, and when he started pegging on Sagan, I separated them before it got ugly.  I'm sure the initial stuff will be over soon.

I got up an hour early and played with him.  I also clipped the leash on him and let him drag it around.  I clicked and treated him anytime he stopped chewing on the leash.  He picked this up pretty quickly. I also worked on sit and down with him. As I am typing this, I am seeing how he does with separation.  He howled a bit, but it only took him about 10 minutes to stop.

So far a great first day!

The Day Before!

Well, we have officially purchased about half the toys in every pet store between here and Seattle.  We also have the necessary items, and thanks to Nancy & Scott, we also have a supply of bandaids, earplugs, and coffee. :-)  We get to pick up the little guy tomorrow after Monique gets home.  We decided we won't really let Sagan interact with Winnie and Doppler this first night, with the exception of sniffing each other through kennels or ex-pens.  I'm still debating taking Wednesday off...we'll see if my favorite sub is available or not.

We also have Sagan and us signed up for puppy class starting 3/9.  Bring on the craziness!