Modern Comforts

Welll... today Cowboy learned that he can jump on the bed!  Up until now he's pretty much had the run of the house, but as we don't usually "make"' the bed - the blankets are usually rolled back to the foot of the bed to allow the bedding to air out a little bit.  So... now now I guess the baby gate will have to be left up during the daytime too.

Baby Teeth

Cowboy has been teething a lot lately, and baby teeth are beginning to be replaced by permanent ones.  While playing with him last night with the rubber tug toy, he suddenly stopped and began smacking his mouth, as if he'd gotten something in there that was nasty.  I saw something hit the floor and, thinking it was a piece of rubber from the toy I picked it up.  To my surprise it was a puppy tooth!  Of all the puppies I've had, I've never found a baby tooth - mostly because puppies usually just swallow them. This was a prize! 

Puppy Playtime

Puppy Playtime again today, and finally, after six weeks, Cowboy played with several puppies! He does not like the German Shepherds because even though they are the same age, they are considerably bigger and pounce on him. I would prefer that they had their own playtime schedule, as I don’t want him to get hurt.  His bones are still growing and I don’t need a four month old puppy with back problems!  Playtime should be determined more by size than by age, I think.  But I could be wrong…

There was a little Border Collie cross named Lucy that he just loves!  They played almost the entire time; sometimes by themselves and sometimes with other puppies.  He had a grand time today! 

Vet Visit

Trip to the vet today for a rabies vaccination, final boosters and pedicure.  He is so wiggly that when I gave him his boosters last time I got blood.  I did re-sterilized the needle and managed to get the injection done but for the final I wanted to make certain he received all of the vaccine, so I let the vet do it. Toenails are tough because again, he is so wiggly and it's difficult for me to get all 16 nails in less than an hour, and by then he is so stressed that he bites at my hand and the clippers.  At least I can hold him steady while the vet cuts his nails.  We definitely have to work on this. 

And... we need to make several trips to the vet for no reason, so that he learns it is NOT a bad place.

Toys, Toys, and More Toys

Cowboy’s permanent teeth are beginning to come in and as a result he is chewing aggressively on his toys. The soft, plushy toys all have holes chewed in them, and being mostly concerned that he will eat the stuffing they have all been put away for now. 

In exchange he has several hard rubbery toys that he can chew on to his little heart’s content, and I bought him a “Skinee”; a soft toy with squeakers but no stuffing.  He LOVES it!   He went absolutely bonkers over it; running up and down the hallway like a little bucking horse, growling at it and “killing” it.  He played with that thing all day and never let it out of his sight. And when it was time for supper he carried it into his crate, where it sat while he was eating.  If Kizzy or I so much as looked at it, he pounced on it and carried it off someplace else.   

Oh, he is so entertaining.

Finding His Place in the Pack

Puppy playtime was once again a very stressful hour for this quirky little pup.  As usual, he seemed to want to play but when the other puppies approached him he ran away from them and hid under the table, or the folding chairs.  It seems so odd to me since he’s very playful with Kizzy, and when he and Ricochet get together they play hard and rough.  Yet even with puppies smaller than him he is nervous and afraid.  Today he was chased off my a Tibetan Terrier – that weighs all of six pounds…  

Adolescence

Cowboy’s hair is getting longer and thicker, and feathers are beginning to form on the back of his legs.  He looks less like a puppy and more like an adolescent.  The tips of his ears are finally folding over, but only the tips and I have to wonder if he will ever truly look like an Aussie.  But of course he’s beginning to lose baby teeth and growing permanent ones, so the ears will change on a daily basis (just please don’t let him have prick ears!)

He’s beginning to show signs of dominant behavior and is becoming more of a watch dog than I had anticipated.  He is rather wary of strangers as well - not that it’s a bad thing. It means he would be less likely to be stolen, and I do feel much safer with a dog that is protective of his “territory”, but I definitely don’t want him to be aggressive toward other people.  He is being socialized at puppy playtime, but once winter starts to fade away and we can get out and walk more, the real socialization will begin; I just wish I could have done that sooner. 

He can jump into the car all by himself now.  He can also jump onto the bed, and does so at every opportunity and is quite proud of himself for being able to do that. The problem is that he believes it is his playground and he gets send down onto the floor when he gets too rambunctious. Last night however, while I was lying on the bed watching TV, he jumped up, curled up between my feet and went to sleep.  Good boy!  For that he was allowed to stay up there for about an hour but was sent to his crate when it was time to go to sleep. No freedom at night until he stops trying to play with Kizzy, his toys, my feet, or the blankets in the middle of the night. 

Inquisitive Minds

At just about four months old Cowboy is 17 inches tall and weighs 23 pounds. His hair is starting to get thicker and the "feathers" on his front legs are beginning to grow out. He no longer looks like a puppy and has taken on the look of an adolescent.  BUT... his ears are finally beginning to tip!

He has become fascinated by my sweatshirts - or "hoodies" as they're now called.  I wear them all the time around the house but when I cook or wash dishes I hang it over the back of one of the kitchen chairs; which of course is "puppy territory", as he can reach it.  This morning as I washed the breakfast dishes I heard him growling behind me and turned to find my sweatshirt on the floor and the tie strings in his mouth.  Since my camera was sitting right on the kitchen counter nearby, I quickly took a few photos.  

BUSTED!!  

Playthings

Cowboy, like youngsters of many species, finds great pleasure in the simplest - and sometime silliest, things. One of his favorite toys is a very tough plastic bottle that once held medication for my other dog.  I dumped a handful of uncooked rice into to and sealed the lid shut.   It makes a soft rattling noise and he loves it.  

Another favorite toy is paper.  Yes, paper - any kind.  When he's being particularly troublesome because he is so wound up but I have work to do, I give him a sheet of clean paper from my printer.  He snatches it up and runs all over the house with it, growling at it and "killing" it by shaking his head back and forth, before he settles down and rips it to shreds.  The pieces then become toys as well.  He may eat a few small scraps but since there is no ink on it I don't worry about it - it is biodegradable.  Cardboard too; he loves the empty rolls from the paper towels.  I'm constantly picking scraps of paper and cardboard up off the floor, but it keeps him happy and satisfies his need to chew things up now that his adult teeth are beginning to come in.  The down side of this however, is that he is now big enough to stand on his back legs and reach the top of my desk, so every scrap of paper is fair game.  What better reason could I have to keep my desk cleaned up and everything filed away?

Food bowls - or should I say metal dog food bowls.  He goes nuts over them and after he and Kizzy have eaten the races to her bowl and licks it clean and then picks it up and runs all over the hose with it.  Problem is that he picks it up from the lower edge so that the entire bowl rolls up over his muzzle and he can't see where he's going.  He trots off with it in his mouth and his stubby little tail held up straight, as if he were Mister Studly, and then smacks right into a wall.  Does it phase him?  Not at all, he just keeps on going. One of these days I have to have my video camera handy after they eat their supper.  

As with most dogs, anything on the floor is there to be claimed by anyone who gets to it first.  Therefore gloves, wool hats, shoes (specifically shoe strings), slippers, socks, a dropped kitchen spoon... anything he finds goes into his mouth and off on a run through the house.  He is learning to leave my shoes alone and doesn't bother my slippers much anymore, but socks?  Oh yeah, socks are the BEST!   Soft and chewy and really fun to shake and "kill".  

I'm trying very hard not to scold him too much however, because I also want him to learn service dog exercises so he'll be able to - among other things - pick things up if I drop them.  He does pick up a few things - the tough part is getting him to LET GO.  Once he has it, "it's mine" and he does not want to give it up!  

Patience, patience...