Lazy Trainer

The weather was awful this weekend; cold and rainy on Saturday, then warm and rainy on Sunday. It was one of those super lazy weekends where I had no obligations and nothing to do except hang around the house. And that's all I did.

On Sunday afternoon, as I was standing outside, between downpours, watching Bowie sniff around in the grass looking for somewhere to "go", I realized something about myself.  I'm a lazy trainer.  What do I mean by lazy? I guess what I mean is, I don't feel the need (let alone the gumption) to set aside time each day to work on JUST training the dogs (in this case the pup, Bowie).

But  I also realized something else. On lazy days like this past Sunday, when I'm a total slug, my dogs are probably learning the most.

Because even though I may have been a lazy trainer this weekend, I was also completely present.

Let me give you an example.  I as standing out in the yard with Bowie when a bicycle approached.  Bowie, being ever vigilant as a good Terv should, caught sight of him way up the road.  She sat down in the wet grass and she watched. She didn't ran after him. She didn't bark.  I moved closer to her, just to be safe. And as the biker got right in front of us, she looked up at me and I was there, I was present....I saw it and I was ready. I said, "yes" and gave Bowie the dried liver already loaded into my hand.  She gobbled it up  as she turned quickly, looked back at the bike and sat down again. The bike was now down the road and then she did it again. She looked up at me.  'Yes!", I said as I gave her another liver treat.  Bowie then trotted over to another area of the lawn, squatted and peed. I said "go potty" and when she finished, I again said, "yes" and she happily sprang over to reap her reward.

You see, I didn't do any formal training with Bowie at all this whole weekend. But I realized I had caught her being good so many times and was present enough to notice and to reward, that it didn't matter.  I nurtured what she gave me and in turn she gave more to nurture.  THAT is what real learning is all about.  And now, I don't have to feel guilty about being a lazy trainer.  ;-)

Cuteness overload

My puppy is soooo cute! Sure, I know that's what all the pup mom's say, but in my case it's true.  So, what makes my pup cuter than the rest? She's mine of course....And those ears help! And did I mention her super long tail....Adorable!

Food

So do you remember the good ole' days when you brought home a puppy you would just stopped at the local grocery store and pick up a bag of puppy chow? Well, I do and believe me, sometimes I wish it were still that simple.  It was almost that simple 16 years ago when we got Winston. At that time it was  Science Diet.  It was the most highly recommended dog food by veterinarians and breeders and quite frankly at the time, it was the very best dog food available.

Now a days, there's as many different methods of feeding, formulas and brands of dog food as there are, well, Dogs.  It can get very confusing.

So, I have this puppy.  She came to me with a couple of cans of puppy food (Chicken Soup for the Puppy Lover's Soul) and a bag of dry. When I decided to keep her as my own I had some decisions to make and 3 1/2 weeks later, I'm still at it.

Bowie has a sensitive stomach.  When we first got her she would throw-up, oh 4-6 times per day.  At first, I thought it was volume.  She was eating more than her little puppy stomach could hold. And that was probably part of the equation.  But even as I feed her smaller, more frequent meals she was throwing up. Only now she was throwing up 1 1/2-3 hours after eating.

So what was I going to do?

So, my Winston is still on Science Diet.  He's on the canned senior formula. I've tried to switch him to "better" brands, but I think he was on Science Diet for so long, his system just cannot take the change...That may be why dog food companies used to tell us to NEVER switch there food if they are doing well...That advise was an insurance policy for the future.  Arrow eat raw.  He's been on raw since March of this year and is doing great!!! No problems, no issue.  I will put this pup on raw, but I'm really nervous about feeding raw to a puppy.  They have so many more nutritional needs.  But she throws up.  So I already knew I wanted her on a grain-free formula.

This is what I believe about grains in dog food.

*I don't think dogs need grain. It is not a natural part of a canine diet. It's a cheap filler in dog food that provides little nutritional value.

*If a dog is going to have a problem (allergy, sensitivity), I know it will probably be from a grain.

*Today's grains (especially those found in dog food) are almost always GMO's and are toxic from all the pesticides sprayed on them.

So hey, I don't want that for my dogs!

I also knew I wanted to give her canned food.  Canned food is less processed and provides more nutrition and adequate moisture. Although, I do like giving interactive toys filled with kibble. So, I would probably do an occasional dry kibble meal for the sake of learning and training.

So, I couldn't find a canned grain free puppy formula locally that I could actually afford, so I ordered on line.  Bowing has been on this for almost a week.  3 small meals (about 1/2 can each) and one dry meal in a toy in her kennel when I need her to be occupied.

Well, she still throws up sometimes.  Not as much. But sometimes. I cannot let her drink too much water or she pukes.  If she chews up a stick outside, she pukes.  This puking happens almost immediately after the ingestion, so I have a pretty good idea of cause and effect.

But today, I had been to the pet store and I was giving her dry kibble as a treat and when I got home...She threw up and it was mostly kibble.  Now I didn't see her eat anything else, but I guess she could have while we were in the store.

So, I guess we will stick to the status-quo.

And maybe, I might just have to start feeding her raw...It's the final destination anyway!

Go Potty

Today my pup, Bowie came to the kitchen door, sat down in front of it and whined! When I let her out,  she ran into the yard and went potty.  Both pee and poo! How cool is that!

The Name

So as David gave permission to keep the puppy he also announced she would need a new name.  You see, we were calling her Macy (along with Baby, Pup, Puppy, little one). It was a name her breeder (Carol) and I agreed upon (remember, she wasn't my dog).  I would have liked to call her Betty. I don't know why, I just like it. But Carol definitely didn't like it.  So I sent Carol a list, Mika, Macy and Rosa. Carol liked these names in that order. But I liked Macy the best, so that's what I started to call her.  David hated it....He couldn't remember it and generally thought it was stupid.

So, as soon as we knew we were keeping her, we began the arduous task of picking a name we could both agree on. I, of course, suggested Betty. NOPE, that wasn't gonna do. Then he suggest Bow....As in Bow and Arrow.  GREAT idea, but masculine. She was a sweet little girl.  How about Bowie then? It's girlie, but you could still say you had Bow and Arrow.  So Bowie it is! And truthfully, it fits her perfectly. And within a week she was turning towards her new name like she had had it forever!

Dog Blogging

So today I am a blogger.  I'm not sure what that all means, but I guess I'll find out.  I'm not very disciplined with things like this, but I'm really going to try to make a go of this.

The reason I'm doing this is that I have a new puppy, Bowie.  A 15 wk Belgian Tervuren.  It's the first puppy I've owned in 16 years (I'm not counting Arrow who was pretty much physically grown by the time I took permanent custody of him) and it's a really interesting process.

So I got Bowie on Thurs. Sept. 13th, Three weeks ago.  I got Bowie from a friend of mine who breeds Belgian Tervuren (Tervs, for short).  I took Bowie into my home with NO intention of keeping her.  Why's that, do you ask? Well, my Friend, being the good and responsible breeder she is had these two extra puppies....Puppies that had not been purchased yet and had no furever home, that needed to get out into the world, experience life and be socialize during the critical 8-15 wk imprint period. So I agreed to take one of her puppies for a couple of weeks. I had done this before for my friend. And she really has wanted me to keep a puppy. And although I liked the other puppy, I was never interested in having a puppy. I already have 2 dogs and quite frankly puppies are just too much trouble....Then I met Bowie. Bowie wasn't her original name either, but I'll write more about that later.

So Bowie is this really sweet, outgoing Terv.  If you know anything about Tervs, you know they just are not very social.  They tend to be wary of new people, dogs and experiences. So this one, this little Terv really surprised me. Yet I was going to stay strong. Remember, I didn't want a puppy. But as the days wore on and I spent more and more time with her, she really started to grow on me.  And then, Arrow played with her.  That was huge. Arrow, my 5 year old mix breed had always been very aloof with the other puppy I took care of.  He was not interested in her at all.  And Arrow, who has actually been acting a little depressed since his best friend, Darla had gone to live in New Jersey in March, was just way too "above" any puppy. But he like Bowie too. That meant a lot to me. So what was I going to do? Deny my feeling and now desire and Arrow's as well, or go for it and see, if by some chance, my husband would allow this critter into our lives for the next 12-14 years.  Well, obviously, I went for it and pleaded my case to keep her.  And you know what, he said, YES!

So now I have a new Terv puppy and a new blog...We'll see how it all goes.