Puppies play, puppies chew, puppies love to learn new things. Sometimes I wish puppies would sleep a little more so I could get some things done!

Puppy growth

They are growing like weeds and as you can see from the photo, we need to get a new bed! This is Tobie's bed and they used to be able to share it, but even in a couple of short weeks, they have outgrown it. Time to find a new one for Emma, since Will seems to have taken this one over. We are letting them stay out of their crates for periods of time now, when we are in the room, and this is a good place for them to lay. We have them lie down on the bed, for instance, while we are eating. This is good practice staying in one place.

Emma and Will love to chew their chewbones, especially after they eat the peanut butter out of the inside.

Training progresses

Last week, Jim was away for business and I was determined to continue training and practicing with the two pups. It is always easier if we each take one and practice individually, but that was impossible. I began working with the two pups together, doing sits, downs, down-stay, sit-stay, stands, and even taught them both to shake-a-paw. It is so cute to see them both go in unison.

I also taught them to 'wait' at the gate, the door and at the top or bottom of the stairs while I walked up or down. They are getting bigger and it is more dangerous to have them bounding down the stairs together with me, so it seems a lot safer if they wait for me to do the trip, then I invite them to follow when I'm safely in place. This was a tip from Rosemary, and I'm thankful she mentioned it!

I started to teach them to do the high-five this morning. It will take a little while to get this, (they looked pretty confused) but they will do it! I also put them in the empty bath tub this morning, to see what they would think. I read that it's a good idea to get them used to the tub so they are familiar with it and not scared when the time comes to have a real bath. Emma didn't seem to mind, and wanted to play with the drain, the faucet and anything else that wasn't smooth surface! Will, on the other hand, didn't like it at all, and jumped out only to watch Emma's antics. As usual, Emma is the brave one and willing to try new things, while Will is more cautious. He usually follows her lead. Next time, I'll try him alone and maybe sit down with him in there with a toy.