The Honeymoon Period

Last night I lay in bed and thought about how right now I am going through the honeymoon period with Kimmy. The early puppyhood with its housetraining and night time potty breaks and chewing and biting is over now.

Kimmy is such a loving, affectionate dog. A true companion. It's really how they say, that a dog is a man's best friend.

She no longer tears holes in Ben's clothes when they play, which I consider a huge improvement. She's very gentle and patient with him. I love to see them snuggle together on the sofa.

She's trying hard to please me when we do our training sessions, and I can really see her struggling with the urge to jump up when she's excited, often she self corrects when her front paws go up, she aborts the jump and puts all four down again, overcoming the urge to jump all over me and lick my face.

She doesn't show even the slightest hint of resource guarding. When I take away a toy or a bone from her, she will not protest or show displeasure, she will totally let me and just look on.

I read that the adolescence is a trying period with a dog, so I will enjoy this "calm before storm" :)

I'll be gone... but don't despair ;)

Ben and I are leaving for Brno, the Czech Republic on Sunday, we'll be gone until Friday, 3rd March. So there won't be any updates in my blog in between.

I will resume blogging as soon as we get back :)

Clicking

So we started the clicker training earlier this week. We means Kimmy and I of course :) I bought this book, and it's a pretty good manual on how to start and what I like about it most is that each exercise is depicted in clear, tidy pictures (drawings), and the author explains exactly how to get the dog to do the exercise, and when exactly to click.

First I needed to "charge the clicker", that means, let Kimmy know what the clicking meant, and let her create an association between the click sound and a treat. This I did by practicing commands she already knew, like sit and down, and clicking and treating her every time she did what I asked her to do.

Then I progressed to trying something new, curious to see if she will really do what the book said she would.

I started with a take it/leave it exercise. I showed her that I had a treat in my hand, then closed the hand to form a fist, and pretty much shoved it under her nose. The book said:

The dog will try to get the treat from you. He can push, nibble, or lick. When he gives up (looks away or backs away), click and open your hand for him to take the treat.

Don't say anything to your dog when you first start this game. After he understands he will not get a treat by being pushy, begin saying "Take it" as you open your hand.

Well, what do you know, this is exactly what Kimmy did. The first time she licked and poked my fist for a couple of seconds, then gave up. I clicked and gave her the treat. The second time again, and then the third time, she looked at the treat in my hand, and no longer tried to get it when I closed the fist. She just looked and waited. I clicked and gave her the treat.

Wow, that was easy... :)

Then I tried the "stand" command. I put her to sit, and lured her with a treat in the standing position. As soon as she stood up, I clicked and gave her the treat. After several repetitions, I started adding the verbal command "stand" just as she was getting up from the sit. She got it very quickly, I was surprised :)

Next on my list is "watch me".

This clicker thing is really exciting, Kimmy loves practicing, and it's so far pretty easy :)

Kimmy

Watching the Olympics put her right to sleep ;)

Change of position...

How To Keep Your Dog Mentally Stimulated

1. Exercise. Lots of exercise. If you can incorporate exercise with another activity such as playing, “Find the ball,” or doing some agility exercises, then that’s even better.

2. Brain teaser toys. There are a number of cool toys that actually challenge your dog’s mind. For example, one of the more popular ones is the “Buster Cube,” a plastic cube that releases a pellet of food, every third or fourth time the Cube is rolled over.

3. Small rituals done at the same time of day, every day. For example; feeding time, grooming, walks, “cookie” time, car trips around town, etc…

4. Dogs like to work. Teach your dog to bring in the newspaper, carry mail back from the mailbox or to walk out with you when you take the trash out.

5. Do obedience training with your dog. Obedience training requires your dog to use his brain and think. Knowing that he will be praised for making the right decision and corrected for making the wrong decision (and allowed the opportunity to make the right decision again) instills a sense of responsibility in your dog and demands that he use his noggin.

Remember: Dogs are bred to work. They’ve been blessed with super-human instincts and drives and they need an outlet for those drives.

The Towel Trick

I read on a dog message board about a towel trick to give the dog some mental stimulation, so I decided to try it today. I took an old towel, spread it on the kitchen counter, and placed bite sized treats on its surface randomly, then I rolled the towel up, and gave it to Kimmy on the floor.

She immediately started sniffing it, realizing there was food hidden inside, and spent the next 10 minutes excitedly trying to get the treats out. It was fun watching her dig with her long nose in the towel, slowly unfold it, and the excitement when the treats appeared...

Great fun and so easy!

Benny and Kimmy

Best buddies :)

Kimmy

Happy Birthday, Gerry!

My husband is 40 years old today!

I baked him a cake with a "do it yourself" theme:

Yesterday we went to Pizza Hut to have a celebratory lunch. Pizza Hut is in the capital, Luxembourg City, about 50 minutes drive from us, so it's not often we go there (about twice a year).

We had a lovely time. Benny was on his best behaviour, so we could "linger" and not hurriedly throw food in and run, as was the case when he was an infant. :)

Special treat - Pepsi Max!



The birthday boy, Gerry:




Aaaah, pencils! :)



Ooooh, garlic bread, Benny's favourite!




I drove so Gerry was able to have a beer:



Oooh, dessert!




Kimmy stayed home with a Kong and probably had a good nap, because she was full of energy when we got back home :)

Benny and Kimmy

Photos from today

Snoozing on my foot...



Kimmy loves tinned tuna, chicken, and rice mixture from Almo Nature which I give her every other day to enrich her diet. She always scarfs it right down.




Yummy!



Look at that tongue!



Searching for the perfect spot for her wee:




Aaaaah, relief! Good girl, Kimmy!



(If you get offended by a photo of a weeing dog, this blog is not for you!)

So, what do we do now?



Wanna play?



Ah well, I can wait until you stop the crap with the camera, I guess...




Okay, one last photo and then we'll play, deal?

Then... now...

At 6 weeks...



at 5 months...

5 Months Old Today

I can't believe Kimmy is already 5 months old. But then again, it seems like we've had her for a long time already. The bond is there, and she fits in with our lifestyle so well, it's definitely working out.

It snowed here again 2 days ago, so yesterday Ben had a bit of fun clearning snow from Gerry's car with a brush, and Kimmy was beside herself with excitement, she must have thought it was some sort of game, because she kept jumping up and barking at the brush, ha ha ;)

It's so cute to see her tail wag 100 miles per hour with joy!

In the afternoon I took her to Ettelbruck for a walk in the pedestrian zone, it was a sniffing heaven for her (and hell for me), because all she wanted to do was follow the scents with her nose to the ground, pulling me with her. Pulling is something she is not supposed to do, though, so I need to discourage her (I stop each and every time she pulls hard enough on the leash, which was about every 5 seconds due to all those smells!).

So it was all stop and go through the pedestrian zone. Which was okay since we were in no hurry. I am really angry about all the people who throw their cigarette butts and other litter on the ground, though. I mean, the pedestrian zone was full of it! Every morning there is a cleaning car (the one with large rotating brushes in front) going through the zone, and afterwards a couple of guys hired from the council walk through and pick all the rubbish. Yet in the afternoon, the ground is covered with cigarette butts and candy wrappers again. Grrr!

And of course, Kimmy wants to sniff each and every one of them!

There are so many bins in the pedestrian zone, would it be so hard to use them??? People! The more I know them, the more I like dogs ;)

As the butcher shop is in the pedestrian zone as well, we of course stopped there to say hello to Gerry, FIL was there as well, and was excited to see Kimmy, he commented how much she's grown, and told her to sit, and she did! He was so surprised, ha ha - he said to me: "She sat, did you see it. I told her to sit and she sat!" Then he gave her a small piece of meat as a treat, and she sat in front of him and wagged her tail like mad, and it went swish swish across the floor, so funny :)

Then I walked over to the printer's to have an announcement put into the Saturday newspaper - it's a birthday announcement in honor of Gerry's birthday. He will turn 40 on Sunday. I am sure his family will ignore it as usual, and so at least Gerry will be remembered by us :)

The text is in Luxembourgish, but it basically says

Katie, Benny and Kimmy

wish

Mr Gerry Wirth

all the best for his 40th birthday.

And a photo of Gerry. But pssssst, it's a surprise! :)

I also want to bake a cake for Gerry. I still don't know which theme. I need to get creative!

Kimmy's Daddy

Angelo is a medium sized brown male, which is characterised by great courage and hardness, a ballanced character connected with large self-confidence. His working drive is very high, this is shown by many trials. Already with 16 month he did his excellent ZTP and with 20 months SchH 1. He had 11 trials SchH 3 and IPO 3. In the year 2000 he became DHV Kreismeister and qualified for the Bavarian Championship 2000 and 2002. At many shows he received V1, CAC and CAC Reserve. Angelo is German-Champion VDH.His second home is in Florida (AKC registration sertificate WP 924693/02) where he is working at DHV US.

Breeder and owner:

Josef End,

Zwinger "von Karat" Hausgärtner 1,

91352 Hallerndorf, Germany

e- Mail: endtjs@t-online.de

Kimmy and her Kong

It took her some time to warm up to this invention, but now she loves it. I put some cubed cheese or some treats in it, then stuff it with cream cheese or mashed banana or peanut butter, and freeze. Kimmy loves the challenge and it keeps her occupied for a while.

Here are some photos of her with her Kong:

She is teething at the moment, so the frozen Kong is soothing for her gums.

We keep finding milk teeth on the floor! Thank goodness she doesn't swallow them. Who knows if they'd dissolve in the stomach?