Chillin'

Today was cooler than it's been, but gorgeous- not too hot and definately not cold. BEAUTIFUL weather so I've been chillin' today. Except for one thing...That mama of mine has figured me out. The way to my heart is thru my stomach for sure. I already know I won't get a treat or my food unless I'm sitting, but now she makes me say please.. Every time I want a treat or my food she asks me to say please and since of COURSE I am hungry I oblige her quickly so I can get the grub. I'm a pretty polite pup she thinks, but I just know how to get my food quick is all ;)

Princes of the Mountain :)

I wouldn't say they are kings- not just yet :) More like Princes of the Mountain! My redhead and my pup- two special guys in my life :) I've had little time this week to post. I am a daycare provider and I started 2 new children this week, and I have an interview this morning for a school age boy who needs before/after school care (and days off from school) Not sure how that one will work out however, because My kiddos are all smaller and this boy is in second grade and may not want to be here due to lack of kids his own age. We shall see though!

We've had breakthroughs here- Suka has been walking with me solo for a week! We walk every day and I don't have to pick him up repeatedly anymore because he doesn't want to go. In fact, he has found he ENJOYS walking with me now :) I'm starting to rank in his top 5 I think :) A few times I was heading out to go on a walk (once by myself, and once with my toddler) and he started barking and crying at the fence running back and forth. I ended up going back for him (both times) because he has NEVER wanted to go on a walk with me before, he's only been forced to go in the past. It's So Nice to be able to see that he WILL be a walking buddy for me (I was a little worried at first, I mean how many huskies REFUSE their walks!) :) Also, last night when it was time for bed, I said "Suka, time for bed, go to your kennel". He waited at the basement door (his kennel is downstairs in our activity area in our basement) I opened the door, he rushed down the stairs, didn't dawdle at all, and beelined for his kennel and laid down. It was SO NICE :)

NOW....If I can get the housebreaking and nip play under control, I will have the best pup EVER (well, he's pretty great already!) :)

So Hot!!!

It's topping 90 here and the air is so thick with humidity that there really isn't much better to do than try to find a cool spot and sleep. So that's what we are doing here right now- How about you?? On a side note, mama doesn't like my dewclaws too much. This morning I was so excited to get out of my kennel for the night, I jumped up on her and punctured a hole in the back of her leg in the crease behind her knee. OUCH!! It hurt her, but I didn't mean to, I was just so excited...

What do you want to do today?

I know what I want to do :)

More Often than Not..

I am learning first hand what it is like to have a siberian husky-the muddy way! :) I've read that they like to bury themselves in the snow to keep warm, and in the mud to keep cool. Suka is as stereotypical as they come I guess. Almost every afternoon I am greeted by this wet, muddy, jumping crazy boy. If there is mud to be found in the yard (which there often is) he finds it, rolls in it, covers himself in it. He isn't too keen about the cleandown afterwards, but sloshing himself in the mud is worth it apparently because he does it over and over again! :) It has been hot here, and although he has plenty of water he still likes to cool down in the mud as well. Usually I catch it quick enough but occasionally the mop has to come out because I get muddy pawprints all over the kitchen before I can catch him and quickly usher him outside for his clean-off. He was REALLY covered yesterday and wasn't so impressed with me after his spray off but he's since forgiven me (good thing!) :)

Here is a question for those professional potty trainers- Suka has a lot of accidents in the house still. He could be out all day, then come in and mess in the house. For this reason, when the weather is good, I let him be outside alot. Originally I thought maybe if he was outside alot, he would realize that the outside is the place to potty, (since he would be pottying outside alot and smelling his scent)but now I'm not so sure if I am doing the right thing. I've potty trained both our other dogs. Takoda was easy peasy and trained by the time he was only a few months old. Ruger was stubborn and it took a little longer but he figured it out fairly quickly in the general scheme of things. Could I be hurting him by leaving him outside so much when the weather is good, rather than having him in and out of the house all day long, every 10 minutes or less?? Any advice would be wonderful!!! I only want to do what is best for him, not make it more difficult for him.

We had our second puppy class yesterday. Suka did pretty well, I was proud of him. The class has been reduced to half of it's size from last week so apparently a few others felt the same way as I did last week. It will be good to learn things away from our home environment and our own dogs, and have him be exposed to other dogs. One thing I'm thankful for is that Suka doesn't seem to be aggressive at all towards people or dogs. He gets very excited and wants to attack in play (which some of the dogs don't particularly care for) but he does seemingly well with others. He is a smartie in many respects :) The trainer was impressed by how many things he already knows, she said that she could tell that I am not a first time dog owner and that I work with him often. That was a nice compliment for sure :)

Look How big I'm getting!

Where is my puppy going? He acts like a puppy but he's starting to look like a dog..Sniff, Sniff...How can this be when he is only 13 weeks old! Suka has learned sit and down and does them easily now. He is doing great at stay (when there are no doggy distractions) and come (when treats are involved especially), and is working on giving paw. Now, if we can get the wanting to walk with me down pat, and the mouthing/nipping under control (and a better grasp at housebreaking- he is able to be in the house and not let out every few minutes like he used to, but when he has to go, he just goes with little warning or chance to get him outside) Baby Steps, I must remind myself :) I am very excited though that he is learning hand signals rather than just words. I signal him to do certain things and he is learning to do them- Whoo, Hoo! :)

Puppy Class

Yesterday evening Suka had his first dog obedience class, but it turned out that it is pretty much a puppy class. Everyone's dogs are puppies and most are tiny dogs like poodles, daushaunds, pomeranians, and a jack russel. There is a pretty little dalmation pup named Bella there that Suka thought was pretty nice, and the handler class (which is going on at the same time) is full of English Mastiffs. One ginormous Mastiff was six months old and Suka loved playing with him- I think Suka would have preferred the big dog class (he isn't so sure what to make of the little dogs, since we only have larger dogs at home) but I think it might be good we are where we are, because Suka thinks it's playtime all the time with the big dogs and then he doesn't want to listen worth beans.

To be honest, I don't like the trainer. I've been to this class before when Takoda was a pup and the trainer was awesome. She knew what she was doing, and was a no nonsense kind of person. She had control of the class and the dogs in it, even the ones that had issues. This woman is new and you can tell it. She seems a bit wishy washy, and although she teaches 4h'ers how to handle their dogs, I'm not so sure she has an understanding of the different capacities of different dogs and different breeds (she has mini shnauzers). Don't get me wrong- I am not a trainer, but owning different breeds of dogs, has given me a better understanding of the fact that different breeds have different ways of learning, and different vices and strengths) For example, Bella's owners are first time dog owners. Dalmations have a very high energy level. Her owner's are having a difficult time controlling her because of her energy level. As a trainer, I would explain to the first time dog owner, that puppies in general are often rambunctious, however breeds such as dalmations have a high energy level already built into their breed, so to help Bella to be able to focus on positive behavior, giving her daily exercise is a must! This trainer didn't address ANYTHING to help Bella's owners understand Bella better. grr...

Here is a question for other fellow dog owner's out there. Suka wears a harness, because it seems as though I have a better handle on him with his harness, and better control without yanking on his neck. She saw that he was wearing a harness and said I should use a collar instead. I've never had issue with collars, and our other dogs have collars, but from the reading I've done and many of the husky blogs I follow, it seems as though harnesses are a better choice for sibes. It seems to me, with a sibe's capacity to run, a harness is also a better choice because it is more difficult for them to slip out of than a collar. Any opinions or advice anyone out there has would be appreciated!!! :)

We will continue to go (we already pd for the class) and hopefully in doing so Suka will become more obedient and a better listener but I do wish the old trainer was back :P

Introducing the rest of my canine pack :)

My mama always talks about me cuz I'm her baby, but I've got two brothers I thought I'd introduce. Takoda is my canine daddy figure :) He's six and a half and is a handsome lab/mastiff mix. He came into mama and daddy's life from the local animal shelter after mama lost a couple human babies. He was about 5 weeks old when mama saw him on Petfinder.com and fell in love. Early monday morning dad drove down and picked him up for mama and brought him into the house tucked in his jacket. Mama's into meaning names, so after the joyous shock of seeing her puppy that she could love all over it was time to scour the internet for names. Takoda means "friend to all" in sioux (mama is 1/8 native american indian so she thought it would be cool to give him an indian name) Takoda really does live up to his name. He loves everybody although often people are nervous at first at meeting him since he looks like a lab on steroids ;) He lets the little people crawl all over him, with nothing but a lick or two in protest (if that is what you call it) Poor Takoda has a torn ligament in his leg which is healing (surgery costs thousands to correct and isn't even guaranteed to fix the problem) so he walks more like grandpa then daddy so he has retired from his long walk days and is more content to lay in the yard.

Ruger is Dad's dog. He is an American Bulldog. Mama bought Ruger for dad for Father's Day last year. Dad had always wanted an American Bulldog so mama won best wife last year. Ruger is a big, goofy oaf that doesn't know his own strength. He just turned one and is a muscle bound fool. Ruger was named by dad since he is dad's dog..Can you guess why??? :) Let me give you a hint...Dad is a gun nut. Takoda is so happy I'm around now, because Ruger constantly harassed him to play, and now I took over that spot. Ruger and I play all day long, which mama thinks may be part of the problem on why she is struggling to become my pack leader. I love to roughhouse and be with my big brother ALL the time, and I don't have so much time for her unless he's around, and even then I don't really like sharing him. Don't get me wrong, mama loves the fact that we get along so well, and play so well together, but she just wants to be able to share me too..

And then there is me, Mr. Strong Willed Himself. She'll figure me out one of these days, but till then I'm glad she loves me and I really do love her too ;) (Don't tell her though, I still want to play hard to get) ;)

Shots are Icky.

Suka got his rabies shot today. They have one for 12 week old pups so we lucked out (although he probaby doesn't think so) He also gets his second round of spectera 5 tonight hopefully. Today is a sleepy day it is 90 degrees and climbing. So So hot for man and beast! Usually the dogs play outside alot during the day but I ended up bringing them in just because it was so hot for them. Thankfully the humidity isn't so bad, which helps tremedously. After the human kiddos wake up it will be off to the pool we go. It is a good day to get cooled down. In the meanwhile the dogs are enjoying the cooler house today, and I don't blame them one bit! :)

Hey, It's Me Suka..Guess What?

Not really understanding why my hu-mama is so excited but she wanted me to tell you that I went on a long walk tonight with her alone-No doggy brother, no human brothers and sisters, nobody 'cept her and I. I wasn't really diggin' it and a few times I tried really hard to turn back but I guess I could see how important it was to her so I didn't lay down like I normally do.. I gave in this time...Can't promise her next time but hey at least I'll give her one good night to talk about ;) Now where was I...ah yes...sleep...