The title of this post isn't referring to the puppy. It's me that is learning the basics. It has become routine to walk him outside every hour or so. I'm always keeping at least a passive eye on what he's doing, and where he's doing it. Overall, the accidents in the house have dropped dramatically. Part of it I think is that he is learning to communicate to me that he has to pee. I think the most difficult challenge so far is getting the puppy to adjust to my schedule, with regards to school and sleep. I feed him three times a day: 9:00, 15:00, and 21:00. However, soon after his 21:00 feeding (and being let out, of course) he goes into his kennel for the evening. That's fine, except that he likes to wake up between 5:00 and 6:00. I don't.
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| Torie holding Hoshi during Euchre night. |
Yesterday was Euchre night, so a total of seven people were at the house, enjoying a few beers and playing cards. Hoshi loved all the attention he got, and enjoyed the company. Naturally, we were up until the wee hours of the morning, while Hoshi did a lot of sleeping.
Despite all the sleeping he's been doing, he has had plenty of time for play, and for learning! He's starting to get the hang of sit, although he hasn't quite associated the command well enough that different people, who say it slightly differently, can command him to sit. Other than sit, he's slowly learning the stay command. I also command him to wait after I pour his food into the bowl. I hold him, as he's struggling to get to the food. If he relaxes for a couple of seconds, and calms down, I say "Go Ahead," and release him. He is not at all protective of his food, which is a good thing. I can pet him, mess with his ears, grab some kibble out of his bowl, and even lift up his hind paws, all while he continues to eat!
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| Hoshi eating, superman style. |
Unfortunately, Kyle and I underestimated how much teething puppies desire to chew. We bought him a few chew toys; tennis balls, and a Kong, as well as a number of rawhide bones. That does not satisfy him. While taking him on his pre-breakfast walk this morning, I found a 18 inch long, two inch diameter stick for him to have. After breakfast he and I worked together to debark it, and he fell in love with it. He can just barely pick it up, and drag it around. It's quite adorable to watch him prance about it, and scurry around backwards, dragging it along.
All this play and excitement wore him out quickly. After a good half hour chew session with the stick, he came up to me laying on the couch. I picked him up, because he cannot yet jump all the way onto the couch, and almost instantly snuggled up with me and started to nap. I took the opportunity to nap as well, having only had a few hours of sleep. We napped there for nearly an hour and a half, listening to Pandora.
On a completely unrelated note, I'd like to give a shoutout to Justin Wall. He hosts free tech tutorials, webinars, and can give great advice for anything computer related. He is a certified computer tech, with several years of IT experience, looking to expand his business. From building your own computer, to reformatting it, to learning how to code, he's the man to go to. Here is a link to his blog.
Today is such a nice day out, I think I'll try bringing Hoshi to the Oval, or possibly take a long walk down Grant Ave.
