Due to weather conditions and my injured back/hip, our weekly field trips were limited this week but it didn’t stop Knuckles’ amazing growth pattern. On Thursday he was 4 months, 10 days old, and weighed in at 40.9#. Yes, that’s right – over 5 ½ pounds in one week! Our new friends at the Dog Park said that they could see a big change from last visit and other people in the puppy class think he looks like a different dog each lesson. But he’s still a happy, healthy, mellow maniac. We did go to a couple places including one park visit after the ground dried out and he went into the bank with me where he got spoiled rotten by the staff. He did play a bit with a little boy at class – he loves kids. Knuckles is showing more interest in dogs after spending more time in training playschool and at the park.
Knuckles usually lets me know it’s time to go potty by going to the stairs and looking up towards the landing he used as his indoor potty for a few days. He tried to climb over the baby gate one day this week and got in Big Trouble so now he doesn’t hang there as much. To make sure that I get the potty point, he now gets the leash off the front table and brings it to me. Pretty smart puppy!
The puppy class is a little boring for Knuckles. Unlike the other puppies who wriggle, jump about in excitement, Knuckles usually just lays at my feet. He’s not even into it enough to sit at attention. This week, however, we got to play on the agility equipment and he’s the leader of the pack. He loves it! The plank was on ground level rather than elevated (some puppies in class are teeny, tiny) so he lost interest in that pretty soon and the jumps were okay. But he fell in love with the tunnel. Most people have more than one person attending so for us, the instructor held Knuckles at one end while I went to the other with a treat. With only one step of hesitation, Knuckles came zooming down to me. Only one other dog (8 months) went through without being dragged. The other families quickly moved back to things that their dogs enjoyed better leaving Knuckles and I to play there alone. No food treat necessary as he just loved running circles in, through and around.
As usual, though, we did get in some trouble this week at class – this time for working in advance. Knuckles is the quintessential “working dog”. Along with his natural intelligence, he always needs a new challenge. This week we learned “stay” independently and he likes this new trick the best. I can get into another room while he remains in position. Knuckles gets so excited waiting for “come” that when I finally say it, he practically leaps out and into a run. The stay is part of our everyday work – he sits and then stays until his food dish is set down. Anyway, the control freak of a teacher did not approve. We ignored her. We just started “shake” yesterday but he didn’t think that was very fun. Perhaps he sees no purpose?
Knuckles usually lets me know it’s time to go potty by going to the stairs and looking up towards the landing he used as his indoor potty for a few days. He tried to climb over the baby gate one day this week and got in Big Trouble so now he doesn’t hang there as much. To make sure that I get the potty point, he now gets the leash off the front table and brings it to me. Pretty smart puppy!
The puppy class is a little boring for Knuckles. Unlike the other puppies who wriggle, jump about in excitement, Knuckles usually just lays at my feet. He’s not even into it enough to sit at attention. This week, however, we got to play on the agility equipment and he’s the leader of the pack. He loves it! The plank was on ground level rather than elevated (some puppies in class are teeny, tiny) so he lost interest in that pretty soon and the jumps were okay. But he fell in love with the tunnel. Most people have more than one person attending so for us, the instructor held Knuckles at one end while I went to the other with a treat. With only one step of hesitation, Knuckles came zooming down to me. Only one other dog (8 months) went through without being dragged. The other families quickly moved back to things that their dogs enjoyed better leaving Knuckles and I to play there alone. No food treat necessary as he just loved running circles in, through and around.
As usual, though, we did get in some trouble this week at class – this time for working in advance. Knuckles is the quintessential “working dog”. Along with his natural intelligence, he always needs a new challenge. This week we learned “stay” independently and he likes this new trick the best. I can get into another room while he remains in position. Knuckles gets so excited waiting for “come” that when I finally say it, he practically leaps out and into a run. The stay is part of our everyday work – he sits and then stays until his food dish is set down. Anyway, the control freak of a teacher did not approve. We ignored her. We just started “shake” yesterday but he didn’t think that was very fun. Perhaps he sees no purpose?
I love this picture of Knuckles. And I am glad to see he enjoys that toy even when Silly isn't around to play with.
ReplyDeleteGood for you Knuckles!
ReplyDelete