3 Weeks
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5 Weeks
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6 Weeks
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6 Weeks
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7 Weeks (49 Days) - March 20, 2006, 1st Day Home!
I took the following movie
about 5 minutes after getting home from picking him up. You'll
notice that I am trying to film while he works on taking either
the movie camera strap or the the dangling lens cover.
Be certain to take your Dramamine before viewing if motion
sickness is a problem.
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Playing Basketball With Ringer
It snowed the first night home. The puppy wasn't excited about
either the next morning's cold or wet weather, but was delighted
to find out that Ringer can move the basketball REALLY fast *and*
wanted to play with him at the same time!
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8 Weeks
Still working on a name. Lots of physical changes: obviously
bigger (8 pounds now), runs up and down three stair stairways,
pretty coordinated with the tug, ears are coming up. Housebreaking
is going well. Went to the Gateway Agility Club flyball tournament
and was friendly, great in his crate, and accepted his new collar
and lead (well kind of...).
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9 Weeks
High drive is becoming evident. I like that. Nose
looks like it's as dark as it's going to get. Tug is clearly
a favorite game, though retrieve is coming along well. He has
started to do the crouchy border collie thing when I play frisbee
with Ringer, so I should have some great play-stalk pictures
by next week. Did beautifully at last weekend's agility match!
Footage
of Blast playing with Ringer and doing some baby recalls and
sits
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10 Weeks
Ethan entered his first competitive team bike race,
the Hillsboro-Roubaix Road Race, on Saturday. There were hundreds
of bicyclists and many teams from throughout the midwest. 6 divisions,
top 5 juniors are eligible to go to a national bicycle racing
camp this summer. Ethan came in 6th...
Blast, Marian and I were in the wheel car, which follows
behind the fastest group of juniors during part of the race,
so we got to follow behind Ethan for five or six miles. Quite
cool from the parent perspective...
The puppy was higher than a kite at dawn on Sunday
morning, so Marian made he and I leave the bedroom. All of a
sudden the tennis ball focus gene turned on. Click the link below
to see Blast's first moments of tennis ball obsession. He also
appears to have the crouchy thing down too...
Ball
Crazy!!!
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11 Weeks
Coordination has really improved over the past few
weeks. Nose and lip pigmentation have increased significantly
this week. Ears have changed minimally, but whatever they do,
my guess is that both will do the same thing.
I am now able to get rid of the second tennis ball
when playing retrieve, and even caught the first try on the video
below. This is also the first week that Blast has shown interest
in retrieving kongs and other rubber toys. He *really* needs
something to do, otherwise he has to chew on everything, ranging
from the couch to the doors or the floor. We are looking forward
to those puppy teeth coming out. Finally, he did nicely at his
first puppy class this week.
Playin'!
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12 Weeks
There was no school Friday so I took Blast to school
with me and worked during the morning. He went out into the hall
a few times, but since I heard constant movement and he was never
gone for more than 30 seconds I didn't watch as closely as I
could have. After about ten minutes I went out in the hall to
see what he had been doing and found him in the middle of a pile
of shoes he had been assembling during that time. I guess I have
a bunch of shoes to return to their rightful owners tomorrow...
Blast has been leaving the bed to sleep in one of
our soft-sided crates next to the bed. The extra space is awfully
nice. He was fine at the terrier trial this weekend. He is clearly
pretty indifferent to other peoples' dogs. Housebreaking continues
to go well. Blast jumped into the back of the van unassisted
for the first time Saturday.
This week's video shows us working on drop, get it,
back up, sit, down, and interchanging food and toys in play training.
It's a long video, about 12 minutes and pretty repetitive, but
it shows the little light bulb lighting pretty regularly.
Drop,
get it, back up, sit, down, and interchanging food and toys in
play training
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13 Weeks
This was a big week of firsts. Blast went up the steep staircase
at home for the first time several days ago and came down the
steep stairs for the first time today. He nows runs both up and
down the steep set of stairs by himself.
Today was also the first day Blast was able to catch a tennis
ball and I actually got it on tape. By the time evening came
around he was catching very well and continually asking for one
more throw.
First
Catches
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14 Weeks
Blast was getting sloppier with his retrieves earlier this
week. Though very enthusiastic and drivey, he was dropping the
ball or toy about halfway back and then backing up in anticipation
of the next throw. I stopped the game and waited for him to bring
the ball or toy to my hand before it was thrown again. He figured
out the new game pretty quickly, so the retrieves are now better
and faster than they were in the past. He's really good at catching
tennis balls at this point.
Saturday was a big day of socialization. We went to a bike
race just outside of St. Louis. Ethan placed fourth, which means
he now will be going to Wisconisin for one of the national road
bike racing camps. Not only is this a great opportunity for him,
the bike racing camp is sheduled to start on a Sunday, and Blast
and I will be going to Ann Braue's central WI two day "starting
your puppy in agility" seminar the following Monday and
Tuesday.
We returned to C-U in time on Saturday to experience most
of the sophomore class picnic - I'm the class sponsor and Ethan
is a sophomore. Blast retrieved a small frisbee for a bunch of
people throughout the picnic. A worn out Blast is shown with
several of the sophomores in the picture above.
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15 Weeks
The big weekend activity was the two day Decatur agility
trial. Ringer ran beautifully throughout the weekend.
Blast's nose just keeps getting darker and darker...
Ethan
and Blast
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16 Weeks
Time to start training contacts. The whole concept of the
contact trainer is new to me, as is working contacts with a puppy.
It was fun, plus filming our early work should allow me to be
more consistent. The big socialization event of the week was
the APDT agility trial.
First
Contact Work
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17 Weeks
It's really hot. Blast's first exposure to water is
shown below.
Embryonic
Dock Divin' ! (well almost...)
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18 Weeks
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