11 weeks!

We have a dog who does not like the rain, is fascinated by smells, loves to dig & tunnel through things & chewing!
Yesterday we took the pee pads out of the kennel except when we are in bed or out. So far today Coda has been good about going outside but this evening it started raining and since then he hasn't pooped... Could be interesting! (When he finally pooped it was on the back covered porch which was dry)
Today has been a really nice experience. Each time I fed him by hand in the exercise pen while training him and then I played with him until I thought he was ready to go out. The biting has definitely lessened since we got him, and I've been working on the OFF command a lot and rewarding him when he is calm and mellow and I feel that it is having a positive effect.
I've been focusing over the last two days at giving Coda as much exercise as possible. Its more challenging because he hasn't had all of his shots so he can't go to public areas so i am trying to be more creative! Yesterday afternoon when I was forcing him to run around the yard until he would finally poop I started throwing the mini tennis balls and he chased them... Got lots of exercise! Plus I started just walking around the perimeter of the garden and he followed. Tonight we had a game of football in his pen with his new large treat dispensing ball that got him revved up... Now when he is in his kennel he is quiet and is sleeping. He also sat on my lap for about 30 mins tonight and chewed his bully stick. Skip commented that he was a different dog!

10 weeks & 4 days...

Cute little Coda is still very cute but is getting much bigger. I can see it in the videos and photos that we first took!
Coda ran into the cat, Serenity, this morning.... Literally! He escaped from the kennel and went running into the kitchen to try and sneak some of the cat food and the cat was already there eating and she must have scared the bejeezers out of him because he came tearing back to the kennel!
He has lots of spirit and is super lively. Sometimes it overwhelms me, but he is so sweet and licks my face and he follows me around the room with his eyes when skip is holding him and I am walking around the room...

9 weeks & 4 days old!

Dear Auntie Sandy bought Coda a puppy shower gift today... A frog with nine squeakers in! It's called a squeaker mat! He's going to LOVE it! Yesterday I went shopping at Target and bought some puppy teething toys, small squeaking balls, an Orbee apple for stuffing, chicken basted rawhide strips, little bone treats and dentix sticks for clean teeth. This is one dog who is going to be spoiled for toys :)
Coda is the smartest puppy ever! & of course I am slightly biased! We have begun working on early training of basic commands... Sit, lie down, off and his name. Sit and lie down are going brilliantly! He has them nailed. For his name I am rewarding him when he looks at me when I say his name. Off is to get him to let go of something or not touch and he is getting the right idea. Of course, he doesn't listen when he's biting my ear etc. The new clickers I got are so much better than the metal ones and they are very effective in the training. Right now I am feeding him a lot of his daily food intake by hand when training and he chows it down...
We've put up a pen in the garden for him to do his business in but he keeps escaping... So I rearranged the fence pieces to make the gaps smaller and of course he can find the one gap he can fit through :) I've not been making enough fuss when he does his business outside and consequently he is just as happy to do it on his peepads. sandy reminded me today to use the clicker and a treat when he goes outside and he will come to want to do it outside! We hope...
The time is coming next week when we have to go to the vet for the next round of shots. There is the Hampden pet health place run by the SPCA but they have limited hours... We liked Timonium Animal Hospital when we had Guinness put down but I've read lots of bad reviews online about them... Antonella recommends Pikesville Animal Hospital but that is quite a distance away, but it would be a good choice if I liked the vet... Decisions!