Amy & Bernie's Blog (16)

I have to vent a little about a woman I ran into at a local specialty pet store. I love the store, they carry really great stuff and have a lovely dog treat "salad bar" where you can mix and match and pay by the lb. - and all the ingredients and nutritional information is available. Such a great deal!

Anyhow, a woman came in with her dog and wanted them to say hi, totally fine. We made them both sit and behave before allowing a sniff. There was sniffing, there was a little playing, it…

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For those of you who work from home, do you get Doodle guilt? I know puppies and dogs sleep a lot, that's normal, but as the sun starts to become a more regular occurrence I'm feeling more and more guilty watching Bern mope around the house because I can't play with him every second!

It doesn't help that I just took on a new client and am juggling a new schedule.

Do you all go through this? I realize there's not much I can do - if I worked out of the house he'd be here alone…

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I've been reminded that I forgot to post after last week's session! Let me be honest, it may have been select amnesia.

We were warned that at some point during the 10 weeks the dogs will likely have a spell of forgetfulness, where they act like they've learned nothing. Well Bernie, the ever-consistent over-achiever, started last week.

In class his sit-stays and down-stays were wretched! He'd stay for about 5 seconds before attempting to come to me. Our instructor agreed, based…

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The second week was good, and challenging. Bernie's heeling has gotten SO much better. I can't believe it, he never pulls anymore. He's like a different dog. But we can't stop there!

The second week we worked on the 'proper heel' - which means Bernie's snout was in line with our knees, give or take an inch, but not more than that. That part was tougher, partly because we were so thrilled he was heeling in general, but we got ourselves in shape and stuck to it. In addition to the…

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The first thing I want to share is that our instructor made it very clear that the class we're taking and the methods used only work when part of the entire 10 week system we signed up for. There's no jumping around, or using some techniques and not others. If you don't follow the system it won't give your dog a fair chance to be the best he can be and it doesn't train us handlers to truly understand the way a dog operates. This is very important.

But I also have fun…

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We've enrolled Bernie in an obedience class and tonight is our first night! I'm going to list our circumstances, so if any of you are in a similar situation, please feel free to follow over the next 10 weeks!

Bernie is 10 months old next week.

"Sit", "down", "shake", "speak", "give" and "relax" (roll over) he's perfect at in our home. Slower to respond when we're in public. "Gentle" (stop mouthing) is getting better both at home and with friends and family. "Off" (jumping up)…

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Since Bernie was introduced to our home in September he's been obsessed with the mail. Not the mail carrier, but the items that come out of the box. Granted, I've documented his fondness for wood and paper related products, bark mulch, wrapping material, toilet paper, etc. but I've never understood the mail thing.

Other than perhaps the Doodle affliction for "you have it so I'm pretty sure I want it." And we're talking WANT it. Jumping, snatching, sneakily running his nose along the…

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So I've taken to jumping rope. Mainly because I was scolded for jogging with Bernie at his age. Still working out how I feel about it, doing some research, but it's on hold for the time being. Walks only. But I need to do more...and jumping rope can be done at any time, it's great for keeping the metabolism up, definitely works muscles most of us neglect, yadda, yadda, yadda. The rope was cheap so it's a worthwhile new venture. 

Anyhow, Bernie thinks we're starting a double dutch…

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I have to tell you guys, Bernie gets extremely excited every time I decide to buckle down and do my ab exercises on my work out ball.



Now I know some people read 'ball' and think "oh, big bouncy ball, of course he gets excited!" But the ab ball is always out (unless we're having company over) because I tend to use it more often if it stares at me.



I wish I had a video! He barks, jumps, climbs on me, mouths me, runs a lap around the room and then uses me as a launching bad!… Continue

Time to vent! Poor Bern, I guess I should also vent when he's being adorable but we're entering what we believe may be his 'teenage phase' so he's more piss & vinegar than sugar & spice lately.



Fortunately for him he still has the same charming face, no matter how naughty he's being.



Lately though Bernie has been talking back. He's not a big barker in regards to outside distractions, but he's taken to barking at my husband and I incessantly. When my husband and I hug,… Continue

A friend of mine from college is visiting for the week and Bernie immediately assumed she's here for his entertainment! He loves people, which we appreciate, but he won't leave her alone!



He brings all his toys to her, he wants to sit on her on the couch, he chews his bone while draped over her legs. He even sat outside our guestroom door until she got up this morning!



Do any of you experience this with your Doodles? I'm genuinely convinced he thinks she's his. …



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I just need to vent about a couple issues we're having with Bern lately. Overall he's a sweetheart, and isn't being naughty to be naughty, as in I really don't get the feeling he's doing what he knows is bad to get our attention. But lately we've had two (I guess very common) issues: walking without pulling and jumping up.



We've tried so many different things on his walks, and we give every 'method' at least a week's dedication before moving on to something else, but nothing seems to… Continue

Bernie just finished up with all his shots about a week ago, so it's been a big tease walking along the water every day - for us both! Well, he was being such a good boy on our walk today, calm, responsive, I decided to introduce him to the water. Plus, being about 70 out I knew he'd dry quick if we ran around for a bit when we were done!



It was so funny! If anyone reads this I'd love to hear about your Doodle's first water experience!



At first Bernie was scared of the tiny… Continue