Growing Up?

[Bonnie and Kona]

Owen will be 8 months old on Monday and we are noticing that, while he is still very much a puppy, we are not as overwhelmed by his naughtiness as we had been. This improvement in his behavior started the day we went to his obedience class orientation. hahaha. He is learning new things in his obedience class and getting lots of praise from the instructor. One woman in the class commented that Owen looks like a teen aged boy. Having worked with middle schoolers for several years, I heartily agree. He has a swagger revealing his lack of control of those gangly legs, and a twinkle in his eye that looks like he's ready for trouble.

 

Mind you, he still counter surfs, tries to steal food at every opportunity, and jumps on the furniture, but it is happening only occasionally instead of hourly! Yeah! He only barks for a reason and will stop with a reprimand... no more squirt bottle and soda can with pennies inside. His mouthing and nipping are limited to rare arrival greetings now. Recently we noticed that he wasn't dragging sticks into the house every fifteen minutes, now we actually go days without a stick coming inside. The nice part is that we can breathe between corrections. !

 

Owen is getting cuter all the time. His face is sprouting little wiry tufts and he's fluffing out all over. He still has crazy "bed head" on the top of his head but with the addition of his facial fur it isn't quite as startling. Sometimes he even looks sweet instead of wild and crazy.

 

The best part is Owen is an affectionate, loving dog. We kiss and hug him all of the time and he leans into us like he is trying to hug  back. Whenever one of us begins to cuddle with him he sits quietly and eats it all up.

 

Hooray for Owen!

[Bonnie and Kona]

Karin, We are shocked at how he is improving! Hold on. It gets better.

[Karin, Kaya & Django]

Bonnie, I love reading that at 8 months you're having breathing time between corrections with Owen. He's such a cutie and reminds me so much of Django, who will be six months in a couple weeks. Still no time to breath! Django definitely swaggers and it seems that a lot of the time he's just looking for the next naughty thing to have fun with! Owen gives me hope! Thanks for sharing!

[Bonnie and Kona]

Remember how I said that Owen wasn't dragging sticks into the house every fifteen minutes. Tonight he managed to bring a log 4 feet long through the dog door, the kitchen, the hall and into the family room. I removed it from his mouth and tossed it over the fence into the driveway. Five minutes later he dragged in a 42 inch long stick. We decided tonight he was going for length.

[Jennifer and Jack]

So good. I know when Jack settled down I thought he was sick and I took him to the vet. I told them he was acting sluggish, Turns out he was just growing up!!!!

[Frannie & Callie]

Owen sounds adorable! I've always had a weakness for naughty little doods (especially when they don't live at my house!). My foster (Yankee Doodle) is 10mo-11mo and he's an absolute whirling dervish...until he gets tired and then he crashes out asleep where ever he is! I have always adopted and fostered adult dogs, so this has been an adventure! Even though the training process is slow (imagine Owen if he'd never lived in a house before) I enjoy Yankee hugely. Yeah, he might occasionally chew up stuff I'd rather he not (and a month later, it's generally my fault if he gets something he shouldn't have!) , but his innate sweetness and innocent joy really touch me!!! That was a lot of words to say " I get where you're coming from"!!

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

There is nothing better then puppy love, totally reciprocated puppy love.

[Jane, Rooney & Stuart]

8 months must be the "turning" point.  Rooney turned 8 months on the 17th and he is very rarely acting "puppyish".  Still zoomies on occasion but for the most part, a gentle, loving & spoiled big boy!!!!  Owen sounds like a wonderful boy - we do need pictures!

[Bonnie and Kona]

Noooooo!

[Smita, Ollie and Juno]

Ollie is the exact same age as Owen. He turned 8 months old on Sunday (1 day before Owen). I identify with a lot of what you're saying. Ollie has also calmed down a lot and is so much fun to be with. He still has a counter surfing habit and still steals socks whenever he can but other than that he is a real cuddlebug. He doesn't growl anymore like he did either. I guess it is the calm before the storm of adolescence.lol.

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

Lucky you-Chloe is 4 and we're still waiting!!!!