Oliver's first bath!

[Oliver]

He says, "Mom. I hate you."

So, here's how it went:

1. He was okay with playing in the empty tub. Yay!
2. I put some peanut butter on the wall of the tub so he could lick it off and associate good things with bath time. Yay!
3. I started running the water really slowly. He was timid, but okay with it. Yay!
4. I turned the water a little bit higher. He was NOT okay with this. Boo!
5. I turned the water off after it was full and got him acclimated to standing/sitting/laying in water. He was okay with this. Big YAY!
6. But as soon as I got him lathered up, it was time to rinse. AND HE WAS SO NOT OKAY WITH THIS! BIG BOO! :(
7. So I hurried up as fast as I could...
8. Afterward I towel dried him and figured I'd blow dry him as well (good experience to hear the loud noise, no?)
9. At first he hated it, but soon he curled up in a little ball on my lap and fell asleep. He let me dry any and every single part of him!
10. Then I brushed him and now he's a big, cute, CLEAN fluff-ball! :)

In other Oliver news, things he has learned today:

1. He has learned that we keep all of his toys in a basket in a corner next to the couch. Every few minutes he goes and sniffs at his toy basket and picks out a new toy. Now all we have to do is teach him to put all of his toys BACK when he's finished!

2. We're working on "Watch me," "Sit," and "Down." He's not so good at the "Watch Me," but he's really good at the sit! And down we started today so it's still pretty new, but we're working on it! :)

[Paula]

I love the PB on the walls trick! Thanks for sharing! I'm definetly going to try that!

[Camden's Mom]

Meredith, I really enjoy your blog posts about Oliver. I am bringing home my 8 week old mini ALD pup this Friday and hope my training experiences are as good as yours. You sound like you are doing all the right things which makes for a well-trained pup. Wish me luck... I'll need it!