Puppy-hood

You know your a dog owner when you know the names of other dogs (and owners) that come to your dog park on a regular basis.

Today Gunyr is eleven weeks old! I have been trying to get my hands all things dog training and puppy-hood whether it be information online or books and magazines (Dog Fancy and Ceaser's Way are my favorites). I am so worried of not doing something right. I want him to be well rounded and sociable to both other animals and people as well as listen and obey. I am trying to get him to experience everything so he is not afraid of anything. I make it a point to take him to the dog park at least twice a week, walk him next to cars (on the sidewalk), doing multiple command training sessions a day, have him walk near water to start getting comfortable around it, bathing/grooming, etc. I still need to start brushing his teeth, clip his nails as well as a few other things I would like him to get used to while his mind is still open to new things.

I think he is teething because he loves to chew. We don't let our home be bone-less. He always has a bone in his bed, our bed and probably under our bed somewhere. I tried my best to puppy proof our home but I slacked last night and plugged my tablet in to the wall outlet to only find out 10 minutes later he chewed through the cord. Thank goodness we have extras... now its charging in the kitchen on the counter.. I learned my lesson.

When it comes to housebreaking, I take Gunyr out to potty every hour and if I don't watch the clock, he goes inside but happily on the puppy training pads then take him outside with the puppy pad to let him smell it out there as well as reward him when he goes potty outside. He is doing well with it.

Bunker has become pretty comfortable around Gunyr but Tubbles still wont come down from her cat tree unless its morning and she knows he is still asleep, then its prime time for play with Bunker. I have noticed she is less fearful with him but she still doesn't appreciate him coming near her.

I have no idea when he went from shelter pup to having horrible separation anxiety with us. We have to take him everywhere (which was great, he loves car rides) and if I need to go somewhere not dog friendly, I have to wait until Steve is home to stay with him. The first time (and currently only time) I had to leave him alone was when I let him stay in the car so I could run in to the library super fast. I gave him a bone to occupy him but I could hear him crying and screaming even at the entrance of the library.. and I parked a ways away to keep him in the shade. I tried my best to hurry and when I walked out, I could still hear him. He was so upset.This is something we are going to work on. I have done a lot of studying on the best way to overcome separation anxiety so its important to us for him to know we are coming back.

We were taking him to the Brandywine dog park until we learned about the Talley Day Bark Park. That is now our dog park. Its the only one in the state of Delaware that has a fenced in play area for both small and large dogs. We have been socializing him in the small dog park but since he is a growing boy, I can see he will soon be meeting friends in the large dog park. I met a woman with a large yellow lab and she said he was eight months old. My goodness. That is right around the corner for Gunyr. He is already bigger then when we adopted him up... such a good growing healthy boy.

Hope you enjoy a few photos of his first adventures at the Bark Park, lazy mornings at home, and a few from our walks together..

Gunyr and Pepper

Making new friends

A puppy just as old as him

silly Gunyr

taking up my side of the bed

Sleepy after a morning at the Bark Park