Posts from the ‘Auggie’ category

Unbelievable !: Emmett is 8 mths and we are closing in on the end of 2018

We are one month into Autumn!

Emmett was 8 months old on October 12!

Emmett has been part of the family Summers for over 6 months!!

Life is good here at 785 La Brant Rd. Emmett is growing into an almost dog :) … 14 months for physical maturity … 2 years for the rest, but as we are firmly into adolescence … and not too many “teen” issues … I am grateful! We are following breeder and vet advice to wait as long as possible to neuter. This is a “medium-big dog” thing of allowing time for bones and joints to mature with the normal hormones. There are plusses and minuses for various issues, but I’m going with waiting until we “need” to.

Emmett continues to be a joy to be with, to play and teach and to learn from. Auggie continues to be a CHAMP at tolerating Emmett’s lapses into “puppy brain”. I love them both with all my heart and am so grateful that they are part of my life!

Time flies when you are having fun and we are HAVING FUN!

And in addition to Auggie and Emmett fun, we are having an absolutely spectacular Autumn to date! Some cool-cold weather and in the last 10 days some warm weather and the color … it is just great to be where we are and with the time to get outside and enjoy.

From the last weeks:

Auggie and Emmett

Yes, that is Bob, not Auggie and not Emmett.

But this photo, a favorite of mine, is a great memory of Mr. Bob enjoying the sun. And so, it was inspiration as well as loving memory when I saw Auggie, quiet in the sun … and eventually, Emmett joining him.

Through the years: Zack and Gus, Karl and Gus, Karl, Gus and Bob, Bob and Bear, Bear and Auggie … and now Auggie and Emmett: my heart, my loves.

This photo series started with seeing Auggie in the sun … remembering Bob’s photo and hoping to capture something like that…

And then Emmett got in the picture…

Auggie and Emmett

Into September: Emmett at 7 Months, some food and some weather

30 weeks old tomorrow and 7 months old on 9/12/2018.

So much fun, in so many ways.

My dream of all of us on the little sofa in the kitchen just keeps getting better!

Training continues, of course. There are stellar days and days when Emmett pretends he never heard the word “Sit”. I have learned to switch things up with fun, fast paced training of things I know he likes to do: touch, follow, left paw, right paw. All of the training is short sessions: some 2-3 minutes, some 5-10 minutes if things are going very well. When I see that he is “done” we either do sprinkler (see video at the end!) or fetch. If we’re inside, I sit on the floor and we have a play/snuggle session to end things.

What I continue to see is an increasing bond of trust interspersed with some fun/funny naughtiness. For the naughty, I leave the area, the fun stops and I do some chore elsewhere for a few minutes. All calm, no one yelled – no drama. He waits by the pet gate and we have a nice greeting when I return.

The other thing I’ve taken from the Kikopup’s training videos is to think about teaching in a way that allows Emmett to do the behavior, or the first part of the full behavior … in a successful way, i.e. setting him up for success and building on that. It requires that I use MY brain so win-win for all of us!

We’ve worked a lot on attention and focus. When on our woods walks, I will occasionally make my attention noise: kissy sound, squeaky toy, cough/sneeze. When he looks, I get all excited, click and if he comes to me: treat, treat, treat!! The idea is that I stay more fun than anything else. Mostly this works :)

So, squeaky toys.

This is the latest. Actually, it is a puzzle toy which is why I bought it. Emmett, an English Shepherd, is a very smart dog that is good at problem solving and seems happiest with things that engage his mind: training, snuffle mat, kong, playing chase with Auggie …

This toy is a hollow log and comes with 6 little squirrels. All of the squirrels have squeakers.

… It seemed like a good idea at the time :)

Actually it is!

Even with 6 little squeaky squirrels, it is a fun toy for Emmett. Not only does he have a good time removing the squirrels, but he stashes them around and plays with them.

PLUS, they are small enough that I can put 1 or 2 in my pocket when we walk and thus have a squeaky toy for attention getting and proof that I am WAY more fun than deer, etc.

One of the keys to positive reinforcement training is to teach in a way that allows the animal to make good choices because those choices are beneficial to him and so it is easy for him to decide to make the good choice. Yelling “NO”, as well as other “punishment” serve to make the animal afraid and unsure. I’ve SEEN the difference in both Emmett and Auggie as I’ve trained with this method. I do some click-treat with Auggie in tandem with Emmett to calm them both if play gets out of hand. I’ve also taught Auggie a hand signal if he wants to walk past Emmett … it is a signal that says that I have control of Emmett and Auggie can proceed without a chase.

Is that a “Thank you” from Auggie ??? Well, maybe not, but at least he does have a retreat!

On to food!

Only 3 more weeks of CSA :(

But this week, we headed into Fall bounty:

And after making Mel’s Kitchen Café Amazing Romaine Salad which required making candied nuts … GREAT salad, but those nuts!

Looking for other ways to make the nuts, I found: these cayenne spicy-sweet nuts . YOWZA! If you like a hot-sweet vibe, this is a recipe to try.

I made a double batch … munched on some and added the rest to vanilla ice cream …

… with David Lebovitz’s Salted Butter Caramel Sauce . I subbed cashew cream for the heavy cream – no calorie savings, but my caramel sauce has protein and fiber!!!

Next up is weather.

We have mostly turned the corner to Fall (Autumn).

HOO RAH!!

1 of 3 A/C units put away on August 26.

Help and supervision by Emmett and Auggie.

I put the other 2 away as well as fans that same day.

With the exception of 3 days last week, we’ve been smoke free and cool.

It is wonderful.

Overall, it was not the worst summer ever. And we are likely to have some warm days still, but I really think the worst is behind us. Fires continue and we need a fire-ending weather event. The loss of historic structures is heart breaking. And the animals.

But, to end on a fun note … a video. As usual, my video skills leave a lot to be desired. I am completely in awe of people who video pets and themselves while walking, playing, etc. The only thing I can say for myself is that I am slightly better at editing so mostly have edited out the wild camera swings to the sky and my feet. Emmett is the star and for myself, at least I did not talk “baby talk”…

August and Augustus (Auggie!)

August started smoky. Rats.

NOAA says the smoke is from California and Washington fires. There is currently a Montana fire in the Yaak … about 80-90 miles as the smoke blows. So maybe some MT smoke also.

After a week with upper 80’s and 2 days in the low 90’s, a cold front whooshed through. The weekend has been pleasantly cool with very cool nights and we are enjoying as it is forecast to be a week in the 90’s starting Tuesday.

Meanwhile. The tower that I bought for Auggie when I knew I was getting Emmett … it was a bit of a mistake what with the lower height and the steps. It has taken a beating. AND as Auggie has been so stellar re THE PUPPY! and as THE PUPPY has pretty much taken all of Auggie’s toys … AND as there was a sale … a replacement tower of the same brand as the original, bought for Bob about 8 years ago. I have high hopes for a longer duration with this new tower.

Much taller and no steps.

A very fun hanging ball to bat around.

Training is in progress to make the tower an “Emmett-free” zone.

It is a work in progress.

Emmett is now 40 pounds and looking much like a small version of a grown up English Shepherd!

And he LOVES the woods – YEA!

In preparation for the forecast hot and smoky week, the third A/C unit has been put into place.

Auggie’s new perch is high and cool … VERY cool :)

Here we go August!!

Mid July: Auggie, Emmett, CSA Veg and Food, Scenery

This past week, Auggie turned 5 years old !!!

And Emmett turned 5 months old !!!

Emmett and Auggie do a bit better every day and playing not quite so rough. They both know I don’t like the rough stuff. When I walk over to have a few words, they immediately separate with that look of “What, we weren’t doing anything!!”. I stay out of it as long as possible. My primary concern is Emmett’s puppy brain going into overdrive and some accidental injury to Auggie.

Emmett is now 35 pounds and has his permanent teeth. I felt horrible a few days when I saw teeth emerging and his gums were swollen and bleeding – ouch. He didn’t whine, but every once in awhile I saw him kind of working his mouth. I believe they are all in now, thank goodness! And speaking of teeth … I have done “husbandry” training as well. Since I brought Emmett home, I regularly put my fingers along his gums and teeth, play with and clean ears, play with feet and generally put my hands over all of him. All of this to make sure that he is ok with being examined and for me to clean teeth, ears and trim nails … and take his temperature if necessary. He had nails trimmed at the breeders and I’ve been trimming them once a week, I’ve started cleaning his ears and now that he has his permanent teeth I’ll do a brush twice a week. (Auggie gets regular teeth, ear and nail upkeep also as I started when he was a kitten.)

Other training continues well. We are mostly working on all that he already knows – all useful stuff so just continuing to use it during daily life. All of the training has been part of play time all along and the current difference is I very randomly click treat and more often just praise. We mostly walk off leash, but I keep him on leash if we are out when Auggie is and then we practice loose leash walking. All very beginning stuff.

I’ve mentioned it before, but Will (trainer) has also reminded me that Emmett is very young and we are building bond, trust, behavior … over time. This is such a relief to me especially with leash walking and recall. Will told me to continue my turning and running with sing-song noises to distract Emmett from deer vs trying to teach a grown up come when Emmett is not ready and likely to ignore it. We build the recall over time as Emmett grows up.

Another good lesson for me came from Laurie Luck of Smart Dog University: Make your dog training more powerful . The gist is that using management as we train makes the training go faster and also contributes to less unwanted behavior that we later need to correct. An example is: put the shoes away! Teaching a puppy to leave shoes alone is not realistic. BUT, if he can’t get the shoes, he doesn’t learn to like the shoes and we don’t ultimately have to teach “leave shoes alone”. “Leave it” is another of the behaviors that takes some maturity. We are in the beginning stages of “Leave it” and so my management is to put things I want left alone out of Emmett’s reach. My other management is sometimes leashing Emmett in the house. I did this a lot for these past several weeks to allow he and Auggie to be together, but to be able to restrict Emmett from really rough stuff. It has worked much better than trying to step in or keeping them completely separate.

As always, I think I’m learning as much or more than Emmett! Although I still make mistakes and get annoyed with myself, overall, I am so happy with how we are all doing!

Weather wise, it got hot and dry and the local farmers are producing gorgeous vegetables!

The vibrant landscape is going to fade with upper 80 temps, some 90 and no rain … so I’ve been soaking in the color and clear air.

The weekly CSA box is getting better and better. Week 8 I added some extra cauliflower and broccoli…

About half, I roasted and of that 1/4 I ate as a side dish and 3/4 I pureed with tomatoes for a vegetable marinara … well, that’s what I call it. The roast vegetables add a bit of sweetness to the tomato sauce – I love the flavor as a base for soups as well as a pasta sauce.

The remainder of the broccoli and cauliflower, I riced and froze. I use the riced cauliflower in place of rice and the broccoli is great mixed with some grain and parmesan and stir fried.

This salad – an excellent combination that hit the flavor, crunch and fill me up buttons!

Yes. Behemoth 1 in place…

And as the note says, I used the sound dampening quilts instead of adding the bedroom unit. I did put the “boy’s room” unit in place. And since the above photo, I neatened up the look of the quilts by adding a tension rod so they hang behind the curtain.

An added benefit discovered on 4th of July … not only sound dampening, but the quilts made the bedroom much darker. This time of year it does not get dark until after 10 and is getting light again by 5 in the morning. The extra dark helps all of us settle and get to sleep at our normal, early hour.

Oh – Emmett slept through the fireworks. We had some practice with earlies, gun shots and thunder. Sometimes he would stop and look at me. I laughed and gave him a treat and praise and pretty soon he was not paying much attention to any of it. YEA!

Emmett likes to see what’s what … Auggie is unfazed and continues his lunch!

Oh, Emmett :) … fortunately, he does not mind a rinse off. He also likes to be toweled dry and it is giving us practice at feet: 1 at a time. He figured out the routine very quickly.

He also figured out that in front of the fan is a good place to be on a hot day!

This is my favorite scenery photo from the week. It was in my Instagram story and is saved in the highlights along with some other photos from Friday morning on my way to town to get my CSA box. As it gets hotter, I head to town at 6:00 a.m., pick up the box, grocery shop and head for home before it gets hot.

Week 9 CSA.

Auggie stays home and keeps an eye on things there.

Gorgeous sunrise, but the clouds meant that it did not cool Friday night :(

So, a relaxed morning at home vs a trip to the market for extras.

French toast made with my homemade cherry sourdough and topped with fresh sweet cherries made a good breakfast.

Emmett knows how to relax!

Mid July: 5 years for Auggie and 5 months for Emmett … Happy Days!

It won’t always be like this

Over 7 years ago, when I was in the throes of caring for Karl … 8 months of cancer, not cancer, what is it and the last 3 months outside several times in the night … I thought to myself: “it won’t always be like this”.

And in the last year with Bear and particularly, the last 6 months when he needed help getting up and down and all that went with that, I thought to myself: “it won’t always be like this”.

With both Karl and Bear, it was a fear of what I knew was to be the inevitable loss, but also a wondering if I could physically and mentally go the distance. And even in the not wanting the loss of each of them, wanting “normal” life. But I knew “it won’t always be like this” and that helped me continue on caring for and loving them until it was time to let them go.

So, now … a puppy! Such joy, such love, such cuteness. So much heart healing.

So much attention needed!! It is sometimes nearly overwhelming even with all of the tools at my disposal: crate, pen, work from home …

It won’t always be like this. That makes me both glad and sad. Puppy time is so fleeting! If not for the notes I kept when raising Karl, I would have forgotten many puppy details. My vivid memories of life with Karl are of grown up Karl.

I am so thankful I kept notes. I also bought my first digital camera before I even brought Karl home so I have a LOT of photos. And of Bear. And of Bob and Auggie.

But back to Emmett and puppy days.

Monday, it will be twelve weeks since I brought him home. He is a bit over 4.5 months old. He is looking like a small version of the grown up dog and less like a baby dog. Pee and Poop is happening outside and all of the constant watching and dashing outside is done. Oh, there is still a LOT of puppy in him, but he has outgrown 2 collars and 3 harnesses. The nighttime pen barely contains him. The crate that fits in the Jeep is almost too small. His puppy teeth have been replaced by his permanent teeth!!

Gah!! My baby is growing up.

My personal challenge is to enjoy every day and to be the best human I can to my canine and feline companions … to lead and teach and yet allow them to be dog and cat. To look forward to grown up Emmett while enjoying the remaining puppy time.

There are days when I’d like a time out!! I said that today in the grocery … this is smallish town Montana and I’ve shopped the same grocery for 16 years so there are conversations in the checkout … and walking to the car, I thought … if I had a day without Emmett I’d likely miss him so much that I wouldn’t enjoy it.

Puppy days are intense and full and fun and funny. I love it and I am so grateful I get to experience it with Emmett and Auggie. Auggie remains THE MOST TOLERANT cat! He deserves a medal. I use some of Emmett’s crate time to give Auggie some one on one, but still. Auggie has accepted the changes in our lives and routine better than I could have imagined.

I tell Auggie: “It won’t always be like this!”

The other thing that won’t always be like this is the weather. We have had a perfect Spring and early Summer. Rain and sun and mostly moderate temperatures. The local organic farms, including my own CSA farmer have had wonderful growing conditions in spite of snow on the ground longer than normal.

But we are approaching that time when it is likely to suddenly get hot and dry … and maybe smoky from fires.

So, like puppy days, I am enjoying pleasant days while we have them.

It won’t always be like this.