Dog School Graduation!

I am a good dog!  I even have a piece of paper that proves it!  AND!  They didn't use my middle name on my certificate, yay!!

Tonight was graduation night for dog school.  We had to show that our humans knew to give us treats for each of our tricks.  All the dogs in my class have made a lot of progress with their humans, but I think Marty was best.  (I may be a little biased.)  Littlefoot's smaller human, Carl, was also awesome.

I destroyed the competition in puppy-pushups, even though Lyle counted wrong.  (Lyle thinks it should be sit to down to sit is one, sit to down to sit is two and so forth.  But really it should be sit to down to sit is one, and then you count sit to down is two, down to sit is three, and so forth.)  But even with Lyle's bad counting we won!  Marty has no problem luring the behavior and I like chicken!

We practiced polite greetings, which sometimes I don't even bother to wake up for, but this time I was awake and nice.  Miss Jessica shook Marty's hand and I just laid there and waited for more chicken.  Marty says she's not sure I should count this as a win, since dogs are supposed to at least pretend to be a little interested in the human, but I say it still counts.

I did not do my best job of walking on a leash, but a lot of the class had a hard time with this, so it was okay.  We practiced the run really fast to get a treat thing and I was AWESOME at that.  Of course, I have had LOTS of practice with that.

We practiced trade with cheese-smeared hooves.  (Cheese-smeared hooves, are awesome, by the way.)  Marty has been practicing trade a WHOLE LOT as a result of the unfortunate incident involving the snail, so I don't really have any trouble with that.  Marty would like it if I would look away first but most of the time I still make her show me that she actually has something good to trade.  I like to consider myself an informed consumer, that's all.

We did 'wait' with the bowl of food, and that is super easy for me because I don't usually get my kibble in a bowl.  Mostly I eat out of Kong toys or Marty gives me food for working, so the food dish is not a big deal to me like it is to some other dogs.  Marty can say "wait" and put it all the way on the floor and I still won't move.  Now if we tried that with a ball, I would definitely not be the winner.

We were supposed to do touch with the stick, but I don't like the stick, so I just did touch to Marty's hand.  I'm still barking a lot of the time when I touch too, which Marty thinks is "less than optimal".  Littlefoot definitely won this one, since she'll touch the stick wherever Carl puts it AND she doesn't bark.

Then we did tricks.  I showed the class "shake" and a little bit of "sit pretty" that I have just started working on.  Littlefoot did an AMAZING crawl and Duke did a little bit of a spin.

At the end of class, Miss Jessica brought out bags with our certificates in them (and some other stuff, Marty said there were people treats in the bag and I have to wait until later to go through it) and a special graduation dog that plays a song.

Don't ask me why Marty looks so ridiculous in this photo.  If you get your own humans you will learn that looking ridiculous is one of their best tricks.


When I graduate from the next class I am going to get a video!

Savage River Hiking

Even though we had to pack up to leave, we had time to go hiking first.  Marty got the little pack out of the car and that's when I knew this was going to be more than just another walk!  We left from the lodge (dogs are not allowed inside the lodge, but Marty and Lyle say it's really nice) and hiked down the Savage River Trail to the Outer Loop Trail and then around the Red Oak Trail.  Marty says this was about six miles, but Lyle says it was only four and a half.  I say let's do it again soon and I will wear the GPS watch on my collar!


My very favorite thing about Savage River Lodge is that Koko and Karma say it's okay to let your humans off the leash when you're hiking on the trails.  (You need to keep them on their leashes around the lodge and the cabins.)  So we did almost the whole hike off the leash.  This was so cool because I still have not been able to convince my lazy slug humans to go as fast or to investigate as many things as I think they should.  When I don't have to worry about getting them to walk nicely on the leash, I can just do things at my own pace and keep checking on them.  I did have to put them on the leash to cross the road and once because Marty got too excited about practicing "leave it" around some horse poop.  But other than that, no leashes!  (Let me just say, most humans do not walk as nicely on leash as Marty is walking with me right here.)

We practiced them giving me treats when I come to them a lot.  This is one of their favorite games because they get to stand still like the lazy slugs that they are and I get to RUN REALLY FAST between them.  It's fun for me too, plus they usually give me really good treats for this game.








There's a lot of water on the first part of the Outer Loop Trail and I got to play in that for as long as I wanted.  I got really muddy and it was so fun.

When we got back to the car I got to meet Mike (the crazies already knew him).  He's the human in charge of Savage River Lodge.  He's very cool but very busy so we didn't get a picture.  Maybe next time we visit.  I can see that he's had some really good dogs that have trained him right!

More At Savage River

When we got up this morning, a magic elf had come to our cabin and delivered a picnic basket.  I know it was a magic elf, because if it had been a human I would have heard them.  The picnic basket smelled SO YUMMY, so I helped bring it in right away!

When we opened the picnic basket there was a Bodhi biscuit in it for me!  It was the best biscuit I have EVER tasted.  There was some stuff for Marty and Lyle too, but I ignored that because my Bodhi biscuit was AMAZING.  Next time we come, I am making Marty and Lyle get me a whole package of them.

Pretty soon after breakfast we had to pack up.  Even though I wanted to stay at the cabin forever, Marty said that we could only stay for one night this time but that we can come back soon.  I have to admit, it has been a long time since I've slept at home.

When we were leaving, Marty took my picture by the sign for our cabin.  (It was too dark last night.)  Our cabin was named for a very cool dog named Boggus.  There's a little book about him in the cabin with some pictures.  Maybe someday when I'm a big dog, I'll get my own cabin too.

Savage River Lodge

Just when I was starting to wish that I'd gotten to stay at the farm with my great-grandhuman, we got to this new place.

Marty got me out of the car and we went for a little walk to this super cool log house.  (Marty says it's called a cabin.)  When we first opened the door, there was a toy right there for me!  I only barely got to sniff it though and I was just going to put my foot on it and see if it had a squeaker when Marty said, "Lyle, please come in here and deal with this mouse!"  Marty yanked me away from it, which I thought was very mean and maybe a little payback for all the times I've tried to pull her computer away from her.  Lyle hit the mouse with a broom really hard and then scooped it up and put it outside.  Don't get me wrong, I like my own toys, but when someone leaves you a present, I don't think your humans should hit it with a broom and throw it out.

After that, we got settled in.  Savage River has dogs that work there named Koko and Karma.  I didn't get to meet them, but they left me a note.  Our cabin had dog bowls for me, so I drank a lot of water and had some kibble.









We played squirrel fetch for a LONG TIME in the cabin.  It a really good break after all that time in the car.  Marty likes to throw the squirrel places she thinks I will have to work at, but I am very good at this game, so I have no trouble with under the steps, behind the couch, or next to the wood stove.

Marty and Lyle were pretty tired because they'd gotten up so early, but I wasn't tired at all.  They put me in the crate to go to bed, just when I thought we'd agreed I didn't sleep in the crate anymore.  I barked for THIRTY MINUTES which I reserve for big tantrums.  Marty was very upset and said that if I couldn't be quiet we wouldn't be allowed to come back.  I was really upset about that, because SRL is super cool, so I barked some more.  Marty even threw the sheet over my crate to try to make me be quiet, but that just made me bark because it was so dark.  Finally, I decided my humans are hopeless failures and I quit barking.  I'm thinking about taking them to the Humane Society and getting different ones.

More Time In The Car

Sunday morning we had to get up before it was even light out and go back in the car.  Marty was all excited to meet some Grouch, but I think if she wants a grouch, she should just try being around herself that early.  Luckily for everyone, she went back to sleep in the car.

We got to my Aunt Janet and Uncle Jon's house about the time I normally get up.  I had only met them at the farm before so I was excited to see where they live.  They have cats!  I even saw one of them!  We only got to play at their house for a little while and then Marty put me in the crate and left me.




It really was horrible, I thought maybe they were leaving me.  I was in the box longer than I've ever been in my life.  It must have been almost four hours.  When Marty came back and got me out I was SO HAPPY.  They didn't leave me after all!  Marty was pretty happy too, something about this picture.


I got to meet a new friend, Phoebe.  She seemed to like me, but she smelled like a rabbit.  Not sure what's up with that.  Maybe it was the rabbit from Marty's picture?

We went on a short walk and played a little fetch and then they put me back in the crate.  This time it wasn't so scary though, because I was pretty sure the crazies weren't abandoning me.  They came back a lot quicker this time, and it was time to go BACK IN THE CAR!

Going To A Bar

After we dropped my grandhuman back at his place, we went back to my other grandhumans'.  I got to meet my human cousin, Kyle.  He's awesome.  He has a dog at home that has obviously trained him really well because he is a champion squirrel thrower.  He's also a very good nap partner.

I only got a short nap, because pretty soon the crazies and my grandhumans and Kyle and his parents all decided to drive up to a lake and get some food.  I had to ride along, of course.  It's a good thing I did, too, because they went to a bar that ALLOWS DOGS!

Bars are awesome!  People drop food, there are ducks, there are big giant fish that jump out of the water, and everyone has a really good time.  I understand why humans like them so much.  There was another dog that's a regular.  His name is Ammo and he's a Puggle.  He showed me the deal, but then he had to go home, so I held down the fort.  I also got to meet my Uncle Morgan and another human cousin, Amanda.  It was a really good night, and it only would have been better if the crazies had let me swim.


By the time we got home everyone was tired and we went to bed pretty soon.  I got to sleep in the bed again!

Yet Another Grandhuman!

Saturday morning when we got up we had to get in the car AGAIN and go to see Lyle's dad.  I have FIVE grandhumans!  Lyle's dad lives in a place like where my second great-grandhuman lives.  I got to go inside, and just like when we met my great-grandhuman lots of people were excited to say hello to me.  This place is better than that one though, because they have their own resident dog that lives there.  Her name is Biscuit.  Even though she's a big dog, she's smaller than me.  She's about the size of my friend Cocoa that lives across the street.  My grandhuman has a cat that lives with him (I don't know why, he seems like a pretty good human otherwise) so I didn't get to go into his room.  I stayed where the couches and tv and kitchen are a
nd showed off my tricks for the other humans.  They were SO IMPRESSED.





My grandhuman really liked me a lot and he gave me a lot of treats and said I'm a good dog.  He's allowed to go on adventures, so we went out.  (Yes, you guessed it, BACK IN THE CAR.)  First the humans had to buy some things, so I had to wait in the car.  After they finally got done with that, they went to get lunch and I had to wait AND THEY DIDN'T BRING ME ANY!  They were taking a long time, so Marty came outside to check on me and make sure I had a drink and wasn't too hot.  That was good, but it would have been better if she'd brought me something from the restaurant.  Obviously I still have a lot of work to do with them.

Puppy Playtime In Columbus

After the humans had talked for a long time and had a snack (no snacks for me, bad humans), the crazies decided they had worn out my grandhumans, so we drove over to this neat mill thing and went for a walk.  When we first got there, there was a Border Collie name Zoey doing really cool dock dives.  I am definitely not brave enough to try that yet, but maybe someday.

When Zoey left, I decided it was safe enough for Marty to be off the leash.  I splashed around in the water for a while and got nice and muddy and then we practiced the crazies giving me treats when I run REALLY FAST to them.  They're getting pretty good at this game.

I think there is a big difference between people in the Maryland area and people in the Midwest.  While  Lyle was drying me off so we could get back in the car, some other humans came up to go for a walk. They asked if I was a Rhodesian Ridgeback!  Obviously I am not, but here in Maryland, people who know enough about dogs to know about Rhodesian Ridgebacks would have known I am a Chessie.  I guess there aren't very many of us out in the Midwest.

We were only in the car for a few minutes and then we got out and went hiking.  It was pretty fun, but Marty did some climbing without me that didn't look very safe, so I had to bark a lot at her to tell her to come down right away.

I found this really cool little bowl and I carried it with me for the whole hike.  I was going to leave it there for another dog to play with later, but Marty said I didn't have to clean up all the trash on the trail, but that since I played with the bowl for so long, the least I could do was pack it out.  So we brought it home!

After we got done hiking, we went back to my grandhumans'.  The humans mostly just talked, and I was bored, so I chewed on my wolverine and went outside to search for cat poop.  When Marty took me to bed, she didn't even bring the crate in!  I got to sleep in the bed and I didn't have to fight for it!

More Grandhumans!

Friday morning we got up and left the weird place.  We had to go BACK in the car for a long time.  Marty and I both slept.  The crazies have a new thing they put in the car for me.  It's supposed to keep me from getting into the front with them but it really doesn't.





It does present interesting opportunities for me to play "fish caught in a net" though, which the crazies find very funny.

When we FINALLY got out of the car we were at Lyle's mom's house.  I got to meet two new grandhumans!  I didn't even know I HAD so many grandhumans!  I was pretty tired from the drive, so I took a nap while all the humans talked.  Even though I slept in the car, travelling is stressful, and besides, usually on Fridays during the day I have to rest and be quiet while the crazies are at work.

My new grandhumans seemed happy to meet me, and they gave me treats even though I was a little shy.

Staying At A Hotel

When we got in the car after finishing Puppy Kindergarten on Thursday, I thought we were going home, but we didn't!  We drove for a really long time (I mostly slept), and then we got to some weird place with a little room and two beds that smelled funny.  (The room smelled funny, not the beds, well, the beds did too, but I meant the room.)

Marty tried to get me to sleep on my bed like I have been at home, but this place was weird, and I didn't like it, so I was fussing to get into bed with the crazies.  Marty brought my crate in and expected me to sleep in that, as if that were going to happen.  I barked to let her know that was completely ridiculous and instead of ignoring me like she usually does, she took me right out and let me get in bed.  (Note to self, experiment with this strategy again soon.)

Finishing Puppy Kindergarten

Thursday night was also my last Puppy Kindergarten session.  There were two black labs there for their first time.  Since they didn't know that I usually like to hide under chairs during playtime, I tried to show them that I am tough.  Pretty much everyone laughed at me, which I thought was very rude.  Marty said she had forgotten how cute black lab puppies are, and I was a little jealous at first, but then I remembered I am cuter than any dumb lab (and way more awesome).

The topic of the night was "handling", which apparently means, "letting humans maul you for no good reason".  I was not a fan.  I am training Marty to give me treats while she's putting stuff in my ears, and I ignore her when she squeezes my feet, and I let her take the goobers out of my eyes and only chomp on her a little, but this is all in the privacy of my own house.  I do not think she needs to be doing that IN PUBLIC, and I DEFINITELY do not think OTHER HUMANS should be allowed to touch me like that.

The kindergarten teachers gave Marty a lot of homework about handling things we should work on, but Marty said I am a Chessie and we need to manage expectations a little.  She does think we should work on people touching my collar and me being okay with it, but I don't really agree.  I guess this is especially important because my grandhuman likes to do that, but I think maybe she should just find more polite ways to get my attention (perhaps, CHICKEN?!).

Because Puppy Kindergarten has rolling admission, my last class was anticlimactic.  I will be going back in a few weeks for Puppy Basic though, which I think is not a good use of my time, since I already know the basics, but Marty says we need to "generalize", whatever that means.

My First Battle Scar

Thursday afternoon Navidson came over to play again.  We are getting really good at playing chase!  I chased Navidson under the pool table, but I guess I have grown a little because I never had to duck my head before, but this time I went SMASH!  I am not sure if I will have a cool scar, but if I do get one, it won't be held against me.  The standard for Chessies says:  "Honorable scars are not to be penalized."  Running into a pool table is honorable, right?  (Marty says it doesn't matter at all, because we are not wasting our time with beauty pageants, but I think that's not a nice thing to say.)

Rotten

Tonight I had my favorite dog school where we practiced walking near cornfields and running really fast to our humans.  I have convinced Marty that this is a big deal, and I deserve a  meatball, not just chicken, so I'm pretty happy to cooperate even when there are giant distractions like horse poop, other dogs, and corncobs.  We also practiced climbing up on rocks.  This is relevant later on.

When we got to the farm after school, Mr. Tripoli and my grandhumans were there!  Two days in a row with Mr. Tripoli!  Mr. Tripoli and I traded rawhides back and forth for a while, and then he went under the table while the humans ate.  Apparently, he doesn't know that if you go away and make some noise first, then your humans will give you kibble if you just sit by them while they're having dinner.  I tried to teach him, and I did make Marty give him some kibble.

After dinner Mr. Tripoli was tired (probably from trying to teach Marty advanced leash walking skills) and he growled at me for climbing on him. My grandhuman yelled at him, but Marty said that growling is okay, and I need to learn!  Rude.  Pretty soon Mr. Tripoli had to put my other grandhuman to bed.  I wanted to go to bed too, but Marty made me stay with them while they were playing that game about peeing on knuckles again.  I don't know why they think that game is so fun.  From where I sit, it is boring, boring, boring.

Since they weren't paying attention to me, I decided it would be a good time to practice my homework.  (Remember we learned about climbing on rocks today.)  I went through the kitchen and climbed up on a chair so I could get to the washing machine.  My grandhuman put Mr. Tripoli's food up there so I wouldn't get it, but remember I said he needs to eat less anyway.  (Marty also puts the trash up there, but I'm saving that adventure for another time.)  Big dog food is SO YUMMY!

Marty came in to check on me and instead of telling me how good I was for doing my homework without her reminding me, she yelled, "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING!" and made Lyle and my grandhuman come look at me.  I thought they would be proud of me, but it turns out they weren't.  They did laugh a lot, but I think they were laughing at Marty, not at me.

After that, Marty put my leash on me INSIDE, which I thought was totally uncalled for, and made me lie down while they finished their stupid game.  I was pretty full and pretty tired though, so I just took a nap.

Walking With Mr. Tripoli

Marty had a meeting that I couldn't go to today, but it was okay, because my grandhuman stayed at the little house and I got to play with Mr. Tripoli.  I even snuck some big dog food while she was in the shower.  Mr. Tripoli eats too much anyway, and I was just trying to help out.  I tried to convince my grandhuman that I would eat another bowl for him, but she was mean and wouldn't let me.  I really like big dog food!

After Marty got back, we went for a walk together.  It was HORRIBLE.  Mr. Tripoli got to walk with Marty and I had to walk with my grandhuman.  My grandhuman needs A LOT of training.  I pulled AND I barked and she did not give me chicken for that.  I think she needs to go back to school.  Mr. Tripoli gave Marty an advanced course in walking.  She thinks she's so well trained because she can walk with me now, but she did NOT do a good job walking with him.  He pulled ALL THE TIME and she barely gave him any cheese at all.  I finally had to convince my grandhuman to let me walk beside Mr. Tripoli so I could check on how Marty was doing.  It was better after that, but still bad.  I think Marty should take Mr. Tripoli to school but she says she is already too busy with just me.

Mr. Tripoli Came To Visit Me!

When I got home from dog school tonight, guess who was at my house?  My grandhumans and MR. TRIPOLI!!  They are only staying until tomorrow, but I had a lot of fun playing tag with Mr. Tripoli and stealing his rawhides.  He's SO BIG, but he's a pushover.

Sleeping Out Of The Box

Last night I got to sleep out of the box, and this time, the crazies brought my bed and zombie dog like responsible humans.  Usually I hate having to share with zombie dog, but when I'm sleeping alone, it's kind of nice to have some company.  Between not being freezing on the floor and not being so lonely, it was a good night and I didn't cry at all.  I slept until Marty and Lyle got up and this is what they saw.  I'm pretty sure that I can convince them to start letting me sleep out of the box more often now.  This means that eventually I will be able to do something really awful and they'll never suspect!

My First Meeting

I got to go to a meeting today!  Marty was very worried that I would be bad and bark or try to jump on people or otherwise be really distracting, but I was so good!  I just went under the table and chewed on my rawhide stick and every once in a while Marty would give me a piece of a biscuit.

Anzio On The Farm

I love just hanging out at the farm.  I spent all afternoon on Saturday just chilling with Lyle and my great-grand human.  Marty was cooking or something, who cares.







And, I finally made the wildlife cam!

Being A Big Dog

I have finally convinced the crazies to start giving me the big dog privileges that I deserve.

After I puked on Marty (not really, this time she was ready with a towel) on Thursday morning, she decided that I am too big to ride on laps any more, so now I get the WHOLE BACK SEAT.  I don't want the crazies to know, but I do miss being up front a little.

Also, my new crate is kind of a hassle to take apart and put in the car if we don't really need it, so since we were only going to the farm for one night this time, we didn't bring it.  Which meant, I GOT TO SLEEP OUT OF THE BOX. I was really excited for this, but it turns out it's a little scary and cold.  Even though I was asleep downstairs by Marty's feet for about three hours before she took me upstairs to bed, I cried so much that eventually I GOT TO SLEEP WITH MY HUMANS!  Note to self: the long con is working.

Lowe's Is Not Outside

We went to Lowe's on Saturday on the way to the farm.  Marty walked me around so I could practice peeing on the grass before we went inside.  I did, and I got chicken, yay!  But then when we were walking around looking at things I still had to go.  It's not like they have carpet or furniture or anything there, so how was I suppose to know you can't poop there?!  Let me just tell you, I had only just started to get ready when Marty got very nervous and tucked my tail right under my butt so I couldn't poop and picked me up and hurried me outside.  THEN I pooped, and I got more chicken.  Not really sure what all the excitement was about.  Humans are weird.

I got to practice walking nicely on my leash.  We didn't see any other dogs, again, and a lot of people looked at me weird, but I got a lot of chicken, so it was okay.

How To Play With Your Humans

My lazy slug humans went back to bed after I got up Saturday morning.  Even though I told them that we should go to the farm or go hiking or do SOMETHING!  The only good news is that they decided that since I've been so good lately, I could stay out of the box.  I was perfect, and just played with my own chew toys.

Humans are funny, they want to wear pretend fur all the time, and they won't even go out for just a minute until they have it on.  This presents fun opportunities for enterprising puppies like me.  Since I have been so good lately, the crazies have started to let their guard down.  They don't even hide the basket of fake fur that they keep in the corner.  (I do not understand what the deal is with humans and their fake fur.  They have way more than they need and they change it every few hours.  But that's a subject for another post.)

So here's how to play the game.  Wait until your humans are just getting out of the shower and don't have any fake fur on.  This ensures you'll get a good headstart, because they won't chase you without anything on.  Grab something from the basket in the corner.  Run as fast as you can and go somewhere with as many windows as possible.  Enjoy your special toy until they find you, then play keep away for as long as you can.  Make them give you a really yummy treat to trade for whatever you took.

The humans run really fast and make a lot of noise, so I am pretty sure they love this game too!

Tug With Navidson

Navidson came over for a playdate on Friday and we played tug!  This is because Dan and Marty are both very motivated about something called "socialization".  Apparently, that's part of why we have to go to school all the time and get dragged around everywhere.  But it's nice to have a friend who will share toys with me instead of trying to steal my toys and eat me.






I got so worn out playing with Navidson that I was a perfect puppy during dinner and not disruptive at all.  I'm pretty excited for him to come stay with me in a couple of weeks.  Marty says that if having Navidson over makes me this tired the whole visit, Dan is going to have a hard time getting him back.

This Is What Marty Came Home To Today

I surprised Marty when she came home from work today.  Joyce and Nita had played with me at lunch time, and I decided that I am big dog and should be allowed to stay out of the box now.  So I unzipped it and crawled out.  As part of my long con I was very good and I didn't pee on anything, and I didn't chew anything I wasn't supposed to.  I just hung out like big dogs do and waited for Marty.  Pretty soon the crazies will be convinced I don't really need to be in my box when they're gone, and that's when I will wreak havoc on the house!

Chores

Given that my humans are lazy slugs, I have to help out around here.  Eventually I'm going to learn to do things like handle the recycling and turn the lights on and off, but that's a little advanced for me right now, so I've started helping with the dishes and the mail.

Dragging heavy mail up a whole flight of steps is hard work!

Fido On The Farm

I started my next class tonight, it's so fun!  We go outside, and then we practice running AS FAST AS WE CAN to our humans.  There are five other dogs in my class, but I'm the youngest!  My other classes are all for puppies, so it's kinda nice to have this one with big dogs too.  I'm still having some trouble getting Marty to keep up on the leash, but when it was my turn to run to my human I was the fastest one in class!  Miss Pat says Marty should treasure that.  Marty should give me more credit for being as awesome as I am.  Apparently Miss Pat is a very famous human.  Marty said she wrote a book that every dog should make their human read.  That book is why Marty drives me all the way up for my good dog classes instead of just taking me somewhere closer.

Miss Pat says I'm lovely.  She said that I got very lucky with my humans, but she doesn't know that they're really pretty rotten, I just have been working hard with them.

Now that I have Wednesday night classes too, we get to spend even more time at the farm, which is okay by me.

Training Lyle To Walk On A Leash

Marty and I are working together to train Lyle.  When you have your human on a leash, it's important that they don't pull on you.  That means they have to pay a lot of attention, not just stroll along doing whatever they want.  We've been working hard on this, ever since I first got them, but they're still not that good at it.  Lyle is even worse than Marty.

So last night at dog school I worked with Marty on it some more.  She's getting better, but she needs to give me treats faster.  Tonight I took Lyle to school.  (First I took Marty out for a long practice walk.  I figured Lyle wasn't ready to handle me at full speed.)  This is what it's like to work with Lyle. See me watching him?  See him staring off into space?  WHY DO DOGS EVEN HAVE HUMANS?
























Eventually he managed to switch his brain back on, and so we were able to actually do some training.  Here I am trying to get him to keep up.  I've told you before they're lazy slugs.  I'm not even walking fast here.














Our teacher for this class said I was too advanced for the boring fence aisle, so I moved Lyle to the toy aisle.  I really had to work with him, because he only wanted to pay attention to the toys (there were a lot of cool toys, but we were supposed to be working), but eventually he remembered he's supposed to give me a treat every time I look at him.

 It's a good thing I'm so patient, but I think there's hope for him yet.

Soooooooooooo Big!

I've outgrown my baby crate!

We went to a special store that sells toys for dogs and bought a bigger one.  This one is different than the little one though, it's made of cloth and it folds up.  I definitely can get out of it any time I want, but I am going to lull the humans into a false sense of security first.  Right now they're still nervous and checking on me a lot, but pretty soon they will think it's safe and that's when I will strike!  I'm eyeing the pool table legs for starters.

Another Vet Visit

I was pretty exhausted all day, so I didn't do much.  Marty tried to drag me out for a walk, but I said NO WAY!

After lunch we had to go back and see Dr. Richards for my next shot.  I was so good in the waiting room even though there were several other dogs there making noise and being bad.

I weigh 23.5 pounds now, that's almost double what I weighed when I first went to live with Marty and Lyle.

I got another puppy shot, which stung a little, and then I got microchipped, which REALLY HURT.  It even made me bleed some.  I wanted to leave right then, but Marty wasn't very sympathetic.  Apparently, if I ever lose Marty or Lyle, I can have someone scan my chip and they'll get a number to call so I can get them back.  I guess that's important, I'm putting a lot of time and effort into these humans and I wouldn't want to have to start over with new ones, but I don't understand why I had to be the one to get impaled.  After all that I was tired enough I went to sleep right on the exam table.

More bad news from the vet, my ears have gunk in them so I have to have Marty start putting stuff in them every night.  My itchy skin isn't all the way better, so Dr. Richards said Marty needs to keep giving me baths (YUCK!) and put Neosporin on any spot that gets scratched open.  AND I HAVE WORMS!  Dr. Richards gave Marty some stuff to put on my food for a few days and that will clear it up.  I'm trying to convince Marty to use ice cream.

On the way out, we saw a cute human (Marty said he was cute) in the lobby with his chocolate lab.  He was 18 weeks old (the puppy, I don't know how old the human was) and very bouncy.  I don't think he'll get to be as big as Mr. Tripoli, but he seemed like a good dog.  Marty liked his human because he knew I was a Chessie and didn't ask if I was a lab.

We had dog school again tonight and I was really good.  Mostly only because I am still so tired from hiking, but that's okay.  We got Sonic again on the way back to the farm, so the day is ending on a good note!

Backpacking

We did it!

Uncle Andrew and Belle came up late on Friday night, and on Saturday we finally went backpacking.  Backpacking is way better than hiking.  Hiking just means you have to ride in the car for a long time to go for a walk, but backpacking means you get to sleep in the woods!

It took us a while to get ready because Marty and Lyle hadn't done anything at all to prepare, but EVENTUALLY we drove in Uncle Andrew's car to the Shenandoahs.  Marty says the Shenandoahs are special because that's where she learned to love backpacking as a little puppy.  We had to get a permit and Belle and I were "pack stock"!  (But neither of us wore a pack.)  Marty says I will get a pack when I am a big dog, but this weekend she carried all my gear for me.  I don't have a lot of gear:  two bags of kibble (I only ate one), one wolverine chew (that what they call them at wild dog school, where I got mine), one squeaky ball, and my travel water bowl.

Another good thing about backpacking is that Marty relaxes the ridiculous "tight leashes don't go anywhere" rule.  It's a good thing she did too, because I'm not sure she would have been able to finish if I hadn't been helping.  Belle and Uncle Andrew walked in front and I followed them.  Mostly I walked with Marty (she clips me into her pack belt), but sometimes I walked with Lyle.

Every time we took a break, Marty was very good about putting my water down for me and asking me if I wanted a snack.  She packed human snacks but no dog snacks, only kibble.  I have a lot of training to do.  I have to keep reminding myself that I've only had these humans for a month.



During one of our first breaks, we saw THREE BEARS!  (Marty said they should hurry home before Goldilocks ate all their porridge, but I don't understand what that means.)  Marty was too busy getting ready to keep me from being eaten and so she didn't get a picture.  She did take a picture of some bear poop though, as if that's the same thing.  Marty wouldn't let me eat OR roll in any of the bear poop we saw, and we saw a lot!  I was just trying to help, she said that she hoped we saw another bear so we could get a picture, and I was trying to camouflage their very obvious human smell, but as usual, she refused to be sensible.

Uncle Andrew kept having to stop and tie his shoes.  I told him that Lyle could teach him about better knots (he used to be a sailor before he got me), but I think Uncle Andrew likes it when his shoes come undone so he can stop and take a break.








Marty said since I'm still a puppy that she would carry me if I got tired, but that she would really appreciate it if I would not make her carry me before we got to the top of Knob Mountain.  I made it all the way up there!  We stopped at the summit and had lunch and I took a nap.  On the way down I did make Marty carry me a little way, just to make sure she kept up her end of the bargain, but I was actually having a lot of fun, so I got back down and walked again.










Marty was really worried that I would pick up bad habits from my cousin Belle, but since I am already a problem barker, I'm not sure what she was so worried about.  Actually, Belle and I both did really well and only barked a little and didn't fight with each other at all.








After we hiked down we had to find a campsite, but other humans already had most of them, so it took us a long time.  I was really ready to be done, and so was everyone else!  It was just about dark when Marty and Lyle and Uncle Andrew got the tent set up.  Everything about backpacking is so cool, but this might be the best part:  ZOMBIE DOG DIDN'T COME AND I DIDN'T HAVE TO SLEEP IN THE BOX!  We all slept in the tent, and I snuggled right up between Marty and Lyle and slept all night.  They should let me sleep between them all the time.  Marty was worried I would pee in the tent (another cool thing about backpacking, you can pee wherever you want), but I am a civilized puppy, so  of course I didn't do that.

Belle got up first and she was squirmy, so pretty soon Marty made us all get up.  It was a good thing too, because by then I really did have to go.  Marty made breakfast for the humans while Uncle Andrew and Lyle got the tent packed up.  How unfair is this?  Belle got some oatmeal, but I didn't get any!  Next time I am going to take my turn first.  I went back to sleep in Lyle's lap until the slow humans were finally ready to get started again.




We hiked for a while and we crossed lots and lots of water.  (I'm really good at crossing, but I HATE having to wait for all the humans.)  After a while we got to a point where we were supposed to get on a different trail and Marty got all exited about some white paint on a tree and made Lyle take a picture.  She says I am going to be seeing a lot more marks (she calls them "blazes") like that.







Not too long after that we got back to the car.  The humans all took their boots off, so I crawled under Marty's legs and took a nap.  I had SO MUCH FUN.  I want to go backpacking every weekend, but Marty says she needs a month in between trips to recover.  I'm hoping that once I get her into shape we'll be able to go more often.
















Maybe I was a little more tired than I thought, because when we got home I fell asleep like this.  If you want to know more about where we hiked, here's a link to the trip (we combined days one and two).