Maxwell Is In The House!

Maxwell arrived last night to spend a few nights with us while his people are out of town.  I was a little nervous about whether Jo Jo would be nice or not since he's been such a bully to his siblings at puppy class the past two weeks.  (He's nice to all other dogs he meets - just his siblings!)  Carola and our trainer told me that when he goes after one of them to shove cheese or some really good treat in his face.  That sounded completely counter-intuitive to me - like rewarding bad behavior, but guess what....it worked!  The pups are mostly playing nice together now!  Rhani was happy to see Maxwell although she is less interested in playing with two puppies than with one.  She likes them better out in the yard than inside or on the patio.  Out there she can do zoomies with them!  Inside, they are just scary!

Maxwell is being a very good house guest.  The three of them eat together and all sit before they get their food!  He didn't make a peep in his crate last night (or have an accident) even though he is used to getting breakfast before 6AM but at my house breakfast isn't served till about 7:30!

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Today got even more exciting because we met Sheryl, Madison and Aurora at Longview for a walk.  Plus Cindy and Steven joined us with the puppies' Great Aunt Lexie.  Three 11 week old Dalmatians along with Lexi drew quite a lot of attention - all good for the puppies!  This was pretty Aurora's (PKA Lizzy) first visit to Longview and she did great!  We saw horses, skate boarders, baby strollers, met little children, lots of adults and a friendly large "oodle-something" named Carley, did the open stair steps, witnessed an almost dog fight, chased lots of leaves, smelled lots of things, and did it all with good humor!  After the park, Aurora came by the house for a play date with the boys in the yard.   Everyone was pretty tired after 2 solid hours of stimulating activity - including me!  However, Maxwell was not too tired to figure out how to get in the rocking chair.  (JoJo still can't do it, but Maxwell is now a bit taller than Jo Jo and that little extra leg was just enough to hoist himself in!)  Thanks to Cindy and Steven for being our "pupographers" and sharing the photos they took!

Since I last posted, besides Longview today which wasn't a new place, but it was new to go in a "pack", Jo Jo has been to two different sections of Queeny Park, and Home Depot.  At Queeny, we found something Jo Jo doesn't care to walk on  - Sand!  Weird!  He walks on gravel and river rocks, but sand, he did not like!  Couldn't get out of it fast enough!  

​We also went to our second puppy class Thursday evening.  We were a big fail at class on the recall.  Every other puppy ran straight to its owner.  Not JoJo!  Oh no!  He headed straight to the end of the puppy line and eventually came to me when he was good and ready!  Imagine that!  This after we played hide and seek in the yard all week and he got a treat from me every single time he came to me.  Deep sigh....

Michael's video below is part of a 3 min training session teaching Sadie "come" and "free".  He already has a plan for her beginning Scent Work training!  I asked if he could come train Jo Jo!  Kiki (PKA Rita) has new sleeping quarters, is practicing walking nicely on the leash at Lowe's, being loved and standing around being pretty!  Again - I am so blessed to have such wonderful families for all these puppies!

​Until next time....

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