I lost a lot of e-mails in 2017 that dated back several years. So I don’t have a lot of updated letters for 2017, I will try and do regular ones in 2018.
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12-08-17
Hi, Cynthia!
I just realized I didn’t let you know Rezso graduated from Basic I obedience class. Well, he did great. By the time we got called to do his graduation trick, he was tired, so the snappy ‘high five, turn around, lay down, roll over’ wasn’t as snappy. But, he got through it pretty good. Actually, a 4-step trick is pretty awesome for a 4 month old puppy.
He met a little girl that night- maybe 5 years old. Her mom had another dog in the class. Trinity fell in love with Rezso and decided she was going to teach him to jump through a hoop. Rezso liked her, and he always plays sweetly with our granddaughter, so I let them play. At trick time, she really wanted to show everyone what she’d taught Rezso, so I let her. Rezso did so well! I’m really proud of how well he behaves around children. Our granddaughter loves him, and when they visited at Thanksgiving, she had her dad meet Rezso for the first time—and that was all she talked about from the moment they got out of the car. So, Rezso was allowed to spend the whole day with her. They’d sit at the door, her arm over his shoulders, and watch the other dogs.
He’s signed up for the basic II class beginning in January. He is also starting his first steps at becoming a Service Dog. I have increasingly severe back pain, and need help from time to time with mobility. When I’m at home, I have the luxury of being able to move at my own pace, but when I’m away from home (for instance, Derek and I are traveling to Kansas City next weekend, and I do not look forward to 7 hrs in the car) I look ahead and see a need for Rezso’s help (when he’s older). So, I’ve contacted a group that helps people train their own dogs, and we’ll start the application process in the next week or two.
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11-03-17
Have a lot of good news and some bad.
Might as well start with the bad, Jessica had the dogs outside with her in the front yard off leash, the neighbor dogs ran out of their E-fence and attacked Sophia. One was a Boxer one a Boston Terrier, the Terrier drew blood on her back leg. Thankfully in the mess Aexel did not get attacked. I know if he gets hurt at this age it probably will make him dog aggressive for life. Sophia is not a fighter and she is fine.
Last weekend our in laws brought over their dogs. One is a little Spaniel the other a mammoth 120 lb (honestly) GSD. They are well trained and grew up with Sophia but met Aexel for the first time. At first Aexel was scared to death of the big dog. In time he warmed to them and played with them just fine. By the time they left Aexel would play with the big guy just like he does with Sophia.
I think Aexel and Sophia make a good team. She is good with him and for the most part teaches him good manners. They are completely opposite, she is all play, loves water and fetch. He hates water in his face, and loves tug, he has unbelievable nerves, twice now I’ve seen loud noises send Sophia running while Aexel was laying down and watching and did not react.
It’s going to be fun watching these two grow together.
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11-01-2017
Hi, Cynthia,
Hope your email is back on track. That can be so frustrating.
We had another great night at obedience class, Monday. Good recall of all we’ve learned up to now, and the new challenge was ‘leave it with distractions’. We watched 3-4 others as they navigated the plush toys and bowls of food, and decided one ‘leave it command’ at the beginning and then ‘watch me’ would work. And it did- perfectly! We ran the alley twice, with not the first nibble at the forbidden treats. So, on our next round, I asked if we could do a recall through the alley— and he came charging! Never missed a step. He’s such a great boy! The trainer is impressed with him. I told her he was super smart and I hoped to be able to keep up with him 🙂
The other GSD puppy’s owner in the class told me about a trainer in S OKC, and I chatted with her about Freki. She seemed willing to help us with her, and we took Freki to her kennel yesterday. We discussed her problems further (dog aggression, easily distracted, pulling at the leash) and she watched her work for us. She loves her drive, and had a few good suggestions. We left Freki with her for one week, then we’ll spend 30+ minutes going over what she’s done and how to go from there. We’ll also get a follow-up lesson in a couple of weeks so we can polish up anything we still have problems with. I got an email from her today— she said Freki knows her basic commands, but is extremely distracted when she works, which makes her slow to execute the commands. So, she’s working on that, and says with a little time she feels confident we will have her ‘missing pieces’ fixed. Oh, and there was another GSD in the kennel, and while he barked at Freki (non-threatening), she didn’t respond to him until the 3rd or 4th time, and came back to us when told ‘no bark’. The trainer says we should be able to check Freki’s impulse to bark at other dogs, and is working on that, too.
I told her we’d love to be able to take her to agility or dock diving, and even for the occasional walk through Petco 🙂 (Rezso is a natural, since he welcomes the oohs and aahs there- and the occasional cookie. Today, he walked through the double whoosh doors like a pro). I’d like to be able to take both her and Rezso places, and I think we’re off to a good start 🙂
Here’s a photo of Rezso from today. I had a few errands to run around town, so he went with me to get the headlight changed on the Tahoe, made a quick run through Sonic, and on to Petco. I usually put him in a crate to travel, but since this was in town, I let him ride in the front seat. He had to test every boundary on what ‘stay in your seat’ meant, lol! So, after not being able to stand on the console, climb into the back seat, or sit in my lap, he flopped down on the floorboard and stuck his head under the seat and sulked.
Oh, and housebreaking is going well. I think it’s been a few days since he’s had an accident in the house. He still wants to go out during the night, but that’s to be expected as young as he is. He’s a rowdy boy and missing his pal Freki. She was running with him a lot in the back yard, and he’s full of energy tonight!
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Date: Wednesday, October 25, 2017, 3:42 PM
Our BOY is 10 It just doesn’t seem
possible where does all the time go? I think of you
every Oct 25th I’m so happy Beauty had this litter of
12. Just wanted to let you know Hans is doing good. He
has slowed down but he still likes to go to the parks and go
on car rides chase the squirrels,play ball ,play in the
water etc He still gets compliments everywhere we go the
kids all love him. He was in the top 12 in the contest
put on by the paper I think he was no 5 he got a lot of
votes by people we didn’t know they just thought he was
handsome. He did raise $1,000 for the Humane Soc. and
that was good they always need money. Hans did have to
have surgery last April on his ear. He has a lot of ear
infections and he got a hematoma on his left ear from him
shaking his head. Our vet took really good car of him
but his ear flaps over so he has 1 upright ear and 1 floppy
ear which makes him look adorable. He is still my paper boy
brings me the paper every morning and of course he wants his
treat. He is so smart and we enjoy him so much,
I hope all is well with you and your beautiful dogs.
Sincerely, Jane