Teaching the young-ins

Hope and I had some houseguests for a week between graduation and Memorial Day weekend, one of the two-footed variety, and one of the four-footed variety. In some ways, that made turning-in Zuleika that much easier as the house was full of people and dogs.

Our guests were my friend, Laurie from Oceanside and her 10-month old pup named Sergi who also happens to be Hope's half brother. They have the same mom, Toddy. Sergi also happens to be half-brother to Nick through their dad, Weldin. Yah, yah, everyone is related in the CCI world somehow.

The week Sergi spent here was a turning point for him that I hope will result in some changes for him that will continue when he goes back home. When he arrived here, he was busy, busy, busy, always wanting to do something, chewing toys with such energy and determination, and whining, whining whenever asked to be quiet and remain in a "down" or in a crate with any activity going on around him. There was lots of corrections and lots of what I call "bad dog water" (ie, spraying with vinegar/water) to stop the undesired behavior. Well, by the end of the week, he was a different dog...that edginess in him was gone, he learned to lay down and just "chill" and he stopped whining. I think Hope played a big part in showing him the ropes and that its ok to just relax and chill. It was so funny to see Hope teaching him, she would just "snap" at him and let him know he crossed the line, a few times making him scream like a girl. Because he is intact, there were times he tried to mount her, but she would just snap at him most of the time, so I encouraged the behavior with her when she did that to teach him a lesson.

Last Friday, Hope taught pups, Skipper & Sergi, how to swim. Sergi just followed Hope into the pool at home. And she taught another CCI pup, Skipper to swim at the lake. Unfortunately, I was working both times, so I didn't get to witness any of it. Here is a picture of Hope, Skipper and Sergi at the lake. (Yes, of course, the lake is fully fenced...)


And let's not forget the littlest pup, Nick, who at 10 weeks old, arrived home for the first time the day after I turned-in Zuleika. Hope was hot and cold with him, sometimes wanting to play, sometimes not. I think things were different with Sergi here, so we'll see how things go after its just the three of us. I'm counting on her to tire the little guy out before I have to leave for work in the morning! :-0