Bad Boy Walker

It has been such a long time since I posted anything and that is bad .  A lot has been going on but I just haven't take the time .  I am not sure if I will be able to type after tomorrow, as I will have my right arm in some sort of a sling.

Back on April 20th while walking Walker I took a face plant and put both hands out to catch myself and really messed up my shoulders.  I let it go for a couple of weeks before going to the Dr .  since then I have had physical therapy, 2 sets of injections and finally a MRI!! finally and it showed that I have a torn rotator cuff that requires surgery.  

I am truly looking forward to this time tomorrow and I am hoping that I will be pain free.  Or at least so high I won't know if I have pain.

This has been really uncomfortable for way too long and the nights are the worse.  Without sleep I am not a happy camper.

My post is headed BadBoy Walker, well when he is in his kennel I am sure he gets bored so what better thing to do than dig.  Now that the weather is rainy and getting muddy I thought we had the answer.  Well after laying out some green house ground cover and covering it with chips he decided to dig anyway and he can pull it up with even heavy blocks and stakes holding it down.  He can even move his dog house.  I see that he has chewed it at the opening.

Well tonight I was quite cranky and when I told John that Walker had made another mess of  things I wanted to fix it now and he didn't and I got pissed off , well John went out and fixed it once again, and this time he has run a hot wire around the area and I hope he does try to dig and see what happens. 

We have tried sprinkling cayenne pepper in his run too. He truly doesn't like it but that hasn't worked yet.

No pictures .  I should have taken the before and after.    

Bits of Paper

There are times that I don't even see the bits of paper on the carpet but just let Walker come into my sewing room and just that fast I hear him chewing on some thing drives me nuts.  So I grab his face and pull it out of his slimy little mouth and he is so  disappointed but I took it away.

He has now had his first birthday but still very much a puppy.  We are not doing so good on the command COME.  Not it isn't his fault It is mine!  

All of those good intentions that I had while waiting for him to arrives have some how gone done the drain.

He loves going out to the barn with John and checking out what the steers are eating and grabs a snack or two of the grain and run about.  Next week he is going to be pretty lonesome as the steers are going to be gone.  On their way to the freezer.  That time of raising them has gone really fast too.

Walker seems to be quite stubborn.  When we say do you want to go for a ride and I go to reach for his leash he does get excited and runs to the door but just a simple Come command is still lacking.

OK it is Sunday night and I am about to make out my day timer for next week and I will write down to spend  time training Walker.   I best stick to it .  I say that every week .  shame on me.

Ok now that I have put it in writing maybe I will do it.

Birthday Coming

Walker's birthday will be here in just 2 weeks.  Hard to believe he is a year old already.  What a year it has been with a extremely active puppy! 

It seems like he has done all there is that he can do but yet another day and EGADS!
Yesterday was one of those days.  My own fault for not paying him much attention so he had to find something to do.  It has been really hot so I haven't been out side much but he has and he was alone, so of course he was bored.  As the evening started to cool down I went out feeling quite guilty that I hadn't spent much time with him so I got his ball  and we were playing.  All was going just fine when he decided he must do something to rattle my chain so he got his ball and ran to the corner of the deck where there are a couple of steps and an area that he would intentionally drop his ball and watch it roll under the deck.  With some sort of a look that he needed my help to retrieve it I would do so, well pretty soon I got tired of that game and didn't go after it but he did.  He came out with it right away so I thought so smart so I decided not to play it any more.  The next time he didn't come out and started to whine and carry on so I figured he was just crying woof because I had just seen him crawl out.

I waited and called for quite a while and he would come so close and not make it all the way so I thought I will give him a treat and he will come out.  this went on for quite some time and I was sort of worried but not.  I decided I would get a hoe and dig out a small trench so he could wiggle out better.  This had been going on for almost an hour by this time.  Well the neighbor called over to me so I walked to the fence to chat with him.  by now Walker is howling and whining and making some dreadful noises but I thought I will help him soon.  Well he was  listening to us and guess he wanted to join in on the fun so low and behold out he came on a dead run.

I knew he could do it-------  Before I could block up the spot under the deck he grabbed his ball and started towards the deck and was just ready to drop it again and I stomped on the ball and put
Walker in the house and got a board and blocked the crawl space.

How I wish I had gone in and got the camera and taken his picture of his sorrowful look as he peered under the deck.

One of  the things the neighbor did tell me was that he had seen Walker across the road at the neighbors porch and that surprised me because he has been very cautious of the hot wire across the drive way.  He had been so good we hadn't been putting it back so I thought all was good.  About that time a strange dog came running into the back yard and they played a bit and the dog ran off but Walker didn't so who knows???  He stopped just like there was a wire there so maybe the neighbor had a nip or two earlier and saw a ghost of another dog????  Maybe?

I think for his birthday I will make him some doggie cookies.  I have a recipe for them that is suppose to be healthy and keep his doggy breath fresh.

Water dog

I am beginning to wonder if Walker might be part Lab.  His love for the water is amazing.  We thought it was so cute at first , and we still do, but his fascination is driving us nuts.

Ready to attack sprinkler!

The minute I head for the hose to hook up to water the garden or the flowers he is there all ready to attack it.


The water game if fun but Walker sure did a no no yesterday.  It was ALL my fault so I couldn't scold him.

I just started up my worm bin again. For those of you that don't know what that is:  It is a layered bin that I can add food wastes with "RedWrigglers" and then they eat all the garbage and then I have good compost to use in the flower beds.

I got some red wrigglers to start making compost.  I have so much wet garbage so my large compost bin is too full and I need to just get to the bottom of it but that is such a "rotten" job.  LOL

Anyway I was checking out my bin and had it in the utility room on the floor.  Walker's dish is in there for him to eat his dinner.  Well I forgot to put the bin up out of the reach of Walker and low and behold he got into it and helped himself to some yucky garbage and spread a bunch of it on the floor and rugs.  John came in the back door and yelled at Walker you bad dog!  so I went running and I had a mess to clean up. 

Like I said it wasn't his fault that I left it there for him to smell and want to get into it.

Continuation of the cord

I truly missed an opportunity of a life time.  Remember I was a chicken to tell John what Walker had done to the extension cord so I just picked it up and put it on John's work bench in his shop.

Figuring it would take him a long time to find it I had forgotten that I did that little sneaky thing when John came to the back door with cord in hand and he said "Did I do this when I was using the weed eater the other day?"  I almost laughed with relief when I had to confess what Walker had done.  I didn't  even have to dream up some far fetched story, just played a sneaky little thing and got a way with it.

 

Bless my hubby he didn't even get upset with me or Walker.  He just waved the end of the cord at Walker and said "See what you did?" Then John almost chuckled.

Off John went to the shop and repaired the cord and then told me where he HUNG it up out of the reach of one Walker boy.

I got all worried and concerned over nothing.  Since Walker had already chewed 3 garden hoses I was sure John was going to say something I didn't want to hear, but like always he pleasantly surprised me.

Walker doesn't have a clue what a lucky dog he is.

Should Have

Before

How many times I have walked past something and a thought popped into my head on the right thing to do with it???

Well last week that very thing crossed my mind with his  extention cord that is on our deck and it goes to the little fountain in the corner of the deck.  I said to self:  You should pick that up  because that might be something that Walker would like.

 Well , I didn't do it so the after photo is what happened to it.  Oh yes Walker boy found it and chewed it apart.  What is most frustrating to me is that he walked by that so many times I can't even remember BUT today it must have just jumped up into his mouth.

I was so shocked and upset and afraid I didn't want to tell John so I just picked it up and put it on his work bench in the shop.  Beings he isn't the most ofservant person in the world we will see how long before he sees it.  

After

More to follow.

 

First Camping Trip for Walker

This June we took our first camping trip with Walker.  I was a bit worried about the long distance ride for him.  He seems to always want to ride up between John and me while in the truck.  Only problem is he is too big to just sit on the console.  John was going to make a extended shelf for him to fit to the back seat so he would be level  while he was sitting but it just didn't happen.
So I really hate it when we leave him in the truck alone he always jumps up to the front seat and he gets quite excited if he sees another dog.

I had a harness for Braxton to hook to the seat belt so I dug it out but it was a pain in the you know what to keep him from getting all tangled so I just took his leash and hooked it to a loop that is in the top of the back seat .  It kept him so he could move some but not try and get all the way up front.

It seemed to set the mood for him that he was to stay back there.  A couple of times we left him in the truck and not hooked up and he stayed in the back and even laid down and not looking around.  We will see how long that lasts.

I think the most fun he had was running down a little stream on one of our walks.  We were going to the Ospray look out in Central Oregon and as we crossed a small little bridge he jumped into the little stream and just had a blast.  He likes to bite at the water as it splashes and he can make some big splashes as he runs.

I didn't have my camera on that walk and what a shame because he sure had a good time.  It was a chore to get him to stop and let me hook him back to his leash because it was travled by other folks so he had to be kept on his leash.

I am almost embarassed to tell this story but it happened.

John had gotten up early to go fishing while I stayed in bed.  Walker didn't stir one bit.  He waited until I woke up and he streched and all seem fine while I was getting dressed and he jumped up on our bed in the trailer and peed on John's side.  I was shocked! So out he went on his chain and I tried to rinse out the blanket, sheets, mattress cover and bedspread.  Of course the dog pee needed more than just rinsing.

So our next plan was to go to a launder mat in La Pine .  That sounded easy enough, well it was late Sunday night that we decided to go there and guess what???  It was closed.  So we made make shift bed covers with the extra stuff we had in the trailer.

I truly think he was really pissed off at John for not letting him out.  Anyway it sounds like a good story.

He normally lets me know when he has to go with either a nervous walk or just looks at me and whines.  He didn't have his bell to ring like at home.

He really likes us both and wants to be either between us or at least touching one of us so beings John didn't say good bye or anything I guess he decided he would show him.  Oh yes he did pee on John's side of the bed.
 

The Hot Wire

Hot Wire Across Drive way

 So worried that Walker would get out onto our road that is too well traveled,even tho it is a dead end road , I didn't want him to start leaving our yard.

Beings he accidently hit the hot wire around our field where our steers are I figured that would be the best way to keep him in the yard.  Just hang some flags on it and fake him into thinking it was hot would be the tickit.  Well that worked for some time.  Then we did eventually make it hot.

So I continued to put him out and didn't worry.  One day though my friend came walking up the side walk with Walker in tow and she had found him down the road.  So now I was suspecting that he was getting under the one wire that we had made hot but couldn't understand why he wasn't getting shocked.

My only thought was to trick him and catch him in the act.  So I dug out the old shock collar and put it on him the next morning when I put him out to do his business. I  followed him until he was done and just that fast he headed for the wire and under he went.  I pushed the button and he yelped and back he came.
 I had been watching him for a while and I needed to go into the house to do my business and when I came out he was GONE.  Dear me now where did he go?  I was on my way to get the whistle that I use to make him come and there he was in his dog house "POUTING".  I was in a hurry so as not to be late for church so I just left him in there.

When I came home I let him out and took off the collar and he immediately crawled under Craigs tree(that is another Story) and I couldn't coax him out.  Finally with a piece of lunch meat out he came but still not very happy.

I did lots of baby talking to him and then took him for a 2 mile hike on the Cazadero trail and finally he liked me again. 
Today he has been pretty good about not getting too close to the wire while we were out side so I do have my fingers crossed that he got the message loud and clear.

Walker not wanting to get any closer to the wire with the little flags

Wall Paper

Utility Room Wall

Now wouldn't you think after raising 3 boys that I would have learned that when little ones get quiet or a puppy gets quiet I best check on him.

As you can see I didn't and this is what I found.

We have been teaching Walker to "GO TO HIS ROOM" and that is the utility room and he is to be in TIME OUT, sort of.  Anyway one day I sent him to his room and went about my business and then decided I best check on Walker and WOW this is what I found.  He had already done the damage and was sleeping on his back and looked so darn cute I couldn't punish him because I hadn't caught him in the act
We have tried hooking up another hose to the water trough in hopes that he won't chew this one like he did the other two.  That means to me I am not giving him enough attention, you think???

Water Hose & Tiller

Jumping at the tiller.  NOT a good idea

OK so if I can't herd it I can at least look at it.

OK this is fun!!

I seem to be struggling with technology and blogging but here I go again.  Yesterday I tried posting about Healed FacePlant but I am not sure where it went so I will just do this one and get to that another day.  Just like  Scarlet O'hara said in Gone with the Wind.

These photos are just ok but the ones with him playing in the water are really fun.  maybe later I can figure it out.
I am wasting precious sunshine by sitting here so I will close this for now but for sure there will be more to follow.

Faceplant healed

It has now been 2 1/2 weeks since the great Face Plant while walking Walker in the local neighbor hood.  Best part of the entire deal is that my glasses were repaired at NC.  

I did have an old back up pair that I could use but so happy to have the regular ones back.

The sunny  days have really motivated me to work out in the yard for just a couple of hours at a time and finding out that Walker is doing well about not going out of the back yard, even when the hot wire is not hooked up.  If I do bring him out front I put his leash on and hook him to my garden wagon and he seems pretty content.  So far no one has walked by to get him fired up but I am sure that day will come.

Last night he put up  a fuss of barking and ran to where the hot wire is across the drive way, or should have been, and he didn't go past it.  Never did figured out what was out there but I am thinking of setting up the night camera over there tonight and see if we can catch something on camera.  Even if it only Walker barking.  I love that camera.

Beings I couldn't post this yesterday for some unknown reason and I have just found it so I will attempt it again.
Didn't get the camera set up but we did have a first last night.  Walker spent the night with us in our bedroom.  Braxton use too. When he stopped jumping up on the bed that is when I knew something was terribly wrong with him.  I so miss that warm feeling on my feet .  Walker wouldn't settle down on the bed and he kept trying to pull the covers off of me. I was just ready to take him out of the room and he jumped down and stayed on the floor till morning.  He is really getting his own personality and I am really trying to accept him as Walker and not to compare him to Braxton.

Losing Braxton has been more of a trauma that I thought it would be but we did have a history .  For many years there was just Braxton and me.

Face Plant

I was Feeling guilty on Friday as I was gone all day and Walker had to stay in his kennel, so being a good owner I decided to take him for a walk on his leash down our road.  As I got to the end of the driveway I decided to go left instead of right.

As we go by the neighbors place he has two dogs that are penned up but put up a good fuss of barking and jumping and I have used that as training for Walker to not get excited.  That worked good so I thought beings we are out and it is not raining lets go up to the corner and up the other road as it was a nice evening.  Walker was a bit heiper and I knew he had been bored and was ready to play so onward we went.  Pass two other houses and just hear the dogs barking from behind their place and as we passed the second one I didn't even know they had a dog. 

The light is starting to fade so I think best turn back, which we did, and BAM!   out comes a black dog barking but not aggressive but Walker went nuts.  I tried to hold him and turned my back on the black dog because he scared me, BIG MISTAKE.  Later I realized he hadn't even gone off of the black top of his own drive way. With that excitement for Walker, around me he went and the leash caught me at shin level and down I went into the gravel, face down, still holding onto Walker.

My first thought was Who saw me fall??? How embarrassing?  Well of course no one.  I gathered my self up and was shaking so hard I thought I can just walk the rest of the way home.  Then I felt the blood coming off of my head and my glasses were in my hand.  Still holding onto Walker and I remembered I had my cell phone in my pocket so I called John's cell and no answer so I called the house and said "Come and get me and bring a towel".  I thought I told him the right place where I was but I was a road off, he found me tho just fine.  Still shaking it was crazy.
While waiting for John a neighbor drove by and waved.  I was far enough off of the road she couldn't tell that I had blood all over my face.

There will be no pictures of this fiasco .  Feeling so stupid and silly but also relieved that it wasn't worse.  I now have new battle scars and a memory of walking with Walker.



John loaded  Walker up in the back of the Jeep and home we went.  John did the first aid care and we decided no stitches needed.  My fear was my front teeth.  I was really feeling sore and bruised and worried about the teeth but just the inside of my lip had a little cut.

Where the blood was coming from was on my nose where my glasses had dug into the left side of my nose and produced a nice gouge.  A fair size bump on the right side of my forehead and a scrap on my upper lip.

My glasses are really scraped up but as far as I can tell the frame is fine.

Thank goodness I didn't give my old glasses away to the Lions for people less fortunate, so at least I have something to wear for short times when I need to read something, but they sit right on the cut spot of my nose.

Not as much bruising as I expected when I got up this morning but we will see as the day progresses.

Facination with Kleenx

No matter how hard I try Walker can find a piece of Kleenex and begin his ritual of tearing and shredding it to pieces in just  matter of a few seconds, or at least until I come upon him and his escapade.

Thinking I had it all covered, I removed the waste paper basket that I keep by my make up table, where I would put my used Kleenex and little things like that.

Well today I found him by my side of the bed well hidden from view and he had several full Kleenex.  Not sure where he even go them but I sure ruined his fun in a Minnesota minute, by grabbing his sweet little face and ripping it out of his mouth.

Kleenex is easy to deal with but garden hoses.  There has been a garden hose laying from the outdoor faucet to the water trough since Walker came to live here in September and it has been just fine.
One day last week I noticed it had a leak in it and was spraying a small stream out onto the grass.  No big deal I thought, but as I looked closer I could see it was just one of a few little teeth marks that had bitten through the hose.  That is easy to fix.  Just get a new end and redo the hose because it was close to an end.  Problem solved I figured.  Now all that I had to wait for was John( hubby) to decide he could take the time to fix it.

A couple of days later I looked out the window and low and behold there were 3 sections of hose that had been chewed apart from the main hose.  When he did that I am not sure.

I had hurt my neck and back and had been out of commission for a couple of days and had not taken him on any walks or any time to work him.

Truly I know he was bored and he decided to just show me.  If you don't pay attention to me I will fix it so you do.

The digging seems to be still one of his things that are most fun like the Honeysuckle plant.  I found over hidden behind the greenhouse a hole and he had dug up a Money plant.  No big deal it never yields money like it's name sake, but it is fun to watch in the summer as it changes from purple flowers to little discs like coins.  SO I fixed Walker.  I filled in the hole and went around the yard and found several piles of his "doggie doo" and placed it on top of the hole.  I will keep you posted on  that plan.

Spelling

This blogging is about as nerve wracking as raising a puppy.

I apologize for the spelling.  It should have been Un-attended.  Anyone who chances reading this pathetic blog I hope will take mercy on a frustrated puppy owner.

Honeysuckle

Label that was on the  plant

Plant in jug hoping for the best

Here's what left of my struggling Honeysucke that I had pampered for a couple of years.

In my post about digging I was still ok with "He is just a puppy" but after last night my patience is very thin at this point.

Walker is just like an infant .  I can't leave him attended for more than a minute because he finds something to do that is going to upset me.  I was dealing with the other plant ok  but last night was a topper. As I was taking Walker to his kennel for the night I stumbled across the other plant.  Best part about that was it still have the root system in tact.  So I put it in the gallon jug and waited until morning and I will plant it again and take some more starts from this one.

Yesterday he also chewed a garden hose in half.  I don't even want to go there on that story.

The Bell

Several years ago  a family member had trained his dogs to ring a bell that was by the door when they needed to go outside.  What a great idea I said to self.  So when Walker came to live here of course I thought I should do the same.  How cute that would be.

So with the brilliant idea I searched out the house because I knew I had a bell some where in all of my treasures.  Sure enough I found it and hung it by the sliding door out to the deck .  Perfect spot was from the hanging macrame hanger that I have a beautiful  plant.

Naturally the thing to do was when ever I took Walker out the door to go do his business I would take his paw and touch the bell.  Doesn't that make sense on how he should learn??  

Yes he indeed learned how to ring the bell but not just to go outside.  He did it for several reasons.  One it made noise, 2 it got my attention and 3 it was something to  play with.  After some time I was getting irritated with his games and thought this back fired on me.  I put the bell up so he couldn't ring it so then he would just push on the planter until it knocked into the wall with a thud!  NOW that really upset me.  My wall was getting dented and paint getting marked.  I gave in and put the bell back down.  For some reason it all came together that it was a good idea to ring the bell on his part.  If I don't respond right away to his ringing the bell I hear a whining so then I best get the door open.

He loves noises. Empty pop cans that he can pounce on. They make an unusual sound,  balls that have squeak to them.  Of course I can't forget the ice cubes.  He still loves the sound of the ice maker when I get ice water .  I certainly want to make him happy so I drop a couple on the floor for him to scoot around and play with before they melt.

Today we made a trip to our local feed store and I asked the owner if it was OK for Walker to come in.  Egads!  the smells in the feed store were so awesome for him.  He was like a kid in a candy store.  Yeah Mom lets come here again.  I think that was what he was thinking.

After that visit we stopped at the fire station to visit and more fun and people that wanted to pet him and tell him he was so pretty and on and on.  His manners were a bit lacking but I think that has something to do with the person on the other end of the leash.  Anyway it gave me more courage to take him places and get him socialized.  What a day.

Digging

Where do I start?  I thought it was so cute to watch Walker dig a hole and bury a bone that I gave him. 

Thinking that was all he would do about digging sent me into a situation of wanting to yank his toe nails out of his paws.  Now that I write that out it sounds barbaric and I wouldn't do that ever but at that moment in time when I saw that he had dug up and entire Honeysuckle plant that I had been giving mega TLC this last year to grow up over my arbor, I was hit with so many emotions I was beside myself.


He knows what the collar is that can give a shock.  I have used the shock part only once but even the noise that I can send really gets his attention.  After I found my Honeysuckle dug up I immediately marched into the house and retrieved that collar and put it on him.  Off he went to pout.   I didn't care I was upset!!!


That plan was two fold because I wanted to plant some day lilies that needed to get into the ground and I knew he would think I was playing and he would want to dig as I was digging so I knew it would work but I don't know where he went to pout.  To the barn I suspect to be with the steers that were feeding.  They wouldn't hurt him.  They were his friends.


Like I told you he had learned to escape under the fake wire I had put up but while we were out in the rain and wind John ran a real hot wire and he seems to know that it is serious business.  He hasn't hit it yet but it will happen I think.

We must practice all that we learned in puppy class everyday but when the weather is so dreadful it is discouraging to go outside.

I will move the Jeep out of the garage and work in there I think today.

OH!!! I forgot about more holes that he  proceeded to dig in the dog run.  It is so amazing that for all the years his predecessor, Braxton, lived in that dog run never dug.  He was about 4 though ,when we moved here so maybe he was past the digging.  My memory fails me thinking of when Braxton was a puppy.
I relate that to giving child birth.  Once it is over and a beautiful baby is all cuddly and cooing in your arms you forget, just as I did.

Survival is the word of the day for me and puppy Walker.

No Diploma

Last class tonight at puppy class. The disappointment was overwhelming.  Not just for Walker and me but for all of the other class mates.  We all had a good report from our trainer saying "Good Job and Well Done" but not diploma to hang on our kennel wall.

Speaking for myself I was the most relaxed I have been in class all these weeks.  Not sure why, but I suspect beings my husband wasn't there watching, with the critizing eye that he usually has could have been some of the cause of my being so tense at previous classes.  

You know I have to blame someone and beings John wasn't there he was my target of blame.  What ever the reason I felt I did better or I should say I had confidence.  The trainer even complimented me and no more probation.  So  I consider that a good night.
Walker does get bored when we have to sit and watch the others go through their paces so a couple of times he started to act up so finally I have learned to just walk him around and have him re sit and that seems to work.

I was so proud of his sit and stay tonight in class ,over and over. It was like my child getting an A for good behaviour in school, but in reality I guess that is what it was.  

Walker is like my kid, now that all my boys are grown and left the nest. One of the  greatest thing having a dog instead of a child  is when he really gets on my nerves I can put him in his kennel and close the door.  For some reason child services wouldn't look kindly on me locking my sons in a kennel .


Now that  I bragged about him I need to tell on him.  Late this after noon there was knock on the door and the neighbor from up the road was on my front porch with his dog on his leash with Walker bouncing off the wall with excitement to have a friend to play with.  Problem with that was Walker had escaped from the back yard through the hot wire that we had across the drive way.  In all reality the wire was fake.  It didn't have a charge to it but I had put the red flags on a wire and Walker thought it was fake until today.

So tomorrow guess what is going to be done?? You got it.  There will be a charge hooked up and I think it will only take once and he will see that it is really really not a good idea to go running through it.

I breaks my heart when he gets bit by the hot wire but I would rather that than have him hit by a car.

My desire for Walker is to really be obedient and then I will think about some further training. The trainer enforced that is so important so now it is my job to be sure and work him everyday.  He will only be as good as I am in training him and to show him I AM THE ALFA one.
He has some temper tantrums sometimes. Those drive me nuts and I lose my cool, not so unlike in the days raising 3 little boys that could really test me.

Walker loves to jump so I would like to see him be a flyer and go after a Frisbee like on TV.  So whose job it?? You got it, ME.

5 weeks

Well we have made it to the 5 week mark in our Puppy classes.  Yiks one more week.  I hope I pass.  Walker is doing fine the trainer says but he put me on probation.  Sort of kidding I think but I do get a bit  panicky in class. 

When Walker goes balistic all of a sudden and wants to bite at the leash and jump and I can't stop him it just sends up a wall.

I signed up for these lessons for several reasons: 1 : to have a trained dog
                                                                               2: to socialize him
                                                                               3: to try and understand what makes him tick and to teach him to OBEY
I now wonder if there is a class for training husbands.  If there is I would love to take one but I truly don't think I have the energy for hubby training and puppy training.

It seems to be that Walker truly doesn't like the rain.  His entire mood is different.  He seems lathargic, listless and not a happy dog.  Maybe he reads off of me.  I love the snow and the sunshine.  Not too different that most people.

Last night we finished our work out in the rain and it was like he couldn't get into the garage fast enough.  Now that is another challenge.  Of course his coat hold lots of water from the rain so I want to dry him off before entering the utility room and get his little feet dried off.  His little pads act just like sponges and I can't seem to squeeze all the water out of his feet, so still little foot prints go all over the kitchen floor.  He gets really excited when I drying him off and I even use a hair dryer sometimes and he does quite well with that but he wants to play with the towel and that is aggravating.  It doesn't matter too much.  I do what I can as long as I can and call it good.

Oh well, I sort of knew that would happen and I am not as OCD as I was when my boys were little and  have a" knipchin fit"with mud and water all over.  In fact the floor only gets mopped once a week or maybe twice if someone is coming to visit.  I am either getting wiser  and choosing what is important or just too old to care.

I am wondering if Walker gets a diploma next week.  I doubt that I do but if he does I will try and post it.

He is getting  very good at loading up into the  back of the Jeep now.  I sort of wanted him to sit up and look out the window as we drive but it  seems like that is a good time to nap, so I am glad he tolerates the crate in the back of the Jeep.  When we go in John's truck he does sit in the back sit and naps .  Just as long as he is good while traveling all is good with me.

Never Say Never

Getting home from yet another puppy class I have taken some excederin and starting to feel a bit relaxed.  It was only an hour of class but I am exhausted.  Walker is so full of energy and I do get stressed a bit because I feel like I don't do things correctly so I let myself get all worked up.

Walker is full of energy so I did go a head and purchase something I said I would Never do.  Now if I can just download the picture of the new collar.  I do believe it is called a pinch collar.  It does get his attention.  He has so much fun around his neck it doesn't really hurt him , even the dogs with out all the fur don't have a problem.  I even put in on my wrist and it isn't as bad as it looks.
There are lots of things I am learning and I just need to work with Walker everyday because I am on probation.  The trainer told me that tonight in jest I think.  He said Walker is doing fine.  Walker is doing fine.  Walker is doing fine, but I am on probation.


We will see how we do this week.


We had snow today and he loves the snow and so do I but it never lasts long enough.