January 2002 Archives

We needed to buy some treats that "will drive your dog wild," so Rosie and I piled in the car and drove to PetSmart. We were loading up with bags of treats when a little 3 or 4 year old kid came running up and wanted to play with Rosie. She wanted to jump all over him, but he wouldn't stay near her if she did that, so she learned how to sit still for him to pet her. Good girl!

Of the treats we purchased, the smelly nasty ones are the ones she likes best. Of course.

Rosie and her Buster Cube


Sniff sniff


Rosie enjoys a light snack from the compost heap


More games of catch with the oranges


Rosie likes to check out the place next to the shed


Rosie checks out the guys working on the house behind us

Rosie sits nicely (note bits of compost hanging from mouth)

Tonight was my first night at puppy class. We went 1/2 hour over because everybody had so many questions. Rosie may be the oldest puppy in the class, but she's also the only one who is completely potty trained and has started to use a clicker. We have homework: some socialization exercises, and treat-buying.

At the vet this morning, Rosie got the go-ahead to go to the dog park. So this evening, after a rainy, unpleasant day where we both lay around and napped, we suited up and headed out.

The Ohlone Dog Park is about 3/4 of a mile from our house, across one very big street with no stop lights at our corner. So it took us a while to get there. Once there, however, Rosie got to meet lots of other dogs, big dogs, who all wanted to play with her. They were a bit rough for a puppy, and one wanted to jump on her which she did not like, but for the most part she had a great time. Everybody there wanted to pick her up and cuddle her.

We walked home, she had a Buster Cube of food, and then she crashed out in her crate and began emitting loud snores immediately. Guess somebody got a bit tired out.

For a change today, I gave Rosie her Buster Cube full of food out in the yard. This added a fair amount of challenge to the game, because the ground is the same colour as the food. Rosie had to sniff out the kibbles from the mud. The drawback to this was that she spent a great deal of time sniffing randomly, not quite understanding why there was sometimes food where she looked and sometimes not.

After lunch, there was an obligatory tour around the yard, checking various favourite spots, including the fence behind the bamboo, the side of the shed, and of course the condition of the compost pile. All the yard waste doesn't seem to disagree with Rosie's digestion, so I let her eat what she wants. Mostly she wants to drag it around the yard and chew on it, but not swallow.

Noel had all kinds of things he wanted to buy prior to leaving on a business trip on Sunday, so we piled Rosie in the car and set off. We went to some stores, then decided that because we were in the neighborhood, we'd stop and see Bob, who had not yet met Rosie. Bob was up for shopping with us, so we set off to finish our quest.

Rosie got to spend more time learning how to walk on leash, and while Noel and Bob browsed at the Good Guys, she and I went and checked out an empty parking lot. It was kind of windy, so dry leaves were blowing all over the place. This is very exciting if you're a little dog.

It was a cool day, so I left her in the car while we got some lunch. When I went out and checked on her halfway through, she was asleep. Because of the wind, a slight crack in the window kept the car nice and cool.

When we finally dropped Bob off at his house, he let Rosie have a magnolia cone from his front yard to chew on. She tore it to bits in the back of the car on the drive home.

Rosie takes on the big stick that fell out of the pine


It's a bit hard to get hold of


Rosie likes to play catch with oranges


Rosie, Queen of the Compost Heap


Rosie next to the concrete block


Rosie: Dog, or Panda?


Rosie eats a fallen orange. Yum!

I took some photos of Rosie having her lunchtime exercise. She came to work with me this morning, but was forced to leave early to conceal the dogliness of the office from the Big Cheese.

We spent some serious time in the yard this afternoon, partly because she needed the exercise, and partly because she needed to poop and I had to wait for her to feel like doing so. Rosie ate fallen oranges, jumped in the compost pile, played with sticks, chewed on blackberry branches, and was generally a dog.

We walked over to Elaine's this afternoon and helped her do some homeowner stuff. Rosie was a great yard cleaner, finding a piece of tin foil and a plastic bag in the yard, and eating up a pile of cat food that ants had gotten into. Elaine's cat, Ginger, was not pleased to see Rosie, and registered her displeasure with a couple swipes of the paw.

After what could only be called an "unforunate incident" yesterday afternoon, I decided to bring Rosie to work with me. On Thursday evening we made a mad dash to PetSmart to buy her a work crate, which Noel set up in my office. We drove to work, spent way too much time exploring the sidewalk on the way, and Rosie managed to charm everybody in the office with her sweetness -- right before starting to bark.

We had a "working lunch" more than usual; there was no Kong of food, no Buster Cube. Just Rosie on a leash having to do tricks for her supper. Lots of "hop" to tire her out. There is some value to teaching the dog to hop on command.

Unfortunately, Rosie is still too much of an asshole to do well at work. She seems to think it's perfectly OK to bark all the time, asking to be let out. So no work for her until she can settle down and be quiet.

Elaine came over this evening, and we played with Rosie quite a bit. We tossed oranges, and Rosie brought them back to us, ending up with fresh citrussy breath. Yes, this is one of the chief benefits of having your own orange tree.

Charlotte came over to see how huge the dog had gotten. She's massive.

One nice thing is that she's figured out how to use the Buster Cube, which can give us an hour of uninterrupted time when she's definitely occupied (and you can hear it). The occasional frozen carrot helps her maintain her girlish figure.

This afternoon, Ana made a dash out the back door, but Rosie, ever the able handy-dog, chased her back inside.

Rosie is also working on her Master Gardener degree, now. On our evening walk, she picked up every snail she came across. Now, if I could only harness this inclination for my own purposes.

Rosie in the Big-Girl Crate

Rosie was starting to kind of not fit in the baby crate, so one night we put her in the Big-Girl Crate instead. She did fine, did not pee in it, and could for all intents and purposes be said to be house trained. One milestone down!

We're now going for regular walks through the neighborhood, and it's time to get Rosie enrolled in puppy kindergarten.

Rosie in the Big-Girl Crate