Puppy Update: One month in!

Looking back over the last 4 weeks life has changed so much....for the better of course. It's amazing the excitement a new puppy brings to your home as well as a severe lack of sleep. Jim and I may be picked up as Zombie extras for the A&E show The Walking Dead in lieu of its next season. God knows we've had enough practice since bringing home little Luna. Even though we seem to be chronically tired its worth every sleepy moment. Luna is an amazing puppy. She's sweet and silly and has quickly become Cleo's best friend and has won our hearts.

Since arriving Luna has doubled in size. At 11 weeks old she weighs just shy of 20 pounds. At this age Cleo was about 13 or 14 pounds. Her personality is really starting to shine. She is clearly a bush crapper. There will never be exposed field pooping for this pup. She wedges herself as far into bushes and trees as possible to do her business. She grunts the entire time she craps which is actually nice since at night you can hear her doing her thing under the deck....no need to check, you know she's good. Lol. And she coos....alot. She loves to sleep on Jim or mine's chest or buried deep into the crook of an arm. She sighs and coos every few minutes almost like a cat would purr. She's happy and I'm pretty sure she loves it here.

Napping on big sis

We've been working hard on the "come" command and she is picking it up well. She has been wearing a 20 foot lead when out in the yard, if we say "come" we only say it once and if she doesn't listen she gets a tug on the lead and comes running. Jim and I both know there is no point in yelling a command if we know she won't obey or we can't get her too. She's progressing along nicely. She knows the "kennel up" command and has now realized it kinda sucks. She knows she's getting put in her crate and tries to escape! She will sit for  treats. She waits to be let out of her crate and waits to be fed. And saying "Let's go do our business" sends her and Cleo charging for the back door. 

She does suffer from legit puppy A.D.D tho. For instance her and Cleo could be wrestling up a storm, in the middle of a bona fide fight and they will slam into the food bowl. Luna will stop and then be like...ohhhhh, time to eat. She forgets about playing and stuffs her face. Or if she munching on a bone and you start to rub her she melts into you like the bone never existed. Her short attention span has helped greatly with getting her mind off of our cats.

My baby....Cleo. Love her so much. 

Even though I am so proud of what Luna has learned over the past month the baby I'm most proud of is our Cleopatra. She has really taken to her new role. She loves Luna. She spends every second trying to find something to get her to play with. She lets Luna abuse her and chew on her. When we come home all she cares about is getting that puppy out of her crate. I'm really thankful she has responded well because had she not it would have made this experience a much different one.

Cleo holds bumpers, balls, antlers, bones, pig ears for the pup to chew

But really all Luna wants to do is chew Cleo's face. Screw the bumper..... 

Luna is obsessed with my socks and underwear. But I'm pleased to announce she eats Jim's shoes too. I know I shouldn't be happy about that but I am. No one tell Jim, Ok? Lol. Below are some more pics of Cleo and Luna in action.

Not much to say about this one...

Cleo's got a shadow!!

Cleo awaiting the next puppy sneak attack

 And here it comes!

Check back, this coming weekend we are training with the Del Val Chapter of NAVHDA to help get Cleo ready for her upcoming UT test!! And be sure to like us on facebook at: Adventures of a German Shorthaired Pointer

Puppy Update Week 3: The Curious Case of The Great Houdini Puppy

Luna rarely cries in her kennel if you can believe it. At night she settles right in as if she's content to rest. Her and Cleo keep a pretty high level of activity so at bedtime she's pretty pooped. She does however have a tough time making it through the night consistently without having to go potty. A couple of times a week she will wake up and cry to go outside to do her business. If we take her out she's pees right away and goes quietly back to bed in her kennel. If we ignore her we wake up to a wet kennel. Some nights she sleeps till morning without waking to go potty.

Monday night at 2pm Luna began crying in her kennel. I woke up and practically sleep walked down the hall in to the spare room, plucked her from her kennel and stumbled out into the moonlight to let her do her business.  She pee'd and in we went. I snuggled her for a moment before returning her to her kennel and off I went back to sleep. At 6am Jim got up and we heard Luna cry. Jim opened the door and to his surprise Luna was sitting in the hallway outside our door!! Eek!!! I must not have locked her cage properly or she pulled a Houdini and busted out. I have a feeling I just didn't lock her cage well enough. So either she stayed in her kennel till morning or had full run of the house for 4 hours. Guess we'll never know. But she didn't go potty anywhere and didn't destroy anything. But I definitely got the stink eye from Jim all morning. Oops! Lol.

Luna is now 10 weeks old. She has doubled in size and is beginning to get leggy. Now that she's taller she can get into Cleo's food bowl and its been quite a challenge trying to keep her out of Cleo's kibble and vice versa. Cleo has developed a propensity for puppy chow. Luna has also picked up an assortment of nicknames. She's been dubbed Luna Lu, Lu Lu and my personal favorite Short Round which is what Indiana Jones called his kid sidekick in the Temple of Doom. It was my favorite movie when I was 7. In fact one time in second grade I had to stand in the corner because I wouldn't stop humming the Indiana Jones theme song in Mrs. Silverman's reading class.

We also gave Luna a restrained live chukar this week. She had been excited about the dead one we gave her the week before but this was so much more exciting for her. We made sure it was restrained so it couldn't pop her in face with a wing.

Jim took the chukar and would drag it about 8 or 10 feet without Luna seeing it. We would watch her start to use her nose and pretty soon she would find it. You could actually see her using her natural abilities. It was pretty neat to witness.

Jim dispatched the chukar and used it for fetch with Cleo. The last couple of times she retrieved in the field she would readjust halfway back to Jim so he wanted to use a freshly killed chukar to throw for her. She did great and did not drop it at all. Jim also threw the dead chukar out for Luna to see what she would do and she would bring it back. It was so cute.

Cleo retrieving

Little Luna bringing the chukar to Jimmy

Cleo has training this weekend. We have alot of work to start on to get her ready for her UT test this fall. It will also be fun to get Luna started too once she is a bit older. I'm amazed at how much I love having two dogs. 

Be sure to check us out on facebook: Adventures of a German Shorthaired Pointer

Puppy Update: Week Two

Today Luna is officially 9 weeks old. At this stage she is changing so much day to day. She is now responding to her name and understands what "no" means. She has learned if you smack the back door you get to go out. If you smack it on the other side you get to come in. She waits to be let out of her kennel now and has started to grasp the concept of having to wait before being fed. She has learned an immense amount in the last 14 days.

Getting leggy

It definitely helps Luna that she has a big sister to emulate and follow around. She always wants to do whatever Cleo is doing. Luckily for us she has stepped up to the plate and really seems to be loving her new role. Since it was so hot today Cleo pied pippered the little one into the doggie pool. Jim and I sat back and watched Luna climb in and out herself. It was beyond cute to watch. We were sure not to fill it up to high. We don't want to over do it but judging by her reaction she's gonna like the water.

I'm sure Luna is thinking....What is that stuff?? I want that ball.

Luna gets pretty sassy with Cleo. She climbs all over her, chews on her nose and face, pulls on her ears. What amazes me the most is how Cleo lets her do it. Those little puppy teeth hurt! I have actually questioned on more than one occasion if this puppy is part vampire. But Cleo doesn't seem to mind. She is actually quite patient with her. God bless her, I wouldn't put up with half the crap she does. 

Puppy romp!

Luna's confidence is growing every day. She is getting more bold but she is still a sweet and mellow puppy. I'm so glad we made the decision to get her, she has added so much to our lives already.  

Training Day with Hickory Run and Luna's intro to birds!

Spinone 

It's always nice spending time with like minded individuals. People who love their hunting dogs to a pseudo unhealthy level and would rather spend their weekend in the field helping both friends and strangers accomplish their sporting dog goals. Jim and I spent a good portion of our day yesterday with the fine folks from the Hickory Run Chapter of NAVHDA doing just this.

Look at that Weim face!

We trained at a state gamelands location in Foegelsville, PA which is not far from where we live. Cleo had a beneficial day getting to work birds in a new location. She stayed steady through the shot and fall on all of her birds without Jim whoaing her or saying a word. It was especially gratifying that both birds were running and she never budged. Her retrieves were less then perfect with her stopping halfway to re-adjust before delivering them to hand. So its back to the table but overall she had a nice day in the field. We brought 8 week old Luna with us as it gave her some socialization with other people. She did great with everyone holding and loving her.

Cleo on point

Retrieving a chukar

As always it was a pleasure getting to see other gun dog breeds work. I was rather surprised at the number of Griffon Hair Pointers in attendance not just in our group but the other group as well. There was also weimeraners and spinones in addition to GSP's.

A Griff at work

A lovely Weim doing her thing

After we left the training day we introduced little Luna to her first Chukar! We decided to give her a dead chukar that had been shot over her big sister earlier in the day. She loved it. She buried her nose into it, picked it up, shook it and would trot around with it in her mouth. Jim and I would take it and throw it a few feet and she would hop after it and bring it right back. A few times Jim would toss it without allowing Luna to see where it went and after a few seconds she would sniff about and go and find it. It was awesome to watch the gears turning!

A little headshake

Nom Nom Nom....

The retrieve!

We originally wanted to introduce her to quail but due to bird shortages all we could get were chukars. In the next week or so we will give her a restrained live Chukar. Here are a few pics of Luna walking through the state games lands.

Check us out and like us on facebook at Adventures of a German Shorthaired Pointer.

Puppy Update: One Week In

Well so far so good. We have officially had Luna for 8 days. A lot has transpired in the past week, some of it expected, some of it a surprise but regardless its all been a good experience. First and foremost Luna is really sweet and borderline laid back. When Cleo was this age she was like lightening in a bottle. Her personality has really made the transition from one dog to two dogs much easier than expected. She does not cry at night when kenneled, she does her business the second you take her outside and she learns really fast. She definitely has her she-devil moments but they are rather amusing and mostly brought on by her big sister.

Cleo and Luna's relationship has gone through quite a few stages in the past week. Everything I had read   about introducing a new puppy to an older dog discussed having them meet in a neutral location, then move them to your yard and then finally into your house blah blah blah. Yea...maybe in a perfect world but not at 9:00pm on a Tuesday night when its kinda cruddy out. We brought puppy in, put her on a doggie bed and let them check each other out. Cleo was pretty excited with her short tail wagging. It wasn't until the following afternoon when she realized this pup was here to stay did the silent treatment begin followed closely by the cold shoulder. First she wouldn't let me pet her and only gave me the look. She also refused to acknowledge Luna's existence. After three days she became overly lovey with me and would sit near the pup but god forbid the pup touched her. But each day after it got better with yesterday being our breakthrough day.

This is what they have been doing the last 20 minutes while I have been on the computer

Sorry if the video is kind of cruddy. Cleo will lay there and let the pup chew on her face and ears. She will bring her toys and encourage her to play. Cleo has really come around. They do need to be monitored though since Cleo is so much bigger than her. But so far so good!

Chilling in the yard

In the last week Luna has gained 3 pounds and now tips the scales at 12.5 lbs! She has such an appetite! She has also been managing the stairs on the deck well and has learned to not chase the cats. Puppy lesson #246....mess with the cats and they light you up like Christmas. She also learned puppy lesson #52....running into glass sliding doors hurts your little puppy face. 

I'll leave you with one more snugly sleep picture. Be sure to follow us on facebook at Adventures of a German Shorthaired Pointer. This weekend we will be heading to a Hickory Run NAVHDA Chapter training day and I'm sure I'll have a ton of pics and stories to share so stop back! 

The Elusive Easter Pointer returns

The Elusive Easter Pointer returned this year, this time blessing us with a basket full of cute and spunky puppy. Luna may be a puppy but she still runs and hops like a silly rabbit.

She may look adorable in this pic but don't be fooled as she is chewing the heck out of that funky green fur.  She'd happily rip it to pieces and drag around all the carnage if you let her. But her drive to chew things is what kept her in the basket long enough for me to photograph her. Cleo on the other hand wanted those ears off her head.

Who needs Easter candy when there are sticks to be chewed?

Enjoy your Easter holiday weekend. Remember if your good all year the Easter Pointer may bring you plentiful amounts of grouse, woodcock and ducks next April.