We’ve moved…
We are trying to host this ourseves so we moved:
Please change your bookmarks and if you see anything amis please drop us a note.
thansk
matt
Chunks ‘O Ice
We have a snow and ice eater here. I think Scout cannot go outside without having one or the other in his mouth. He thinks they are a wonderful treat and just picks up clumps of snow everywhere and either carries them for a while or just plain eats them. Tonight on one of our trips outside he found a real hard chunk of ice and carried it around the yard. Then I had him drop it so we could go inside. On the next trip out he remembered where he dropped it in a yard of snow and proceded to lie down and gnaw on it again. He is just wierd.
Native America?
Although the Australian Shepehrd is a North American Breed and not from Australia, the way Scout was acting last night you would think Native American. He was ripping Birch Bark from the trees and playing with the resulting pieces. Sometimes you just have to laugh at him.
Counter surfers ≠ good dogs
As I am sitting eating this morning I look out of the corner of my eye and he is at it again 
Scout is NOT a two legged being and should always have four on the floor, you tell him… As I look over toward the counter there he is trying to get a bowl that had some ice cream in it from last night. I know my fault for not washing the dishes yet but that was for after breakfast. Anyway crash it goes to the floor and shatters all over the place. He is fine and all is cleaned up but hopefully it scared the snot out of him for good, na I doubt it
Making real progress
I guess it’s a good sign when you take obedience classes and the last instructor you had is in your current class and comments on the improvements over the last few weeks. Three people told us that last night. Persistence pays off.
Healthy or Obnoxious?
How do you know when an Aussie is fully recovered from surgery? He acts worse than he did before surgery. Scout is in need of some serious exercise, mental and physical. He is getting into everything everywhere in the house. He stole a 10″ bread knife yesterday and started to chew the wooden handle, he is getting on the counters, begging for food, stealing socks, general mis-behaving. Yesterday was his first day playing at Bowdoin College fields after 3 weeks and he had a great time running and wrestling with all the other dogs. He had a good wrestling match with a golden, Katie, that was almost his age and also just recovered from spaying, the match lasted a good 10 minutes.
Starting our next obedience classess tomorrow night (after a 4 week break) and these are different, billed as a way to beat the winter doldrums, we will be learning tricks, rally-o, freestyle, and some other things.
Neutering, good idea, sad dog
This is the most pitiful dog you’ve ever seen. Scout had a little rougher surgery than most due to Cryptorchidism so he has a second incision in the abdomen. He took a trip to the emergency vet Sunday night, Christmas Eve, due to the fact that this second incision was very red and swollen. 
The vet did a good cleaning and dried it with Gold Bond Medicated Powder and sent us home with antibiotics. He is just starting to show some energy today, I think he is getting bored and wants to play but that is hard with an e-collar on your head. He just moves from the bed to the dog bed to the couch to the other end of the couch and repeats the process with some whining. I imagine that standing is hurting or pulling on the incision since every time he is up it’s a frantic attempt to lick the area. Hopefully this week will go quickly and he can get back to normal soon. Staples come out Tuesday Jan. 2.
Boot Camp Day 1
Ok, day one went pretty well. I had some success with the basics. Sit and come are going pretty well. Down is a 50%-50% deal at best right now. I really want a quick down. Kind of a drop where you are. Patch used to do that, but Scout will only do it if there is food involved right now. I need to ween him off the food and have more success with the verbal/hand signals.
Doggie Boot Camp
It’s the start of Doggie Boot Camp on Monday. I am off work until Jan. 8th and it’s getting time to get really serious with the training. Some days Scout can be so good and other days he will drive us up the wall. My goal is to try to do at least three 10-15 minute sessions a day. Starting over from the beginning. Tomorrow is come, sit, & down. I am thinking that if I can get his mind really working instead of being in the kennel when we are at work he will learn faster. I am going to try to take him when ever I go out on short trips and hang out downtown so he can see people and other dogs in a setting that isn’t class or playing out in the fields at Bowdoin.
In a perfect world this will make the perfect puppy, we don’t live in the perfect world so hopefully my goal of a livable companion will pay off. He is smart enough to take anything we throw at him, it seems as if his problem is the lack of focus. Pam, my obedience teacher called him a ADD dog, is there such a thing? I think Casco Bay Dog Training is offering a CGC, Canine Good Citizen, class in January and I want to take it and pass.
Wish us luck! 
First Snowfall
It snowed Monday here and while it was just a dusting of snow and nothing I would think to write about, Scout made it pretty interesting. Here we have a 7 1/2 month old puppy that has never seen snow and on our walks Monday he tried to eat his way down the street. He was like a scoop with his mouth running in the yards and just dragging his lower jaw in the snow, closing it just long enough to swallow and start again. It was a hoot. Hopefully we will have real snow, more than a few inches, and see what he thinks of that!
Scout 3 month change
