Today we took advantage of a trip to Home Depot to get in a bit of socializing/training for Brian. I’ve seen just a few startle responses from Brian lately, making me wonder if he’s going into a little bit of a fear period, or possibly just needs to get out more! So off we went…

It’s time for our annual photos amongst the pumpkins. We’re having quite a squash harvest this year, so here is the first of probably 3 harvests in the next few weeks. This photo session produced a lot of throw-aways, but here is the best of what we got:

Brian loves toys, and so we’ve been doing some tugging as part of his puppy training.  I’m not into tugging like some trainers, who often seem to use the activity as a way to amp up the dog before running on an agility course.  I’m not sure running an overly aroused dog on an agility…

We’ve had a busy week, with many new experiences.  One of them was Brian finally annoying my much older pack enough into playing with him: Brian also ran a baby track for the first time this week (pics next week!), and last night met a friendly adult springer owned by a training friend of mine…

In a world of new normals, 12 1/2-year-old Roz makes her own peace with the craziness of a new puppy.  She even played with him a bit this morning.    

Today Brian got to play a box game, where he has to find the cookie in the box.  I discovered he’s just a little small for these boxes, and so will need to cut off the tops, but he has a good nose and seemed to enjoy this activity.  You can see he is really…

Next adventure was Brian’s first experience of our pasture.  Of course I tried to get photos of him running through the wildflowers, but my timing and his constant movement didn’t always come together.   So far, nothing gets him down! There was always the opportunity for a little baby recall practice: And Brian first got to…