Training & barking

Over the last few days me & Molly have made some good progress with training. Sometimes I'm quite stubborn & won't do things if I can't see the point or just don't want to, but I really impress Molly when I seem to grasp what she wants me to do. Obviously the food she rewards me with helps! We've started doing shorter training sessions more frequently which is better for my short attention span. I make her laugh too when I insist on doing things my way - which may not seem to be the most obvious or straightforward way to her.

The photo below is from a training session where Molly was trying to teach me to climb onto her bed with the help of a cushion on the floor. She tried tempting me into position with food but I was really stubborn & kept working out unusually complicated ways to get at the food without putting my back legs on the cushion!

Molly's dad moved the divider in my inside crate so I've got more room to stretch out now. Molly is also wondering about whether to get me a bigger bed but wants to wait & see if I'm happy to just sprawl across my current one first.

On Wednesday evening we went on a short walk to the Scout Hut field before bed because it's the closest place I can run around off-lead to expend some of my seemingly endless energy. Just as we were getting towards the end of the field & Molly was thinking about putting my lead back on I saw someone walking down the pavement nearby & thought I'd run over to say hello. Molly was worried because it was dark, the gate was high enough off the ground for me to get under & the passer-by was across a road! But when she called my name I stopped immediately (before she even had chance to say "come") & then I returned to her for food. She kept telling me what a good dog I was.

I'm getting more vocal every day which Molly & her family aren't too keen on. I bark when I'm excited when we're out on walks & I bark in the house to warn everyone that there are things happening outside. I also bark sometimes when I want things. Yesterday we went on a walk to the playing fields (where I did some good socialising with a dog we met) & we went to see Molly's mum at work. Kate & Libby were there too so I got very excited. I didn't mean to scare Libby with my barking, or the other children we passed on our walk.

Molly has now taught me an easier way to get on & off her bed so I'm happier at night now I can move between her bed, the floor & the sofa. Molly still thinks the positions I sleep in are funny. Here are a few photos of me on the sofa, sorry for the poor quality, the lighting wasn't very good.

This morning the noisy chickens in the garden woke me at 6.15am but Molly was really impressed that I entertained myself until almost 7am so she could doze a bit longer. I had to wake her up properly then though because I needed a wee!

I've had a sleepy day which has worked out well because Molly has had to go out on a couple of occassions, but her brother played with me which was good fun. Then this evening Molly took me out  for a walk in the village where I could be off-lead most of the time. My recall was really good & we're making good progress on "stay close" (to Molly) when I'm both on & off lead. I did lots of barking at a passer-by we saw though & Molly wasn't sure if I was scared or excited so she's going to try to learn a bit more about dog body language so she can understand me better.

Here are some photos from this evening's walk

I'm now completely back to my normal food & my tummy seems fine. Molly forgot to weigh me this morning but will hopefully do it tomorrow so we'll see how much weight I've put on this week. I've now got all of my adult teeth through at the front of my mouth but still have some baby teeth to lose further back. Silly Molly said she wants to keep one of my baby teeth but I keep swallowing them so she hasn't found any yet!

Groomers

Yesterday evening I did some more short training sessions with Molly, went on a little local walk & showed her parents my new Tornado toy. Last night I slept on Molly's sofa rather than her bed.

This morning Molly attempted to tire me out with training, my Tornado toy & a walk around a new town. She's currently trying to work out why I bark at certain people on walks but not others.

Then I went to the groomers for the first time! Molly had expected me to embarrass her but I was very well behaved, even though it took an hour. Molly can't believe the difference in me - I can see now & she said I'm starting to look like a proper miniature schnauzer! Photographing me was a challenge & Molly doesn't think these pictures show my new look particularly well but here you go.

Training, being stubborn & Tornado toy

Yesterday afternoon Molly took me to a one-to-one training session. The lady we saw was lovely, Molly found it really helpful & I had lots of fun. We arrived a bit early so I even got to have a walk somewhere new first. This is a church we spotted on our wander.

We were both very tired after that so slept on the sofa together. Then Molly's dad took me out for another walk before I quietened down for the night. Molly says I'm a pillow hogger!

I was really stubborn when Molly took me for a walk this morning - I refused to leave an animal carcass I found (I don't know why she thought I'd give up something so valuable!), barked at all the people & dogs I saw (& paid no attention to Molly's attempts to distract me, even an exciting new toy that I couldn't resist yesterday), ignored Molly's commands unless I could see that she had food, refused to move on a few occasions, wouldn't leave exciting scents alone...

Molly had to go out this afternoon & evening but in between she introduced me to a new interactive toy. She was surprised at how quickly I picked up the basics, but I wasn't - I'm very determined when there's food involved!

I couldn't work out how to get at the food when Molly made it more complicated but perhaps I will next time.

Babysitting & vet check up

Molly was a bit worried about me yesterday afternoon because I couldn't settle after our walk so she thought I might be uncomfortable. I didn't mind her feeling my tummy though so she knew I didn't have tummy ache. I kept nibbling my paws but sometimes I do that after they've been in washed or rinsed. We did a little training session & then Molly went back to bed for a bit so I had a sleep too.

When Molly came back downstairs I was still sleepy so we had some nice cuddles together & then we had another short training session before tea.

That evening Molly took me babysitting with her! I had lots of fun winding up Mia the dog, barking because she wouldn't play with me, chewing one of Chris' slippers, nibbling a house plant & eating the soil in its pot, trying to play with the degus, eating their straw... Luckily I didn't wake Kiara. After about an hour of madness I finally fell asleep & Molly could relax for the rest of the evening.

When we got home I discovered that Molly's parents had guests round for a meal so I helped them by vacuuming the kitchen floor. After playing with Molly's brother & dad a little bit I went upstairs to Molly's room where I tried to play with her clothes as she got changed for bed & then we cuddled up together on the sofa while Molly watched part of a film. Molly didn't get a photo of me on her lap but here's one of me sleeping in a strange position at the other end of the sofa.

We had a relatively good night apart from Molly overheating because I tried to lie across her neck & me being wriggly in the early hours of the morning. We woke around 7.30am & once it was a more sociable time Molly had to pop out to do a couple of errands in the village. Her mum brushed me while she was out so I would look & feel lovely as a surprise for Molly but I still look like a scruffy mess! Molly realised which animal I remind her of - what do you think?!

Then Molly took me to the vets for a check up. The vet said I'm fine & Molly can start gradually reintroducing my normal food again. Apparently I should stop being so sleepy over the next few days. And Molly picked up my monthly flea & worming treatments while we were there.

A busy walk

We've just got back from a walk where we met a family with a dog, a jogger, a neighbour & an RSPCA inspector looking for a swan! I said hello to all of them (apart from the jogger) but Molly said I was really good with not pestering them too much & coming away when she called me.

Molly tried out a function of her camera that she'd not used before to try to get a photo of me running towards her that wasn't blurred. She intended to just pick the best photo out of the series but quite liked the effect of seeing them all together so here you are:

And one more photo. Aren't I cute?

When we got home I had to have my paws rinsed because they'd got very muddy. I didn't like that so made Molly quite wet during the process!

After that I had a mad/hyper/zoomy spell but I've calmed down now.

A new bed

Molly took me up to her bedroom for a little while yesterday afternoon in the hope that I'd rest on her sofa while she watched a TV programme. I was afraid I might be missing things downstairs though so wouldn't settle & was quite vocal. How was I to know that Molly's dad was asleep in the room just through the wall?! When we came back downstairs I had another doze on the sofa with Molly.

After that we had a short training session where we made more progress with "down". Molly ran out of my chicken though so we couldn't do as much training as she'd have liked. She said I'm doing really well with it but I'm not very keen on lying down on hard floors. I don't think Molly would be either!

Last night I was allowed to sleep with Molly on her bed for the first time! She knows that having dogs in human beds is controversial but she has her reasons so please don't give her any hassle about it. We had a lovely night keeping each other company. A dog outside started barking at some ridiculous hour though so I had to bark back at it!

We slept until 8am & since then I've mostly been dozing on Molly's lap &/or right arm, which she says is quite inconvenient!

Earlier today Molly's dad went out into the garden & said he didn't want my "help".

Chicken

Molly is cooking chicken for me.

I'm currently learning the command "down" & in our training sessions I get food when I assume the position so I've just tried it now.

It didn't work though :( Molly said I can't have any chicken because I've just eaten my tea. Hmph!

An energetic morning

Last night when Molly got home I finally forgave her for leaving me at the vets & had some cuddles with her. When she put me to bed though I cried & cried which is unlike me. Molly eventually let me out again & I stayed up for a bit longer while her dad & brother watched some TV, then they put me to bed.

This morning I woke Molly up a bit earlier than usual but then had a sleepy couple of hours dozing on her lap & then on her head!

Then I found some energy and I:
~ stole Molly's camera case & gave it a good chew

~ "helped" Molly's dad clean out the chickens
~ stole one of Molly's dad's shoes & frolicked round the garden with it
~ played tug of war with a towel on the washing line
~ attempted to chew up a parcel someone left on the floor
~ went for a walk where I pulled on the lead, raced around off-lead, barked with excitement at every person & dog I saw & rolled in poo! Aren't I clever masking my own scent with poo?! Molly didn't think I was though.

~ was washed after the poo incident, urgh!

And then I fell asleep again!

It's tiring work being a puppy! Molly is glad I'm feeling better but says I'm exhausting!

Vets

Today I worried Molly again. I was quite sleepy this morning. Then I did a wee on the floor when I got excited (which is really unlike me) & was sick in the garden.

I already had an appt booked at the vets to have my monthly flea & worming treatments so Molly just took me along to that & had me looked at by a vet. All my vital signs were normal (& I weighed a whopping 6.7kg) but I wasn't too happy when the vet felt my tummy. She said there was a chance I could have a bowel obstruction so her & Molly decided I should be admitted for x-rays under sedation.

The x-rays came back clear so the vet said it was probably gastritis (inflammation of the stomach lining) caused by something I'd eaten. Molly picked me up when I'd recovered from the sedation. I've been given some tablets & am on a bland diet for a few days & will be seen again at the vets on Mon.

Since I came home I've been a bit out of sorts which Molly thinks is partly due to me being unwell & partly due to the sedation. I'm also a bit grumpy at Molly for leaving me at the vets this morning so won't give her any cuddles.

Clever

Last night Molly went out babysitting so the rest of the family looked after me & put me to bed. While I was playing with Molly's dad in the evening he thinks one of my teeth must have come out because Ted (my teddy bear) ended up covered in blood! Luckily I was fine & Ted cleaned up ok.

This morning Molly took her eyes off me briefly when I was eating breakfast out of my Kong Wobbler & when she looked back it was open, which defeats the point of it. She's hoping that was just a fluke & that I haven't actually worked out how to unscrew it!

Then a big box of my food was delivered. I knew exactly what was inside it because of the way it smelled so it was promptly hidden away in the garage before I started trying to get into it!

Molly had to go out to the shops this morning so her mum looked after me. While she was out I alternated between sleeping behind the front door waiting for her to come home & zooming round the back garden chasing leaves in the wind! Molly found a groomers & was impressed after chatting to the woman there so has booked me in next week! Hopefully then I'll be able to see again because my hair is currently getting in front of my eyes. This photo Molly took yesterday shows how scruffy I am at the moment!

Molly also returned with a couple of new toys for me which I've been having fun with. I gave her a really good welcome home.

After that I rested for a bit while Molly watched some TV - I'm feeling much better but am still a bit sleepy. Then we went out for a walk round the pond & playing fields. I was allowed off-lead & because of the rain there were no children or dogs to distract me. I did return to Molly when she called me but not instantly. Then we popped in to see her mum at work before walking home.

Molly had been getting disheartened with the way our training was going & the lack of progress we were making with it. She asked for some advice online from friendly fellow miniature schnauzer owners & then following that bought a clicker yesterday & a book about clicker training today. Yesterday Molly taught me that the clicker meant food was coming & then today she tried to teach me "down" from scratch again using the clicker & following the steps in the book. I've still got a way to go but we made more progress with it in 10 minutes than we had over several weeks with the old techniques/method. Molly thinks we'll crack "down" in the next few days & is feeling much more optimistic about training. I've shown her how clever I can be when she goes about teaching me things in the right way/so I can understand her. And she was really impressed with how I used my brain to work out what she wanted me to do.

Thinking that much for 10 minutes exhausted me though!

P.S. I'm 20 weeks old today!

My friend Em

This morning I started back on my normal food with no problems. I'm feeling much better but am still sleepier than usual. Molly quite likes that though! Before lunch we went out to a couple of pet shops because Molly had to buy something. There weren't any dogs for me to interact with but I did enjoy sniffing around the floor for food & getting attention from a few people. I barked at almost all the people we saw because I wanted them to play with me!

This afternoon we visited Molly's friend Em. I'd never met her before but she was lovely & I had a really good time at her house. Molly said I was very well behaved. She took lots of photos so here are a few.

I'm good at giving kisses!

And here are some photos Em took. The first one is of me being introduced to her rats.