McCoy and other things

Life is a blur right now. I now remember why I didn't blog much in the beginning with Ardella. This boy does not sleep through the night and crate training and doing business is starting from scratch. Nights are interrupted and I feel sleep deprived, but I take comfort in knowing this is a short phase. McCoy doesn't seem to know the difference between doing his business outside and doing his business in the crate. I know you aren't supposed to bathe puppies right away, but I couldn't stand the smell any longer and today he got a bath. Now he's wild from post-bath effect. I don't think I've ever met such an endearing puppy though. I want to cuddle him and kiss his head all the time, but he won't have anything to do with anyone for longer than 5 seconds. Does puppy ADHD exist?

Taking pictures is a challenge, but here are 2 we got on Sunday that show McCoy's face. All of them have some blur to them because he doesn't want to be still.



Especially this one:



I've had 3 days of work with McCoy and have discovered that being on tie-down on a dog bed right next to me works much better than having McCoy in a crate. I've actually produced the last few days, so I'm hoping things don't change here. We take frequent breaks to go outside and I think I catch his signals to go outside much better this way. We have fewer accidents during the work day anyway.

McCoy is taking up much of our time, but Lyn took a trip to the Lewis River with Aidan on Saturday and got some nice pictures. Aidan loved hiking on the trail and was quite adept at climbing up rocks. He loved walking beside the river, but wasn't fond of swimming in it.



They hiked along the East Fork of the Lewis River and saw Lucia Falls.





I have done the Dog I and II classes for volunteers at the humane society and later this week will be doing a mentoring session with a seasoned volunteer dog walker. I thought this would be a fun and relaxing volunteer activity, but it turns out that dog walking will be quite a workout. They want us to work on basic obedience skills with the dogs while walking and want us to do things the humane society way. That can be a challenge when I want to correct the guide dog way, but I look forward to volunteering. I'm learning a lot about head collars and good harnesses. I have had good luck with harnesses and now know that it's because I get the kind with rings on the back, not on the front - the front rings act a lot like head collars. I may extend my time to socializing dogs when McCoy is older. I'm quite aware of transmission of disease, and bought shoes this weekend to replace the shoes I'll be using strictly for dog walking. I have this routine of putting on and taking off shoes in the garage, but may change that to changing shoes and clothes at the shelter.

More pictures of McCoy. I wish my daughter would send me the pictures she took of McCoy on Sunday. Keri, please get a Flickr account! I promise I'll only get the pictures of McCoy! : )