His First Boutique Shot

I think this is my favorite shot yet. Although today Taylor and I went to PetSmart to get a couple of behavior books and a couple more toys (and toothpaste...$68 for 5 items! What a racket!) and Taylor has been reading the Jack Russell Terrier book and said "if we let him chew on his leash at all, this book says we are DOOMED!"

So we'll try to train him away from that.

We have been reading about distraction. I bought "Dog Training for Dummies" and it talks about not using the word "NO!" at all. I'm not sure if I can do that. A sharply uttered "NO!" can go a long way, in my book. But distraction is definitely the thing to do.

Bear is waking up and getting more comfortable now and is starting to romp and play more. This means more of the mouthy stuff that puppies like to do. So we are accumulating a lot of toys to have around and when he does this with his mouth, we distract him with toys.

The house training is coming along. He actually told me he wanted to go outside yesterday. He went to the door and tapped it with his paw. I'd like to put a little bell down there about his height on the wall and have him smack it when he wants to go out. Mensa Boy mentioned a miniature chime. That would be cool. If we can keep Bear from biting either of those items. That behavior may need to come later.

In the meantime, I am relying heavily on my friend Sarah for puppy advice. She has a golden retriever puppy she is training and I can tell she's quite adept. Sarah. The puppy is coming along, too.

I'm glad Bear is small.