3 Weeks

We've had a great three weeks, for the most part. He tries our patience just a little bit, mostly because we're having to learn how to train him, just as he's learning how to understand us. We're doing clicker training, which is based on completely positive reinforcement, and are really enjoying the results. We're reading Don't Shoot the Dog by Karen Pryor, which isn't so much a how-to-teach-your-dog-this-trick but rather how animals think and how you can shape their behavior using positive reinforcement and why punishment doesn't work. Being a punishment-focused species, though, and naturally more drawn to the bad things (or at least we notice them more), it's been a challenge for us to not just overlook when he's doing well; we have to make sure we tell him when that's happening. So far he mostly knows sit, down, high-five, drop, and come. And we're working on leave it.

Today we went to the vet for the first time. He's been before, to get two rounds of shots, but that was with his littermates. He got his third round today, and dewormer, and Advantage (for fleas), and some meds for a yeast infection in his ear (which we'll be trying hard to prevent in the future; I think he must have gotten water in his ear during a bath a couple of weeks ago). He did just fine; chewing on a rawhide during the rectal thermometer and the vaccines and only flinching when the tickly otoscope went into his infected ear. And he's gained 10 pounds since we got him! No wonder I've started having trouble picking him up out of his kennel in the mornings to take him downstairs and outside to go potty.


Yesterday was his first swimming day! We went to Avery Park, which is bordered on one side by Marys River, and we went down to a little swimming hole and put Linus on two leashes end-to-end so he could frolic. Which he did, until he started shivering from the cold water. I went in calf-deep myself, and it was nice. Then we sat in the sun in the grass until he dried off.



We also took him to the farmers market on Saturday morning, his first big outing where there were tons of people and other dogs. We'd get about ten feet and have to stop and let people pet him. He did so well, even with little kids sitting down on the pavement and leaning on him! I was so proud of him, he's going to be such a good boy with our future kids!