A busy first week at home

Hardy had a busy first week at home! We took him with us to the pet supplies store Saturday evening to pick up some food, a smaller crate and a collar for him. He rode around on my lap and got to meet several people while we were there. Sunday afternoon, we had a meeting of Lake Erie Assistance Dogs which Hardy attended with us. He got to meet some more people and a couple service dogs. Monday, Laurel had a dental cleaning and my van was in the shop so Hardy and I stayed at home together. Unfortunately, the dealership left the van's doors open all day and the battery died. Tuesday morning my van wouldn't start and we had to go back to the dealership to have a new battery installed. Hardy went with me and just about everyone there stopped by at least once to see him and give him a cheerio. We went right from there to our veterinarian's office. Hardy got a clean bill of health and enjoyed meeting everyone there. Wednesday evening, my husband, Brent and Hardy sat on a bench watching me teach my "Intro to Competition" class. I got a real kick out of looking over and seeing the little brown puppy sitting next to Brent on the bench. When he got tired, he laid down and went to sleep. Thursday afternoon was agility so I took Hardy to meet everyone. Our instructor suggested that we put Hardy's crate on the pause table inside the ring so that he could watch our class. Once again, he watched for awhile and then fell asleep. Because Laurel, Hardy and I are going to be in Canada over Father's Day, I contacted a friend of ours, Jack Powers, a professional photographer to take some photos of Laurel and Hardy to give to Brent as a Father's Day present. The photo at the top of this blog is one of the photos of Hardy Jack took.

Hardy's first duck! (Photo by Jack Powers)

Laurel and Hardy (Photo by Jack Powers)

Laurel, let's go this way! (Photo by Jack Powers)

What are you doing now, Hardy? (Photo by Jack Powers)

Hardy with his pink flip flop (Photo by Jack Powers)

I have been hand feeding Hardy every meal. This week I have been capturing sit, down, stand and touch using a clicker. We started out "charging the clicker" by doing click/treats, then I say his name and give treats and then I up the ante by saying his name, waiting for eye contact and then click/treating. We've also been doing hand zen (an automatic leave it). He very quickly figured out what was going on and energetically throws himself into every behavior to see what I am looking for. He seems to particularly enjoy "touch" and when I have stopped clicking for it, will rock in his sit so that if my hand was still there, he'd be touching it! He is a funny, enthusiastic little boy! Most people who have seen him comment on his "old soul" eyes and that he has a real presence for a puppy so young.