dancing horses

dancing horses

Saturday, March 4, 2017

Too Cold to Ride So Here's a Puppy Update

My ring is pretty well bare by now but there's an arctic blast freezing everything in sight. The temperature is -10 and with high winds the wind chill is -22. I have had to put Carmen's blanket back on.

Guinness is doing very well. Thank you for all the suggestions on crate training. The third night he got up at midnight and I took him outside. When we came back in he started to cry in his crate so I went and grabbed a blanket and covered his crate. The crying stopped immediately.  So now when he goes in he whimpers for a bit and then settles. It's like a condo in there- he has chew toys, a kong with  peanut butter and his soft blanket.

He's not enjoying the cold weather and that  is actually helping with crate training as well. Crying at night and getting rewarded with having to pee outside in the cold is not the most motivating thing. Last night he just work up once at 2 a.m. and then slept until 6:30.

he found a patch of sunlight
He sometimes needs some encouragement to come out and pee but he's learning to do his business and then get a treat. When he's done he will head back to the door of the house.  I'm being careful with the exercise- letting him toodle around outside and play as he wants. Right now he does short spurts and then naps.


With this weather the barn is handy because we can get some exercise and work while being out of the bitter wind. He's very people oriented and I'm taking advantage of that to teach him some very basic commands- just a few minutes at a time. I'm totally biased but I think he's very intelligent. 



Come? How about here? No? How's this? Is this right? 

Ed and I took him on a car ride and dropped into the vets. I wanted to drop off his records and book his booster shot. Guinness thought it was great- the nice lady behind the counter gave him treats. There was a small dog there quite interested in Guinness (in a friendly way) but Guinness started to bark at him. Once he has all his needles we will definitely start on socialization. 

The cats are getting better. Chester is still kind of freaked out but Guinness completely ignores him. He is fascinated by Martin though- he really wants to play and be friends with him. I think it's just Martin's cachet- he's a very charming cat. 
I just want to play!
Go away kid. You're not cool enough
(note d'Arcy's nose in the corner)

see Chester at the top? That's been his expression for days. 
d'Arcy is doing fairly well. He's a bit jealous of the attention the puppy might be getting but he's loving all the trips outside. While I try to get Guinness to pee or poop I throw a stick for him. He is also getting lots of attention. The only issue is that Guinness really really really wants to snuggle with him and d'Arcy is not a snuggler.

He comes to the barn with me as I do my chores. I make sure that he's safe from the horses and he runs sound the barn. Yesterday I picked him up so he could see the horses in the stall. He stared at them with wide eyes.
Me: See these guys? You are going to help me look after them when you older. 
Guinness:  Me? They are so big. I don't think I'll ever be able to do that. 
Me: We'll see. 

At breakfast and supper I give him a piece of carrot while I feed the horses. It's adorable to see him run off to hide and then chew on it. All my dogs eat raw carrots although it's making Guinness' poop interesting with orange bits.

So Guinness is a great fit for our household. Which is good because he's hit it like a mini-tornado and it's only going to get livelier. I can't wait as we do more together.

I will leave you with an adorable moment:



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31 comments:

  1. Now there's a blog post I can relate to!!! I think he is an amazing puppy! I teach all my dogs the word "pee", so that if I am in a hurry, I can just tell them to go pee, and they will!

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    1. Yes we're working on that as well. I will be happy when the piddling phase is over!

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    2. I use "hurry up" -- you can tell how I feel about standing outside in the cold while Kersey pees.

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  2. Still don't want one of my own, but awesome for you! And he's gorgeous. Please post pics of his parents.

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    1. Thanks. I don't blame you at all! You can see his mother here: http://www.narniakennels.com/yamaha.html

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  3. I am with you on the whole winter thing!! Ugh. At least you have a cute puppy :)

    As a sidenote, I just wanted to let you know I have changed my blog name, so it may not show up in your reader list anymore. The new url is www.twoandahalfhorses.blogspot.com. You may have to re-enter it into your reader list to follow again, if you had followed in the past :)

    🙂

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  4. Awww, what an adorable little puppy! Glad he's settling in so well!

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  5. I was just out hiking with my dogs, and it is COLD!! I was thinking about Guinness because although Bess and Kelsey are not the least bit bothered, old Border collie Scout (14.5 years) can be in discomfort from the cold. I have sled-dog boots for him, which he only wears when it is below zero, but I have had him wear a jacket almost every day this winter. It is light and very easy to put on, and I think it really, really makes him more comfortable. I have never used jackets on dogs before, but now I believe they are important for very old or very young dogs. Might make Guinness happier when he goes out. Scout's jacket is made by Zack and Zoey, and I got online for about $17.00. I know Guinness is growing, but maybe you could just make something. I have little jackets for lambs that I got from Premier that were only about five dollars. Just a thought.

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    1. I thought about a jacket not sure what size but I will look. It's supposed to warm up in the next day or so. I really hope so because this sucks!

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  6. He is so cute! And I feel better reading your blog today lol its also -10 here but windchill of -15 so even though i was cold it coulda been colder. I love the video at the end with the head tilt that is always adorable! Glad hes better in the crate it didn't take long

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  7. He's way too cute! Love the head tilt in the last video. And I can see in the first video that he is very intelligent! He's got it all, looks and brains!

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  8. You're giving me puppy fever worse than I had it before! T minus 4.5 months till I bring one home haha

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  9. He's so. Ute, going to be quite handsome. While it's a pain housebreaking in bad weather for us, it does get them going the right direction faster. Less likely to get their business done to get back inside. My heart dog Onyx (RIP), recently became a Grandfather, it's hard not to lay claim on one. I did let the breeder know that in the future I'd like an Onyx Grandbaby.

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    1. That would be lovely- I really like the name Onyx.

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  10. Oh my gosh, that video -- he IS adorable. That face! I'm sure he is extremely intelligent; there is a reason GS are the dog of choice for police work, right? Maybe he can patrol the barn when he gets older.

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    1. I hope so. Right now it's all about making him a good citizen!

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  11. D'aww!! It needs to warm up so we can see cute pics of the puppy with the ponies!!

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  12. PUPPY!!! too cute! Love d'Arcy talking in the background!

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