One Week with Monte

Our first weekend as a pack started with puppy playtime at The Dog Den. It was Monte's first time there and he was bit apprehensive meeting all the new dogs. His fear only lasted a few minutes, then he spent the rest of the hour jumping in the pool, chasing, being chased, and wrestling with twenty-five of his best friends. At eleven weeks this is the best training.

The second playgroup was for puppies under a year, so Banjo was working and we made him watch the younger dogs run around. One dog in particular took a liking to Banjo, a little black and gray dog that challenged/tormented him. He did really well remaining calm with all the high energy activity and greetings.

The rest of the weekend was spent traveling and visiting new environments. Monte endured 2 two hour car rides, stayed in a different house, met my grandmothers, and visited the Blue Moon farm. At the farm, Monte's prey drive was in high gear. He lunged at the chickens and wanted to chase the pigs. He kept a watchful eye on both species as we walked around the farm; he remembered where each was located. Both dogs were on their best behavior and received plenty of attention from the other CSA members.

Monte's Week One Summary: he knows his name and will COME when called, ascending/descending stairs, climbs into the car, lured into a DOWN, hand touch and gets dressed, go to BED, handles nighttime walks well, through repetition he has learned the meaning of "NO", he cries during nail trims
Lisa/Jeff: getting Monte out to potty at prescribed times (usually - we are almost trained), struggling to allocate enough time for Banjo

We may see if our trainer wants to start training Monte and we will keep Banjo for another year.