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#42
12-31-2012, 08:44 PM
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Sometimes I feel a bit redundant on Chaz since you all likely see every picture on Facebook too, but that's ok! Nobody seems to be complaining about an excess in puppy updates yet LOL.
Today Journey met a customer's year old Aussie boy. This dog has been coming to the store since he was a pup and I've gotten to know him and his owner really well, so I let Journey play with him. I'm pretty picky about which store dogs she actually gets to meet because most would not be a good experience, but I knew this guy would be awesome with her and he was. Journey was so excited to see him! I'm pretty sure she thought he was a long lost friend or family member haha. I've never seen her get so excited to see another dog before. So much for her bath last night, but she had a great time playing with him!    Quote:
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#43
01-03-2013, 03:07 PM
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No new pictures but I just wanted to brag about how awesome my puppy is, and here seemed the place to do that.
She just takes everything and anything in stride so well. I've never actually had the experience of raising such a bold puppy. The Dobermans were not by any means fearful, but they definitely had more moments of insecurity and being cautious than Journey has had so far. And Dance as we all know was not a very brave puppy by any means... not even close. Literally nothing phases Journey. She had those few days where she thought maybe people were a little weird and scary, but that has long since passed and other than that, nothing ever bothers her. And if she does have a fleeting moment of "uh oh, I'm not sure if this is safe", she recovers in seconds and is ready to check whatever it is out. We walk a short distance to the train every morning and walk past and through the gazillions of high school and University students and all the people going to work without a care in the world. She hops on the escalator with very little encouragement on my part (too heavy to carry up the stairs now, so we take the escalator because I don't want her doing all those stairs), gets on the train and lies down or sits calmly by my feet and looks around at everyone or stares at me waiting for a treat, gets off the train into super busy downtown every morning and nothing catches her off guard. Not wheely carts, briefcases swinging, homeless people, construction workers and noise, squealing trains, noisy bus brakes, people yelling... nothing. She just walks with me like she's been doing this all her life. This morning 7 people commented on how relaxed and easy going and attentive she was and complimented me on all of my hard work with her, and honestly I wish I could take the credit, but it's mostly just her. I reward and encourage her behaviour, but it really just comes naturally to her. One person thought she was my service dog and another thought she was a service dog in training and both thought that was why I required her to be so good and "not act like a puppy" haha. But she's just naturally good out and about, at work, everywhere. She's a wild bratty nutcase at home, but everywhere else she's really quite amazing for a puppy. I've never had such a people magnet of a dog before. Sure makes socializing with all kinds of different people easy! There are still a lot who avoid her because they're not dog people I guess (they look disgusted), but on the whole I really can't go anywhere in a hurry haha. People always want us to stop for them. I love how she is with people too. She likes to greet people, but she's so polite and calm about it. And if people ignore her, she's fine with that too. She doesn't have to meet everyone, but she likes attention from those that do want to say hello and snuggles into them for a few seconds before returning back to me. She's never super enthusiastic and excited about meeting people, which is nice. Just calm and happy. She saves the crazy for her three favourite people: me, my mom and my brother. Everyone else just gets a little bum wiggle and a snuggle. On occassion there have been a couple of people that weird her out a bit for whatever reason, but not enough not to investigate. There was a day that some guy just reached down and roughed her up without asking me, which was really annoying and I told him not to do that, but she didn't flinch at that either thankfully. Just looked at me like "um, this is weird, but ok..". Stupid person, but good puppy! No matter how much you try to make sure a puppy has nothing but good experiences, sometimes an idiot sneaks past your attempts. She's wicked smart. I can't believe how quickly she catches onto things and it makes teaching her things so much fun. She just gets it and loves to learn, too. I've been keeping training sessions super short and she likes it that way. Makes her more eager and into it for the next time and keeps her from losing interest. I've overall been taking a much more laid back and non-serious approach to raising and teaching her than I have with past puppies and I love it. So while she may not solidly know as much as past puppies have by her age, that's ok, because we're having a lot of fun getting there while also just letting her be a puppy. We'll get there! Just not on a time limit. I used to try to make my puppies act like little adults quickly, because that was what I was taught I should do, but I much prefer being super relaxed about everything. We're working on her toy drive. She likes toys, but she's not in love with them. She likes to chew on them alone and likes to tug with me, but isn't into fetch at all yet. Hopefully that'll come - I have a few ideas as to how to work on that. She was developing some seperation anxiety but we seem to have gotten rid of that. She's fine now if I leave her with my other family members. She prefers to come with me, but if I hand her to them either leashed or block the stairs off so she can't follow me, she settles well with them. And I've also been blocking her off behind an ex pen where she can see me and where she can't, and she doesn't make a big deal about that at all anymore either. She might whine a bit for a couple seconds if she can see me, but then relaxes. She no longer carries on in her crate in my bedroom when I leave her in there. I hear her whine and cry for a few minutes and then she settles and goes to sleep after cleaning out her Kong. Anyway, I could really go on and on forever and without pictures I don't actually expect anyone to get through that LOL. But that's ok! She's just such a wonderful puppy and I'm so in love with her. And so impressed with her. I adore all of my dogs, that goes without saying, but if things keep going as they are, I think Journey is going to grow into the "take anywhere, do anything" sidekick dog I've dreamed of.
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#44
01-03-2013, 03:29 PM
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You have no idea how much I love hearing all that wonderful stuff about Journey! I am so happy for both of you, there is nothing like the feeling of enjoying raising a puppy when everything goes right. So, so glad you found each other.
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#46
01-03-2013, 04:28 PM
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Thanks, guys! I'll work on some new pictures to reward you for reading through all of that haha.
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And I forgot to add in my last post: she's huge! I measured and weighed her last night and she's 15" and 23.5lbs right now. That's almost Dance's size. I guess it makes sense as she probably has another 4 to 5 inches to go in the next few months or so, but she just seems ginormous to me haha. And yet other Aussie people meet her and tell me how little she is.
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#47
01-03-2013, 09:37 PM
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I'm so happy for you!
She sounds like an absolutely fantastic puppy and she's absolutely gorgeous! I'm pretty sure I need to meet her.  Quote:
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#48
01-03-2013, 11:16 PM
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#49
01-03-2013, 11:29 PM
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And yeah, that's the terrible thing about Chaz is that everyone is so far! It'd be so much fun if we all lived near eachother haha. Neither of her parents seemed big to me nor did any of the other adult dogs at her breeder's house (well, except her grandpa - he was bigger than everyone lol), so at least I know she probably won't be a giant. And she really doesn't look like she should weigh that much. It's all gotta be just bone. But still, she's definitely not going to be a teeny tiny Aussie girl like Cara. Quote:
And crappy pictures, I know, but here are a few from work today! I want to try and get her out with my real camera next week as it seems I get a few extra days off work and I plan on taking her on a couple adventures. She doesn't know how to wait or stay yet, so who knows if I'll be successful at pictures, but I'll try haha. On the bus almost at work this morning...  Bouncing at me for a treat...  Chewing a delicious lamb femur..   [^ excuse the chewed blanket - it's a hand me down. Ripley chewed it.] And just hanging out...   
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#50
01-03-2013, 11:38 PM
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She is so beautiful and sounds like an awesome puppy!
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