Doodlebug had a fun day yesterday, and came home totally pooped. After a nice long nap, though, he woke up with an idea: he wants to issue a fun work-your-dog challenge to all his internet friends! Here’s what sparked the idea:

Over the last few weeks, our dog activities beyond neighborhood walks and puzzles and games at home have dwindled to none. It’s understandable, we like to think, since we’re in the final stretch of pregnancy, and both time and energy seem scarce.

But sticking to the same routine — neighborhood walks, playtime in the yard — leave us with some restless dogs. We can go out for a 45 minute stroll and the boys are both ready for a nap, but after a short while, they’re ready to party and looking for the next thing. Simply put, the daily routine only gets us so far.

Yesterday, I went to work and brought Doodlebug. It was a warm day, and we decided to take a walk with our good friend / fellow Celebridog Olive, who also works at the Canine Center. That is — Olive is my friend. Doodlebug has been around Olive before, but not much. They have never “met” nose-to-nose or even nose-to-butt, and that’s mostly because our ‘Bug is still working on being relaxed enough in the presence of dogs to be capable of a polite greeting (the only type we allow).

For 15 minutes, we walked around the Center’s wooded trails, both dogs walking politely on loose leashes, about 5 or 6 feet apart. Don’t get me wrong — this was a challenge for the ‘Bug at first. When he comes close to another dog, his instinct is to stare, pull or lunge, and sometimes to growl. He just doesn’t know what to do with himself. But with Olive, I asked him to mind his manners and reminded him of the rules for the first minute or two of our walk, and just like that — he settled in. It was clear that he was not entirely at ease from his occasional sideways glances, subtle lip-licks, and extended, boisterous dirt-kicking session after going potty. But, he was working hard, keeping his cool, and making me proud. Just 15 minutes, and he was exhausted.

He got a nice long rest while I worked, and before we left, another short session — this time, agility! Since the beginning of his agili-dog days, Doodlebug has struggled with jumps. He was either too weak, too uncoordinated, or too distracted to get over even a very modest 10″ jump. Or, we speculated, he just wasn’t putting it together. He didn’t understand that it mattered whether he went over the jump or bowled right through it. We worked hard on this skill, and after several weeks, he was usually getting the gist. But when the bar was higher, he’d just knock it off with his back legs. Every. Single. Time.

Until today. We got out to the agility field, and I could tell that Doodlebug was ready to work. He really wanted to work. Seizing upon his motivation, I tried a few new tricks to encourage him to clear higher jumps, and just like that — it clicked. I saw the gears in his head turning, and it was like a lightbulb went off and he finally understood. We celebrated with a few rounds of jumps at 16″ and then a few at 20″. Perfect execution every time. I was a proud mom.

We only spent about 10 minutes on the field, but we made the most of our time. I gave Doodlebug precise direction on what I expected, raised the bar (both literally and figuratively) only as fast as I was certain that he would “win” the majority of his attempts, and we had a boisterous celebration every time he executed. It was beautiful teamwork, and it paid off. We got in the car to go home feeling happy, proud, and tired.

Doodlebug almost fell asleep in the car on the drive home, and took an epic nap once we arrived. All through dinner, he didn’t move an inch. He was completely sacked out — and after only about 25 minutes of active working time, separated into two short bursts!

So that got us to thinking: what is so magical about what we did today, that made Doodlebug so much more satisfyingly exhausted than our normal routine of puzzle toys, bones, and long neighborhood walks? We boil it down to a few things:

1. Changing up the environment. The ‘Bug is a seasoned veteran of the Canine Center but he hadn’t been in a few weeks, so it still made it a more exhausting training environment than our own back yard. But the environment there is comfortable enough for Doodlebug that we can sail right past the basics like loose leash walking, sit/stays, and proper meet-and-greets with people. On the other hand, if we’d gone to our local Home Depot, the running trail by the river, or one of the dog-friendly bars around town, we would’ve had a much bigger challenge. In any of those locations, our training session would have probably focused on polite walking, sits and downs, and maybe some short-distance recalls. Just because our ‘Bug can execute any of those skills perfectly at home, at our neighborhood park, or at the Center, doesn’t mean he can do them everywhere. In a new environment, we start with the basics. And they are a challenge!

2. Exposure to a challenge. For Doodlebug, walking with Olive was challenging because he has a hard time being a gentleman and keeping his cool in the close proximity of new dogs. Our walk was only 15 minutes long, but the whole walk long, ‘Bug was concentrating on doing the right thing, and not just tuning out and walking mindlessly along. There are, of course, critical success factors involved: (1) we gave him enough distance that he was still capable of making good choices (rather than reacting); (2) I reminded him of the rules ahead of time and anytime he seemed to forget; and (3) I gave him constant feedback for his good choices, like walking on a loose leash, looking away, and offering calming signals. For some dogs, an appropriate challenge might be another dog at 50 feet away. For others, it’s the mailman. For others still, it’s their own canine sibling that they love to play with.

3. Active training. On a regular basis, Doodlebug and I hit the agility field and cruise through his favorite contacts and pieces, and this exhausts him for a few minutes. But what exhausts him much, much more, is learning. So rather than assembling a quick course and letting him run it a bunch of times, we spent our ten minutes actively training one particular element that is especially challenging. By keeping the session short, the increments small, and the payoffs for success big, Doodlebug had fun and learned something new.

So here’s Doodlebug’s challenge to you: instead of heading out for your next 30 minute walk with your dog, think about how you can use the three items above. First: What new environment can you visit? It doesn’t have to be fancy, it might just be the parking lot of your local bank or grocery store — just someplace new that might serve as a challenge to your dog’s concentration. Remember, don’t try to get all fancy in your first minutes, just focus on a basic skill. This will probably be something your dog knows at home but has trouble with in public. Think: playing fetch, walking politely on a leash, sit/stay, or waiting to be released to eat a treat or bowl of food. Bring plenty of treats and make it fun! Second: What kind of challenge can you subtly expose your dog to? Be careful to limit the exposure to an intensity and distance that your dog can succeed in — if your dog has a meltdown, give more time and space! And third: don’t forget to be actively working your dog during your short session! It’s easy to hit the town and let your dog do what she wants while you text or check Facebook, but resist the urge. Instead, put all of your energy and concentration in your session with your dog. Give lots of good feedback on when she’s doing what you like, and help guide her away from doing what you don’t like. Bring treats and don’t be stingy with your emotion. If you’re fun, your dog will stay engaged and have fun, too!

After you’ve headed out into the world for 15-30 minutes, come back and tell us how it went, and whether you noticed a calmer, more satisfied dog at day’s end. In our household, these tricks are a magic combination. Are they in yours, too? We’ll be waiting!

To see a video of Doodlebug showing off his new 20″ jump, click over to our Facebook page!

Want to know what’s even cuter than a bunny rabbit in a patch of bluebunnies?

image snatched from Google

A Chick in a patch of bluebunnies! Some people call them “bluebonnets,” their official name, but that’s not the important thing. The important thing is that they’re the official state flower of Texas, they are blue, and they are blooming right now!

We have some in our neighbor’s yard down the street, and I love to pause there during our walks to pose wistfully.

My brother always tries to pee on them, which mama does not allow — I just like to stick my nose in them and give them some good sniffs. After all — you never know where the Easter Bunny might be hiding!

Hope everbunny has a delightful weekend!

We know we must be getting pretty close to our new two-legged puppy’s arrival date now because this whole week we didn’t get a single new dog-related toy or piece of clothing for it — can you imagine? Mama must think that our future two-legger has enough stuff by now. We sure hope she’s right!

Lately we’ve been practicing more of the same pre-puppy basics, like impulse control, smelling baby smells and listening to baby noises, and a little bit of riding in the car with the puppy-carrier. But most of this week’s activities have been behind-the-scenes. And by behind-the-scenes we mean that we have been working on our own projects (like eating frozen stuffed bones) while mama piddles around on her computer, generating lists and charts.

Here’s a little confession: until this week, we thought that a stork was going to bring our two-legged puppy, and the four of us people and dogs would get to just sit around the house all cozy-like waiting for it to arrive. But this week, we learned that mama and dad are actually going to go somewhere to retrieve the miniature human. They’re going to walk out our door and not come back for probably two days — and we can’t go with them! This got us very worried.

Naturally, though, mama has a plan. And once she told it to us, we were not quite so worried anymore. First, she made arrangements for our grandma and the Turkeyman to stay at the house with us while they are gone, so that we have somebody to sneak us onto the forbidden couch give us pettings, let us out to potty, and feed us turkey kibble. Sure grandma and the Turkeyman are not the same as mama and dad, but they’ll do just fine — as you can see, we get along a-okay.

We also have arrangements for some of our very good neighbor-friends (a few of mama’s fellow dog trainers) to come take us on walking adventures while our people are away. We are pretty good boys and are not too hard to care for, but mama feels better with us going out into the world in the over-capable hands of professionals than our grand-peoples, who will be plenty busy taking care of mama and dad. We aren’t sure exactly how many people are going to be taking us on adventures, but judging from the big stack of spare keys mama had made the other day, we suspect we’re going to be quite busy!

We’ve stocked up on kibbles, wet foods, and made sure we have plenty of our daily meds to last us while they’re gone, and mama has created a big typist’s instructionable that explains who eats what and when, how to give us our meds, the rules about furniture, toys, games, and treats, and all kinds of et ceteras. The instructionable is all printed out and ready, so that whenever it’s go-time, mama and dad don’t have to worry about explaining our routines to anybody. Everything will be there!

We realize, of course, that not every dog whose people are going to get a new two-legged puppy is lucky enough to have live-in replacements while their people are gone. Some dogs have to go to doggie camp, which is what mama originally planned for us to do. If we had done that, we would have prepared a little differently. We would have packed our bags with our foods, meds, leashes, and beds, and left them someplace easy to grab when Go-Time comes. Mama would have called ahead to our camp and made sure they already had all the info ahead of time on what we eat, our meds, etc, and arranged payment. And finally, she would have appointed a designated driver to take us there at Go-Time. Lots of friends have volunteered to help with dog duty while our people are away, so it wouldn’t have been hard to find somebody to be our personal limo driver for our camp adventure!

Finally, mama has stocked our freezer with mountains and mountains of frosty yummables — stuffed kongs, bones, and ice cube puzzles. These will be handy while our grand-people are staying with us so they have something to offer when we’re giving them the “I’m bored, please give me an activity” stare, and they’ll also be critical when mama and dad and the puppy return home and they’re a little more tired and busy than usual. We’ve never been disappointed with yummable entertainments, so we sure aren’t complaining!

Now it’s just time to wait — the easiest part for us dogs, and the hardest part for those humans.

Next week is our final “Ready for Baby” post! We’ll be talking about resources to learn more, from training classes to websites to books. Hope you’ll join us!

As some of you read last week, mama has let the kitten out of the bag: I am not perfect. That means that as hard as my giant brainiac brain might try, I can’t always answer your Dear Doodlebug questions. Sometimes I write you privately and tell you I can’t answer them because you need the help of a real-live dog trainer, and sometimes I try to be funny-like and non-answer them in my column. But other times, I just don’t know! So this week, I’m asking for the help of all you other brainiacs. Here are some Dear Doodlebug questions we’ve received lately that I just can’t seem to answer. Can you help your fellow Doodle-lovers?

Virtual slobbery kisses if you leave a comment with your ideas for any of these kind folks!

Dear Doodlebug, Do you have any advices for my mama on how to make a yummy kong last longer? Right now I get some puréed fruits and a smidgen of peanut butter in a large frozen kong. I’m proud to say I lick all of those tasty treats out in less than 20 minutes. My mama says she was hoping those Kongs would last longer so I am in need of a nap right about the time she and the new baby are in need of a nap. Any suggestions? Are there other yummy things safe for me to chew on that might tire me out? I should also mention that I have an annoying fur brother who is on the chubby side so mama is trying to watch our diet. I don’t see why I need to be punished for his fatness but whateva… Sincerely, Rosie

Who has an answer for Dear Rosie? Has anybody found a magic potion to put in a kong that takes more time and more brains to yummify than mushy pureed fruits and peanut butters? We have no idea!

Hi Buggy! So I’ve been shopping for a new messenger bag lately. This time I want a pit bull themed one. But I cant find any that are less than $100! Your momma seems to know plenty of artists and rescues who sell pit bull merchandise. Have any suggestions? It can be local as I live just south of you in San Antonio! Thanks for any shops you can recommend! ♥ yours and Chicks biggest fan Chelsea

Well Chelsea, we know that BADRAP has this sweet bag available on its CafePress store:

But we aren’t sure of your other options. Other pit bull loving fashionistas, have you found cute messenger bags with America’s favorite dog drawn proudly upon them?

Hello Doodlebug,  I chew beds…not my own bed mind you, but my furry sister Trixie’s bed.  Mom & Dad have tried wedging it in a corner so that she feels extra comfortable and it’s not in my way, but I still chew it. Mom & Dad are not happy campers and Trixie is on bed #4.  I have a lot of chew toys, fluffy, stuffed, unstuffed, Kongs, tennis balls and deer antlers.  My favorite chew toy is Trixie’s bed (but I am told even though it’s small it is NOT A CHEW TOY.  We are both otherwise well behaved and not crated in the day, but Mom & Dad are thinking about crating me so that I don’t have access to Trixie’s bed.  I really don’t want to be crated.  Can you give me any advice? XOXO, Your number 1 fan, Emma

Dear Emma,

You are a funny one, aren’t you? It probably would not be a terrible idea for you to learn to crate, at least for now while your mama and dad figure out your chewfulness. There are things that can be done to keep you from chewing Trixie’s bed (putting it out of reach, teaching you that there is a penalty for going within 6 ft of it, etc), but as for WHY you chew your sister’s bed and no others, my brother and I are thoroughly stumped! Dear other friends, has anybody seen this sort of behavior? Any ideas WHY Emma might be chewing her sister’s bed and what can be done to manage it?

Dear Doodlebug, Why do pittie feet smell like fritos? Sincerely, Rita StinkyFeeta

Dear Tootsie-stinkster,

We have looked in ALL of our reference books, everything from our homeopathic vet car book to our Sibley Guide to Birds, and no dice. All we are left with is this ponderance: aren’t you glad that our feets DO smell like Fritos? Even more mysterious, though, is this: why does our mama LOVE the way our feet smell even though she does NOT love Fritos? Does anybody have ideas about why our sweet sweet feet smell like sweet sweet corn chips?

XO, the ‘Bug

Dear Doodlebug, The dogter really seems concerned with my overwhelming low weight. I am a Siberian Husky, and whenever we meet someone new, the first thing they mention is how tiny my waist is- it’s a bit embarrassing, really. It’s not like the hoomans don’t feed me though- there’s always kibble in my bowl I’m just never hungry! And although it is a bit part of my breed to go long times without eating because our sled dog history, my dogter still wants to see my weight up. Do you have any secret recipes you could pass along? Pound it, Kenji.

Dear Kenji,

We petbulls don’t really have trouble with not eating enough. If there are snackables available, they go straight down the hatchet! When we have had troubles in the past with foster dogs not wanting to eat, we have had lucks with cottage cheese, raw goat milk, and canned food. Also, frosting is a good option that your mama should consider. Have you tried mixing any of these with your kibbles? Also, we know that some dogs get bored of their kibbles fast, so maybe having a rotation and switching frequently will help? 

What about all you friends: any luck getting picky dogs to eat? Any good nutrient-rich kong stuffing recipes you can share?

XO, ‘Bug of the always hungriness

Every morning while mama is still sleeping, dad gets quietly up out of bed to start his day, and Doodlebug gets up with him. This daily tradition started a while back, when mama and dad decided that Doodlebug and dad needed to build a stronger bond (and that Doodlebug could use more walkings). So morningtime comes, and dad and my ‘Bug tip-toe out of bed to start their day, with this:

Sometimes it takes a slight rattle of a leash in the metal leash-bucket and sometimes it just takes the sight of dad getting up, but for Doodlebug, the morning adventure walk-or-run is a no-brainer. Doodlebug always chooses this adventure:

Some days I get inspired and join him, so the start of our adventure looks more like this:

But other days, I choose a different adventure while they go for their run-or-walk. One that looks more like this:Mama and dad joke that I’m a lazy-bones, but really, I’m just trying to do the right thing — after all, somebody’s gotta keep mama company while the men-folk are out adventuring in the world!

We hope everybody has a nice weekend full of adventuresome walks and nice cozy nappings!

Following along with our own tradition, we continue to devote MOST of our energy to stocking up on dog-related outfits and toys for our miniature human, who is scheduled to be brought by the stork in just about two weeks!

This week we scored an adorable and tiny t-shirt with these handsome fellows on it, from Angry Squirrel Studios. Pretty cool, huh?

With just a couple of weeks to go, mama is starting to be really silly with this “getting ready” stuff. We keep telling her — we already ARE ready! We nap all day and don’t care about many new things or noises in the house, so what’s to prepare for? But we’ll tell you: there is plenty.

The other day, mama and dad’s friends brought over their new two-legged puppy for a visit. We dogs were outside, so we didn’t even notice. Mama cleverly suspected that we are not quite as ready as we think we are, so we brought us in all full of strategery. First she let me (Chick) come in, bringing lots of treats and reminding me to keep my four on the floor and be gentle. I gave the tiny human one little sniff and was ready for a nap. Naturally, I patted myself on the back for getting it so right! Then she let me (Doodlebug) in, but she snapped a leash on me since she suspected I might have more troubles being polite. And boy oh boy was she right! Even though you can’t tell from this photo, that tiny human looked JUST like a kitten! And do you know what Doodlebugs do with kittens? We stare at them with a great deal of focus, and if we are allowed to, we chasechasechase!

So anyhow, mama brought me (Doodlebug) in on my leash, and I could not stop staring at the kitten miniature human — and not in a good way. Mama was not impressed, and she was surprised, since we had been doing so well with the exercises we told you about last week! So mama took the opportunity to do a “teaching moment,” asking me to turn my attention away and rewarding me anytime I did that. She also told me “good boy” (which I love hearing!) for offering a calming signal like a yawn or blinky eyes, and she practiced some Ttouches on me. I stayed on my tiedown the whole time our friends were visiting, and when they left with their tiny kitten human after a little while, mama decided that she was, after all, going to go to the store and get a “practice” miniature human for us to work with. She brought it home and wrapped it in used baby clothes from our friends, and has been treating it like our real future puppy. We even went for a walk together yesterday — and so far I am doing much better!

But what we REALLY wanted to tell you about this week is how to get ready for going out-and-about with your dog and miniature human!

Car Rides

One thing that mama thinks is important for some reason is “safety,” so over the weekend, mama and dad installed a special dog bed / carrier for the two-legged puppy in the car. Since we are used to riding in the back seat in our dog hammock and dog hammocks and special mini-human car carriers are not compatible, we needed a new plan. Luckily, mama anticipated this, and for a few weeks now, we have been riding in the back-back of the car, which we like quite a bit. Mama says she isn’t sure if we’ll ride there for the long term, but probably for the first little while, that will be our special area (while we are playing getting-to-know-you with the new puppy). And as with everything, mama decided that it’s best for us to get ready as early as possible!

We are generally very good car riders and quite polite, but mama one-upped herself the other day when she got a special new present in the mail from us. It was two car harnesses! We *love* our walking harnesses, so we were super excited to receive even MORE harnesses — we thought that more harnesses meant more walks! Well it turns out these new harnesses are just for riding in the car, and for making sure we don’t climb over any seats and into our miniature puppy’s lap — and for our own safety in case of car-related dangers.

Mama was real excited about these harnesses, because they were a gift from the EzyDog company! As if they had read mama’s mind and known she was shopping for car restraints for us, they sent her a magical email a few weeks back offering some free dog goodies for us to review. Mama jumped right on the opportunity and requested two chest plate harnesses, which seemed the most car-like in nature.

They snap on easily, fit nicely, and have a nice broad padded plate across the chest, which is important for car restraint gear. They also came with seat belt attachers, which we hope to use in the future after we regain our sitting-in-the-second-row privileges. For now, we are riding in the back with some short tether type attachments — long enough for us to get cozy, but short enough that we can’t launch surprise tongue-attacks of our future puppy’s food-covered face!

Leash Walks

Another thing we have been practicing is walking politely on a leash with our new puppy’s mobile unit. We have been working on this for quite a while, because it seems a little intimidating at first, and mama hopes to teach a class someday soon about this exact topic — so she wants to get it right! Just like with regular leash walking, we have been practicing in short bursts and short distances. Mama pushes the wheelie thing and our job is to walk politely next to her — not to pull ahead or lag back. Once the new puppy arrives, mama thinks she will be too tired and overwhelmed to walk us separately from the wheelie thing, so we are learning ahead to make the transition as smooth as possible. We are getting the hang, but it is tough learnings!

Because mama’s job is to help dogs learn how to be most extremely polite, us Chick-n-Doodles are already very excellent leash walkers. But if we weren’t — and if mama were expecting a two-legged puppy — she would get started right now on our leash skills! Mama says that walking a dog when you have two hands and all your attention available is super easy compared to walking a dog PLUS a two-legged puppy in a wheelie transporter. So any of you waiting for miniature humans, make sure you brush up on your leash skills as soon as you can!

Mama says that we have to mention one very important safety thing about the wheelie thing and dogs. When you walk your dog with your wheelie, make sure the leash is attached to yourself (the dog) and your human (probably the human’s hand or around their waist), and NOT the wheelie itself! If you wrap the leash around the wheelie, the miniature human is at risk of a spill if the dog decides to bolt after a squirrel, chicken bone, or kitten in the street!

Games

Games are not just for out-and-about play, but also for at-home and in-yard play. We are including them in this post because, like car trips and leash walks, they are a good form of exercise and an important way to have many funs with your dogs — even after your two-legged puppy arrives!

Some games — like wrestling, chase, and even tug of war — are more challenging for a person holding a miniature-human to play. So it’s not a bad idea to take some time ahead of two-leg’s arrival to teach or strengthen games that ARE compatible with one-armed playing by a human who is holding a mini human! Our mama decided that fetch was going to be our special game.

One of us (Chick) already loved fetch, but is working on bringing the toy right back to the human, which is going to be newly important in a few weeks. The other one of us (Doodlebug) thought that chasing toys was the silliest idea ever, so mama had to teach the game from scratch. Mama and I (Doodlebug) have been working on it and working on it, until it’s finally a solid game that we will be able to play, even if mama is sitting down and only has one hand available. The most important (and impressive) elements to our fetch game are (1) staying calm enough to maintain impulse control, and (2) bringing the toy right back to the person every time — not to near the person.

Here is our braggy video of Doodlebug’s magnificent new game:

That’s all we have for this week — join us next week when we talk about building a support network and planning for birth-time!

Even at quarter-past early in the morning, the boys could tell it was going to be a scorcher.

So they did what all clever Texans do when they have the day off and it’s a hot one.

They went snorkeling.

But just like perfect gentlemen, they refrained from getting their ears wet.

All in all, a successful day.

Join us tomorrow for our regularly scheduled weekly programming!

As you could have predicted, the most important part of our preparation for the two-legged puppy has been growing our collection of dog-related things for our the miniature human to wear and play with. This week we were delighted to get a big package from mama’s dear friend, Celebridog Handsome Dan’s mama. In it we found not only all kinds of interesting sniffing messages from Dan himself, but a variety of clothing items for our new puppy, passed down from Dan’s two-legged puppy, Josephine!

Check out this week’s bounty!

But we’ve also been busy preparing for the puppy itself. In past weeks, we’ve focused on preparing for puppy-related things like changes in routine and spaces, and house manners. This week, mama is thinking about getting us ready for all the wonders that a new two-legged puppy makes. Smells, sounds, and all kinds of new messes!

A lot of the time, we go into the room-that-will-be-Junior’s and practice our basic manners while mama does weird stuff like fold clothes in that new miniature white prison cell, or put new-smelling lotions and potions on herself by the dresser. We think she’s just acting crazy because she’s waiting for the stork to come, but she claims it’s all part of the plan.

We have written to you before about impulse control and how important it is in a dog’s life in general. Well, it turns out it’s important when you have a tiny human in the house, too! One of mama’s favorite ways to solidify our impulse control is to practice it in challenging areas. For example, when each of us was learning the very-difficult-but-apparently-important skill of sitting and waiting to be released at the front door, we practiced not only our sit-stays, but all kinds of other impulse-control exercises in that very spot. We’d do fetchings there, we’d practice our down-stays, and we’d sit and wait for our dinner bowls. Now, we don’t normally have any problems with impulses in the-room-that-will-be-Junior’s since nothing exciting ever happens in there, but mama says we might in the future — if we don’t prepare. So for now, we are preparing — lots of sits, stays, downs, and leave-its in and around the special room. So far so good!

The clothes-folding and doing stuff in the miniature white prison cell, mama says she’s doing that to get us used to that being A Place Where Things Happen but it also being no big deal. So far, we think she’s super-right. What a boring place! She goes in there and does things in the prison cell, and we just yawn and lay down for a nap. Mama says that’s exactly what she wants — for us to think that no matter what is going on in there, it is a nap-worthy event for us dogs.

We also mentioned mama using new-smelling potions and lotions, and making odd noises that we haven’t heard before. Because we can’t practice relaxing around the two-legged puppy until it’s officially here, the people are trying to approximate some of the sights, sounds, and smells that the miniature human will bring. The potions and lotions are warming us up to the way a tiny human smells, and the noises — which they are trying to hide but we have figured out are just coming from that small white rectangle they’re always looking at — are getting us used to how a tiny human might sound. Mama says that if they were less lazy, they would also consider getting a fake miniature human (the kind that’s made of plastic and you can get at the toy store) and dressing it up, smearing it with lotions and potions, wrapping the noise-making device up with it, and carrying it around like they might do with a real mini human. But let’s face it — our people are lazy, and they are pretty sure that because we dogs are also lazy, we won’t be too concerned about the tiny humans’ smells, noises, and carryings-on.

what is that strange sound?

One last thing that tiny humans make — other than noises, smells, and their tiny selves — is big ol’ messes. We have each been practicing since we were tiny babies ourselves first adopted that licking and nibbling on humans is never an ok thing to do, even if the humans are covered in food or other yummables. Mama is relieved that she taught us this from the start, because she thinks it may help the rule carry over to the tiny humans who smell and taste exactly like milk or apple sauce or coconut oil lotion. In case that rule fails, though, we also have a backup rule (a phrase the humans can say that actually makes us physically back our faces up) — if mama or dad says the magic phrase, we know our curious noses and tongues are unwelcome. It’s the same phrase they say when we’re taking undue interest in the snacks on the coffee table, so we think it will transfer well.

We mentioned in a previous post that we are not big toy-stealers or chewers, and mama is relieved about that, too. We can easily co-exist with a toy or other chewable, and as long as we know it’s not ours, we are probably not going to sneak off with it and chew its insides out. If we were more into toy stealage, mama would be working hard on teaching us which things are ours and which things are not ours — and making sure she has a bullet-proof “release” word that makes us give back whatever treasure we found. She’s just lucky we’re such easy boys and we don’t cause trouble with our thievery!

Please join us for another installment next week, when we talk about hitting the town with your dog and baby!

As some of you who follow our Facebooks may have seen yesterday, Doodlebug had a scary little incident on his morning walk with dad. They were walking along, minding their own business, when suddenly a fluffydog came barreling across the street directly at them, barking and carrying on, causing a big threatening stink.

photo credit: http://www.bcxfour.com

Now, some of you know that Doodlebug is a recovering reactive dog (so am I). Around dogs he doesn’t know, he can be nervous and uncertain how to act. So for Dad and the ‘Bug, this incident was NOT welcome! But in the moment, their instincts kicked in — they took one look at each other and started running away, top speed. They BOTH wanted to get outta there! After a minute, the dog stopped chasing and Dad and the ‘Bug gave each other a high-five for making such good choices.

Us dogs run into these kinds of situations all the time — where we are confronted with something we are not too comfortable with, and asked to be polite. Sometimes you humans are able to get us out of the situation — like dad did with the ‘Bug yesterday morning — but sometimes us dogs have to try to just tolerate.

And sometimes, it’s you humans who put us in the uncomfortable situation to begin with!

Our pal Jess over at Dogs In Need of Space has put together some tremendous PSAs about dog etiquette, understanding dogs who need space, and all kinds of other wonders. Thanks to her — and many other advocates, trainers, writers, and dog lovers — the message is starting to get out: ALL dogs have preferences. ALL dogs are picky about something — often something that the average bystander wouldn’t realize.

So here’s us spilling the beans. We, too, need space. We’d love for you to spill the beans too — what would YOUR dog’s personal PSA say?

In the spirit of continuing to prepare for our new two-legged puppy, we are still collecting brainwashing tools dog-themed gear. Naturally, this continues to be the MOST important preparation that we can make. Just this past week, we’ve acquired this amazing little gift from our dear blog-friend Melvin for our future roommate:

and these adorable stuffed animal versions of ourselves from CharlieDog and Friends:

Meanwhile, mama continues to think about less important things, like our manners.

All in all, we have exquisite house manners. Even mama and dad say so. But that doesn’t mean that mama isn’t making her list (of important manners) and checking it twice, just like Santa would. It does make us wonder though — will we get presents in the chimney if we succeed here?

Here are the major things we’re thinking about.

Mouthiness / Chewing.

One of us (Chick) is not at all a chewer nor a mouthy player, and the other one (Doodlebug) is only a tiny, tiny bit mouthy. So getting this behavior under control isn’t really taking much work, since it already pretty much is under control already (we make mama’s job easy!). But if you are a mouthier dogs — one who chews on things that humans say you shouldn’t, or one that put human fingers in your mouth (either on purpose or by mistake) — you’ll probably want to work on this with your people before your junior resident arrives. It’s pretty easy for grown-up humans to tolerate a little bit of nibbling on the nose or toothiness on the fingers while playing, but we’ve heard that miniature humans are more delicate and it’s easier to make them whimper by mistake. To avoid that in the future, we have been taught from early on that it’s never ok to put our mouths on a human, no matter what. If we’re playing with our people with a toy and one of our teeth lands on their skin (even by accident), the game ends and the toy gets put away. It’s a total bummer, but we sure did learn quickly to be more careful where our teeth land! We also do many many exercises about impulse control, which means “not taking something quickly just because it’s within reach and you reallyreally want it.” So now, mama can be holding a delicious shiny metal thing in her hand with food on the end of it, and even if it is right at mouth-level, we know better than to just run over and steal a lick. Or dad can leave a plate of tater tots on the coffee table, and we know that it is Forbiddish to sneak even a little nibble. Our people say that this is a good habit all around, but that it will come in *extra* handy when our future human shows up and starts leaving his or her yummables carelessly around all over the place.

To satisfy our urges to chew on things but make sure we pick the RIGHT things, mama has made sure to have plenty of chewables in the house. These include nylabones and antlers primarily, plus the occasional raw beef rib or bone section. When we chew on the right things, we get lots and lots of praise and lovings (plus the fun of the chewing to begin with!). When we chew on the wrong things (which is rare), mama just shows us what to chew on *instead.* She also sets us up for success by not leaving tempting-but-illegal chewables laying around, so it’s harder for us to fail. Pretty smart!

Jumping Up

Jumping up on humans is another one of those things that is pretty safe with regular, healthy, sturdy grown-up humans, but can cause a giant case of the uh-ohs with miniature humans. So it’s best to learn way early that it’s never ok to jump up on people, unless invited!

In the photo above, you see me (Doodlebug) putting my paws up on mama, after being invited. Sometimes just coming over for a pat is enough to show her my love, but other times I really want to hold hands and gaze into her eyes. This is why we invented the “say please” trick! Mama puts her hands together and says “say please,” and I know that I am allowed to put my paws up on her arms and give her my sweetest doodle-look! Putting the behavior on cue can be a good way to curb poor judgment, like some dogs have with putting their paws up on humans. We have both struggled with wanting to jump up on people in the past, but now we each have a special cue that a person can give to let us know that it’s ok. Without the cue, we don’t do it.

Usually, dogs jump up on people when they get too excited and forget to mind their manners. In our house, the humans have combatted this by making it a rule that no dog gets greeted unless he’s sitting down — or AT LEAST has four on the floor. We get to practice our good manners at least a couple of times a day, when mama and dad come home from their various dog-free adventurings. When friends and family come over, they are also warned that it is Not Okay to touch or talk to us dogs until we are calm. Early on, it took the elder one of us (Chick) a LONG time to calm down enough to be greeted — sometimes 10-20 minutes! But over time, we have both gotten the hang of it and now greet our people and other people much, much more calmly. We hope our miniature human is impressed with this very important skill that we have!

Barking.

As you can see, one of us is way more of a guard dog than the other. One of us (the whiter one) doesn’t even twitch an eyebrow when the mailman or UPS man comes by, whereas the other (browner) one lets out a little growl for the mailman and a big bow-wow-wow for the UPS guy. Mama hates this, and we are still working on it.

Barking at the doorbell, at people walking by the house, or to demand things (food, games, pettings, to come inside) may seem ok to some folks when they don’t have miniature humans in the house, but once there is a tiny two-legged puppy around who gets woken up from precious sleepy-time by bow-wowing dogs, suddenly it’s not ok. So it’s best to teach a “no barking” rule ahead of time.

We don’t have trouble with barking to demand things or at people, dogs, or squirrels outside the window. But we do have a little bit of an issue with the doorbell, so we are working on it. Early on, mama tried putting a consequence to door-barking (time out). For some dogs (like Chick), this works great. For others, it’s not enough. So now instead, mama is working on teaching us (especially Doodlebug) what to do *instead* of getting worked up with the barks and growls. When mama hears the mail man or FedEx guy coming, she asks for a specific behavior from us — something that will distract us from our door-related frenzy. It’s best if it’s a non-compatible behavior, like running to the dog mat by the BACK door and waiting for a treat. It takes time for this kind of thing to work, and it’s easiest if the bad behavior is preempted, not interrupted. Eventually, when we hear the mailman or UPS guy coming, we will run to the back door all by ourselves to wait  for a treat. Pretty cool! At this point this is a work in progress, but mama promises we will get there. Good thing we have started early!

**Note: As several readers have mentioned, it is important for babies to learn to sleep with all kinds of noises going on, so maintaining a silent house should in no way be the goal. But still, times will come up when a loud barking explosion will be unwelcome and disruptive. So it’s best to get the behavior under control sooner than later!**

Place!

There will most certainly be times after our puppy moves in that us dogs just need to not be under foot. Adult humans are clumsy enough (especially our mama lately), but once the people are carrying a puppy around, it’s gonna get downright messy. The puppy might be throwing things, spitting yummables on the floor, and doing who knows what else. So it’s going to be nice for mama and dad to be able to just tell us “go lay down” and know that we will go to our spot. Fortunately, we have been working on this since the beginning, so by now we’re pretty good at it. And we love our special spot so much that we would often rather be there than anywhere else.

But if we weren’t so prepared, here’s how we’d train it. First, mama would pick a spot where she wants us to go hang out by default, and she’d teach us that it should be our favorite spot. She’d do this by giving us All The Good Things there — our pettings and chin scratchings, our chewables, our special snacks, and our praises. Then, she’d start teaching us to go there on cue (we use “go lay down” in our house). Then, she’d help us learn to stay there, because you never know when something good might come to you in your spot (she would bring us random surprise wonderfulnesses while we’re on our spot).

Now we’re at a point where this gets even more complicated. Mama is working on dropping an especially good yummable on the ground near us, and asking us to go to our spot. If we get it right, mama brings us the dropped yummable AND another goodie! Boy, she really is upping the ante!

One more word about dog spots (and I’m not talking about dalmatian superhero spots like my brother has under his furs). As we mentioned last week, it’s important that us dogs have our own spot that is ours alone, and will be protected form the miniature human once it arrives. Even though we all might get along swimmingly, sometimes dogs get tired of little human puppies and need a break. It’s the adult humans’ job to make sure that everybody has their own special place where they can go and hide.

Join us for another installment next week, when we talk about dogs & babies, out & about!