Brady has grown into a good dog

me & BradyI recevied a note from the owner of Brady (formerly known as Cupid from Annie‘s litter).

Kristin,
I wanted to write and let you know how wonderful of a dog Brady is. He is so eager to please and is currently in training classes which have taken him from a good dog to a great dog. I can not express how happy I am having rescued him. I am attaching a few pictures and will be getting some more soon . hope you like them!

Here is my response:

Lisa,
Thank you SO much for passing these photos on to me! I remember you well, wasn’t your other dog named Bella? I am very happy to hear that Brady is giving you so much love and is being a good boy. I get to see his brother, Donner now named Bauer, every Monday at a free, off leash playtime I run. It is great to get to see my babies all grown up! If you are ever in the St Charles area you have to bring him by for a visit!

Thanks again for the update – it means so much to me.
-Kristin

Brady at play

brady and bella

 

Checking in on Bauer

One of Annie’s puppies, Bauer has been practicing his swimming and agility. Here are some pictures, videos and stories of his life to date. I am always so touched and happy to receive updates on my little ones. Thank you to everyone who sends them!!

Hey Kristin! It’s been a while…..months!

Bauer at 11 months old

Bauer at 11 months old

Today is Bauer’s birthday, and I thought you might enjoy some recent pictures we’ve taken of him.

He’s grown up to be such a good dog. He still gets excited when he meets new people, but he tries to listen – I’ll tell him sternly to sit or down, and he does this awkward “I’m trying really hard to sit, but I’m so excited I can stop wiggling my butt” flop. He doesn’t jump up on people now unless they open their arms up as he’s coming to them, so I’m always careful to tell people to keep their hands in front of them. We tried the whole just ignoring him until he settles down, but he just kept flopping at our feet. We’ve moved on to the standing still while he flops, and when he calms down for a second, we pet him. The instant he starts his flopping, we stand still again. It seems to be working! I think he’s reached his max weight…a whopping 71 lbs.

BauerHe’s great at the dog park…we go to the one off of commerce drive in St. Charles that your were told about by that one person in your playgroup…). Anyhow, he LOVES to swim….he will swim out as far as I can throw the ball – the only funny thing is that he will only retrieve his ball – a green squeaky one – he wants nothing to do with tennis balls! They have little obstacles set up there too – a tunnel to crawl through, a ramp to climb up and down, and then poles to jump over that can be set at 3 heights….Bauer does it all! Who though my awkward little puppy would be able to learn so much! It’s took a little while to teach him how to do it all, and now he loves to show off! Last Saturday when we went He was running through the obstacle course with another dog along his side…it kind of made me feel a little like a dog whisperer 🙂 .

[flashvideo file=/images/BauerRamp11mos.flv height=240 width=320 /]

We keep him on a pretty strict diet – We went though months of thinking something was wrong with him because every food we tried to give him gave him diarrhea. Even plain beef and rice and boiled chicken and rice caused him problems. We switched him to an allergy/grain free formula, and he’s been great ever since!

BauerHe loves to chew….rawhide is too easy, and it scares me because he tries to eat it whole, so I’ve found these bones that don’t splinter and last FOREVER that I give him…..the one he’s on now is at least 6 months old. We still crate him when we go to work…he loves his “bed” and will lay in it while we’re home as long as it’s open. We leave him out at night in our bedroom with the door closed, and he lays in his “spot” every night – an old pappason cushion on the floor on my side of the bed. He tried to sleep in bed with us all night, but I was having no part of that…he’s too big! He still will hop up in the morning to cuddle though….even at his size, he is a true cuddler. I swear, he thinks he’s a 5 pound lap dog! If he’s being too “in my face” I have taught him it’s not nice to be “rude” and he will back off….I didn’t realize I even taught him “rude” until my friend pointed it out to me – apparently I’ve told him he’s rude on several occasions! 🙂

[flashvideo file=/images/Bauerswimming11mos.flv height=240 width=320 /]

Anyhow, he’s earned complete freedom at night….we’ve tried letting him have freedom from the crate during the day, but he always manages to find something of mine to chew (J- tried to make me feel better by saying he picks my stuff because he loves me more…..), so needless to say, when we’re at work, he’s in his crate – which is large enough for two dogs probably, but he doesn’t have any accidents in there, so we figure the extra space is probably nice for him. He still uses his bell to let us know when he has to go out, and when we’re at our friend’s he’ll sit by the door patiently to let us know he needs to go.

He still loves to go on long, long walks (especially on the weekend when I can get out for 2 hours at a time!) – My next investment for Bauer and I is a bike for next spring….I have a feeling he’d be a good bike companion! We did attempt rollerblading, but I’m not very good at the stopping, and while Bauer would stop when I would tell him to, I couldn’t! Oh! He’s also learned to “stop” when I’ve recalled him – the look on his face is priceless….semi-confused as to why I would call him to me and then tell him to stop, but he does it anyhow.

I hope you like the new photos! We took them just for you!! 🙂 Thanks again for letting us bring him home…I can’t even remember what it was like before we had him! 🙂

November 19, 2009 • Tags: , • Posted in: puppy update, story update • No Comments

Bauer update at 7 months old

An update on our winter puppy, Bauer. He had his first “sleep over” recently and here’s what his owner had to say:

Bauer collageI was playing around with my Picasa photo editor, and made a “collage” of Bauer, from puppy to well, big puppy! 🙂 I thought you would get a kick out of seeing how fast he grew!

I thought you’d enjoy some of the pictures I had a chance to take this weekend….Oscar spent a couple days with us…

I was a little worried at first, because both Bauer and Oscar are used to being the main dog around, but so far everything has gone well with Oscar staying over. We’ll be sad to see him go home tomorrow! N- dropped Oscar off shortly after I got home from work, and of course he and Bauer had a blast playing right away. As soon as N- left, I leashed both of them up and took them for an hour walk. I figured this was the best way for Oscar to learn how things are run in my family, and I think this truly did help! Bauer an Oscar walked so well together…..when we’re out walking, I feel like I’m the local dog whisperer or something. At first, I thought it was weird that so many people were staring at me and commenting on the puppies and me walking both. Then I stopped to think about it and realized that to an outsider, I was walking two “ferocious” looking dogs. This made me laugh, as this is not the case…they’re merely two 7 month old puppies (I keep saying 6….I just realized Bauer is 7 months!!) so full of energy they don’t know what to do with themselves.

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June 23, 2009 • Tags: , • Posted in: behavior, story update • 1 Comment

Bauer Report – 4 months

Here is a report on one of Annie‘s litter, Bauer from his forever family.  We love getting and sharing these updates!

Bauer at 4 months old

Bauer at 4 months old

Bauer has turned into a very well behaved large puppy. I first noticed this when I was walking with him. I now can give him slack on the leash (which makes the walk so much more enjoyable for me!), and he doesn’t lunge or pull or even try to take the lead (90% of the time on this last one). When he does start to forget he needs to walk by my side, I say “with me” and tap my leg and he waits for me. This has progressed into us (when we’re sure no one else is around) dropping his leash during the walk. He has yet to stray more than 2 feet from my side — occasionally he’ll smell something and stop to sniff, but I say with me or catch up and he’s back at my side.

The other HUGE step he has made is with his stay. He always had a good stay, but we wanted him to have the best possible. We’re not there yet, but we’re getting there! Our new “trick” is to have him outside with us and a large basketball the neighbor boy donated (partially because Bauer found it when we first brought him home as a puppy — he managed to dig it out of a snow pile when some poor child lost it…..), and partially because (and I’m using the (more…)

Bauer Graduates from Puppy Class

Here is an update on Bauer (from Annie‘s litter)…. You are a model student…way to continue and expand on the training. I agree with you that Bauer definitely has a future as a therapy dog – the right disposition, temperament, and a huge jump on his training. Thanks for these.
-Kristin
 

Bauer Update at 3-4 Months Old

Bauer and his toys

Bauer and his toys

As some of you may know, Bauer recently graduated from Puppy Training…hooray! It was six weeks of puppies, treats and learning…all very much essential to the handsome dog Bauer is becoming. Without any fears or hesitations, Bauer joined his “classmates” as they started to learn who the true “Alphas” in their relationships were. Bauer loved every minute of being with the other dogs…so much that he didn’t listen so well at first! Slowly he realized that while we were around so many distractions, he still needed to keep his focus on Josh and I. He went in knowing how to “sit” and “lay down” and “paw” on command. He came out not only being able to “roll over”, “stay”, “bow”, “come”, “leave it”, release”, “watch”, “speak”, and walk very well on his leash, but being able to perform any number of these tricks on command, with distractions, and without treats! What a good boy!

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Bauer Training Video

More video from Bauer’s family – this is great!  Here we see Bauer at 9 weeks, practicing giving paw, lying down, and sitting up.  Teaching these basic moves is essential for a young pup and Bauer is doing a great job!

February 1, 2009 • Tags: , , • Posted in: behavior, pups, story update, video • No Comments