Promise's To Keep: July 2013

Friday, July 26, 2013

Promise in the pack

Can you find Promise in the newly arranged mulch pile?

Thursday, July 25, 2013

Promise found a tree and the leaves irresistable!

First, you head UP the hill.

Then you swing to the right to find shade

and Promise spots the tree leaves!

What do you do with those funny green things swaying in the breeze?

Jump on them and they jump away!

So, you must jump on them again and again, until..

Success at last!

Promise on her first slide?

Promise is getting ready to go on her first slide...hum, she isn't paying attention.

Now, she's paying attention!

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Promise is trying to play with Sugar, but tis a no-go

Promise says, "Wanna play?"

Sugar is polite, but non committal about playing

Promise trys again, "Wanna play?"

Sugar says, "I'm outta here."

Promise doesn't know how to use the dog door so she can't figure this out

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

Time, time? There is no time! Sugar, I need help!

Promise is taking time that I invested/spent on building the ADT business so I am on overload. Time to do the things I did previously has to be reevaluated given the exuberant and enthusiastic energy of Promise. I have some wonderful stories/photos to post on her blog, but time to do so is tough to locate. All this is being shared to say, oh so briefly, that I never really understood the value of a fully trained ADT dog, who knows how to behave, how to play, how to correct and how to mentor a very young dog until Promise showed up in our household. Sugar is her coach, her mentor, her instructor, her trainer and her friend. I don't understand the bond I see occurring, but he is teaching, training, tolerating, & encouraging Promise to learn the following:

Sit/Stay
How to play retrieve
How to play tug-o-war
How to play chase
How to play the mouthy game
How to be quiet
How to be respectful
How to Sit for food and wait for the "All dogs, ok" command
How to pick up toys and bring to me
How to follow him on two LL hooked together and romp about 75+ yards away from me
How to come back to me on command
How to play Touch much more
How to go "Hup" into a car on command (I caught her in mid-air after I told him to Hup and she launched upwards)
How to watch TV (particulary hunting shows)
How to be confident in water (yup, she got to go to the river with Sugar)
How to settle instantly when needed How to back off when told to do so ---by him
How to stay out of the kitchen
How to do a Long Down close to me with Sugar in public places

All of this is happening rapidly here at the Lee household. While everything is not totally worked out to my or Wayne's satisfaction, we are developing a rhythm around the needs of Promise living here. Thank God for Wayne and his excellent hearing as he can hear her whimper, ever so quietly at 3:30 am, "I need to potty now, please?" while I would simply sleep through her quiet message of urgency. Wayne just tells me, "Your puppy needs to go outside" so I stumble out of bed, take her outside to her private potty spot, backtie her to the tree, say "Go potty", watch to make sure she takes care of her business and stumble back upstairs to kennel her and go back to sleep.

I am learning to take very short power naps whenever the opportunity presents itself. So, Promise is making grand progress. I credit much of her progress to her breed (Dobe's ARE NOT Labs, that is for sure) as she is incredibly intelligent, astute and observant. Being at ADT on a regular basis and the constant education to the other dogs & breeds is helping her grow mentally. But I also attribute her progress to an unexpected contributor in the name of Sugar.

He is taking her under his wing, so to speak, and is teaching her volumes about being an appropriate, well-mannered, well-behaved dog. I watch in amazement once again at what the value of a very well-trained ADT dog can do in my life and in the life of one young Dobe named Promise.

Roxanne