Upside Downside

Fingal went to his first obedience class yesterday and on the whole did quite well. We worked on  "Go to bed and down", "Sit" , 'Watch Me","Leave It", "Let's Go", walking nicely on leash and come when called.I had already taught him to sit, and he caught on to the others quite well. Except the leash bit. He pulled constantly, trying to see everything, get to the other dogs, wanting the treats the trainers gave to all the dogs. That one is going to take a while. But I've had Taz trained at Canine Potentials and think highly of Carol Ganaway, so I'm sure he'll do well.
The real problem is house breaking him. He drinks copious amounts of water and though I let him outside a lot, praise him when he urinates outside, he comes in, walks around and pees. While strolling around!My wood floors have never been so clean, but the bedroom carpet's a mess, even after it has been cleaned.
Otherwise, for a puppy his age, he's great. He still comes up to be cuddled, and he's really laid back.
His coat is changing, getting thick and kind of curly and he loves it when I rub it, massaging him.
I will grit my teeth, talk softly (I'm really proud of myself-haven't yelled at him, even when I step in a puddle) and know he'll turn into a fine adult.

Teenager?

Fingal is now 29 inches tall & at a guess, over 60 pounds. This can be a problem because of his enthusiatic greeting of guests, and his wish to climb in their laps.Luckily, on Sunday he begins behavior classes. Right now he sits on command, and comes, as long as I tell him in a "happy voice." A stern one sends him fleeing. He's still not totally housebroken, but he's getting better. Taz and he went to Pampered Pooch daycare yesterday, where they can run, play in a pond and generally be part of a pack. Taz's buddy Kona and Fingal picked on a little Lab, and got a time out, but otherwise Vicky tells me he's really sweet. We'll see what Sunday brings.

Fingal at five months

His first snow. He ate quite a bit. He has grown about two inches, and has learned a few commands. He's cutting teeth so nothing's safe. I'm giving him all sorts of things to chew on, and trying to keep any paper away from him.

Taz is helping raise him, and I don't interfere when she's taking care of things. He's still a delight, goofy and good tempered.. He developed a fullgrown, adult bark, which confused Taz. The first time he barked to come in, she went running past him when I opened the door, looking for the guilty   dog.
When I watch dvd's,Taz lies on the couch, Fingal at my feet. He keeps trying to climb on furniture, so I've resorted to the spray bottle, which  he caught onto very quickly. Smart puppy.

My worries about raising a puppy are gone. I spend so much time laughing at him, I wouldn't have missed this for the world. He seems pretty mellow most of the time, and comes up to me to be cuddled, hiding his face against me.

Now, if only he could get the idea about getting outside in time! It's funny to watch him. He begins his peeping whine. He stares at me.
 I say, "Okay, let's go outside."
But until the whines get louder, he won't move.
Especially at night, when he's curled up on his bed, he doesn't want to move. A couple of times I've had to tip him off the bed, to get him headed for the back door. During the day, he does go to the door when things get urgent. He can last about two hours, then all bets are off. I have begun to time meetings and appointments by Fingal's pee schedule.


                                    

Poopy Goatface

My son Andrew began calling Fingal this after seeing what he seems to be full of and the comment of a neighbor about his long face and floppy ears. We have survived Christmas with the addition of a 3 foot pen around the tree. Fingal still is a charmer looking, as he does right now, like an assembly of spare parts: huge feet a tail that drags the ground, the aformentioned floppy ears. It's hard to see the elegant hound he'll grow into. He's pretty smart; he knows when he sits, he'll get a treat. Sometimes he stands looking bewildered, sometimes biting wildly, due to cutting teeth.Oddly, when he whines, he has a little peeping voice, but he has a full fledged grownup bark. The first few times we heard it, Tax went racing past him, looking for the dog who made the noise. Even Fingal looked a little confused.
He has been to Pampered Pooch, the dog sitters, a couple of times and was very good, except for his habit of mounting everything in sight. He's obviously already considering himself an alpha male.
Right now, he's the laid back Fingal, listening to Scottish music, lying beside my chair as I write.
He's grown in the few weeks I've had him (or he's had me) and is starting to get a fuzzy face. I think the hardest thing right now will be his teething. His gums are swollen and he's constantly rubbing his jaws against things. I've found ice cubes help.
I find myself watching him, the awkward puppy doing goofy things, and smiling. Things could be worse.

Update on Fingal: Home Alone

I'll be adding pictures of Fingal taken by Barbara Heidenreich, of Fernhill Kennels, Fingal's birthplace. The first I posted is selfexplanatory. Deerhounds usually have pretty big litters, and you can see that Fingal seems to be the largest.
He's still mellow,though he did attack and kill a library book while I was gone.My fault. I'd left it on a shelf near his bed.
Our day goes something like this. I wake early, walk out to get the paper. He comes with me, empties his enormous bladder, then I have my tea and read the paper as he snuggles next to me, his nose inside my slipper.
An hour or so later, Taz wanders out, yawning, and the two go outside again, then lie around till walk time.
Until Fingal's arrival I had been training Taz off leash, by taking off her collar, having her come to me, getting a favorite treat. I tries it yesterday with  both of them. They took off, Taz ignoring my calls, ran around the hill, so I saw occasional gray shapes floating through the trees.
I went looking for them, came back to find them sitting on the porch, grinning at me. No more off leash.

DAY ONE Fingal is the big one on his mom

Deck the Halls

I've now had Fingal for a week, and so far, so good, Yesterday my son Andrew & I took the two dogs to pick out a Christmas tree, and they both had a great time. Then we began to decorate the tree and the fun began. Fingal plucked an ornament out of the box, took one look at my face, and ran into the bedroom. I caught him in time. Then he found the stockings. Then another ornament. Today, before we went out, we put his x-pen around the tree, and came home to find nothing but two good dogs and one Christmas tablecloth, unwrapped. No damage.
Andy and I sat in the tv room, watching Jeeves & Wooster, our laughter and the tv covering sounds in other rooms. Did I mention that I had moved the pen so I could  add more ornaments?
Damage: two glass ornaments, an angel and a wooden sailboat.
Otherwise, Fingal is delightful, smart and sweet. He's much calmer than Taz was, and learns quickly. Still a few puddles, but he's learning. His paws are bigger than Taz's whose 3. His coat is still smooth rather than rough, and his ears have a life of their own.
I find myself smiling just watching him lollop across the porch. I'd forgotten how puppies can simply collapse and fall asleep in seconds.