I don't know about you, but when I'm bored in a meeting, this kind of thing happens. Helps to make the time go faster. :) It's 11:15pm and im Western Nichts Neues. That means All Quiet on the Western Front. It won't last. Any minute now my Aussie patrol will shoot up, race out the back door, and bark viciously at whatever thing has been walking on the hill behind our house.
I know this because it has happened every night for the past month of so. Ninja has even got Penny involved in this adventure every night. She's not a big barker. For the first few weeks she came home I wondered if she even could bark, she was so quiet. I now know she can bark and be loud, along with Ninja who can bark the house down, but rarely does. Except when they are on patrol!
What is it that comes visiting? Who knows. Coyote? Raccoon? Possum? Rabbit? Whatever it is I doubt it posses any serious threat with a fence between the pups and it, but it sure gets noisy at night.
I am not complaining, except that I'd like to sleep instead of checking on the barking dogs. I always praise them for doing their job. I really don't think that anyone could get into the house (with bad intentions) without these two taking them down. What makes me happy about the whole thing is that Penny must be feeling that we are her pack or she wouldn't be out there working with Ninja to keep us all safe.
Sounds like the guest has arrived out back. The patrol is barking. I'd better go check and give them their treats for doing their job! G'night! I'll sleep tight with my patrol on guard.
Cesar Milan says that putting a backpack on a pup makes the walk seem twice as long. I'm not sure about that, but I know that my Aussies are a herding breed and they like a job to do.
Ninja loves to wear his pack and carry his clean waste baggies in it, and maybe a bottle of water when we hike. Everyone laughs when they see him and says, "You make him carry his own stuff? Great idea!" Anyone can see how happy he is carrying his pack.
The pack I got for Ninja was pricey, and I was concerned about spending a lot for a pack and then Penny being afraid of it. She does not like having her tummy touched, and the strap from the pack goes around the belly of the pup.
My local Marshall's store had these cute packs for around $5. Can you believe that? Perfect! I brought one home for the beautiful Penny and she accepted it a lot easier than I expected.
We started by waiting until after a walk when she was mellow and a little tired and she still had the leash on. She seems much more comfortable with the leash on. Then my daughter and I let her smell the back pack. Next we set in on her back, and gave her a piece of chicken. That went well. After a few minutes I reached under her and clipped the back pack on, and my daughter walked her around the house wearing it. More chicken. No problems. That was enough for one night.
She looks pretty cute in it! Next walk we'll see if she wants to wear it out. I'm curious what the reaction will be from people when they see us walking two Aussies in back packs. With Ninja some people think he is being trained as a service dog, and praise me for what I'm doing. I always laugh- I'm training them for my family, people!
I'll let you know how the walk wearing the pack goes. I have a feeling it will go well.
Ninja is pretty fearless in the car. He waits at the door when he hears me pick up my keys, and if it's safe I pretty much let him come along. By safe, I mean that it's not hot out and he won't have to be in the car for more than a couple of minutes when I'm doing whatever it is I need to do. Usually he comes along when we're going to a drive thru, or when I have a quick trip to Wal-Mart or something similar.
Ninja is starting to train Penny to wait at the door when I pick up my keys. It's pretty funny when I'm heading to the door and both dogs are at full attention, ready to take off and get in the car.
Tonight I took them both with me and my daughter to grab a couple of tacos. Ninja has no manners in the car. He'll sit in the back with his paws on the center console and bat at my hands with his paws (hoping for petting) while I'm driving. I'm sure Cesar Millan would be horrified. I've been better about making him stop and not rewarding that behavior lately, but it's hard when you want to love on your pup. It makes driving tough.
For the past couple of weeks Penny has been riding on the floor in the back, where the rear passenger wold put their feet. I think she feels secure there. She climbs in and out of the car with no issue. She even will come along without a leash. Tonight she decided to sit on the rear seat and look out the window. And then I found her with her paws on the center console with Ninja in the back seat! Oh, the bad habits he's teaching her!
It's still good a good sign that she's not so afraid of us and is not hiding as much. She's so smart- she found a blanket in the back seat and moved it around with her paws and snout so she could lay down on it. My daughter and I laughed at that. Apparently she doesn't much care to lay on leather seats. What's next? Having her paws done at the Paw Spa? :) She's a lady after me and my daughter's own hearts, that's for sure!
Last night I mentioned I put together a wire dog enclosure to make Penny a nice comfy bed area where she couldn't roam free at night. Again, this is just to help her learn the rules and also for her to feel safe in our home. This is the kind of thing I'm talking about. It's great for taking to the park if you need a place to park a pack of puppies. Peter piper and pickled peppers. . . yes, I get it.
I think I got mine at PetSmart a while back. I used to have a pair of lop eared rabbits who were house broken and I would put them in this pen out in the yard so they would be safe.
Anyway, I remembered that I had this about 11pm last night. It was in the shed in my yard. So I snuck out very quietly so as not to bother my neighbors (I really try to be a considerate neighbor-succeeding is a whole other thing). I got the pen, turned around with it, tripped over something in the dark and dropped the whole thing on the patio. Loudly. Ooops.
After getting it in the house, I set up Penny's nighttime "puppy pen." She has her crate so she feels safe, food bowls, and a dog bed if she wants to come out of the crate. There is also a red, fuzzy dog shaped toy my my daughter got her the other night. Penny seems to be happy in her puppy pen. Can you see in the picture she's napping?
As I said last night, this worked great for puppy Ninja while we trained him. Unfortunately he got big quick and he learned that if he pushed against the sides of the puppy pen he could move the whole thing. My plan was to kennel train him for 6 weeks after he came home with us. We made it 4. The day I came home and the puppy pen was literally blocking the front door was the end. He was ready anyway.
I don't see Penny doing that. She doesn't seem to want to tear the thing apart to get out like Ninja did. She's happy to settle down for the night in her little puppy pen.
The lovely Penny is now a member of our family! I'm so excited. She looks like a red tri. She's definitely a mini and about half the size of Ninja. Granted, Ninja is over 50 pounds and is totally too big for a mini Aussie. He's more like a small standard. But since his mum and dad were both minis, he's a mini by default, right?
So the bad news is that I cannot find the camera cable to save my life. I've spent an hour searching for it and since it's been such a busy weekend, I'm simply too tired to keep looking. I hate that I can't show you are new little darling! The best way I know to find the cable is to order a new one. As soon as I order the new one, the old one will magically turn up!
So yesterday we met Penny's original owners and Penny, of course, at a local park. Ninja and Penny seemed to really like each other. They played together and walked a bit, and seemed to really enjoy each other. We agreed to meet again on Sunday.
This afternoon we went back to the park. We were a bit late due to some strange circumstances (like my husband losing track of time at another park while practicing baseball with our son!) but when we got there, Penny came running to Ninja like they were old friends. So sweet!
Penny's first owners then sent this little girl home with us. She is a little timid, but very sweet. I think she'll come out of being timid after a bit of time with our very active family and the amazing and mischievous Ninja!
When we first got home we played in our front yard first. Penny went under the car and watched, but we decided to ignore her for a minute and played Frisbee, and within two minutes she came out to see what was going on. That was pretty neat.
I'm reading Cesar Millan's book A Member of the Family and he says to take the dogs on a walk before letting them in the house together. So off my daughter and I went to the park. As soon as we got there, I thought I would let them off leash for a few minutes to let them run.
Bad idea. Penny decided to run full speed, up the hill on the side of the park and hide in the bushes. Ooops. So I climbed the hill and leashed her up. She gave me no issue with that. She's really so sweet! But I had to get back down that hill sitting down. My daughter called Penny and down she went to her, as I inched down the hill. My wouldn't she do that before I climbed the hill? :)
When we got home we walked her through the house on the leash like Cesar says. Then we left them alone to rest and do their own thing (we didn't leave- we just let them be while I made dinner). They are so cute together! They play, they snuggle, and they romp in the yard.
My daughter and I worked with Penny and the dog door, but she's not ready to tear in and out of it like Ninja does. But remember all the coaxing and training we had to do with Ninja to get him to use the dog door when he was a pup? We'll get there.
For now, we are thrilled with are tiny little lady pup and I cannot wait for more walks, dog parks, and sheep herding, which we will do in the next few weeks.
Life is good. :)
Pictures soon as I can get the darned cable! I'm off to order one right now.
