Sunday, December 5, 2010

Silly Puppy Tricks

I can't believe it's December 5th...how is that possible?! I love the holidays, but this time of year my "to-do" list is truly frightening. I'm hoping in January (2011 - yikes!), I'll be able to take a little breather and really concentrate on my little Derby pup who is growing up much too fast. He's 12 weeks now - again, how is that possible?!

Derby continues to be just a perfect fit for our little spotty household. Like any puppy, he has his "moments", but really is a good boy. Peyton and Indy *love* him and sometimes it feels like I have three puppies in the house! They all play so well together - it makes me soooo happy to see them all getting along.

I've been doing quite a bit of clicker work with Derby - he's really taken to it very quickly, as many pups do. He's learning a lot of new tricks, although none of them are really on cue yet. It's so much fun to see him think and offer behaviors - so much so that I'm sure it's going to bite me at some point. If we're out somewhere and he thinks there's a chance that he could get a treat, he immediately starts offering everything that has ever been rewarded. Very cute and very entertaining, but he's starting to look a little like a fish out of water. :)

Here's a little video shot on Thanksgiving that many of you have already seen on facebook. (I know - I'm a late blogger!) This was day 3 of shaping - he learned to back up on the first day, a backward crawl on the second day, and this was the first time he offered lifting his front paws. So stinkin' cute!


He is definitely forcing me to be a better clicker trainer! If I'm late or don't give him enough information, he gets mad and pounces on me. Yup, he can be a little bit of a hot head. :)

I'll have to get some new pictures and videos soon - poor Derby; I was hoping to be able to document his puppyhood a little better, but by the time I have a chance to take pictures, it's usually dark out. Maybe I need to hire a pet photographer? :)

4 comments:

Elizabeth Bergesen said...

What a smart little boy! He is going to be a charmer :)

Lisa said...

Such a smart puppy! We LOVE clicker training. It's so much fun to shape the behavior and watch for that moment when the dogs "get it." We're using clicker training right now to teach Jazz to retrieve the dumbbell for obedience.

Love the Derby videos...keem 'em coming!!

Achieve1dream said...

Oh my goodness!!!!!! He is so super smart! And so cute! And can I have him?? :D Love it!

Kim said...

Derby says thanks! He is too clever for his own good... :)