Outside Playtime

We've had some gorgeous spring weather the past few days. Zap enjoys being outside and he can always make me laugh. Nothing like a cute golden puppy bounding up to you proudly holding his favorite toy. Happy St. Patrick's Day!

he looks so grown up in this picture

new favorite ball

that look is TROUBLE ;-)

beautiful puppy

Always working on that recall

Weekend Activities

This past weekend was chock full of dog events and training. Friday I took Zap to the Collie Club show at AK9C to hang out and socialize. He met his older brother Teller and got to play with litter mate Sam! Saturday I spent most of the day training/playing with the dogs. The yard was fairly dry and I got in some nice agility practice with the girls and started Apollo with the weave poles. Zap is loving the tippy plank and wobble board. His finger pick ups are getting faster and I started the cone game with him (sending him out and around a cone). Truly's weave pole entries are improving and she is keeping her head down and driving through. Julie pointed out in class last week that her head was too high. Made some adjustments and lowering my hand at the end of the poles helped a lot (thank you Julie!) Sunday was the NE Sporting Group Assoc. Dog Show in Fitchburg, MA. We went to watch and cheer for Summer (half sis to Truly & Zap).
Bob brought Zap in to experience the show scene and Zappy seemed to drink it all in! Apollo came along for the ride and I worked some loose leash walking and a little bit of attention heeling with him. The highlight for Apollo was being able to give Kara big golden HUGS! We also did a little shopping....bought a new soft crate and a dog bed. We got home and took Max, Molly, Siena and Truly for a long walk. Then the boys from next door came over to play with the pup.

11 Weeks Old!

Although it was a rainy, gloomy day we made the best of it. Zap patiently watched his sister Truly and house sister Siena during their agility classes. Then afterwards I took him up and down the hallway at American K9 Country and worked on attention and keeping a loose leash. Zap finds it difficult to accept the fact that he CAN'T run up and start playing with every dog he sees. I was armed with high value treats so that really helped persuade him that it was better to stick with me. I put him on a cart outside the ring and got him use to being on an object that moves (a foundation agility skill) and he just did a spread eagle and went for a ride with no concern. I was careful not to turn on a dime which would have sent him flying across the room. ;-) Before we left I let him run around the agility ring to burn off that puppy energy so he would sleep on the ride home. Zap got to see Ann again and we are looking forward to joining her basic obedience class in 3 weeks.

Agility class for Zap tomorrow and I'm hoping to rent the ring afterwards to work with Siena. We have the Syracuse Agility Trials coming up in a couple weeks and we're both a little rusty.

Feeling Sentimental

Zap has been part of our lives for a little over two weeks now. The days are speeding by faster than I want, but at the same time I anticipated this feeling. It's hard to imagine that over 2 months have gone by since my dad passed away. He is the reason we ended up with Zappy pup. I don't know why things happened as they did; however, I'm sure I'm not the first to feel this way. Not a day goes by that I don't think about him. Zap (SunKissed Electric Blue) is named after dad's favorite electric blue car that he proudly drove to town to run errands. Ever the environmentalist he worked hard at conserving energy any way he could.

We thought of you today and that was nothing new;
We thought of you yesterday and we will tomorrow too.
We think of you in silence and make no outward show,
For what it meant to lose you no one will ever know.
You were gone before we knew it and only God knows why.
It's lonely here without you we miss you more each day.
Life is not the same for us since you were called away.
Each time we see your picture you seem to smile and say;
"Don't cry, we'll be together again someday."


dad on the right~ 1924


dad after WWII?~have to check the date


dad camping with Jamie & Erik~1990


dad and his electric car~ 1999

Weekend Visit

Jamie came home this weekend! He has been anxious to meet Zap and Apollo. Saturday we went snowshoeing/hiking at a local park. Today we took Apollo for a long walk on the beach. With all this warm weather most of the snow has melted from the backyard. We set up the weave poles and jumps which prompted a fun training session with Siena and Truly.

Spring is in the air~I'm ignoring the weather forecast for tomorrow!

Ten Weeks Old

Another week has flown by! I finally got the video of Zap retrieving his leather article onto You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOBMxHYkhYk
Here is the first video Bob took: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLQo7WYcFXA
New video camera....can you tell? ;-)
The puppy Genius retrieved the metal article yesterday too! Today was his first day at American K9 Country http://americank9country.com/ Siena and Truly had agility class and Zap rested quietly in his crate during both classes. He enjoyed getting passed around and meeting A LOT of new people. I signed him up for agility class and he starts tomorrow! Having Zap there today was so much fun and on top of that Siena and Truly did fantastic in class today.


metal article retrieve ;-)

Shopping, Socializing and the First Week in Review

Zapp has been with us a week and we are enjoying every minute (well, almost every minute ;).
This past weekend he went with us as we ran our errands. He is quite the social butterfly and I admit to spoiling him in regards to the amount of toys he has accumulated. So far he has met mostly adults so we will be seeking out more kids for him to play with this week.

Here is the week in review:
Too many potty trips outside to count! Only 3 accidents.
Currently sleeping from 11pm~4:30/5:00am in his crate.
Lots of reinforcement for bringing anything to hand, free stacking, gaiting brilliantly across the kitchen, walking on a loose leash, turning and running to us (HUGE party for this!!),eye contact, down and of course outside bathroom habits. Sit is being reinforced less than standing at this point since he offers the sit a lot.
*reinforcement= click & treat, tug with a favorite toy, verbal/physical praise and or a combination of any. Zapp seems to really enjoy physical praise almost as much as treats.
Favorite games so far~ wobble board, tippy plank bang, ball thru the tunnel, tug, the recall game between 2 people (I call it puppy pinball ;) We have to watch the timing of the recall game. If played in the evening during the "puppy crazies" Zapp literally becomes air born and nearly flies over my head while I'm seated on the floor (I see agility in his future)!

Things to work on this week:
Being able to work the other dogs while he remains quite in his crate
No chewing on cords!
Introduce finger touch and click/treat hand in collar
Metal article retrieve
Our favorite Zappy trait so far is his love of snuggling his head under your chin when he's ready for a nap....melts your heart.

Looking forward to week 2.... but also wishing his puppy hood doesn't go by too fast.



patiently waiting to meet people


meet and greet begins ;-)



Hmm....so many choices



I pick you Mr. Lobster!