Power Chewer?

We bought this tire for Nova a while ago but she didn't know how to play with it! We did a little bit of shaping with the tire and now she chews for hours on end. She doesn't seem to like to eat the rubber bits she chews off, fortunately. We definitely thought that tire would be a little more durable!

Puppy Class #3!

Last night we took Nova to her 2nd puppy class! We got there first to let her sniff around so she would hopefully be more comfortable. As the second puppy arrived, Nova touched noses to meet him without any problems! She barked a little bit as more puppies showed up, but Bailey and I distracted her with training and treats.

The teacher let Nova off the leash first this time, which I think helped her keep calm. Since Nova is the biggest dog there by far (the rest are small breeds), she isn't always let off leash at the same time as other dogs. When Nova was off leash, another couple was allowed to let their small black dog off too - but this is the same dog Nova play barked at last week! She was still scared of Nova and hid under her owners' bench. The next dog allowed off leash with Nova could have cared less about Nova, which is great! Nova got to sniff and investigate while the other dog played with lots of toys.

A lot of the stuff they are teaching in class we've already taught Nova, but it is good practice for her to be doing it in other distracting situations (especially when other dogs are around!). However, we definitely need to practice meeting strangers nicely instead of walking all over them!

We are really glad Nova did so much better than the first class! Soon we will be taking her on walks around the neighborhood, which means lots of other dogs to see (and some to meet... nicely)!

Puppy Class #2

Last night was the first night for all the puppies to attend puppy class! Nova is the only big puppy there - the rest are tiny lapdogs. Nova did most of the barking! She was very uncomfortable in class around the other puppies. She laid under our bench for much of class. I think it is because we have kept her away from most other dogs since she is not yet vaccinated.

When Nova was finally let off leash (last one) she investigated everyone and even invited one of the other puppies to play! However she was too big and her play barks too scary for that puppy - he ran and hid behind his humans. She also got to meet the trainer's adult collie.

Nova is doing just fine with the training exercises in class. She is even the demo dog sometimes because it is easier to see what is going on compared to the lapdogs. We need to work on her paying attention to us and remaining calm when there are lots of distractions!

Shop Vac Ride

Weekend Playtime

During playtime this morning we decided to take some photos of our girl. She is getting so big! We can even see her adult teeth coming in. Her coat is also starting to change in color and texture. She's getting lighter and slicker. We can't wait for her to meet other puppies on Monday, hopefully we'll be able to take pictures.

Outside Training

Nova needs a lot more outside training, she's really good inside the house, but as soon as we go some place fun she's a different story. She becomes all play, and everything we say goes in one ear and out the other. We went to the schools practice field again to work on it, but with not much success.

"look at me! You can't catch meee!!"

"Just let me run dad!!"

"If you won't let me play, I'm just going to sit here and ignore you"

"I'm thirsty from misbehaving!"

"You can't make me work when I'm under the bleachers! ha!"

First Puppy Class

Monday was our first puppy class (finally!). Unfortunately we had to leave Nova at home for the first class, but we got a good lecture and a ton of reading material... plus a homework assignment! Our homework assignment is to associate the word YES with food rewards - essentially, this is the same thing as clicker training but with your voice instead of a plastic clicker.

We have started our homework assignment and Nova is picking it up really quickly. Not too surprised there, she is a smart girl!

Can't wait to actually bring her to class and meet the other puppies! We are hoping she doesn't squish any of them since she is a little old to start class (14 weeks) and is also a big girl (25+lbs)!

Frisbee [oh look grass!!]

Josh and I took nova to the local high school again today to play Frisbee! She loves to run after it, but she never brings it back!! Haha! So it's more like chase Nova after the Frisbee. We need to teach her how to fetch before we play that game again! When she was done, she was done. She was more interested in playing and looking at the tall grass. She is so fascinated by grass. It must be a dog thing!

"I'm looking at grass"

"I'm tired, let's go over to the tall grass"

"Fine, I'll just lay here and look at it from afar"

Toys & New Food Challenges!

Vet Visit #2

Tonight we took Nova to the vet for her third (out of four) vaccines. She's now 25.5 pounds (AND still Growing!!!) - the vet tech couldn't believe that she was only 12 weeks!
The vet found a hernia on Nova's tummy, but said that it shouldn't be a concern, which is good (we just thought it was her belly button).
Nova was quite the drama queen with the vet! She doesn't care for people playing with her muzzle, which is the first thing both the vet and vet tech did. I think it's because of something we tried when figuring out how to inhibit her play bites - holding her muzzle when she bit us. We definitely have some work to do on associating people touching her mouth with good experiences.
She seems much more lively after this round of vaccinations, we think it might be because she didn't get benadryl this time. It seemed to make her very sleepy last time and we also think it gave her a bad dream.
Now we are all ready to go to puppy class next Monday!! Yay!!

Wet Dog!!

Nova decided that she wanted to go upstairs when both Josh and I were downstairs. So we decided that since she was already up there she had determined that it was time for a bath!! haha!! She's getting better with the idea of water, she only tried to jump out of the tub a couple times then gave up. She enjoys being toweled off afterward more than the bath itself!! She loves when we rub her belly!!

New Toys: Round 2

Yesterday we went to PetSmart to get some Bitter Apple for the kitchen because Nova has been chewing on some of the walls! Hopefully they will be easy to fix. While we were there we got her some new toys!

• Stuffy wiener dog
• Squeaky dog dumbbell
• Frisbee

She likes to wrestle with her wiener but while playing with it she sneaked away and started playing with her squeaky dumbbell that was still in the bag on the stairs! Super naughty Nova!