Vacations

On Tuesday my parents and I headed to California to visit colleges. Unfortunately, Sawyer didn't get to come along, but he did get to stay with his twin brother, Dempsey. We all miss him, but were very excited to see him featured on Dempsey's blog! Click here to check it out for yourself!

Bow-Tie Boy!

Ever since school started, both Sawyer and I have been very busy. Since my last post, Sawyer has paid visits to many local video stores, hardware stores, and special events. When it was time for the great Minnesota get together, Sawyer, faithful citizen that he is, did a wonderful State Fair demo of all his skills. He also went to his first Tail Waggin' Dinner (Helping Paws' big annual event).
Most recently, Sawyer accompanied me to many of the 2009 Breck homecoming events. He was blessed at the school's blessing of the animals, and got to see his first soccer game (which he loved, though he couldn't figure out why he wasn't allowed to score any goals). That night, when I was getting ready for the big dance, Sawyer was a little jealous that I got to get all dressed up, so we traded his collar for something a bit fancier.














I think he would have liked to accompany me to the dance itself, (or at least help me eat dinner) but I'm afraid this is as far as he got. He did look rather handsome though!

Blame it on school

As you've probably noticed, with school starting I haven't had time to update the blog for way too long! Sorry to disappoint once again, but I thought this might be a good time to share, (if you haven't seen them already) the blogs of some of Sawyer's littermates! I have links to them on the right-hand side of the page, and recently Boston and Dempsey's blogs, (titled "Boston's Marathon" and "Pawl's Paws") have both had some great class updates. I promise to have a more satisfactory update ready soon, but in the meantime enjoy these other blogs!

Slippin' and Slidin' and Generalizin'

In the last week we began our kitchen remodel-a giant undertaking since it involves tearing up much of the main floor of our house. For Sawyer this primarily means that he's been displaced, since the room with his kennel, toys and food is all part of the remodel. So, last night we had to put his kennel into the next room, and boy did we hear about it. You wouldn't think simply changing the location of a kennel would be such a big deal, but he whined for a good five minutes after being put to bed, and he usually doesn't make a peep. Just goes to show that for dogs, any sort of generalization is difficult; which is why it's so important that as trainers we vary everything surrounding each behavior we teach them, (location, our body language, time of day, etc.) so that they can be successful no matter what the situation.

One bonus of the remodel that my brother and I discovered today is that the floor covering they put over the wood to protect it is extremely slippery. After watching us slide around on it, Sawyer was eager to join in the fun and would happily try to chase us, unable to get a grip on the floor and sliding right past us. This floor situation also made our recalls today a lot more fun:

40 lbs in 5 months

I keep reiterating the fact that I can't believe how fast Sawyer is growing, and I thought I'd just give a quick visual representation:

The night we got him...















and now.


















Time flies when you have a growing puppy in the house!

Senior Pics (round one)

A few weeks ago I had my first senior photo session, and (of course) I brought Sawyer along for the fun. Sawyer loves cameras, and he did pretty well considering he is still a puppy. Here's a sample of the pictures:



















































Favorite for sure :)






















It's hard to believe, but he definitely looks bigger now than when these were taken. I can't believe how fast he's growing!

Fraidy cat, er... dog

In my last post about Lola's visit I eluded to the fact that Sawyer seems to be afraid of the pool. A few weeks ago my dad and I decided it would be lots of fun to take the puppy for a swim. However, thirty minutes into the swim lesson I found myself still perched on the bottom step, my hand full of partially soggy treats, with Sawyer barely placing his two front feet onto the first step. Even my Dad gave it a shot, having no more success. We've decided that the steps are the problem; it would be much easier for him to wade into the water on a beach. But until we can find a beach that allows dogs, Sawyer is definitely not a water dog. (We may have to make a trip out to Hudson for a playdate with Rugby and Benny so that they can show him what swimming's all about)