Wow! Can you believe that Marnie and I have been married one whole year already? We can't!
We wanted to do something cheap, yet still kind of special for the occasion and had a few idea's tossing around like staying in Stratford and seeing a play, or staying in the Niagara region and going on wine tours, etc. But my friend Sarah has some pull at Langdon Hall and was able to get us a room for Sunday night at a greatly discounted rate of $125. We couldn't pass that up considering that it would have been around the same price for a bed and breakfast at either Stratford or Niagara on the Lake, plus considering the travel time and other expenses... It was a steal. The coolest part was we were allowed to bring Echo along! He did great in the new environment when left alone in the room (we brought his crate) and we were both thankful for that.
To our surprise when we got into our room Sunday afternoon, Sarah must have arranged a little something special for us. There was a bottle of sparkling wine and a tray of fruits and dips (chocolate and 2 kinds of honey). Yum! It was SO nice and REALLY good!
We decided to eat and drink the "champagne" after a walk through the many forested trails around the Langdon property with Echo before going out for dinner. He was really good staying with us the whole way - it was actually really cute because he would either walk right in front, behind or right between us as we walked holding hands. I wish we could have got a photo from behind with that scene. I don't think he would have been so good if there were other dogs or people around. We took the 2.5 km trail to tire him out before we left him for dinner. A tired dog is a good dog and he had no trouble going into his crate to lay down after that!
We decided to eat at the blackshop restaurant in Cambridge instead of at the Hotel (one look at the $menu decided that!) - it was really good food, reasonable prices and great atmosphere as there was a live 3-piece jazz band playing. We took a taxi so that we could enjoy a bottle of wine with dinner (on top of the already-consumed champagne at the hotel) -- talk about a rip off! I admit, I don't take the taxi very often so I may be out of touch with this, but it cost us $12.50 there and $13.70 back. The exact same route. For a less than 10 minute ride each way. $30, just like that! That's $90/hour. Granted driving a taxi must suck, but that's highway robbery! Are we living in NYC here?
Anyway, other than the slight annoyance with the taxi company, the night was beautiful and really enjoyable. We were really looking forward to our massages on Monday morning and spending the day dreaming that we actually belonged at that hotel ;)
To our surprise when we got back to our room, the nightly turn-down service had been there. We were told to inform the front desk when we might be there with the dog, or to tell them when Echo WON'T be there so that room service could go in and tidy up... opps, we forgot. The room was tidied up and the bed was re-made all with Echo in his crate. I can imagine the cleaner's surprise to find him there! Ah well, he would have just layed there and maybe whimpered to be let out. Possibly a little bark here and there.
Unfortunately neither of us slept very well - we're not really sure why. The bed was comfortable, the temp in the room was nice, we were both really tired... I guess we missed the Baden train blasting through at all hours of the night. lol Actually, I think it was Echo. We put his crate in one of the bathrooms with a tile floor and had a skinny blanket in there with him. Every time he moved around it clanged around and echoed loudly. I think a towel underneath the crate would have solved that, but didn't think of it at the time. I must have woken up 5 times through the night, easily, before being frustrated and getting up permanently just before 7am.
Marn also got up and we took Echo for another walk through the trails before breakfast.
After breaky we both had massages, and one last walk through the trails before leaving the dream and heading to Dad's for a visit and to check out his new place.
It was a great mini-vacation, but I wish we could have stayed one more day. I never did feel like I started to relax a little, even after the massage. I tried to get us there for the Saturday night as well, but Sarah just couldn't do it. When you consider that rooms start FROM $259-629/night, one night at $125 is hard enough to do, especially considering Saturday night is their busiest night. Thank you for a great stay, Sarah!!
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
All Better (for) Now & The Asbury Visit!
Echo's Coccidiosis cleared up before the weekend and pretty much one day after starving and giving him the first dose of the med's. So we're pretty sure that's what he had, but we still don't know how he got it?
Anyway, after Thursday and Friday went without the runs we were pretty confident that he was getting better, so we took advantage of the offer from Carey and Chris to go up to their cottage for the weekend! Ahh, to have a cottage.... I would LOVE that! They have it good. Right on the water near Grand Bend and only 1.5 hours away and best of all, OPPOSITE from Toronto! It's a small little thing, but it's a cottage and has the cottage feel, unlike some of their neighbours who ripped down the old places and built year-round monsters. The only thing I don't like about the area, if I lived there, is that most of the places are being bought up by American's. Why are they so loud and obnoxious? Well I suppose that if the opportunity came along, I would love it anyway, American's and all...
I had plans this weekend to get Echo in the water to see if he would sink or swim. A few weeks ago we asked Danielle if Dane's swim and she explained that her dog's LOVE to swim which kind of shocked us both because they're so big - you'd think they would just sink?
So I took him down to the water and started to walk in and Echo followed no problem. The water has a really gradual slope down - You could walk 100 yards and still be only hip deep. I thought to myself, there's no way he's going to go in right away no problem, but he kept on following me - until he got to about his shoulders/belly, then he was like, What the...! and started jumping backwards tugging on his leash and pulling me back. It was too funny. So I got out with him and then tried again. He'd follow but stop and want to go back, but if I kept low with him and encouraged him along he went out a long way... before he even knew it he was swimming. A natural! But it didn't last long. He started to whimper and shake and he wanted to go back even though I was right beside him. It was a good start to what I hope he'll be more comfortable with as he gets older.
The next day we headed to a nearby beach to see if he'd go in again - he did no problem, but I think he only did because all 6 of us were going in. This time the water got deeper a little quicker and as we kept walking out you could see the point at which his walking turned into swimming. It was pretty cool - he's a total natural! He swam around for a long time, but I don't think he really liked it. After a while he'd whimper and shake a little so marn took him back to shallower parts and just sat with him in there.
I also wanted to take him out in the canoe with me to see how he'd react. For the most part he just sat there and looked around until we got closer to shore again. I'm not sure what he was thinking but it seemed like he thought he could just step out at one point because that's exactly what he did! His front legs stepped out and he kind of freaked out and was hanging there with his front in the water thrashing around and back end in the boat trying to get back in. He finally gave in or I pushed him, I can't remember, and he went for a nose dive into the lake, came up and "bolted" for the shore. That was some quick doggy paddling!
So Marn's like "get in there and get him!" (he was doing fine, but who knows?) So I jump in to get Echo and toss Marnie out in the process, who in turn looses one flip flop in the muck below, freaks out because of the muck between the toes and jumps back in the canoe! I guided Echo back to shore and as soon as he could touch the bottom started running as fast as he could to get out. That picture Carey took from the shore is him running back out... too funny. Marn's mad because we lost one of her favourite flip flop's during the whole escapade...
Adrienne, Dennis and the kids came over Friday afternoon for the night for a nice visit before they left for their 'northern tour'. It was a really nice visit but, as it often is, was too short! Even though they were in the area for a week, we only saw them a few times. I guess that's what you get when your family is spread out as ours is. Marnier and Echo played a lot and even rested together! I think Adrienne got some pics of that and it wasn't even set up by their owners at all! ;) 
We may try and see them again once more before they leave for Montreal, then home when they come back this way to stay with Teresa and Branko this weekend.
We may try and see them again once more before they leave for Montreal, then home when they come back this way to stay with Teresa and Branko this weekend.
Anyway, after Thursday and Friday went without the runs we were pretty confident that he was getting better, so we took advantage of the offer from Carey and Chris to go up to their cottage for the weekend! Ahh, to have a cottage.... I would LOVE that! They have it good. Right on the water near Grand Bend and only 1.5 hours away and best of all, OPPOSITE from Toronto! It's a small little thing, but it's a cottage and has the cottage feel, unlike some of their neighbours who ripped down the old places and built year-round monsters. The only thing I don't like about the area, if I lived there, is that most of the places are being bought up by American's. Why are they so loud and obnoxious? Well I suppose that if the opportunity came along, I would love it anyway, American's and all...
I had plans this weekend to get Echo in the water to see if he would sink or swim. A few weeks ago we asked Danielle if Dane's swim and she explained that her dog's LOVE to swim which kind of shocked us both because they're so big - you'd think they would just sink?
So I took him down to the water and started to walk in and Echo followed no problem. The water has a really gradual slope down - You could walk 100 yards and still be only hip deep. I thought to myself, there's no way he's going to go in right away no problem, but he kept on following me - until he got to about his shoulders/belly, then he was like, What the...! and started jumping backwards tugging on his leash and pulling me back. It was too funny. So I got out with him and then tried again. He'd follow but stop and want to go back, but if I kept low with him and encouraged him along he went out a long way... before he even knew it he was swimming. A natural! But it didn't last long. He started to whimper and shake and he wanted to go back even though I was right beside him. It was a good start to what I hope he'll be more comfortable with as he gets older.
The next day we headed to a nearby beach to see if he'd go in again - he did no problem, but I think he only did because all 6 of us were going in. This time the water got deeper a little quicker and as we kept walking out you could see the point at which his walking turned into swimming. It was pretty cool - he's a total natural! He swam around for a long time, but I don't think he really liked it. After a while he'd whimper and shake a little so marn took him back to shallower parts and just sat with him in there.
I also wanted to take him out in the canoe with me to see how he'd react. For the most part he just sat there and looked around until we got closer to shore again. I'm not sure what he was thinking but it seemed like he thought he could just step out at one point because that's exactly what he did! His front legs stepped out and he kind of freaked out and was hanging there with his front in the water thrashing around and back end in the boat trying to get back in. He finally gave in or I pushed him, I can't remember, and he went for a nose dive into the lake, came up and "bolted" for the shore. That was some quick doggy paddling!
So Marn's like "get in there and get him!" (he was doing fine, but who knows?) So I jump in to get Echo and toss Marnie out in the process, who in turn looses one flip flop in the muck below, freaks out because of the muck between the toes and jumps back in the canoe! I guided Echo back to shore and as soon as he could touch the bottom started running as fast as he could to get out. That picture Carey took from the shore is him running back out... too funny. Marn's mad because we lost one of her favourite flip flop's during the whole escapade...
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Coccidia
Well, after about a week of Echo slowly getting better with the diarrhea, he's gone right back to "explosive". We have an unconfirmed diagnosis of Coccidiosis. "Unconfirmed" because this diagnosis was based on 3 things without a fecal test:
1) He was getting better and then got really bad again (yesterday afternoon he had accidents in his crate again - almost a week after it happened the first time)
2) He STILL has diarrhea or very soft poops and it never really firmed up again
3) One of his litter-mates had been diagnosed with it
After last night's episode we called Danielle to ask her what we should be doing about this because it's been a week with no real improvement. She basically cut Marnie off and said she suspects one of two things; either a food allergy or coccidiosis - cocka-what? She went on to tell us to call the vet right away and to tell them we suspect that. So Marnie called the vet on my cell as I continued with Danielle, and the vet wanted to talk to Danielle. So we hung up and our vet called Danielle who worked out that yeah, treat for this organism right away without another test. If it's not markedly better in 3 days, come back in for more tests.
"Great!" I'm thinking... 1 month old and the vet bills are already rolling in! Well turns out that treating this is pretty simple AND cheap (about $15 and no consult fee), and thankfully there are no long-term side effects (not so with severe cases). I found a good read about the organism here if you want to read up on it.
The hardest part of all of this is we have to starve the poor beast for 24 hours and then slowly re-introduce his food. It started last night with 4 pills. (I fed him while Marn picked up the pills - I probably shouldn't have, but I didn't know at the time) He then gets 2 pills per day for the next 3 or 4 days until they are gone.
Echo is staying with his "poppy" today which is great and I'm off tomorrow so we shouldn't have anymore accidents until this clears up.
The nice thing about this is that older dogs (6 months+) build up an immunity against coccidia and have the ability to expel them on their own. They may even be carriers of it and not know it. Also, it's not infectious to humans.
So, hopefully in 3 days he'll be back to normal and I won't have to use the garden hose to clean up the yard!!
1) He was getting better and then got really bad again (yesterday afternoon he had accidents in his crate again - almost a week after it happened the first time)
2) He STILL has diarrhea or very soft poops and it never really firmed up again
3) One of his litter-mates had been diagnosed with it
After last night's episode we called Danielle to ask her what we should be doing about this because it's been a week with no real improvement. She basically cut Marnie off and said she suspects one of two things; either a food allergy or coccidiosis - cocka-what? She went on to tell us to call the vet right away and to tell them we suspect that. So Marnie called the vet on my cell as I continued with Danielle, and the vet wanted to talk to Danielle. So we hung up and our vet called Danielle who worked out that yeah, treat for this organism right away without another test. If it's not markedly better in 3 days, come back in for more tests.
"Great!" I'm thinking... 1 month old and the vet bills are already rolling in! Well turns out that treating this is pretty simple AND cheap (about $15 and no consult fee), and thankfully there are no long-term side effects (not so with severe cases). I found a good read about the organism here if you want to read up on it.
The hardest part of all of this is we have to starve the poor beast for 24 hours and then slowly re-introduce his food. It started last night with 4 pills. (I fed him while Marn picked up the pills - I probably shouldn't have, but I didn't know at the time) He then gets 2 pills per day for the next 3 or 4 days until they are gone.
Echo is staying with his "poppy" today which is great and I'm off tomorrow so we shouldn't have anymore accidents until this clears up.
The nice thing about this is that older dogs (6 months+) build up an immunity against coccidia and have the ability to expel them on their own. They may even be carriers of it and not know it. Also, it's not infectious to humans.
So, hopefully in 3 days he'll be back to normal and I won't have to use the garden hose to clean up the yard!!
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Echo's Explosive... you guessed it!
In case you didn't get it from the subject line.... Diarrhea!
Yesterday, he must have eaten something, or picked up some kind of bug. Marnie and I have no idea what it could have been because we are always out with him and did not see him eat anything out of the ordinary. But what a surprise to come home to! There was puke and crap EVERYWHERE in and around his cage. Out the back, out the front, out the side... The poor thing! He must have been just dieing in there because it looked as though he was pushing his bum out to the sides of his crate as to not mess inside. He didn't succeed all that well as he had it all over himself and the crate as well as the surrounding carpet. Marnie was the lucky one who got home first and said that she let him out right away where he proceeded to crap 3 times. When I got home, they were back inside with him laying there just happy that we were home -- like nothing had happened!
So Marn ran to Walmart to pick up a little portable Bissel steam cleaner as I started to pick up what I could... he went out another 2 times while marn was gone.
We had to cancel our dinner plans with Marn's sister and Dave's relatives from Scotland because we weren't about to put him back in the crate for a few hours.
I felt so bad for him! I had to take the crate and chew toys outside to hose them off - the toys went in the dishwasher.
Anyway, the emergencies continued all night long. Echo woke us up yelping at about 1:00 AM, so Marn got up to let him out.... and he had already messed in the crate AGAIN - he just went in at 11:30. So she decided to blow up the mattress and sleep downstairs with him so that she could let him out when he needed it. Well, she said he woke her up almost every hour to go out, whether he really needed to or not. He at least was attempting - you know that feeling?! He didn't puke all night, or since we got home yesterday, so that's a good thing and makes me feel that there's nothing too wrong with him. He also ate supper and breakfast this morning fine. The runs continued this morning, though. Marn's parent's offered to take him for today so that they could keep an eye on him which was great, so we packed his crate up this morning and Marn took him over there.
We actually have a Vet appt. tonight, so I called them this morning and told them about what was happening and asked if I should bring in a stool sample for them if I could. They said yes, that's a good idea -- I'm not sure if I heard his hands rubbing together when he said yes, but I guess I'll decide whether to bring one based on the report back from The Simpson camp this afternoon. At 3 PM Drew said he hadn't had anything solid yet all day, so chances are we'll bring one.
Puppy weight: before the explosive diarrhea started he was 34 LBS. We'll get the official weight and health report tonight.
Yesterday, he must have eaten something, or picked up some kind of bug. Marnie and I have no idea what it could have been because we are always out with him and did not see him eat anything out of the ordinary. But what a surprise to come home to! There was puke and crap EVERYWHERE in and around his cage. Out the back, out the front, out the side... The poor thing! He must have been just dieing in there because it looked as though he was pushing his bum out to the sides of his crate as to not mess inside. He didn't succeed all that well as he had it all over himself and the crate as well as the surrounding carpet. Marnie was the lucky one who got home first and said that she let him out right away where he proceeded to crap 3 times. When I got home, they were back inside with him laying there just happy that we were home -- like nothing had happened!
So Marn ran to Walmart to pick up a little portable Bissel steam cleaner as I started to pick up what I could... he went out another 2 times while marn was gone.
We had to cancel our dinner plans with Marn's sister and Dave's relatives from Scotland because we weren't about to put him back in the crate for a few hours.
I felt so bad for him! I had to take the crate and chew toys outside to hose them off - the toys went in the dishwasher.
Anyway, the emergencies continued all night long. Echo woke us up yelping at about 1:00 AM, so Marn got up to let him out.... and he had already messed in the crate AGAIN - he just went in at 11:30. So she decided to blow up the mattress and sleep downstairs with him so that she could let him out when he needed it. Well, she said he woke her up almost every hour to go out, whether he really needed to or not. He at least was attempting - you know that feeling?! He didn't puke all night, or since we got home yesterday, so that's a good thing and makes me feel that there's nothing too wrong with him. He also ate supper and breakfast this morning fine. The runs continued this morning, though. Marn's parent's offered to take him for today so that they could keep an eye on him which was great, so we packed his crate up this morning and Marn took him over there.
We actually have a Vet appt. tonight, so I called them this morning and told them about what was happening and asked if I should bring in a stool sample for them if I could. They said yes, that's a good idea -- I'm not sure if I heard his hands rubbing together when he said yes, but I guess I'll decide whether to bring one based on the report back from The Simpson camp this afternoon. At 3 PM Drew said he hadn't had anything solid yet all day, so chances are we'll bring one.
Puppy weight: before the explosive diarrhea started he was 34 LBS. We'll get the official weight and health report tonight.
Monday, July 24, 2006
1st Dane Visit, Market and Dog Park
It was a busy weekend for Echo and us.
He got to see his Mom and rest of the family on Saturday morning because we were driving up to Chesley to order more wood for our deck and fence. Dantry Danes is pretty much on the way, so we decided to stop there for a visit, plus I needed to get some files for the web site and chat with her a bit about what I've done so far. It was pretty neat to see him with all the bigger dogs and play with his sister, Maggie - they were about the same size, with Maggie maybe even a little bit bigger. Fatter anyway. Danielle said that Echo looks to be the perfect size and weight, but maybe could take on a little more food, so we were happy about that, because we weren't really sure. The week before we had increased his food by a cup a day because he really was looking skinny. People keep telling us that he looks thin, but I think other people's perception of what a healthy weight is for dogs is too fat. Anyway, she went on to comment about him many times over the short visit we had about how good he moves, and looks. Marn and I both got the impression that she was jealous! ;) but not really, I think she's just really happy that he looks good. Starting this week we're giving him 4.5 cups/day, and then increasing it by .5 cups every 2 weeks until he hits 4 months which should bring the total intake to 6 cups per day!
Anyway, while we were at the farm and chatting to Danielle and Matt, Echo and Maggie got into it a little bit. Echo didn't like something she did (none of us saw it) and started growling and trying to bite her - definitely NOT playful. He sounded serious! So I started to step in to back him off and Danielle yells over to me, "don't get in, let them sort it out!". I didn't want Echo to hurt her pup! Echo just kept on going at her, and finally Maggie ran off and Echo settled. Danielle said that when you step in like that and don't let them "talk it out" it teaches them to skip the talking and just go right to fighting when they don't like something.
It was kind of cool... but the Coolest thing was seeing the other dogs around them! Some of the leaders of the pack kind of stood around and watched to make sure everything was going ok, and when it started getting a little heavy, one of them - it may have been Madison, I can't remember - stood over Echo as if to say, "ok, that's enough!" Echo just kind of looked up and was like, "yep, whatever you say!".
We went in the house to chat a little more and Echo and Maggie started fighting again, but this time not so bad, and Madison again got in there, but this time opened her mouth and pinned Echo down by his neck (ok, his whole body was basically in her mouth). She didn't hurt him, and did it pretty gently, actually, but Echo stopped immediately and then laid there spread eagle saying, I give! Really cool to see. The rest of the time there he played fine, and even tried to get some of the big girls in the house going (they basically ignored him).
Sunday morning we took him to the Waterloo Sunday market where we couldn't walk 5 feet without someone asking if they could pet and see him. It was pretty funny as you'd hear in the background, look at the weimaramer, what a strange colour for a lab, what kind of dog is that? I told Marn that next time we go I'm strapping a sign on his back that says, "I'm a GREAT DANE!" She said that in 2 months no one will be making that mistake... hehe
But, EVERYONE had the same comment after we told them that he was a Dane. OHH, A Great Dane! REALLY? He'll be a big boy! I've never seen that colour (understandable) Have you got a harness for him yet? Oh, you mean a horse! UUGGHH!!!! I love how people are interested, but why the LAME comments! I can see myself getting very cranky if these comments keep coming, which I'm sure they will...
Anyway, I understand why people loved him at the market -- he's adorable!!
We decided to take Echo to the dog park in Bechtel park last night before ultimate frisbee because he's been slowly gaining more confidence with other dogs and starting to play a little bit with smaller and similar sized dogs. Also Saturday's experience with his family helped. We thought it would be good for him even though he's still a pup (we often forget he's only 11 weeks old because he's about the same size as a 5 month old lab).
Anyway, there was this bigger dog (think mastiff/terrier type head, about 90 lbs) walking very good to the fenced area with us who was interested in Echo, but didn't pay much attention to him and who entered the area first. He took off right away, like a switch went off in his head as soon as he stepped through the fence he knew it was play time and looked around for other dogs. So we went in and started walking with Echo tailing beside and behind us not sure about what to do when that dog came tearing back at us (obviously happy and wanting to play) and headed right for Echo full tilt. Echo just froze and backed up a bit and the other dog basically bulldozed him and jumped right over him clipping Echo a bit on the way over. Echo yelped like crazy and laid there with his tail firmly pressed against his butt and end of it tickling his belly, then came running right behind us. Uggh! Not the greatest introduction to the dog park that we were hoping for! He basically stayed there for the full 30-40 minutes we were there. The whole rest of the time, that other dog didn't come back to Echo as he found another bigger play buddy to rough house with.
Poor Echo was terrified at that moment shaking and wide-eyed! He did better the longer we stayed, and we did run into some very friendly and gentle dogs which helped a lot, but he never actually started playing with any of them like we've seen him do in the last week. We should have waited a little longer outside the gates until that bigger dog got himself a friend. Ah well, who knew? He'll do better next time and put that little incident in the back of his head for when he's big. :)
He got to see his Mom and rest of the family on Saturday morning because we were driving up to Chesley to order more wood for our deck and fence. Dantry Danes is pretty much on the way, so we decided to stop there for a visit, plus I needed to get some files for the web site and chat with her a bit about what I've done so far. It was pretty neat to see him with all the bigger dogs and play with his sister, Maggie - they were about the same size, with Maggie maybe even a little bit bigger. Fatter anyway. Danielle said that Echo looks to be the perfect size and weight, but maybe could take on a little more food, so we were happy about that, because we weren't really sure. The week before we had increased his food by a cup a day because he really was looking skinny. People keep telling us that he looks thin, but I think other people's perception of what a healthy weight is for dogs is too fat. Anyway, she went on to comment about him many times over the short visit we had about how good he moves, and looks. Marn and I both got the impression that she was jealous! ;) but not really, I think she's just really happy that he looks good. Starting this week we're giving him 4.5 cups/day, and then increasing it by .5 cups every 2 weeks until he hits 4 months which should bring the total intake to 6 cups per day!
Anyway, while we were at the farm and chatting to Danielle and Matt, Echo and Maggie got into it a little bit. Echo didn't like something she did (none of us saw it) and started growling and trying to bite her - definitely NOT playful. He sounded serious! So I started to step in to back him off and Danielle yells over to me, "don't get in, let them sort it out!". I didn't want Echo to hurt her pup! Echo just kept on going at her, and finally Maggie ran off and Echo settled. Danielle said that when you step in like that and don't let them "talk it out" it teaches them to skip the talking and just go right to fighting when they don't like something.
It was kind of cool... but the Coolest thing was seeing the other dogs around them! Some of the leaders of the pack kind of stood around and watched to make sure everything was going ok, and when it started getting a little heavy, one of them - it may have been Madison, I can't remember - stood over Echo as if to say, "ok, that's enough!" Echo just kind of looked up and was like, "yep, whatever you say!".
We went in the house to chat a little more and Echo and Maggie started fighting again, but this time not so bad, and Madison again got in there, but this time opened her mouth and pinned Echo down by his neck (ok, his whole body was basically in her mouth). She didn't hurt him, and did it pretty gently, actually, but Echo stopped immediately and then laid there spread eagle saying, I give! Really cool to see. The rest of the time there he played fine, and even tried to get some of the big girls in the house going (they basically ignored him).
Sunday morning we took him to the Waterloo Sunday market where we couldn't walk 5 feet without someone asking if they could pet and see him. It was pretty funny as you'd hear in the background, look at the weimaramer, what a strange colour for a lab, what kind of dog is that? I told Marn that next time we go I'm strapping a sign on his back that says, "I'm a GREAT DANE!" She said that in 2 months no one will be making that mistake... hehe
But, EVERYONE had the same comment after we told them that he was a Dane. OHH, A Great Dane! REALLY? He'll be a big boy! I've never seen that colour (understandable) Have you got a harness for him yet? Oh, you mean a horse! UUGGHH!!!! I love how people are interested, but why the LAME comments! I can see myself getting very cranky if these comments keep coming, which I'm sure they will...
Anyway, I understand why people loved him at the market -- he's adorable!!
We decided to take Echo to the dog park in Bechtel park last night before ultimate frisbee because he's been slowly gaining more confidence with other dogs and starting to play a little bit with smaller and similar sized dogs. Also Saturday's experience with his family helped. We thought it would be good for him even though he's still a pup (we often forget he's only 11 weeks old because he's about the same size as a 5 month old lab).Anyway, there was this bigger dog (think mastiff/terrier type head, about 90 lbs) walking very good to the fenced area with us who was interested in Echo, but didn't pay much attention to him and who entered the area first. He took off right away, like a switch went off in his head as soon as he stepped through the fence he knew it was play time and looked around for other dogs. So we went in and started walking with Echo tailing beside and behind us not sure about what to do when that dog came tearing back at us (obviously happy and wanting to play) and headed right for Echo full tilt. Echo just froze and backed up a bit and the other dog basically bulldozed him and jumped right over him clipping Echo a bit on the way over. Echo yelped like crazy and laid there with his tail firmly pressed against his butt and end of it tickling his belly, then came running right behind us. Uggh! Not the greatest introduction to the dog park that we were hoping for! He basically stayed there for the full 30-40 minutes we were there. The whole rest of the time, that other dog didn't come back to Echo as he found another bigger play buddy to rough house with.
Poor Echo was terrified at that moment shaking and wide-eyed! He did better the longer we stayed, and we did run into some very friendly and gentle dogs which helped a lot, but he never actually started playing with any of them like we've seen him do in the last week. We should have waited a little longer outside the gates until that bigger dog got himself a friend. Ah well, who knew? He'll do better next time and put that little incident in the back of his head for when he's big. :)
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Puppy Classes
We signed Echo up for puppy classes/obedience 1 at a local training facility in Kitchener and we're really excited about it. They start on Thursday July 27th and run for 6 weeks. This was one of the classes we sat in on a few weeks ago. Marnie wasn't too keen on the environment because she had a hard time hearing the instructor (concrete walls with dogs and people yapping), but most of the training will occur at our house or with us outside of that facility, so that wasn't a concern to me.
Some of the things they teach are;
100% positive training. We both are a little bit skeptical of this because we think that dogs DO need to be put in their place every now and then (ie: We're the leader!). Our breeder agrees and her dogs are great.
Sit, down, off, come, stay, drop it, wait, settle down, heeling on loose leash as well as socialization before classes, concentration, personality creation and problem solving and prevention are also covered.
It seems like a lot in only 6 sessions! It will be a lot of work for us, but I can't wait to see him progress.
We've started a little bit already with sit, down, come (played last night in our backyard with the "come" game and it was so cute to see him running back and forth between Marn and I), stay, wait (wiping feet after coming in from outside), heel during walks and generally he's doing pretty good. Definitely does better when treat is in hand, though.
Click the picture above, or check out the trainers site at http://www.delightfuldogs.net
These classes will take us straight through to Aug. 31, and then the next session for Obedience level 2 starts the following Tuesday Sept. 5, so nice timing if we keep taking him there.
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