Birthday!

Today is Terra's first birthday! My baby girl has grown so much!

3 months old

6 months old

9 months old

12 months old

We've made a lot of progress in her socialization. She now greets most of my visitors with a wagging tail (with the exception of some men), she's eager to get out of the car in new places, she has good dog social skills (except some small dogs she overwhelms when she wants to play), and she's a great house dog and hiker. I'm eager to see how she continues to progress as she matures.

New collars

Martingales from 2 Hounds Design. Love them.

More playtime in creek

Dipping toes in water

I've always wanted a dog who enjoyed playing in water, if not full on swimming. Terra is my fourth attempt. Her initial introductions to bodies of water went similarly: she got excited, then jumped in deeper than she was comfortable, then avoided the water. I didn't take her to any swimming areas over the winter, but now the weather is over 80 degrees and it was time to try again.

Earlier this week, I took her to the local creek and waded in.

Initially Terra paced the shore, wanting to come to me but nervous about entering the water.

I praised her every time she tried to muster up her courage, and slowly she started to venture in more.

Eventually she joined me where I was standing, in about a foot of running water!

She started whining a little, like she didn't know what to do with herself. I did some playful gestures and got her to smile at me. Then we exited the water and went home. A successful trip!

A few days later, we walked through Point Isabel with Miki. Her dogs ran down to the water to cool off, and Cai followed to investigate. I was thrilled to see Terra go in, too!

She only went in to a depth of a few inches, but it was another positive experience. Yay!

Puppy strip complete!

FINALLY I have finished tugging out Terra's puppy coat. She looks naked. On the plus side, it's easier to bathe her and the remaining layer of undercoat is so soft and nice to pet. We are both relieved that she won't need to get a full strip again.

March 11

March 12

March 18

March 21

March 22

March 24

March 24

April 6

April 6

April 18

April 18

April 18

Big dogs, visiting and training with friends

I brought Terra to Rachel's craft party yesterday. We stopped by Point Isabel first so that Terra could run around. She met three Great Danes. She's intimidated by large dogs, even some lab/golden sized ones, and will hunch down and tuck her tail around giant dogs. After the initial greeting, she saw them playing and was curious and snuck up for more sniffing.

Once at Rachel's, she wandered and sniffed everything for an hour, then fell asleep on the couch for the rest of the evening. We did a couple of mini training sessions for conformation. I put on the slip lead, gave the cue for her to stand and watch my hand, and then Rachel or Agnes would reach toward her head. She got a treat for continuing to look at my hand, or for looking back if she got distracted. She did quite well! Agnes was able to touch her chin without Terra looking away.

I took her to the back yard to potty before we left, and she peed right away, which meant that she'd been intentionally holding it while in Rachel's house. Good girl.

Camping weekend

Terra went on her first camping trip, along with my sister and her dog, Frankie. Her behavior was mostly what I expected. She repeatedly held her bladder and bowels as long as she could, as she doesn't like to potty in new places. She picked at her food but ate everything in the end. She dug a hole. She tried to play with Frankie by pawing at him obnoxiously. She loved getting attention from me and Agnes. She woofed at most of the people who walked by our campsite. (Fortunately we were in a spot that didn't have too much traffic.) I was relieved that she didn't once bark at night.

She slept right next to me or on top of me most of the time. During the first night, every time she woke up, she would proceed to wake Agnes and me up by nosing at our faces. During the second night, she was tired from a long night and mostly settled. Once I train her out of bugging us, she'll be a great camp dog.

Fear period?, training with others

I invited other local FDSA students to come over for a group training session. Two were able to make it - both women with large dogs (Beauceron and Dutch Shepherd). In the recent past, Terra has been quick to approach and befriend women who visit. She was scared of all strangers as a puppy, but learned through experience that female visitors to the farm are great. (She has also improved with men but it's still somewhat of a gamble.) This time she approached them but immediately withdrew when they moved at all, even when they weren't reaching for her. One of the women sat down in a chair and let Terra take her time sniffing, then she was comfortable. The other woman just gave her space. I'm thinking now that Terra is experiencing an adolescent fear period.

With the large dogs, her behavior was typical - she wanted to sniff them but was intimidated by their size.

After the initial excitement died down, I did a teeny bit of training with Terra. She was able to sit, shake, do a hand touch, and place one front foot on her platform target. I tried to get her to place the other foot as well, but she was done at that point. She got some more cuddles and food scatters, then I put her away so I could work with Cai.

Regression in socialization

I took Terra to a knitting group that takes place in a meeting room at a library. It's all quiet old ladies sitting around a big table. I haven't been getting her out much lately, so I thought it would be an easy way to get her back into it. When she'd been younger, she'd done well at a knitting meetup at a yarn store, which had been bustling with activity. I was disappointed to see that this time, Terra wanted to leave the meeting room from the moment we walked in. I sat down away from the main table and cuddled with her. She settled down somewhat, but was still stress panting, tense, and oriented toward the exit. I slid off my chair and sat on the floor with her. This had a greater effect in reassuring her, and she ended up lying against my legs with her head down. She wasn't relaxed, though, and she was happy when we left. We were there for 45 minutes.

Was it because she hadn't been getting out as much during January and February, other than hiking? Was it because this was an enclosed space with only one exit? Because it was too many people at once, even if they were all quiet, sitting ladies? Because her shoulders were bothering her and she was in pain, and that lowered her tolerance? Because she's going through an adolescent fear period? All of these things together, or some, or none?

Who knows? The point of socialization is to have repeated positive experiences that build the dog's confidence, and protect them as needed. It's better for me to keep her out of these situations than to have her repeatedly experiencing them and hating them. So we'll continue playing, learning, and walking and hiking in open spaces until she shows me that she's ready for more.

New people, stripping puppy coat

Terra met my friend Ally's family on Saturday. She was a bit standoffish with Ally. She warmed up to Ally's husband quickly. (I think it helped that he looked similar to a couple of other men she likes.) She really liked Ally's 5 and 6 year old kids! I don't know way but Terra has always liked kids, the younger the better. She also likes Miki's 1 and 5 year olds. She wants to lick their faces over and over and lets them reach for her and pet with with a wagging tail.

Terra was initially put off by Nimbus, the 5 month old Portugese Water Dog. He was jumping onto her head and shoulders to play. But she warmed up to him and they ended up running around in circles together.

I tried my hand at stripping her coat, as the breeder was stripping her sister Ryuk this weekend. Terra was mildly irritated when I tugged on more sensitive parts of her body, but for the most part just laid down and let me do it. We're doing a little at a time so she looks very strange right now.