Welcome to the New Year! We are ready for it here. We’re joining Heart Like a Dog for Follow-Up Friday, the hop that wraps up the week and leads you into the weekend.
We are also joining FitDog Friday since we’ll be elaborating on our fitness goals for the new year! Thanks to the hosts SlimDoggy, Peggy’s Pet Place, and To Dog With Love.
On Monday Mischief I shared how things are coming along with our new puppy, Luke. He has taken well to his crate and sleeps through the night. The other animals are slowly adjusting to him. He has really learned to respect Kobi and mostly leave him alone. Kobi is our most easygoing dog but he was the first one to really give Luke a good correction instead of just running away from him. I wish I could have gotten a photo of Luke laying quietly on the dog bed next to his big brother yesterday. Last night he was licking Kobi’s ear, and never even threw a nibble in there!
One of the reasons we wanted a puppy was the hope that it would make the other older dogs more active. Meaning the two girls, at 13 we don’t expect much from Kobi other than some good walks. The first day Luke came home, our plan worked, because the other three dogs were definitely much more active….avoiding the puppy! All 3 were on the move to get away from him, and the two girls spent most of the afternoon outside playing fetch. Even Kobi spent more time outside….it was a warm day that day so he got lots of fresh air.
That really wasn’t what I had in mind. However, we’re getting close to two weeks in, and we are starting to see what we were hoping for. Cricket especially is starting to instigate games of chase and bitey-face with Luke. They all started on the bed this morning and we had to get Kobi down so he didn’t get run over! Sheba will strut around with a toy in her mouth and put it close to Luke and play growl to try to get him interested in it. There’s been some tug of war, and there have been some times when they all just lay together chewing on their own toys.
It’s not perfect….the girls still have their times when they just don’t want to play. Luke doesn’t always understand that, poor little guy! But in addition, they’ve been outside playing chase in the snow some, though Luke is still adjusting to the cold and doesn’t last long out there. Now we’re into subzero temperatures for a couple days so play sessions outside will be very short anyway. We have plenty of snow on the ground now though, so when the temperatures improve there will be a lot more games of chase in the snow.
For Wordless Wednesday, I shared our New Year’s Resolutions as part of the Resolve to Move Your Mutt blog hop.
Kobi’s is to go for more walks. We get out as much as we can considering the winter weather. We’ve had two big snowstorms lately and now with the temperatures dropped to subzero wind chills, I feel it is just too cold to take the old guy out there. But when it’s reasonable, we put his Pawz on and out we go. Our walks are even longer now than they were in the summer. The cold doesn’t bother him really. The only time he wanted to turn around was the other day when the road to the tree farm wasn’t plowed, and even in tire tracks the snow was deep. As soon as it warms up, I’ll be out blazing new snowshoe trails to take him on. Even with the back leg issues Kobi has he keeps on going. Once in a while he’ll lose his balance in the snow….he just gets right up and goes on. It bothers me more than him I think. The other day I had his leash and harness in hand, let him out of the fenced yard, and he went running down the driveway! I caught up to him halfway. The time before that he chased a squirrel up a tree (I had him on the leash that time)!
Cricket is going to work on her leash walking skills. Step one in that process is to try to reduce her intensity, and get her to relax and enjoy the walk more, instead of just plowing forward.
Sheba is going to work on her hind legs. Since she has arthritis in her front shoulders/legs we want to strengthen the back. Our first official session of SlimDoggy squats is later today. I hope to add a K9 Fit Vest later to increase her workout intensity.
Luke resolves to be a good student, and learn lots of new things! We had our first structured training session today, and the first things we are working on are “sit” and “come”. He definitely responds to his name now, and he is starting to understand both of those commands just through our everyday repetition. I also put a leash on him for the first time today and took him outside briefly. He did pretty well! Oh, and he’s also starting to learn to go down the stairs as well as up!
My resolution is to spend less time on the computer and more time with the dogs. I already had a jump start on that before the new year began. When Luke came home I was basically on the computer for brief spells only. With all the holiday activities and a new puppy I just didn’t have time to be on here much, and that helped to detach me from it. I think I will be able to find a balance that works, because I don’t want to miss a minute of Luke growing up.
I’m right there with you on more dog time and less computer time. And with a puppy in the house, there’s always plenty of dog things to do!
Happy New Year!
Diane and Rocco
Happy New Year to both of you too! We will definitely be keeping busy, and I think it will be good for all of us.
Sounds like the sweet puppy got lots of things moving MOL!
Yes, including me….I have to be up and moving earlier in the mornings now too! 🙂
It took awhile for our older dogs to make up to Diesel! Now Teddy plays with him a lot and Ash tries to play with him. Scout just tries to avoid him! Diesel has been good for Teddy and I’m starting to see Teddy come out of his shell a little bit! Puppies are awesome!
Puppies have a way of bringing everyone together. Even if Kobi never loves him, at least he can be company for him if I want to take the two girls for a walk. Plus once I start walking Luke, he’ll probably be on the same program as Kobi for a while. It’s cool how they each have their own relationships with the puppies!
Lots of FitDogging activities with a puppy in the household that’s for sure. Good luck with your NY resolutions…..
Thanks. Hopefully I can get organized enough while we get Luke settled into a routine. At least the other dogs are getting more exercise of some type!
Great FUF and resolutions. Have a great new year ahead.
Thank you, and same to you!
You have some great goals and I know that puppy will keep you busy. 🙂 I wish the weather would moderate a bit. We are all getting cabin fever here. Brown dawgs would stand in the cold forever, but it really isn’t safe to be out for long periods.
Thanks! Yes, Sheba would also just stay outside forever, we have to actually make her come in the house when it’s that cold! We just got two decent days, but the bitter cold is coming back tonite.
That a great resolution! 🙂 Puppyhood goes by so quickly, gotta enjoy every moment of it!
Thanks! They grow so darn fast! He’s already gained 5 lbs in two weeks!
You sound quite busy with your new puppy! He’s so precious and it’s great that the other dogs are getting along and playing with him 🙂
Yes, we certainly are busy! It was back to work today so routines have to be adjusted again. It is so great to see the progress with the other dogs.
What an awesome follow-up, thanks for joining the hop!! I’m so glad that the pack is adjusting to Luke, I remember how stressful it was when our daughter was home with her puppy and our dogs didn’t care for him.
We are keeping our walks short too, it’s just too cold to take a chance.
Have a great weekend and Happy New Year!!
Thank you, Jodi! It is stressful for sure, and we have to keep a close eye on everyone. Sometimes it’s hard with the girls to tell when they are playing and when they are starting to really get mad!
We had one or two warmer days and then it’s back to the bitter cold tomorrow….ugh.
Yea, I have the 2 huskies and Mika is now 4 …..we got Lexus a year ago and she was just a pup. Lexus has learned a lot from her! And I also found that Lexus brought a more playful side out of Mika again.
Mika used to get frustrated when Lex was a pup when she would get a tad out of control but I noticed that usually they worked it out on their own, however if it got to much I would simply separate them for a while, and they r great friends and love each other very much so I think it worked out well!
((Husky hugz))
“Love is being owned by a husky”
I am so glad it worked out well for you with Mika and Lexus. I think we will get there too. I’m not a very patient person, so I want everything perfect right now! LOL
Hugz to you too!
Other dogs are the best trainers for puppies. Sounds like your crew are already doing a great job with little Luke.
I think they are….he is already learning to sit and not jump when we get the treats out!
So fun to see the pics of all the pups together! Caught up on some of your posts. That’s great that he sleeps through the night in the crate!
Sub-zero temperatures though??? Holy cow. I’d die. I’m such a cold weather wimp. You’re going to be in fabulous shape blazing those snow-shoe trails. (We lived in Canada over one winter, and we would take our beagle Bailey snow-shoeing. She loved it! She’d run behind us and hop from footprint to footprint. Luckily it was a very mild winter so I didn’t die!)
In two weeks, I think there have only been 2 nights where we had to get up with him! We’re back to work this week though so he’ll probably stop all that now….lol.
Glad you survived your one winter there, and it was mild for you! 🙂 Kobi used to follow behind my snowshoes too, and he’d often step on them and make me almost fall! That’s why I go out and blaze trails first now. 🙂
I got Gretel when she was 1 and Chester was 8. She is still young so she always wants to play. He’s old, and used to being an only dog, so he doesn’t really want to have anything to do with that “kid stuff”. Good luck on your New Year goals.
Thank you, Jessica. Kobi is pretty slow these days, Sheba has arthritis so she can’t play as hard, but Cricket is still young at heart even at 9, so we see her playing with Luke the most.
Don’t worry, Luke will get them all moving. Bailie and I are non stop with our fun, but we are the same breed and I’m only seven. Katie being eleven is not as crazy but she enjoys a bit of wrestling with Bailie and often times she grabs a toy and motivates Bailie to join her in a game of tug a war. It is super sweet to watch. I’m also the disciplinarian with Bailie and she knows to respect me, Katie doesn’t discipline her at all so Bailie controls her.
Good to hear, Emma! Sheba loves to play tug of war. She and her brother Moses used to wrestle a lot, but I actually think she’s cautious of playing rough with Luke. When he gets bigger that will probably change. Cricket is definitely younger at heart…she and Sheba are the same age but since Cricket is much smaller I think she ages slower, if that makes sense. So she tends to be more active too.
Poor little Luke…I”m sure he’ll soon learn when the right play times are. Thanks for joining the Hop.
He seems to be catching on bit by bit. The girls can be so crabby sometimes….even I don’t know what their mood is going to be! 🙂
I can back that up. We got a new puppy for one of our older and fat house dogs and she slimmed down quite a bit once they started playing together. It’s like tricking a dog to exercise. Good post!
Thanks, Jim. I’m glad to hear that my plan might work! Plus it gives them a little more variety in their exercising too. Cricket would do nothing but fetch the ball if I let her….so I try to expand her horizons a bit!