First Major Boo Boos

My Buddy and I play a lot at daycare! We play hard! We play rough! 

Note from Mom: See what happens when you rough house? This happened at the daycare - playing too rough with a Golden Retriever. Not only did he get these puncture wounds, he also strained muscles in his front and back left legs. :(
BUT - he would probably think it was worth it after all the attention he has gotten - full body massages, lots of lovin' and getting to lay on our bed. No day care for awhile and no running at the park. We even missed a session of obedience training.

SandBox Fun - Danger? UPDATE

You see that horrible iron rod sticking up in the corner of that sandbox? When we went to play at the dog park, my dad fixed it for the time we were there, but my mom and dad both e-mailed the city Parks & Recreation about the danger and they are fixing it this week. Mom took this picture so she could send it to them. They sent someone right out to check it and they called my mom and let her know it would be fixed ASAP. 

Not only that - my mom is trying to get some other things done for the park so it will make it a happier place to visit. The man over the budget told my mom that they would see what they could do to get new park benches and maybe even a concrete water pond like the one at my favorite park! 

Note from Mom: We love taking Opie to the dog park, but our local park is just not up to standards in my opinion. Not after visiting other city dog parks and seeing what is available. Our city has money for many things and the upgrades for the dog park is just as important as some of the things the money is spent on. This squeaky wheel is going to squeak until she is happy with the progress of our city park!

Here is the NEW and IMPROVED Sandbox! Parks & Recreation were on it right after we talked to them. Despite all the rain this week - it still was taken care of!

My Mom is in Doggy School!

My mom loves working and training me so much that she would like to train lots of dogs and breeds. She is taking online classes now. I am so proud of her!

Note from Mom: it's true ! I am taking online classes for Dog Trainer/Instructor. I have one year to complete the courses through Penn Foster Career College. I am pretty excited about it! Opie is my inspiration. However, besides working with him, I hope to volunteer at one of the shelters and do some hands on training as I go and hopefully help make a dog or 2 more adoptable. That would be awesome!

Very Scary !

I went to group play today and I got way too hot! I scared mom and dad really bad. I am ok now! 

Note from Mom: We had a scare with Opie last night. I picked him up at group play and I knew he didn’t seem that excited but I thought that was a good thing because he is a little calmer each time I pick him up. On the way home I noticed he was panting really, really hard, like I have never seen him do. It was loud, too. When we got home and I got him in the house, I tried to get him to drink but he wouldn’t – he just collapsed on the floor in the kitchen completely spread out and his heart was beating so fast and he was just not right. His eyes didn’t look right and he had thick drool. His face and eyes were as red as they could be and since he has a pink body under the white, it was much brighter pink. I got a wet dish towel and put it over the bottom half of him and he didn’t flinch. Brad came in right then and he got another wet towel and I just kept wiping his face and covered the rest of his body. He started to cool down enough then that he would drink some water and we just kept giving him a little bit at a time. I know he was on the verge of heat stroke. I seriously don’t think he would have made it much longer if I hadn’t picked him up when I did. After about an hour he was back to normal, but he didn’t move from that spot for 30 minutes and then when he did he went right to his bed. When he was back to normal he ate and was like nothing happened.

I am thinking that every time he goes to the pet resort it has ended up raining part of the afternoon or at least thundering and lightening and they go indoors to play. Yesterday was 91 and pretty sunny the whole time. I am wondering if they never went in. When I picked him up they said he was good like he always is and went on about how they just love having him there.

I am going to call in a while and let them know what happened. Bulldogs just cannot be out in the heat for a solid 4 hours if that is what they did. I want him to go but I just want them to make sure he is drinking plenty and getting to go in occasionally.

That was just too scary. I am glad I already knew the signs of heatstroke and what to do!

What A Difference

My mom was quite surprised when she put these 2 pictures side by side. I weighed 54 pounds on the day I turned 7 months. 

Note from Mom:
He is losing his baby features! I don't want him to grow up yet! I know he is still a puppy but  not in the looks department. He is so personable and  people constantly tell me how beautiful he is and want to talk to him and pet him. He is learning he has to sit before any one can touch him and by taking him out to pet friendly stores, he is doing pretty good.

He can now: (On Command)
sit
shake 
high five
lay down
roll over
fetch or "get it"
bring it
stay 
wait
get in your bed
leave it

We are working on:
*come when called with distractions - this one is a tough one for him!
*heel when on leash - doing really well 
*waiting with distractions
*sitting/staying with distractions
*leave it with distractions

I am very proud of how far he has come in the 4 months that we have had him. I can't imagine him not being in our lives now. 

I Won! Dog Day at the Wave Pool

We went to the wave pool this weekend! I was in a contest and I won a ribbon for  "most obedient" and then I won  a big ribbon Grand Prize Overall Best in Show! My mom and dad were so proud of me. They kept telling me how smart I am and how good I was the whole time. 

I even got in the wave pool by myself! I just walked right in there with all the other dogs. There were all kinds of dogs there, too. We didn't see any that look like me, tho. There was one that mom said was a little like me. He had the same colors, but he was an English Bulldog. I liked him. 

There was a couple of mud puddles that were big enough for me to jump in and I rolled and got mud all over me. I just love to get muddy!

Note from Mom: It was so fun! We had a blast. It was good to see Opie enjoying himself, playing with all the other dogs, running and jumping in the water. There were several people in the pool that had balls or frisbees and a few times Opie would fetch it for them. He thought they were doing it for him. They didn't seem to mind.

We were surprised when Opie won his ribbons, especially Grand Prize. For Most Obedient - we went through several of his tricks and since he did them on command, they considered that obedient. The little rascal would not come when I called him while he was out in the water or running. He was just having too much fun. Oh, the mud puddles - - - yes, there certainly were and not only did he jump and roll - he sloshed mud ALL OVER 2 ladies who were sitting in chairs at their vendors booth! lol they were very nice about it. It had rained right before it started so every one was a little wet anyway, but Opie just made sure they were a little muddy, too. He is such a character.

Intermediate Classes Have Begun

I am back in school! I have had 2 lessons so far. The first lesson was one on one because no one else signed up but for the second lesson I had a friend. He is a Lab and they let us play since it was just the two of us. 

Here is what we are working on so far:

Coming when called with distractions
Heel
Leave it, with distractions


It was a lot of fun. The trainer bounced a ball all around the room while mom and dad took turns calling me back and forth. I got lots of treats for just running back and forth. Easy as pie. 
We walked all around the store at a slow pace and a fast pace and mom would say "heel" and I had to stop right then and sit down. I did that pretty good. It was hard because there were an awful lot of kids around and I wanted to play with them really bad. 

Note from Mom:
We enjoyed having a one on one class but are glad to have someone else in class, too. I was very happy with how well he did, but of course this was an enclosed area. When we go to the park and call him, he doesn't always listen very well. 

He will be 7 months this week and is 52 pounds.