Buja board fun!

 As promised, here is video of Nova having fun on the buja board.  The purpose is to teach her confidence on a surface that moves under her feet, like a teeter totter.  As you can see, she's pretty confident already!  She likes this so much that she'll play on it by herself.

In this video she's practicing on the puppy table.  This is proprioception training:  agility dogs need to be highly aware of what part of their body is doing what and where it is doing it.  It will not only help her successfully complete obstacles, it will give her confidence while she's doing it.  A confident agility dog is a happy agility dog!  Next she'll learn to plant her back feet on the tiny table and walk around it with her front feet.  Toward the end of the video we take a little break for easy stuff:  sit, down, spin, twist and "bang!"  That's our version of "play dead".

15 Weeks Old

Nova is growing like a weed!  She was at the vet for another round of vaccine and she now tips the scales at 20 lb.  That's more than double her weight since Feb. 1.  We had another photo session with the Coke bottle this week.

My attempt to snap a photo BEFORE she attacked the bottle.

I guess this will have to do for her 15 week photo.  As you can see, she's grown quite a bit since the  13 week photo.

Along with basic obedience training, she's beginning some exposure to agility equipment.  She has a tiny "table":  a 12" round surface on a 2" high base.  She stands on it with her front feet and walks around it with her back feet.  This is an exercise in proprioception:  the ability to know where the various parts of her body are.  It's particularly important for her to have a sense of where her back feet are in relation to the rest of her body while walking over the dog walk or jumping over a jump.  Compare it to being able to walk up a flight of stairs without watching as you place your feet on each step.  You just KNOW where your feet are in relation to the rest of your body.  
I also pulled the buja board out of storage this week.  This is a 3 foot square board (with a textured surface for good footing).  Mounted in the center of the underside of this board is a 6 inch hard plastic ball.  The board tips in all directions, depending on where her weight is applied.  The purpose is to make her comfortable on a surface that moves under her feet, such as a teeter totter.  True to her bold and spunky nature, she wasn't spooked at all from the first time she climbed on it.  Once she figured out treats could be earned by tipping it every which way, she was eager to play the game.  This afternoon she went to it on her own, climbed on and looked at me as if to say "Okay, I'm ready to play!"  I hope to have a video to post in a few days.
The backyard holds a few more activities.  I've put out a couple jump uprights to get her used to going between them.  No cross bars yet.  Her bones need to develop a lot more before she's ready for jumping.  
I also have a baby A-frame.  Along with walking over it, I'll eventually teach her to stop at the bottom with her front feet on the grass and her back feet on the board.  This is the beginning of training her to "hit her contacts", the area at the bottom of the downward side of every contact obstacle.  She'll be required to step in this "contact zone" with at least 1 foot.  This is a safety rule to prevent dogs from launching from an unsafe height and injuring themselves.   

Nova on baby A-frame.

Her life is more than just training, though.  Besides puppy class every Tuesday, which gives her 30 minutes of playtime with 3-4 other puppies, she had a play date last weekend with 2 adult Golden Retrievers.  Devon wasn't much interested in playing with a puppy.  Devon knows I keep treats in my pocket and that's what she wanted!  Page, however, was a great playmate.  They ran and boxed and wrestled for almost 90 minutes!  Page would lay on the floor and let Nova climb all over her, never getting too rough or losing patience with Nova.  What a fun time they had!

Kennel Club visit - Look at that tail wag!

Nova also had her first visit to the kennel club building this week.  She met lots of people and dogs who will become her closest friends.  Our friend Lynne snapped these pictures of her visit.

  Stay tuned.  More to come!

13+ weeks old

Nova weighed 8.8 lb when I brought her home on Feb. 1.  Five weeks later she weighs 16.6 lb.  The baby is getting big!  Last night she decided to climb the stairs, bottom to top.  It wasn't very graceful, but she got all the way to the top and was very proud of herself.  Now we'll work on going on down.
We're making progress on the biting (or rather the NOT biting!).  Being overly tired is definitely a contributing factor.  I need to get better at spotting the signs of "I need a nap" and put her to bed before she hooks me with those sharp little needles!

13 weeks old

 Nova is now 13 weeks old.  The pictures below don't show dramatic growth, but since she doesn't go up or down stairs by herself yet, I can testify that she is growing!  She's become quite a wiggly armful!
The big challenge right now is to make her understand what she can bite (toys, treats) and what she CAN'T bite (my hand!).  Sometimes I think I brought home a land shark instead of a puppy.  Of course, this is all perfectly natural for a young pup, but the education is ongoing and I hope to break her of this painful habit very soon!
She is attending puppy school every Tuesday evening, where she gets to play with 3 other puppies, all very close to her age and size.  For the most part, she does well and plays nicely, but there is a Golden Retriever puppy that rubs her the wrong way and she gets a little growly with him.  The 2nd half of the class consists of exposure to new things (sights and sounds), plus some training instruction and practice.  It's a busy, stimulating hour and by the time we come home she's exhausted and ready for a nap.
Her list of talents now includes sit, stand, 2 different types of down, a clockwise spin & a counter-clockwise spin. We are also working on another type of down where she lays on her side.  This will come in handy for nail trimming and ear cleaning.  Learning to walk nicely on a leash is in progress, but right now involves a lot of jumping in the air and biting at the leash.  Quite amusing, but not very productive!  She is also learning to play "The Box Game".  This involves giving her treats for any interactions with a plastic box (she tried to eat the cardboard one!), such as standing on it, pushing it across the floor, standing with 2 feet on and 2 feet off, etc.  It's a great game to teach a puppy to invent and offer new and different behaviors.  When I see one I like I reinforce it with treats.  Fun all around!

10 weeks old

13 weeks old