Saturday, February 27, 2010

Trappersaurus Redux

You might wonder why I chose "Trappersaurus" as a title for these posts.

Well, in working with Trapper to minimize barking/whining, we've pretty much convinced him that "no noise" is a good thing. So now he's decided that chomping at us is an acceptable form of communication. It's not so much a snap as it is a "clop"...complete with sound. Shades of Jurassic Park...

It's fairly expressive...and hard not to laugh at when he unleashes a half dozen or so!

Trapper's travels continue to entertain!

We're just back from a fun walk along a local marina. Sights and sounds included swimming ducks, gulls and a heron or two as well as kids fishing and light traffic of both cars and bikes. There was even a roller blader. Trapper met a 14 year-old female pooch who tolerated his lunge well. A Jack Russell about fell off the seawall trying to avoid him.

Then we stopped at the grocery on the way home. Of course he drew several crowds being irresistable and all. He did very nicely sitting at the deli waiting for our order.

Now he's chewing on an ice cube as an appetizer before dinner in an hour or so.

Trappersaurus

Well, the puppy "honeymoon" might be coming to an end as Trapper goes into the "I'm not listening..." phase. For the most part he's pretty good but one or two times a day he seems to decide that dissension is the order of the day. We work it out and life goes on.

Just now, for instance, he was sitting in front of me, leaning on my leg being sweet. Then he sauntered away and tried to make off with a length of PVC pipe that houses some electrical cords behind the couch. His mom put a small milkbone inside his kong toy so that is keeping him adequately distracted for the moment.

All in all things are going well...he sleeps through the night with no noise once we figured that out.

He's quite engaging during our outings...doctor's office, Home Depot, Rollin' Oats (lots of good smells there!), library...and riding very nicely to and from all of it.

Now, if he could only make a lasting peace with the resident kitties....

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

The Hole


According to Wikipedia, a black hole is a region of space from which nothing, including light, can escape. Apparently that is what Trapper believes as he peers into Kitty Territory. Usually Gracie is perched just to the left ready for an ambush, of which Trapper apparently enjoys since he manages to stick his head in repetitively. The cats are without claws, but their hissing and spitting is an endless source of amusement for this little puppy. To me it seems he is putting his head in the shark tank, just checking to see if any might be around:)

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Trapper Meets Duke


We headed out to our first official event with Trapper yesterday. The Dunedin Mutt Strut was on the schedule. We arrived at the Highlander entrance, bathroom break, put our jacket on and proceeded to look for the SEGD booth. Lots and lots of people, I'm sure they were all giants to Trapper since all he could see were feet. We walked a couple of blocks each way, stopping in the middle for a huge gathering of people who wanted to pet the puppy, ask questions, more petting, licking until finally we were able to move on. As we approached the end of the block, we asked two nice officers if they knew were the SEGD booth was located. Well..."you are at the wrong event." Ooops, lots more walking, driving, and finally we arrived at the correct place!

Surprises awaited as we approached the booth. One of Trapper's littermates was there, Duke. He is a little darker than Trapper, ginger colored, but just as sweet. They doggie wrestled for a bit, greeted some of the folks at the event, and then we were on our way home. Trapper, and Duke, did very well with all of the activity and attention! We both said we felt we had the best dogs SEGD had ever put out for training:)

Saturday, February 20, 2010

The Honeymoon

Trapper has been with us for about a week and a half so far. He is sooooooooo good, and soooooooo cute, and soooooooo obedient.....I've been told it's the "honeymoon" phase. "Just wait, you'll see". Well so far, so good.

I went out of town for a couple of days this week so Larry had to be the chief puppy wrangler. He says they had some nice "bonding" time. I expected to come home to a messy house, and the place was spic and span, Trapper was glad to see me, and everyone seemed happy.

Trapper had his first vet visit, of which we were told he is going to be a 100 pounder!!!! His feet are huge. EVERYONE says so. But he was a trooper at the vet, and it was off to his first dinner. He was so good, it was like he had done this a hundred times before. He went under the table and laid down, peeking out to watch the feet of the wait staff. Of course, they would go to the other side of the room where they could see him under the table and point him out to the other staff.

He is a "toucher". Very content to sit beside you, as long as something is touching. He has mastered a few of his commands so far, including the potty training which is great.

Monday, February 15, 2010

Thank you and The Olympics

Thanks to the Mcleans for helping set up this blog. I could not have done it without their help.

Trapper had his first trip to Publix yesterday. We had to greet four different groups of people before we got in the front door. Puppies are conversation magnets for sure! This brief exposure was a lot of info for a little guy. Wheels, feet, noise, sliding doors, shiny floors, and then we headed to the deli where the overwhelming aroma of chicken, lunchmeat and fresh baked bread was overwhelming(for both of us!). He was so good and sat patiently waiting for our turn, and then it was time to leave. I knew he was ready when he hopped in the car all by himself for the first time.

A brief walk at Coffeepot Bayou for the afternoon, and we settled down for the night with an evening of Olympics. The TV is quite fascinating to him at this point! So far so good....more to follow!

Sunday, February 14, 2010

American Legion Paws for Patriots Event

Friday and Saturday, Feb. 12th and 13th, Trapper attended his first official event as a guidedog puppy and he was adorable(as every mom says). The event was a bake sale and dinner benefiting Paws for Patriots, Many, many pettings and rubs and kisses later, we headed for home. He was so good, so calm and affectionate, wasn't excited at all about the attention. He was a model puppy as far as I was concerned. Thank you to all of the Legion members. The event was a big success!

Our New Pup!

After completing a day of puppy sitting with Wallie, we received a phone call from Chuck stating a new guide dog pup was ready to come home with us. Wow! Really? Wow! Oh dear! A week later, February 10th, 2010, we picked up Trapper, a yellow lab from a litter of nine, 26 pounds of fun. And so the adventure begins!

Our car trip home was filled with a little whining, trying to get up on the seat, etc. but overall, a smooth ride home. Trapper had a tour of the house, a meet and greet with Angel and Gracie, the resident kitties, and then it was naptime. Gee, this puppy raising job is easy:)

On Thursday, Wallie came over for one last day of puppy sitting, and a romp in the house with Trapper. Wallie is about 3 weeks older than Trapper, but they are about the same size. They played and played and played some more, and then they were ready for break! Lots of sleep, some water, lunch, and it was round two. Wallie left and Trapper was pooped.

All and all he was very comfortable in the house, and even learned to sit within a couple of hours! How easy is this job going to be???