Yes, we know—it’s been a while since we’ve posted. All I can say is it’s been busy. And a lot of that busy-ness has to do with our little Miss Photon. Over the past week she’s stopped napping for much of the day (shades of Jon, who quit with napping when he was two) and has become a cute, furry, holy terror. She really enjoys snapping at Peter and me (but not at Jon as much, which tells us that she’s not doing it indiscriminately), tearing around the house at breakneck speed, and chewing, chewing, chewing.

Jon’s PlayStation cord after meeting up with Photon (AKA Bitey McBite-Bite)

Actually, I do exaggerate a bit—she’s not so bad in the chewing department, but we have to watch her like a hawk because she moves quietly and fast. She also started an unpleasant habit of occasionally and surreptitiously peeing on the towels she used to lie on. (Oh so that’s why she didn’t sleep on them anymore. Duh.) I think it was during the spell of -15° weather we had here—she would refuse to go outside; usually she loves the great outdoors. We thought she was holding her bladder for awfully long periods—well guess what: She wasn’t!

In less smelly news, she just finished her puppy class. Lots of fun and games, including puppy relays where you had to make your puppy come, sit, lie down and stand sequentially before the next team member could race. Photon, usually sharp as a tack with these exercises, had that classic look of “did you say something to me?” as she sniffed the floor. It was loads of fun, and quite hilarious when I tripped over a pylon, fell on my keester and still managed to yell for Photon to come. I’m looking forward to taking another obedience class with her, but that will have to wait for a month or so.

Laura and Photon with her graduation certificate. I’m not exactly sure what you have to do to not graduate from puppy pre-school. Maul all three trainers, I guess.

Names that Photon’s been called recently by guests:

Photon’s favourite place: sitting on the hot-air grate

Futon
Crouton
Tofu

So we’re well on our way to trying to have Photon meet as many people as she can in the next month or so (to aid her socialization with people). This morning—as we previously arranged with Jon’s teacher—Photon visited Jon’s class at school (she came incognito, wrapped in a blanket, as we weren’t sure whether school administration would appreciate us bringing a dog in). There, she absolutely delighted Jon’s classmates, most of whom looked as though they were ready to ask their parents for a dog by the end of our visit. I’m guessing that this puppy session was just as good for socializing the kids to dogs as it was to socialize Photon to kids.

This evening marked our first “puppy pre-school” class. It’s a very basic obedience course for young puppies, allowing them to meet other puppies in a controlled situation. Talk about organized chaos! Lots of barking, lungeing and puppy distractions (we were instructed to use a HUGE hunk of whatever treat we were using to focus the pup on us). Photon was very good in the “sit” and “come” exercises, but not so hot at leash walking (we’d practised the first two already; had never done the latter).

Some of the students. Photon and I are at back right.

Photon (and Laura) performing “sit” and “come”.

However, she definitely found her (seldom-used) voice and was one of the more vocal ones there. She also found her calling as a real instigator—she’d yap yap yap to set a couple of other pups off, then high-tail it over to another group. I hope this new-found mouthiness doesn’t transfer to home life!

“So what’s Photon really like?” I hear you ask (well, I don’t really. I just like writing about our dog.) “Does she have a personality to match her inestimable cuteness?”

Oh my, yes, but maybe not for the first few days. She started off scared, somewhat wary of us, and suffering from the tail end of a GI bug. So she spent much of the first week being sluggish, mainly sleeping or snuggling. Cuddly, but not very exciting. We started thinking that we named her wrong and that she should really be called “Inertia”…

L: Ain’t she cute? R: Our view of her for the first few days.

After she got better, got her bearings, and learned to ignore that @%#&!! collar instead of scratching at it every 10 seconds she started to perk up. Incredibly fast “puppy zoomies” would occur throughout the day instead of a couple of minutes morning and evening. She now likes snapping playfully at people, a nasty habit that we’re clamping down on.

Our view of her now. She’s kind of hard to take pictures of.

She’s definitely differentiating family members: I’m the cuddle lady—if I sit on the floor, boom! she’s in my lap, snuggling. Peter’s the fun uncle, with puncture marks on his fingers to prove it. She doesn’t quite know what to make of Jon yet, but she tries to be gentle and cuddly with him (except when she’s in the throes of the puppy zoomies.)

Actually, I suppose “Inertia” technically is still an appropriate name for her, except now it’s because once she starts moving you can’t get her to stop!

Housetraining has been essentially fait accompli since about Day 3. When she has to go she always goes to the back door and waits; the only times she’s had accidents lately have been on other levels of the house where she can’t get to the main floor in time and we’ve been inattentive (stairs are still difficult for her). Now we just have to wait until her bladder capacity increases a bit—the getting up at 4 a.m. gets old really fast!

We never really had to condition her much to using a crate to sleep (Thank you Sue!!) There were a few minutes of crying the first night or two; then she settled down. Unfortunately, during the day she associates being crated with being alone for a few minutes (e.g. when we take Jon to/from the bus), and starts to cry. Aussies truly live up to their reputation as “velcro dogs”; I could see them as a spectacularly bad choice for people who are away from home for most of the day. But at some point we’ll have to work on this separation anxiety thing or we’ll never get out.

Obedience training has just started to take off. She’s currently learning to come, sit and lie down; she’s very good—sometimes! We’ll have to expand to “settle” and “off” pretty soon; our pincushion hands will appreciate it! Photon and I start “Puppy Preschool” at a local obedience training centre next week. Basic commands are covered, but it’s really more of a chance for her to play with other doggies (until her shots are finished in March she can’t go out on public streets or parks because of parvovirus).