Thanksgiving Day Eve

So, we progress!

XXL wire crate is now used only when I go out and about and can not take Emmett with me. Emmett does “go to crate” with no hesitancy!

Mostly, the house is now WIDE OPEN – YEA! We still have gates for some times when Emmett and/or Auggie have “the crazies”.

Crazies generally happen early morning or late afternoon.

The bedroom. The bedroom with NO “pen”. Currently, Emmett “goes to his bed” after some pre-bed snuggles. He sleeps in his bed or on the floor until about 3:00 a.m. when he wakes. I hear him shake and then pitter-patter and he comes on MY bed and settles.

Speaking of settling… this is a culmination of teaching Emmett and Auggie to settle – HOO RAH!

Light and Mountains!

Auggie.

Auggie and Emmett: Thanksgiving Eve.

First Snow 2018-2019 Fall-Winter

The photos will be a repeat for those who follow me on Instagram AND look at my stories… BUT such a fun time with Emmett that I decided to post some of those photos here.

Several days ago we had our first “real” snow. The forecast was for 2-5 inches and somewhere in that range fell, but since the ground is not frozen and the temperatures were nearing 40 when a lot of the snow fell … much melted as it fell.

BUT.

Some did not and we woke up to maybe a scant inch of snow on the ground…

Emmett had to taste a LOT of snow!

Crazy stuff, this snow :)

Bah Humbug says Auggie!

Mittens are nearly as much fun to steal as socks!!

Later, some time in front of a warm fire.

And late afternoon a beautiful sky.

Early November: entering the dark times

We did Fall back Sunday last.

We are in the “dark times” of less than 10 hours of daylight with another nearly 2 months to go until Winter Solstice.

I confess that I would not like to be any further north, but I do love the increased dark for the amount of time that we have it: cozy nights and mornings with fire and low lights.

All of the seasons and all of the light and dark – I enjoy!

Emmett came home with me just after we did Spring forward. We had a bit of snow when he was tiny. It will be fun to see what he thinks when we have snow again! The forecast is for a “warm winter” – BLECH!! We’ll see.

Meanwhile…

Unbelievable !: Emmett is 8 mths and we are closing in on the end of 2018

We are one month into Autumn!

Emmett was 8 months old on October 12!

Emmett has been part of the family Summers for over 6 months!!

Life is good here at 785 La Brant Rd. Emmett is growing into an almost dog :) … 14 months for physical maturity … 2 years for the rest, but as we are firmly into adolescence … and not too many “teen” issues … I am grateful! We are following breeder and vet advice to wait as long as possible to neuter. This is a “medium-big dog” thing of allowing time for bones and joints to mature with the normal hormones. There are plusses and minuses for various issues, but I’m going with waiting until we “need” to.

Emmett continues to be a joy to be with, to play and teach and to learn from. Auggie continues to be a CHAMP at tolerating Emmett’s lapses into “puppy brain”. I love them both with all my heart and am so grateful that they are part of my life!

Time flies when you are having fun and we are HAVING FUN!

And in addition to Auggie and Emmett fun, we are having an absolutely spectacular Autumn to date! Some cool-cold weather and in the last 10 days some warm weather and the color … it is just great to be where we are and with the time to get outside and enjoy.

From the last weeks:

Auggie and Emmett

Yes, that is Bob, not Auggie and not Emmett.

But this photo, a favorite of mine, is a great memory of Mr. Bob enjoying the sun. And so, it was inspiration as well as loving memory when I saw Auggie, quiet in the sun … and eventually, Emmett joining him.

Through the years: Zack and Gus, Karl and Gus, Karl, Gus and Bob, Bob and Bear, Bear and Auggie … and now Auggie and Emmett: my heart, my loves.

This photo series started with seeing Auggie in the sun … remembering Bob’s photo and hoping to capture something like that…

And then Emmett got in the picture…

Auggie and Emmett

September 16: The week in review

It was a lazy week – see above!

Actually a good week, although not a productive work week due to some domestic items … nothing bad just some things needing doing.

But as always, walks happen and the weather is gorgeous: cool, sunny, blustery Fall weather!

Emmett decided to move his kitchen bed to the office/sunroom, right behind my chair…

Lots of company while I was working, which I love! ***He moved the bed himself!!!

New things this week: a new leash which is thick and soft and I love it. So does Emmett – he took himself for a walk, he loved it so much :)

An orange long line as we begin proofing our recall with distractions. The distractions are deer, Auggie, squirrels and ??? Recall is perfect in the house and in the yard with no distractions so this is the next step.

Emmett is not fooled. He has more freedom on the long line than on leash, but he feels the weight and the one time he started after deer, I slowly applied pressure on the line as I called him. After that, he didn’t venture off the trail. But, this will take time and my plan is that it becomes habit on the long line, then I will use a lighter line which I’ll gradually shorten. I expect it will be Spring before the combination of his maturity and training is fully reliable in the face of wildlife or other very exciting distractions.

BUT, I am very pleased that he does not pull against the line or the leash. Occasionally he will lunge, but then stops. I have the long line as well as any leash attached to a harness so no neck stress. Trainers have differing opinions regarding using a harness. I am going with harness.

Emmett walks nicely on leash with the harness. In new places, he pulls against it, but I just stop. When he returns to me, on we go. We don’t walk when he is at the end of the leash and pulling – pulling gets him nowhere.

I do not do the change of direction thing. We have started some basic “walk to heel” but not at remote (EXCITING) locations. Walk to heel requires his focus on me and a specific position. We do that in the yard but it is too much for exciting places at the moment and right now, the exciting spots are for exploring with the only limits being not pulling and responding to attention noises from me.

Another benefit of working with a trainer and watching other trainers on YouTube is seeing and hearing that all takes time and every dog is unique, so I am working with where Emmett is: his maturity, attention span, experience as well as my own learning experience.

The orange line is very silky and does not get hung up on branches, rocks, grasses – YEA! It is also easy to see. So far, so good!

Auggie gets in on the action, also!

The vegetables took a decided turn to Fall: pie pumpkins! Delicata squash joined tomatoes and lemon cucumber plus cucumber slicers to make an Autumn vegetable “bouquet bowl”…

And that bouquet bowl made a nice backdrop to Saturday morning’s dough shaping…

…for Sunday morning’s Cranberry Sourdough.

Sunday morning in the woods…

And later at Wayfarer’s Park on Flathead Lake.

A Good Week!