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Lovable and More
My Pushkin
It has been a little while since I have sent an update on Pushkin. How can I resist this face of anticipation? Push loves to play fetch. As soon as we get up in the morning he has his ball in his mouth, even as he heads out the door to take care of his morning necessities. I can hardly remember what it is like to have a morning cup of coffee without having a ball dropped in my lap and Push waiting, rather impatiently, for me to toss it to him. He loves to catch it in mid-air.
Advanced Obedience Again
I have decided that we are going to take the advanced obedience class a second time, more for my benefit than for Push. When we took it previously I was in an orthopedic boot due to a broken foot. The foot has healed so maybe I can keep up with him this time.
The Ease of it is not lost on me
I also want to let you know that when the local feed store closed down the in December, I decided to try Chewy to get the Diamond Naturals dog food. The food was actually a few dollars less from them. It was delivered as promised and in good condition. I would highly recommend them to anyone.
Push is a high energy, stubborn, independent, and totally lovable boy. Thank you for such a great dog. ~Marie
Breeder Comment
Hello Marie! Thank you, for the regular updates on you and your OwyheeStar Weims. We love the effort you have put into Pushkin’s training–even when you were challenged to keep up. You are a great Weimlover!
Readers–if you want to revisit the last Pushkin update–click here! If you don’t remember the backdrop to the earning of the certificate, you will want to take the time to read Marie’s story. I think it will put a smile on your face.
Pushkin
One Year Celebrated
~Picture This
For his 1 year birthday, Pushkin graduated from the advanced obedience course. I was not sure it was going to happen. He was fussing while other people and their dogs were going through their paces so I decided to take him outside for a couple of minutes. Unfortunately, just before we got to the door his training collar came loose. That would not have been too bad if someone had not dropped a pork roll on the floor. He spied that, ran over and got it and took off like a bat out of Hades. He was all over the facility and would not respond to a recall as he knew he was in trouble.
I finally got him to sit and did a return and grabbed him by the scruff. Jennifer (the trainer) came over and held him while I got his collar back on. We waited until all of the other dogs finished and then went through the commands. He behaved quite well.Go figure! Everyone in the class clapped for him when we finished. Ya gotta love the Wiley Weims!
I hope you have a happy Thanksgiving.Marie
PS: These two flowers apparently do not realize that it is November
Breeder Comment
Training Update
Loki
~even though it looks like I’m just holding Loki, he is actually roped in!!!
Just wanted to give you a quick update on Loki’s eventful week! A week ago we got to rappel together for the first time– we train on ski patrol to evacuate the lift, should it ever be necessary, and we wanted to be sure that Loki could also be safely evacuated. For those who might be concerned, Loki and I were both wearing fully load-rated harnesses designed for such activities (that’s why his patrol uniform vest is load rated!). He did really well– he was a little reluctant to leave the security of the chair (a good thing, really), but as soon as I lifted him off, he relaxed, and we were lowered to the ground– no big deal! It’s fun to see training and socialization pay off.
Canine Good Citizen (CGC)
Speaking of such, Loki passed the CGC this weekend! His only difficulty was staying calm while being petted, but he made it and passed the rest of the test with flying colors. For others interested in taking the CGC, I’d highly recommend taking a class focused on the CGC. It really helped us fine-tune and figure out what we needed to work on.Best wishes, Erica
Breeder Comment
Hummingbirds
Taunting the Weim
~or Nector Seeking
I thought you might enjoy the picture of Pushkin. The hummingbirds sit in the large rose bush at the end of the patio and Push can see them through the sliding glass door. He seems to think that he could catch them if I would only let him out.
I have to clean the door daily with all the dog prints on it.
We started advanced obedience class this week. Part of the class is also agility. Push loves the tunnels, the table, and the plank. Next week we shall see if he will jump through the hoop. Great dog.
BTW ZooBoo is doing well
Thank you, Marie, for the fun update on the two Weims. We are happy with all you are doing. Keep up the effort–it pays huge dividends.
Pushkin
Novice Obedience
~This Happened!
Just a quick note to let you know that my sweet, loving, energetic and manipulative Pushkin graduated from the novice obedience training class tonight. He received a score of 94 out of 100 points. Half of the test was done off leash. We start the advanced class sometime in September. A great 9-month birthday present.
~Marie
Breeder Comment
Marie’s
Pushkin
~ The Battle of the Wills
It has been awhile since I have sent you an update. Push is all Weim in every sense of the word. He is a manipulator par excellence! We are still working on the check cord that Cliff recommended. Pushkin will come 90% of the time. It is the remaining 10% that comes to a contest of wills, and mine is stronger! We started puppy classes about 3 weeks ago he is doing well with everything but the “down stay”. Again it becomes a contest of wills. Last week we worked on agility. He did great in the tunnel. I would run, he would run and he would be sitting outside the end of the tunnel waiting for me and of course his treat. He is feisty, stubborn and completely lovable. Thanks so much for the great dog!
Marie
P.S. he now weighs 36.5 pounds.
Breeder Comment
Training
Breeder Comment
You no doubt remember our opportunistic Cat Tree Sitting Weimar. This happened not so long ago on the homefront; however, Jaeger is busy working on his field training too!
The Savvy Weimaraner
~Trainable Natual Ability is a Plus!
We went out to get some fieldwork/playing. Came across a huge chest-deep puddle from the recent melt off. Jaeger followed Ruger in without a pause. Considering that water was cold and he went right in, I’m hoping for good things come spring and summer.
Ruger also pointed some quail, Jaeger pointed Ruger… instinct is such an amazing thing. He is doing great, smart and stubborn (lol), they go hand in hand.
You might remember that our Ruger was not too thrilled with Jaeger, but he tolerated him. Well, Ruger has broke down and finally realized MAYBE Jaeger isn’t always an annoyance. At times, they will play. It is fun to watch the process.
Before the Melt
~Playin in the Snow
Featured Weimaraner — Emma Blue
Puppy Class Graduation
Training Emma Blue the Pet Store Way
We tried the Petstore puppy class…..Eh. It was great for socialization, and of course Emma learned all the commands in minutes (sit, down, stay, come, roll over, bow, crawl, etc)…but she would only do them for a treat because that was their training method. We went into the class not using treats, were convinced to use them, and now we are not using them anymore. We found that she became hyper-focused on the treat.
Another method of training for Emma Blue
At her six month birthday we started the Don Sullivan training you recommended….boy do I wish we would have started that from the get-go! We have seen miles of improvement, mainly on the walking nicely on a leash. Walks used to be daunting because of the pulling, and now they are a daily routine. She still pulls when we go to really exciting or new places (the feed store/a new hike, etc), but we just have to calm her down and let her know she has to listen even though she is excited 🙂 (Email us for more information on this system — dog_training@owyheestar.com )
Keeping Emma Retrieving
We also took his advice and worked harder on fetch. We like many other Weim owners found that she wasn’t really interested, or that she would do it 3 times and be done. It took me working on it as I hard as I was working on other commands like ‘come’ and ‘stay’ at all times of the day and just within the last few weeks it finally clicked for her. It has been a huge help being able to expend some of her energy by playing ball!
Emma is good at a lot of things…
