five

Uh Oh are we a little camera shy for our picture of the day Finn?

Nope didn't think so.  He loves practicing sit.  

My favorite part of doing commands and taking the pictures at the same time are whenever he sits he does paw automatically.  One of these days I'll capture the cuteness. 

We are working hard on not biting humans when playing.  He loves to play.  He loves biting my maxi skirts and pants to let me know he wants to play.

I have read countless articles from Dog Whisperer to google forums. What seems to work best for him is the walk away method. 

He bites I scream NO BITE and then walk away and ignore him for thirty seconds. I literally count to 30 in my head to give myself time to not get upset that I have an alligator not a puppy. Then we go back and play.  He seems to get it for a while. Especially since he always wants to be next to me.  I need to be more consistent though and I know it will improve. 

Here is a little Wednesday animal humor for all of you :) 

Love,

A & Finn 

Day 5

I can't believe I have had Finn for 5 days.  He has been doing so well.  

So far we have learned how to sit.

We are in progress with stay and come. 

Tricks still are iffy without treats but he is so smart.

We have also only had a small number of accidents inside.  Mostly he goes outside.  He still has to be carried to his spot [I live on the 3rd floor and he doesn't always make it all the way]

He knows how to climb up and down the stairs now too. 

We also are learning how to walk on the leash.  I live by a greenway.  Today I had to carry him to it [the greenway entrance is off a main road and the cars scared him] but once we were there he loved it and walked so well on his leash.

In the house I always keep an eye on him.  When he starts even looking at furniture a chew toy get's in his mouth. 

The biggest problem is his teething.  He bites everything.  I try to always have a toy in hand to switch my arm with but he has gotten me a few times.  Any advice with biting?  I have read countless articles and tried so much.  I know it will take time but I want to know if I am doing everything correct. 

He loves to cuddle though and that is my favorite.  Especially when he starts to wind down from playing or training he just looks at me and either curls up in my lap or on my feet.  How precious is that?

The crate is also becoming his little den.  I am lucky to be off for summer so I can really work with him on not whining when I leave the room.  He always wants to be with me though so it is really hard.  He whines a lot and I think it's almost worse for me to listen too.  He does know he has to be quiet if he wants to be let out. That's progress!

All in all things are going well.  I get overwhelmed at times.  Especially now that I am not in Boone anymore and Dan isn't helping me.  I think this is God's little lesson to teach me patience and letting things go quickly.

In the end he is just so cute. Who can't love that face?