Happy Thanksgiving!

 This last week I've been working on the following:

Jack:

• 

  Bear napping with Kitty after a walk to the park
  

  No barking when Brutus (the neighbors dog) retrieves a ball for me that I throw in the neighbors back yard for him to retrieve for me.  Jack gets really jealous and when Brutus fetches the ball and returns it to me at the slot in the end of the fence, Jack goes nuts and starts to bark.  So I'm working on telling him to obey the "Don't bark" command.  And he's starting to do well when I'm firm with him and command right before the ball is returned so he doesn't forget.  
• "kiss" - I'm trying to get him to give me a kiss on command.  This works best when I have beef jerky which he absolutely loves.



Chilling with Jack

Bear:

• Sit is 100% and he does it without even being commanded.  He knows that'll get him a treat every time.
• Lay down - He's getting better at this, but still not without me reaching down to point to the ground.
• He's showing an interest in the squeaky ball and will chase after it and put it in his mouth (unless Jack gets to it first).  So we are working on just getting him to chase it every time.  Once that's solid we will work on bring it.
• His sleeping is better this past week.

Thanksgiving at our house was so fun.  We had Lucy and Cody join us on Thanksgiving day and we had a good time.  Then on Black Friday, Austin and Jacob and their wives joined us. It was quite the enjoyable long weekend.

The dogs have really enjoyed all the ham and turkey bones and it was cool to see Jack and Bear get along during all that bone crunching time. Once Jack finished his bone and came slowly in for Bear’s bone. But Bear wouldn’t have it and knew what he was going for and jumped towards him with a little snarl. He kept it that time. 

Cathi and I have done good this week taking these dogs on walks.  I used to take Jack every single day, but in the summer time gave up on it as it was too dang hot.  With Bear we've picked it back up. and we've gone on about 4 walks this past week to Jensen Park and back.  Today Bear crossed the stream with Jack and me without hesitation.  Granted the water is extremely shallow, but fun to see him enjoy the water.

Jack and Bear love their walks

Kicking off the Christmas season!

I got Jack a Christmas outfit.  A Santa figure riding on his back.  Here's some fun video.  And I didn't notice at the time, but when I told Jack to lay down, little Bear did too.  What a sweet little cub.

 

In terms of growth, not a ton of changes from last week. Jack was the same, but Bear gained 2 pounds and got a little longer.

Check out this old. An old man in Florida saved his puppy from a baby alligator that snatched up his puppy while out on his walk!  Conservationists are like "We need to coexist and live alongside wildlife." Umm OK, well this is what happens. This dude is a stud. Nothing is going to have my dog for lunch! 

Our vocal, energetic Bear

This last week I had an appointment to take Jack to the clinic to get neutered.  I did one more burst of research on the topic:

• Top 10 reasons to neuter your dog

• Top 10 reasons to NOT neuter your dog

I found the reasons FOR rather weak.  While I don't plan on studding Jack, I haven't noticed any aggression on his part, nor a desire for him to break out of the yard.  He can't stand not being in the same room as me.  The medical reasons for neutering didn't out the medical risks that seem to be listed for dogs that are neutered.  

So Cathi and I discussed it and we cancelled that appointment.  We are going to let Jack keep his manhood until we see any real reasons to consider otherwise.

Our little Bear has had another week at the Gridley house.  He's got sit down really well, just as good as Jack.  We are working on "Lay down".  He gets it pretty well if I bring the treat down to floor level, but I'm trying to get him to lay without having to bend all the way down to touch the ground.  That's the next step.  He's more vocal about things. He barks more than Jack ever did as a puppy. Not an annoying constant barking, but when he wants a treat after sitting for a while and you are too slow giving it to him.  Or when he hears another dog in a yard barking while we are on a walk, he will answer with a single bark which is cute.  

He also is more whiny at night than Jack ever was too.  He's having a hard time staying asleep throughout the night on a consistent basis.

Bear, enjoying a beef steak bone

I've been spending the nights on the main floor in the front room with Jack and Bear.  Some nights he whines and we take him out and he gets a drink and goes to the bathroom, only to have him struggle getting back to sleep.  Which affects my sleep too.

Bear does really good on a leash
and stays with us, whereas Jack
is high energy and wants to go!

I need to make sure he gets a decent drink later in the evening and then put the bowl up high so he doesn't get any more middle of the night drinks. I'd like him to be able to sleep through the night without having to go out, or to wake up for whatever reason.  He sleeps alot during the day, but he also gets a lot of exercise playing with Jack in the back.  

Jack and Bear do a lot of playing together and it's fun to see that.  Jack is getting way more steps in a day the past couple weeks since we got Bear. And I can tell he greatly enjoys the company.

Updated Stats:

	Jack (12/6/2019)	Bear (9/18/2020)
Weight	45 pounds	20 pounds
Neck circumference	15.5 inches	12 inches
Chest circumference	26 inches	20 inches
Body (Neck to tail base)	24 inches	16 inches
Age in weeks	50 weeks (11.5 months)	9 weeks (2.25 months)

The cat from day 1 hasn't had a single issue with Bear. She hasn't even arched her back once.  It's nice that he's coming in to our family as a puppy, because I don't think she'd be like that if he came in as an adult.  It would take her a long time to warm up to him.

Jack's little brown furry brother, Bear

Isaac, probably the least dog-loving
boy in the family enjoyed a moment
of Moose sleeping on his lap.

 So yesterday evening we went down to Orem and picked up our new family member.  Bear is what we are calling him. It's funny how Mom and Dad have a name, and the kids override simply by calling him that and forcing us to go with it for the sake of the puppy to not get him confused with two names.  

Jack did just as I thought, he was overly excited about the whole situation.  To the point of probably overwhelming the little guy.  Jack is so happy, and little rough in his play.  Before we know it Jack will be the smaller of the two.  

Here are some pics and vids:

Chasing Jack around the back yard.

It has begun. His poop is already
bigger than Jack's!

Jack constantly sniffing, and playing with his little
brother.  It's like teaching a toddler to be gentle
with a newborn.  It's a struggle to make it clear
that he isn't really a peer just yet. Got to be
a little respectful of the little guy's space.

Jack's expecting a baby brother

 So I've caught Cathi on the internet looking at things behind my back.  I came up behind her and saw her on KSL Classifieds looking at puppies.  Not just any kind of puppy, but Newfoundland/Poodle mixes: Newfypoos.

After several days of talking with her about it, I did some researching on my own as well and found a new litter in Orem that got posted.  I found one with a very cute white section from head to tail along his front, named "Steve". 

"Steve" has such cute white markings
but notice how thick his fur is?
That's fine and all, but I can't see
his eyes.

I texted the breeder and paid a $200 deposit. 

We went down the next day to check him out. On the drive down to see the puppies we were coming up with names:

• Bear
• Chewie
• Moose
• Gus

One thing I discovered about physical qualities in a dog that I love, in addition to a long tail, is their eyes.  Nothing beats that intense eye contact you can get from a dog.  To me it means they trust you when your eyes lock, and that they give a crap about you (unlike a cat).

When we got there I noticed the texture of Steve's hair was curly and long, and I couldn't see his eyes very well.  Whereas the brown puppy, Vegas, had fur that was much smoother and not curly.  I could see his eyes very clearly.  

Here is our boy. His fur is
softer to the touch, not curly
but soft like a bear.  I can see his eyes
clearly and cuter than ever.

As soon as we saw Vegas, the brown pup, his personality and physical appearance appealed to us.  He played with Sam, and Oliver while Cathi just admired the whole crew of puppies.  She was just "ewwing" the whole time, melting over the brood of cuteness.  She even asked "could we get a 'two-for..." deal?"  I stopped her there, "Cathi!".  No way are we gonna get two puppies at the same time.  

Oh my gosh, Jack is gonna over-
exert his tail when he see's his
baby brother waddle into the room.

When we go Jack there was a time when I got permission from Cathi to proceed getting Jack's sister, "Georgia".  I brought her over and after seeing them interact for about an hour realized the complexity of trying to train two puppies at the same time.  Their attention would be on each other rather than the me as the trainer. So getting two of these pups just isn't gonna happen.

At any rate, we all discussed it and decided to go with this brown puppy instead of the original pup we were coming down to see.  "Steve" had such beautiful markings, I'm sure he will go quick.  But for me the hair texture and color was the thing that got me willing to switch.

We get to go pick him up on Friday afternoon!  We are so excited.

1 day old

This newborn dog is cuter than
most newborn humans, IMO.

We've had a lot of discussion in the family on his name.  Hopefully we get that figured out before we pick him up.