Almost there...

 Yesterday as I was watching Jack and Bear eating their food, I noticed that Bear seemed almost as tall as Jack. So I went and weighed them both:

Bear chilling on the couch

Jack and Kitty also sleeping

Bear sure is getting big and cute as ever

Jack wanting some jerky at my office desk.

Bear looks bigger here

Jack was 45 pounds (hasn't changed in a couple months), and Bear was 43 pounds.  Wow!  In about a week, Jack will no longer be the literal big brother.  Bear is gonna pass him up.  

I'm still sleeping on the couch with the dogs.  Last Sunday Bear was given a bit too many turkey bones and it was a throw up fest that night. Grateful to have wood floors for him to do that on, rather than carpet.  Thus I'm stuck sleeping on the couch with him and Jack until we can get some reasonable confidence that he will be able to go through the night without any accidents.

Last night he slept through the night without issues. We have been taking them on walks every day mid day when the sun is out and it feels great.  They love these walks. 

As far as the pulling goes with Jack.  The Shock collar no longer has any effect with Jack any more.  He just does a little twitch and continues to pull, or if he's off leash, just continues to run and do his thing.  So unfortunately that was a short lived method of getting obedience.  I've tried a new method (which I tried earlier but have gotten away from using), is this way of leashing Jack up. And this works great.  When he starts to walk even a foot ahead it puts pressure on his muzzle and he backs off to where I like him directly to my left.

Check it out.  This works:

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

 Christmas this year was such a great event.  We went down to St. George the day after Christmas and really enjoyed being together playing games, going on hikes, bike rides and pickleball.  The dogs loved being in the back with the birds, and the large area to run, climb and play.

I had to sleep with the dogs in the craft room near the entry,
since it was on tile, and not on carpet.

Bear looking for a handout near the pool.

Jack got a little wild on the walk running off.  

What wonderful weather.

Spending New Year's Eve with the sleepy jack.

I broke down and bought a shock collar on Amazon.  During our trip to St. George Jack ran off so far in the field I couldn't see him.  I whistled and yelled for him, but with all the bush, he could see me.  So I got a collar which provides a beep, vibration, and finally a shock which can be controlled by remote control.  I've taken it on a few walks since then and he responds so well I don't really have to use it.  He usually knows the threshold of distance I'm willing for him to take and he'll typically stop and come back within that range.  I also got a training harness for Jack so he doesn't pull on the leash.  It tightens up around his chest as he applies pressure to the leash.  It isn't a sure solution, but helps more than without it. The choke collar wasn't really making a difference for him. But the harness is a big improvement.

Bear is only 8 pounds away from matching Jack as far as weight.  I can tell he is really just taking off on growth.  I think Bear may be allergic to something.  Sometimes he'll itch his feet and sometimes whine as he's scratching himself.  We need to see if we can figure that out.  He gets his second set of shots this coming Thursday.  

	Jack (12/6/2019)	Bear (9/18/2020)
Weight	45 pounds	38 pounds
Neck circumference	17.5 inches	16 inches
Chest circumference	26.75 inches	23.5 inches
Body (Neck to tail base)	27 inches	24 inches
Age in weeks	56 weeks	15 weeks