Indy at the Park

Indy made his first trip to the park today.  I've been wanting to introduce him to the sights and sounds of the park, but in order to do that, I need to focus totally on Indy, and I always feel guilty leaving the girls at home.  Today, Tess and Jazz are at an agility trial with Jim and the sun is shining, so it was the perfect opportunity to take Indy to North Park.

Indy's toughest training challenge is distraction, especially when the distraction comes in the form of another dog.  Of course, the park is chock full of these kind of challenges, so I was pleasantly surprised at how well Indy handled it all!  I am determined to train Indy without the use of a harness or head collar.  I want him to be like Jazz, who will go anywhere and behave well on just a flat buckle collar.  He did a fabulous job today, walking over a mile on his regular collar and dealing with distractions like cars, bikes, walkers, joggers, and, of course, dogs.  He got lots of treats for his good behavior, and we snapped the picture above to send to Tess and Jazz at the agility trial to show them that Indy got to go to the park while they are having fun at agility.

Play Time!

We were at a CPE agility trial in Latrobe this past weekend, which translates to play time for Indy!  While his sisters were busy running agility, Indy was making friends, both human and canine.

This beautiful girl is Cocoa, our friend Shari's Belgian Malinois.  Cocoa is about 18 months old and has just started running agility.

 Cocoa and Indy enjoyed their wrestling match.  Several times I thought Cocoa would launch Indy into space with her powerful legs, but she was a great playmate and Indy kept coming back for more!

Despite Cocoa's intense drive and her love of her tug toys, she was more than happy to share them with Indy and played so nicely with him.  Shari has done an awesome job with Cocoa's training and they are a great team.  Cocoa is doing very well in agility and has already titled in flyball, too!

Next up on Indy's play list is Cooper, a handsome Flat-Coated Retriever who was born on September 29, so he's just a few weeks younger than Indy.

Indy and Cooper spent lots of time happily rolling and wrestling.  They were so cute playing together that they attracted a crowd of onlookers!  Nothing like watching puppies play.

Cooper's big brother Remmington plays agility with Tess and Jazz and Cooper is going to start agility training, too.  Cooper's Mom says he's already doing some awesome retrieving work.   Since Cooper and Indy are so close in age, it will be fun to watch these two grow up and start to compete.

Speaking of competing, during all this play there actually was an agility trial going on!!  Tess and Jazz both had a good weekend, qualifying in 7 out of 9 runs each.  Jazz finished her Level 4 title and even finished a couple more Level 5 classes.  She's a little over 15 runs away from her C-ATCH and has several qualifying runs in the Championship level, too.  Tess continues to run well, racking up the points towards her C-ATE, which requires 20 qualifying scores in each of the seven classes in the Championship level, along with an additional 2000 points from any classes of the handler's choosing.  That's a lot of runs, but Tess is about halfway there.

Despite the snowy weather, we had a great time this past weekend.  I'm so thrilled that Indy just loves every dog he meets and can't wait to play and wrestle with them.  He's got a sweet temperament and is such a joy.  Even Tess and Jazz spoil him!

Spotty Valentines

Happy Valentine's Day!

from Tess, Jazz, and Indy

Leggy

Indy stretched out on the couch

This boy really has some long legs!

At nearly five months old, Indy is still all legs.  There are times when it seems like the legs operate separately from the body, but he's also had some moments of brilliance.  He is using the doggie fitness equipment, including the egg-shaped big ball, and he's learning lots of body awareness in his puppy agility class.  Last week in class, we did an exercise where the puppy sits right between your legs and puts a front paw on each of your shoes and "walks" along on your feet.  Indy made it nearly halfway across the room doing this!  He also excelled at a "surfing" exercise which involved a plank suspended between two balance discs, so I think this boy has some beach bum potential, and we're really excited to take him to the Outer Banks on vacation in May!

Snow Buddies

Last night and this morning we had the most significant snowfall since Indy came to live with us.  Like Tess, Indy seems to enjoy the snow.  Jazz, on the other hand, would much rather be warm and snuggly!

Here's a picture of the three Dals out in the back yard this afternoon.  Indy had a great time charging through the snow after his big sisters, but we didn't want him to get chilled, so he didn't get to play very long.  Tomorrow we're expecting temperatures in the 40s, so I don't know how long the snow will stick around.

When I Grow Up...

When I grow up, I want to be just like Jazz!

Lately, Indy seems to be trying hard to be just like Jazz. Since she was a pup, Jazz has loved to lie on the back of the couch like a cat and nap or watch birds out the window. Well, today I caught Indy trying his best to be like Jazz, but he can't balance himself on the back of the couch yet, so he had to do the next best thing and lay just below her on the arm of the couch! The picture is not the greatest because the sun was shining in, but I had to laugh at Indy trying to imitate Jazz.


Here's Indy lying with Jazz in the big dog bed in my office. It's funny how he's been trying to do everything she does lately. Fortunately, Jazz is quite tolerant of having a little shadow following her and imitating her. Perhaps she's flattered!

Indy turned 18 weeks old today. I still can't believe how great he's doing! He's a very good boy in the house, and his training has been coming along well. He had his first puppy agility class this past Thursday, and our instructor was impressed with how long he worked and stayed focused for his age. He also tried a bunch of new things in that class with little or no hesitation. We're starting to introduce him to the doggie fitness equipment, too, and he's done well with the balance disc and balance pod. Indy seems to love trying new things and learning, and he's a quick study, too! I think this little guy is going to be quite fun to train and compete with. He certainly has a sweet personality and gets along well with the girls, and that was the most important thing for us.

This 'n That

Just a few miscellaneous pictures of the spotted gang:

Here's everyone relaxing on the couch, a typical sight on most days.

Indy thinks Jazz makes a fine pillow...and Jazz is happy to oblige!

This is Indy with Remmy, one of his puppy school buddies, back in December.

This is Indy sleeping upside down in the dog bed in my office while I try to do some work.

We had a very nice time at CPE agility over the New Year's weekend. We stayed in a lovely suite with a fireplace with our friends Mariann and Jim and their Border Collie Sammie, and a good time was had by all. Indy behaved very well, both at the hotel and at the trial. The girls both had great weekends. Tess had another perfect weekend, with a total of 10 qualifying scores, and Jazz had 9 qualifying scores, once again coming so close to that perfect weekend. Jazz is just about finished with Level 4 Standard, which requires 8 qualifying scores, and is mostly in Level 5 (working on her C-ATCH), but she is also in Championship level in two classes now! She is really enjoying agility and has been doing so well. I'll have to get some video uploaded of some of the girls' runs. I'd post some video of Indy, but he's either sleeping or running too fast for me to capture him on tape!!