So much time has passed!

Few quick updates, then the pictues you've all been waiting for:

1) Konrad is now three months old! As is a tradition among other CCI puppy raisers, here are three interesting things about Konrad at three months: 1) he's growing like bamboo, 2) he's a a very calm puppy (for which we are thankful, and 3) people fall in love with him wherever we go!

2) Konrad went to his first vet appointment a few weeks ago. He already weighed 21.5 pounds, up from the 16 he weighed when he arrived. His cape, which used to be so big on him that he would get it wet everytime he "hurried", now looks more like a shoulder cover than a full-body cape - he's getting so big! He was great for the shots, and the vet was impressed with how well he handled having his feet and mouth touched.

3) We've started puppy obedience classes at a local PetSmart. Konrad's done well, and the trainer is being really understanding about what we can and can't do with Mr. K. So that's going well, and we are educating our fellow classmates about CCI as well!

Overall, Konrad is doing well, much better than we were expecting. He is calm, a fairly quick learner, and a really sweet pup! Just a few days ago he ate about half of one of his chew bones, so he now has one that was labeled for power chewers. :)

Now for the pictures I promised!
Konrad in a relaxed moment.

Cape Boy!

Wonder how long until he's too big for the bed?

Chewing on his "Viking bone" - we're Brett Favre fans, and it just so happens that this bone is Minnesota Viking colors!

He's growing up!

This week brought some big steps for Konrad (our daughter either calls him "Mr. Konrad" or "Kon" - still working on getting his name right; I often call him JJ!).

Those big steps included our stairs. Konrad is pushing 20 pounds and my back does not appreciate carrying him down the stairs anytime he needs to go out, so we're teaching him to go down them. He does much better when lured with some kibble, but yesterday morning he was in a playful mood and tried to pounce while going down the steps. Not a good idea - but at least he made it down in one piece!

Konrad has also started wearing his practice puppy cape when he goes outside. He doesn't bother it at all, which is great. I'll try to get some pictures of it, maybe tonight.

We have a big week ahead. Tomorrow is Konrad's first visit with our vet (the wonderful Dr. Steve Hendrix of Hillsboro Animal Hospital) and next Saturday is our first puppy obedience class. Should be interesting. The whole family is going - as if it isn't enough to corrall the puppy; we'll have the kids to keep in line as well!

Note to self

One day without accidents does not a housebroken puppy make. We had some rough housebreaking days last week, then a banner day on Friday - no accidents! Konrad made up for it this weekend. So many accidents on Sunday that he had to have two baths! He's having a better week though - just one accident in his crate yesterday and today.

The training is coming along. He's doing quite well with his Gentle Leader, and walks nicely on the leash. (I'm in the office right now, and he's clearly asleep in his crate - he's snoring.) He seems to have learned to "wait" when coming in and going out, which I think is helping him learn the "release" command as well, since he can't cross the threshold until we say it. He also doesn't get his dinner until we say it - and he likes his dinner!

I'll try to post some pictures this weekend, but in the meantime, his first visit with our vet is on Monday so that should be interesting.

Still figuring out his place

While Konrad is definitely getting more comfortable with us, he's still trying to figure out who the alpha dog is. He's shown some dominant behavior (moutning my leg), but B and I think that he's just trying to figure out where he is in our family hierarchy. He won't wonder for long!

Konrad has to wear a regular flat color for his ID tags, but his training and working collar is called a Gentle Leader, like this one (no, this isn't Konrad):

We've been putting it on him whenever he's on the leash, and he's doing well with it. Another training technique that we're using is to introduce a lot of the daily commands now so that he never knows a time when he didn't have to wait at the door, for example. It's as much training for us (well, me - I keep forgetting what B has been working on!). So Konrad is now officially working on these commands: Name (his name, obviously; he just has to look up when you say it), Hurry (to go potty), Let's Go (walk nicely on the leash), Dress (put his nose in the Gentle Leader; we just say this now when we put it on him), Kennel (go into your kennel), Wait (wait at the door coming in and out, wait for your food to be put down for you), and Release (go do whatever you want to do, basically!).

So that's the quick update for today. He's still having accidents in his crate, but we re-focused our efforts yesterday, taking him out every two hours or so during the day so maybe today will be a good day. He went out last night at 8:45, then slept through until around 2am, then slept again until I woke him to go out just after 6am. Progress from the first night, for sure!

Training officially started today

With one kid at daycare and me at work, Konrad officially started his training today in a mostly distraction-free house. He also had no accidents today and was up only twice last night. He's really settled in so nicely - he plays but calms down quickly, and he's doing very well going outside. And after a few days of getting used to being in our house, he's now eating almost every bit of food at every meal!

Today I sent of our first monthly progress report to CCI. It probably wasn't that useful since he's only been with us five days and he's still quite young. As a result, I had to mark down that he was chewing inappropriate items (like our drawer pulls in the kitchen), not housebroken, chewing on people and their clothes, and not using his Gentle Leader (the special kind of collar he will be wearing) or going to puppy classes!

I can't figure out how to get pictures to upload easily to a slideshow, so I'll just post some here because I know that's what people want!