Last night we struck lucky and in order to get a good night's sleep we decided that we needed to drain Merlin's energy and we remembered we had a concealed long hallway. So we went into the hallway with Merlin's favourite squeaky ball and played fetch. 30 minutes of running between us after his squeaky ball worked a treat.
So this morning once he was wide awake and wanting to play, we repeated the task. It worked a treat. So I am sure that this will be an exercise we will be repeating in the days / months to come.
Merlin Bass
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Friday, December 30, 2011
Day 4 - Trip to the park
Dan was on puppy duty last night so that I could try and get some sleep... but I did wake at 3am to some whining coming from the front room, it didn't last long though.
By the time I got up Merlin had eaten breakfast and played the "hunt the treat game" which involves Dan placing 5 ramekins on the floor of the puppy pen and placing a treat in one and Merlin has to use his nose to sniff it out. He was very good at it and I witnessed him playing the game again this evening which small pieces of cheese and he was brilliant, his nose was doing all the work. Cesar Millan is to thank for this game as it gets the nose and the brain working.
After lunch we decided to take a walk around the park. As it is getting cold now, Merlin's new fleecy coat got it's debut. He wasn't too sure of it at first but soon realised that it was there to stay, at least for the next hour or so.
He didn't whine as much as he had on previous car journeys which was a bonus and a big step forward. When we got to the park, he was immediately sniffing the air and taking in all the new sights and sounds and was mesmerised by the swans and ducks which were on the lake. It wasn't long before he was spotted by a family who had a little girl and they all stopped to make a fuss of him. Merlin was very well behaved and let them stroke him before returning his affection with a few small licks. There were other people walking their dogs in the park and each time he heard barking he would become very alert. It was spitting with rain but this did not phase our little pup who was nice and warm and dry in his new coat.
Upon arriving home, Merlin walked down the hallway and into his puppy pen on the lead which is a brilliant step forward and shows us that he is already adjusting well. Here's to the next two weeks after which we can start taking Merlin on proper walks and that will drain most of his energy.
This evening we have been doing more training with him and the "sit" command is coming along nicely. Although his attention span is currently only 10 minutes long so there is only so much we can do within that time but perseverance is the key and Dan and I working together as a team is really paying off.
Here's to another successful day tomorrow
By the time I got up Merlin had eaten breakfast and played the "hunt the treat game" which involves Dan placing 5 ramekins on the floor of the puppy pen and placing a treat in one and Merlin has to use his nose to sniff it out. He was very good at it and I witnessed him playing the game again this evening which small pieces of cheese and he was brilliant, his nose was doing all the work. Cesar Millan is to thank for this game as it gets the nose and the brain working.
After lunch we decided to take a walk around the park. As it is getting cold now, Merlin's new fleecy coat got it's debut. He wasn't too sure of it at first but soon realised that it was there to stay, at least for the next hour or so.
He didn't whine as much as he had on previous car journeys which was a bonus and a big step forward. When we got to the park, he was immediately sniffing the air and taking in all the new sights and sounds and was mesmerised by the swans and ducks which were on the lake. It wasn't long before he was spotted by a family who had a little girl and they all stopped to make a fuss of him. Merlin was very well behaved and let them stroke him before returning his affection with a few small licks. There were other people walking their dogs in the park and each time he heard barking he would become very alert. It was spitting with rain but this did not phase our little pup who was nice and warm and dry in his new coat.
Upon arriving home, Merlin walked down the hallway and into his puppy pen on the lead which is a brilliant step forward and shows us that he is already adjusting well. Here's to the next two weeks after which we can start taking Merlin on proper walks and that will drain most of his energy.
This evening we have been doing more training with him and the "sit" command is coming along nicely. Although his attention span is currently only 10 minutes long so there is only so much we can do within that time but perseverance is the key and Dan and I working together as a team is really paying off.
Here's to another successful day tomorrow
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Day 3 - New Experiences
Last night was a long one... Merlin slept for most of yesterday afternoon and evening and therefore thought it was playtime at 4am. So by 8am I was so tired, Dan sent me back to bed and took over the puppy supervision.
He started the morning with breakfast and a short play time before commencing the daily training which involved continuing to teach Merlin the sit command. Apparently Merlin was a star student and started to get the hang of what he was supposed to do... and this time didn't just sit on his bum waiting for treats.
After training was over and Merlin had finished his mid-morning snooze, Dan decided to try and get him used to walking on a lead. Now this may sound a little premature but we have 2 weeks before he can be taken outside and currently he thinks the lead is a chew toy, not something to be used to direct him to where we want him to walk. We will now continue this training each morning so that fingers crossed he will be comfortable by the time he can be set loose into the big wide world.
This afternoon we started socialising him and took a trip to B&Q to get some wood and rope to make him an outdoor training toy as per the recommendation by Cesar Millan in his "bringing up the perfect dog" book. He had lots of ladies spot him and want to make a fuss of him, which he loved. He was really well behaved and enjoyed sniffing out all the new smells. We then took him for his first trip to pets at home to buy him a little coat as he seems to shiver every time we take him outside the house. Again, he lapped up all the attention he received... he is very much a ladies man :-)
Just as we were checking the list, he got a whiff of rodent coming from the hamster / guinea pig pens and his nose went into overdrive... so Dan made a swift exit outside. Being a terrier, his natural instincts would be to hunt and kill these type of animals.
When we arrived him, he relieved himself straight away and accidentally trod in his poo so we needed to do an emergency clean up job. I took him straight into the bathroom and put him in the bath. He wasn't too sure of the shower and howled his little head off to begin with but before long, he trusted me to complete his bath. I used his puppy shampoo to make him smell fresh and whilst he enjoyed being towel dried he is still not too sure of the hairdryer... this is going to need more work I feel especially as he will be a frequent visitor to the groomers. But once he was dry, he let me use his puppy deodorant spray which keeps him smelling fresh and also let me comb him which hasn't really been possible so far so this is a big step forward.
I am looking forward to another little adventure tomorrow
:-D
He started the morning with breakfast and a short play time before commencing the daily training which involved continuing to teach Merlin the sit command. Apparently Merlin was a star student and started to get the hang of what he was supposed to do... and this time didn't just sit on his bum waiting for treats.
After training was over and Merlin had finished his mid-morning snooze, Dan decided to try and get him used to walking on a lead. Now this may sound a little premature but we have 2 weeks before he can be taken outside and currently he thinks the lead is a chew toy, not something to be used to direct him to where we want him to walk. We will now continue this training each morning so that fingers crossed he will be comfortable by the time he can be set loose into the big wide world.
This afternoon we started socialising him and took a trip to B&Q to get some wood and rope to make him an outdoor training toy as per the recommendation by Cesar Millan in his "bringing up the perfect dog" book. He had lots of ladies spot him and want to make a fuss of him, which he loved. He was really well behaved and enjoyed sniffing out all the new smells. We then took him for his first trip to pets at home to buy him a little coat as he seems to shiver every time we take him outside the house. Again, he lapped up all the attention he received... he is very much a ladies man :-)
Just as we were checking the list, he got a whiff of rodent coming from the hamster / guinea pig pens and his nose went into overdrive... so Dan made a swift exit outside. Being a terrier, his natural instincts would be to hunt and kill these type of animals.
When we arrived him, he relieved himself straight away and accidentally trod in his poo so we needed to do an emergency clean up job. I took him straight into the bathroom and put him in the bath. He wasn't too sure of the shower and howled his little head off to begin with but before long, he trusted me to complete his bath. I used his puppy shampoo to make him smell fresh and whilst he enjoyed being towel dried he is still not too sure of the hairdryer... this is going to need more work I feel especially as he will be a frequent visitor to the groomers. But once he was dry, he let me use his puppy deodorant spray which keeps him smelling fresh and also let me comb him which hasn't really been possible so far so this is a big step forward.
I am looking forward to another little adventure tomorrow
:-D
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Day 2 - A day of firsts
As I sit and write this, little Merlin is out sparko from a very exhausting day.
I woke up at 4am to the sound of little paws padding across the floor liner and back again which when I woke up was for Merlin to relieve himself with perfect aim on his training pad... full marks for that considering it was pitch black! He then went back to sleep and didn't wake again until 8am... not bad for the first night.
After he had wolfed down his breakfast, he was given a cuddle and played with his squeaky wubba Kong toy, although his enthusiasm for this was somewhat short lived when Dan placed a peanut butter filled Kong in his pen... he attacked it with gusto, he is definitely ours as we lurve the peanut butter :-)
At around midday, he was awoken to find 4 new faces looking in at him. It didn't take him long to sniff out these new people (Ben and Jo with our nephews Alex and Nathan). Merlin hadn't met Children before and was very gentle in his approach and even though they were unsure at first, they were soon feeding him treats through the wire of his puppy pen.
When our visitors had gone home, Dan decided to start training Merlin to sit. He spent 10 minutes holding small turkey treats in his fingers and let Merlin sniff and paw his hand to get it. When Merlin sat down, Dan would reward him with the treat. Dan repeated this using the sit command but Merlin soon cottoned on to the fact that if he sat down, he got a treat, so he stayed sitting down... not really the required effect but definitely 10/10 for effort.
After having another snooze, we woke him up for his first car journey since he came to his new home and this was to take him to the vet for his first injection and health check. He was a little panicky when we first moved off but by the time we were on the main road he had settled down. Once inside the vets he was weighed... 2.3kg which is a near on perfect weight so we were told. He remained calm while we waited and was puzzled by the wheezing noises coming from a very overweight Labrador in the waiting room.
When it was our turn, I carried him into the Vet consultation room and put him on the table. The vet scanned his microchip and gave us advice about when to neuter him. He checked him over and confirmed that everything was fine, although the left hand side of his throat was a little swollen but it was not anything to be too concerned about and to keep an eye on it. He gave us a worming tablet and treated him with some more frontline flea treatment before giving him his first injection. Merlin was really good and didn't bat an eyelid.
We enrolled him onto Puppy Socialisation classes which are run by the Vet Centre on Wednesday evenings starting next week. The 3 week course gives us tips and advice on socialising, chewing, training, feeding etc and fingers crossed Merlin will make a few new friends which we can meet up with for walks in the park.
All in all, it's been a good first day, albeit a tiring one.
I woke up at 4am to the sound of little paws padding across the floor liner and back again which when I woke up was for Merlin to relieve himself with perfect aim on his training pad... full marks for that considering it was pitch black! He then went back to sleep and didn't wake again until 8am... not bad for the first night.
After he had wolfed down his breakfast, he was given a cuddle and played with his squeaky wubba Kong toy, although his enthusiasm for this was somewhat short lived when Dan placed a peanut butter filled Kong in his pen... he attacked it with gusto, he is definitely ours as we lurve the peanut butter :-)
At around midday, he was awoken to find 4 new faces looking in at him. It didn't take him long to sniff out these new people (Ben and Jo with our nephews Alex and Nathan). Merlin hadn't met Children before and was very gentle in his approach and even though they were unsure at first, they were soon feeding him treats through the wire of his puppy pen.
When our visitors had gone home, Dan decided to start training Merlin to sit. He spent 10 minutes holding small turkey treats in his fingers and let Merlin sniff and paw his hand to get it. When Merlin sat down, Dan would reward him with the treat. Dan repeated this using the sit command but Merlin soon cottoned on to the fact that if he sat down, he got a treat, so he stayed sitting down... not really the required effect but definitely 10/10 for effort.
After having another snooze, we woke him up for his first car journey since he came to his new home and this was to take him to the vet for his first injection and health check. He was a little panicky when we first moved off but by the time we were on the main road he had settled down. Once inside the vets he was weighed... 2.3kg which is a near on perfect weight so we were told. He remained calm while we waited and was puzzled by the wheezing noises coming from a very overweight Labrador in the waiting room.
When it was our turn, I carried him into the Vet consultation room and put him on the table. The vet scanned his microchip and gave us advice about when to neuter him. He checked him over and confirmed that everything was fine, although the left hand side of his throat was a little swollen but it was not anything to be too concerned about and to keep an eye on it. He gave us a worming tablet and treated him with some more frontline flea treatment before giving him his first injection. Merlin was really good and didn't bat an eyelid.
We enrolled him onto Puppy Socialisation classes which are run by the Vet Centre on Wednesday evenings starting next week. The 3 week course gives us tips and advice on socialising, chewing, training, feeding etc and fingers crossed Merlin will make a few new friends which we can meet up with for walks in the park.
All in all, it's been a good first day, albeit a tiring one.
Day 1
The alarm went off promptly at 06.45... although we were so excited we were already awake and raring to go. We arrived at Kate's house to collect our new puppy. We were really fortunate to have visited Kate and her puppies several times but Merlin was the last of the litter to be collected. When we arrived, all the Miniature Schnauzers were excited to see us and Merlin came running over to say hello wagging his little tail. After a coffee and being given our puppy pack we made our way to the car where Merlin's crate had been placed in the boot.
Taking Cesar Milan's advice from his "Raising the Perfect Puppy" book, we held Merlin and allowed him to sniff and make his way into his crate with the help of a treat or two. He soon settled in and after a brief howl we made our way home.
When we arrived at Chez Bass, we opened the boot and immediately Merlin stated to sniff out his new territory... a very good sign! I carried him from the car and let him sniff the air for a couple of minutes before walking up to our front door. Once outside our front door, Merlin became very inquisitive and his nose lead him around the hallway. He didn't like the feel of the lead though... he was quite put out to be shown the way and immediately tried to chew it so I think we have some more work to do there!
When our guests were in place, we made our way to the designated puppy area in the living room and let him down to play. Almost immediately there was a little yellow puddle on the waterproof floor liner and when cleaning up the little accident, Merlin became fixated on the tissue and thought that the clean up was a fun game.
Most of the afternoon was spent playing with his new toys and generally having lots of cuddles. He ate all his meals and especially liked the little bit of Christmas turkey as a treat. He also managed to do all his messes on the puppy training pads (Thank you Kate for getting him used to these before he came home).
Before bed, we experienced Merlin's first howl... something very common for Miniature Schnauzers to do, and after a bed time cuddle from his new Daddy he settled into his crate for the night. Lets see what Day 2 has in store tomorrow....
Taking Cesar Milan's advice from his "Raising the Perfect Puppy" book, we held Merlin and allowed him to sniff and make his way into his crate with the help of a treat or two. He soon settled in and after a brief howl we made our way home.
When we arrived at Chez Bass, we opened the boot and immediately Merlin stated to sniff out his new territory... a very good sign! I carried him from the car and let him sniff the air for a couple of minutes before walking up to our front door. Once outside our front door, Merlin became very inquisitive and his nose lead him around the hallway. He didn't like the feel of the lead though... he was quite put out to be shown the way and immediately tried to chew it so I think we have some more work to do there!
When our guests were in place, we made our way to the designated puppy area in the living room and let him down to play. Almost immediately there was a little yellow puddle on the waterproof floor liner and when cleaning up the little accident, Merlin became fixated on the tissue and thought that the clean up was a fun game.
Most of the afternoon was spent playing with his new toys and generally having lots of cuddles. He ate all his meals and especially liked the little bit of Christmas turkey as a treat. He also managed to do all his messes on the puppy training pads (Thank you Kate for getting him used to these before he came home).
Before bed, we experienced Merlin's first howl... something very common for Miniature Schnauzers to do, and after a bed time cuddle from his new Daddy he settled into his crate for the night. Lets see what Day 2 has in store tomorrow....
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