You get what you pay for

Last weekend, Rudy, myself, Joey and Kiyra stood in line for an hour outside a local feed store to get $5.00 rabies vaccinations. It was oppressively humid and the line was surprisingly longer than I imagined it would be. It just didn't help that everything in line with us was poverty-stricken and unkempt. There was a particularly scraggy looking white poodle that in addition to having a rabies shot also had a heartworm test which not surprisingly came back positive. I noticed the vet tell the owner (who said the dog was really his daughter's) that the treatment would be somewhere around $500.00 and sorry for the bad news. I again turned my attention back to the long line I was standing in that moved so. very. slowly. The dog in front of us was inflicted with a raspy cough and the dog behind us was "losing weight and I don't know why.." a direct quote from the person holding the lead of the skinny brown mutt. Needless to say that is the last time we'll ever do that. I believe a welfare office would be less depressive and perhaps, contagious.

Instead of continuing with the word "Speak" to elicit a bark, I have changed that word to "Protect". This way, if I'm ever walking him outside or if someone comes to my door at some ungodly hour, all I have to do is give the "protect" command (which is really speak) and the stranger will assume that I have a highly trained attack dog. I know, it's a brilliant idea... thank you.

I bought a new collar from Target. It's a Boots & Barkley 1" x 17-28" black adjustable nylon with gray, white, black and red pin striping. His new tags look lovely hanging from it. I contacted Tarshay requesting the matching lead but I don't expect a response. I know it's not a coach but I refuse to buy one that he'll quickly grow out of. When you have a growing puppy, a stylish collar that adjusts from 17" to 28" for $5.99 cannot be beat.

The new command we've been working on is "Stay" I know I said I would wait until he was more mature for such an advanced command but he seems so eager to please and extremely easy to train. The training sessions are very short and usually only done twice a day right before feeding time. He'll practice down/stay for a 30 seconds to 1 minute before I put his food bowl down. Also, I'm buying a 25 foot training lead from the feed store next time I go.

I'm thinking about switching dog food from IAMS to Canidae. From the ingredient list, it appears much more wholesome and has 4 human grade meats instead of just one. The price is only a few bucks more and my local feed store carries it. I'll begin gradually weaning off IAMS in a couple of weeks. Right now I feed him dry small chunks IAMS once in the morning and again in the evening with raw steak chunks occasionally.

Rudy has been more expressive lately. If he wants something, he'll continually give me his paw and look lovingly into my eyes. This will happen sometimes if we're in my office and he wants to go downstairs or wants a treat. I know this behavior is frowned upon by some trainers but I don't mind it at all.

Tonight we go to my parent's house where I will bake enough brownies to feed 40 fellow officemates while Rudy plays with the beagle. Saturday, I have to pick up Rudy's heartworm med at the vets. I'll get it online once he matures. Right now I can only get a month supply at a time because of his weight changes.