Puppy Update

Sunapee is about 4 1/2 months old and growing faster than a weed. The change from when we first brought him home at 9 weeks is amazing. Life at home with puppy has improved and become significantly easier.

• Sunapee successfully completed 2 concurrent Puppy Kindergarten classes (we didn't want to risk under-training him) and is halfway through Puppy II (just one class now). I'm proud to say he is one of the star pupils and learns very quickly. Commands he knows now include:
• Sit (tho he doesn't quite get the command if he's already lying down)
  
• Down
• Stay (ok, this one is still a work in progress, but it's not bad)
• Wait (also new, but he's good at it)
• Let's Go! (walk with me)
• Heel! (walk RIGHT next to me)
• Gentle (take this treat but leave my fingers intact, please)
  
• Come! (They say this is one of the most important and he gets it every time. The key? We use meat based baby food, aka puppy crack, as the reward.)
• Sunapee has graduated from puppy day care to beach trips when we're at work. The fine people who run this program say Sunapee is the only dog in the group they trust off leash because of the aforementioned Come! training.
• Sunapee has had all his shots and can now actually enjoy the parks, so now he gets to play fetch on the grass at Golden Gate Park until the cows come home.
• He has grown from ~18 lbs when we brought him home to over 45 lbs. His ears and paws have grown faster than the rest of him, but really, it makes him extra cute.
• He happily hops in the car to go anywhere and no longer tries to hop out of the crate top if it's open (see pic below). This is new and it cracks me up to look back and see his little head sticking out.
• Cats are still not fond of him but will occasionally get close enough that they sniff each other's noses.
• Sunapee is definitely social. He met his first baby on Sunday (pics to come) and didn't mind her pokes, didn't bring his teeth anywhere near her and just licked her face a few times, prodding her to push him away.
  

Tomorrow we're heading up to Mendocino, puppy in tow, for an anniversary get away. Fingers are crossed he behaves there as well as he does at home! Thankfully someone invented the travel crate.