Wordless Wednesday #34 - Terrier's First Love

Can anyone guess what Mr. N is sleeping with? Stay tuned for a giveaway next week! 

BW Sunday #37 - Posing

Monday Mischief #30 - A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

BW Sunday #36 - Bunny Crawl

Wordless Wednesday #33 - Bloom

Tulips Galore at the Dog-Friendly Wooden Shoe Tulip Fest

Mr. N and his partner-in-crime, Sage set out on another adventure and found... tulips! Rows and rows of gorgeous flowers at the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm in Woodburn, Ore. Dogs on leash are allowed.

 It was the perfect day for walking around and looking at flowers. The dogs enjoyed frolicking in the sun and accepting admiration from passersby.

 And meeting new friends.

 The dogs were very good about just "looking" at the flowers and not damaging them in any way. Unlike some kids we saw who were running around with tulips in their hands! 

 Mr. N hopped onto the tractor.

And Sage joined him for the ride. This is Mr. N's "men don't stop for directions" face.

And this is his diabolical tulip face. 

 The cow train drove by.

And Mr. N got lost in the field of flowers. 

Mr. N would like to complain to the management that nothing is Yorkie-sized.

On our way out, we made a quick stop at the garden and took some windmill photos.

 

The dogs discussing what to do on their next adventure. Who knows what they'll come up with?

Wordless Wednesday #32 - Get Well Card

BW Sunday #35 - A Young Dog's Fancy

Wordless Wednesday #31 - Winner Takes it All

Positive Pet Training #4 - Teaching "speak"

One thing I've never been able to teach Mr. N is "speak." I've tried knocking on doors to get him to bark and offering him a toy/treat but not letting him have it. He just looks at me with sad eyes and lies down. I tried for maybe two or three sessions and then gave up. Mr. N isn't one of those dogs that barks for the sake of barking. He generally barks for a reason: someone at the door, excitement during play time or during dog greetings.

Onyxx likes to vocalize. He whines and chirps and howls. Somewhere along the way, the boyfriend discovered that if you bark at Onyxx, he will bark back.

So I've been teaching Onyxx to speak on command instead. I'll bark at him, and when he barks back, I tell him "yes" and reward him. The things we do for our dogs right? I'm working on getting it on cue so I don't have to bark at him every time!

I'll put a video up later.

Have you tried any "unusual" methods in the course of training your dog?

Monday Mischief #29 - Sick Pup

Mr. N is not feeling very well right now. He's been vomiting and having diarrhea on and off for a couple of days now. A bland diet didn't help so we're going to the vet tomorrow. He is still enjoying his walks but he's been sleeping more than usual.

Plus Onyxx has kennel cough (he's doing well and enjoying the exercise restriction) and my computer is being repaired so I may be slow to reply to things.

Please send good vibes, thoughts or prayers Mr. N's way.

BW Sunday #34 - Tree Climbing

FitDog Friday #27 - Rust Belt Market

Between the cold weather, not being able to walk anywhere and Detroit not being particularly dog-friendly, Mr. N barely went anywhere during our trip to visit family besides walking around the neighborhood and for a hike. The exception being when we met up with How I Adopted Your Brother and her puppy Kelinn to go to the Rust Belt Market on Saturday. The Market is an indoor arts and crafts fair that is open on the weekends (and allows dogs!).

Portland is ridiculously dog-friendly in many ways (although the airport could really use an indoor bathroom area for dogs) and Mr. N being pint-sized means he gets to go almost everywhere that doesn't sell food. I could tell he missed all the mental stimulation of being out and about when we came back from the market and he crashed.

Everyone wanted to say hello. Who wouldn't want to say hello to this puppy face?

We walked around and bought some ties for the boyfriend and stopped by the juice bar. 

I had a terrible time taking photos of the dogs together. They were either blurry because Kelinn was moving (puppy brain can only focus for so long) or the dogs refused to sit next to each other (Mr. N has very decided opinions on exuberant puppy behavior) or something. Kelinn was falling asleep towards the end too. It was a neat place to visit and we would have never found out about it without How I Adopted Your Brother. 

Where do you take your dogs for mental stimulation? 

Wordless Wednesday #30 - Personal Shopper