Merry Christmas!

Palmer met Oreo recently (my aunt's 12-year old chihuahua) and the two seemed to hit it off quite well... most especially since Oreo kept trying to jump on to Palmer's backside. The second meeting was bordering boring since the two didn't seem to care the other dog even existed. They meandered around the house without any sort of interaction, save a sniff here and there. Palmer got a bit territorial when he was chewing on his rawhide once but other than that, the two existed in perfect harmony.

As much as Johnny hates when we dress Palmer up, we put him in Oreo's hat for a bit. Palmer entertained us for a few seconds but took it off when he realized he wasn't getting a treat for wearing it. Anyway, from Johnny, Palmer, and I... Have a merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

Obedience School Graduate

Palmer is officially an obedience school graduate! It was so nerve wracking and exciting at the same time. While I was leading Palmer through the 'testing', Johnny was playing nervous dog daddy by snapping blurry pictures of us from a distance.

Palmer doing a 'sit' in the blue hula hoop:

Palmer doing a 'sit-stay':

Palmer doing a 'down' in the red hula hoop:
Palmer doing a 'down-stay':We also got the opportunity to perform a trick for the rest of the class but I won't put a picture of that since I don't want to ruin the surprise. You will have to see that in person for yourself! :)

And then, they had a graduation 'ceremony' complete with graduation music, certificate, and a cute little red-star sticker on the doggie's little head. We are so proud of how far Palmer has come!

And a random picture of Palmer pretending to be a reindeer. He doesn't really like to wear the antlers but I tricked him into a down-stay (thank you, obedience school) long enough for me to take a picture. Happy Holidays!

Overdue

Wow, we're way overdue for a blog update, aren't we? We've just been so busy with all the work Johnny and I are tied up with, Christmas shopping, family dinners, etc. We had our Week 4 class last week and Palmer did so so well! We had to do a 'blind' recall where I had to hide out of Palmer's sight and call him to me. I was so nervous but Palmer came right when I called. We have our 'finals' next week and then graduation! Palmer will have to walk on leash without pulling, sit, down, sit stay, down stay, and perform a trick in order to graduate so we are cramming all week. Wish us luck.

Here is a recent picture of Johnny, Palmer, and me. I also have a cute video of Palmer trying to reach for his rawhide but blogger's server doesn't seem to like it. I'll try again later...

Week 3

Tonight was Week 3 of Palmer's obedience school and for the first time, we witnessed the magic of the Gentle Leader. We walked at the park today with about 10 other dogs (of all shapes, sizes, and personalities) and Palmer didn't bark, growl, or lunge at any of them. Why? Because of the Gentle Leader! It is an amazing leash training system that puts pressure around the dogs snout to communicate leadership in a non-aggressive way. Our homework for this week is to use the Gentle Leader whenever we take Palmer out for a walk.

After the park walk, we came back in to do some more recalls -- this time with our backs faced to the dog. Images of last week's recall failure flashed through my mind. I was short of breath and nervous that our practice over the Thanksgiving break wouldn't pay off. I walked to the end of the room, turned around and called for Palmer. Palmer... Palmer, Come here! A few seconds later, Palmer was by my side! Good boy, Palmer! We're making progress.

Well wishes & Bad habits

Thanks to everyone for your well wishes... the Palmer pie is doing just fine. Lab results came back normal and vet said it could have just been a brief case of gastroenteritis. At least I have peace of mind.

In other news, Palmer seemed to enjoy the Thanksgiving weekend as much as I did. We both:

• Sat around and did nothing for 3 days straight
• Overstuffed ourselves with food and treats
• Spent good, quality time with our loved ones

Unfortunately, over the 4-day weekend, my dad, Johnny, and I picked up a horrible horrible habit of holding Palmer to sleep. Just before the holidays, I had given Palmer a really thorough bath. He was so soft and smooth and smelled so squeaky clean that it made for ideal cuddling conditions. On separate occassions, we each gave into the irresistable temptation but together vowed it would never happen again! Take a look:

The last picture of Palmer and me is hilarious because neither of us woke up when my dad took the picture! And, my mom said that Palmer tried multiple times to pull his feet up onto the couch to be more comfortable but as he dozed off, they would slide right back down again.

Visit to the Vet

I brought Palmer to the vet today because his entire body was shivering and trembling uncontrollably this morning. I tried to Google his symptoms but that only made me worry more so I scheduled an appointment with the vet. When we went, she didn't find anything from his physical exam but will call me about the lab results tomorrow. Will keep you posted...

Come here, Palmer!

So, Johnny, Palmer, and I attended our second session of obedience training tonight and we had our very first obedience test. Our instructor pulled out a 10 foot lead and the 'test' was to see if your dog would 'come' when you called him from across the room. That's fine and dandy if we were at home, I thought, but in the middle of the room, surrounded by strange and overly active dogs? Johnny immediately turned to me, gave me a quick pep talk, said 'You can do it!' and started humming 'Eye of a Tiger'. I started to sweat ...

I was so nervous, I didn't really listen to the instructions so I was happy to see that they started on the other end of the room. The first dog that went was a beautiful little sheltie. Palmer and I watched as the 'teacher's pet' pranced with the instructor to the other end of the room (the instructor suggested earlier that she move up to the intermediate class because she was 'too advance' for the basic class). Pshh. So anyway, as expected, the little sheltie-girl trotted over to her owner right on cue.

Next up was a big lovable chocolate labradoodle named Jasper. He has this dopey, happy-go-lucky attitude and right when his owner called, he leaped and bounded his way over... but got distracted at the last minute by some peanut butter on the floor and made a quick swerve to the left. But, his owner grabbed his collar and the recall was considered a success.

A big drooling monster of a dog was next -- the massive mastiff, Casseus. He overpowered his owner (a docile, gentle senior) just in walking across the room, surely he wouldn't 'come' when called! There's gotta be one dog that messes up before its our turn to go!! Not Casseus. From across the room, his owner yelled powerfully, Casseus, boy. Come here! Casseus!... and good ol' Casseus came.

A few dogs later, it was Palmer's turn. All of a sudden, it was cold in the room and my body was shivering. I must've been experiencing some higher level of nervousness since my normal reaction to tense situations is to sweat (so I look like I'm sitting in a sauna). I unhook our lead, and attach the 10-foot lead to Palmer. The instructor walks with him to the end of the room. Ready, set... Palmer! Come here Palmer! Palmer! ... nothing. I look over and Palmer is happily sitting at the foot of the instructor waiting for a treat. Again, Palmer! Palmer! Come here Palmer! and I see him wagging his tail, sitting patiently, priding himself in his discipline to sit. He thinks he's going to get a treat. 'Maybe if I sit here longer', he's probably thinking. I hear the oohs and the aahs but here I am, calling for a dog that won't come! Last time... Palmer! Come here! Palmer! Finally, Palmer hears my voice, breaks out of his trance, turns to look at me... and comes running. Oh Palmer!! We have a lot of homework to do this week!