Let's Go!

"Let's go!" is one of Alfie's favorite phrases.  He's always up for a challenge.

Alfie the guidedood in his superhero outfit.

A couple days ago we did some work on the stairs.  A typical puppy, he tends to rush the "up" stairs and has to really concentrate on the "down" ones.  These stairs are pretty steep too.

You oughta try having four legs on these stairs, it's no picnic!

Half way down he found something slimy to grab in his mouth.  I know, because I took it out (ewww...)

Innocent until proven guilty.  OK, I'm proven guilty...

One of the things the pups work on is walking in the correct position.  To guide, Alfie needs to be slightly ahead of me, hips about even with my leg --not "at heel" like you'd teach a pet dog.  I'm not telling how many pictures we got of him doing the wrong thing before we got this good one!  There was a reason:  it was very windy, and gusts kept catching his jacket and blowing it forward, irritating him to no end...he was kinda squirrely!

I can do this!  Just watch!

Proof of how windy it was:  look at his ears!

I feel like Dumbo ready for takeoff...

Yesterday I was in a shop and we had to wait a minor eternity (in dog years anyway) at the register.  I wanted to get a promotional offer and the sales clerk had to look it up for me.  Believe me, just a few weeks ago Mr. Alf would've been growling and nudging me in impatience, like a bored little child.  But yesterday he was so patient, staying in a nice quiet sit the whole time.  What a good boy!

I can be very patient when dog cookies are at stake!

Giant Guitars, Stuffed Animals, and Pigeons -- Oh My!

Alphini and I greet you today from downtown Austin -- which, in case you didn't know, is the live music capitol of the world!

Hmm. Is the statue thingy good to chew?

In all honesty, on my own I would seldom get downtown. We just go there to train the dog. Even though we live in a pretty busy area with a lot of traffic, it's nothing like the crowds, traffic, smells, and (of course!) live music of downtown. Alfie needs to learn how to negotiate it all calmly. Here are a few of the things we did today...

finding seats

finding trashcans (look how eagerly he's waiting for his treat!)

practicing "heel" when he gets ahead of me -- he has to circle back to my side in a sort of big backward-s maneuver

negotiating stairs -- tricky for a puppy who's still in that awkward growing stage!

As usual, we also had to practice not doing things!

not chasing pigeons (they were closer & more tempting than they look here, I promise!)

not grabbing the cute little stuffed animals, even though they're on puppy level

We had some challenging moments, like when someone came racing toward us, trying to catch a bus...Alfie leaped toward him in happy excitement, sure that he must want to play! Then later, while walking down the sidewalk, we followed a man sweeping the street and Alfie could scarcely resist pouncing on the broom.

Overall, though, I think Alfie is doing really well for a just-turned-4-months puppy! In the video below you'll see us crossing the street...he gets distracted by something on the pavement and veers off a bit, but comes back to my side after that. He does a good job waiting for me on the "up" curb, although right after that he's distracted by the live music blaring out of a cafe. It's all part of the learning experience!

So how'd I do?

Christmas Shopping

Katharine asked if I could take her to Borders for a little Christmas shopping, so I decided it'd be a great outing for Alfie too. Here we are going through the automatic doors (which are some of the loudest I've heard, by the way!) Since we knew just what we wanted the shopping didn't take long and pretty soon we were in the checkout line.

The picture below shows something I really like about Alfie: his "watch me" is great! People around were noticing him but he stayed pretty focused on what we were doing. Good boy!

Watching...watching...watching...

The guy behind the counter always teases me, "Why do you bring in such cute dogs if I can't pet them?" to which I always reply, "If you could pet them I wouldn't be allowed to bring them in..." It's just like a ritual, this conversation we always have to have. Makes me laugh!

Outside, we walk past an interesting grate. I was trying to go around to the right, Alfie decided to go around to the left. We'll get it together eventually!

Any chance this grate thingy would make a good chew toy?

Then, of course, Alfie notices a little puppy in the shop window who just seems to keep following us...finally he has to check it out and it's only his reflection. He gives me an embarrassed look.

I guess it's not real after all!

Before we leave, I take the opportunity of working Alfie on some stairs. He hasn't seen this many all at once before! We got up (the easy part) but as you can see in the video he wasn't too eager to go down at first. He probably would have liked me to carry him! I had to use my silliest "squeaky-toy-voice" to get him started...but then he finished like a champ.

Other than confusing me by trying to walk on my right side afterward, I thought he did pretty well!

Time to go home! Alfie already knows what the "bus" is and when we get there, eagerly goes to the passenger side to get in.

That was a pretty good day's work, don't ya think?