Sarge the Boxer Puppy - Training at 8 months

Sarge the Boxer Puppy at 7 months with his brother Hoss

Sorry for the absence, I was super busy with portrait commissions this Christmas and beyond.  Etsy has proved to be a great showcase and I got a lot of commissions from them.

So how is Sarge?  He's now 8 months old, almost 57 lbs. and is doing great.  How did he do with potty training without a crate?  Fabulous. 

He has the run of the house and has done beautifully. I think it's important to have the run of the house because his natural instinct is to protect and guard.  How can you protect and guard if you can't get to it??

Anyway, we have been really lucky with the chewing, we haven't lost anything.  I corrected him with an "uh, uh" any time he mouthed anything inappropriate.  He gets a raw beef bone every day, and I think that takes care of his need to chew, and keeps him nicely occupied.  I also pushed a sturdy chair next to a window so he can watch the goings on outside, which keeps him from being bored while I'm working on my dog portraits.  And a long walk every day it's not icy out is good for both of us!

The big news for Sarge was that our son and daughter in law became puppy parents to his half brother, Hoss!  Hoss is a "black" boxer, which really means he is a very dark brown, where the brindle stripes actually cover all of the tan .  They have the same father.  Hoss is a few months younger than Sarge, and they bonded immediately.  Here they are playing, love that manic face dogs have when you snap a photo of them playing!  Hoss is a city dog, who has to be walked, and also was trained without a crate.  It IS possible!  Hoss's parents have outside jobs, and he spends significant time alone, but they built a custom gate to keep him in their kitchen, where he can look outdoors, and he's been a champ.  He was the last of his litter to go and his breeder had him housetrained without a crate before he came to his new home.  There's definitelly something to be said for getting an older pup!!!

So is Sarge perfect?  Yes!!  Ha, ha.  Actually, we are working on jumping on people.  It's soooooo hard, especially when people actually pat their chests and welcome him up!   He's doing better on it, but by no means can I report that he has good manners regarding jumping!

Sarge the Boxer Puppy - Training and Development



Sarge the Boxer Puppy at 5 months

Sarge the boxer puppy turned 5 months a few days ago and he is doing incredibly great!  A few "devil dog" days, but he's been totally housetrained for over a month, hasn't destroyed the house yet and hasn't seen the inside of a crate.

He was perfect about staying in his backyard until a few minutes ago (ran to follow a dog being walked), has been perfect about waiting at corners for me to tell him to cross the street, and is a champ at car trips, motel rooms and as a houseguest.

And he's puzzlingly not that thrilled with walks.  He goes, but shows no enthusiasm for it.  He'd much rather play in his backyard.

He's chosen a favorite chair for naps, can leap in the air at least 4 feet, but expects a little boost into the car for rides.  He's shown no interest in chasing squirrels, but likes to watch them, and loves leap in the air after the pigeons invade our bird feeder.  Good boy!

His favorite place in the world is my neighbor Pat's willow tree.  Our backyards are not fenced from each other, and he runs and runs and runs around her tree.  She thinks he's crazy!  His giant teeth are coming in and I've given him a fresh beef bone every day to enjoy and teeth on. 

But it's been a full time job to get him to this point! My art has definitely been backburner, but that's okay. I don't have to be on a schedule, and it's one of the things I really like about working from home! Yesterday I was photographing some vintage to sell and he thought the whole exercise was about knocking the camera out of my hand. Uh, oh!

And he's nicely on his way to being social and trained just as my busy season for portrait approaches.  I am looking forward it!  The difference this year will be that I'll have to take more and longer breaks to make sure Sarge gets lots of playtime!