I adore this picture.  It was taken when I visited the Aussie babies at six weeks.  Even then, Des was a little firecracker and practiced his kung-fu moves at every opportunity.  He’s not afraid of doing things in his own unique Des way.

Baby Des, six weeks, ninja in training.

Like sleeping.  Most pups would look at this soft, snuggly, den-like cube of sleeping happiness and curl up inside.  Does our Desmond?  No….he has his own ideas.  So there!  I have since found Lucy copying his style in the very same spot, so he must be onto something.

I figured out how to sleep with the cube all by myself.

Actually, it does look pretty comfy.  If they made these things in my size, I’d definitely give it a test nap.

Zzzzzzz....

Then again, napping is taking seriously in our house, and little Des found himself pressed into service while snoozing with Angus.  I think the Big Red Truck found himself a Little Merle Pillow.  <No one complained>

One of Desmond’s littermates was a sweet little fellow who had markings just like a panda. I didn’t notice baby Des giving little Ming the stink-eye in this picture until recently…

Baby Des and brother, six weeks

While on the surface they looked like loving brothers, evidently, some deeper feelings were being harbored…

Did you say uncle yet??

But seriously, Des adores his little Ming, and hauls him all over the house.  —> By his nose.

This week, Des was too busy to sit still for a group photo.  Shortly after this picture was taken, my hat (sitting on the ground behind me) was swiped, taken on Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride around the yard, and then unceremoniously deposited in the field…traded off for a much more exciting clump of dirt.  At least I hope it was a clump of dirt…I’m just going to pretend it was a clump of dirt.

Dunc and Des, 16 weeks

Our little man had a big week.  He visited the vet for his 16 week check and weighs in at a spritely 11.4 pounds.  I suspect 10 of those pounds consist entirely of legs.  (Reference the stuffed panda photo above for proof).   We went to our first agility club practice, where he met several new friends.  I’m quickly learning that his skill in charming everyone out of the cookies in their pockets is second only to that of his much more practiced big brother, Duncan.

“Watch and learn, Grasshopper, there are many cookies to be mooched, and only cuteness is expected in return…”

He’s got that in the bag!

We are thankful for our friends and family…and chewy toys, treats and lap snuggling.

For Thanksgiving this year, to Grandma’s house we went.  We all had a great time, full of running outside (for the pups) and eating as much seafood as possible (for the people).  As confirmed desert-dwellers, Angus, Lucy and Duncan spent as little time out in the coastal weather as possible, convinced that if they got wet, they would melt.  Des on the other hand as a fellow native Oregonian, decided dancing in the rain was a pretty fun thing to do…even when attacked by an umbrella.

Beach? Not today!

I had hopes of letting the Aussies run on the beach, but found the tide was in when we arrived.  With a winter storm brewing, waves were crashing into the foredune, and then as if on cue, rain began to fall, so we retreated to a nearby pine forest for a romp through the moss.   Not having lived near the coast in about 15 years, I’d watched the Twilight movies thinking the rain effects were excessive.  Let me tell you…they aren’t.  It’s wet here.  And really, really green!

Super Des!

Upon our return back to the land of sunny skies, short trees and moss-less roofs, the boys helped me plant garlic and shallots in the garden, two things I’ve managed to grow pretty well.  I can’t claim to be a gardening genius…we happen to live in a climate that garlic likes, and it’s a crop you plant and forget until you harvest it 8 months later.  Even I can’t mess that up!   I’m late in planting (it was agility or garden, and I picked my priority!) but not as late as I have been in the past.  Last year, I literally drilled holes into a block of frozen dirt to plant and darned if those little garlic cloves grew!

While outside, I practiced Desmond’s recalls.  Recipe for success = another dog that comes flying when I call (thank you Dunc) and a pocketful of kibble.  I am thankful for such a beautiful afternoon to share with my two boys.

Did someone call me?

Today is a day of lasts and firsts.  We began our last trial of the year this morning, our local fall NADAC.  I love this trial, and Dunc loves these courses because there aren’t any pesky tables or teeters to slow him down.  He must have tied on his Go Fast shoes this morning, because he was flying today.

Desmond also got to spend his first full day together with us, and he was a gem.  He snoozed in his crate in between charming everyone he met.  I let him watch a couple of dogs run from the vantage point of my arms, and he was riveted!  He had the same look on his face that I saw on a baby bird dog the first time he saw a pheasant flush.

All of that would be enough, but this evening while I was letting the boys do hot laps in the yard, a magical moment happened.  Duncan and Desmond started to play together.  Dunc is the boy we affectionately call Captain No Fun, because usually when two other dogs play, he wades in the middle, barking, clearly telling all parties to ‘break it up, move along, this is a zero fun zone.’  Des has been playing with our girl and Boxer since day one, but Dunc has generally avoided him, as he does most dogs.

Did you ever see the first of the ‘new’ Star Wars movies with all the CG silliness and that hideous Jar Jar Binks?  Ignore that and fast forward to the scene where Yoda battles the evil Darth so-and-so.   Yoda starts jumping and spinning and becomes a little green blur. Duncan looked like a little merle version of Yoda (without the light saber) when playing with Des.  He would crouch, then leap and spin, then circle and leap straight up like he was spring-loaded.  I’m not sure if this is normal Aussie play since I’ve never really seen Dunc play with anyone but our Frenchie, and she has a full-contact-tackle brand of play all her own.

Of course, the moment passed, and Des made off with Duncan’s favorite ball, so the détente was temporary.  But…the Fun Police put his badge away for a little while.  What a lovely thing to witness.

I took a few pictures of them, unfortunately the light was fading and they are a little blurry, but they’re still special to me.

I didn't do anything!

When I was thinking about the perfect pup, I wanted a little people lover with drive, who was full of play.  A little sass and sense of humor wouldn’t be a bad thing.

Careful what you wish for!

Des is a boy with moxie!  He wants to play and play and play.  And when you stop the play (say, to hold him still) he demands that the game continue.  He’s quite adamant about it, too.  Now, I thought…I’ve had Boxers.  If there is a hard-headed breed, it’s a Boxer, so I have the experience to show this baby that sometimes we need to sit still.  The problem is that Boxers are more than happy to sit next to you on the couch and watch reruns of Globe Trekker, even as babies.  They’re a playful breed tailor-made to those of us who think watching three movies in a row on an icy November day isn’t an unusual activity.

As a result, this week I decided to show Des that I can hold him still, that he can sit with me and the world still rotates.  He wasn’t convinced, and insisted that I stop being so boring. Then Duncan gave me a nudge and reminded me I’m dealing with an Aussie.  So in Aussie-speak (which is just English because obviously they speak it perfectly), I explained to Des that he needed to trust me, that in the years to come, I’m going to ask him to do some really weird things (like jumping through tires) and to just go with it.  Darned if the little guy didn’t just shoot me a look that plainly said “WHY didn’t you say so in the first place??!!”  And then he flopped upside down in my arms and went to sleep.

I LOVE these dogs!  So smart, so willing…and I know they can read your mind.

Last week Des was weighed at the vet.  At 12 weeks, he’s 9.2 lbs.  He’s also starting to get a little more body to go with his LONG legs.  Love his floppy ears!

I am cute. Feed me.

The Boys and I trekked to the eastern half of our state this weekend for an AKC trial.   It was a new location for us, and turned out to be a great opportunity to try out our running dogwalk contacts in competition.  Little Desmond was a gem, and was often found upside down, napping in his crate in the car.

I switched Duncan to running contacts (instead of stopping him at the bottom) about two years ago to keep his motivation high throughout the course.  As usually happens without any extra training, running turned to jumping, and in the excitement of a trial, jumping the entire yellow contact zone was pretty easy for my little guy.  I’ve been taking an online running contact course since the spring, and am starting to see Dunc figuring out that his job is to run off the end, with no leaping.  He still does the Flying Puppy imitation from time to time, but more often, the faster I go, the lower and faster he goes, and he’s coming down the entire board, running right off the end.  Retraining his contacts has been a long haul, with the acceptance that we’re going to miss some Q’s.  While we’re not done yet, I can see definite progress, and his confidence and speed are on a steady increase, too. I adore seeing my boy run with joy like this.

Here’s a short video of our running contact progress in trials this year:

And if you’d like to see the entire run of the last part of the clip, here it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OugPzzEcgbo

Get off my board, Des!!

Desmond has been home with us for just about two weeks.  I didn’t want to start in on working with him right away…I wanted him to figure out his new home and siblings, first. And every 20 minutes, (and inevitably at 3 am) we’re outside singing the “go peeee…go peeee” song to him.  If our neighbors were closer, they’d think there were quail, pheasant and some sort of endangered GoPee bird in the neighborhood.

In two weeks, he’s not only settled in, but he’s starting to take over, so we’re off and running!  Manners are coming first.  Things he needs to know…like not only staying off the table, but not walking on my plate of food sitting on that table.  (I know, rookie puppy mistake, it’s been a few years).  Not sharking my fingers when I give him a cookie.  Sitting nicely to take the cookie (ouch, shark, my fingers!!).  This baby is food motivated and I love it!

I introduced shaping to him right away, and he demonstrated immediately that he’s a very bright little boy.  (Apologies right now, I’m going to be a gushing puppy mama, so if this offends you, you might surf elsewhere).  He caught on right away that I wanted something, and started to offer behaviors to get his cookies.  He gave me a sit.  And a down.  And a bark, a jump up, a high-five, spun a circle, then started repeating them all, with random jumping bean imitations thrown in for fun.  I sat there, clicker in my hand, mouth open, thinking “I’d better pack a lunch if I’m going to stay ahead of this kid!”

I. Am. Ecstatic!  He’s going to be a hoot!  I’m sure we’re going to have challenges, but again, Dunc has taught me never to underestimate energy and desire.  I will try to remind myself of this when Des turns into a teenager…