Marshall Update

It's been a little while since you've heard from Marshall, so time for a little update.

I've been hearing a lot from this little guy! We're working through what seems to be a barking phase. Through the tips of the trainers, I hope I can say we're making progress. But I must say that in the past few days, I've actually been "listening" to him, and asking myself WHY is he barking? I've noticed that he is barking sometimes to sass me, so I know how to deal with that. Othertimes, I've learned that he's trying to tell me something. Then I remembered that part of his job will be to Alert. So, I am learning to process WHAT he is trying to communicate. As a novice puppy raiser, I wish I would learn as quickly as Marshall.

One example: The other night when it was time for bed, he wouldn't settle in his crate and he was barking. I got up to see what was up. There was a toy beside the bed. I put it in his crate. He didn't play with the toy, but immediately went to sleep. Do you suppose he was telling me the toy was out of place? Interesting to think about, so I continue to watch and learn to listen and respond with encouragement or correction, as the situation deems appropriate.

Also, this little guy can find things I never knew were lost. Just this morning, a ball that made it's way beside the dryer, behind a closed door. Marshall was scratching at the floor by the door. So I thought to investigate. There was the ball beside the dryer. (I did laundry two days ago and I always keep the doors closed!)

I can't wait for the rain to stop so I can utilize the tips on the searching game that Julie gave me. Not only will it stretch his little brain, but I will be able to mold his potential....and burn off some energy!

Lots of Progress on the Pupstart Center, too!

Thanks to Leadership Greenville Class 35--and several fabulous sponsors--renovation is moving right along in Easley. This short video clip shows a volunteer crew working on the whelping rooms that will house DFA's future litters of puppies. Next week we'll pose these guys with some DFA dogs! :-)

Making Lots of Progress!

I'm not fast enough (or good enough) with the digital video cam to get usable shots of all our puppies, but here are about half of them. I gotta tell you, this is not too shabby for five-month-old puppies!!! These guys look fabulous....we have a great crew of volunteer raisers!

Milliken is back home!

Momma Demi takes a break

Sable family

Sable sisters

Closer look....

The O's are here!

Here is the first photo of the O puppies: six boys, four girls. Mommy Demi is proud and resting comfortably. :-) For those who might not be familiar with what a sable pup looks like at birth, these kids will all be colored pretty much like Logan and Lucy, just a little variation in shades.

Rainy days are training days

Following the instructions of our trainers, I've started keeping Marshall in his prong collar with a tab when we're just hanging around the house. I think we're beginning to see some progress on counter surfing. But training continues, especially tougher on rainy days when you can't get out to burn off puppy energy.

He also has gotten used to the tab dangling from him and has stopped trying to chew on it. So I know it will be useful in getting the job done.

Snow Pose

Lucy posing in the snow with her DFA uniform. Just a little on the nose for a taste later.

Marshall goes to college

Marshall spent several hours on the Furman campus enjoying the lake, ducks, dogs, walkers, and sunshine. He can't wait for the evening concerts...maybe some of his brothers would want to join him for a puppy/parade/picnic one evening once the concerts start?

He did really well with the ducks. Maybe because he doesn't really know what they are...but when two geese flew over his head, he took an interest and watched them ski to a landing on the water. A little "let's go" and he was quickly on his way.

Celebrating Spring

Today I took Marshall to work (crated in the car). For our lunch-time outing, we walked to Fall Rivers Park. Along the way we stopped at the hot dog vendor. Marshall sat patiently while my lunch was prepared. Then we sat on the garden steps at the park. Marshall help his "plotz" pretty well. He had to be corrected a few times to lay back down. But again a lingering lunch hour for a little dog is a long time to hold still. But he did great! He watched the scenery instead of the hotdog. On the way back to the office, we stopped in an art boutique that had a sign "paws welcome" so I took advantage of the invitation--to take a dog into a store with lots of breakable items. The people wanted to pet him, but we told them no. The resident dog barked a hello, as well as one of the workers after learning that Marshall could not be petted or given treats by strangers. Of course all the "barks" were merely friendly hellos.

McIver is Off!!!!

This picture is blurry because McIver has his head in the bin as it is moving down the hall and he is trying to eat the food in the bottom. I told Sherry the story. Since she thought it was funny, I thought I would post the picture. Perhaps a publicity photo for DFA? No?

McIver Meets the SNOW!!

McIver, Lucy and Calhoun had a blast in the snow. As you can tell they just ran around like crazies. Lucy is sort of tiny compared to the boys so she got cold first. Calhoun loves the snow so much that he stayed out until his little paws were numb. And then there was McIver. He loved every second of it and did NOT want to come inside. He ate snowballs and all kinds of fun stuff.

As you can see in the picture below, the 3 of them are always into something. I cannot begin to guess the number of times they ran around this bush chasing each other!