Dog update
I am overdue for an update on Bruce and Bells. For new readers, they are our two puppies (although they are getting so big it is hard to call them that now!). Bells is 5 months now, and Bruce is just about 7 months.
Their days are spent biting plants (particularly ferns), licking the goats (or trying to), fighting over particularly good rocks and wood chips, chasing our cars down the driveway, cuddling together and drinking out of the toilet.
Recently, Bruce and Bells got neutered and spayed, respectively.
They both had a fairly invasive surgery because one of Bruce's balls hadn't dropped yet so it had to be removed from his abdomen. But even so, the vet still said that Bells' spay was more invasive and that she would have more pain.
Well, Bells is pretty much the toughest dog and Bruce is pretty much the wussiest dog, so it was no surprise that Bruce cried all night long. Just laying down on his dog bed, without being touched, he was crying like a baby. Bells, on the other hand, was super tough and was even doing some stuff she shouldn't like running an jumping without complaint.
The vet also said it was rare for a male dog to need a cone after being neutered - most barely even notice their stitches. However, Bruce is clearly the exception to every rule and had caused his stitches to bleed within a day. We had to put on the Cone of Shame.
Bruce was so so so sad about having to wear his cone. He was also terrible at walking and kept running into things. So we talked to the vet and she suggested putting "pants" made out of an old tshirt on Bruce.
Surprisingly, Bruce liked wearing his pants. He could run with his pants and play and chase Bells which he couldn't do very well with his cone. The main issue for us was that Bruce would pee in his pants. Poop was no problem because it would just fall out the tail hole. But pee would get all over and run down his legs. So, after one morning in the pants, it was back to the cone.
Finally, after ten sad days wearing his cone, Bruce was able to go cone free! He celebrated by laying in the "pond" by the chicken coop.
He also had a little photo shoot with Aly our resident photographer.
Bruce and Bells have also been going to training class every Sunday for six weeks. Bells rocked the class and was definitely one of the the teacher's pets (haha get it... teacher's pet..). She was very motivated by treats and learned commands almost instantaneously.
Even though German Shepherds are supposed to be one of the smartest breeds of dogs, Bruce is very difficult to train. He is scared of all of the other dogs and doesn't even care when he is given delicious treats. He potty trained in three days with almost no accidents, but almost every command is difficult for him if he is distracted by other dogs.
Last week Bells graduated from training school (Bruce sadly did not. Not even close). She can sit, stay, come, "leave it" and lay down. There were other commands like "heel" that we didn't worry about as much because she barely ever walks on a leash. She loved going to training so much that she now tries to go on car rides all the time.
Her and Bruce both are always trying to jump in the car and go places with us. And they have a terrible habit of chasing our car down the driveway too! Thankfully it isn't too dangerous because we live in the middle of nowhere.
Sometimes we break down and let her go places with us. Lowe's allows dogs, so we've taken her there once. She is so good riding in the cart!
Bells is also great at posing for photos because she is very stoic and doesn't move too much. Aly got this cute one last week -
Does anyone else have any recent dog stories? Is your GSD as bad at training class as ours? Please comment!