Sep 30, 2011: Snuggling

Thurmon is not a natural snuggler, much to Mark's dismay. He keeps bringing him up on the couch for a snuggle, and for a few moments it seems to be working - until Thurmon gets a certain look in his eyes, like a sudden realization that he's been tricked into snuggling, and then he flails about looking for a way to get back down on the ground.

But there's been gradual improvement, with longer intervals of snuggling (encouraged by kibble feeding). This morning it almost seemed to be working, until the inevitable occurred.

Below: The snuggle. The flail. The search for an escape route.

Sep 29, 2011: Teeth!

Thurmon's adult teeth are coming in. We've been able to see wiggly baby teeth right next to adult teeth poking through. And he's got big back molars now - all the better to chew with. He's making faster work of his bully sticks, and some of his favourite toys have fallen prey finally to repeat chewing - good-bye beaver, good-bye monkey, good-bye ambiguous rabbit-like animal - you were much loved! Hang in there meerkat - you've only lost an ear so far!

Sep 28, 2011: Worms Are Thurmon's Catnip

Today Thurmon discovered worms. It's possible he's been trying to discover them for a while, because every now and then he gets fixated on a spot in the lawn, and starts snuffling in the clover, getting into the dirt. Today when he did it he pulled out a worm. He went crazy, mouthing it, then dropping it and rolling madly all over it, like a cat on catnip. I'll have to try to get a video of him doing this!

Sep 26, 2011: Good Morning

Below: Resting during his morning run. Thurmon's new harness (designed to discourage him from pulling ahead while walking) doesn't slow him down at all when I left him off the leash to run.

Sep 25, 2011: Another Swim

Today Thurmon went for another swim in the creek. The mad rolling in sand and gravel phase of last weekend seems to have passed (I hope) - a few rolls after swimming, but he mostly just shook the water out of his coat. Much easier to clean up!

Sep 24, 2011: Doppelganger

Tonight Thurmon received another lovely gift, a stuffed animal from Drew and Anna. It's a white wool figure, shaped like a rabbit, but ambiguous enough that it could be almost any animal. In fact, it rather resembles Thurmon with its light colour, sleek shape and relatively long ears. So does that make it wrong that Thurmon enjoys chewing it so much?

Below: Thurmon and his doppelganger.

Sep 23, 2011: Perfectionist

Thurmon is showing signs of seeking perfection in the world around him - must be his herding tendencies to put everything in order.

On Wednesday's walk he expressed a strong dislike (i.e. he barked) for a neighbour's blue bin that was piled high with cardboard boxes on top - Thurmon has already determined that all items are supposed to fit inside, because that's how all the other bins look, and this one did not belong.

And today he found a flaw in the paint job on the bedroom wall, which he tried to bite off with his teeth. I'll have to do a better job of painting the new house before we move in!

Below: the flaw on the wall

Sep 21: Training

Today Thurmon started professional clicker training, with an at-home visit from Mirkka, of Mindful Behaviours. He's taking to it quite well, and we're seeing a real difference in his walks already - far less pulling.

Below: Thurmon on a run in the hydro corridor - a beautiful misty morning.

Sep 20, 2011: Crate!

From the first night Thurmon was good about going in his crate at bedtime, and stayed in quietly until we let him out in the morning, but he didn't go in it otherwise, and he certainly wouldn't stay put if the door wasn't shut. A few times we had to put him in during the day for a couple of hours when neither of us could be home, and he seemed to take this fairly well, with limited barkings of protest.

After a couple of weeks he was getting harder to lure in - you'd reach in with your hand as far as possible to tempt him with the treat, but he wouldn't go in all the way - he'd keep his back legs out the door so you couldn't close it. Finally I hit on a solution - dropping kibbles in through the grating at the back - he'd follow all the way in, and not feel crowded or threatened at the door, because nobody's arm was snaking in there with him.

We've also wondered if he wasn't keen on napping in it during the day because of the summer heat - he really likes to stretch out and lie with his legs all akimbo in the air (presumably to stay cool). Now that it's getting cooler I've noticed that he's napping more in curled-up, compact positions better suited to the crate.

So I've been making the crate a place of magical kibbley goodness - if Thurmon goes in on his own, kibbles shower down. Then if he sits down to sniff at the grating for more treats, kibbles shower down. And if he goes down all on his own and relaxes, kibbles shower down.

And at long last he's napping in it. Yesterday he went in, and after some kibbles he settled down and had an hour-long nap, with the door open. And today he's in there again. Crate training is underway!

Below: I love the geometric perfection of Thurmon's tail, so tightly curled now that it's verging on a spiral.

Sep 18, 2011: Short & Stocky

Today Thurmon went for his second subway ride, going two stops to Main station. He was still as anxious as yesterday, but sat still and didn't bark, so I think he'll manage to get used to it.

After disembarking we walked down to the Norwood off-leash dog park. It was Thurmon's first real city street walking, since all the streets in our neighbourhood have grassy boulevards between the sidewalk and traffic. He handled it well, and it wasn't long before the park was in view.

It turned out we'd shown up at "greyhound hour" - every Sunday at noon greyhound owners congregate at this park with their dogs. I've always thought of Thurmon as rather elegant and refined, but he looked short and stocky next to these fine animals! They warned us that their dogs are bred to chase small, light-coloured animals, so if he ran he might tempt a swarm of greyhounds to run him down. It did happen a few times, but as soon as he stopped they lost interest in him, so he didn't seem to mind. He also met a puggle that was a good size match for lots of wrestling. Thurmon definitely is the submissive dog in general.

As we got ready to leave we met a fellow who exclaimed "a Norwegian buhund!" Since nobody ever recognizes his breed we were quite surprised. It turns out he walks another buhund, named Heidi, who lives in the area. Odds are this could be a relative of Thurmon from the same breeder.

After the park we walked over to Phil and Nadia's house. While Mark helped Phil assemble a shed I kept Thurmon quiet on his leash. We took a couple more short walks over the course of the afternoon, enjoying a little more off-leash time with a few dogs in the park down the street. He also managed to greet several dogs while on-leash in a much more calm fashion than usual - hopefully due to socialization, and not just being tired after such a long day out.

We had hoped all this exercise would tire Thurmon out so much that he would sleep silently through the night, but in fact he was noisier than usual, making strange bubbling/whistling sounds, like there was a sucking chest wound in his mouth. I suspect he's teething, so he was more droolly, making the bizarre sounds possible. Let's hope this phase is short.

Below: a photo of the many items I have removed from Thurmon's mouth, while rooting around in the backyard

Sep 17, 2011: TTC! And More Swimming.

This morning Thurmon went on his first subway ride. There was no barking, however he did have to be more or less hauled through the door on the leash. But at least he got on the first train, so I think we've got a good base to build on.

We just went one station, so that we could walk back through the ravine. We met some dogs and Thurmon did ok on leash greeting - not quite as hyperactive and jumpy. He swam in the creek - remembered right away from last weekend how to swim, and went in for a paddle even without the inducement of a thrown stick. He also discovered the joy of coming out of the water and rolling in the dry creek bed area - covering himself in sand. What a mess!

I tried rinsing him off when we got home, but he was pretty freaked out by the jet spray on the hose, so I mostly had to towel him down and comb and brush to get out as much sand as possible. As the day has gone by he has dried out, and I've found more sand particles on the floor where he's been napping. He looks pretty much as good as new by now!

Sep 16, 2011: Deer!

This morning, as Thurmon and I prepared for his off-leash run in the hydro corridor, we saw three large deer! This caused Thurmon to strain mightily at his leash, and to bark. The deer ran off and Thurmon had to stay on-leash, since I didn't know if he'd run after them (and if they'd run in a direction to take them across a busy road - they must have crossed one somewhere to get up to where we saw them). To compensate I took Thurmon on the pedestrian bridge to watch the subway trains up close.

Not long after arriving home, Thurmon was suspiciously quiet while I worked in the kitchen. I checked in to discover him sitting on the living room floor, eating my bookmark. He had barely disturbed the book on the coffee table, like the trick of pulling out the table cloth without disturbing the dishes on top of it.

Below: The deer. The book. The bookmark.

Sep 14, 2011: Sold!

Turns out selling your home isn't so easy when you've got a puppy at home. But after several long walks and unexpected interruptions to his naps, Thurmon can rest easy - no more visitors, no more inspections - our house is sold!

Below: Thurmon dresses up formally for the occasion, wearing his squeaky beaver as a tie, tucked in at his collar. (I just know that if I'd done this to a cat, it would have gone insane trying to get away from the toy. But Thurmon thought it was great - wherever he went he had a squeaky beaver to chew on.)

Sep 13, 2011: Dogs, dogs, dogs

Yesterday Thurmon and I spent quite a bit of time in the hydro corridor, hanging out, which led to meeting three other dogs that Thurmon got to play with off-leash. He had a fantastic time, running about and sniffing. He's really been getting overexcited when meeting dogs on-leash while walking on the sidewalks, and we were worried that this would carry over to his off-leash encounters. But it all went quite smoothly yesterday. The first two dogs were smaller than him, and there was lots of active running about. The third dog was a husky. It was fascinating to see the similarity between them - upright ears and curly tail - but much larger!

Speaking of curly tails, we can see that Thurmon's has become much curlier in the last week or so, forming a complete circle most of the time. It bobs about so much more noticeably now when he wags it in happiness.

Below: Thurmon, beautifully backlit on a morning run in the hydro corridor.

Sep 11, 2011: Battle!

Today Thurmon and I did battle with a groundhog!

I'm sure it's the same groundhog who's feasted from our garden before, and now he's back, after leaving us in peace for several weeks. When Thurmon caught sight of him he lunged for the garden, being stopped by the fence (a loose fence of deer netting draped on bamboo - my aim with the groundhog has been frustration rather than hard-core obstruction). The groundhog frantically tried to find a way out of the netting, getting caught at times, but not finding his exit. So I decided to open up the entry and let Thurmon in. Thurmon surged forward, then stopped, and sniffed the groundhog. And after a few seconds of sniffing, the groundhog, having no exit, decided to make the best of it, and started munching on the kale again.

At this point I started thwacking the groundhog's flank with a bamboo pole, but it wouldn't budge. So I took Thurmon inside and went back out with the garden hose. I hosed the groundhog with a hard spray, which he tried his best to avoid, but I couldn't seem to get him to aim in the direction of the exit. So I went inside too for a few minutes, to give the groundhog time to retreat.

Then Thurmon and I came back out. The groundhog was gone, and Thurmon sniffed about eagerly for any sign of him.

On a less dramatic note, we walked Thurmon up into the subway station this morning - he handled the stairs well, and had a chance to sniff around. Next step will be taking him on the train. In the meantime I'll try to take him down there to wait for Mark a few times when he's coming home, so that it becomes a place of happy associations. There's nothing more fun than Thurmon realizing that the person walking towards him has turned out to be his owner.

Sep 10, 2011: Swimming!

This morning we took Thurmon back down to the Warden Woods ravine, to play in the creek that he enjoyed so much last weekend. Mark threw a stick in the water, which led Thurmon to jump in at the edge trying to get to it. He would only bound in as far as his feet could touch bottom, and in his frustration at not being able to reach the stick he kept trying to bite the surface of the water, then would dash out and race across the rocks, only to jump back in the water to repeat the cycle - very funny.

And then, almost without realizing it, he'd gone in deeper and was swimming out to the stick, then swimming back with it in his mouth. Very exciting! One stick was enough for him - after that he trotted up the hill, ready to go home for a very long nap.

Below: Thurmon starts to swim, followed by the triumphant return.

Sep 08, 2011: Trainspotting

Thurmon is fascinated by the subway trains that pass by the hydro corridor where he gets to run in the long grass (the subway runs aboveground at this end of the line). He almost always stops to watch them go by, so yesterday I took him for a closer view. We stood on the pedestrian stretch of the overpass over St. Clair, where there's just a few feet beyond a chain link fence separating him from the train. I thought he might be scared getting that close to such a huge and noisy vehicle, but it wasn't a problem at all. We also watched the traffic passing directly below us on St. Clair - which he found less alarming than walking alongside it.

Below: Thurmon stretches out on the kitchen floor with his monkey. It seemed like a very artfully arranged composition.

Sep 07, 2011: Stairmaster!

Tonight Thurmon finally went down the stairs all by himself! We've been having to carry him out to the backyard because he didn't have the coordination to use the stairs - and then seemed to develop a great fear of the stairs himself (if we held a treat over the first step he'd bark, jump back, and run around the house madly in protest).

But tonight when I went to put the recycling out, I left the door to the outside open. And what did I find when I came back through the fence gate? Thurmon - just standing there waiting for me! Obviously he'd come down the stairs all on his own - I think he just didn't want anyone watching and making a big production of it.

To confirm that this wasn't just a freak event I got him to come back up the stairs, brought out a favourite treat, showed him that I was putting it on the ground outside, and then stepped out of view. Sure enough a few seconds later he appeared on the ground. He's since gone out a few more times sans treat, so it seems to be the new regular thing.

Below: Thurmon discovers a great new toy - Mark's gardening glove. Thurmon found it and put his head inside to take a good sniff, and then found himself stuck. He was shaking it so fast to get it off that I was barely able to take this photo.

Sep 06, 2011: Dreaming

Right now Thurmon is dreaming, making funny little barks, growls and yipping noises. In fact I think he just uttered more sounds in a few minutes of dreaming than I hear from him in a typical day - he really is a quiet dog.

Below: Thurmon nibbling Mark's beard - a special treat.

Sep 05, 2011: Water!

Since today is a holiday there was time for an extra long walk for Thurmon. First we crossed St. Clair Ave. (his busiest traffic crossing yet) to visit the ravine park backing onto houses, which gave Thurmon a nice, long grassy hill for running at top speed. Then we crossed over to the Warden Woods ravine park, where recent landscaping to naturalize the creek has created a nice shallow rock-bottomed waterway, Thurmon's first chance to run about getting wet. He loved it, running about madly. He didn't cross the waterway until Mark did so first, and then he tackled it. After that he loved the water, eventually splashing in (probably a result of clumsiness) and just about managing to swim in the pool near the shallows.

One of the best things about taking Thurmon in the water? No doggie odour. That's right - Thurmon smells as clean after as he did before - buhunds are known for having naturally clean coats. What a bonus!

Sep 03, 2011: Ice!

New treat on a hot day - ice cubes! Very popular, although they did present something of a challenge initially - Thurmon's ears went down to half mast while concentrating on chewing it and not letting it slip out of his mouth.

Sep 01, 2011: Beasts

Today Thurmon worked on conquering a few fears - progress was made, although it isn't yet complete.

He checked out strange items by the curb that had been put out for garbage day - given enough time to sniff he is okay with them.

We walked up to the intersection at Birchmount to watch busy traffic go by. He sat down firmly about 10 feet away, but after a few minutes felt fine about walking up closer. He protested again as I drew him around the corner to actually stand on the busy street, but he calmed down as he sat and watched the cars.

And today, for the first time since he came home, I vacuumed (actually, I vacuumed last week too, but I did it while Thurmon was out on a walk with Mark). I started the vacuum in the basement and he stood upstairs and started barking. So I brought it up so he could check it out, before turning it on again. He was hesitant about the strange beast, but walked around sniffing it. Then I turned it on again, he backed away, barked a little, and then went and sat on his spot in the living room. When I came back after finishing he seemed a bit stressed, panting and yawning. So now he's having a restorative nap at my feet, under the computer desk.

Below: Thurmon and I sit on the front steps, waiting for Mark to come home.