Lots of childhood memories associated with grilled cheese sandwiches, always paired with tomato soup!
Friday morning/noonish the lawn guys came and put down pre-emergent crab grass killer, and broadleaf weed spray, and fertilizer. I went out while Ember was napping to ask how long I had to keep her away from the grass. They said an hour, until it's dry. The written thing they left said two hours. But the nice young man, upon hearing that Emmy likes dandelions said I should not let her eat them as that's what the broadleaf spray is out to kill. Can't be good for a puppy's tummy!
Your days of dandelion salad are over, Ember!
Saturday morning adventures / misadventures
How can one little puppy get in so much trouble before 8 a.m.? Because we haven't learned all the rules yet, and we might actually be rebelling against a few of them.
She was mostly good. Had a great night, letting her mommy sleep in two 3 to 4 hour snatches. Trips outside at 10:50 p.m. and 4:15 a.m., right down to business, and back inside. I put her in her safe space long enough to dress myself, came back down, fed the cat, then did Ember's morning breakfast training session. She did pretty well, even with "leave it" during that session, and we introduced "Off". I am using "off" as her command to put her paws back on the ground when she puts them up on furniture or people.
When it got light, we went out on poo patrol, where mommy bags up the night's leavings (memory test... where did she leave it?) She went after the poo bag once, but obeyed the "leave it" (eventually). Pooh bags (or just about anything that lime green color) seem to say "toy" to little Emmy.
We played fetch... or some version thereof... with the tennis ball and the holey roller. Get her a little bit tired out. But then she decided she wanted my garden gloves (which are that same light green color and look like a fine thing). Emmy decided that "leave it" did not apply when the prize was so tempting, and managed to strip one of my gloves off. I could not persuade her to drop it or let it go, and eventually I decided "Mommy doesn't want to play this game" and went about my yard business, leaving her to her own puppy-brained thing. My thought was, she will drop it, I will praise and treat her, and that will be its own little lesson. Sounds rational, doesn't it?
But the puppy brain on this one wasn't going along with the plan. Here's where I found her not too much later.
I have never had a dog that buried things. Lily (first dog, as a newlywed) did not dig or bury things. Diamond (the GSP dog of my heart) did not dig. The dog that didn't last long, Sammy, did not dig, or rather, we didn't have her long enough to find out if she did (escape artist, struck by a car, did not make it). And Carl is not a digger.
But Ember is a digger, and apparently a hoarder. I took a video while she was filling in the hole, but not sharing that here. Let me tell you, it took some foot digging on my part to uncover that glove! If I weren't so darned amused, I might be angry with her. And certain scenes in the old movie "Bringing up Baby" make a whole lot of sense now.
I did give her a treat for coming to me, interrupting her task. We practiced "leave it" some more on the way back to the house door, on pant legs and shoes, and now we are doing "leave it" for weeds because of the spraying the lawn guys did on Friday.
Anyway, she's having some chill time at the moment, and I'm taking this break to write about it. I need a different color of gloves next time I purchase a pair. I have yellow and red and blue and orange gloves for yard work, and those are all colors like her toys!
Life is good. Mind is challenged. Spark on!
Love reading about your Ember puppy training adventures….isn't it interesting that she is a hoarder?! Hopefully, she won’t dig holes all over your yard to bury her favorite treasures! She definitely is keeping you quite busy as well as entertained and AND your Spark friends are enjoying your daily reports! Have a nice Saturday! Eissa7
ReplyDeleteGlad you're enjoying the adventures. It's a lot less boring than the same-old, same-old that life can tend to become: got up, did laundry, grocery shopped, dentist, doctor, etc., with the occasional flurry of activity around a concert or a wedding (son's last year). Puppies change so fast!
DeleteI saw evidence that Ember remembered where she buried the glove as she tried to dig it back up the next time we were outside playing! This will definitely be an ongoing saga!
YES! Had grilled cheese w/lettuce and tomato AND tomato soup last night! Delicious Yes, cannot have grilled cheese w/o tomato soup! That’s from my childhood, too.
ReplyDeleteYes, glad you asked the young man about the weed killer. Definitely not good for Ember’s tummy nor dandelion salad!
Awwwww, that’s sad about your dog Sammy. That’s why we keep Miss Lilly on the leash . . . she is a little Houdini . . . and a digger!
These pups do spark the need to put our thinking caps on about their toys and things they may associate w/the color or texture of their toys!
LOVE the plated grilled cheese sandwich.
Here’s to good luck w/the continued training of Ember and you!
Hugs
Barb
1cd
Peace reigns in the house just now, as Ember is home from her second Puppy Preschool class. She's totally zonked, just like last week. Her puppy brain and socialization skills have been exercised to the limit. And it is going to be hot here, this beautiful Sunday, and Ember is no fonder of the heat than her cousin Carl.
DeleteI, too, enjoy reading the new adventures that are happening in your life now. Perhaps she plans to gift you with a holey yard to pair with her holey ball. I hope you will soon be able to discourage this habit. A digging dog can destroy a yard in short time.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the continued training.
🤗💖🐶😸
Well, the landscape project will change the whole yard, and after that, I hope that any damage Ember does between now and then will be gone. We'll just have to keep training!
DeleteIt's been ages since I have a grilled cheese, sounds yummy right about now.
ReplyDeleteBella was a digger and we'd find holes all around the yard. She would sit in them. Scoots is not one I'm glad to say. You sure do have your hands full with the little one.
Have a wonderful day! (((BIG HUGS)))
And to think I avoided getting a terrier because of their reputation as diggers. Most of the time I have no clue what she's digging for: an insect? A root? To find a weakness in the security? I just hope we manage to make it to maturity with both of us intact!
DeleteI found out this morning at Puppy Class that her Daddy dog was a silver lab, and her Mommy dog a charcoal. So lab, 100%.
I agree with Paula, you sure do have your hands full! But it’s a good full, with love and learning for both Ember and you. ❤️🥰
ReplyDeleteDH had grilled cheese yesterday, and I asked if it was because of National Grilled Cheese Day, which I had seen online. He didn’t consciously recall seeing anything about it, but it makes me wonder. He consumes a lot of screens.
LOL... the subliminal cheese lobby is out to get us all!
DeleteAll I can say is I've always loved cheese, and it makes up a goodly portion of my protein intake.
Ember says, "Zzzzzz", post Puppy Class.