SNOW!!!

George had his first snow day today and he loved it. He would bury is face under the snow and last night when the snow was coming down pretty hard he was trying to eat it as it came down. Very cute. This morning he was a little overwhelmed, but eventually got used to it and I think really enjoyed playing. :o)

Oh the stairs

George loves the stairs. And its funny because he's a huge cuddle bug on the stairs. He loves playing with us and sitting in our laps. He's such a cutie. He's close to 30lbs. now and its really starting to show.

Another week

So we've made it another week. Things are pretty much going the same. George is getting bigger every day. He had another puppy obedience class last week and was really good. Although it was during his "crazy time" so at times it was hard to get him to focus. He's so good with people which is awesome. He's really good with the other puppies too. He's very mellow and laid back when it comes to that. When it comes to people that's when he gets super pumped with energy. We had family visit us this weekend. This was George's first time interacting with children. I think he did fairly well. George's only problem is at times he gets SO exciting that he starts jumping and wanting to put things...like little fingers...in his mouth. He didn't get to that point too much, but there were moments.

Another thing we've learned is that George has been getting hot in his crate at night. We've had some problems the last couple nights with him waking up at like midnight or 3 am and just be panting really loud and not happy. We have a soft bed in the crate which he hadn't had a problem with up until now. So last night we took the bed out and put a fan near his crate. It was the first night that he actually slept the whole time, even through an extremely loud rain/wind storm which unfortunately kept me up most of the night. But that's ok. George seemed much happier and we are relieved. So we'll do the same from now on and hopefully we've solved that problem.

Almost 3 months

George is almost 3 months. He's getting so big so fast. We're still working on the housebreaking. We seem to go for several days without any accidents and then out of no where it happens. The problem we are trying to fix is how George tells us he needs to go out. We have bells hanging on the door. And about a week after we brought him home, he was using the bells on his own. Then we bought a rug for the foyer and since that mistake things haven't been the same. After he had 2 accidents once the rug was there, we quickly relocated the rug to another room. But the damage was already done. It was like he was afraid of the rug/door/bells. It was weird. So now when he wants to go out, he walks by the door and sits down. We need him to ring the bells or bark or something. I'm trying very hard to get him back into being comfortable with the bells. Today I had a good training session with him using our clicker. I think with a couple more attempts he'll be using the bells again. Fingers crossed.

So after having George for 1 month here are some of the things we have learned about him:
1. He eats everything nature-like outside. Bark and leaves are his meal of choice, but today he took a huge mouthful of dirt...which was really fun to get out of his mouth.
2. He sleeps during the day and at night with us, but between the hours of 7pm and 10pm he is a wild one. Lots of NOs and DROP IT.
3. He get hiccups at least once a day and its adorable.
4. He likes to sleep on Alan's feet (See pic)
5. He loves ice cubes.

Those are just some of the things. He is a very good boy overall. He's really great with people and is good with other dogs. Hopefully his burst of energy those few hours at night are going to be the worst of it. Only time will tell. :o)

Growing Boy

Today was George's second visit to the vet. The big boy weighed in at 22.3lbs. Almost twice what he weighed 2 weeks ago. Craziness. He got 2 shots as well, but didn't notice because they were pumping him full of treats. I just can't get over how fast he grows.

This morning George let us sleep in, almost like he knew it was the weekend. We are usually up by 6am with him, but this morning we woke up at 7am and didn't hear a peep out of him. He probably would have slept longer, but we were awake so we got him up as well. It was a nice treat though.

He is still obsessed with slippers and UGGS. He brought my UGGS down...one at a time...today for me. I took a video of him with the second one, but its too large to post. I have pictures though. :o)

Slippers and UGGS

George has a slight obsession with slippers and UGGS. Now that George is understanding what going outside means, we let him roam around the house by himself more and more. He loves going upstairs and sometimes I follow him and sometimes I let him go up there and after a few minutes if he's isn't coming back down I will go upstairs and see what he's getting in to. Most of the time he just is sniffing around and exploring. And then there are the times where I hear him coming back down on his own and I'm so happy for this UNTIL I see what he's got in his mouth. This is what he decided to bring down today. (see picture) I know I shouldn't have taken the pic, but I couldn't help it. As annoying as it is, it is pretty darn cute.

The other night Alan and I were eating dinner at the table and George went upstairs. Then we hear him coming back down and all of a sudden we hear him literally rolling down the stairs really fast. So we immediately jump up and run to the stairs to make sure he was ok. Sure enough, he's lying at the bottom of the stairs...with one of my UGGS in his mouth, never let it go, which is the reason for the not so graceful trip down the stairs.

First Puppy Training Class

Last night was our first puppy training class. George did very well. Since I've been on furlough these last couple weeks, I've had the chance to work on things with him like sit and stay. Since the class started at 7pm, which is George's "I'm so hyper" time of the day, it was a little hard to get him to sit still for very long. But with a treat in your hand, he'll do pretty much anything. The trainer said that some dogs aren't driven by food...not the case with George.

I'm very happy with how George interacts with other people. When he's excited with us, he tends to want to nip our hands, but with other people he licks them. The trainer said to us "He's not a biter at all. That's really good." Alan and I just looked at each other and laughed. But we have been working on the nipping very hard. So I guess it's starting to pay off. He doesn't try to bite/nip us all the time. It's just when he gets really excited and he's looking for anything to put in his mouth. We try to just keep a toy with us and quickly replace our hand with a toy and when he chews the toy we quickly praise him. It's obvious that George wants to please us.

He has his next vet check-up on Saturday. I'm excited to see how much more he weighs. He was 12.5 lbs when I took him over 2 weeks ago and I can tell he's obviously getting bigger every day.

My name is George.

Meet George. He's our new Golden Retriever puppy. He was born on October 25, 2009. I'm starting this blog to have the opportunity to document and remember this ride we just got on. Here are some things about George that we have learned so far:

1. He's a cutie.
2. He loves his tennis balls.
3. He sleeps a lot.
4. He likes to chew on just about anything. But as long as we keep toys around him, he sticks to those.
5. He loves to chase and catch his tail.
6. He knows sit and stay already.

Those are just a couple of things about him. George is a really good boy. He loves people, as most Goldens do. He does sleep most of the day and then at around 7pm every night, he becomes a wild boy. He sleeps through the night, which is awesome.

I guess the most stressful part we have been dealing with is the whole housebreaking thing. He's been really good. Only a few accidents the first week. The last 2 weeks he has gone to the door and let out a little yelp when he wants to go out or he'll ring the bells that we have hanging from the door knob. It just depends how bad he needs to go. But the fact that he's understanding what going outside means is a huge relief.

I hope over the next several months to upload pics of our adorable growing boy and include any good stories. I'm sure we'll have many to share as he grows up. More to come. Here are a few more pics: