New shaping

Shaping with the bowl.

Last night we decided to start being a little more diligent about practicing "shaping" with Hamlet. Shaping is where you have the clicker, some good treats, and Hamlet at attention. The goal is for him to figure out what you want him to do, by just trying different things. We're teaching him to put his paws on an upside-down bowl on the floor. We started by clicking and treating for when he looked at the bowl. Then, when he moved towards it, and then touched it, and then when he put his foot on it and looked up at us. He is already this far on the second night! (So fast!) Tomorrow, we'll try to get him to put both paws on it and look up at Daisy. Fun times. :)

In case you're wondering, "shaping" is the game the official trainers will play to teach new skills in advanced training. This could be anything from turning off the lights, to opening doors, to pulling off socks!

Sleepy time with the stick as a cuddle buddy!
(OK, so I did put his arm over the stick.)

In other news, when we're not trying to get Hamlet to do tricks, he is still often sleeping. Once we gave him the mostly empty peanut butter container. (He loved it!) And last week at puppy class/event we weighed him - 65 lbs. Our big boy. (Although he still doesn't seem that big to us.

Keeping Hamlet busy is easy with peanut butter.

He waits to eat until we say "OK!"

Chocoflan from our anniv. last week! Yum!!!
(We made it again already for friends.)

"Snow angel" and home-school puppy class

Hamlet's "snow angel"

It snowed more again this weekend. Hamlet loves it! When it is fresh and he steps outside he just wants to roll in it. You know how kids like to make snow angels? Well, Hamlet's version is right here!

Before the snow this weekend, it rained very seriously during the week. On Wednesday the rain was so bad that when Daisy and Annabelle were driving to puppy class they decided to turn around and come home. They had puppy class in our apartment instead! This was great fun (except for the complaint from the neighbor...) and they practiced all sorts of commands and had a great time playing, too.

The "leave it challenge" x2!

Today was Daisy and I's 1 yr partnership anniversary! We made delicious enchiladas and chocoflan. Yummm! One of the other activities was building a soft bed for Hamlet's crate. He tends to wake up a couple times during the night and turn over very loudly. We believe this will quiet that a bit! We used an old sheet, cut it, sewed up the sides, and filled it with old t-shirts, boxers, and other clothes. He seems to like it so far - at least he knew what to do with it (lay down).

Hamlet still sleeps a lot, and he still gets in these really awkward sleeping positions. I'm not sure how or why he likes it on his back with his paws in the air, but it works somehow!

Slowdancing in the afternoon.

In other news, Hamlet and Daisy spent a little time slowdancing. Aren't they cute?

Wohoo! (aka still not too big to hold)

Hamlet goes to a basketball game!

I can't believe he fit under the seat!

We took Hamlet to his first Penn State women's basketball game.  It was so fun and exciting!  We had a very busy day before the game, so luckily Hamlet was ready for a nap.  We had already gone out for lattes, to the art museum on campus, and out to dinner even before the game.  When we got there Hamlet crawled under the seats and laid down.  He alternated between staring at us for treats (lots!), napping, and watching the game.

For a while, he was watching the action

In case you're curious, the game was very fun and exciting.  It was our first time, and luckily Daisy's mom was with us to explain what was happening.  The band was there making lots of noise, and it took Hamlet a few minutes to get used to the drums and cheering.  The teams were pretty evenly matched and the score was close until the last few minutes.  But... Penn State won!  It was a great experience for Hamlet and for us - we plan to repeat a few times.

He's looking good!

More snow, cutting toenails

In the state game lands, with a safety vest.

Last weekend when we went out for our hike there was a new set of snow! This year has done a good job of keeping it around since the first dusting. We have a few photos for you today -- including a couple showing Daisy cutting Hamlet's toenails! This is done most easily by choosing a time when Hamlet is really tired or just plain asleep. Sometimes he'll fall back asleep while you hold him upside-down with his paw in your hand!

If we lay on the floor he'll come to join us.

Naptime, after destroy-the-box time.

OK. Hamlet's sleeping... let's go cut his nails!

Just slide him off his bed, and do the front first.

Spin him around for the back set. This time
he really did fall back asleep!

Holiday break

Typical nap position.

This holiday break between school semesters we got a little break from Hamlet, too. Well, Daisy got a big break, and is missing him I'm sure! She has been in Spain the past couple weeks. This week Hamlet is at a puppy sitter's house from SSD. I think Martha has fallen in love with our sweet Hamlet; she said she'll miss him when I pick him up tomorrow!

From what I've heard, Hamlet has been a good boy this past week. Also, another dog lives there, so he has gotten to play with Dee a lot! (I'm sure he will be super tired and probably need a day or two to recover, haha. When we had Kindle with him for just one day + night in early December and he needed a whole day or two to recover! And by recover, I mean sleep even more than normal...) And of course Martha has gotten to experience the joy that is Hamlet sleeping... I love it when he is upside-down like this! Apparently he got tired of watching the squirrels scamper through the snow, so it became nap time!

Yay, paper!

In other news, I brought Hamlet with me down to MD and VA for the family gathering and to Williamsburg. Althogh he has helped us open boxes before (we keep 'em coming from Amazon), he had his first chance with wrapping paper! Needless to say everyone was amused. He also got to meet the Murray side of the family. :)




That is all for now, Daisy is going to bring the camera back when she returns to PA tomorrow, and we'll get more pictures of Hamlet in the snow!

Hamlet and Kindle at the dog park.

They did this kind of stuff non-stop, no wonder he was tired!

Hamlet got really dirty at a muddy dog park in MD. Then, we went to the grocery
store and someone said he was beautiful! I guess he does look more like a 'yellow' lab.

Oh no!! Hamlet is bleeding! j/k. Actually we spilt chili on him - chili dog!

Sad, sad Hamlet!! There is a lesson here:
don't stick your nose under another dog's diarrhea.

Outside in the fall, November

Our hikes have continued. One challenge are the ticks in PA. SSD gave us this essential oil / alcohol / water spray to keep away / kill the ticks, but it doesn't work super great. However, last week we got a real treatment - that stuff that comes in a tube that is supposed to last a month. I'm totally stoked about that, except I think most of the ticks are dead now that we've had a few frosts. By the way, if you've never used one of those tick remover tools, they are so awesome compared to tweezers!

Hamlet sometimes upgrades to large sticks!

Exploring another surface

Yay, water!
(This photo was so fun we decided to post it again, larger.)

Training #1: Get Busy to Let's Go

Hamlet is 5 months old today, and he sure has learned a lot. It is finally time for us to let you in on a few of his (not so secret) tricks! I've tried to organize them in the rough order that he learned them. Here we go...

GET BUSY - The first and most important skill - to pee/poo on command. Daisy started this from the very first day. You observe your dog, and right before they are about to 'get busy' you say it and they will start to associate the command with the action. This is very useful, especially as we come into the winter months and we don't want to be waiting outside in the cold/rain/snow/etc. while Hamlet is deciding whether he actually wants to pee!

HAMLET - He responds wonderfully to his name. When saying 'Hamlet' he is supposed to give the speaker his attention. This didn't take long, especially if you say it in a slightly altered voice (yes, he responds better to a higher pitched or patronizing voice, like many dogs, and much to Jason's agony [although he's getting used to it]). SSD also reccommends using 'puppy, puppy' in a moderate to high pitched voice. Currently if we say this he'll come over to you and sit down -- and be expecting a piece of kibble.

O.K. - I must admit that Hamlet really had some issues with this. For example, O.K. is used during meal times. The dog must sit down and not lunge for the food as you place the bowl on the floor. Then, you give the command 'okay' to signal that they may start eating. Hamlet was so timid/relaxed/lazy that often he didn't respond to the command and would just sit there looking timid/sad/confused. Honestly, he is still a little slow at this. This is so strange, because all of the other dogs will rush to the food and you must work to hold them back!

SIT - This command is very self explanatory, and the first real command that we used the clicker for. When doing a clicker training session, you click right as the dog is doing the behavior that they want, and then the click means they get a treat for a good behavior. In the case of sit, we stood in front of him and waited. (And sometimes waited, and waited at first, but usually not too long because he is kind of lazy and likes to lay down...) As soon as his hips started to rotate as he started to sit down we would click. After he got used to that, slowly lengthen the behavior and would wait to click until he sat and was looking up for a couple seconds. The 'sit' position is great because it is the default good boy wait position in Hamlet's puppy life.

LET'S GO - We use this command to indicate that Hamlet should begin moving and/or catch up to the speaker if he is walking behind them. We use this if he is standing still and we want to move, or if we're on a walk and he is spending too much time sniffing at something. Sometimes he gets a treat for this, and other times just verbal praise. As mentioned, Hamlet is a little lazy, so he has had a tendency to lag behind us on neighborhood walks (dependent on his mood, of course), this command is great because then we don't need to pull the leash to get him moving again.