Busy Busy Buster

Busy Busy Buster

I realize it's been quite sometime since our last update.  I've had quite a busy schedule.  And, one thing I've learned about trying to take your dog everywhere with you - it's takes almost twice as long to do everything.

Going to the store:  Walk Buster to the truck after making sure he doesn't need a potty break.  In the parking lot, putting him in the back of the truck. Shopping.  Come back to the truck, place Buster in the back.  At home, Buster gets out first, then...well you get the idea.

Size - Growing Boy

Buster is over 60 lbs now.  His appetite has stabilized at 2 cups of Blue Buffalo in the morning and 2 cups in the evening.  He is much taller than Rusty as you can see in the picture.  He still loves horse manure judging from the luscious green color of his poops.

Exercise

According to the Nike tracking app on my phone we walk over 35 miles each month.  We are already over that for April.  I don't keep track of every step we take either. Buster tolerates walking, but I don't think he is a big fan.  He generally is looking all over the place, which brings us to...

Training

Buster has a sit and a down.  His heel is whatever he may feel like.  As long as he doesn't pull me around, I kind of tolerate that.  Oh, and he can pull!  This is much different from other dogs I've owned.  I usually wouldn't tolerate such insubordination.  I've realized over the last couple of months however that Buster just needs constant reinforcement.  Trying to force him into a regimental training program just isn't going to work.  For the most part he wants to be a good dog, it's just that sometimes he has too much puppy energy juice flowing through him and it carries him right away.

We've done a little dock diving.  He loves going in the water, but he has yet to consistently "jump" in.  I think this would be a great sport for him.  We will continue to work on this and see if he can get the hang of it.

Socialization

We've been to the dog parks in and around Bakersfield over the last couple of weeks.  One had a lot of dog traffic, one only had a little, and the third had no one else around.  Buster is not quite sure what to make of the other dogs.  We'll keep working on this too.

The people downtown know him well.  People see us on almost a daily basis.  They've seen Buster grow up.  I had to start asking people to make Buster sit before they touch him.  Most do, some don't.  It was getting to the point where if Buster saw someone he thought he recognized he would just pull me over to them.  We've managed to get this behavior under control.

Buster is great on the trail with the horses.  He follows along well and has good stamina.  At our usual restaurant stop, he rests quietly while we enjoy a meal or conversation.  We still buy him a burger before heading back to the stables.  Most definitely his favorite part.

I do get concerned about his lack of concern for the horses.  I'm not sure how to make him understand that all horses aren't as friendly as ours.  This might be something he will learn the hard way.  I took him over to a friend's house to help her with her horse training.  She had a little mule there too.  The mule put Buster in his place.

Buster Brown the Clown

He still makes us laugh on a daily basis.  He is totally uninhibited and truly a free spirit.  He has learned to deal with the cats.  He still sleeps in his crate until 6:15.  He can go 90 miles per hour or be a couch potato.

He is still hard on Rusty.  Rusty is a tough old girl and refuses to back down.  Buster will steal Rusty's rubber ball and run circles around her until she pretends to give up.  She looks disinterested, he drops the ball, THEN she steals it back.