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. 

A Day(s) on the Beach

The Five Day Weekend 

We have had quite the week with Buster being exposed to a whole host of new experiences and environments.  And, we discovered traveling with a dog can be quite a chore.

Last Thursday we were invited to Ojai Valley Cowboy School to do a remote podcast for our show, The Whoa Podcast about Horses and Horsemanship.  We knew it would be a long day.  Our choices: leave Buster alone in the yard or locked in his crate.  There is just too much trouble he can get into if left alone to roam free for ten hours.  We opted to take him with us.

Buster is a wonderful traveler.  Once in the truck he curls up and goes to sleep.  The trip to Ojai is about two hours.  He slept the whole way.  The Cowboy School is a ranch and all ranches have dogs.  I let Buster out and he soon discovered he was not "Top" anything.  Ranae and I took this as a good thing.  The other dogs played and showed him a good time.  And, when he got too rambunctious, they put him in his place.  I did have to crate him for a time while I rode.  We couldn't have him chasing the horse around and that's just what he would have done.  I offered him the opportunity to be tied to the outside of the arena, but he chose to bark and left me no choice.

Once the riding events were over we let him out and he was a good dog.  I was worried about the food - there were hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill.  We kept a watchful eye on him because he would have definitely helped himself to some goodies.

He slept most of the way home and on Friday we headed off again for a weekend in San Diego. Wonderfully, the trip down was great. Buster slept for about three hours until we got to the town of Norco.  We found a place to eat with a patio, walked around a bit, and then finished the ninety minute trip to our hotel.  La Quinta Inns does not charge for pets.  I was a little concerned when they were only rated two stars on the website, but our room was clean, breakfast was good, and we were pleasantly surprised.  We had two crates with us, the travel crate and the sleeping crate.  We move the sleeping crate to the room and kept the travel crate to contain Buster when we went to a restaurant that didn't accommodate dogs.

We visited my brothers staying at an RV park.  Buster was well rested and eager to check things out.  People were excited to meet him and he fed off that excitement. We were recommended a few dog parks and told of a dog beach.  We could not wait to give it a try.  

Two dogs playing chase and roll.

Saturday morning we found Dusty Roads Dog Park.  I've never been to a dog park.  Buster had never been to a dog park.  It was time to let nature take its course and see what happened.  

All the years I've owned dogs I had never observed this type of behavior.  Plenty of times I had seen dogs interact on-lead or loose out in the open.  This was a self-contained dog play area.  The dogs who regularly come here, come specifically to play.  New dogs are greeted, it seemed to me, with a very stern eye that conveyed the notion, "You will have fun...or else".  

Buster was greeted with a couple of dogs in his face and was a little intimidated at first.  There were far too many good smells for him to comprehend.  He interacted with a few of the dogs and played a game or two of chase.  He discovered on his own that one does not just take any dog's ball without a good romp and a run.  He played with dogs bigger than he and some of the smaller ones too (although there was a separate penned area for the dogs under 20 lbs.)  He kept me in eyesight and if I wandered too far off, he would come over and check in with me.

Dog Beach San Diego

Once I knew he was good in the fenced area we set out to see what delights the dog beach held for us. We found we had parked about half a mile away.  Ranae and I enjoy walking and this was the fun part for us. 

This was an amazing place!  There were dogs everywhere! Some dogs wanted in the water, some did not.  Buster was not too sure what to think at first.  Again, the smells were overwhelming, but there were dogs, there were balls and Frisbees being thrown, and there were waves to dodge.

Buster did an excellent job of balancing having fun and keeping track of where we were.  It was hard to even take pictures of him because every time I squatted to get a "dog level" shot he would come running to me.

Finally, he went tearing through the waves with a new-found friend.  He got a real kick out of splashing water around.  He's too new to the game to come back to us before shaking the water off, but I'm sure if given time and opportunity, he would pick this up in a heartbeat.

It was wonderful seeing him run.  The boy does know how to have a good time.  We went to another dog park the following day.  I have to hand it to San Diego.  They know how to treat their dogs.  In all the time we spent around the loose dogs - around three hours I would guess - there was not one fight incident.  There were pit bulls and Rottweilers and some other intimidating breeds, but nothing ever escalated passed a bit of barking.

Surf's Up!

On Sunday while grocery shopping we ran across a pet store.  Knowing we could take Buster inside we decided to do a bit of window shopping.  As luck would have it, there was a scale inside.  Buster is up to 42 lbs.  Oh, and I should mention that he was off his feed on the trip.  He usually scarfs down about 5 cups of food a day.  Friday he had three, Saturday I don't think he ate 2 1/2 cups.  And, with his appetite off schedule, his poops were too.  He woke me up at five in the morning for a walkabout.  We had a talk.  I tried to convey that this was a vacation and the goal was to sleep in.  After a day at the dog beach I think he finally got the hang of it.  I'm not sure what was going on.  His appetite is back to normal now that he's home.

Training Update

I have to keep reminding myself he is just a puppy.  Buster is not even 5 months old, but weighed in at 38.5 lbs yesterday.  By all appearances he is a dog.  Mentally, he is still a puppy.

When we work on training, we have to do it in very short sessions.  The biggest challenges we have is trying to calculate his "up" time and "down" so I can some things done. There is a life outside of caring for him, if you know what I mean. If I'm working outside, he's pretty good. If I have some office work to do, he can be a real pain in the ass if he feels we should be doing something else.

Walking and heeling are greatly improved in many aspects.  It is so cute to see him come to a sit when I stop for a light.  For the most part he walks on the left.

Many times when we meet up with Ranae for lunch he would be surprised and excited to see her.  Initially we would let him run up and greet her.  One of the things that's cute when he's a puppy.  Then, because he was wary of strangers, I would give people who wanted to pet him, a treat to pass along to him.  Now, if he sees someone on the street, he wants to run up to them and say "hi".  I have to figure out how to get him to the middle ground - somewhere between not wary of strangers and not wanting to check their pockets for Snausages.

He is good at "down".   His recall, with distraction is spotty, but when it works, it's great.  We are working on stay.  Feeding time is so much easier.  About a week ago I started placing him on a down-stay while I prepare the bowls.  Now he stays in the down while all the ever-tempting cat food bowls are filled.  It helped him learn the concept of "stay".  The cats are much more relaxed with this arrangement too.  He still gets his bowl outside and eats outside the presence of the cats.

We are using the clicker training method and it seems to be a useful way to capture his attention.

And, he is finally starting to retrieve a few objects.  There still is a lot of work to go here, but there are signs he is picking up the concept.  It will be nice to play retrieve with him to burn off some of his excess energy.

This Boy Can Eat

The other day after breakfast Buster looked hungry.  I had given him the usual cup and a 1/4  or so.  I thought I would dump another cup of food in his bowl and whatever he did not clean up, I would put back in his food bin.  He is a magician.  Presto Change-O the bowl was as clean as the day I bought it!  This week Buster weighed in at 32.5 lbs.  He has tripled his weight in the 60 days I've had him!

He is now getting 2 cups in the morning, a cup and a half for lunch, and a cup and a half for dinner.  He is sleeping through the night and wakes up when we do around 6 am.  We will go out and feed the horses and then he gets to eat.  He's got about half an hour of wrestling with Rusty before he needs a nap.  That allows me to shower and shave without worrying what he might get into.  Then it's off to work.

Yesterday I put him in the back seat of the truck.  I think he prefers me being the chauffeur.  He generally sits up and looks out the window for awhile before curling up on his towel.  This morning he asked that I pull his truck around and take him to Petsmart to refill our quickly dwindling food supplies.  We met up with Belle, a pit/shepard mix, shopping in the same aisle.  After a few pleasantries they both thought they should be able to play.  I must teach Buster the importance of his "inside voice" because I got a boisterous rebellion after informing him the store aisles were no place to romp around. He let me know that he had never been talked to in this manner from a chauffeur and that if I continued I would be forced to seek employment elsewhere.

He headed over the the cat food aisle to look for dropped morsels of kibble while I picked out some delicious flavors for the fellas at home.  When he was ready, I once again pulled his truck around and gently lifted him to throne in the rear.  (Now I understand why people get Pomeranians)

Twenty Nine Forever

We know it's impossible for him to stay twenty nine forever in either age or weight.  Buster is tipping the scales at 29 lbs as he continues to grow.  He can be the most regal looking dog at times and then two seconds later he is a complete goofball.  He can go from sleeping peacefully - as he is doing now - to holy terror, teasing Rusty and chasing cats.

We are walking, walking a lot.  He is not too bad at the heel except he has the puppy mentality. We'll be walking down the sidewalk and he telegraphs through the leash, "WAIT!!  Wait! Look at this.  WE gotta check this out." at every leaf, piece of trash, cigarette butt and even dark spot in the path.  But he does it with such enthusiasm, that hey, quite often I DO have to check it out.

His sense of smell is incredible.  I tried some training the other night with a few training treats in my sweatshirt pouch.  We were working on retrieval.  I had one of his rope toys and I was trying to get him to "Take It".  He grabbed at it on command, I rewarded him the first time with praise.  The second time I rewarded him with the training treat.  "Whaaaat?!  Where did that come from?  Here? Here? Oh, right here.  There are more right there.  I want those.  Gimmee one.  C'mon.  I know they are there.  Wanna play hide-and-seek?  Good I'm in!"

I tried to continue and we were able to get one or two more retrievals, but that was it.  His focus was gone.

I've noticed he is getting more social with strangers. Some people just don't know how to approach a dog, especially a weary one.  Actually, I'm not sure how much I would have taken it into consideration before owning a dog like Buster.  Some people will bark at him or whistle.  I'm sure he would not mind those noises, I just think he has to get to know you first.

One thing I have noticed about people that approach him that I find fascinating: some people don't even acknowledge me.  It is almost as if they are approaching a stray dog on the streets.  I'll even offer up a "Good Morning" and they will talk to Buster, but I'm invisible.  There are not a lot of those people and I like having fun with them by trying to see if I can say anything that will make them realize I'm there.  

"Buster is training for Afghanistan.  Before he smells you I need to know 'What nationality are you?'"

"Have you ever seen a reverse albino Chocolate Lab?"

He definitely remembers places.  We walk by the Sequoia Sandwich shop where Melissa works.  Melissa knew Max and she was one of the first people Buster met.  He was leery, she was patient.  On the third visit, I gave Melissa a Milkbone to give to Buster.  Later, we sat outside and had lunch.  Buster got to sit under the table and find the multitude of fallen morsels left by unsuspecting patrons.

This morning we were about a quarter block away when Buster's tail started whirling like a helicopter rotor.  "What is it Buster?"  He was staring straight at the sandwich shop and started pulling me along.  He knew there was some good petting, great smells, and maybe, just maybe, something good to eat right there on the corner.

Long Days Together

Ah, the life of a working dog.  Thanksgiving was a bit tough on the Bustmeister.  While we spent time with family across town he was crated.  It was longer than he was used to, but he can not be trusted on his own, so we were left with no other options.  To make it up to him, we spent all day Friday together.

We've been needing a new(er) truck for quite some time now.  One that had a little muscle to pull our two-horse trailer on the longer trips we can now take with the horses.  I am not crazy about car shopping.  I thought we would go look at a couple of models and then come home and go riding.  We took Buster along.  We left at 9 am and got home around 7 pm with a new truck.  Buster was a pretty good boy sleeping in the dealer's office as we went through all the rig-a-ma-roll of the process.  He was also a great source of stress release during those long periods they keep you waiting.

So he had a day spent in the crate, followed by a day of getting dragged around looking at trucks, and we still felt he needed more.

Today, we took the new truck on a shakedown cruise with the horses and Buster came along.  It was his first "official" tag-a-long on a ride.  Again, he did great!  It was unusually warm - almost 80 degrees!  We were in an open part of the trail near the Kern River.  Buster followed along with us as we rode down the trail.  There were a couple of egrets.  I don't even think he saw them.  He was too busy keeping an eye on us.  We did not ride very far.  His tongue was hanging out.  We went back to the trailer for a short break, then went the other direction for a bit.  He looks like he is going to be a great trail dog.

Tomorrow it's back out to the river for a ride with the nephews.  We will likely be leading the horses as the kids ride, so he won't get so worn out.  We'll see what happens.

Checked his weight today and he was 24 1/2 pounds before dinner.

Eleven Weeks Old

Buster is growing up!  Eleven weeks old already. He weighed in before dinner at 17.5 lbs. He is eating more than three cups of food per day and still has the audacity to look around for more!  In comparison, Rusty gets two.

This morning he slept in the longest he has yet. He did not get me up until 5 am. I think he was more hungry than having to go outside, although he happily did both in no time at all. He is great at helping feed the horses and clean the pens. As far as the cats go, I think he is a little better except for when the "puppy devil" enters his soul. He can't really control himself. It happens when he is playing with Rusty too.  He gets so excited he starts barking. I find that quite annoying and sometimes the only exorcism is a "time-out" in the crate. It usually works wonders. 

A couple of times I've had meetings at work and have had to place Buster in his carrier in the truck for awhile. He seems to tolerate it well. The weather is cool enough I don't have to worry about him.  The best part is he is always happy to see me.  

He still has puppy ADD as far as his training goes. He hasn't quite got the concept of "Down". His "Stay" is very good as long as there is no other distraction. ;)

We have a vet visit scheduled for Friday for his last puppy shot. 

We're Very Bullish on Buster

Oh, if only the stock market went up like Buster's weight.  16 lbs!!!  I'm buying Roundup - we need some weed control.

The worming medication gave Buster some runny stools.  Finally, yesterday morning he passed some nasty looking roundworms.  Roundworms are only supposed to get 6-7 inches long.  Some of these were at least three.  (I really didn't look too closely)  I think his tummy was upset because he was off his meals a little bit too.  It's funny, before the worm medication I would moisten his food.  After worm medication he didn't touch moistened food.

His training is coming along.  He has a very nice "Sit", except it is in front.  He has just the slightest hint of a "Stay".  His recall is good if you're kneeling.  We just started working on the "Down".

Our socialization continues.  Now that he has had his second shot we are venturing more places.  People can't resist Buster's green eyes.  He doesn't always appreciate the attention, but I think he coming along nicely.

I had a meeting today and had to leave him in the kennel in the truck.  It was a cool day.  He stayed in the cab with the windows opened.  My meeting lasted about 90 minutes.  He tolerated very well and took the time to catch up on some napping.  When he is in sleep mode he is the devil to wake up.  After lunch we walked Ranae back to work - the long way - well over a mile by her tracking app.

Weigh Day

Day 8:  We'll make Tuesdays weigh day.  He came in at 12.5 lbs  That's about a pound and a half weight gain in a week.  Amazing.  A 10% increase.

He continues to sleep about the same amount at night.  He is good walking on the leash.  We're even working on a few sits, stays, and comes in a playful manner.

Last night there was a post on Facebook about "high drive" dogs.  I had heard the term, but it seems like our language is full of terms that don't necessarily mean any thing.  We got our first taste of Buster's high drive.  He had a fifteen minute burst like someone had given him a Red Bull.  He tore around the living room, around Rusty, dodged a few cats before pouncing on his chew toy.  I think I just sat there mesmerized mouth agape.  Oh, it's going to be a ride.....

Our Third Day

Buster

I had "Liked" a pet shelter page on Facebook that was located in Texas.  The name escapes me now - I'll add it later.  (It is called Friends of Weatherford Animal Shelter.)  One of the photos that came across my feed was of a lost dog that was available for adoption.  They called it a Catahoula, a name that sounded vaguely familiar, but I could not recall any traits of the breed.

Max

Max, our trusted Australian Shepard, has been gone for three months now.  We were back in the dog market.  I had looked at a "rescue", but the dog just wasn't the right fit.  We have another older dog, Rusty, and five cats, along with two horses.  It's easy to disrupt our household.  I wanted to make it as painless as possible.

About a week after seeing the shelter pic, I was taking photos of a horse training event about an hour away.  The wild horses being cared for on private land were the charitable beneficiaries of the event.  A silent auction including photos of the horses and handmade art were included.  There was also a listing for a Catahoula pup.

I searched out the donor and breeder of the puppies.  We had an extended conversation about breed characteristics and temperament.  I knew that if I got another Aussie he would be compared to Max and that seemed unfair.  This breed was labeled as smart, energetic, and short-haired (a handy trait when owning other furry creatures).

I bid and won.  The pup would be ready on the 21st.  I would have three males to choose from and picked the red one who first approached me.  It was a difficult choice.  With a litter of eleven it was chaos.   I liked the fact that this puppy was curious about the world around him, but kept coming back to check on his humans.

Between the time I won the bid and the time to pick up the dog I did a little more research.  Catahoulas are a combination of many breeds.  They are determined herders with a mind of their own.  They believe in pack hierarchy.  Obedience training is  must.  These are all things I am ready to handle.

We flip-flopped over a few names.  I landed on Buster. Buster has a good ring to it.  Our last Buster was a cat - a stray - who was tough as nails, courageous, and loyal (the food thing helped that).

So, it's on to this life.  A dog's life.  Raising a puppy happens about once every 10-15 years for us.  I forget how or what the last one was like.  I'll chronicle a few things here for the next time if needed, or as a resource for others out there.

Today, Buster officially turned eight weeks old.  He weighs 11 lbs.  He was born on 8-22-14

Monday the drive home was uneventful.  We crate train.  He had a little accident the first day in the crate.  He also had a slightly loose stool.  We are transitioning him from the breeders food to our brand, Blue Buffalo.  We've chosen not to use puppy food.  Some believe it fuels quick growth that causes bone or joint problems later on.  I am not so concerned about this as I am hoping he may not reach his full size potential of 70 lbs.  Fifty-five to sixty lbs. would be just great.  He woke up three times during the first night and I let him out.  He promptly did his business and returned to the crate.  He cried for about 15 minutes the first time, ten minutes the second, and five the third. Once in the crate, we leave him be.  We do not talk to him or let him see us.

Last night, he cried a bit longer the first time we put him in.  He slept about half the night.  I let him out.  His crate was clean.  He did his bidness.  Once back in he whimpered a bit then slept until WE woke him at 6 am.

The breeder had been just giving him straight dry kibble.  I started adding a small amount of warm water to the food and I think that helped the digestibility because coincidentally his stools started firming up.  I am feeding him about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of food four times a day.  We'll have him re-checked for parasites a week from Friday when he gets his next vaccination.

He has had his first shot and worming.  On October 16th he got Parvovirus, Distemper, Adenovirus Type 2, Parainfluenza.

I start training from day one.  This conflicts with many who feel the puppy should be isolated from public areas for fear of disease.  I weigh these risks.  This is golden teaching and bonding time.  I am not going to stay home and be isolated with him.  Plus, he's just been separated from his ten brothers and sisters.  The interaction, bonding, and training are more important than the risk of disease. I do limit his exposure by not taking him to dog rich areas, but we do walk the public streets.

There you have it.  Feel free to comment.  Raising dogs is like raising kids - everyone has slightly differing opinions and that's okay.  I hope to chronicle how Buster's life goes and let's see what happens.