Weekend Warriors...

The weekend was full of new experiences for Chukar....he met SO many new dogs, went for a few walks, went to the dock, met some birds, went to his 1st doggie park...what a WEEKEND!!!

Here are some pictures from our adventures!
These were some birds that were on the dock...that Chukar 'really' wanted to meet!
Off to the Dog Park...new smells, new dogs, new experiences...
...and ONE REALLY dirty dog!!!
Weekend Warriors are going to bed...exhausted!

Patiently waiting...

for someone to come visit!

Chuk's trip to BPH!

Our little man anxiously awaiting his visit from Dr. Aubrey at Bothell Pet Hospital!

He has already grown up so much and loves his doctor! Yeah for his 2nd round of shots...next up Rabies and the "neutering".....

XOXO! We are so proud of him!

"Tri" it again?

I've gone and done it again....I registered for the

Only 55 days away!

Training begins this week!

AHHHHHH!

Calling all Wine-ers!

Another week gone back...filled with Work, Wine, and Wonderful times with Friends! It's always busy, but this time of year especially...Rich and I are both putting in long hours at work and then rushing home to spend fun times with Chuk! Rich was a "single" dad a few times this week as I had a couple of things set up with the ladies during the week. So much fun!

This picture just captures Chuk when he is outside and we are inside...he loves to be with us and can't stand to not be.

"Let me in!!!"

Saturday night we had a few friends over for some wine, cheese and "stories"....so much fun!
My hubby ready for the fun...
Chuk and I ready for guests too...
My parents came over for a bit and took care of "devil/angel dog"!!!

I guess after that...I misplaced the camera...

Oh well, we had a blast...and then a very LAZY Sunday. Chuk even let us sleep until 10 am! AMAZING!!!

The Trials and Tribulations of Chukar (cont.)

from Rich...

December 17th/18th:No formal training on these evenings (my notes were blank)...I was worn out from the week (work and Chukar). We did take him on a couple of car rides, he has been a trooper so far. We are prepping him for the long drive to eastern Washington for Christmas.

December 19th:We did a session outside, concentrating on sit, stay, come...for the first time he responded to the come command, without me yanking on his lead. His attention span is noticeably longer, measured in seconds I might add.Now at 9 weeks, I can really see his personality coming through. He is getting more and more comfortable with us and his new surroundings.

December 20th:Over the next two weeks, I did not keep any notes, I will be pulling from memory and my wife's blog...We ventured over to my wife's parent's house to introduce him to a dog for the first time. He was very inquisitive and super excited to play with the other dog, a Maltese poodle that is 12 or 13 years old. Chukar would chase after Max, slide into him and then roll over, playing the submissive one the entire time. Our goal is introduce Chukar to as many dogs as possible in the coming months (Look for a future post on our Norm's experience in Fremont)...of course after his shots are handled. The initial experiment went well.

December 21st - December 30th:More of the same...Sit, stay and come. During this time frame, in addition to obedience training we wanted Chukar to start meeting people and other dogs as frequently as possible. After another round of shots, it was off to my parents' house for Christmas. The four hour trip went awesome! Chukar is a great traveler and did a great job when we would stop for breaks...Save for the time we stopped at Indian John Hill, too many smells to get any business done.We made it all the way to Kennewick and Chukar got to meet my folks' miniature dachshunds...They wanted nothing to do with Chukar, but it added to Chukar's experience with other dogs.On the 27th, we were back home and it was a great day to get Chukar outside for some "school" work.... By this time, he realized what it means to put on the collar and don the lead.

December 31st - January 3rd:We were off to Lake Wenatchee for New Year's festivities, it turned out to be a great opportunity for Chukar to travel some more, meet even more people and experience snow for the first time. There wasn't much formal training over the long weekend, but looking back, I really think exposing him to many different places and people has helped with his temperament and attention span.

January 7th:We decided that it was a good idea to take Chukar to Norm's (a bar that encourages you to bring your dog) in Fremont for some trivia and to watch the national championship...Within minutes, I was doubting our decision. Chukar was going hog-wild between the masses of people and dogs, it was quite a site. Low and behold, within fifteen minutes or so, Chukar came into his own and was being very polite to the "others" and sat below our table, taking in the sights. He did however have an accident, which pissed me off, but it was my fault, not his. Overall, we were there for two hours, he met at least a dozen dogs, we couldn't have been more proud of him.

January 9th:Even though Chukar and I hadn't nailed sit, stay, come quite yet (we're still having fits with stay), I decided it was time to introduce the game of fetch. I set up the check-cord, strapped on Chukar's collar and we were off to the backyard. I was using a small fetch dummy. We set up for the first attempt and I was having issues with the cord...I finally got those issues worked out, I got Chukar really excited about the dummy and I made a toss of about twenty-five feet and yelled "fetch!". Chukar ran out there as fast as he could with a stiff cord attached to his collar and he grabbed the dummy. I gave the whistle one loud blow and yelled, "Chukar come!". By golly, during all of that commotion, I forgot to tug the cord...turns out I didn't need to. He came right to me and I ordered Chukar to drop the dummy. It took some coaxing, but he eventually dropped the dummy.This went on for a dozen or so rounds, each time he was getting better and better...After the tenth try or so, he was losing interest, I unhooked the cord and we ended with some sit, stay, come work...In all, a very good day for Chukar and I.

He is almost caught up....so fun!

To celebrate his 3 month birthday....

we took our little Chuk-butt out for the day and to lunch at Norm's!

He met many "friends" and even had an accident...but he was a good boy!!! Kelby and Ryan joined in for the celebration too!

Here is Chukar meeting his new girlfriend...she even "batted" him down and he was submissive to her...guess that he's in love!
Rubber Chicken dog even happens in public...
and a brief nap!
We tried for a picture of the 3 of us...but Chukar was all kisses!
Yes, he was just lovin' on me!
Happy 3 month birthday "son"!
You've been a joy to have around!!!

Week 2 - Check!

This week brought a lot of activities for us...a lot of Poop from Chukar...and a lot of learning from us! Of course, with all of this, not many pictures were taken...

On Tuesday, January 12th, my Mom's actual birthday....I met up with the ladies for lunch!
Aunt Roxy, Lori, Mom and Cheryl (all the way from Aloha-ville)!
Wednesday and Thursday brought Ladies night for Stacie and a Husky Basketball game for Rich and Stacie...

On Friday night, we celebrated ALOHA with Rory, Cheryl, Dad and Mom! After dinner, Rory serenaded us with some beautiful Hawaiian music while we all relaxed!

Thanks Rory and Cheryl for spending some special time with our Family...you are part of our extensive family!
Saturday morning was full of "house-cleaning"...from cleaning the carpets, the sheets, a trip to Costco and the pet store...and of course, a Husky and Cougar victory!

Later Saturday, Rich took Chukar out for some training.

Chukar sit!
Chukar sit (and stay)!
Chukar fetch!
Chukar come!
Just a too cute shot of my boys playing....look how high Chukar is off the ground (and how his ears are flying)!!!
A little video of Rich and Chukar playing fetch.

Clean Computer Screen...

Ever had a problem with cleaning your computer screen and you just can't get it spotless...try this!

http://www.raincitystory.com/flash/screenclean.swf

Happy Birthday Mom!

Last night (Sunday), we had my parents, Grandma and Aunt Roxy over for dinner to celebrate my Mom's birthday!

Chukar was sweet enough to get a cake that looked like him (I think he's cuter, but he's modest)!
It's Cake Time!
Make a Wish!
Happy Birthday MOM!!!
XOXO

My husband...the blogger!

Today, Rich sent me a link to "hunt-wa" and to a thread that he is maintaining about training Chukar...it is so awesome that he has the same fondness for blogging. While mine is light and airy and focuses on what we do and what we drink, his is very structured and documented. He has had a notebook since Day 1 and has been jotting things down since then. I never asked what it was...but now I know.

I love it! I will keep this blog updated with his thread, as well as give you the link so that you can check it out for yourselves.

http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php/topic,42586.0.html (10key is Rich)

It is neat to see how people respond to him and give encouragement for our sometimes trying dog training!


The Trials and Tribulations of Chukar
« on: Yesterday at 09:22:41 AM »
I am starting this thread to document the training regimen of my Brittany Spaniel, Chukar. This is my first puppy and dog for that matter, I anticipate quite a ride during the training process. The plan is for Chukar to be a good dog, first and foremost and an adequate hunting companion for upland birds. I've picked up several books, a DVD and I have spent countless hours online (of course I started at Hunt-WA) in hopes of gathering as much information as possible.We picked Chukar up from the breeder December 5th, his 49th day. From there, I am going to skip ahead to when I started obedience training....to be continued

December 12th:After a week of Chukar getting used to my wife and I, I decided it was time for Chukar's first day of school. The goal for training today was to expose Chukar to the collar, leash and whistle...If he responded, that would be a bonus.I started with 10 minutes of sit, stay, come on a leash...I used treats intermittently. To start, he didn't like the collar and leash, it was really distracting for him. He was able grasp the sit command the best and he was even able to nail the sit, stay, come trio one time...most likely a fluke as stay and come never seemed to resonate again.For the afternoon session, I tried to reinforce the commands we worked on on the morning. He was more distracted this time, whether it was the collar, leash or the backyard that he was still exploring, I don't know.On a side note, we really are trying to get him to recognize his name, using it as much as possible. Of course, MUTHER CHUKAR is used here and there.

December 13th:Chukar started out his day meeting kids for the first time, he met boy/girl twins that are 5 years old. Overall, he did quite well with them. As can be expected, the kids were pretty rough with him, he played along and didn't get too excited or bite them.After the kids took off and Chukar calmed down a bit, I took him outside for school day number 2. The goal for this session was to continue to reinforce the work we had done the previous day...nothing new was to be added. This session of sit, stay, come was as expected. When I had is undivided attention, sit was no problem, stay was an issue and come worked only after a tug on the lead (I am using the say "come", drop hand and blow whistle one time method). Overall, the session was very short, probably 5 minutes max as I lost him fairly quick. Thinking back, I recall that I was quite frustrated when I came inside. I told my wife about it and she said, "you've got to be patient, how are going to be when we have kids?" She went on to say, "I don't want you bummed when our 2 month old baby can't walk or talk"...I smiled, and said you are probably right...As I thought to myself, don't all 2 month old babies walk and talk?

December 14th:This was a Monday and by the time I get home from work, the sun has long set. I decided I would take this third session to the spare bedroom and see where I could get. Right off the bat, I knew it wasn't the best choice. First of all, Chukar had yet to explore this room adding to his "short" attention span and secondly, I didn't have the proper tools set and ready to go when I saw the window Chukar was giving me. I did my best to recover and salvage something out of the session, he nailed the sit command with the leash and come was ok...I was struggling with the stay command (and still am to this day to be honest).

Chukar at work with Mama!

King of his Rock!!!

Too cute for words!!!!

Walking in a Winter Wonderland....

This year we decided to RING IN 2010 in Lake Wenatchee with Dan, Kelby, Ryan and the gang! The weather was snowy...
The drinks were flowing...
And there was more food than we could possible eat!!!

New Year's Eve was filled with laughs, fun, friends and more!

2009 brought me many blessings....including a husband and a puppy!
Chuk and Rich ready to hit the snow!
Dan and Rich posing for the camera....
and our 1st Family Picture of 2010!
Happy New Year!
We woke up to some fog on the lake in 2010...but the view was spectacular!
Hubby cooking breakfast for the gang!
All showered and ready for "devil-dog" to calm down!
Chuk loves himself some wood...
...is that a guilty face?
We headed out the beginning of the New Year...after digging out from the snow...to have lunch and treats in Leavenworth (and watch some football)!
We also checked out Fish Lake on the way...the lake is completely frozen over (at least 8 inches deep)!

Kelby and I...all smiles!
Rich and I...Happy New Year!
The gang that traveled to the lake!

Mr. & Mrs. Soon-to-be Blosser and Mr. & Mrs. Meyer!
Yep, one more...
Rich found (stepped in) a hole and then stuck his hand down in....pretty freaking to know that you are "walking on water"!
Watching some football and testing out the Fireball Whiskey...
Dan, Ryan, Kelby, Rich and I!
Yes, it was that delicious!
Kelby's face tells it all!
Dan loving couples time...
My love.....Next year we might need to go somewhere sunny for New Year's!
We are PASTY!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Saturday morning we woke up and could see the lake...how breathtaking!
Absolutely peaceful and amazing!
We headed back into Leavenworth on Saturday...
Kelby and I need some new dresses for Vegas!
Yes, the candle is called Winter Wonderland...maybe you had to be there...but we spent 3 days "Walking in a Winter Wonderland"....
Headed over to Icicle Winery...per Heather's suggestion!

Wine tasting for $2.50...my kind of day!

Here are Kelby and Ryan....
...and then Rich and I!
Next up...Muchen Haas!

FAN-TAS-TIC!!!!
Brats for all....
...AMAZING!
Yes, we like to pose with our friends...haha!
Chukar needed a little more snow time too!
Love this picture....my boys!

What an amazing start to 2010...can't wait to see what this year has in store for the Meyer Family...yes, we are a family now!

Mama, Papa and Baby Chukar!!!

Thanks to Kelby, Ryan, Dan and gang for ringing in the New Year with us! So thankful to have such great friends...let the traditions begin!!!