Halloween

Its been almost a week since Normandy got neutered and he is recovering well. He has been going to watch my lacrosse games on Sundays and to work during the week. We had a CCI puppy class the day before Halloween and some of the dog dressed up. We bought Normandy some Halloween pajamas which probably wont fit him next week! He was weighed last Tuesday when we brought him in for his surgery and he was 41 pounds. He still has lots of growing to do even though he is past the 6 month mark now.

Fall

It is getting colder here and Normandy has never experienced anything but warm sunny Florida! He almost 6 months now and probably a little more than 40 pounds. He is sporting his new Villanova University collar. Its a large but he is wearing it as small as it goes. Starting this week he will be going down to two meals a day instead of three (same amount of food just split differently). You know what else happens at 6 months?? Neutering! Normandy is scheduled for neutering the morning of November 1st.  It is a quick procedure so we will be picking him up after school that day. He has been spending the day at my mom's office 3-4 times a week. He practices holding "down" or spending time in the kennel at the office. Our Jax puppy group recently went to a fire station. The dogs get to see the firefighters in uniform, hear the siren up close, walk through the truck, etc. None of the dogs were fearful of anything and had a great time!

Sloppy Sit  (5 months)

raising awareness at the market

Inside the ambulance

Listening to the siren of the truck driving by

Meeting the firefighter

New Collar and Pumpkin (taken today)

Let's Go Places

 It is less than a month till Normandy will officially be going out in public with us! He received his rabies shot/ final rounds of puppy shots and state license at the vet this week. At a little over 4 months old he weighed 31 pounds! We have gone to Petsupermarket and Petsmart this weekend for outings. These places are ok after the puppy is fully vaccinated. In our Jax CCI group a family is expecting another male lab/golden next week! Our group is growing and planning more group outings. We also drove downtown and walked along river at the Jacksonville Landing last weekend. Normandy is now noticing/ chasing small animals like lizards, frogs, and a mini snake (picture below). He loves his new kennel and playing fetch in the backyard. Our last puppy last is next Saturday and there will be a graduation! So after next weekend Normandy will now just go to the CCI puppy classes with the big dogs.

Downtown Jacksonville

Another new kennel

 a baby snake

4 Month Mark

Normandy hit 4 months this past Thursday! We will be able to start taking him out in public starting October 5th. School has started so Normandy is spending his lunch break with our neighbor. The lunch break will be temporary since my mom is planning to take him to her office. He will start going to the office during the day after his last set of shots around Sept. 8th. In recent news Normandy threw up his lunch today because he has been eating his meals too fast. :( We are currently fixing the problem and will be calling our puppy manager tomorrow. Otherwise Normandy is doing great and learning his manners everyday.

Normandy in the cradle position

Going to the Pool

This weekend like all the other weekends we went to puppy class. We started learning here, side, heel, and staying calm during excitable greetings. Normandy visited the vet for more shots and threw up his new heartworm medicine. We took Normandy to a pool on Sunday. He loved it and wanted to go deeper so i let him doggie paddle as i was holding him. Normandy has lost another persons toes to lick in the house because Will went off to college this morning.

In his big boy Kennel

Doggie Wash

It has been a doggie fun filled weekend! On Friday Normandy had a play date with Jack (11 month old beagle) and he ran his little heart out. He was extremely tired and sluggish that night and Saturday morning. We had puppy class the next day and all went well. We met the cutest Golden Retriever puppy who was so fluffly. I am definitely going to take a picture next time! That afternoon we visited the self service doggie wash. It was a nice place and Normandy was very cooperative when we bathed him like always. Sunday was also filled with more doggie training! So Sundays are the specific CCI training classes with all aged CCI dogs not just puppies (these take place about once a month) and Saturdays are general puppy classes with non CCI dogs(every week for six weeks). During the Sunday class you work on your own commands because all of the dogs are at different levels in training. All in all it was a tiring doggie weekend and we can't wait for more training next weekend!

The doggie wash!

new duck toy

At puppy class

We are on the far left

3 months!!!

 This past weekend Normandy hit the three month mark!! Tonight I filled out his first monthly progress report which is given to the puppy manager in Orlando. It tells them how the puppy is progressing in socialization, grooming, vet care, and training. We went to the first of six puppy classes on Saturday. The class is a puppy kindergarten class for puppies under 6 months.  For the first class we were instructed to not bring our dogs. The instructor wanted the owners to learn and take notes during her informational seminar and video. For the first week our homework is to focus on house training, socialization, and bite inhibition. So to work on socializing Normandy we took him to a frozen yogurt store and we sat outside on a bench to watch people, cars, kids running, etc.

I'm getting so BIG

So a few exciting things happened over the weekend. On Friday we took him to his first vet appointment to get his 2nd series of shots. He was very well behaved and the vet gave us some tips on training. Our vet also has a CCI puppy of his own and provides vet care to the 15 CCI dogs in Jacksonville. We also scheduled him for his 3rd series of shots on August 12th. The next day he ate his first heartgard plus chewable. An hour later he was throwing it up on the sidewalk. After calling the vet we decided to put another one in his dinner bowl. He ate it with his dinner and it went down and stayed down. Today I signed Normandy up for a series of puppy classes (every Saturday for 7 weeks). The first class is this Saturday and we are to leave Normandy at home because we will be watching a video. We also ran out to Babies "R" Us last weekend and bought a gate because Normandy is one mischievous puppy. 
Now here are the latest and greatest Normandy photos!!

New nylabones!!

After a long walk

Puppy Class

Today we took Normandy to his first puppy class! There were two other puppies the same age as Normandy (10 weeks) and around seven big puppies (7-12 months old). The instructor went over sit, down, and making eye contact with the small puppies while the bigger puppies trained in an obstacle course. Normandy was a good boy and wore his gentle leader and cape the entire time! The small puppies couldn't focus that long for training so we spent more time socializing him with the other dogs, people, and training facility. We bought him more nylabones because he constantly wants to chew/ eat EVERYTHING. At Target they had puppy teething nylabones that you can chill in the fridge to sooth their gums. He is getting better at going for a walk but still loves to eat grass, flowers, rocks, etc. He has been experiencing new thing around the neighborhood such as grates/ sewer lids in the road, stairs (walking up and down!), flags blowing in the wind, and cars driving 50 mph on the main road. He is so amazed at the cars that he stands and watches each one drive by. Normandy is in desperate need of a bath so I need to go wash him before it gets dark but here are some pics from class today.

Update

Normandy has grown up a lot in the past week! He is becoming more playful everyday, not having any accidents, eating the entire cup of food at each meal, and getting better at commands. Today he weighed 17 pounds. He has had 3 total accidents in the house since he has been home. He knows his name, sit, and down.
These are the commands that he should learn from 2-6 months:
Sit
Down
Hurry (go to the bathroom)
Drop
Wait (at doorways, for food, etc.)
Lets Go (walk on loose leash and stop when you stop)
Kennel
Dress (for putting on gentle leader and cape)
Release (end the previous command)
Don't/No (used for jumping, biting, etc.)
Here

Also here is a picture of him before he left California: