Raising a Puppy: The 17th week in his new home—Spencer the Blue-Nose Brindle Pit Bull
A day in the life with Spencer the American Pit Bull Terrier puppy. Spencer's 17th week—26 weeks old, 62 pounds, 20 3/4 inches from the ground to the highest point of the shoulders (the withers).
6 months old.
Spencer with Big Brother Bruno
The Eye
The brown spot in the pup's left eye seems a tiny bit bigger. Yep, this eye just might be brown at some point.
Cat in Pet Store
We went back to the same pet store that has the cat up for adoption roaming free. This time when we first walked in the cat was lying in the middle of the floor. Spencer walked right by it and only looked without reacting. Later the cat was under a table and once again Spencer only looked but he did not stare the cat down or try and pull toward it at all. The cat kept a watchful eye on the pup. Good boy, Spence!
Treadmill
With all of the rain coming our way I decided to take this time to teach the pup how to walk on a treadmill. It will come in handy when winter hits.
First things first, I had to get the pup to associate the treadmill with something positive. Spencer is very cautious of new things, much more so than Bruno ever was. Spencer notices everything and seems to have a much better sense of smell, hearing and sight than his big Boxer brother. At first Spencer does not want to step up on the treadmill, but Bruno lightens the mood.
Bruno playfully licked and bit at him. Spencer is always up for playtime. I would have used food to associate the treadmill with something positive, but Bruno kind of took care of this part for me.
So instead I called Bruno up on the treadmill and he showed Spencer it was nothing to be afraid of. I did not turn it on at this time. We needed to just spend sometime around it without it being on.
I called the pup up and he got up and then got right back off. This was OK. At least he stepped up on it. Time to call Bruno back up.
Bruno's happy self gets up on the treadmill and Spencer picks up on his energy. I had the dogs hang out on the treadmill for a while. We practiced getting on and off.
When Spencer seemed totally comfortable being on the treadmill with it turned off I got on with him. We hung out there for a little with it off. After a bit I turned Spencer facing the direction we would have to stand when walking and turned it on one click. It started to move and I encouraged Spencer to just start walking with me and he did!
The moving floor took some getting used to.
Spencer the very first time he walked on a treadmill. Notice how we started out slowly and increased the speed as we went. We will walk faster in time as the pup gets used to the moving floor.
We walked for a 30 minutes. When we were finished I slowly turned it off by reducing the speed one click at a time until it stopped. We stood on it for a while so I could teach the pup that just because the treadmill stopped does not mean it is time to jump off, something that is for his own safety.
The Parade
Spencer marches in his very first parade for Amkor Karate Institutes as one of the mascots. His symbolism is to represent something powerful that possesses the right amount of discipline.
Spencer with his "Amkor Pitbull" sign.
Bruno is another one of the mascots. He stands very nicely for Amie as she finishes attaching his "Amkor Boxer" sign. This is the second time Bruno has walked in the parade for Amkor Karate.
As the parade gets ready to move Spencer says "hi" to Darley. I am still working on Spencer not getting overly excited when he sees his friend. The pup needs to respect other dogs and not immediately try and lick their faces to bits. He is getting better but it is still a challenge at this point. Sometimes the bigger challenge when being around other dogs is keeping the humans around the dogs calm to prevent them from creating the excitement.
Bruno is ready to go and is waiting for the line to form and start to move.
Bruno behind another mascot, Darley the Beagle mix. The dogs walking in the parade representing Amkor Karate all heeled very nicely, walking with a loose leash. Excellent discipline, pups! Darley is sporting her green belt and a tournament metal. :) Yes, we used Bruno's Halloween hotdog costume to attach the sign. :)
Spencer did a very nice job. There were several fire engines a little further back in the parade line that were turning on their sirens. The truck directly behind us was honking its horn.
There was even a baby stroller for him to ignore, something with wheels that he was a little too excited over when he went to Knoebels Amusement park. He was now completely ignoring it.
There were people, dogs and excitement from all sides; excellent challenges for the pup to learn to ignore.
Spencer sits down when the line stops for a bit during the parade.
At the end of the parade waiting as the rest of our crowd gathers.
Spencer and Bruno lie down. Thank goodness the parade is over because they are bending their signs all up!
And that is it, naptime for the pup. That sign held up better than I thought it would.
Puppy No-No's
That little squirt jumped up on the cat table and started to eat cat food right in front of me! "Hey! Get down!" Yesterday Amie caught Bruno up there eating cat food. Between the fox and the dogs, it's no wonder I am buying so much cat food!
"No, you beasts!" That's right dogs, I moved the benches. Now keep your big paws off the cat food table! Sorry cats, you will just have to jump a little higher!