Puppy Talk

Decoy

At about 7:30pm every night they start to wind down and I pull them up on the couch with me to snuggle. Decoy loves to throw himself behind a pillow and does a little frustrated cry, trying to get his sleeping spot "just right". Or he jumps up on the back of the couch and goes to sleep. He is also loves to bury his chew toys. One of the funniest times was one morning, I was loading them in the crate in the car to go to work, Sprig got loaded first (he's always first - "pick me pick me pick me") and I turned around to get Decoy and he had a rawhide in his mouth, I called him, he looked at me, ran over to the corner of the yard, dug a hole in a pile of leaves, buried the chew, and ran back to me to be picked up and put in the car. That night when we got home, as soon as his feet hit the ground, he ran over and dug up the chew.

Decoy has so far learned to "speak" on cue, lie down, spin in a circle, and go to a mark (large wooden box), and recall. He has the start of a retrieve (fetch it/hold it) and lift left foot/right foot. But if a leave flutters by - all is lost.

Sprig has learned the same as Decoy, although is a bit of an overachiever and is a little more advanced, Sprig also does his favorite trick a "rollover" with gusto and at a drop of a hat. All training is fun, no pressure, short sessions.

Sprig

Sprig is a bit of a Momma's boy. If there is a puppy crying in a crate its Sprig, (while Decoy will lay there chewing on a toy watching him). He is the king of getting his favorite toy and playing "keep away". On a hike, while both of them range out and run with the big dogs its Sprig that eventually falls in by my side and stays with me while Decoy continues to explore.