Another Cute Video

One of the things that I've read says that you shouldn't lay your head lower than the pup's so that they don't get the idea that they are dominant over you. So, I broke a rule in favor of a really cute video. This was actually taken on 3/27...

March 27th - First Day Alone

Today was Kodo's first day alone. If you've read the last few posts, you'll know that we've spent the last couple of day's trying to get him used to his new schedule. We've left him alone for hours at a time, and today was the first test for him to be left alone for the majority of the day...of course, he'll still get some people-time when I come home to let him out and when Becky comes home.

His first day home by himself seemed to go perfectly. When I return home around 1pm, he was definitely excited to see me. He had no problems in his crate. He headed straight for his spot and did his business. I spent about a half hour giving him pets before I took him out again and kong/crated him.

Becky got home and took him out to do his business and then went for a walk. When I got home I joined them and romped around for a bit. It was wonderful, because this was the first time he was showing a little more personality and playfulness. We romped around for a bit in the backyard...and he let out one of the his few barks. I thought this was definitely a good sign seeing him all happy.

When we got inside, Beck got him all riled up again and he made some more cute, deep barks. Here's a quick video of it.

Kodo's Playful Bark

Well, Kodo's schedule is as follows:

• 5:00 am - Becky wakes up, gives Kodo people time/feeds him
• 5:20 am - Becky takes Kodo out to "Hurry Up"
• 7:50 am - Brian wakes up and lets Kodo out
• 8:30 am - Brian lets Kodo out again
  Kongs him and puts him in his crate for the morning
• ~1 - 2 pm - Brian returns home, people time, takes him out
• 5:15 pm - Becky returns home, lets Kodo out, walk
• 6:00 pm - Feed Kodo, people time until Brian returns
• 6-11 pm - Kodo people time...Kodo goes out before going to bed

March 24-27 - First Work Week

Well we wanted to make sure that Kodo was acclimated to his new world, so we decided that one of us should stay home with him. I decided to work from home on Monday, while Becky took vacation days for Tuesday and Wednesday.

On Monday, we started the routine that we will eventually follow on a regular basis. Since our schedules are so different, it helps us get Kodo his breaks with minimal adjustment to our own. Becky woke up earlier around 5am, to feed and take Kodo out. I woke up just before 8am to take him out again. Kodo continued his good streak from the night before showing us that he knows the command "Come". I barricaded our morning room, set up my laptop there... and let Kodo wander the area. He didn't have any problems, and in fact, he pawed a bit at the back door, which I took as his way of telling me he needs to go...definitely a good sign, 'cuz he wasted no time.

The kitties were still curious about him, and our middle cat, Pippin, decided to come up to nuzzle him again. I think Kodo wanted to play with him, 'cuz he let out this cute little (deep) bark. This was actually the first and only bark we've heard so far. I'm sure more will be coming, but he's definitely more laid back than your typical pup.

I gave him a bit of a walk during lunch and then let him continue hanging out in the area...trying to hold off on Outside until mommy got home. Even though he was under constant supervision, this was his first day of no accidents!!!

3/24 - Kodo sleeping after a long day

On Tuesday and Wednesday, Beck was on puppy watch. I was at work, so I may just have her post something to the blog. We had a few people coming to the house to do work in the yard and all went smoothly. Beck was even able to run a few errands, leaving Kodo at home alone without any problems. One thing that we've introduced the pup to was "Easy". Easy was our command for Kodo to relax. In the morning, Kodo is so happy to see us and so excited to get out of his crate that he goes nutso. He puts both paws up on the crate and gets all antsy. Before we open the crate, we make sure to tell him "Easy" and then wait until he's calm and not pawing the door. Usually, when Kodo hears "Easy", he sits and doesn't paw...but if we don't get that door open within 3-seconds, he like, "that's enough Easy, I'm bustin' out!" and starts his rant all over again.

3/25 - Kodo with his new extra large rawhide bone

On Tuesday night, I decided to expand my earlier success with the "Come" command. This time, I decided to work on his habit of going crazy whenever he sees a treat. As soon as he sees it, he starts jumping and getting all feisty. Again, Berners are prone to hip displasia, so jumping is not a good thing for him to continue doing. So I started teaching him the word "Stay". I would first have Kodo sit...and then while he's sitting, I would set the treat down in front of him, telling him to "Stay". It only took 3-4 tries before he started actually listening to me. Methinks our pup is a smart one!

Check out the success below (done in one take!):

March 23 - Easter

Today is Easter, and up to this point we haven't told anybody about Kodo. Kodo was going to meet his Auntie Teresa and Uncle Jamie as well as the rest of the fam for the first time. Unfortunately I wasn't thinking about it, but I should have had the camera on hand for their reaction.

I'll describe it as best I can...

Kodo's being all calm, but we leash him up and start heading toward the door. We open the door and Teresa says "Happy East...oooooooohhhhh...how cuuute! Is he yours??" followed by many "he's soooo cuuute!" Kodo absolutely loved the attention. He went up to both Teresa and Jamie and got plenty of pets.

We put Kodo in his crate while we ate Easter dinner...he didn't give a whimper once. I think he was too enthralled by his rawhide.

Kodo was a still a little leary about the steps at this point. Again, when he had to go do his business, he didn't think twice about going down the steps...but if he didn't see a pressing need, he would stop at the top step to the outside and pull back on his leash. It did seem like Kodo attached himself a little more to Becky at this point, 'cuz she was able to coax him down the stairs. I was a little worried since I'd only have a short amount of time during work hours to take him out.

But I did eventually have a breakthrough. After doing more research, I learned a few more techniques to try. I had to take him out to do his business one more time before turning in for the night. He should have definitely needed to go, but again, he stood on the top step and pulled back on the leash. First I help him down the first step, and out the door...but he just sat and pulled back on the leash. This time, I gave him the command "Come!" Of course, he just sat there again....but this time, I turned around and circled the corner...guessing that he'd rather be with his people than be stubborn and alone. As luck would have it, I was right, and he reluctantly came up to me. I praised him...and he eventually sat and pulled back again. I stayed at full leash length and said in the confident voice, "Kodo, Come!" He just stared at me. I repeated the command...and he reluctantly walked over to me again. This time I was ready with a piece of a biscuit which I immediately shoved in his mouth as he reached me. I think this sparked his interest...because the next time he sat down, and I told him to "Come!" he immediately stood up and gallumphed his way over to me. Again, I plopped a treat in his mouth and praised him immediately. I repeated this a couple of times without treats and then one more time with. Definitely treats helped, and he seems to understand what the command means now.

He also did a "Hurry Up" which I treated and rewarded him as well just to associate his business with the outside. After seeing Kodo learn "Come" so quickly, I definitely have a good feeling about how smart he is. He's already got a great personality, and now you can see that he's absorbing things very quickly.

Once we got inside, I treated him, Konged him and plopped him in his crate. Again, he took to the crate very well and didn't whine at all...just laid down and slept.

Day two a success...

Kodo after a long, hard day of learning

March 22 - First Day

We picked up Kodo on Saturday, March 22. It was almost a 3-hour drive, and we weren't quite sure how he would react. When we picked him from the litter, he was definitely the most laid back out of all of them...that and he was very people-oriented.

The car ride home went as smooth as can be. I would have to say that Kodo was more curious than nervous. Becky drove the first half of the way, while I sat in the back seat with Kodo to comfort him. I'm not sure he needed comforting. He didn't give a single whimper, whine, or bark. It looked at first that he was excited by the car ride...sniffing everything he could get his nose on. Eventually he just got a little tired and plopped himself down on my lap or on the side of the backseat.

Excited Kodo

Tired Kodo

Kodo and Beck

When we got home, we first introduced him to his potty place in the backyard, in a hope that we would go and remember. When Kodo got inside, he immediately went into sniff mode, smelling everything he could possibly get his nose on.

Unfortunately, he did have a couple of accidents on the carpet...which was to be expected. In the books, they say if you catch your new pup in the act, to just pick him up and take him outside. haha...that doesn't quite work with a 40ish lb puppy. We did lead him quickly out the back door and repeated "Hurry Up" so that he'd start recognizing the command.

We introduced Kodo to his crate pretty quickly. Treats do work wonders! We plopped a couple of treats in there while he wasn't looking, and he eventually stumbled onto them. Funny thing is that he remembered this. So every now and then we place a few more in the crate so that he starts associated it as his happy "yummy" place.

At night, Kodo seemed a little more hesitant about going potty. He was reluctant going down a single step to the outside when we opened the door...pulling back on his leash. This is probably 'cuz he didn't have any urgency to go, and wasn't used to steps yet. We eventually coaxed him with excited "puppy puppy!" calls and eventually he went potty. It's just gonna take a while before he's used to it.

Before bedtime, we led Kodo to his crate, which he yet again "discovered" a few more bits of biscuit. We closed the crate door, and went upstairs, keeping an ear open for puppy yowls. Kodo did give a couple of small whimpers...but they stopped after like 2 minutes. I slowly went back to check on him a few minutes later, and he was fast asleep.

So far a successful day one.

On the Way to Serious Looking

After many years of reading books, doing research, and meetings various owners and breeders for Bernese Mountain Dogs, Becky and I decided that it was time to at least start to seriously look. We had already attended various dog shows and had met many Berner owners. We also had attended a meeting for the North Coast BMDCO and talked with the members there.

Obviously, there are a lot of things that you must know when choosing a Bernese Mountain Dog. I think maybe the primary thing to understand is that the BMDs are prone to health problems, and have an average life expectancy of about 7 years. Health problems include hip displasia and Histiocytosis (cancer), various eye disorders, and heart problems among others. However they do have a friendly temperament that, when socialized well, can make a great family pet. They can be outgoing and seem to be very people-oriented (at least most of the ones we have met so far). They seem to be gentle giants, as the males of the breed can get up to around 110 lbs.

One of the things that we've seen is that they have this Berner "Lean". I'll try to get a video of one soon, but basically, it's when you start petting a BMD, and he starts to lean his body right into your pets...sometimes this leads to the Berner "plop" where is leans so far that he pretty much just plops over onto your feet and asks you to pet his belly. :)

It was important to us when meeting BMD breeders that the breeder was just as concerned about finding a good home for a pup as we were. Unfortunately today it's too common to find someone who is breeding just for the money and not worried so much for the pup's well-being. It's also too common that someone decides to get a puppy without understanding the time and money committment as well as the challenges of each of the various breeds. We wanted to find someone who took the time to ensure that the litter was properly socialized and someone who had an interest in us as owners.

We met Marsha from Carma Que who completely fit what we were looking for. The first good sign was that she took the time to allow us to meet. When we got there, we sat down and asked her our list of questions. She asked us questions about our lifestyle and what research we had done. We asked her questions about the litter and its pedigree. It wasn't until after talking to each other for about an hour, before we asked to to see the puppies. (Another sign of a good breeder - someone who doesn't force the cuteness on potential owners in order to get a quick sale).

At the end of the day, we drove home (~3 hours) with a very good feeling...