Canon Rebel

So after a week full of research and price comparison I finally decided on my first DSLR camera, a Canon Rebel T1i. I absolutely love it! I am pretty shocked by the instant picture quality upgrade from my point and shoots.

Most of my weekend was spent taking a million pictures of Danger, and reading through the T1i instruction manual and the iPad app for LIFE Guide to Digital Photography. There is certainly a lot I have yet to learn.

And of course here is one of my fav’s I took of D:

Things I Like:

Scott Kelby – photography blog

Danger’s First Trip to Petco

When we entered Petco for the first time last night, I noticed a large Boxer and his owner talking to an employee. As soon as the sliding doors opened I asked the man if his dog is friendly to puppies and he nodded his head. I could see the Boxer wagging his tail enthusiastically so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity for Danger to meet his first dog outside of his families. Danger ran through the doors and didn’t noticed the other dog at first, and I believe once he swung around to him he caught him off guard and started giving his semi-adult sounding bark. I let him bark for a few seconds, but he didn’t stop so I picked up him. I know I probably shouldn’t have, but I was afraid he would just keep carrying on. It seemed like a pretty slow night at the store so we just walked around for a few minutes, met some people and grabbed his bag of Solid Gold Wolf Cub and headed out.

I plan on taking him to PetSmart tonight, so let’s hope I have a bit more of an eventful story to share.

Since that was such a horribly boring story, I feel the need to at least share a cute picture so you don’t feel like I completely wasted your time

First Week of Clicker Training

What a first week. I felt like Tom Hanks in Turner & Hooch!

In all seriousness though I am having a blast with our new pup. It is definitely a huge learning experience for me, puppy’s can certainly be confusing if you have never owned a dog before.

Initial training is going well. He is not food driven at all, and we have tried at least 7 different treats now. Everything from Wellness Puppy Treats, Blue Buffalo Treats, Dehydrated Liver, and hot dogs. The liver and hot dogs are definitely his favorite, but he still loses interest in them faster than Rosie O’Donnell loses interest in a salad.

A few days ago I finally figured out that he will work for his raccoon toy! He has a very high prey drive. So I have been training him by letting him play with his raccoon if he gives the desired response. It is working so far, however this way will definitely take longer than training him with treats. Maybe he will develop a food drive as he grows older.

We have been feeding him Eukanuba Natural Puppy food, because that was what the breeder was feeding him. Tonight I plan on starting the transition over to either Wellness Large Breed Puppy, Blue Buffalo, or Solid Gold Wolf Cub. Maybe a change in diet will make him want to work for food a bit more.

Our Puppy Has Finally Arrived!

We picked up our puppy yesterday morning at 10:00am and it has been an amazing experience so far. We decided on the male pup and we have named him Professor Danger Hawk, or just Danger for short.

I cannot believe how smart he is. Between yesterday and today I have already taught him to sit using the clicker/lure method. And now he will sit on command without luring. I honestly cannot believe he learned so quickly.

He is doing very good with the house training. We take him out about ever hour and  half during the day or soon as he eats or drinks, wakes up from a nap or is done with a big play session. He has only made 3 accidents in the house so far.

Last night he was causing quite a ruckus crying and whining every time we put him in his crate. He would calm down after about an hour of fussing. I took him out at least every 3 hours during the night… This has been quite a journey so far, and it is only day 2!

I apologize for the scattered writing, but Danger is yanking at my pant leg begging for attention

Hoshi & Hawk – Which puppy is right for...

We met the puppies again on Sunday, and there was an interesting change of events. After playing with all the puppies we realized that the female, Hoshi, might not be the right dog for us. She doesn’t seem very focused on people, and is a little too independent for my liking. We ended up bonding with Hawk, one of the males. He is extremely friendly, playful, and was very focused on us the whole time.

I noticed that Hawk had some eye leakage, and she said that the vet is treating it with antibiotic eye drops and is probably due to the puppy environment. Should clear up in a few days.

We are going over to play with them again this Sunday, and we bring one home next Saturday! It seemed like it was taking forever, but the last few weeks flew by.

Hawk

Hoshi

My Puppy Just Wants a Hand

Here is Rio at 6 weeks! We get to visit her again this weekend and hopefully spend a little more time with her than last week.