Swimming Progress

The last few weekends have been HOT and Tyler and I have been trying our hardest to make them into swimming opportunities for Hinckley. This weekend he had his first ever 2 second long doggie paddle, but it has been a long road to get there.

The recap:

Step 1: Drop puppy off dock
You may recall that when Hinck was only a few months old, we took him on a warm October day up to Treasure Island and tried to teach him to love the ocean like we do. We did this by getting him a life preserver and dropping him off a dock. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but unfortunately, I think it really just ended up freaking him out. Whoops.


Step 2: Try out the beach
At Fort Funston, We carried the puppy into ocean waves. Again, this maybe wasn't the best idea for a 'medium warm' day in November. Tyler braved the icy water and tried to lead by example, but Hinckley was really having none of it.


Step 3: Bribe with Peanut Butter
Fast forward to just a few weekends ago in May. Tyler looked up a nearby 'beach' in Foster City that allows dogs, but only on leash. We took off in the late afternoon and brought with us plenty of treats and a jar of peanut butter. While the treats did nothing, spoonfuls of peanut butter did seem to have a pretty strong pull. We led Hinck into the water inch by inch until he got up to his belly, stopped licking peanuttiness off his chops long enough to realize where he was, and bolted.


Step 4: Combine hot weather with lots of dogs and one big stick
To the beach again. We brought Hinck back to one of his favorite spots, Fort Funston, and let him loose on the beach. He had a blast chasing dogs of all sizes and occasionally found himself knee deep, having been distracted by pursuit of another pup. It was hot enough that he repeatedly took to the shallow water (and unfortunately, drank half the ocean and was barfing all afternoon) but the waves were definitely intimidating him. Tyler tried to tempt him with a big ol' chunk of wood, but it only worked about half the time.


Step 5: Tone it down with a lake
And finally, this weekend. We chose a super hot day and took Hinck to Water Dog Park in Belmont. There were some nice big sticks to choose from and we had fairly good success tossing sticks out just far enough that he had to lean on his tippy-paws to get the stick before falling off the lake bed. And on one try, he did fall off and gave a few brilliant doggie paddles before jumping out of the water and running around like a maniac. We were very proud.

Unfortunately, that was the only paddle of the day. Especially as other dogs showed up, Hinck let them (and the wind) do the heavy lifting of actually retrieving the sticks, then chased them once they were back on land. We think there is hope though, and with more opportunities and practice (and a place where we can get in the water too) He'll get there!

Here's a video where we hoped he'd repeat his swim...he didn't, but he still looks cute.

Great Pictures from Bernal & Happy Mothers Day

Today Hinck, Tyler, Sally, Adam & I all went on a short jaunt to Bernal Heights. Despite feeling a bit ill over the past week and a half, Hinck seems to have returned to his normal self and was running around like a maniac. Sally & Adam took some awesome pictures, which I wanted to share here. Man, I wish I had a camera that could capture Hinck in his true essence like this! (They took some of people too, but this being a blog about Hinck, he's heavily featured.)







Finally, Hinck wanted to share a message for all the moms out there!

It's been awhile...

Hinckerz, Tyler, and I have been having some real adventures, some even involving some guest stars, and so far I've done a pretty terrible job documenting it. Now that I'm done with my crazy project, I'm hoping to make blog posting more regular. For now, here's a look at some of our travels!


Tyler and I had a fun lunch visit a few weeks ago, joined by Hinck. Tyler got the puppy and I got the food, and we met in the park downtown. It really does make a difference in how enjoyable your workday is when you can break it up with a silly puppy and a great boyfriend and a game of frisbee!


Over the March 13-15 weekend, we had to leave Hinck behind when we went to Louisville, KY to play with some college friends. We had a great time and Hinck was also in great hands. He spent two days and two nights at Planet Pooch, an awesome doggie daycare (with sleepover service) in the SF area (its actually where Hinck's classes are taught and he has puppy playgroup) and then another day with Sally and Adam. Needless to say, he was exhausted and dirty when he got home, so I gave him a nice warm bath which he didn't like too much but seemed happy about after the fact.


Over my birthday weekend, the whole family was in town and we had a great time taking Hinck all over the place. That included a trip to Crissy Fields, another beachy off leash area in SF. He had a really good time running around with some new dog friends, even with the eight of us ogling at him and my mum occasionally getting nervous about him or other dogs playing too roughly. It was pretty exciting to see him with a background of sailboats to match his sailboat collar. Too bad he's still afraid of the water :)


Last Sunday we took Hinck to a hilly off leash park called Bernal Heights. He had been before with Sal and Adam, but the rest of us had never been. It was fun to see him run ahead and then turn back to wait for us, with a look that seemed to say "Come on, slowpokes!" At one point he got a little caught up playing with this fast little dog, and he got pretty far away from us. All seven of us were calling "Hinck! Hinck!" but he couldn't hear and just stood there looking sad and confused, until I ran down the hill and caught his attention. He's a dear. We had tons of fun, and fully plan to visit Bernal more in the future.

Fort Funston Adventure!

We decided to take Hinckley on an adventure today, so around 3pm we headed up north to Fort Funston. You may recall that we brought him up there a few months ago when our friend Lindsay was in town and he was just a wee pup - we tried to take him swimming but he wasn't super thrilled about it. Seems as though he is still a bit timid about the water, but this time we tried letting him off leash and he just went wild.

I was worried that we'd have trouble getting him back, since we haven't really been able to practice off leash near other dogs so much - the park near my house is leash-on. And it was a bit challenging, but on the beach down there, it's not as though he can get "away" or anywhere near cars or anything, so we were able to chase him down and bribe him back with treats.

One sad moment - while Hinck was playing with some new friends another pup found his chicken toy...and stole it...and ate it. So chicken toy is kind of no more. I'm thinking maybe with some clever seamstressing I can turn it into a new toy, but we'll see.

Last but not least, some pics! You may notice that Hinckley is wearing a new collar - its the one I bought in Newport, RI right after I found out he had been born with his brothers and sisters. It features sailboats and makes him look very handsome. In fact, we got several comments about how pretty he is. Go Hinckley!

Hinck checks out the ocean waves

My favorite boys :)

Hinck made plenty of new friends...
mainly by chasing them around until he got too tired

Though we put a dish down, Hinck seemed pretty intent on drinking salt water.
Not the greatest idea, Hinck.
We'll probably be seeing evidence of that later - yuck.

I told Hinckley that when we're on the beach he can dig all he wants.
He took it to heart.

Crazy weather with a crazy puppy

If you hadn't heard, it's been raining cats and dogs here in California. For the first time in years, we've had thunder and lighting in addition to LOTS of rain (oh my!) This morning, Hinck and I decided to brave the elements for a walk/run (what I like to call a "Romp.") It was pretty crazy and 100% fun. First of all, we were pretty much the only people outside, since it was a torrential downpour and also gusting about 20-25 knots. And we got soaking wet. And Hinck was totally into it, jumping in puddles, splashing in wet patches of grass, and running around in circles. We came back from the walk soaked like oversized wet rats but tired and refreshed in a good way. Here are some post-romp pictures :)



Hinck is continuing to be the best puppy of all time. Sure, he likes to make a mess of chewed up bark on my floor, pull towels apart, and jump on my bed at any and all times...but when he looks at you with those big eyes and makes his doggy purr (you know it if you've heard it) its pretty hard to think he's anything less than amazing. He says hi to all his blog's readers!

Back with my Pup!

As Sal mentioned, Hinck and I spent the holidays apart - he in the very good care of my friend Becca & her family, then our friends Leah & Jeff, and lastly with Sally and Adam. Becca sent me some great pictures of Hinck hanging out with her two dogs and their neighbors puppy. I have no idea how they got them so still to take this picture, but my guess it had to do with the hike they took to get to this beautiful hilltop!





It was hard to be away from Hinck and its so great to have him back now. He's a lot bigger, and darker then I remembered, but the same old Hinck...chewing everything to pieces, including pinecones on my freshly vacuumed floor.

Today we got to spend a nice Sunday just lazing around before I have to go back to work...he lazing because its his nature, and me because I'm still feeling under the weather. Thanks to Sal & Ad for the bed, and Deane for the bone, here is Hinck's sweet new lounge setup:



I wish I was feeling up to romping around with him some, but I'm hoping we can do some of that tomorrow morning before I leave for work, lucky for us I'm still on East Coast time. And sorry for the long spaces between posts! I'll try to be more frequent in the new year.

Puppy Preschool!

I got home from Korea yesterday morning and after a nice nap, headed to Berkeley to pick up the Hinckster. I swear at first I thought he had doubled in size (he looks so much smaller in pictures!) but then Tyler convinced me he's really the same as when I left. He seemed so at home in Berkeley which is great, now I know we can bring him there on the weekends and he won't be out of his element. He loved sitting on the porch and lying in the sun - so cute!

Then yesterday evening was our first puppy class! Thankfully, I seemed to heave beat the jetlag for the most part and was fully awake. It was a pretty crazy scene. Some familiar faces from puppy playgroup (Rudy the german shephard - probably Hinck's best pal of the bunch, and Angel, who grew a lot, but was at Hinck's mercy at the first puppy playgroup) and then some others, I think about 8 dogs in total. The reason it was a scene was because Cerena (the trainer) kept trying to talk and then dogs would start yapping or running around and it was just kind of hilarious. But we learned some good stuff - like at this stage I should be rewarding Hinck with a piece of kibble for just about everything. And since it's kibble, coming out of his dinner ration, its not going to make him fat. It actually makes a lot of sense if you think about it. If I tell him to get off the couch just by gruffly saying 'No' then he kind of gets it, but if I tell him to get off and then reward him when he does, then he really gets it. Other things we're rewarding are him looking at me when I say his name, him sitting still when I open the door, get home, etc., and him letting me touch his collar/ears/feet. All part of conditioning him so when he's huge, he isn't bothered by such things. Cerena said we should also bring kibble out on walks so that when people want to pet hinck, they can make him sit for a treat - which will hopefully keep him from jumping up (thats a big problem for us right now.) I'm also hoping in the next week or so she also teaches us about heeling. Because Hinck is terrible at it.

Like I said, it was a bit hard for her to get her message out, but she's promised she's going to send a lot of reading that will reiterate the same points. Also, she brought one of her dogs to the class and he was probably one of the best trained dogs I've ever seen...so she built a lot of credibility there. I'm looking forward to the next class! She also mentioned that Saturday's playgroup is being run by Parrish this week (who I work with) which should be interesting, albiet slightly awkward.

Today I bought Hinck a mondo bone - a real one since he destroyed the nylabones in about 60 seconds, and he is going nuts over it. I think I may take it away now since he's being chewing on it non-stop for 30 minutes, we'll see how that goes. And this weekend we have friends in town so I think it will be another good one for Hinck...who knows maybe we'll finally make it to the beach!

A successful Puppy Party!

Last night we had a party for Hinckley with a bunch of work friends. It was great for him to get socialized with about 10 new people, and they loved meeting him too. He was pretty well behaved, as puppies go, and was also pretty overwhelmed - there were a couple times when I think he would have much preferred to lie by himself in the kitchen but he couldn't, since he was the star of the party! But he did a couple cool things.

Twice during the party he went to the door and whined really quietly, and when i took him out, he immediately went to the bathroom. Tyler says that another time he went into the kitchen, checked for the tray, and when it wasn't there, he went to the door. Incredible! I think he's starting to get it.

Another great thing is that he wasn't scared of people wearing funny hats or even Parish's umbrella. I told them to wear weird things so when he gets older he won't be shocked by them, and he seemed pretty unfazed.

Parish (co-worker and former dog trainer) showed us all how to teach him leave it, which was pretty cool to watch. I can't wait to start classes.

Hope you checked out Tyler's awesome video: a day in the life of Hinckley. Today we're going to Puppy Playgroup, and tomorrow maybe the beach. A big weekend for Hinckster (and us!)

1/2-way through his first solo week!

I'm sitting next to Hinckley while he tries to fall asleep in his crate. We've been playing since I got home and he had dinner about a half an hour ago...and now I need him to fall asleep so I can sweep up the kitchen (he tries to eat the broom when I do it when he's out) and make my own dinner. You should see my kitchen - it looks like someone was using a woodchipper IN here.

After a whole lot of nerves around how it would go with me at work, Hinck seems to be doing really well. He's 3 for 4 of nights when I can get him to seep until 7:30 (breakfast time,) today being the exception. Today we woke up for our normal morning potty break at 6, and he wouldn't go back to sleep, at all. In fact, he barked. I decided I wasn't going to reward him for this so I switched my schedule around, got showered, fed him, and got to work about an hour early. Worked out for me alright, although now I'm pretty exhausted. And he's also been doing great about potty-ing in the right place! He definitely gets that the tray is where to go. Its been a bit harder getting him to go when I take him outside in the evenings, maybe because now he feels less urgency about the whole thing, but I'm trying to reward him with soft treats and so far we havn't had any accidents. Probably because I'm watching him like a hawk.

Another way I know he's doing OK - Tyler and I figured out how to install a webcam of sorts so I can watch him from home. Actually, its using Skype to my macbook. I set up my computer so it can see the kitchen in the morning, and have it set to auto-ansewr skype calls with video chat. Then Tyler and I (and Adam) can call during the day and watch in on him. We've confirmed that most of the time he's just sleeping...occasionally he is chewing on things...boo.

Its amazing how much he seems to be picking up every day...not neccesarily skills but dog-stuff. Like he suddenly realized he really likes digging when we go outside (oh joy) as well as standing on his hind legs to look out the window or get stuff from me. And also doing inappropriate things with his frog toy/blankie. Not neccesarily the best stuff for him to be learning, in my opinion...but also probably inevitable.

Hinck should be having several visitors in the next couple days (hopefully he behaves) and I'd like to get him started with leash training too. I really can't wait until we can go on walks for real. And I can't wait for puppy classes either, although those are much further away - we signed up for one starting on Oct. 14. About a month! But the trainer is supposed to be excellent, and its night time in Redwood City, so it should work for my schedule. Yay!

Thats all for now. A mega-post, I know.
Hinckster is indicating he would nibble your toes if you were here.

A great weekend!

This weekend was a great one for Hinckley, Tyler and me. He had visits from Shannon (where he demonstrated mediocre manners) and Adam (he was a bit better), got a new crate (another!) and came pretty far with his barking/potty-training.

We decided to move him into my room for sleeping - he'll still stay in the kitchen for the day while I'm away, since it is the easiest to clean. But now that he's sleeping next to my bed, he's making it through the night! Till 6am at least. But this is a huge huge improvement from last week, and I'm really glad we got it figured out before I have to be back at work. I am soooo much better rested than I was at the beginning of last week - what a good call to take that week off!

We also got Hinck a new crate for next week. I wasn't too happy about buying another crate (I have Salty's old one which was free, plus one for the car/Tyler's place which we bought on craigslist for about $40) but both of those are full-size, and are more susceptible to accidents because pup's don't feel as much like they're soiling their bed area if its in a far corner. And though I jury-rigged a divider from a piece of tough cardboard, Hinckley was way to into jumping up on it and I was afraid he might hurt himself or just break it down while I was gone. This new crate has a built-in divider that is see-through like the rest of the crate, so he's much less interested in getting to the other side. It may only last him 6-8 months but I think it's worth it if it helps him with potty-training etc. And he seems to really like it, since its smaller and cozier.

Hinck's still having a few accidents in the big room (with the rug, ugh) so I'm trying to limit his time in there to only when he's just gone potty. He'll get the hang of it eventually. I'm bummed that my work schedule sort of dictates that I not completely crate-train him, since I know he can't hold it yet for the morning or the afternoon lengths. Hopefully in about a month or so, he can at least make it through the morning...I just hope that he doesn't get confused about when its OK to go inside vs. not. At the suggestion of Nancy, I'm going to put down a pan with shavings in it, and hopefully he'll get that its ONLY ok if he goes on the shavings. Aaah...house-breaking.

But really the main thing is that Hinckley is the cutest puppy ever. He is totally trying his hardest to bite only his toys and not me or Tyler, and he is completely loving both of us. Its very adorable. Look for more pictures coming soon!