The beginning of fall...

Where we live in Michigan the earliest signs of fall are the falling of the leaves and walnuts from our walnut trees and the burning bushes turning red. What happens first in your backyard? Lets hope for a warm and colorful fall season.

It Must be Monday!

Cruze has the right idea for how to spend a Monday after a busy, work & fun-filled weekend in Chicago. Wouldn't it be nice to be so fully relaxed on a Monday morning?

How are you spending your last warm weekends of the summer?

Quarterly Stats

When you raise a leader dog puppy you have to send a report to Leader Dog every 3 mo. for the year you have the pup. For those who have been following Cruze News these are his "12 week stats.":

Weight 28.9 lbs.

Obedience Commands He Should Know:

Sit - Check

Down - Check

Stand - Shaky

Recall (c0me) - Only when he wants to

Housebreaking - 90%

Conclusion: Still a work in progress

Acceptance

When we get a new puppy, Shiloh is very "stand-offish". At first he ignores them, then he will occasionally let them touch him, and as they get a little older he will begin to play with them. When he decides they are really here to stay, he will let them lay next to him. But sleeping on the same bed is a sure sign that he has accepted them as a member of his family even if they can still be pretty irritating when awake.

(Do you think we need to buy a second bed?)

Cruze and Emily

This weekend we went to a great-niece's baptism and Cruze had lots of opportunity to work on good greets with small children. He got pretty excited a few times and this is something that definitely needs work and practice. But he did seem to have fun with all the new people he met

Lessons from Luther

Luther, (Pastor Edrye's dog) came to stay for a couple of days this week and it went well. He would put up with Cruze's "in your face" style of play for just so long then he would give a growl, raise a paw, and hold Cruze down on his back until he settled down. Cruze needs a little more of this to learn his place, I think; but it never stopped him from going back for more.