Puddle fun

Another trip to George Lake for Logan and me on Saturday, this time to find that the snow had largely melted away. Logan had great fun running through the resulting puddles, and even did a few splashing retrieves.

We then checked out the Roselea Natural Area a bit further west, where Logan tracked some very fresh coyote tracks a good distance along a trail.

On the trail of Canis latrans.

On Sunday morning Logan had a play date with Bruce Wayne, a very sweet 10-month-old retriever/border collie owned by Jamie's friend and classmate CJ. In a pleasant change, Logan's normally frighteningly aggressive-sounding playtime vocalizations were almost completely absent. (Sorry, no pics.)

Two more visits to George Lake for Logan

If Logan didn't enjoy George Lake so much, I'd think it's time to find another place to take him for in-the-woods fun. He does, as do Jamie and I, so we have been visiting the area a lot. Last Saturday we did mix it up a little bit and went to the George Lake Natural Area, which is ~3 km south of George Lake on Hwy 777, instead of the UAlberta research station.

Logan above not-George Lake.

The snow conditions were pretty tough for Logan, but he kept on going - fueled, it seems, by the moose candies that he kept finding. Those things are the size of Cadbury Creme Eggs.

Working hard.

Logan enjoyed exploring the frozen marsh.

Wait, snow has a liquid form, too?

Enforced rest time!

Can you spot the rabbit? Logan didn't...

Puppy kisses!

Canis lupis pretending to be Castor canadensis.

Today we returned to George Lake on our way to Alberta Beach, where Jamie picked up her new bow from Accurate Archery. We had a good long walk - and it's incredible to see how much more capable Logan is becoming week by week.

Logan and Jamie!

 He can sure cover the ground now:

A (cropped) frame from the above video showing Logan's focus.

Three months old today!

Logan turned 3 months old today, and received a bison rib for being such an awesome pup. I mentioned in my last post that Logan is very vocal, and the video below demonstrates this pretty well.

Crank up the volume - 'cause he sure does - and enjoy:

Happy Quarter-Birthday, Logan!

First Retrieve and Playtime #2 with Red

Yesterday Logan performed his first enthusiastic retrieve, delivering a wiffle ball to Jamie and me at full speed - for which he earned an elk bone. Apparently, this treat is improved by coating it in mud and spruce needles. Some things make more sense to puppies than humans.

The celebratory elk bone, suitably coated in mud and spruce needles.

Today we visited Steven, Chelsey, and Red for a much-overdue second playtime. As with last time, the festivities started with Red and Logan taking turns humping each other, followed by roughhousing that was rough enough to cause Steven to jokingly ask whether we keep reuniting the two litter-mates who simply didn't get along. Logan gets so vocal during their play that I'm pretty sure strangers would be concerned. The day was a gloriously warm one, so the play quickly moved outside. This was probably also good for Steven's furnishings.

The caterpillar found itself in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Wet, muddy, tired, and very happy.

Bumpers like this one will figure heavily in both pups' futures.

Taking a breather.

Red sure is a handsome pup.

The roughhousing went on and on.

Two very tired pups. Red's camouflage is nearly perfect.

Logan was too tired for the rest of the day to even mount an effective attack on my shoe.

It was fun to see the two together again, and we're all pretty happy that they'll be able to play (and, some day, hunt) together. Here, by the way, is photographic proof that Red and Logan did get along as litter-mates:

Logan and Red at five weeks of age. (Photo by Danielle Greanya.)

On a side note, Logan visited the vet on Friday to receive his third round of vaccination injections, and weighed in at 19.8 lbs (9.0 kg). He's now 15-1/2" (39.5 cm) tall at the shoulder. He's getting big fast!

Logan goes to George Lake - twice!

To expose Logan to a range of new sights, sounds, and smells, last week we took Logan to George Lake, Alberta, which is an hour or so northwest of Edmonton. He (and we) enjoyed it enough that we returned again today. It should be noted that Logan's favorite thing about being there seems to be the abundantly available "deer candies."

Pictures!

Sunday, February 22

Logan explores the boreal forest.

Good Dog Happy Man

Airborne, as per usual.

On the hunt for deer candies.

Checking out Ed Donald's tractor.

Our tired pup before loading into the truck, where his elk bone awaits.

Sunday, March 1 

Logan's not yet retrieving, but he sure loves running down thrown dummies.

His nose led him right to these raven feathers.

Hey Logan, look behind you!

At the George Lake research cabin.

What's he looking at?

Perhaps these mobile candy factories?

And speaking of mobile...

Logan sure is gaining speed and coordination!

Pull!

How stinkin' cute are these two?

Logan is already fast enough to keep up with Jamie at full sprint.

Logan at full tilt.

Playtime with litter-mate Red!

Red

This morning, Logan was reunited with his litter-mate Red, who also lives in Edmonton. Steve and Chelsea, who we met at Prairiestorm Kennel the morning we picked up Logan, came over for so that the two brothers could have a bit of playtime. They got along famously, and played - hard - for about an hour. Here's hoping that this becomes a regular occurrence, and that another litter-mate in the area (Tucker, who is being trained as a RCMP search and rescue dog) can join the fun. What I'm really looking forward to is Red and Logan hunting together.

Here are a few more pictures of the two of them:

Logan shows Red some cool things to check out in the back yard.

Much hilarity ensued.

There's nothing like a little brotherly competition.

Logan crashed pretty hard after the visit, which isn't surprising given how hard they played. Steve informed me that Red did the same. How excited was Logan during the visit?

This excited! Only fighter pilots experience more g-forces than this little guy.

After Logan had a long nap, we took advantage of the beautiful day and took a walk around the neighborhood.

Logan escapes the confines of the house.

A happy coincidence

Mt. Logan (Source)

Our pup Logan is named after Mt. Logan of Kluane National Park, Yukon, which, at 19,551 ft. (5,959 m), is the second-highest peak in North America. Jamie has discovered that, by happy coincidence, Logan was born on the United Nations' International Mountain Day.

By no coincidence whatsoever, my last Lab, Donjek, was named after a glacier and river in the very same park. I still miss the sweet old boy; here he is:

Donjek

First trip around the block

Today has been a busy one for Logan. He woke me up at 5:15 am with some light whining (as has become routine), and clearly didn't appreciate the extra sleep time we tried to squeeze in after his early-morning tour of the back yard. This morning we tried Sarah McLaughlin to quiet him, given that we've heard Ray Lamontagne (who has worked wonders in this capacity) too many times over the past couple of weeks. He was pretty mouthy when we got up at 7:00 - and thus the taming of those sharp puppy teeth continues. Food, play, some "sit", "down", and lead training. Then it was off to the vet at 8:40 am for his bordetella snort and booster shot. (Yep, we're pro-vaxxers.)

Today's temperature climbed above freezing for the first time in awhile, and so I decided to test how well Logan would do on lead outside. I started connecting a light lead to his collar a couple of days ago and letting him pull it around, but all he really wanted to do was play with his new toy. Predictably, the first several times I tried to lead him were pretty much like he was a fish-on-a-line. Lately, though, he's seemed to really take to the game of following back and forth though the house between the living room, kitchen, and bedrooms (even if he pulls sideways once in awhile and almost always bites the lead). This morning's vet visit was stressful enough on him that I led him around the parking lot on lead, and he did really well. So, when I got home during today's lunch break I decided to see how well he'd do on a walk around the block.

My long-term goal with Logan is that he'll one day be able to safely and controllably walk off-lead; this made walking Donjek a real joy. The first step with this training is to teach him to sit at every lane and road crossing, every time. I wasn't sure how this would go, given that Logan always seems too distracted to even sit on command (which he's already pretty good at) whenever the lead is attached to his collar. With the new distraction of being outside, however, he was amazingly good: he rarely held the lead in his mouth, was generally happy to follow along in the direction and at the speed I set (no stops to check out other dogs' markings, given that his vaccine course isn't complete), and even consistently sat on command during the walk. Only near the end of the walk did he start trying to change the direction we were going by attempting to head up each house's walkway. (I think he wanted to go back inside, but doesn't yet recognize our house.) He also wasn't a big fan of the noisy snow-blower a neighbor was operating, and really didn't want to sit at the last lane crossing (though a treat reward took care of that). At our own walkway we were met by a retired couple out for a walk, and they fawned over him as expected. If I had a dollar every time I heard someone say that they want to take Logan home with them, I'm pretty sure my vet bills would be covered.

Tonight we're taking him to puppy socialization class, and are planning a Saturday play date with his litter-mate Red. Last night Logan got to visit the bank and say hello to all of the tellers. Socialization can be tough during Edmonton winters, but we're working on it.

Meet Logan!

Hi All!

It's obviously been some time since I've posted to this blog, but thought I'd use it to chronicle the growth and training of our new Labrador Retriever pup, Logan. He was born on December 11, 2014, and we picked him up on January 31 from Prairiestorm Kennel of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. He is growing incredibly quickly, putting on a pound every few days, and is in turns a little sweetheart and a little rascal, but always a joy.

Logan receives lots of love, and is great at giving it back.

His litter included eight other pups: three black females, one black male, two yellow females, and two other yellow males. His dam is Prairiestorm Emmy (CDX WCX SH), and his sire is Grousebuster's Rudy Rudy Rudy (FTCH AFTCH):

Prairiestorm Emmy (Photo by Prairiestorm Kennel)

Grousebuster's Rudy Rudy Rudy (Photo by Prairiestorm Kennel)

He's a pretty confident pup, and has fearlessly charged ahead to greet everyone he's met. Danielle and family at Prairiestorm Kennel did a fantastic job getting him accustomed to being handled, which made the prodding and joint manipulations of his first vet visit to Crestwood Veterinary Clinic a piece of cake. Dr. Heffelfinger told him, "Okay little pup, don't let this go to your head, but you're perfect."

Confident pup.

He's got a pretty good pile of toys already (which he loves to crash headlong through after a stealthy stalk, especially if Jamie is the intended prey), but his favorite by far is the goose wing that Danielle sent us home with. It stays in the freezer and gets taken out occasionally as a special treat. He picks up its scent pretty quickly, so once the snow thins a bit we'll use it to give him some tracking practice. His second-favorite toy is a bit of antler, so a theme seems to be emerging...

Get that wing! (Photo by Jamie)

His house-training has been going pretty well, though we've had a bit of a backslide today. I think the contrast in schedules between weekdays and weekends is tough on him at this age. After week of as much play as possible, today marked the official start to his command training. He got the hang of "sit" pretty quickly in his first session; I'm sure it'll be forgotten by later this evening. I have no illusions how long this will take, but it sure is worth it!

Being a little rascal sure is tiring.

Stay tuned for more Logan pics and updates!