3 Months Old

What a difference a couple of weeks makes. We now have a puppy that is sleeping 8-9 hours at night and consistently standing by the door when she needs to toilet. YEA!

We made a hook for the leg of my desk at work so she can be tethered and doesn't have to be in the kennel ALL day. This is how she spends the majority of her day now:

She is doing very well with commands, and we have started introducing wait before going out a door. This morning I opened my office door (had it closed to try and get some heat in here) to take her out and noticed that she was in a sit waiting for me to "release" her before we went out the door. I'm glad she has a really good memory, because sometimes I forget.

Because she is doing better (still puppy, however), we have started giving her a little more freedom around the house (notice I said "a little"). This is what happened when I was brushing my teeth and NOT supervising a puppy with a little more freedom:

That is grease off of Joe's bicycle that Mariko decided to explore :-( Needless to say, she's in her kennel when I brush my teeth now.

We are also starting to introduce the bed command (and of course, we had to buy a bed just for her). We still have a LOT of practice here, but she is so smart, I know she will catch on fast.

Today we were able to greet a man with a VERY long and scruffy beard. She was so excited to be able to greet a friendly stranger that the beard didn't seem to phase her at all.

Next week I travel, so she will be staying with a friend for a few days. I'm hoping we will still be friends when I get back :-) but I know she will be in good hands and have a lot of love and fun while I'm gone. It will be a little strange not dragging a puppy around, however. I'm also nervous that I won't recognize her, as she grows a little more each time I put her in her kennel and then take her out. She was 23 pounds when we weighed her on Saturday.

Excited to reach 4 months and have a fully vaccinated puppy.