Swiss Lick Swissies

Ozzy updates

Friday, August 13th, 2010 | Alex, Beowulf, Dogs, Gryffindor, Indigo, Ozzy

You know, it occurred to me that I’ve been posting lots of pictures lately, but I haven’t given too much detail about life with Ozzy. I’m sure you all love the pics, but I think I’ll just talk about him and how he’s doing. It may come out as one giant stream of consciousness…my apologies in advance if it comes out as goo.

Ozzy is a fantastic dog. To be honest, I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop, so to speak. He’s a well-mannered (well, usually), happy dog. He has a fantastic appetite, hasn’t chewed on stuff he shouldn’t (unless Indy counts) yet, and has been very easy with house training.

Actually, I jokingly mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I should rename the blog to “The Daily Swizzle” because on average, that’s all we get. We’ve had a few multiple-accident days, but he will go for four or more days without having any at all. He knows he’s supposed to go outside, and he has very good control for a Swissy. He just hasn’t figured out how to tell us he needs to go. We are pretty good at watching his signals, but we don’t always get him out in time. Of course, it happens during or post play, right when we are trying to usher him to the door. He’ll get there soon, I think. (Or is it I hope?)

Ozzy is doing very well in our household in general. I do believe I’ve mentioned before that Indy loves him, but it’s important to note that I believe Beowulf, the old curmudgeon, actually enjoys his company. I have caught them cuddling and – gasp – playing just a little bit.

His socialization is going quite well. We have completed four weeks of Puppy K, and I believe he is the star of the class. Perhaps that’s what happens when you actually work with your dog on the basics before class starts, and when you work with him daily when it’s going. I could be wrong.

There is one thing about him that worries me. While Gryffin was a great dog for obedience because he WANTED to please us, Ozzy is just plain smart. The obedience comes quickly, and he enjoys it. But I have a feeling he’s doing it because he wants to and he likes it, not because it makes us happy at all. The reason this is worrying is because this is how Alex was-extremely smart, frequently extremely obedient, but cunning beyond belief. While I say I’m worried partially in jest, it’s not all funny-although I don’t believe this is the end of the world. Put Alex’s mad skillz into a dog that will likely end up near 140lbs and tall enough to graze counter tops, and you can see why we might have issues. I guess this means training, training, and more training.

In other news, the small puppy (we brought him home at eight weeks and around 13lbs) is no longer small. He’s around three and a half months old, and weighs in at 37lbs. Our vet met him this week and believes he’s around a quarter of his eventual size. We initially thought it was possible that Ozzy may end up on the smaller side, but we have since revised our opinion. Please send help.

That’s all for now. I hope all three of my readers have a fantastic weekend! Stay cool!

Tags: Beowulf the Basset, Greater Swiss Mountain Dog, Gryffin the Swissy, Gryffindor, Indy the Swissy, Ozzy the Swissy, Swissy

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