6 Months

It's hard to believe that Rundle is already six months old.  He is fun, cuddly, sweet and smart all rolled up into 55 pounds of playful and cute puppy-ness.

Rundle 6 months - Growing Up Nicely

For Rundle's 6 month birthday he got to take a trip to the mountains for the very first time.  We did a quick day trip to the BC Rockies to enjoy the mountain air and sights.  Rundle was very excited to go for a hike on the trails and to smell lots of new smells.  I think he enjoyed his day as he slept for the entire 2 hour drive home.

Freckly-Faced Cuteness

We are still working on our on-line performance puppy class, which is going well.  We are also still going to puppy agility classes.  Rundle loves puppy agility!  He gets to do fun things like run as fast as he can through the tunnels, play tug, chase me, and he is learning what a jump is.  He is not actually jumping, of course, but he is learning value for going through the standards and over a jump bump.  He is also doing some plank work, which he thinks is a blast.  He is the youngest puppy in the class, so we modify lots of the exercises for him, as he will not be jumping or doing any contact work for quite a while still.  Right now, the most important things he is learning from puppy agility, is that playing with me is fun and how to focus and work with lots of distractions going on around him.

I have also started doing some tracking with Rundle.  I don't know how far we will go with tracking as I only have a tiny bit of experience with it and it is something that takes a lot of time and dedication if you really want to be successful.  It is something that is good for young dogs to do, as it is low impact, uses the dog's natural abilities and is a good way to tire out a young, active pup without putting a lot of stress on their joints.  For now it is fun and Rundle thinks that following the "cookie trail" to find even more cookies is the best thing ever!

Although it seems like we are doing a lot of training, unless we are in class, we really only do a few minutes of formal training here and there throughout the day.  Most of our training is done as a part of our everyday activities - we play lots, go for walks or out to just socialize.  Here is a little video of Rundle and I playing tug in the back yard.  I am very happy that he still likes to play tug and that he will use playing and tug as a reward when we are training.

It is fun to see Rundle learn and change as he grows up, but it is also a bit sad that his baby puppy days are now behind us.