Out Of Sight, Out Of Obedience

Theo's latest "Theo-ism" is when either Husband or I go upstairs. He gets this look of total agony and indecision when one of us goes upstairs while the other is downstairs. Usually he ends up deciding based on who is where. If I stay downstairs, he'll stay with me, if I go upstairs, he'll run up after me. Husband whines that it's because Theo loves me more, but it's really just because I give him attention and Husband doesn't.

It's actually kind of a problem because the only reason I go upstairs usually is to go into the bedroom (it's too hot to do any actual hanging out up there right now). Theo isn't allowed in the bedroom, so I have to close the door on him. Sometimes he cries, sometimes he just sits at the top of the stairs and waits for me. And sometimes he poops. That's right. He poops.

See, Theo doesn't spend a lot of time upstairs (because Husband and I don't spend any time upstairs). He spends every night in his crate, but I don't think that counts to him. And since he doesn't spend any time upstairs, he doesn't consider the area as a "living space". And since he doesn't consider it a living space, it is, by default, a pooping place. That's how the doggie world works, right? I know all I have to do to make it stop is play with him up there a bit, but I just haven't gotten around to it. So instead we try to make sure he stays downstairs.

Yesterday I needed to go upstairs to grab something from the bedroom. It wasn't a big deal if he followed me, but I didn't want to encourage the habit. I made him lay down and told him to stay at the bottom of the stairs. As soon as I got to the landing and rounded the corner, he ran up the stairs. The half second after I was out of site, he would no longer stay. He did it three or four times. Finally I started periodically peering my head over the railings so he could see me even when my body was out of site. Then he stayed. Finally. It's super cute that he wants to keep tabs on me, but at the same time, it's a total chore to make sure that when one of us goes upstairs, the other is there to distract him. I'm sure we'll get it in time.

I'm A Big Forgetful Idiot

8am this morning I was supposed to take Theo in to get neutered. At 6:30am this morning I decided to do my usual thing of feeding Theo breakfast. At 7:40am I was about to head out for the vet when I realized what a big dumb idiot I am. When I made the vet appointment last Friday they told me "no food after 8pm the night before and limited water in the morning". Oops. Theo's testicles are safe for one more day. Let's see if I can get it right tomorrow...

The Ferocious Beast

I'm finally back home with my beloved husband and puppy. I'm a happy girl. :)

It's been crazy around here with the remodeling. Having no kitchen for 1-2 months is crazy enough without a dog. We've discovered that the BBQ place nearby will sell us a 1/4 pound of cooked chicken (without sauce) for just a couple of bucks. We've discovered the difficult logistics of using one's bathroom sink as one's kitchen sink. And I've discovered that Theo is the worst guard dog of all time. Not that Corgis are meant to be guard dogs, they're not. But I'm used to dogs being territorial and not liking strangers in their house. Not Theo. He acts like everyone coming over is a play date just for him.

With the remodel we've got lots of new people coming by the house every day. Theo loves it. He runs up and gives love to anyone and everyone. That's my ferocious beast for you.

Video Of The Week 18: Baroo Cute!

My new mission in life is to teach Theo to do this:



It's too cute! Got this gem from cute overload.

Goopy

Theo, I've noticed, likes to get sick right before I go out of town. I'm pretty sure the explosive diarrhea incident happened the day before I went on travel last time. Well I'm heading out of town (to St. Louis for work, blegh) tomorrow morning and when I work up this morning I found Theo with about a gallon of eye goop under his right eye. It was seriously nasty. I wiped it away, but the goop just kept coming. When Husband saw it he said it was allergies. What's he allergic to?! I'm thinking it might be the bit of mold that's grown under our sink (leaky faucet we're fixing next week). I caught Theo inside the moldy cabinet under the sink this morning (we had left it open after we cleaned it out). Hopefully that's all it is and he'll be right and rain tomorrow. Husband is going to take him to vet just to be sure. His eyes are really red right now and he's obviously pretty miserable. Did I mention he likes to get sick on weekends too? Ugh.

Cross your fingers I don't get washed away in a flood!

A Beginner

Theo had his last puppy elementary class last night. It totally snuck up on me! I was really hoping I would have made enough progress with Theo that he could skip the beginners class (which is next after the puppy classes) and go straight to intermediate. I saw a couple of other dogs do it (Goldens...teachers pets!), so I set it as a goal. Unfortunately, at the end of class today she recommended Theo for the beginners class. Doh! But that's ok. She also said that the last couple of classes he had made amazing progress and that she was really impressed. Yay! She even used him as her demo dog like three times during class, which she never does because he's short and she has bad knees.

He wasn't being so great socially last night. I'm wondering if that's what did him in. I had to break up two fights with him and the other puppies. Two! He's usually so playful and friendly. I don't understand what was setting him off but something did. Maybe she thought he could use more socialization, and she's probably right. All in all, I'm fine with more classes because Theo loves them so much. He practically jumps out of his skin when he sees us pulling up to the training facility every week. It's too cute.

Part of the reason I love my trainer so much is that she obviously does it because she loves dogs and not because she's trying to make a bunch of money. The beginners class doesn't start until the second week in July, so she said to go ahead and keep coming to the puppy classes until they start, that way we wouldn't have to go a couple of weeks with no training classes. That would have been terrible! Hehe.

Make Mommy Look Good

Last week's puppy class went so freaking great. Theo did his "puppy push-ups" like a pro (sit, down, stand, sit, etc.), he responded to my commands (like "paws up" and "off") without a total food lure, and he even did well on the activities he's normally terrible with (walking on the leash). He played well with the other puppies. Even the puppies that weren't playing nice with the other puppies (there was a Bichon that kept snapping at them, and a Doberman that was shy) liked playing with Theo. He was acting so well last week that the trainer even used him for a demo (she never uses him for demos because he's short and she has to bend down). I left class feeling proud and triumphant. I hope I leave with that feeling again today!

They Grow Up So Fast!

There, there, Theo. Don't be blue. It won't be so bad.

Theo is officially six months old. Can you believe it!? Can you believe we've had Theo in our lives for four months now? It feels like a long time and not a long time all at the same time. It feels like we've had him forever, but that he's growing up too fast. I'm sure other puppy parents can relate.

Well six months is when all the books say your puppy has reached sexual maturity. That's right, it's almost time to do a little snip, snip. My vet says we don't need to do it until he's around 8 months old, but I still think that my puppy has become a dog! Too bad he'll be reduced back to an it in just a couple short months. Mwhaha!

PS: I just talked to my trainer last night and she said her rule of thumb for neutering males is when their balls drop, it's time for them to come off. The question is, how can you tell when they've dropped? He's definitely got little tiny testicles, but I don't think that's their full glory. I asked Husband if he thought Theo's balls had dropped and he said that if I had to ask, then they hadn't dropped yet. I guess we'll have to wait a little longer!

PPS: What the hell kind of a blog am I writing!? I never envisioned talking about testicles and diarrhea when I started this thing, that's for sure.

Ten Things I Love

Dear Theo,

I love it when you jump up on my hands when I lean down to greet you after I've been away for a few hours.

I love the noises and stretching motions you make after you've just woken up.

I love seeing your nubbin wiggle at Husband when he comes home from work.

I love how you now associate getting into the car with going somewhere fun.

I love the way you rest your head on my knee and look at me when I'm eating food you want.

I love your "ears-back happy trot".

I love the way you nudge your toy towards me when you want me to throw it.

I love how excited you get when it's time to go into your crate and go to bed each night.

I love how you jump up on the couch to snuggle with me every morning and how you rest your head on my legs to go back to sleep.

I love the way you rest your cheek on mine when we're playing.

These are just ten things about you that warm my heart and make me glad that we brought you into our lives. I never would have thought a pet could bring so much happiness, but you have.

What are ten things your dog does to make you happy?

PS: Theo is officially 6 months old today! That's a major puppy milestone! Congrats Theo!

Collaring The Issue

I'd like to talk to you about collars. As I've said before, I've tried a few different kinds of collars with Theo, and I really believe the various collars we've used have made all the difference with Theo's leash training.

We started with a normal buckle collar (pictured, left). It worked well for keeping him tethered near us, and as a vehicle for holding his many tags, but not for much else. When we first got Theo I had delusions of grandeur, thinking that a regular collar, paired with my excellent training abilities, would be enough for successful leash training. Oh how wrong I was! He would pull and pull and pull, as if he didn't even feel the collar. Anything that caught his fancy (which was pretty much everything..."oooh, a sidewalk!") would sending him running. That's when we switched to the choke chain (I hate that name, but it's descriptive...). I got the kind with nylon threaded through it to reduce any pulling of fur that tends to happen with that kind of collar (pictured, right) . Jenna Z expressed an interest in how it looks, so here it is!

When I first put the collar on Theo, it was like night and day. He took a step forward, the leash tightened around his neck, and finally he felt it and stopped! With the buckle collar it felt like a work horse trying to pull me along. With the choke chain we finally made steps towards a good heel. Then he got used to it. He was still good for the most part, but every time he saw a person or another dog he would lunge forward, not caring how tight the collar got around his neck. I didn't really like this, so I was on the lookout for a better option.

In the training classes I go to, the trainer will often suggest different collars for dogs when she sees they are not walking well on leash. Week after week Theo would pull and pull and she never suggested another kind. Then one day I heard her recommending a martingale collar to another owner. I had heard Jenna Z. mention this kind of collar as an alternative to the choke chain, so I immediately stuck my nose in their conversation and asked if I could try one on Theo. She was recommending them to the other guy because his dog was slipping out of his collar. I explained that I wanted it for training to help Theo realize when he's pulling on the leash, and she hooked me up with one for $5 (pictured, middle). Yay for training!

Just like with the choke chain, it was like night and day. He responds very well to it, and now he's finally able to understand my verbal commands when we walk together. When he's pulling on the leash (which he still does often, I think because he's testing his boundaries), I'll give him the command to heel. If he doesn't listen, I'll give the leash a slight tug, so he feels I want him to slow down, and he does! It's working out really great. He still dashes ahead when he sees a person or another dog, but I feel better knowing the collar isn't as bad for his neck when he does that.

The martingale is kind of a pain to take on and off because there's no buckle (though apparently there are kinds that have buckles). I would recommend either sticking with a buckle collar if your dog is good enough to handle it (luckies!), or find a martingale that has a buckle. But really, all "a pain to get on" means is that I have to give Theo more treats when I put it on him so he doesn't associate negative feelings with his collar. Now whenever he hears the jingle of the tags on his collar he comes running with a big smile because he knows he's going to get treats and a walk!

PS: New pictures uploaded in flickr.
PPS: I am soooooo happy I'm finally getting rid of that ugly ceramic tile in the picture with the collars above. If you're going to make tile with a wood grain (bad idea in the first place), why make it gray!? Yuck.

Dog Food A Little More Demystified

I have a hard time with the notion that everything a dog needs nutritionally can be packed into a handy dandy hard piece of kibble. If such a thing is possible, where's my people kibble? I wouldn't mind having all my nutritional needs met by little crunchy balls I could pop in my mouth all day (and they would clean my teeth!). So I supplement Theo's diet with "whole foods", which just means regular food (not processed fat America food, just real food). I've said this before, but since I'm going through the trouble of doing a partially whole food diet, I want to make sure I'm feeding him a quality kibble as well, otherwise what's the point?

Well the other day I found this website, and I'm loving it! It basically has a rating system for most dog foods (it had all the ones I could think of), on a scale from 1 to 6 stars. It also breaks down the ingredients for you, based on the quality as well as the quantity, which is nice. For instance, the reviewer doesn't just note that there is quality meats in the product, s/he also points out where in the ingredient list the meat is because it makes a difference. The 6 star foods I saw all had at least the first two ingredients as meat.

I was happy to see that the kibbles I've been feeding Theo have all been rated with 5 or 6 stars (I've tried out a few different kinds over the last few months just to see if he reacted differently or looked differently eating any of them). I just switched Theo to this one, and so far we're both loving it. I think it's a keeper!

Scrapbook

As part of my birthday present this year, my ever-thoughtful mother gave me a really cool doggie scrapbook kit! It's got everything you need to make a fun book of memories except the pictures. Now that I've had Theo for a while, and we've built up some fun memories, I think I'd like to start making it. The only problem is that I have too many pictures and a indecisive mind. If you've got some free time on your hands, browse through my photos and let me know which ones think would go well in my scrapbook (you can either comment here or on flickr).

PS: Mom, I find it extremely funny that all those months ago you asked me if I was going to be one of those people who buys everything with a Corgi on it, when the only Corgi stuff I own is a pair of socks and this scrapbook, both of which you gave me. :p Not that I don't like them, I do. I just like to point out the irony.

Book Review: Puppy Kisses Are Good For The Soul

I know it's been a while since I did a book review, it probably seems like I haven't cracked a book in months. Truth is I've actually read, in some capacity, almost all the books I have on my reading list. I just got so busy once I brought Theo home that I never had time to properly review them, and since I got most of them from the library, it's hard to go back and remember details without the book in front of you. But I think the blog is ready for another review, so let's talk about Howard Weinstein's Puppy Kisses are Good for the Soul.
This book I actually bought because it came so highly recommended to me by the entire Corgi community, and I have to say I don't think they steered me wrong. This book is half memoir half training guide, which is a weird combination that just seems to work. The memoir is an anecdotal telling of Mail Order Annie, Weinstein's PWC. He sweetly recalls the major events in this period of his life and how Annie was always a part of it. Reading this book before I brought home Theo made me so anxious to have a Corgi. I was left feeling like I knew what I was getting into, and all the more excited for it.

Annie is portrayed as fun, mischievous, and completely sweet. Weinstein covers Annie's entire lifetime, from bringing her home with her partner in crime, Hawkeye, a Collie, to her last days. Oops, hope I didn't give away the ending for you. ;) He doesn't blather on about the minute details of owning a dog like feeding schedule and poop habits (like I do!). Instead, he picks out the fondest memories he has of Annie, shares why those instances stick out in his mind, and tells us what he learned from her. For example, in her early years we learned that Annie went through a period of being an escape artist (just like Theo!). When he would put her behind a gate in the kitchen at night, he would always wake up to her outside the kitchen in the morning. What did that teach us? According to Weinstein Annie was trying to tell him that she was old enough to be trusted in his apartment by herself and without being blocked behind a gate. (Theo, on the other hand, was I think just teaching me that he's stubborn!) This anecdote taught me that Corgis are smart (too smart!) and won't be ignored or forgotten.

By far my favorite anecdote in the book is Weinstein's telling of visiting his mother's house. At first his mother, a clean freak, saw Annie as a dirty intruder, but once Annie showed her she could lick up any microscopic crumbs that his mother may have missed, she came to view her as an ally. Cute right? I had a similar experience when I brought Theo to stay with my parents. My mom isn't a neat freak, but I knew she wasn't thrilled about the idea of having a fur-shedding, accident-prone beast in her nice, new house. That all changed after our Passover dinner. After we had cleaned up the dishes and folded up the extra tables and chairs, we could see the dinning room floor was littered in matzo crumbs. I saw my mom look at the mess and sigh. Then Theo came along and started in on it, licking up as much matzo as he could get his tongue on. At that moment I could see my mom's view of Theo change from intruder to ally, just like with Weinstein's mother. (aside: that's not to say my mom didn't like Theo visiting, she did.)

Weinstein also gives you a sense of how fun owning a dog can be. He's a writer (obviously!) of Star Trek books, so he regularly attends conventions. Apparently Annie was able to accompany him to these events and she ended up becoming quite a star. How fun! It wasn't until I read this book that I realized a dog doesn't have to be an animal that always has to be at home. Dogs can travel too! And Weinstein obviously had a lot of fun traveling with Annie.

When Annie comes to the end of her life, Weinstein remembers her with such tenderness and affection, it's really very emotional. It's sad to hear his telling of her passing on, but it brings a natural close to the story of her life. And when he moves on to talk about the PWCs he has now, we're left feeling upbeat and optimistic. It's apparent in this book that Weinstein loved Annie very much. He even gave her an author credit on the book! His emotional attachment to her jumps off the page, leaving us excited to go get our own PWC to experience our own joys.

The second part of the book is about training. If you're interested read it, but I could take it or leave it. There is some good information, but nothing earth shattering, and nothing I hadn't already read in the many other books I picked up before this one. He doesn't really touch on any details, he just breezes by some general rules.

Another thing in this book's favor is the fact that my husband not only read it (the only book on dogs that he's read, actually), but loved it! Oftentimes he would read a chapter in the morning, then gush about it to me later at work about what cute thing Annie had done in that chapter. In the weeks that he was reading it (he reads fast, but in very short sittings), whenever we would talk about Theo, he would always mention something he had read in the book and how he thought it applied to our discussion. If you don't care for my endorsement, consider his. Husband is a very harsh critic!

Overall, this book gives a great sense of what owning a PWC is like. I would highly recommend this book to prospective PWC owners before they bring home their little trouble maker. Websites like dog breed info can give you a few adjectives on the personality of a Corgi, but this book really paints you a picture of what those personality traits will mean in your day to day life. Just keep in mind that Weinstein is obviously focusing on the good times with Annie. It's not all roses and ice cream. I would also recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a heartwarming tale of man and his best friend (even non dog owners!).

Freshening Up

The astute observer may notice I've replaced the picture in the blog header. As much as I love that previous picture of Theo, I figured it was time to actually show a little booty, since it's in the name of the blog and all. I hope you like it.

In my quest to spruce up my header (I finally figured out the magical interwebs must have something better than MS Visio to add text to my photos...I am s-m-r-t), I found this neat website. It's the app that flickr uses to edit photos, and, as you can see, it works great! What a fun way to spruce up a photo!

PS: Does anyone else pronounce the word astute in their head "ass-toot"? Hehe. I'm mature, I know.

Less Tired, But Still Tired

Yesterday I got more aggressive with trying to get a full night's sleep. It just so happened that in Theo's puppy class last night we were one of only two dogs that decided to attend class this week, so we got lots of one on one time with the trainer. When she asked what Theo was up to this week I told her about the sudden change in his sleeping habits. She said we need to immediately nip this behavior in the bud and loaned me a citronella collar, so that hopefully wearing it when he's in his crate at night will discourage the middle of the night barking that is waking me up. It seemed a bit extreme, but lack of sleep made me ready for an extreme measure, so last night I tried it.

I half expected him to sleep the whole night without a peep just to spite me, but sure enough, I was awoken in the middle of the night with barking yet again. This time it was much earlier, though. At 1am I faintly heard some barking and a very delayed puff of the collar. I can't be sure because I was still half asleep. Husband actually got up and took care of him (about time!), so I was able to fall right back to sleep without too much interruption to my brain waves or whatever. When Husband came back to bed he said that Theo "barely even went" and that he had left him in the pen downstairs. If he barked more after that, and if the collar properly discouraged him, I can't say because the door was closed and I was sleeping like a proper dead person again. But this morning I noticed that he was awfully quiet, so I have high hopes.

I'm considering if maybe he just doesn't like sleeping in the crate and he prefers his pen downstairs, but I don't think that's it. When I grab his bedtime treats and start heading upstairs, Theo excitedly goes bounding past me with a big smile on his face. There's never any hesitation to going into his crate, he actually seems to enjoy it. When I close the door and walk into the bedroom, he rarely protests and usually falls right to sleep. So if he likes it in there so much, why does he bark and whine to get out every night now? The trainer says he's just getting older, but why does Theo getting older make him less able to lay quietly in his crate for a few hours?

I'll keep you posted on how the collar works out. I'm wondering if the barking this morning was because the collar was uncomfortable for him. It must be awkward to sleep with a big plastic box right at your throat (though he is definitely accustomed to sleeping on his back). I'll try the collar again tonight, and maybe the next night without it and see how he does. Wish me luck!

Tired

Yesterday morning Theo woke up at 4:45am. For me this is a totally ungodly hour in which my brain functions are barely up to snuff enough for me to walk without falling down (seriously, I had to hold onto a wall at one point). When Theo wakes up, I now wake up too. Why? Because, as I started earlier, he somehow learned that barking is a much more effective way of waking me up than crying. Damn. So yesterday morning at the aforementioned ungodly hour I stumbled downstairs with Theo to let him out to make him business. When we got back inside Theo ran, jumped up on the couch, and looked at me expectantly and adorably. Sound familiar? I was too tired to think much about anything, so I plopped down on the sofa and fell back asleep until about 40 minutes later than I should have gotten up.

When I told Husband about it later that morning he scolded me for rewarding Theo for waking me up early by sleeping on the couch with him. I hadn't thought of it that way. I hadn't thought of it at all. It was too early for that kind of brain power. I disagreed with him (usually a sure sign that I'm wrong) and said that it wasn't a reward and it was just a one time thing.

This morning Theo woke up at almost the exact same time and started in with the barking. I tried to ignore him, but after 5 minutes it was either do something to make him stop barking or suffocate myself with my pillow. I somehow convinced my body to get up and do the former. It's worth noting that before we got Theo I slept like a dead person and my husband was a very light sleeper. He claims that neither the barking this morning nor the barking yesterday woke him up, which is why, of course, he couldn't get up to deal with Theo himself. I think he's a big faker. Anyway, after he was done outside he bolted through the door, into the family room, and onto his favorite couch, yet again. This time it was accompanied by a "come and snuggle me" look like you wouldn't believe! It was almost too cute to resist, but I managed. I picked him up, put him down in his pen, and went back to bed, making sure to close the door to help with the barking that was sure to follow. And oh by the way, I ended up oversleeping by an hour and a half this time.

I'm hoping this morning reinforced that waking mommy up too early does not mean any kind of reward for Theo. And please, please, please, let him have gotten the message! I can't stand losing any more sleep this week than I already have, and I if I'm any later to work tomorrow, I'm going to end up working all weekend to make up my hours. I've been so completely agitated at work this week I haven't been able to actually get any work done.

Theotivators

I've been having loads of fun messing around with this site today. It allows you to manipulate your flickr photos in fun ways, and it's totally free. That's right, this "Theotivator" is a julo original! I'm not saying it's genius, but there's a bit of wit to it, right? If only I had gotten a picture of Theo doing this when there was peanut butter still visible on the spoon.

Didn't Quite Make It

Last weekend I was so excited to finally get us all to the walking trails by my house. Unfortunately, the experience didn't quite live up to the hype. It started off well. Theo (pictured, right, with his ghetto booty) was excited, as usual, to get out of the house and go somewhere new. I was excited to try out my new camera and get some good nature-y exercise.

This is a view of the trails. Can you tell I live in the desert? It's not much to look at, but it's better than sidewalks with well manicured lawns. I regret not taking a picture of it at the time, but after the fires that whole hill (mountain?) was completely green and awesome looking. I saw first hand how fire brings renewal. Too bad the summer heat killed all the greenery.

About ten minutes into the walk Theo started struggling with the heat. There's not a lot of shade on the trails, so Theo started to cool off wherever he could. When he started sitting in my shadow to cool off, I knew it was too hot for him to walk a couple miles. We barely got 50 feet before he plopped down and wouldn't move. We ended up turning back about 10 minutes in (after I had carried him for a few minutes). I was so disappointed!

We didn't even walk far enough to get to the cacti I wanted to photograph. Oh well. At least there were still other interesting sites to see on our limited walk. Next time I'll make sure we get to the cacti. It might be awhile before I attempt it again. We get hot summers where I live and the heat is just getting warmed up (pun intended :p). I won't attempt an evening walk because we get coyotes (I've seen them on the trails before), and I doubt I could get Husband up and at 'em early enough for an early morning walk. I guess the trails will just have to wait...so dog beach here we come!

PS: New pictures on flickr, if you couldn't tell. :p

Morning Snuggle Time

It's funny how you can accidentally train your dog in the strangest ways. Theo's latest learned behavior is jumping on the couch to snuggle with me first thing in the morning. On weekends Theo wakes up at his usual time of ~6:30am. Since I rarely have anything to do first thing in the morning on the weekends I take him outside to make his business, then I go lay down on my super-comfy couch (pictured) and go back to sleep for a few hours, until Theo wakes me up to feed him. In the last few weeks Theo has started jumping up on the couch and napping with me, usually at my feet (he likes his space). Last weekend he did this both Saturday and Sunday, and on Sunday we ended up sleeping until 9am! Man, it was nice to sleep so long. Sunday he even slept with his head nuzzled on my legs.

Come Monday morning he woke up at his usual time and after he was done doing his morning business he immediately ran into the family room, jumped on the couch, nuzzled into the blanket laying on it, and gave me an adorable "come and snuggle with me" look. Do you know how hard it is to start your day when there's a comfortable couch and a snuggly dog staring you in the face, tempting you into morning lateness!? It's frakking hard. I gave in and sat on the couch with him for a few minutes (read: half an hour) while I woke up and fought off the temptation to fall back asleep (there's no alarm clock in my family room, maybe I should get one). This morning he did the exact same thing.

I know Corgis aren't lap dogs. I never intended to get a lap dog. But I am absolutely loving Theo sitting still, being mellow, and letting me pet him for extended periods of time. Usually petting isn't allowed because he's more interested in playing. I'm guessing this is part of the transition from puppy to adult dog (they grow up so fast!). It's like one day you wake up and your puppy isn't a puppy anymore!