Tolerance...

Last night Jackson had his last introduction to agility class. I was so proud of him! He was playing with the training teeter and walking along the training balance beam right along with the Westie and the Aussies (even better than some of them). I'm not sure if we'll keep taking the class or not, as I don't have any huge aspirations for him to become an agility dog. We took it more for socialization and fun, but it did remind me how smart he is and how easily he trains. So anyway, I was really proud of him!

I am also really impressed with both him and Hilga and the patience they are showing to the new puppy. She has a tendency to bark in faces, chew on their ears, bite their feet when they walk... and neither of them has let even a little grumble slip. They occasionally look at me wearily (especially Hilga), but they are such good sports about it. Hilga usually just walks away and finds a couch out of reach. Jackson usually lays down and takes it. It is a bit easier for Jackson, who is very interested in the puppy and what she is doing. They both get a bit jealous. Jackson has become significantly more cuddly in the past few days, which I don't complain about. What's the point of having a huge dog if he won't sit on your lap and keep you warm at 5:00 in the morning when the house is still cold but you're already up because the puppy is up? Anyways, I've just been so impressed with how gentle they are and how tolerant they are being of puppy mischief.

I remember when Jackson was a puppy, he would wake up early in the morning and start whimpering. Chris and I would lie as still as possible and hope that he would settle back down for another 30 minutes or hour. Not an option with two big dogs. As soon as the puppy lets out her first squeak in the morning, Jackson jumps down off the bed to investigate. As soon as she sees Jackson, she goes from a squeak to full fledged crying/yelping/barking. So much for laying perfectly still... Maybe Jackson will catch on.

One of the things I love about the breed...already she wants to be everywhere I am. Of course it gets to be a lot when you have two big dogs following you around everywhere and you're dragging one little dog who is attached to your pant leg, but I do appreciate that she is already very into human company. You can see her reaction to being left outside for a few minutes:


Finally, all three of them together when I actually had the camera close by:

Of course Hilga didn't stick around too long...