Is it hot in here?

George and Miley are both roughly 11 months old, and I've been cautiously watching for signs of Miley's first heat since they were 5 months old. Large dogs can go into heat as late as a year, but I didn't want to make a mistake and end up with puppies so soon.  About 3 months ago George was practicing his baby making skills on Miley's hip, head, shoulders, anyplace he could get her to stand still long enough for. Miley wasn't in heat, and the whole thing resulted in a lot of nothing.

This morning my husband informed me he had seen George attempting to jump on Miley. We separated them, and I contacted my friend, Kristen McNitt. She currently breeds Golden Retrievers, has bred St Bernard's in the past, and has been helping me to train Miley. Kristen gave me some tell tale signs to look for, and sure enough, Miley had them.  She is finally in her first heat!

Consequently, Miley is going for a bath, brushing, and sanitary clip at the groomers, and will be spending the next 2 weeks away from George.

I love that Miley really is such a sweetheart by nature. She's the dog everyone hopes they get, and the kind that encourages others to get dogs.

The truth is, I enjoy being around her as much as she wants to be around me. I have plenty of comfortable places to sit and read, but with Miley inside, I choose the floor. She subsequently comes to sit by me, and we spend the afternoon snuggling next to each other. She radiates adoration, obedience, and love. I am so blessed to have her!

Playing with our pups!

George still thinks he's a lap dog.

 
Sweet Miley is always good for a snuggle.

George at about 5 months old, and 55 ish lbs.

I just love these two!

George giving me kisses.

I love how Miley and George are so relaxed about things. You can hug them, pull their ears, lay on them, it just doesn't phase them. They love attention.

Checking out the Christmas tree.

George has outgrown Miley, and is officially the taller one. He is such a sweet boy, and is doing well learning that he has to be gentle not that he's growing into his big feet!

Miley was tuckered out after all our play.

Just keep walking, just keep walking. What do we do? We walk!

George and Miley are doing well.  Tomorrow they are going in for a nail clip, ear cleaning, special bath, the works.

I make it a point to spend time with them each night, as well as groom them. I want them to get used to it, and learn how to behave during a grooming session. They are going to be so big, and I know this is something we need to master while they're small!

I took them for another vet visit on Sept 9, and I meant to write about it... but forgot.  They are now fully vaccinated, microchipped, and licensed! Miley was 14 weeks old, and weighed in at 33lbs.  George was 12 weeks old, and weighed 28lbs. They are getting so big!!

I took them to the vet again today, October 11, to get another dose of flea medicine (we use Comfortis). I like it because it's taken orally, and you can pet or handle your dog right afterwards. We have children, so it's very handy for us.  I only took Miley with us this time, and figured George is probably just a few pounds less than her. She weighed 48lbs! In one month she gained 15 lbs, and she's only 4 months old!! I LOVE THIS BREED!

I speculate she will grow to be at least 100lbs, hopefully more. If that's the case, she's almost halfway there!

In other, very exciting news, Miley and I are doing our first walk-a-thon tomorrow morning!
It's called Walk 4 Paws, it's 2 miles, and it's the biggest fundraiser of the year for our local animal shelter. I had thought of taking George also, but he's not quite obedient enough on a leash just yet. We're still working with him on that.

Two of my friends will also be walking with their dogs. My one friend Laurel has the sweetest, very LARGE, Great Dane named Nala. My other friends, Kristen and Sam, will be walking with one of their Golden Retrievers.  It's great to be able to socialize our dogs, and to be there with friends. If you would like to sponsor Miley and I, you can click on this link.

We would appreciate your support! 

My son decided he wanted to crate train. I only potty training kids was that easy. ;)

George on the other hand was less than impressed with my sons efforts to "be the dog"...

Oh great... A crate.

I have started crate training Miley and George. I think I should have started earlier, but I wasn't sure how to do it. I figured it was better to wait, and learn to do it right, than to do it wrong.

Thanks to a friend of mine who has a Great Dane, I scored a free crate! I purchased an identical one at Tractor Supply, set them both up at home, and let the dogs go freely in and out. I wanted them to be comfortable with the crates before I closed the doors on them.

The first two days... Nothing. They didn't even go near them. I even put a ham bone in each one... Still nothing. We were off to a flying start...

I had the crates set up in the dog room those first two days, and with no success, I moved them into the family room.

I set up a series of baby gates around the entrances to the crates, and let the dogs into the area. To my surprise, Miley went right in! George... not so much. He hung around for quite some time, sticking his nose in and out of each crate. Finally he went in, and promptly went to chewing on his ham bone.

After awhile, when I could tell they were relaxed, I quietly and slowly closed the doors. They looked at me for a second, and went back to chewing.

I set the timer for an hour, and I'll let them out. Being their first night I want this to be an extremely positive experience. 

My hope is they will crate and potty train by the time the snow flies so they can be out and about in the house with us. 

This is the link to Basham's Berners . I've mentioned them before, it's where we bought George.


I also found this picture of George (was originally named Phillip)  when he was just a tiny little guy!

Here we go...

George and Miley are doing wonderful!  They have stopped peeing inside the puppy room (A tiled, 12 foot x 12 foot room, with large dog door)! They are doing excellent going in and out as needed.

With he weather being warmer they like to camp out on top of the air conditioning vent in their room. Even puppies appreciate central air!

 

I've been working with them using Cesar Milan's different tips for dogs. For us, a finger snap is used to indicate I want them to come. They have been responding very well!  We've been working on walking on a leash, following me off a leash, coming when I call, and of course... FETCH!

They are doing better and better everyday.

Their personalities are starting to really shine through. Miley is loyal, loving, and adores me.  She wants to be where I am, and seems to just wait around for me to pet her... which I do... all the time.

George is more the rowdy one.  Of course, by rowdy I mean he likes to jump and bark. He is the picture of a puppy. 

Even though I have 6 kids, taking care of George and Miley doesn't feel like two more things I have on the "to do" list each day.  I love playing with them, training them, brushing them, and just spending time with them. I love their snuggles, and that they wrestle, and climb on each other to get to me.

They each got a bath yesterday. They did very well in the water, and they were WAY filthier than I thought they were. Must be the mostly black, double coat... I washed them three times before the water ran clear, and when they dried they looked like little puff balls.

Of course, getting them dry was an interesting venture. I may be investing in an actual dog dryer. Why? Because I like to do things right the first time...

That and, well, using my own hair dryer was not a success.

They are going back to the vet after September 1st to get their next shot, as well as the rabies vaccine.
Then, WALKS! I can't wait to get them out and about!! It will be a great way to exercise in the evenings for me, and a lot of fun for them!

I hate exercising, so being able to go walking with my little furry sweeties will definitely make it more bearable!!

Until next time, we bid you adieu.

A weighty matter

I took King George and Queen Miley to the vet for their new puppy checkup, always a good idea when buying a dog.  All in all they received an excellent bill of health. George weighed in at 15.4 lbs, and Miley at 18.6 lbs.

I will be excited to see their growth, and if George will, in the end, be larger than Miley.

In other Bernese news, it continues to amaze me how tolerant these dogs are! One of my boys, A, is almost 3 years old, and he is an animal lover! Mostly he loves to hold and hug on our dogs. He got ahold of Miley, and stayed like this with her for several minutes. She didn't fuss, she didn't squirm. She just sat patiently as my son got his fill of puppy love.

This is my 10 month old, E. This is a fairly common sight in our home. The puppies seem to instinctively know she's a baby, and have been even more gentle with her than they are with the other children. We just love them!