We are riding the rollercoaster of puppyhood. Nico is entering a new phase of being a little terror. Most of the day he is a perfect angel. He hangs out downstairs by himself while I work upstairs and has yet to destroy anything in our house. Occasionally he decides to be an utter pain in the butt, nipping, jumping, and talking back. If the usual tricks of distraction and redirection don't work and he keeps escalating he spends a few minutes of timeout in his crate. This gives him a chance to cool down and in most cases he ends up taking a long nap. We have worked hard to make sure the crate isn't a punishment. His timeout's aren't meant to be, they simply provide time for the little neurons in his brain to reset.
Nico had a blast walking in the Saranac River this afternoon. It's the most fun I've seen him have in water. He enjoyed bitting at the moving water, jumping around, and slapping the water with his feet. He also seemed relaxed just standing in the current. I'm sure it felt wonderful with this heat.
Don't let this cute face fool you, Nico is still going through his puppy terror phase. His biggest challenge right now is distinguishing what is appropriate play with people vs dogs. He has dog play down very well. He knows when to back off and when he can get rough. People on the other hand is a little hit and miss. He knows not to nip me, but is still learning that nipping at Shelly is not allowed. This is purely a "hey, come play with me" behavior, but can be challenging at times to correct. He also has the tendency to revert to a perfect angel as soon as I walk in the room. He sits and looks at me as if to say, "what, I wasn't doing anything wrong, Shelly is lying to you."
