I have to leave him in his crate on his own. I haven’t felt this bad in so long, even though I know it’s for his own good.

Sudo has a girlfriend. She’s really helping him with his confidence with other dogs, which is quite comforting. He’s still very subservient with other dogs (including her – he spends most of his time getting bowled over!) but he plays a lot and seems to enjoy it and that’s all I care about.

Action shots are not my forté so these aren’t great, but you can tell how much fun they have.

Dunno why, but 6 months seems like so much longer than 28 weeks. Odd. Tried something different with the old side profile. I think he looks adorable. So do you.

Sudo’s 6 months old today, apparently. I’ve been going by weeks, so this crept up on me somewhat. Looking back, again, it’s so strange to see how much he’s changed!

Here! See!

And today…

What a doggy day it’s been today.

Things Sudo does well.

1. “No”
2. Sit
3. C’mere
4. Sudo
5. Play
6. Indoor retrieve
7. Cute
8. Walk
9. Eat

Things Sudo does OK.

1. Wait (sometimes, it seems to mean something else)
2. Lie

Things Sudo sucks at.

1. Outdoor retrieve
2. Outdoor “c’mere” to my feet
3. Being quiet in his crate

I’ve been getting super frustrated with him recently. I realise it’s just projection of my inadequacies as a teacher/trainer onto him, so I thought it’d be appropriate to make a list of the things he does well, not-so-well and badly so that I can see that he’s actually not doing that bad. I spend a lot of time focusing on the things he doesn’t do well, and that’s not healthy for anyone.

I’m coming to the conclusion that having a dog is, fundamentally, harder than having a child. The child will eventually understand what you want from it, even if it has a greater propensity to disobey. That being said, I’d still rather have a dog.

I’m not sure if the inadvertant property invalidates genius, maybe “a stroke of luck” would be a better phrase, but probably not as good a click-winner. Whether dogs have this feature innately or not is something I don’t know, but Sudo has finally perfected “Boltface“. If you’ve seen the movie “Bolt” where Penny teaches Bolt how to look cute and sad to get food, it appears to have rubbed off on Sudo, too. We are delighted.

Look at the state of that kitchen floor! Do you guys have a dog or something?!

Fatass.

Yes; seven weeks, yes; too young to be out, yes; it’s kinda my responsibility to point it out, no; I didn’t.

This is one cute puppy, but social standings dictated that I say nothing about this unjabbed puppy being off her lead in a park that’s getting to the point where we might stop going because of the filthy fucking animals who just can’t pick up after themselves. I hope she’s ok, she’s a precocious little scamp.

Cute? Pain.

Sudo is now 16.5 weeks, and he’s changed so much. He’s super clever, and so energetic. Walking is much better, interaction with other dogs is greatly improved, and house training is about 95% success. I almost understand why people have children – such a sense of satisfaction watching them learn behaviour you want them to adopt.

Anyway, we’re now playing in the garden and he loves it. It tires him out, too, which means that we love it!