Visiting Friends and a New Cousin

Baxter's been pretty busy lately visiting with friends and family, destroying toys, and taking a lot of puppy naps.

Recently, my sister added another dog to her family. She already had a miniature white schnauzer named Macie. She has now added a mini black schnauzer named Gracie. Baxter hasn't met Gracie yet, because she's still very small and Baxter sometimes get a little too friendly.



Just before my sister got Gracie, we visited with my mom's side of the family. Baxter and Macie were caught having a good time in the yard, exploring everything together. Normally, Baxter is instigating some sort of wrestling match.



Aside from that, life has been pretty typical. Here's Baxter checking to see if there are any new dog blog posts.


Baxter looks around, pondering where he's hidden his squeaky toy. Sadly, that toys has since been destroyed. If there's even a microscopic hole in any toy, Baxter will find it and he won't stop until it has been ripped wide open.


Baxter had a friend over last week to see how they got along. This is Jersey. She'll be staying with us for a couple of days next week. We'll be sure to post some pictures of the visit.




And lastly, here's a picture I had to snap with my cell phone yesterday as Baxter fell asleep with me on the couch. He loves his naps, especially when he can curl up with someone he loves.

Christmas with the Grandmothers

Baxter got to visit both of his Grandmothers for the holidays, which was exciting and tiring all at the same time. At my mom's house on the 23rd, Baxter got to play with Macie, my sister's dog. It seems Baxter is a bit too much puppy for Macie's liking. We actually had to put Baxter in a kennel for a while to let the little kids open presents and give Macie some rest.

On Christmas Eve, our Aunt Tracy got Baxter a nice Milkbone chew toy, which he immediately destroyed once we got home.



On Christmas, we dropped Baxter off at my mother-in-law's house for a while before we came back to eat and celebrate with Trista's family. When we got back, Baxter was barricaded in the basement because he was scaring all the little kids with his high-pitched bark and his energetic attitude. Luckily, I brought a Dingo bone and that calmed him down for about 10 minutes.



Then, he went back to barking like a raving lunatic until we put him in a bedroom upstairs and locked him in his kennel. That's when he fell asleep for a couple of hours.



Once he was awake and all the little kids left, we let Baxter roam around the house freely looking for scraps of food that might have hit the floor. He seemed pleased.



Today, the day after Christmas, Baxter woke up late to go out and to get food. He then immediately fell asleep for another 3 hours. I'd say he really enjoyed his first Christmas.

Busy Thanksgiving Weekend

We spent a lot of time with family and friends this weekend, and Baxter went along with us for a lot of it. On Thanksgiving day, Trista and I visited with my mother's side of the family, and then we headed to her mom's house. We keep forgetting to take our camera with us (I guess we're too busy with getting Baxter in the car). At my mom's, Baxter got to finally meet my sister and hang out with Macie again. Too bad for Macie, who was in dire need of a haircut, Baxter got most of the attention. Everyone wanted to pet him.

The same happened at Trista's mom's house. All the cousins, aunts, and uncles couldn't get enough of him. He even playfully bit one of them on the lip, and they still came back for more. All the attention did cause him to tucker out long before bedtime. We did remember that our cell phones have cameras in them, so I took this shot of Baxter lounging on the coffee table after the long Thanksgiving day.



Baxter and I both were caught napping again over the weekend. I believe I could have used a shower and a shave before the cameragirl snapped this shot.

Puppy Training - Week 2

Baxter spent his Saturday traveling. We started the day by visiting the vet to get the next round of vaccinations. The vet's office is about 30 miles away. We picked this particular vet, because I went to high school with both docs, and it's close to my parents' house. It gives me an excuse to go see them, since I'm in the area.

When we left the vet's office, Baxter and I stopped by my parents' house, where he met one of his cousins (my sister's dog), Macie. Macie is a two year old white miniture schnauzer, but she is just a bit bigger than Baxter. Macie and Baxter got to run around in the front yard and the driveway. Macie was rather dominant and aggressive at first, but once we went inside I let Baxter play with a few of Macie's toys and he completely ignored her.

After about an hour, we headed off to puppy training at PetSmart. Mike the trainer explained how to sit and stand and how to train a dog to walk on a leash beside you. Baxter did really well during the first half of the training. He mostly sat or laid at my feet. He didn't fall asleep this week. I believe with some training, he should learn to sit and stand on command fairly quickly.

During the second half of the training, he got anxious. We went to a small aisle, dogs were everywhere, and he was just too overwhelmed to walk on the leash like Mike had showed us. Hopefully, with this class, he'll get used to other dogs and he'll get over that anxiety. Hopefully.

Once we got home, Baxter went straight to his cage and passed out.