Lil Linus has had a very busy weekend! He went for a sleepover/playdate on Friday and after some little hiccups(such as their crate being smaller than his here that we feed him in and that he loves to lie in etc.); he settled in quite well with them. Lil Linus has always been comfortable no matter; where we were; to pee; yet he demonstrated the ‘shy’ bladder with them. I am very delighted with how quickly the home picked up on sign language and Lil Linus just makes my heart burst with pride with how he behaved. He ‘listened’ quite well, walked great on his leash, behaved in their house and they were able to see when we met up today to go for a hike with friends/Danes; how wonderful he is in the car. They also could not resist his gorgeous, smoochable, squeeable mug! LOL This was Lil Linus’s first time away from ‘us’ since we brought him into our program at 14 weeks of age and as a SN’s; I think he did remarkable. Being so excited and also not having myself around; most definitely contributed to his not wanting to pee/poop and he was quite excited(which as I keep saying; is a form of stress) but overall; I think it was a great experience for him and them. From what I have been told; he was confident to ask for loves and kisses(HUGE HUGE HUGE) and seemed to have found their bed quite cozy(I guess we passed that ‘bump’ too! WOOHOO!). On his last night with them; he slept on a dog bed outside the open crate they have and I just cannot believe how far this boy has come! Then, today; he was part of the pack of Danes/people that went for a hike in Limerick Forest and he had a BLAST! He was quite excited and pulled on his leash/collar for a bit; yet calmed down pretty much. The little goober(and believe me, there is NEVER a dull moment with this boy) decides to go for an unscheduled swim….sigh…. 🙄 at one point; and he gets in the water and quickly realises; that it is 1) chilly 2) kind of deep 3) he is all alone 4) I am SWIMMING….never done this before. I am just getting ready to almost plunge in after him(LT comes to mind….again….)and he turns around and heads back to me and I almost thought I might giggle…his eyes..OMG! Could they have been any wider and rounder. Sweet Lord…..silly goose. Lil Linus being Lil Linus is none the worse for wear and was back out tearing around and having a blast. I have taught all my hearing dogs the words/command ‘bring him/her back’ and Tain was really awesome about this and even one of the other Danes; really did fantastic with that. They would bring Lil Linus back every time yet Lil Linus was also quite impeccable in his ‘watch me’ command and would never get too far before turning around to see where everyone was. My only thing is not wanting him in the bush for obvious/various reasons(spring and bare or not); he is a SN’s and while he is not as in-tune with his other senses like most other SN’s; he still has the ability to get ‘lost’ and could ‘panic’ should he lose sight of the other dogs and us and then just runs to try and find us(even though we are all standing right there). Yet, I have to say that; once again; he has proven himself to have been a great student since I have had him and remembered all of his lessons from when we hike on our own 148 acres etc. He had a incredible afternoon and I learnt some more about him too and it also reinforced just how well, his training has come along. My ‘wittle whinus’ is truly almost all grown up…SNIFF! SNIFF! 😛 YET, we still have to ‘hit’ that second ‘idiot’ stage and at almost 16 months of age; it shall not be too long now….within the next year. LOL I have also added new slides of Lil Linus #63 – #67 which includes some from when his head was still healing, two of him and Ocean and one of him from just a week+ ago(March 2009).