# 52 Weeks of Kohl



## stealthq (Aug 4, 2011)

A bit of posting after-the-fact for weeks 1-4.

Here's week 1. This is the morning after I picked him up and he had been shrieking at the top his lungs all night so he's taking a nap to recover:


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## stealthq (Aug 4, 2011)

*Week 1(continued):*

As he explored the living room and met my cats (only one visible in this pic, but trust me, both were watching his every move):


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## stealthq (Aug 4, 2011)

*Week 2: My first home-groom*

Immediately after my first attempt to groom a poodle, ever. We did a bath and blow-out, FFT shave, and nail trim. All in one day. I was planning on breaking it up over two, but he was so good and didn't seem stressed, so ...

It took a couple of hours with potty breaks. Couldn't believe how relatively good he was. Only real trouble was with clipping his muzzle (head tossing), but after I chased his face with the clippers for a while he let me run the non-bladed heel of the clipper over his nose and lips for a few minutes. Then when I made another attempt with the actual blades he let me do it. Good boy, Kohl!

You can see he really needed to relax afterwards - what a stretch!


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## stealthq (Aug 4, 2011)

*Week 3:Christmas through New Year's, and no pics*

OK, OK, I know. But we were so busy, no one took pictures of anyone else, pets or humans. A shame, because Kohl looked awesome in his red-and-white striped holiday scarf and my mother's Sheltie, Tucker, cut a fine figure in his belled and fake-furred red collar ruffle. I figure I'll tack an extra week onto this journal and it'll all equal out. Really


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## PoodlePowerBC (Feb 25, 2011)

Great pics ... Kohl is super cute ... makes me miss some of the puppy stage


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## Poodle Head (Sep 12, 2011)

There is nothing like a baby poodle - he is adorable! I love his big stretch


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## stealthq (Aug 4, 2011)

*Week 4: Maybe 3/4 potty trained?*

Kohl after 2 wks. with no trimming. Getting a bit fuzzy-faced and he definitely needs a bath - that's scheduled for tonight. He still thinks kitty might play with him if he just is enticing enough. Sorry, Kohl, Oliver does not want to play with you. Maybe when you settle down some. Raina is impossible to get in the picture. Kohl doesn't want to go too near her - she keeps boxing him unless he's perfectly calm and respectful.

Good news - we've made it a whole day with no accidents just by going off of him telling me when he needs to go. He's usually good (as in letting me sleep) through the night, too. No accidents in the crate, either, which oddly enough has been more of a problem than accidents when he's loose. Guess 2 1/2 hrs. is the most he can (or is willing to) hold it while awake for now and I was expecting too much asking for 3hrs. We'll work up to holding it for 4hrs. so I'll only need to come home from work for playtime and potty at lunch.


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## stealthq (Aug 4, 2011)

*Week 5: Groomed again*

Spending the weekend at my parents (like usual). Thought it would be nice to get some pics of how Kohl plays with their 10mo. old Sheltie, Tucker .

#1: A family portrait
#2: Come on Tucker, we can share the toy! Please ...
#3: GIMME THE TOY! I WANT IT!
#4: (After Tucker wrestled the toy away) Left in the dust again. So sad ... :Cry:

Really, they play great together. Sometimes Tucker doesn't know his own strength, though ;P

Also measured the little tyke - he stands 14" - Tucker's 18". A big Sheltie.


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## petitpie (Nov 16, 2011)

Baby poodle is just worn out! So-oo-o-ooo cute! :angel2:


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## outwest (May 1, 2011)

Really cute! You should put them in the 52 weeks thread. I just finished doing mine and it was fun to go back over the year to watch her grow all over again!

He is super cute. I love how he sleeps.


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## stealthq (Aug 4, 2011)

The funny thing about that last picture is, he's not asleep (if you look _really_ close you can see his eyes are open) and not worn out. What happened just previous to that picture is this (and the two of them play this game a LOT):

The two pups started with a game of 'chase me'. As usual, Tucker held the toy 'cause he's bigger and faster. Tucker slowed down and let Kohl grab it and the two tugged for a bit. Then Kohl planted his feet and pulled with ALL his might. Yeah, that's a no go. Kohl's 11.5 lbs, Tucker's 30 lbs. So, as Tucker pulls, Kohl turned into 'dead puppy'. All four legs go out from under him, he dropped to the ground, limp but still grabbing the toy and Tucker dragged him around as dead weight. He looked like the rag-end of a mop . Eventually his grip gave out and he's left behind. He lay there for a couple of seconds looking annoyed (*snap* there's my picture), then jumped up for another game.


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## Rowan (May 27, 2011)

They grow up ssssooooo fast!  He's adorable, which is like stating the obvious. Have you introduced him to the Kool Dry yet?


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## stealthq (Aug 4, 2011)

Rowan said:


> They grow up ssssooooo fast!  He's adorable, which is like stating the obvious. Have you introduced him to the Kool Dry yet?


Oh, yes. I used it for both baths. The noise doesn't bother him in the least, even turned most of the way up. He does not like the cool wind, though. I try to keep the parts of him I'm not working on under a towel so he doesn't get so cold, but he ends up curled up in my lap shivering anyway. Fortunately it doesn't last long - he dried in about 15min from towel dry.


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## stealthq (Aug 4, 2011)

*Week 6(and 1/2): Emergency Vet Visit *

Poor baby. When I went home for his lunch walk, Kohl's left lower lip was swollen - looked like he'd stuffed an acorn between his gum and lip. I was pretty sure it was a spider bite or some such but didn't want to take a chance. This pic is that night after a Benedryl and some Clavamox - the inside of his lip is a bit lacerated. The swelling's almost down, but Kohl's a little sleepy from the Benedryl and the evening walk we took to make up for the ruined afternoon.

This week was our first puppy class. I'm not training the way they instruct - they're positive trainers but I'm using markers and they don't. Plus, they have different commands for some things I've already taught Kohl. But, it'll be great socialization and I'll teach him the same actions. I'll just do it an alternative way. Tricks we've learned in the past couple of weeks:

Sit
Down
Stand
Off
Leave It

Paw (Shake) - likes this one a lot. After he understood what I wanted, he started flinging his feet at me every time he sees me reach for him. Whether I'm asking for his paw or not. Strangely enough, my mother's Sheltie does the same and I was the one that taught him Paw as well. Maybe it's something I'm doing?

Speak - he LOVES this one. I waited until he was barking for attention, said "Speak", marked and treated when he did. That was all it took. He does Speak correctly 100% of the time and will offer it 1st every time he messes up another command (ex. Down instead of Stand) and realizes I'm waiting for him to try something else. I suspect teaching him Quiet will not be so easy.


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## sgeorge (Jul 31, 2011)

Oh no! I'm glad Kohl is alright! There's nothing worse than an emergency visit to the vet.

But it sounds like your training is going very well. And Kohl is so very handsome


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## stealthq (Aug 4, 2011)

*Week 7: More training and screaming woes*

More training this past week - we've picked up three more commands.

Place
Rollover
Come

He's been coming when I called him before, but I wasn't using an official command. Now I am, and he still gets it. It's funny, but when we go to class Kohl barrels into me whenever I call him. Nearly knocked me down this week. He's not nearly so enthusiastic at home, but he doesn't laze around either.

One big problem we're having is that Kohl does not like being put in his crate or ex-pen when he doesn't think he should be there. If he's put up on a schedule in a place he's familiar, he's golden. Totally silent. But put him in a crate at my parents if he isn't bone-tired or put him up at my house at an odd time (say, when I want to make dinner and don't want to risk dropping boiling water on him) and he's a total lunatic just like the 1st night I got him. Howling, growling, barking, etc. 

I'm mostly OK with it - I ignore him and let him out when he's completely quiet and relaxed again, usually signaled by a big sigh and thump when he lies down. I've seen improvement at my place and I believe that he will eventually stop this behavior there. My hope is that he will also stop at their place. My dad is not so patient. He is convinced that if I just went and yelled at him, shook a can of pennies at him, something along those lines that he'd quit. I don't think so. Yelling hasn't worked to quiet their dog when he barks, which isn't often.

Problem is that he's already 'suggested' sending Kohl back to the breeder because of the screaming and I know that if I cannot get Kohl to be reasonably quiet, I will no longer be able to bring him on visits with my parents. That's unacceptable to me - if I can't bring him I will only get to see them for a couple of hours on the weekend and I moved back to DFW expressly to spend time with them and I WILL not give up on that because of a noisy dog. I just hope we can get past this in the next couple of months or I'll have to board him on weekends.


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## stealthq (Aug 4, 2011)

*Week 8: Finished w/ Parvo, Distemper vax*

Nothing much to report this week. 

Finished the parvo/distemper but am holding off a few weeks for rabies. 

Got Crate Games, finally. Am up to stage 3 where we should stay (per instructions) for a while. Need to build enthusiasm for getting in the crate. He's getting in it willingly now and not charging the door when I open it.

Was a star at puppy class this week - Kohl has a superb recall from puppy play. Not surprising - he kept swinging back to my side to check in on me every couple of minutes, then racing back for more fun. Restrained recalls are becoming a bit hazardous for me - he does his darndest to bowl me over every time. Velcro, much? 

Finally got a pic with everybody in it.

Oliver, blue traditional burmese, 2 yrs. old
Raina, red european burmese, 14 yrs. old
Kohl, black spoo, 16 wks. old


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## petitpie (Nov 16, 2011)

What a cute picture and that expression on Kohl's sweet little face!


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## ArreauStandardPoodle (Sep 1, 2009)

Your little Kohl is just tooooooooo cute! He has so much character in that little face! Makes me want another black!


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## stealthq (Aug 4, 2011)

*17 wks. old - First tooth out *

No pic yet, just wanted a record. Kohl's first baby tooth came out last night, an upper front. 

I'm so excited that in another month or two I won't have to deal with crazy-sharp puppy teeth anymore! Hurray!


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## stealthq (Aug 4, 2011)

*Week 10: First professional groom*

So, it's clear that I stink at keeping this up-to-date. I have some small excuse - last week I was sick as a dog. Seriously, I have no idea how I managed to take care of Kohl and the cats at all - it's all an unpleasant blur.

Anywho, in the meantime, Kohl's got his rabies vax, which means that he's good-to-go for the groomers. I plan to do nearly all of Kohl's grooming myself, but I figure that it's good for him to get used to different people grooming him. I want him nicely behaved so I can drop him off at the groomers if something comes up and I can't take care of it myself - like last week, blech!

So, here he is. The groomer did an OK job. I mean, he looks fine, she just didn't do as I asked. Trimmed him to a good overall length, but I asked for a blended topknot and for the groomer to just shave where I had shaved. Instead, she gave him a defined topknot and shaved way outside where I had - especially at the base of the tail (she did about 2", not just to the bottom of the anus) and around the anus so he has a bit of a baboon-butt look. 

And did I mention she is expensive? Oh, yes - she charged as much as I've been quoted for an adult spoo and she was not up-charging for a wiggly puppy or a matted dog. By her own admission he was perfectly behaved so she finished with him much faster than the time she allotted for him. I was originally supposed to pick him up at 12:30. She was done by 11:00. The last thing she said to me is that we'd have to discuss increasing her rate as he grows! Good Lord! He's still got another 5-6" to grow. At her rates, I'll be paying somewhere around $120 for each groom! No thanks. Think our next grooming experience will be elsewhere.


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## stealthq (Aug 4, 2011)

Well, though I'd close this out - again, I suck at keeping logs up-to-date. But still. Better late than never? 

Kohl's passed the 2yr. mark. He's learned to be good about being crated, though it took a change to a metal crate. He figured out he could destroy the fabric one. He's good with my cats and my parents' animals. He's definitely dog reactive, and it doesn't seem like he's going to give that up. He's got some fairly strong territorial/guarding tendencies as well, which I don't mind. He terrifies workmen and salesmen that come to the door, with his lunging and barking and snapping, but he still listens to me. He'll leave them alone and just watch once I've welcomed them inside. There was one exception - he stalked one workman with a constant deep but quiet growl. I put him on a leash just in case. I figured something was off about that man and I wanted Kohl nearby while preventing any bite incidents. Fortunately nothing happened.

Kohl's still goofy and silly. He makes me laugh, and loves that better than anything. He's got this roll-over act that becomes sillier and more convoluted every time he does it - all on his own initiative. Not that I encourage his antics at all . 

He acts like a brainless dork one minute, and is obeying commands buried in conversation the next. He won't ever calm down - I'm pretty sure of that now, but we can deal.

So here he is. My devil dog, a nicer pic of the devil, and the day after getting neutered. Poor baby (he was an angel).


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