# 52 weeks of Magnus



## X skully X (Nov 21, 2021)

Hello Poodle Forum!
This album is for my guy Magnus. He is a black (possibly blue) male standard poodle.
born September 14, 2021
Adopted November 19, 2021
My mother and I went on a bit of a road trip to pick him up, the night before it had snowed for the first time and we were concerned if we would make it all the way to our destination. It ended up not being a problem and the drive was beautiful. Made me feel like I was getting an early Christmas present 🎁


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## X skully X (Nov 21, 2021)

the first week together was a big change for my whole family. Bringing home a puppy is a giant responsibility, bringing home a very large nippy puppy with zero manners takes dedication lol. With a choice of five different puppies, those first few days I often asked myself if I made the right choice…. did I bring home the pup that would fit best with us? Would my kids really be able to handle this challenge with me? Was I asking too much of my husband with the extra responsibility I just dumped onto his plate? (Like he didn’t have enough to do already 😂) two small dogs is a pair. Three dogs is certainly a pack situation.
I didn’t voice these concerns out loud. I kept my doubts to myself and talked to my family often about how I expected them to behave with our new pup. To ask me for help if he gets too riled up and nippy. How to redirect his attention (teeth) to a toy and to seriously walk away if they get upset or angry about a hard bite (that’s no fun at all) 
Thanksgiving marked almost 1 week full week together
























After a week he started to relax and was getting the hang of daily routines with us.


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## X skully X (Nov 21, 2021)

Today marks two full weeks together (though it feels like a month has gone by) this Tuesday he will be 12 weeks old (3 months) I have a bell hanging from my back door to help potty training, which he has been great about. I picked up some extra tasty dog treats and a clicker this past week and I can see all three of the dogs are responding well to it. Why I didn’t try clicker training in the past seems silly now that I have one, I can see it’s going to work out great not just for Magnus but also for Nova and Finny as well.

































Magnus goes for his vet check next week and will get his second set of shots. I’m looking forward to bringing him places with me. I walk my other dogs every day and feel kinda guilty leaving Mags behind but when needs must!!! My sister was nice enough to give me her small grooming table so I’ve been hauling Magnus up there and brushing him down every day to get him used to the table, then yesterday was butt shaving day for all dogs LOL. Magnus got his face and butt shaved. He slept through his feet getting shaved that first week home but being alert and on the table was a whole new experience. He did really good and his face looks very cute 🥰


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## X skully X (Nov 21, 2021)

He thinks these dog puzzles are rad. I put it out for him when I serve dinner. Keeps him happy while we eat in peace. I’ve never liked the dogs giving me the eye while I eat. Perhaps I’m food aggressive lol.


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## Oonapup (Oct 16, 2020)

Welcome to you and Magnus! He's super adorable and reminds me of Oona around this time last year!


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## Minie (Oct 4, 2021)

He is so beautiful.


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## X skully X (Nov 21, 2021)

Resist temptation


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## X skully X (Nov 21, 2021)

Well Magnus got his second set of shots and he did fantastic at the vets office. 18 lbs and some odd Kilograms that I can’t remember exactly. I’ve another appointment for the end of December. I was going to ask about when to get him neutered since I have done that with all my previous dogs, until I saw a few posts here on PF about doing so before they’ve matured at 18 months. So I think I’ll hold off on that for awhile. I’m in no hurry. We have been walking around the backyard on a leash and he gives me these crazy eyed looks like he can’t believe we need to do this in the yard that we freely jump and play and poop in. Getting a good routine down now. At this point he is nearly twice the size he was when I brought him home. I have no great pictures of him right now haha! I don’t think about pictures in the moment only after we are sitting and relaxing so I’ll have DH take some this afternoon while we work on some voice commands fingers crossed we can get some non blurred ones. Hope everyone is having a great holiday season so far!


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## X skully X (Nov 21, 2021)

13 weeks old. Moved on from a harness to a regular collar. He is doing well on our walks. Frequent stops to sniff the air or fences. Any odd sound or distant dog sounds, makes our walks a bit longer but worth every second to watch Magnus just soak in all the new experiences. He is such a fun fella. Really love this guy more and more. This morning was our first snow. I was pretty surprised when I woke up. Magnus sniffed and explored but it was before the sun was all the way up and we were both hardly awake. Our second trip out into the snow was much more exciting. Last night we gave him another bath and used the new forced air dryer. He is extra fluffy now! Trying to brush while blow drying is harder than I expected 😂 especially his legs! I’m sure I will get better at that with practice. Even if I managed to straighten all his leg hair yesterday, this morning’s snow surprise would have curled his hair back up anyhow. Haha.


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## 94Magna_Tom (Feb 23, 2021)

Did Magnus like to taste the snow? Elroy liked licking/eating the snow during his 1st encounter 🤩!


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## X skully X (Nov 21, 2021)

Yeah he has been eating big mouthfuls off and on all day! He is a lot of fun to watch.


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## Mfmst (Jun 18, 2014)

Enjoying Magnus’s pictures! He looks black to me. If you see a brownish cast to his fur in the sunshine, blue is in the future. As I tell everyone with a Spoo, get a flirt pole. No high flying exercise yet to protect their joints, but a great training and passive exercise piece of equipment for lousy weather and when you are exhausted.


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## X skully X (Nov 21, 2021)

@Mfmst at first I didn’t see any brown hints but after several baths here I can now see those brown hints. His mom is an apricot (who came from a couple here who has a red female that bred her to a black and white parti male, _both health tested_ ) and his dad a cream a tan parti. _also went through testing_ these pairing were done by a few locals with their pets. I know the owner of Magnus’ dad very well and she insisted on the health testing before agreeing to stud her dog, Here are a few pictures of him. He was black and white as a pup but almost looks like a tan/grey now.

















he is so handsome lol. The whole reason I wanted a poodle was cuz of this guy. So happy I got one of his pups. So yeah, likely that all the black boys in the litter will end up clearing to blue. Another member had mentioned that in my introduction post, had they not pointed it out I wouldn’t have thought about it. I’m pretty new to the world of poodles.


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## X skully X (Nov 21, 2021)

You know what I really love about these pairings? The dogs have amazing personality! Sweet and affectionate, very smart dogs. No signs of high anxiety or other behavioral setbacks that might make things more difficult on the dogs. No signs of health problems down the road is always a relief as well. Still two pups left in the litter and I really hope and pray that they get good homes.


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## X skully X (Nov 21, 2021)

I had to go look up what a flirt pole is 🤣 
We don’t run in the house here, too many fish tanks. The fishes do not appreciate mini water quakes so rain snow or shine playing outdoors is the only way to really let loose. Good thing he is ok in snow. I thought about one of those tug toys that suctions to the floor….. I have one whole room dedicated to my fish. If I take down two of the 40 gallon tanks I think I’ll have room to set up my grooming table 😆 gotta make sure I’m not blowing dog hair into the aquariums. Doing water changes on that many tanks is already pretty constant. Any kind of accident and I’ll be in there all day fixing things.


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## X skully X (Nov 21, 2021)

Magnus is officially 15 weeks old today. He weighed 26 pounds at his vet appointment yesterday. So far he knows how to sit, lay down and leave it. Working on stay for longer and longer time frames. We can get him to stay sitting for a solid 60 seconds before he pops up. I’m leaving the gated area open during the day now, last week the open living area seemed to mean it was play time for Magnus but now that I’m giving him a bit more freedom to roam he will come to the couch and settle down without trying to bait the other dogs into a long winded play session. He is even letting the cat walk by without getting up to follow her which for me is a HUGE win. The cat is just SO interesting after all….. 
the cold wind blowing through here is absolutely biting!!! It’s been a real snuggle fest around here. I broke down and ordered a flirt pole yesterday afternoon, and a tug toy that suctions to the floor, and an indoor agility course kit, and some mushers secret foot pad wax 🤣🤣🤣 
Magnus is awake most of the day now with a quick power nap in the afternoons so I wanted to do some more things to keep away the boredom that will eventually creep up on us now that winter is in full swing. I’m expecting January and February to dump lots of snow, which I love…. The wind though…. Brrrrrr 🥶 
And now a few pictures…..


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## Porkchop (Sep 2, 2019)

What a cute bundle of puppy! Part of the fun of puppyhood is shopping. At least I enjoyed that part! How are your other dogs adjusting to having a big little brother?

I wanted to make a quick comment since you mentioned he’s awake a lot of the day. You might need to start enforcing some naps during the day. Puppies should be sleeping 18-20 hours, for both mental and physical development. An overtired, overstimulated pup is not fun to deal with just like a cranky toddler. Since you have other dogs and a cat, these naps might need to be in a quiet area away from the other pets. Otherwise there is just too much interesting stuff going on outside the playpen or crate where they are supposed to be napping. Maybe he is already getting his naps during the day, just wanted to mention this!


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## X skully X (Nov 21, 2021)

Thank you @Porkchop. I appreciate all advice and will take a heads up on anything! I’d like to think I’m a pretty good pet owner but the older I get the more I realize how much or how little I actually know. I have definitely gotten the brunt end of overstimulated puppy tantrum. 
I guess my above post was a little vague. Magnus has been with us for about 5 weeks. DH and I talked and agreed he is getting around 15 hours of sleep a day. DH works a swing shift so takes care of things at night while I sleep. When we first brought him home he would sleep a few hours then play a few hours and so on…. Trying to convince a puppy that playing at 1 am wasn’t awesome, was difficult the first few weeks, for DH Haha. Now he will sleep 5 hours wake up for a potty break and then go back to sleep until 6 am. I get up let him potty and then he will sleep for a few hours in the morning while I drink coffee and get the kids breakfast and rolling for the day. Then dogs get a good breakfast and a good round of playtime. Then the power nap late afternoon. Magnus is awake during the day and basically sleeps all night and most of the morning. So he is still sleeping a ton, it just isn’t sporadic like it was. Its a much more normal schedule and I’m thrilled. It’s nice that he can be awake during the day and be calm, affectionate and mildly curious instead of going from 0 to 60 in 3 seconds flat. The booster shot from the vet pretty much knocks him out for the day too. Last booster and rabies are being done in January thank goodness. I’ve gated off my kitchen, which also leads to my laundry room, this is where he feels most comfortable. I have a chair and table set up there and my DH basically has a little office spot in the corner, it’s a big room and our kick it spot so Magnus is almost always with someone. Opening up the gate to let him roam the rest of the house is a big big step up. Why is carpet is so tempting to pee on? I’ve shampooed my carpet four times since he came home 🤣 but I can totally see the potty dance coming now. The other accidents happened mid play time, jumping around one second peeing the next with little warning 😆 now if he even looks like he wants to sniff the carpets we are running outside. Not to many accidents, I’d say we’ve been pretty great about that and he will ring the bells on the door now too. Not ALL the time but certainly better. 
now my little dogs….hmmmm. Nova is my little blonde girl she is 6 and she is awesome, she mothers everyone and readily accepted Magnus into the family. Fin is my little black and white boy he is 5. Now Finny Foo came from a family that tried getting a dog for their 1 year old daughter…. They worked all day and left him in a crate and then punished him for messing in the crate while they were gone for 8 + hours a day. Pretty sure the little girl grabbed him a lot and tugged on him. He was around 16 weeks when I brought him home and it took a lot of TLC to get him where he is today. He wasn’t thrilled to have a new dog in the house, but after two weeks I had them playing together and getting along ok, Fin is still pretty grumpy sometimes. The afternoon power nap is a good time to separate all the dogs and it gives the little dogs a break from a very large playful pup. It also gives my kids a break. They are in middle school and elementary school. They don’t really remember my big dogs very well, plus by the time I had kids my big dogs were older and very mellow. Big puppy big teeth lots of energy, I kinda feel like we are all in puppy training school right now. Trying to teach my kids how to play safely with Magnus and teach Magnus how to be careful with my kids is all a part of daily routine now. It’s ultimately why I decided to get the flirt pole, keep hands away from puppy teeth will be easier with the flirt pole. My daughter is a little intimidated by Magnus and I really want her to enjoy having a big dog. Baby steps….. it’s a lot of work but worth every minute. 💜


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## X skully X (Nov 21, 2021)

Winter break has been so so fantastic. It’s so nice having kids home all day and DH took vacation from work too. Sadly it’s back to the grindstone soon and our daily schedule will be a tad different but not much.


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## Porkchop (Sep 2, 2019)

Sounds like you guys have a great set up and schedule happening. 
Awww, that’s so sweet that your Nova mothers everyone. Sounds like a great dog. And Fin is lucky to have come to your home, a much better place for him!

I can see why your daughter would be intimidated by an energetic big poodle puppy! I bet in the next year they’ll become best friends.

Enjoy the rest of the vacation time with the family!


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## X skully X (Nov 21, 2021)

Magnus will be 18 weeks in a few days. Getting back into a work/school schedule threw things off from how things worked during our winter vacation. We had some major temperature drops around here recently which made Magnus restless since we didn’t walk during that time and our outside play was cut to short intervals. Thankfully it has warmed up enough that I can handle being out for longer. Some pictures I managed to get from this afternoon.


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## X skully X (Nov 21, 2021)

I managed to shave his feet for the second time. Not as easy to do since he was fully awake for the whole thing. Took me an hour of being patient and reassuring him through it but I managed all four feet…….badly, but I feel like it’s better than nothing and next time will be better. Since the feet took so long I’ve decided to break the grooming into several sessions. Was going to do his face today but the sun was out and we played instead. Worth it. Also….. we played with an apple today too. Just for fun to see if he likes it. Both the chasing a rolling apple and chewing was pretty entertaining for us. I put it in the freezer for another day when he lost interest.


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## 94Magna_Tom (Feb 23, 2021)

X skully X said:


> Magnus will be 18 weeks in a few days. Getting back into a work/school schedule threw things off from how things worked during our winter vacation. We had some major temperature drops around here recently which made Magnus restless since we didn’t walk during that time and our outside play was cut to short intervals. Thankfully it has warmed up enough that I can handle being out for longer. Some pictures I managed to get from this afternoon.
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Love that 2nd picture of the insane poodle snatching the feather!


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## X skully X (Nov 21, 2021)

He loves that flirt pole. It was a great suggestion glad I got one.


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## X skully X (Nov 21, 2021)

Face shaved and freshly bathed and dried 💜


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## X skully X (Nov 21, 2021)

Magnus weighs 33.2 lbs at 18 weeks old. Everything looks great. Next vet visit in 1 year for boosters and a general check up. As of now my vet office is booked out 3-4 months in advance for spay/neutering so I will see where they are at with that aspect when he is a year old. On a sad note… my 17 year old cat seems like she is going through kidney failure. She has been rapidly declining this last week so I’ll be taking her in for her own visit this afternoon. It’s not looking good and I’m afraid I’ll be coming home without her. Might not be on the forum for a bit as this is hitting my family pretty hard. It’s going to be a hard day….


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## 94Magna_Tom (Feb 23, 2021)

Praying for your cat, you and your family🙏.


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## X skully X (Nov 21, 2021)

Thank you 💜


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## X skully X (Nov 21, 2021)

20 weeks old today wow! Can’t believe my guy is 5 month old now. So two days ago we were playing tug with the rope and something fell on the floor, Magnus stopped playing and was looking at it so I picked it up and it was a tooth 😂 I really don’t recall finding teeth from any of my other dogs. Then this morning after potty break and a fresh cuppa coffee I sat at my desk with Magnus curled up next to me he started nosing my foot, when I leaned down to give him some love I noticed something white next to my slipper and it was another tooth 🤣 I was like WOW! I’ve been taking Mags out to walk twice a day this last week and we run that last block home, it’s a lot of fun and Mags can really move. This dog makes me laugh a lot, he can also make me groan with his crazy antics but I just adore my big fluffy fella. I’m proud to announce we have had two solid weeks of no accidents in the house. His hair is getting so long it’s always in his eyes. I haven’t done any clipping on him other than his FFT so I gave him two little pony tails to keep his hair out of his eyeballs, it’s not great but it is doing the job at the moment. I should probably get brave and start trimming back some of this fluff. On another note, the treat bag that clips to my belt is so so so helpful, any time Magnus starts to get over stimulated and zoning me out a treat and a sit command seems to snap him back into focus. I’m so proud of him. Come March my local dog club is hosting some trails in town so I’ll get to go watch the obedience/agility/conformation they are doing. It will give me a chance to check out the club and see if I can start doing Dog sports with Mags. There are a few trainers in my town but neither of them do dog sports so checking out the club seems like a good route to go. Magnus is starting to go brown around his nose…. He likes to dig and stick his snoot into everything but it’s definitely not dirt. Not sure is y’all can see the brown tones. So to sum up this post, I just want to say how amazing poodles are. I’m so glad we brought Magnus into our lives and I see another standard poodle in our future as well.


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## cowpony (Dec 30, 2009)

I love the way you observe him, pay attention, and find solutions to problems. It sounds like you are finding a good balance between letting him be true to his puppy nature without turning into a little tyrant.


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## X skully X (Nov 21, 2021)

Thank you @cowpony that is a great compliment. Made me feel good. It is some diligent work but thankfully right now in my life I have the time to give, and a supportive family. I’ve designated a small 4 ft space for digging 😆 my collie mix loved to dig, especially in water. Kiddy pool in the summer always was a blast to watch him have fun. Can’t wait to see how Magnus reacts to water in a free setting. All he gets so far is a scrub down in the tub. I’m ready for spring already lol.


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## 94Magna_Tom (Feb 23, 2021)

He's such a handsome fellow!


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## X skully X (Nov 21, 2021)

21 weeks
I shaved da poodle. 😂 it’s not great but it’s not too bad either. I don’t have a fluff dryer but the forced air dryer helped straighten his hair better than expected. He still HATES getting blowed around his head but he did a lot better this time around. Goodness sakes it took me 3 days in a row to complete his body and legs. I should shave his face again but he needed a break from me fussing with him. Such a good sport. I was hesitant to trim up his top knot but it wasn’t too bad after all! I think we both prefer not to mess with rubber bands in the bangs lol. I met a wonderful silver standard last weekend while getting groceries. I’m not used to seeing dogs in the grocery store let alone poodles. His human was very very nice and invited Magnus and I to a poodle play date this coming weekend, so I’m looking forward to that! He is training his fantastic poodle to be a service dog and his partner is a groomer who is getting ready for a grooming competition. I’m going to try not to pepper them both with questions while our dogs play 😂 but I’m hoping they can both give me some tips on training and grooming. AKC show coming up in March here and I was planning to go meet the local club and see if it would be a good fit for us. I may even have some new friends to go with me to see!!! Hope everyone is doing well out there…


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## Liz (Oct 2, 2010)

I think you did a great job! Enjoy your poodle playdate! Sounds like you have a lot of resources available to you, which is a wonderful place to be!


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## X skully X (Nov 21, 2021)

Thanks Liz! It’s still pretty cold around here but he has a hoodie so why not?! I miss the fluff but he is cuddling with me for longer than 2 minutes now before he slides himself off the couch to cool down 😂 PTP wasn’t kidding when she said puppies seem to run hot. Meeting the other poodle owner was random and fortuitous. I’ve got my fingers crossed that it works out! They seem like really nice people 💜


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## Liz (Oct 2, 2010)

On one of my first outings with Mia, I randomly met a groomer who worked out of her house. I learned so much from her over the next few years! Fingers crossed you're as fortunate!


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## X skully X (Nov 21, 2021)

Holy cow, I just happened to glance over at the water bowl and there was a tooth in there 🤣😂🤣 This feels like it is going crazy fast! I have quite the collection of milk teeth going on now! I’m not used to this! Every time I find one I’m surprised.


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## Porkchop (Sep 2, 2019)

I kept all the baby teeth I found in a plastic bag… is that weird? Haha! 
They’d just tumble out of the mouth left and right for awhile there. Adult teeth are soooo much less sharp, it’s a relief. puppyhood overall really does go by fast.


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## X skully X (Nov 21, 2021)

I’m putting his in a bag too @Porkchop 😂 I put a date on the bag for the first 3 teeth so I could keep track but I stopped dating it after that. My son said he is pretty sure he ate one and I accidentally stepped on one and crushed it so that one went in the garbage. I don’t recall ever finding milk teeth with my other dogs which it why I was so surprised I keep finding his lol. The one in the water bowl made me laugh!


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## X skully X (Nov 21, 2021)

22 weeks today
Getting better about being around the whole house. Definitely don’t have to constantly tell him leave it or off anymore. I haven’t banned him from the couch and now that he is taller and more coordinated he hops up no problem. These were taken this morning.


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## Oonapup (Oct 16, 2020)

classic poodle pretzel poses!


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## X skully X (Nov 21, 2021)

Right? I’ve noticed this pose a LOT on the forum. It always makes me smile seeing it.


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## X skully X (Nov 21, 2021)

25 weeks
💜💜💜


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## X skully X (Nov 21, 2021)

Posting a day early 
26 weeks

we took a spur of the moment trip to Montana this weekend. The hubby, me and we took Magnus with us. It’s about 6 1/2 hour drive but it was more like a 7 1/2 hour trip since we stopped often for Magnus to potty and stretch his legs. I was really impressed with how well he did. We stayed at a La Quinta hotel over night and It was a great hotel. Clean and modern, super dog friendly. Magnus got to play at the dog park and meet other big dogs in Butte and he did so well. It was fun watching him run around and play and we got to talk to the other dog owners about the area around there. The trip back was much faster and I’m really proud of Magnus for traveling so well. I took more pictures of scenery and the snowy Mt while driving than I did of us or the dog lol. Magnus was on a leash the whole time unless we were in a dog park that was fully fenced and I was more concerned about him going potty and getting back on the road than taking pictures but I added a couple of good pics of us. Wish I would have taken some pictures of him playing with the other dogs but I didn’t really think about it in the moment. He definitely needs a bath after all the mud and snow. Had I known we were going to snowy Montana I wouldn’t have shaved his butt and legs so short! Brrrrrr!


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## Rose n Poos (Sep 22, 2017)

Sounds wonderful!


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## X skully X (Nov 21, 2021)

27 weeks

After being tied to my hip for our trip I’m much more confident in Magnus having more freedom in the house. I’ve been leaving the gate open all day since we’ve been back and we haven’t had any accidents. He will take himself to his spot to nap without me telling him to go settle. I DO have to remind him that the coat nook is off limits but a firm leave it and he will walk away.

Went to the dog park here for the first time and met up with a new friend. It seemed like everyone in town showed up there at the same time. so for about 40 minutes there were 15 different dogs there! Magnus did well with the large group of dogs, but when we went to the other side with our new friend and her poodles he was more overwhelmed. With a large amount of dogs the attention was disbursed. with three poodles Magnus was suddenly the center of attention and it didn’t last long. After about 10 minutes he was done and went to the gate and sat. It was clear he wanted to leave and wasn’t wanting to play anymore. We said our goodbyes and planned another date to meet. After watching him with the other big breeds I can see he has a preference with who he interacts with. He greets new dogs calmly, stands still yet alert when being greeted by the others (rounds of sniffing) and was generally respectful of the signs the other dogs gave if they weren’t interested in playing.

However, on the way home in the car…. While waiting at a stoplight, he growled at people in other cars. I whipped my head around with surprise! I was shocked he felt the need to warn off other people (new behavior) especially since they didn’t seem to be looking at him at all. I wonder if this is the start of a small fear phase, being over stimulated at the dog park or hormonal changes. He hiked his leg for the second time after being home from meeting other unknown dogs as well. Some of the males at the park were of course doing this so maybe he is connecting dots? My little mutt hikes his leg all the time and Mags never seems to take notice so It could be just maturing with a relief to being home in his territory.
Magnus is in the red collar. The other two are around 9 months old. All males lol.


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## X skully X (Nov 21, 2021)

28 weeks

this boy… he has a major jumping on people problem. Especially little girls, he just LOVES little girls and gets so extremely excited that treats and rewards take a back seat to the kids he is totally focused on. It really doesn’t help that people seem to encourage this behavior. I do have new friend that has her own standard poodles that has agreed to help me practice good greeting behavior since she is fairly new to Magnus the excitement of seeing her and her own training experience should be just the combination I need to practice and her help by reinforcing the sit for greeting and petting routine. BUT!….
yesterday while walking home from dropping my daughter off at school I saw one of of my daughters friends parents outside their house (we met over the weekend) they had their Aussie doodle out with them and waved us over to meet with the dogs. Their dog was acting very crazy excited and two dogs meeting on leashes led to us being tangled up so they invited me into their backyard to let the dogs run around and I agreed since this was adolescence excitement and not aggressive behavior. The dogs got along great and had a good 30 minutes of romping about. I did tell them about his habit of jumping on little girls as they had their 4 year old daughter with them and out in the yard with the dogs as well. Let me tell you…Magnus was so incredibly good with their tiny little girl. She called his name in her cute little girl voice and he stopped playing with the other dog and ran right to her. I gave her a treat and explained how to talk to him for commands and to hold her hand flat so he wouldn’t accidentally nip her fingers and he listened very well. She was even able to run around the yard with him and he never once tried to jump on her or knock her over (to my amazement) She was tickled pink that this giant dog was doing what she told him and told me many times how soft and fluffy he was. On the way home Magnus walked calmly all the way back. I kept telling him what a good dog he was and how proud I was. I really couldn’t believe how awesome he did with her. Maybe it was because of her height they were practically nose to nose (she is that tiny) perhaps his instinct told him to be gentle? I’m honestly not sure what the shift in attitude was or why he suddenly behaved differently with her but I appreciated it and I see he can reign it in when it really counts the most. Still going to work on the greeting routine with my friend this week. Hopefully I can get that to sink in sooner rather than later. Not every likes dogs and no matter how big someone is they could be terrified of dogs so this is important to me to fix before it’s just ingrained in his head.


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## X skully X (Nov 21, 2021)

I also need to add that Whoever it is that talks about freeze dried liver here on the forum, I thank the dog gods for you every day now 😂🤘🏻 (This forum has been phenomenal with advice about all kinds of subjects) Freeze dried liver as a high value treat has been a real game changer for us. We just got back from our morning walk and Magnus is giving great eye contact, super responsive to leash tension and is way better about pulling towards people walking our way. Half of my thanks goes to my husband of course as he has been jogging everyday with Magnus and now Magnus is automatically dropping to a sit at street crossings. If I tell him good boy it is automatically associated with a treat too. Just yelling good boy across the yard brings him running even if he is smelling something very interesting. I’m starting a new part time job next week and my husband is also changing jobs so I think I’ll finally have the funds to set aside to start a training class for obedience and possibly rally so we can do some dog sports in our area. (All extra fun funds have been going to high end dog food/treats and grooming supplies) I missed the March dog show but the April show is right around the corner so looking forward to seeing it


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## 94Magna_Tom (Feb 23, 2021)

Maybe when he's off leash he doesn't feel the need to jump on them. 
Elroy's a jumper too. He's getting better. I've found that if I put him in a sit before actually meeting a person, he is significantly calmer.


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## X skully X (Nov 21, 2021)

I definitely see what you mean Tom, sometimes it’s on leash sometimes it’s at our house. I generally ask him to sit when I know someone is coming in, but he only stays for a few moments. It’s a work in progress but thank you for the input. It will give me some ideas to experiment with and see how he does. It’s always helpful to have a different perspective 👍🏻


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## X skully X (Nov 21, 2021)

Magnus 9 months old
💜💜💜💜💜💜💜

I’ve gone back to work the last three months, the kids have been great helping me take care of things around the house and looking after the dogs. Last week we went to the lake so here is Magnus’ first time seeing big water. He got up to his belly and just froze for about 10 minutes. Lots of people and other dogs that day but he did really well. My daughter was able to coax him into playing as he will follow her just about anywhere. 

Magnus now has full access to the house. He did chew up a flip flop about a month ago so I moved all shoes from the front door area to the bedrooms of the shoes owners, It’s been going well. My work shifts are about 4 hours and he has stayed out of trouble while I’m gone so I took down the gate two days ago. The first night I stayed up very late to wait for him to settle down after letting him out that last time. Last night I was able to go to bed with a quick goodnight and a scratch to the belly before I walked off.

He is in desperate need of a shave and a haircut lol. I haven’t had anymore time than a good bath and brush downs. He is definitely starting the coat change so brushing takes more effort. I think I’m going the shave his ears and tail down short, give him a modified German trim. What he needs the most though, is his topknot trimmed down so he can see better. Depends on how long it takes to shave his face and trim his bangs… then I’ll do his ears and tail… then his feet. Oh and he is finally letting me blow dry his head. I made a “topknot pillow” for him and it has really helped him relax on the grooming table.


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## X skully X (Nov 21, 2021)

Turned 1 year old on September 14th


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## BennieJets (Oct 10, 2021)

I love the modified German!! It’s a lovely look! Happy Birthday!!!


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## 94Magna_Tom (Feb 23, 2021)

Well he sure looks excited about it! Happy Birthday Magnus! 🎂🎉


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## Streetcar (Apr 13, 2014)

Happy Birthday 🎂, handsome Magnus!


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## Rose n Poos (Sep 22, 2017)

Happy Belated Birthday Magnus! Wishing you a wonderful year ahead .


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## X skully X (Nov 21, 2021)

Thanks everyone 💜
His topknot hasn’t been this short before, unless
You count puppyhood lol. It seems like the older he gets the faster his hair grows! He looks so tiny with so much hair shaved off, the haircut obviously didn’t change his giant personality though 😂
He really is such an awesome guy, we just love him so much. Thanks again for all the birthday wishes. I’ll try to pop in here and there and show pictures of his coat color changes as he continues to grow 🎉


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## Kukla the Tpoo (11 mo ago)

A belated happy 1st birthday to Magnus!


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