October festivals are popping with cornfield 🚜hay rides 👨‍🌾👩‍🌾and pumpkin patches. 🎃🎃

Our little puppy adventure with our Great-dane-a-doodle 🐕 continues to unfold with a lot of laughter after Hela’s doggy shannigans.

We finally completed all her health wellness💉 visits and vaccinations. It’s difficult to train a 45 pound 16 week old puppy🦮 in your backyard.

We recently went through a backyard renovation and the fresh sod I laid down after 3 hours of grinding work is a one of the things, that she loves to dig up & the grass has really taken a beating. It is a delight; never-the-less, to watch her prance around the backyard since it was meant to be her play area also. She sometimes gets to excited and playfully starts to dig. I plan to start getting her use to playing constructively by being present when she goes outside and not just lock her in the backyard without any engagement.

Research says that it is a sign of anxiety or boredom. Thats exactly what it looks like too. One minute she is bouncing around on the grass and playing with her toys and then the next minute she is digging a whole in the grass and throwing a fit. I wonder if Puppy Bi-polar activity is normal in Great Dane’s or in Large Poodles?

In any event we can now start leash training in public and taking her to the dog park with-out fear. 🐕‍🦺

This past weekend with all the October events happening ; we landed at a local dog park that was having a dog show.

Our family dynamic is complex and we did not enter the contest timely, but we did have a chance so she could socialize with other dogs. Plus! We found the local dog park where we can now start taking Hela out to play with other dogs and get some of the puppy energy out.

Hella is in the stages of displaying personality, and that can be effectuated by general puppy fun or chaotic animalistic behavior, but still all in all just plaful. It brings an uplifting joy to our houselhold watching her prance around our house scavenging for food or counter surfing for anything she can stick her snout into. If you have food in your hand and Hela is around you have to take extra precautions because she is a hungry big (lil) dog and is growing at an extraordinary speed.

Now at 15 weeks she has grown over 50% of the size when we first picked her up.

October 26th Update

The backyard has turned into Hela’s little playground. The plan was to put grass to prevent her from digging in the dirt. However, the genius found out a way to dig up the side of the house where is covered with mulch.

My Peach tree is getting the worse of it all. Everytime I plant a fruit tree feeder, and cover it with dirt and rocks and anything possible to deter her from finding the fertilizer because it could really harm the puppy. She sniffs out the sweet smell and digs it up.

Her appetite has almost tripled and I am going through the 20lb bags every other week to feed her, and that does not include the counter surfing where she swipes food from the counter.

We have start Obedience training, with ‘Give a sit’ Dog trainer. Hela is already smart because of her breed. Thus, she is catching on to the lessons quickly. In as much as, she has learned three of the 7 basic commands.

1. Sit: Teaching your furry friend to sit is a fundamental command that every dog owner should know. 
 ’Start by holding a treat close to their nose, 
 ’then slowly move your hand upwards. 
 ’As your dog lifts its head to follow the treat, its bottom will naturally lower into a sitting position. 
 ’Once they're in the sitting position, immediately say "sit" and give them the treat as a reward.
 With consistent practice, your dog will learn to respond to this command in no time.

2. Stay: The "stay" command is essential for keeping your dog safe and well-behaved. 
 ’Begin by commanding your dog to sit, 
 ’then extend your hand towards them as if you're signaling them to stop. Firmly say "stay" while 
    maintaining eye contact with your dog. 
 ’Take a step back, and if they stay put, offer them praise or a small treat.
 ’ Gradually increase the distance as your dog gets better at staying in place. 
Remember, patience and positive reinforcement are key when teaching this command.

3. Let's go: "Let's go!" is an enthusiastic cue that encourages your dog to move forward with you. This command can be handy during walks or when you want your dog to follow you.
’ To teach it, hold a treat or a favorite toy in front of your dog and say "let's go" in an excited tone. 
’ Start walking, and when your dog begins to follow, reward them with the treat or playtime.
 Repeat this process, gradually reducing the reliance on treats until your dog responds to the command happily.