Sir Kingsley At Your Service, laying kindly in my lap 6/6/12

Kingsley has been doing wonderful.  Yesterday he met 3 female adults and 3 new dogs!  He is less inclined to greet adult large breed dogs than smaller dogs, but warms up nicely.  Burke, a large and calm black lab worried him the most, and he let out a few woofs but redirected just fine and spent 2 hours with him with no issues.  The other dogs were adult apricot standard poodle Coleman, and 6 month old Aussie, Rayhill.  He didn't play with either of them but was his normal relaxed self!  Within 15 minutes he greeted each person that called him, and the one female showed no interest so he simply ignored her back (lol...)

Kingsley is doing by far the best with staying close to me, and coming close enough for me to pet him - out of all of the dogs i've ever raised.   It is so nice to be able to physically bond with my puppy, and not have them only want to be with me for food or toys!

Kinsgley laying at my side while I did my AM personal care routine

I introduced him to clicker training yesterday as well!  He loved it and after the 3rd click charging the sound he showed a physical awareness that food was coming!  SMART boy!  We did 2 charging sessions then I worked for 3 minutes of clicking when he responded to his name being called.  The treats we used were kibble and blueberry training treats by Two Pups Pastries.  He didn't seem to prefer one over the other (woohoo!) 

He struggled a little more falling asleep in his crate last night (about 20 minutes) and even more tonight (30 minutes, but woke up an hour later and barked again for 10-15 minutes), but such is life in teaching puppies limits and what gets them where they want to be in life!  Speaking of that, he really impressed me with sitting for his meals.  I wanted to ensure he was eating normal so he got two "free" meals, where I only expected him not to jump up on my mom who does this part of life for us.  The third meal with us though, we held out in putting the bowl down on the ground until he was sitting.  This is a behavior I essentially apply shaping rules to.  No words, luring or giving any cues as to what I want - when he does something close, I reinforce with allowing him to eat his food.  Eventually the bowl will be laid on the floor and he will wait for an "okay" to eat.  After only waiting for him to sit ONE time, he has offered the sit EVERY meal since then!  This is really wonderful and shows his ability to retain information!  We will ask for him to remain in the sit just a split second longer each meal now, and further his self control.  How handsome does he look waiting politely tonight?

"Kingsers" sitting for his dinner 6/7/12

And the absolutely BEST update that I have (unfortunately w/ no photos) is that Kingsley not only loves to swim in his water bowl - but also the baby pool we filled for him!! We spent an hour outside today, playing in the pool!  He started out just blowing bubbles under water, then splashing his front paws and before I knew it he was in the pool completely!  It only had 3-4 inches of water in it this time, but i'll keep filling it higher and then we'll go down to Greelin Kennels when I'm sure he's ready!   He just loved living up to his breed name, and splashing about in the water!  It got him relaxed and loose enough to really play with Gretel, which was fantastic to see!  They raced through the yard together, he chased her in true puppy nature and hopped in the pool taking turns one after another!

Tomorrow he'll be taking a day trip with me to my dads, where my entire family is gathering to help prepare for my brothers wedding!  We'll be doing fresh flower arrangements for most of the day, and then having a cookout in the evening.  He'll meet lots of people and my sisters huge black lab, Milo!  I'll bring my popup crate for breaks, and hope to sneak some great pictures in too!

If you have time, please share our Chipin and spread the word about our teamwork!