Adventures of Ace: Corgi Puppy Weeks 14-17

Here we area gain catching up on the past few weeks of Ace's life! I had a small typo as it will actually be the weeks 14-17 since we have already talked about week 13. If you are raising a corgi pup or maybe just love dogs in general I hope this is a fun and helpful read.

Age: 14 Weeks Old
Ace has really adjusted to us at this point and is becoming very open. We noticed that he only barks when he wants attention whether that be from us, strangers walking by, or other dogs. We had our first visit to the Three Dog Bakery and he had a blast! He loved all the fun smells, and we got him a new harness, collar, and adorable OSU bow-tie. At this point Ace is 95% bell trained. He rings the bell whenever he wants to go outside and has not had any accidents. Sometimes he even takes naps by his potty bell so he can ring it when he wakes up. Ace had another round of shots and another de-wormer, but we are on the right track. Ace can consistently sit and is better at "down" or "lie down". He weight about 10lbs at the vet's office so he has almost doubled in size since the first week we had him (wow!) and his coat has thickened out into a beautiful and shiny black.

Age: 15 Weeks Old
We started off this week with Ace's first day of obedience school! We went to K-9 Kinetics in Stillwater, OK and Ace did pretty well. He was not the only pup there, there were about 8 dogs and 16 people in total. We were very proud because for the first time Ace was surrounded by dogs and people in close proximity but he did not bark at anyone! He really showed us how well he can "lie down" and even learned how to get on and off of objects. There were several other things covered in the class, but these were some fun ones he really started to master. We went to the Three Dog Bakery again as a reward which was great! Ace has been having a lot of energy in the evenings when we get home from work so we've started to be more intentional with play time and taking longer walks. It has really shown because he is back to sleeping almost all the way through the night. 

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Age: 16 Weeks Old
Ace had his second week of school this week and he worked on "drop it", "leave it", and "bed". He is doing really well with his training and seems to have a lot of fun doing it. Adam and I have started waking up earlier to take Ace on a 20-30 minute walk every morning and it has helped Ace and us alike. We feel more active and motivated but it also gives Ace a chance to stretch his legs and run out some energy. He also has slept through the night every single night since we started doing it and I think it is because we wake up earlier so he is not waiting quite as long (who knew 30 minutes would be the difference). Instead of using treats for all of our training we've started taking some of his dinner and using the pieces as treats to do training before feeding him the rest, that way he is not overdoing the calories. We also have started trying different bones to help with his chewing habits. We are steering clear of raw hide for now but have been trying some natural fruit and meat bones. He chews through them really quickly but when he gets restless they can really make a difference! During week 16 we also took Ace on his first stay at a hotel. The power went out in our apartment for about 7 hours so at 9pm we decided to get a hotel for the night. Ace did not respond to it well at first, but after about a half hour in his crate he adjusted and went back to sleep. The new bones really helped with this.

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Age: 17 Weeks Old
While school was canceled for this week it did not stop us from learning many new tricks! We worked on "be sad", coming when called (even in busy places),  and "heel"-ing. He has this really cute habit of sitting with Adam and I in the restroom whether it is to go or to take a shower. It feels like he is guarding us but I think it is just because he likes to be around us. We did have to discontinue giving Ace rope toys because he chews them to the point of eating them and they are rough on his stomach, but he does really well with rubber toys. His favorite game is still tug of war or "chase" with the cat. We switched up his diet (the slow integrating way) to the Hills Scientific Puppy formula and his bathroom breaks have become more consistent. We went in to the vet for more hook worm medication and to get Ace's weight and he is up to almost 14 pounds! He has over doubled in size and is now half the size he will be in less than a year. We are shocked our sweet pup has grown so much but he still has quite a bit more to go. Stay tuned for more updates next month!

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