12 Weeks Old!

Time is flying by, and, yes, we are having fun! Bandit's been a member of our household for just a little over three weeks now. We can see growth in his legs and face, and overall body size, and we often get glimpses of the adult dog he'll become.

At 12 weeks Bandit can be a bit of a barker. We're working on this the best we can, but we still find that often times barking means Bandit's tired and needs a rest. If it's what we consider to be out-of-control barking, we put Simba's litter box on top of the clothes dryer and put Bandit in the laundry room for a time-out. Sometimes a bark or two means "I'm outside and I'd like to come in now." It's helpful when we know what the barking means.

Bandit does pretty well on a leash now and is much better at name recognition. He's got "sit" and "lie down" down pretty well, so we're incorporating "roll-over" into his routine. Roll-over is going to take a little time, but he does seem to know he's supposed to do something once he's in the lie-down position and is being asked to do something else. We're also teaching him to "speak," and he does that really well. The trick will be to counteract a request to speak with a request to "be quiet" or some such command to quit barking.

Bandit's favorite toys at this point are his Lambie (who has one ear which is a particular favorite thing for Bandit to chew, and is a dark dirty little ear because of it), and anything that we can throw a good distance for him to run after and retrieve (Lambie again, and his red Kong).

No progress to report on the relationship between Simba and Bandit at this point, though Simba will often come downstairs and just stare at Bandit while he sleeps.