Atlas Update

Today we have officially had Atlas for 2 months. 

It feels like a year, hahaha. 

Atlas will turn 8 months old on the 21st. Still very much a puppy. And still very much an Aussie. 

This dog is a lot of work. He's smart as fuck, but high energy, and very alert. I can't even get up from sitting down without him waking up and being at my heels. Most of that is his breed, but I'm hoping he'll mellow out in time. I don't know. I don't know shit about Aussies. 

So far he knows sit, lay, shake, spin, center, up, get your toy, drop it, and crate. He knows he has to sit at the door before he can go in or out. He's great at taking baths, being brushed, and allowing us to clip his nails and fur on his feet. He loves to play fetch, something none of our other dogs are interested in, so that's been fun. He loves car rides and goes with me whenever I take Tim to school or pick him up. He looks for him when the bells rings and gets excited when I say "There's Tim!" 

He destroys toys, but has yet to destroy anything in the house...knock on wood. He seemed to learn quickly that his toys were in this particular box, and that is what he is allowed to have and chew on and nothing else. So that's nice...being able to leave him with the other dogs and not come home to my house destroyed. 

We are working on roll over and stay. He can stay in place for up to 10 seconds, but that drive to be with his people is so high, he's like nah....I'm not staying. But stay will be a really important one for him to learn, as an Aussie, for when I just need him to stay someplace out of my space. We are also working on getting him to stop jumping up when he is excited. This is the biggest behavior we have to correct. 

All in all, he is a sweet boy. Just full of energy, especially in the morning, and is always up my ass. 

Ehh, I think we'll keep him. 

With love,

Mama Hauck

Fall Hike

With Homecoming festivities over, my favorite month in full swing, and the weather being absolutely gorgeous out, Sammy and I thought it time for some outdoor fun. We decided to take Chunky and Atlas on a fall hike! I really want to do things like this with Leo, but he hates the car so much. And this was a 2 hour drive. I didn't think he'd be able to handle it....nor I. 

We went to the Lewis River Trail. We hiked to the lower falls, and then the middle falls. We didn't wind up hiking to the upper falls. There was a large group of people who were also doing the hike, and it got to be too annoying to constantly be passing them and then having them pass us while we all puttered along at various paces and stopped at various outlooks. 

The dogs did great. This was Atlas' first true hike. We are working on pulling to the side, sitting nicely, and ignoring people as they pass by. 

Sam is gone this upcoming weekend, and I think the rest of the month we are going to try to focus on making more progress on the guest house, so I'm glad we were able to take the opportunity to get out and go on this hike. We will definitely go back and do this hike again. It's worth the 2 hour drive for sure. 

With love,

Mama Hauck