She has her first adult tooth today. One top incisor, with the next one just under the skin surface, hovering like some huge archaeological artifact waiting to be discovered.
I don’t want that quitting thing from yesterday to happen again. I gave her the last meal free. She now has 3 puppy incisors left. Her gums are swollen and so red they look like a sunburn. I can feel the heat from them when I pet her face.
Since she’s a moving kind of dog, we do some moving. I start on the Front Ray and Bullseye. Her Eye Contact is excellent, she gives me 10 seconds as a matter of course. I take two handfuls of kibble, and we work on the Front Ray diagram X 30. Very nice. She’s stopping rarely off my shoulder and when I do nothing but continue to stare at the floor in front of me, she immediately pops forward so she can see my eyes. With the next two handfuls, we work on the Bullseye. Also excellent. X20 and she’s within a foot of my toes. We alternate, one handful for the rays, one for the bullseye. When she’s 95% hitting a half-point-off Front, I start tossing every third kibble between my legs. That straightens her out as well, and when we’re done, we’ve had no frustration, no quitting, the odd grunt when something didn’t work as she wanted it to but no whining. She’s really in the game, and she hit 4 perfect fronts.
Back to chewing on everything.
We do another session on the grooming table. She remembers Paws Up, and lets my lay her down on her side on the table with no fuss. One kibble at a time, I shave her muzzle. She’s perfect. She keeps her head down, lifting it only to take a treat. I take the opportunity to cut a billionth of an inch off her toenails. A bit of fuss over this, but it’s very difficult to fuss and keep your head down at the same time. After 10 kibbles she’s not fussing any more.
She’s making more of a mess now than she ever did as a baby. She’s got every toy she ever had disembowelled and gathered in the living room with stray bits of paper, a couple of leashes, and a few dish towels. The only time she stops chewing is when she’s asleep. Scuba doesn’t need a cue any more, she just sighs, picks up the fluff and puts it in the garbage.