So, it has been almost a month since i updated the comments.  With a puppy -- who has the time?  :)

Ulric's doing well.  Bright eyes, shiny coat, cold nose.  His biting has been getting better, slowly so has his chewing.  He's learned soft-mouth with me.  I've resumed training with him, but only to reinforce and refine what he already knows -- still no new commands and none planned for some time.

Unfortunately, his house training has suffered some set backs.  I think he may be stressing so I will be seeking to increase his amount of walk time and play time beyond what he's already getting.  If this weekend doesn't see a resolution of this issue, Monday I'll make an appointment with the vet to check for a UTI.

Today is his first day that I neither kenneled him nor confined him to the bedroom when I had to leave him unattended.  I did close off the office (power cables), the laundry closet (dirty clothes), and the master bathroom (.  I also took out the trash.  So here's hoping my trust has not been misplaced and that this will reduce the stress he's suffered being confined.

Also -- Ulric lost his first tooth!  I am monitoring closely, hoping maybe to salvage a few of them, especially one or more of his fangs, as keepsakes.  If I can indeed catch any of them, I plan to cast them into a resin block with a note identifying them as Ulric's baby teeth and the day I first noticed he'd lost one.  His entire lower-front teeth are wiggly, as are his front upper teeth.  No wiggle to the molars or fangs yet, but it won't be long now.  I suppose this means I should also start watching his tail for his chevron (for those not necessarily into canines, most GSDs develop their first patch of adult hair on their tail, in an inverted chevron).  I've also noticed that his primary gender characteristics are beginning to grow, which means I will shortly have the equivalent of a hormonal teenager on my hands (yes mother, yes you may cackle now as I get my come-uppance).

While I was trying to do daily updates, I probably can't.  But I will try to be more frequent than once a month.

So, no training of real note today.  Which is fine, I mean... look at the list of things he's familiar with, and he's just over 12 weeks old.  Puppy needs a break, deserves a break, and is getting a break.  Except for needing to continue working on his nippy bitey self (hands, shoes, socks... anything really), I'll be giving only vital commands this weekend -- those that are part of routine, such as sitting before going out, sitting before coming in, sitting and downing before being fed.

I have videos of Ulric getting the newest toy in the collection -- a 18" big bouncy ball.  Why videos?  Well, Ulric was completely unnerved by this ... thing... that just... moved on its own (it's so light the wind currents in the apartment were pushing it around).    He'd approach and touch as long as it was holding still, chase if it was moving away, but if it suddenly stopped or came towards, he'd scamper.  But then I had a bright idea!  Me and my partner got on the floor and started tossing it back and forth and making a good time of it.  We rolled it back and forth.  For a little while, we played keep-away.  Needless to say, Mr. Dominant Puppy was having none of this!  Soon as I put it down, he was trying to figure out how to chew it and lay on it -- and keep it away from my partner and I (which, needless to say, he did not entirely succeed at).  I'll post the videos to the video gallery here shortly.

 

Wow.  First day at work, an all-day meeting.  Mercifully, our group got thrown out of the conference room at 3pm (we started at 9am) by another group who'd scheduled it for that time.  By then, Ulric was starting to kvetch a bit, which is quite understandable since six hours is a LOT to ask of a twelve week old puppy.  However, up until then, he was content to curl up under the table and rest.  However, I had to carry him in and out the first few times.  Then I was able to get him to come in the door and he'd freeze and the entry way, but got him past that and he'd come into the foyer.  He wasn't too sure about the steps but when I set him down a few steps from the top, he made it up just fine.  A mentor of mine has been wanting to make sure Ulric gets plenty of experiences, and today he got TONS of them.

During the lunch break, I took Ulric outside for a long walk and some obedience exercises.  I introduced him to circle-left and circle-right for the first time.  I need to widen my circles a bit, the radius was small enough Ulric stopped about half way through and just turned into it when I resumed going forward.  He is well, well on his way.  I need to get with my training mentor from back home and see if I can get a copy of the eight-week lesson plan we used, either that or just write up my own version, and start scheduling the full hour and getting out with Ulric to do it.

I am so very, very grateful that my employer is being so awesome about me bringing him at such a young age.  However, his potty training is pretty solid at this point.  When I took him outside to head home, I realized part of his kvetching might have been he was holding in a pretty massive pee, which he did once we got to the parking lot.  I was so proud of him for not making a mess (and I'm sure my employer is QUITE relieved).  Tomorrow he'll go to work with me again, but I'm still on an arrangement to work almost entirely from home while getting Ulric ready for longer stretches at work.  I go in MWF for two hours each day.  I think this will help acclimate him even more to visiting places.

I can't believe what amazing skill, intellect and drive Ulric shows... he's an absolute credit to his sire and dam.

So, took Ulric for his first trip into the city, first trip into a restaurant, first wearing of a vest (oy, it was so horrible, I had to make a makeshift vest... in 30min).  Well, okay, okay, I didn't HAVE to but the group I was with called ahead to forewarn them about a service puppy in training coming in and to ask for an out of the way table, and assured them we'd have the dog in a vest..  The PF Changs in downtown Denver and their staff have my utmost gratitude for their kind handling of this situation.  It was extremely awkward for me in that it was my first time handling a service dog, in training or otherwise, in view of the public.  I suppose I will get more comfortable with that in time.

Still, short of two relatively quiet barks, Ulric for the most part laid still, with the occasional shift in position.  A quick trip outside mid meal to allow him a chance to potty was for nothing but he peed on his way there and back so didn't think he needed to potty -- just was better safe than sorry.

Tomorrow though gets to be a whole new ballgame ... first day going with me to work!  ... so nervous...

Doh, forgot to mention he'd also picked up the automatic sit while heeling -- on his own.  Sits a little angled but hey, at least he left me some room to train it to a polished form!

And just today, he picked up gib laut...  which is perfect because now he knows what I mean when I say "PFUI!  Nein gib laut!"  Which probably isn't proper German grammar but I hope anyone who hears me mangle the language will forgive me for the sake of it being used with love.  Guess I should add 'ruhig' (quiet, calm, peaceful, tranquil, silent, etc...) to the list.

So... nervous me... looks like tonight might be his first trip out of the house for out-of-the-house service puppy training.  Never the less, his potty training is spot on, he behaves well, and I've no concerns about him... more worries about "so the team's having this team meeting at a restaurant... are they gonna give me grief?  Can I get or sew a vest with such short notice?"

Even if I don't go to dinner with him... it's fairly well expected that tomorrow... he's going with me to an all-day on-site all-hands work meeting.  Thankfully work's been REALLY cool about this.

*deep breath*  Oy...

As a techie, I just have to take advantage and say: First!

That out of the way -- I purchased Zephyr vom Adel Haus on March 2, 2013 from Adel Haus with intention of owner-training him as my service dog.  When I arrived at Adel Haus, I was able to meet Zephyr's sire, Harry for a while, and I was very pleased with Harry's quality, presentation and personality.  When I was introduced to Zephyr, I conducted the Volhard Puppy Aptitude Test, with Zephyr scoring a 2 on most of the subtests, with a 1 on the touch sensitivity, indicating a strongly dominant dog with low pain sensitivity (http://workingdogs.com/testing_volhard.htm).  On the way home, hours and hours of research for a name culminated in the selection of his call name being Ulric.  This name reflects the ultimate significance of the symbol of the wolf in my life, and means, variously, 'power of the wolf', 'power of the home', and it is derived from 'wulric' which means 'wolf-people'.  To me, it represents also the fact that I will never treat Ulric as though I were a super-alpha, set apart and above the pack, but rather, to be a loyal, loving, and present alpha for him, not apart from the pack but his packmate.

I initially picked an exceptionally poor food for him, but did my research and switched to a prepared raw, FreshPet Select/Vital.  On the initial food, his drive and energy were low and his potty training went to crap (pardon the pun).  However, almost immediately after switching to FreshPet (hours, literally) his energy and drive was back, and within a day, his bowel movements were again regular and his potty training was back on track.  His first vet visit went exceptionally well and he is well on his way to a complete set of vaccinations.  I have not yet had the chance to chip him, however, I will be having him chipped.

In the less than three weeks I have had him, Ulric has already learned:

sitz, platz, stehen (sit, down, stand)
geduld (patience/wait)
hier (recall) with sitz in front
aus (drop it, let go)
nein! (NO!)
hopp  (jump or up)
fuss w/ sitz-in-motion and platz-in-motion
about-turn (Schutzhund style, with handler sharp-pivotting into dog and dog continuing around handler)
such (search)
go potty/peepee
go poopies/(German swear word for the same substance)

This represents most of AKC novice and open, plus most of Schutzhund Begleiterhund Part A.  Needless to say, only three weeks in, he's familiar with these exercises, but he needs polishing and finishing.  I will begin his AKC Canine Good Citizenship prep next, and once that's done, will begin training his service dog tasks.

His potty training suffered at first as I mentioned above.  However, already he has reached a point that I trust him free roaming of the home while I'm here.  I would trust him to roam free in the master bed/bath while I sleep, except that I'm a floor-sleeper and he is chewingly fascinated with my CPAP gear (note to self: need new CPAP mask, headgear and hose).  The nights I've allowed him to try, he avoided potty accidents and confidently curled up along the 'foot' of the bedding.

His first 'baby' is a small purple dragon pet toy plus we've named Draggy.  Ulric rode to his new home in his new kennel with Draggy already in there.  He inherited an old plush long destroyed by my previous shepherd, Ahroun (AKC: Urban's Amatvs SVM, DL784439/03), an odd blue critter that only has stuffing left in his feet, which is called Blue Guy.  Today he also got his first 'crinkly bottle' and has been chasing it around the place making one happy ruckus of it.