It was worth a try

So, Cole's jumping on the furniture problem has continued and it doesn't seem to be getting any better. Shawn and I read a lot about training dogs on the internet. While searching for "how to keep your dog off the furniture" I came across the idea of putting pieces of aluminum foil on the furniture you don't want the dog on because dogs hate the texture of the foil. Since this method seemed to come up several times, I decided to put it into action. I ripped off a big piece of foil to cover the whole seat of the couch. Now I should tell you that Shawn did not think this would work AT ALL. He thought Cole would LOVE the foil and just rip it in a thousand pieces. So anyway, I put the piece of foil on the seat of the couch, Cole walked over slowly and then.....ripped the piece of foil into a thousand tiny pieces. Damn it! We're right back where we started. But, I captured a few pictures to prove Shawn right.

S'more

Here are some more pictures of Cole from about two weeks ago.

Make like a tree and get the f*** outta here!

Shawn planted our Christmas tree in the backyard, but he couldn't wait several more Christmases to plant others, instead we bought five 7-8 foot Douglas Firs to plant next to our first one. Eventually we would like to put another row of trees in front of these. Sometime this spring we'll be putting a split-rail fence in around the yard, but it's not going to enclose the trees. Take a look:

Cole and I played in the yard while everyone else worked:

His new little thing

Can you guess what Cole's "new" thing is????

Yep, it's hilarious right??? NOT! He jumps up so quickly now that we're pulling him off of the couch or chair instead of preventing him from getting up there in the first place. It's unfortunate though because as soon as he jumps up he's completely relaxed, and as much as we want him to be relaxed, we definitely do not want him on the furniture.

Here are some more pics of Cole from the weekend.

Class of 2009

Cole graduated from Puppy Kindergarten tonight! He did so well in class, and we even won the sit-stay contest!!! Cole was also dubbed the class clown because he does have a tendency to talk when the teacher is talking and is easily distracted during assignments.

Here's the graduate! (and take notice to his ears)

On a sad note, my mom & Mark's beloved dog, Mae, was put to sleep yesterday evening. If you had the chance to meet Mae then you know she was a really great dog who loved people (not so much other dogs) and swimming in the pool. We miss her so much already.

Jack of All Trades

I have to say since Shawn has been out of town Cole has been very helpful around the house. Cole picked up right where Shawn left off!

I caught Cole doing some bills! If only he could pay from his own account!

Another day, I found him shaking the dust out of the floor mat! Whatta guy!

The next day he even ran an errand for me to buy a couple of cards at Target! He's so thoughtful.

For my birthday, he helped my mom set the table for dinner & cake with a special birthday tablecloth!

Cole will even turn the channel to my favorite TV shows!

I don't know how he does it! He helps out so much around the house and he still has time to exercise!

It's so nice to have an extra pair of paws around the house.