Name: Leo
Province: Alberta
Owner: Patricia and Pius

Hi Sue, 

 Just wanted to give you an update on our puppy.  He is a little more than 10 months old now and has learned alot. He is 55 pounds,  very sturdy and well shaped. He is the subject  of admiration every walk we take. I have never had an O.E. with such a beautiful coat. As you will see in the photos, we did have him clipped for the summer and his coat is growing in so silky and soft. The grey is almost a silver.  

We never had much trouble training him. We did make a concentrated effort to get him out as soon as he showed any sign of needing to go. My husband was particularly wonderful about taking him out at night at his first whimper. It wasn't long until he learned where to go, no small feat as he has 2 homes to figure out. He never deliberately peed in the house, just a few 'excited' drips. He never did 'duties' in the house... except once, when he had eaten some flowers he managed to get at, even though they were in a tall vase on top of the kitchen counter. That was quite a 24 hour ordeal for him. Otherwise, he has a cast iron stomach, ate a whole bottle of Tums some months back with no ill effects!  Needless to say, we keep nothing within his height reach now. As you mentioned Sue, he has that 'soft mouth' thing going and has never really destroyed anything. He likes to steal our shoes and mouth the laces etc. but no damage. I do have to watch for pens and my sun glasses. He will chew on those. I think it is because they are a similar shape to his chew sticks. He did sleep on our bed for ages then began once in a while to get down onto the cooler floor. We got him a bed of his own and he really likes that. We take it with us when we are in the mountains and it helps him feel at home. We are all very bonded but he is learning his own independence too. I work night shifts part time and the days I am sleeping, he stays in the kitchen with his gate across. He has the radio, access to water and usually a chew stick and he is as quiet as a mouse. At night he sleeps in our room. As you see from the photos, he is a good hiker. We use a promise collar which has been great. I can actually walk him and forget he's there. He was getting so strong pulling me along up to then. We also recently got him an extension leash which gives him some freedom on our journeys. The hiking photos were taken on a 4 hour hike we took and he was great. He didn't slow down at all. We take him his own water and picnic. His trail mix consists of apples, carrots and maybe some cheese and dog biscuits. He knows to 'sit' when told and he will wait until we put his dish down now, just barely but he is learning. As you mentioned these dogs are really part of the family and he is with us most of the time. He is very quiet and curls up in his spots when we are watching t.v. etc. He still needs to learn to contain himself when we have company. But he is getting better. He is better about it on leash. So many people what to pat him and say hello. He doesn't jump on older people but still goes nuts with kids. It's getting less though, a brief spin and if I push his butt in time he will sit to enjoy his fans. He is very affectionate and I swear sometimes is trying to talk to us. It is quite comical as he has the urge to always have the last word. We think he is very smart and has been able to teach us what works with him. I could go on and on but I will just say he is our sweet boy and I think he is pretty happy. These photos are very large and sideways on our computer and we don't have the means to fix that. Hope you can make them out.  Greetings to all Leo's friends.

Patricia. .......................

P.S. An other example of his good temperament. We had to take him to the 'pet hotel' while we had a huge family function in the mountains. Then we moved at the end of that week. Leo returned home to another new  place. He walked through the place sniffing everything. We took him to explore the wonderful park trails around here, showed him where his food source was, and he seemed to take it as,' whatever'.  As long as he has his 'people', his dinner dish, and a few chew sticks, he is content!  

Hi Sue, 

I hope all is well with you I haven't heard from you since your pipes froze! Trust your days have been better. We finally got our photos of Leo's first w/e.Jan.17. Our friend who scanned them for us had forgotten she had them. Of course at this point, Leo is 3x this size, very tall. I will send you couple of pics by mail. We must get our own scanner.     

Leo is thriving. we are amazed at how smart he is. Of course he has his 'puppy  moments', i.e pulling a long  toilet paper streamer down stairs, getting a velcro roller stuch on his chin,  and chewing magazine pages. That is fascinating to watch, he puts his paws on either side and systematically shreds strips off, doesn't really chew the paper. It is the shredding that he likes.     He can be quite vocal and we try to quietly shhh him and ignore him when he is 'screeching'. It seems to be lessening but any ideas to stop it would be welcome. The biting /chewing thing is still a challenge. We manage to divert him to the proper chewing sticks etc. but he still tends to want to nip at our hands from time to time. 'No' and taps on his nose don't always work.  He has some really big molars through in the back. On the whole he is doing very well; walks very well on leash, is very sociable with people who stop to admire him and rarely has an 'excitement piddle' in the house . In fact, the other night Pius was out of town and I had to go to work. When I came home I didn't know what to expect. He calmly greeted me and had not piddled for 9 hours!  Must go .Hope you enjoy the photos and as I say, hope all is well with you .  

Patricia.