9 months old today!

9 months old

I can't believe Knightley is 9 months old.... that's 3/4 of a year!! It isn't long at all until he's a year old. If I were a puppy raiser there wouldn't be all that much time left, assuming I was giving him up at a year old like with most programs.

It has been a good long while since I have posted many photos of Knightley, so today I went and took a bunch to record his 9 month birthday. All the photos can be enlarged by clicking on them. The main change recently has been in sheer bulk - he has really filled out in the chest and doesn't look all that much like a puppy anymore. His weigh in last weekend put him at 31kg (68lbs), so he's certainly getting up there in weight. The other change has been in his feathering and coat in general... especially his tail and hind legs. He is certainly going to be a well feathered and furred dog, as he is definitely very furry already!

These are a couple of photos comparing Knightley now to how he was at 14 weeks old.

Knightley today lying in much the same place as
he did nearly 6 months ago in the next photo.

Knightley all fuzzy and cute at 14 weeks old, lying in the same
place as the previous photo.

Knightley sitting today, 9 months old.

Knightley sitting at 14 weeks, he was so cute... what happened!

Knightley may not be so cute anymore, but he is becoming quite
  the handsome dog. Today was a beautiful day, it's really starting
to cool down here and the leaves on the deciduous trees are falling
(it's autumn in the southern hemisphere).

You can see in this photo how furry our Knightley is beginning to
get! Especially his tail and hind legs...! His coat won't be fully grown
until he's at least two years old, if not three years old.

Knightley gazing at birds as he sits in the sun.

Trotting around happily in the sun as I struggle to get a good
photo!

He's really really growing up now, as you can see. Very soon he will be a year old, it will be time for hip x-rays to check for signs of hip dysplasia, and I'll know if it's full steam ahead for more advanced training. I had heard of so many dogs owners that had horrible times at the 7-10 month old period, and I was worried that we would go through that with Knightley... especially because Knightley is still 'intact' so he is going through some pretty severe hormonal change at the moment. However, so far things are going well.

We still have some resource guarding issues, although they are less than previously. While he doesn't care at all if I put my hands near him if he is eating kibble (he has eaten kibble recently once or twice), big chunks of red meat are another matter (as he is raw fed), although we are working at it and things are definitely improving. Occasionally he'll also grab bits and pieces inside that house that he shouldn't have that he doesn't want to give up (although he is giving them to me more readily now). While I know how to deal with it, it's a little hard to convince the hubby to never just reach for whatever Knightley might have. Instead, I'm trying to get hubby to trade for whatever Knightley may have got.

We're doing lots of practice with assistance retrieves, and I think giving up items as part of a controlled retrieve gives him opportunity to get over this bit of resource guarding. He has absolutely no problem when it's part of his 'work', so I'll just keep practicing. He is getting really good at helping me when we're inside, and he's able to pick up all sorts of tricky items - although when he fails several times in a row on a new item he will starting barking with frustration (which is actually kind of amusing when you see the look on his face, ie. 'how DARE you defy me you stupid shiny flat thingy, why won't you just GET IN MY MOUTH ALREADY!!!'... the barks are mixed in with all sorts of moans and grumbles too, it can be so funny, it's like he's trying to talk - oh and the shiny flat thingy was a hand mirror he had trouble with yesterday). It stops when he figures out the item, though, and he's always seems to be happy to be able to work out how to pick it up more easily. To those people who still don't believe that animals have emotions... they should look at my teenage pup!

Anyway, it has been a wonderful 7 months with Knightley so far. He has made a huge difference to my life, and I'm looking forward to a lot more time with him.