Guess what....

...I have a humper on my hands.  

So I already knew my little sweet Kepler was a confident guy.  He will happily approach a group of 10 adult dogs with his tail held high.  But until tonight I didn't know just how frisky he was.  He decided that it was fun to try and hump Flash, an 18 month Beagle X Jack Russell Terrier that I am taking care of.   Numerous times I had to pull him off of Flash and numerous times Kep jumped back on him.  I tried giving him time outs, which seemed to help a bit, but he would still try and mount Flash once in a while.  The two boys play really well together, but once in a while Kep couldn't fight the urge.  This is a new thing for me as Zeus and Tycho never really humped.  

A confident puppy is a great thing, but is my guy too confident?  When Tycho was a puppy he would submissively roll over to any adult dog that he met.  He was always playful with other dogs, and still is, but never confident.  Tycho also got beat up quite a bit when he was a puppy which sure didn't help with his shyness.  Nowadays he can be a bit of a grouch with other dogs, but I attribute that mostly to his bad hips.  Poor Tyke has very severe hip dysplasia that forced him to retire from agility over a year ago when he was approaching age 5.  Now, with a low dose of pain medication (meloxicam) he enjoys his daily walks, but can't run through the forest like he used to.

Puppy Tycho

My worry is that a confident 10 week old Kepler will turn into a bossy adolescent Kepler.  Thank you to Jody, Faren and Erika who keep assuring me that confidence is a good thing!  He plays very well with other puppies.  Jody took him on a play-date this week with Poppy a 4 month old Spaniel X and he also met Layla a 3 month old German Shepherd X at the park the other day and played very well.  Not bossy at all!

Warning cute puppy pictures below

"Kepler!  Off the table"

"But why, I look so cute up here, plus I bet I could reach some treats!"