Taking it easy

We haven't done too much this weekend, just a couple of walks. I met a nice person on one walk, but I was not allowed to jump up on him. That's too bad, I think we might have been friends. I have a little extra energy, so I'm using it up by teasing Mikey.


Teasing an old dog is good clean fun. 

Don't bug me when my show's on

This morning I was watching my favorite movie of all time, "Winged Migration". It's so amazing. I've seen it about 10 times. Mom bought me a copy on DVD. Here I am watching my show:

Watching "Winged Migration" and daydreaming of nice fat birds..... 

But mom suddenly gets this idea to go for a walk. I'm all for walks, but when the movie ends, okay? So I decided to go and hide for a minute, figuring she'd forget about me and I could watch my show in peace and quiet. What do you think of my hiding place?

She'll never see me here! 

The new toy

I got a new toy tonight. It's very nice. It has a pocket to hold food. Mom holds it, and if I watch her very carefully and stay in heel position, I get to get it, play tug with it, and then I get food.

Actually I'd rather just skip to that last part.

Here what it looks like:

My new toy 

ATTEN-SHUN!

Well last night it got a little ugly.

We were at our obedience lesson. I've almost got that thing about watching mom all the time. Still if there's something more interesting to see, a guy's gotta look, right?

Well, last night mom learned from our teacher that she shouldn't ask me to watch. It's my job to watch if I'm in heel or sitting in front of her. Whatever happened to free will?

Also, I have to learn to sit straight. I like to slouch over on one hip, it's a lot more comfy. And that way, if I'm on a long sit-stay, I can just lay down.....

Our homework is to practice sitting up on my toes, near a curb or wall. Heeling one or two steps, always to the left (the easy side), with utter devotion and attention and no thoughts of anything else. And last, targeting to a toy holding food. That's gonna be my favorite.

On the road again

I'm writing to you today from the car.

It's a pretty nice car, actually. Mike and I have crates with cushy pillows and little pails of water. We've been sitting here waiting for mom, who's at work. She comes out every so often and checks on us and takes us to the PARK.

I really like the park. A park is like the back yard but much bigger. Sometimes there are squirrels that need to be removed so it pays to be vigilant.

Mike prefers to sit in the car as his arthritis has been bothering him lately. He spends his time mushing the soft pillow mom got him into a teensy tiny little bundle in the corner of the crate, then he dumps his bucket of water on it so it makes a nice mushy mess.

I'm watching!

Tonight we went to the grocery store. I got to train with mom outside the Petco. It is much more difficult to watch my mom when there are other dogs and nice people around. Really, you would be surprised how difficult it can be.

Mike got to go inside Petco, where they know him pretty well. They know he's almost 13 years old, and they give him lots of cookies at the checkout counter. Mike thinks the thing to do is to run right to the cash register as soon as he gets inside the door. That annoys mom if she wants to do any shopping.

My new sister is in here somewhere....

All eight of them are having lunch....

 
Geez I hope I don't get this mouthy one!

 
Mom says you might want to know this stuff: the breeder is Marianne Foote and my sister's dad is CH Raintree Riff, JH. Their mom is Int. CH Winroc On Line JH, CGC, AKC ptd. The puppies are about 4 weeks old in these photos.

I have a CGC too, you know. But you already know how smart I am, as I've mentioned that before. Mom says this year I'll probably get a Novice Rally title. And a cookie.

Sunday nights

Sundays are great. Last night mom and I spent a hour watching Animal Planet. I really enjoy the shows on that channel, they are very interesting.

We also did our homework. We practiced attention (I've really got that down as long as there is nothing more interesting to look at) and front.

On Saturday we went in the car. Mom said we were going to look at a litter of puppies. Mike and I didn't get to go inside, but when mom came out she smelled very interesting. She said that one day soon one of those puppies would come home with us. I think that would be very interesting. As long as she has to sleep in a crate. Big dogs like me get to sleep loose in the bedroon of course.

A perfect day...

Well, I have had a day.

It all started early this morning. Mom got ready for work, but she made mistake and let Mike and I get the car! Wooohooo! We drove a long ways. When we got out of the car I got an obedience lesson! Mom decided to get a trainer for us because she thinks I'm smart enough to get a CD. Of course I am! I got a CD out just the other day and chewed it up.

The lesson was great, and since I'm so smart I got lots of treats.

Mom learned not to give me treats unless I'm looking at her. I'm fine with that. It's called stationary attention. I'm also not supposed to jump or bounce up in the air or wave or anything like that. That'll be harder, but I'll figure it out.

We are also supposed to work a lot on sitting in front, up close, and looking right at my mom. I think we can do that on rainy days.

The weather here in California has been pretty cold and rainy, at least by our standards. So mom took Mike and I to work with her! That is so cool. We sit in the car in our crates. Those crates are pretty nice and we like it there, and since it's cold outside we like it very much. At lunch, we get to go to the park near mom's work and practice our homework.

It just doesn't get better than this.

Finally I get something

Yay! Tonight we finally went somewhere. It was great. We went to the shopping mall where PetCo is, but instead of going into the store we walked around the whole thing to the end of it. I had never been there before, and I was a little nervous and stayed close to mom.

Mike waited in the car. He was not pleased.

When we went home we ate dinner and then we did our bending game. This is where mom has a cookie, and I have to bend around her legs to get it. Mom says this is to keep my spine flexible. Mike can't do this very well and he gets upset when it's his turn. He doesn't have to bend as much as I do, but maybe when I'm 13 like Mike is I won't have to either.

Holidays

We were on a "holiday" last week. Same old same old, except mom was home the whole time. I went to the vet and had a awful time. I'm not so sure I like them anymore, because when I woke up there I had an owie in my back end. Mom says it had to be done and will make me a better dog in the long run. Still not sure what that "neutering" thing was for though.

Anyhow, the net result is that we haven't done anything. I am getting rather bored by this, and have been on the watch for a squirrel to chase or some unattended toilet paper rolls to chew up. So far I haven't been that lucky.

I'm feeling fine though and would like to get back to work ASAP. I do not want to go back to the vet anytime soon however.

Photo Gallery

Teasing an old dog is good clean fun. 


Watching "Winged Migration" and daydreaming of nice fat birds..... 


She'll never see me here! 


My new toy