FETCH!

  

I just stepped into this century and got an iPHONE!!!  Whoo hoo! This is big news because I have never had a smart phone only a "purty smart" phone with many limitations.  One of those limitations was the ability to take decent phone photos.  The second day of being an official iPhone user, I tried out my camera on my favorite little redheaded subject. I was very impressed with the quality of the pictures especially the action shots of Sophie running.  I love me new phone! 

 

 Have a wonderful day! :)



Dachshund Training Continues

In a previous post, I told you that the weenie and I have been participating in beginners training at PetSmart.  Last week, we worked on "Leave It" given some distractions and "Paw" or Shake.  Each week we are supposed to go home and practice some of the things we learned.  We are supposed to do our homework twice a week, but Sophie is extremely motivated by food (Pup-Peroni) so we can do one longer session. 

Here is a clip of part of our training session.

Sorry for the poor quality and... the sound of my voice.

Tomorrow night we are supposed to learn 2 tricks of my choosing and "STAY".  I haven't decided what I want to do yet so any suggestions are welcomed.  I will post a video when she has mastered the next commands!  (Hopefully soon).

Have a Happy Day!

UPDATE:  This week I have started my first big girl job as a Registered and Licensed Occupational Therapist.  Whoo Hoo!

Rematch

I'm Getting Married?

After being engaged for almost 2 months and visits to several venues, by golly I think I'm actually going to get married!  The place is beautiful downtown Wilmington, where I lived for a brief time.  I love everything about this town and am sad that I had to leave. 

The wedding will be in September of THIS year which gives me a little anxiety, but I know we can make it happen.  The purple star in the map to the left represents where Chris and I live in Greenville and the blue star represents my family.  Ofcourse, the red heart is Wilmington!  I see a perfect little triangle!  I am super excited to finally be moving forward and making this thing happen.  Please stay tuned for more updates!  I'll leave with you some pictures my mom took in Wrightsville Beach as we left Wilmington last weekend.

Have a Happy Day!

                      

Walkin' in a Weenie Wonderland... Or Not

For the past 3 weeks, Sophie and I have participated in Beginners Obedience Training at PetSmart.  It is a 6 week program and we meet once a week.  This has been a very interesting experience so far.  Sophie is almost a year and a half old so we are getting started at this a little late.  Chris (the fiance') wanted our stubborn puppy to be better behaved before we all have to coexist together in a few months. 

The first week of training, we worked on the commands "watch me" and sit.  Sophie generally has a good grasp of these two commands.  The second week, we concentrated on leash walking and greeting strangers appropriately.  I specifically asked about kids because Sophie is NOT a fan of little ones even though they LOVE her.  We practiced approaching a young girl in the store, but ofcourse Sophie did wonderfully because there were treats involved and the little girl did not squeal.  Last week, we worked on "leave it", "drop it", "take it", and "lay down". 

I went to my parents' house this weekend for some wedding planning and rest/relaxation.  Sunday turned out to be a beautiful day so my mom and I called up my brother and headed to a local park to walk on the trails.  I was feeling pretty confident about Sophie's training, so I thought this would be a great chance to show off her new skills.   

My mom was going to park in a parking lot away from most humans, but she missed the turn and we ended up parking by all of the playground equipment with easily a dozen squealing children.  I was already thinking this was going to be bad and so did Sophie because she was already starting to freak out before my mom even put the car in park.  As soon as we got out of the car, it started!  BARK, BARK, BARK, BARK, BARK, BARK!!!  Ofcourse, in the moment, I did not take a picture, but it looked a little like this...

My mom and brother's reaction. 

Needless to say, I was extremely embarassed.

 The kids did not seem phased by her barking and continued with squealing.  I had to pick her up, get her away from the kids, and give her some OT deep pressure to get her to calm down.  My mom and brother left us so we could chill out.  We ended up catching up with them after we calmed down.  Sophie did great walking on the leash after that initial craziness (minus one passing dog incident).

 

It is hard to be mad at this sweet face, but I will definitely be reporting this incident to her trainer tomorrow night.  Have a happy day! :)



The Hunger Games

I NEVER thought I would be saying this, but I started and finished The Hunger Games Trilogy.  I'm not typically into the 'Fantasy/Sci-Fi' genre.  I am definitely NOT a Twi-Heart (AKA Twilight fanatic) and I have no interest in any of those books or movies.  Vampires, werewolves... WHAT?  I only started to read the Hunger Games from a recommendation from my mom who typically doesn't like this genre either, but said it was really good.  So I ordered the first book on my new Kindle Touch (love it) and could not put it down! 

I'll give you a brief synopis-(NOT A SPOILER) We are in the FUTURE and USA no longer exists because of wars and depletion of resources.  It is now PANEM with the Capitol and 13 districts.  District 13 was destroyed because it attacked the Capitol. In the Capitol's attempt to discourage the other District's from rebelling, they created the Hunger Games.  Each District must send 2 tributes, 1 male/1 female, each year to the games.  All tributes are teenagers.  They are put into an arena where they fight to the death leaving one Victor. 

I told you it would be brief!  I definitely do not want to give any more information away, but this trilogy definitely lives up to it's hype!  After I finish a book or series, I get post-book depression.  I don't know what to do with myself after so much time has been consumed in the lives of the characters in the story.  Is this a normal way to feel OR am I just really strange? 

Anywho, I do not have to be too depressed because the movie is opening in MARCH!!  March 23rd to be exact.  My mom already planned a date to go see it!  I'm so EXCITED!!!

Check out this trailer!!

Have a happy day! :)

Happy President's Day!

Disclaimer:  This is by no means a political statement.  Just a lil' fun to celebrate President's Day! :)