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!

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! :)



Unwelcome Guests

Sophie and I had a nice quiet rainy day to ourselves so I could unpack some more stuff in my apartment.  There is still more to do.  I can't believe I have so much JUNK!  Anyways..We have only been here in the apartment twice while it was raining and both times we have had a visitor. 

I have named him Henry because I think it's pretty obvious that is his name.



I knocked on the sliding glass door to make sure he was alive and he gave me the most annoyed catlike look.  How dare I disturb his slumber?  Well he had bigger worries... Sophie.

 

Okay so maybe Sophie was concerned about this unwanted guest, but Henry was not amused.  He was just trying to get out of the rain and get in a little catnap.

Henry is still not interested, but Sophie is trying to find a way to get to him!

Her typical, if I put my nose in the door crack and sniff loudly and repeatedly, maybe it will open.   NOT.

Henry may have been Sophie's unwanted guest, but as I was documenting our fluffy our visitor, I noticed this large saltine cracker-sized spider (yes I do realize that's an odd comparison, but hey that was my first thought and it works). 

Henry left as soon as the rain let up, but I'm sure he'll be back this weekend because we are forecasted to get some more rain.   The spider who I will now call Cracker lives to see another day mainly because it was too cold outside for me to put forth the effort of squishing him.  I am tired of cold and looking forward to SPRING!!  :)  Have a happy day!