Puppies and Possibilities: cute

Showing posts with label cute. Show all posts

Monday, April 7, 2014

Hey look, a real blog post! Didn't know I was capable of it -- and on a Monday night to boot! But, in all seriousness, Moray has had a busy week, months, and year so far!

One of Moray's most exciting things of the last few weeks has been a road trip with my family. We traveled 12 hours in the car each way, and he was a fantastic traveler and sidekick.

Hanging on his pillow.

Pit stop and water-drinking.

This was his first big trip, and actually his only one besides a trip for our CCI puppy raiser workshop last summer when he was only 14 weeks old! It really stretched him as he had a lot more "working time" than he is used to, and every single place we went to was new for him.

"Hotels are fun!"

Moray got to visit with several of our friends' dogs and have play time with them. Although, making sure he had enough play time and down time was definitely a challenge since the weather did not always cooperate. We got creative!

Like running between my mom and I up and down 3 stories of stairs in the hotel!

And Fetch in the room!

A friend's dog, Lola, and Moray.

We did have one set back for the week. Moray had been running with a friend's dog in their yard, which is partly concrete. We are always careful, and he seemed fine when he was running and even when we left to go to lunch. Once we got back to our hotel, however, we were noticing blood all over the carpet. Moray plays hard, so hard that I haven't had to cut his back nails for months becasue he wears them down himself. It turned out that he had worn four of them down so far they started bleeding uncontrollably. Thankfully, the hotel was fantastic about it, and even though they were not a pet-friendly place, they were so nice and felt so bad for Moray. Some styptic powder and "new skin" for slightly scraped paws, and he was fine.

Moray thinks "Dancing with the Stars" is a good way to unwind!

One of the things that was so funny was Moray's complete and utter LOVE for my brother in law. Moray is always friendly and happy to meet people, but I have never seen him take to someone like he did Curtis. He was so cute (and a little naughty!) following him around, and trying to figure out what his beard was! It was so instant, and so precious!

The rest of our week there was filled with visiting at friends' houses, going to restaurants, stores, and even the mall. Moray was very good the whole time! This was by far his biggest challenge. While he is confident, he is also pretty laid back, and doesn't necessarily need -- or want -- to be "working" all the time. He was so good on all his outings, and showed he is capable, and becoming much more reliable in his good behavior. Yay Moray! I will admit I was kind of nervous to see how you would do, but you really proved yourself! he is well on his way to becoming an amazing assistance dog!

"Look how small and out-of-the-way I can stay!"

We also got to do some educating on service dogs and laws that give them public access. Yay for open business who want to learn, and a perfect little ambassador in Moray!

Sleepy head after a loooooooong day!

"Where we headed next?"

AWESOME job in a crowded coffee shop.

Cutie Patootie at the mall!

"Under!"

"Up!

So stinkin' cute!

Nice loose leash, Mor!

Bowling is boring!

So focused and good!

SO sleepy on the way home!

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Wordless Wednesdays: Brothers and Best Buds

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Wordless Wednesday: No Paparazzi Please

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Puppy Adventures

(Tonight's post comes to you courtesy of inclement weather causing the cancellation of tomorrow's classes, which means no homework to finish right now!)

Once a month the raisers and Canine Companions puppies in my are get together. We now have three puppies on program in my area (insert happy squeals). November's meet-up took place at our outdoor mall, and was exciting because it was our newest puppy, Hardy's, first time with us.

Hardy, with Young in the back

We practiced calm greeting, settling, and took a walk -- stopping periodically to work on our skills: from "sit," to "jump," and everything in between.

Left to right: Moray, Hardy, and Young

The puppies were at three months, seven months, and eleven months, and seeing the differences in each stage side by side was so much fun. I will admit that I had the "bad boy" for the evening. Young is mature enough to know it was working time, Hardy is young enough to be just a little aloof, and my still-unaltered tween was just a little on the crazy side. In his defense, Moray tries so very hard to be a good boy, listen, and keep his attention on me. He self-corrects himself when he breaks his "sit" command, and those eyes just flash back and forth from my face, to the others, to the treat pouch on my hip. So precious! Even at his adolescent stage, he still has such a sweet innocence that I adore. As if he doesn't realize he has the option to disobey me yet. We shall see how long that lasts!