Ken sent me some updated pictures of Lola...she is such beauty! I can't wait till she comes home. 3 of the longest weeks ever!!





Not much training done today...finished decorating the 2nd floor & put up the tree. Penny's not feeling real well and has been very sluggish. She's eating OK so it's possible she's till tired from yesterday. We'll have to take a trip back to Debby's soon!!

I took the dogs over to my friend Debby's today to give them some play time. Both are in serious need of some socialization and I'm just too leary about the dog park to take them back. Debby has 3 dogs (Merlin, Kera & Siri) and one foster (Trent). Here's their Xmas picture:

(From left to right: Kera, Siri, Merlin)

Sherman & Penny know Debby's dogs well, but neither have met Trent. He's a pit/sharpei mix & is just a sweetheart. I knew he & Penny would get along great...and they did. He liked to chase her & she likes to be chased. A match made in heaven. But my little Sherman...he's such a punk. All he did was chase after Trent, growl at him & try to hump him. Sherman has MAJOR little man syndrome. He has no manners & insists on being the boss. Fortunately for Trent, Siri was playing guardian & kept body blocking Sherm and getting in his face telling him to Back Off!! I guess Siri's giant teeth were all he needed b/c Sherman listened to her. He did try to find ways around Siri...but my boy's kind of on the stocky side and has trouble cornering. So he didn't get much of a chance to play bully.

We stayed for a couple hours and they pups were exhausted when we got home. They slept all night!

A tired dog is a good dog, indeed!

Penny was particularly snarky in today's class. She had some kind of bug up her butt. But other than that she did very well. Her heeling in improving and I could tell the attention work we had done during the week really made a difference. The little bugger didn't take her eyes off me. We had some problems w/ the down stay (She does great till Shelley "knocks on the door"...then the watchdog kicks in!). She did the recall beautifully. I need to work on quarter turns and really stressing that heel is a *position*. We also need some work on finishes. I rely too much on luring. So that's what we'll work on this week.

In the evening I cleaned out the 2nd floor kitchen & set up the puppy room. It's going to work really well. Sherman decided he should be the one designated to test it out (keep in mind Sherman has never been crated.)


Penny was supervising.

The last few days have been uneventful. Ate too much over Thanksgiving & did a lot of slugging out. We didn't get the snow here as was called for and yesterday it was 67 degrees! A cold front is coming so I spent some extra time last night taking the dogs on a longer walk.

They were pretty bad, actually. Well, scratch that...they were bad the 2 times we passed another dog(s). It was mainly Penny (as usual) and once she flips out, she's hard to get back under control. I know I should be doing a lot more work w/ her on this. We do a lot of everyday basic manners stuff:

Waiting at doors
Waiting & staying before I put their food down
Stop & wait on walks
Stays in the house
Lots of sits
Drop it when playing
Out (as in Get out of the kitchen)
Off (as in get of the couch, bed, me)
Recalls from outside & all over the house
and probably lots of other stuff that's b/c it's so routine, I don't notice it.

But I don't spend a lot of time on specific behaviors/commands. Things I need to work more on:

Improve attention w/ distractions (Both)
LLW (Penny...I've been so lazy w/ this. She's got a great heel, but I use the Easy Walk and have never commited to the LLW. I know it's gonna be a battle now b/c she's gotten away w/ it for so long ).
Stay (Sherman)
Stand (Penny)
Finish (Penny)

New thing for the dogs too, will be not sleeping on the bed. We're starting this soon as 3 dogs in a quees sized bed won't fly. Sherman is gonna have a fit but he'll get over it.

Meanwhile...the Steelers lost :o(. I actually stayed up till 11 and then called it quits. The pups were all geared up for the game & everything!

I just caught some pics of the dogs "Guarding the neighborhood". They keep a close watch from the front deck.

I was sick Monday & Tuesday...I actually left work early on Monday & slept from 2-5:30. I'm feeling better today...just in time for Thanksgiving. Debby & I are supposed to go hiking on Friday, but I'm not sure if that's the best idea. I really want to go though. I've never been to Moraine State Park and it would be a blast.

We're having the first major snow fall today. We're supposed to get 3-6 inches by Friday. The ground is covered now. Snow is so much fun!

Here are some pics of the pups last year in the snow...







They love the snow. This winter will be particularly fun w/ a puppy in the mix!

Woke up Sunday feeling sick. Scotty must have given me his cold. I spent the morning running around like an idiot. Went to Sam's & got a new dog bed, some pig ears, rawhides & a big bag of cat food for Mom's feral colony. I know lots of people frown on pig ears & rawhides, but I give them sparingly & the dogs love 'em.

Got home from shopping & pretty much slugged out for the rest of the day. Steelers lost, so I was depressed after the game & took a nap. The pups very depressed too...Penny couldn't get out from under her terrible towel.

Penny missed class today b/c Shelley was at a show & they asked me to assist. It was a lot of fun and I got to work w/ a bunch of different dogs. There is so much to learn. I know what works for my dogs, but every dog is different. But I'm trying to surround myself w/ lots of trainers & observe lots of classes, b/c I learn something new in each one.

So I ordered a bunch of stuff from Dog.com & it finally came today. I've been hearing a lot about these Cuz toys & how everyone's dogs are going nuts over them. So I ordered 6. Well the spoiled brats could care less. They did, however, love the giggly toys I bought (I got 6 of those too). 2 lions, 2 bears, 2 puppies.

Here they are playing with their new giggly lion:






I started looking around at my house & realized how many things these dogs had. Spoiled indeed!

Today's order (6 giggly toys, 6 Cuz toys, 6 Bully sticks, 6 Braided Bully sticks):



Here's their "downstairs" toy basket:



And their "upstairs" toy basket:



And I haven't even taken pictures of the Kong Basket...that will take a whole post in itself.

Why do we have such good stuff????

"Because we're very good puppies"!!



I just love these dogs!!

Orientation tonight at the shelter. This is a new procedure where we are doing Dog Walkers Only. Even though I've resigned as Ambassador, I agreed to help w/ it.

Great idea…

The VC gave her two weeks on Tuesday and her heart wasn’t’ really in it. Which left me to do most of it. At least she showed up to do the P&P part b/c I have no experience w/ that section of orientation. I got through everything but these poor people are clueless as to what comes next. When can they walk dogs? When to they get their buttons? When are the forms due? Well *I* don’t know. The whole thing was kind of a disaster. Hopefully the next one will be a bit more organized. Ugh!

I hate the full moon. Turns the dogs into little monsters. And turns people into dumb-asses. Actually, the people are probably always dumb-asses. The full moon just makes them worse ~sigh~.

Our walk was fine till we hit the main street in Avalon. It was pretty crowded and I saw a little SharPei before they did. I knew they’d flip so I moved them off to the side into a drive way. Made them Sit & Watch me, which worked for about 10 seconds. The guy walking the SharPei had it on a flexi and as the dog got closer, my dogs went nuts. And what did the guy do? He just let his dog run to the end of the flexi toward my dogs, as they are flipping out. IDIOT! I yell “Excuse Me!!!” and he comes back to earth, reels his dog in & gives me a dirty look. I tell him he’s rude & we go on our way. They were fine for the rest of the walk.

Guess I have more Attention work to do…

It's the last of the warm weather in Pittsburgh. It's supposed to go from 70 to 48! In one day! Fantastic Football weather. Not so good for our daily walks.

The pups & I had a wonderful 40 minute walk around the neighborhood. They were very well behaved,for the most part...we did a lot of Stop & Wait. Also more SITs at the intersections than usual. Mainly b/c at the first stop...Sherman refused to Sit 4 times. So annoying b/c he knows SIT very well. Once he finally realized we weren't going anywhere till he did, he finally Sat & I made him wait for 30 seconds or so till we moved again. Penny sat the whole time...my perfect Angel, at least for that night.

The breeder sent some pictures of Lola @ 2 weeks. She is so tiny! Her eyes are finally open.

I can't believe I have 6 more weeks till she comes home!

It's a beautiful Indian Summer day here in Western PA...just got back from the park w/ S&P. They love the park...I really don't take them enough.

Penny & I had a great class this afternoon. She really has come a long way. We got to class late & jumped right into a heeling pattern. Penny went with the flow w/o a hitch. There was a choc. Lab next to us that looked so much like our former neighborhood bud, Sammy...Penny wanted SO much to play. But he was working & that was a good distraction for her.

She really impressed me when we did Sit & Down stays w/other dogs Heeling around us. Penny can get so distracted from another dog(s) Esp. when they stop & Sit right beside her. A quick glance & eyes back on me. She did so well. I think my giant grin may have been the only praise she needed. But the JACKPOT of liver she got after Staying next to a dog she really doesn't like, helped a lot!!!

Oooohhh. My first post. I don't know if this is the customary thing to do b/c this is my first blog. But I'd like to introduce myself, my best friend and my dogs.

Me: Jen, 32 yo, Aries. I live on Jackman Avenue in a suburb of Pittsburgh PA (USA) called Avalon. I share my life with Scotty, Sherman, Penny & (soon to be) Lola. We have a big, old 100+ yo house which we're in the process of renovating. I am an Executive Assistant and have worked for the same company for 8 years. We just recently moved our offices less than 10 minutes from my house. I may die at that company...for convenience sake alone. I have a younger brother (Kevin) and two loving parents. For the most part I'm pretty boring. I watch a lot of stupid TV and spend lots of time w/ my dogs.




Scotty: No...we're not getting married anytime soon. And no...we do not want kids. Scott & I met at work, fell in love & moved in together after 6 months of dating. He puts up w/ a lot from me. I'm big on Talking, Planning, more Talking, making plans & lots more talking. OK...there's more to the relationship than that, but after 5+ years, we still laugh everyday & although I'm a giant PITA...he somehow finds that charming.



Sherman: Our first dog. A Rotti/Aussi/Terrier/Basset Hound/Shepherd/husky mix, he burst into our lives in August 2001. We went to the BCHS looking for a Rotti & came home w/ Sherman. He was caged w/ another dog, much larger than him but he kept pushing his way towards the front to be seen. I wanted to look at his kennel mate (a beautiful yellow LabX) but Scott insisted on the little guy up front. Sherman walked right into the "Meet & Greet" room, fell to the floor & demanded belly rubs. Scott was smitten & so was I. He quickly became a Momma's Boy and was the perfect choice for two clueless kids wanting a dog. I love this dog w/ everything I have and he really changed my life forever. He's far from perfect, but he was a great starter dog...housetrained, OK to leave alone for 8 hours a day, good w/ people. Shermie has his quirks...he doesn't like most other male dogs, he's bossy, demanding & stubborn, he's food obsessed & he's a bed hog. But for all his faults, he's taught me so much & he'll always be my perfect little boy.



Penny: Sweet Penny w/ the floppy ears and stubby legs. A friend sent me pictures of Penny b/c she knew we wanted a companion for Sherman. I sent them to Scott & it was all over. Scott didn't want another dog, but was very taken by this skinny, doe-eyed little girl. Penny was at an Animal Control facility and I didn't even get to meet her before I signed the adoption forms. But when I picked her up...she was all I'd envisioned & more. Her world revolves around Scotty and she loves to wake him every day w/ 100 kisses. She's the biggest flirt ever & loves to strut her stuff for the men in her neighborhood. Penny had a very serious leash aggression problem that we've overcome from private lessons & LOTS of group obedience classes. Penny has earned her CGC & will someday be a great therapy dog (we just need to get through the Supervised Separation). She LOVES to learn & really makes me look good in class. She's so very smart & motivated & has taught me SO very much.



Lola: Much more to come on this little girl. I went to see her when she was 6 days old. Such a spunky little thing even then. She comes home on 12/23...which seems like forever!!!