Chilly Friday...

The field near my house where I've taken Winnie now and then to run around and pretend to look for birds has been cleared a bit more since we were last there. But still plenty of room to explore and pretend.

I love this picture above, and I am glad to get a good one in her current hair-state. Tomorrow she's going to the groomer for a little touch up in preparation for a UKC show she's entered in. Puppy Novice is the class, and it's for dogs under 6 months old. I checked and they also allow clumsy new handlers who have never done conformation shows before. So anyway, things like the whispy hair around her ears will get stripped off, and that's puppy coat which probably won't grow back to the degree she has it now. I can't wait to see her, but I'm nervous too because I love the way she looks now. Tough thing for a girl to pull off: simultaneously beautiful and ridiculous.

I wish I could tell you she was 'on point' in this other photo. She's just sneaking in to investigate some deer poop or something. But I thought she looked great doing it.

Housebreaking's going pretty well.

Now if I can just get her to check to see if the toilet paper's stuck to her foot when she's done...

Bang!

I've never taught my dogs tricks, I'm not sure why. But in our dog obedience class last week we were given an assignment to teach our dogs one trick for this week's class.

Our friend recently taught his Chihuahua to play dead when you point your finger and go "Bang!" He said Toby picked it up pretty quickly, so at the risk of failing and having to contemplate life with a dog less intelligent than a Taco Bell dog, I decided to try to teach this trick to Winnie.

First thing this morning, before breakfast even so she'd be extra hungry for treats, I spent about ten minutes repeatedly putting her in a sit, saying "Bang!" and then guiding her into a down with the treat in my hand, then gently rolling her on to her side and giving her the treat. Probably a dozen times doing that and then I left it alone for several hours.

Later in the afternoon we were doing some other training in the yard and I finished up with a few more of the play dead exercises. At this point she was already beginning to anticipate being rolled over on her side, and she would lie down and list to one side. I knew we were close!

So I brought her inside and in two more attempts with Sandy witnessing, sure enough Winnie rolled over on her side all by herself!

Whether she'll do it in class or not is a different story. Maybe I should bring my laptop in and just play it for the class...

Some of Winnie's Siblings...

The last time I saw any of Winnie's siblings was the day I picked her up. That's Winnie in the yellow on the left. But as Winnie has grown and changed and inexplicably gotten dorkier, her brothers and sisters have grown up too. Peg, the proud breeder of this beautiful bunch, sent me some recent pics of some of the others. You can see them all on the Seraphim Kennels web site.

Schnitzel.

Gracie.

Chris.

Bitz.

Annie.

Stacking is Hard!

Before digital photography, how did anyone ever get a photo of a puppy stacked up showdog style? We took about forty pictures of Winnie and this mediocre shot is the best of the bunch. Certainly would have been a couple wasted rolls of film in the old days. Her back feet are pointing at my two next door neighbors and her tail is actually missing.

Anyway, trying to practice because, just for fun, we'll be entering a UKC puppy novice show in a few weeks. All of a sudden, a few weeks doesn't seem like nearly enough time! Maybe we'll luck out and there will be a Personality phase of the competition...