Training = Play!

The little crazy-lady has learned a lot - especially on that particular item from my list: "don't eat me." She may still be a little rough around the edges, but I'm very happy with her progress!

Here's a video showing one of the training games we play which helps her learn some impulse-control. The rules of the game are that she must:

- Not eat me (this is very important...).
- Drop the toy on command ("drop it").
- Lay down automatically when I have the toy.
- Stay down until I release her ("okay").
- Have a good time!

This is a training session, but as far as Brandy is concerned, we're just playing....and that's the whole idea. :)

Brandy!

Hello, Brandy.

Brandy is the new, and current, foster dog.

She's a Lab/Mastiff mix, about two years old, weighs roughly 70 lbs, can destroy any dog toy in record time, and she's...very energetic.

Right now we're working on important skills such as "don't eat me," "stop eating that," and "spit that out."

She's also learning not-so-important skills...like how to weave & do perch-work.

Happy Halloween!

Rainy Days

Fall in the Pacific Northwest is easy to identify; it's when the rain starts again.

Our backyard currently resembles a swamp.

The driveway is coated in gigantic puddles.

The trails where we run are underwater.

The "wet dog" smell never leaves the dog...

Rainy days (or rainy weeks, or rainy months...) like these are a good times to do some mental exercise with the pups.

So, grab a clicker, your pooch, and a handful of cookies and go have some fun! :)

Seafair Hydroplane & Air Shows

Almost every year since moving to the Seattle area we've done Seafair stuff - run in the Torchlight 5k, gone to see the air shows and hydroplane races, eaten disgusting festival food, and so on.

This year, I was out of town.

But, luckily I just found some long-lost pictures from the 2008 events still on a memory card!

So, here you go. And if you don't like planes.....well, sorry.

First, some disgusting festival food:

Then some hydroplane races:

And some air shows:

Never complete without the Blue Angels:

Oooooooh!

Aaaaaaah!

and then PUPPY!

Oh my gosh, isn't he freaking adorable??

He was sitting next to us.

I loved 'im. :)

Oh wait.

This was supposed to be about airplanes wasn't it?

Right, sorry: