Small Steps = Big Success

I am in no rush to get these puppies trained to be therapy dogs.  They are well behaved and I would rather take it slow so that they know everything rather than rush through it all.  We are having fun at the same time.  I feel this is important for my pack structure.  When it becomes all work and no play, the dogs take life too seriously.  As of now, I have four well balanced dogs.  No fighting.  No dominance issues.  No being jealous of each other.  They can't take their therapy dog test until they are a year old anyway, so there is no hurry.

I have been working on sit, wait, and come for the month and a half that we've had the puppies.  I wanted them to be completely proficient at it before moving on.  Tonight was the ultimate test.  I put all four dogs in a sit and a wait.  I put all their food down and didn't release them until I took a picture.  They did really well.  I did have to remind Shiloh and Bella once or twice, and even once picked up the food and started all over, but in the end, they did it.

I am very proud of them.

Topher is shaking his paw really well now.  He knows the word "shake" and will offer me his paw before I put my hand down to grab it.  I started working on "sitting pretty" with the puppies.  They are really good at it, but only with me holding a treat over their nose.  Boomer was excellent at "sit pretty."  (He was our foster dog.)  It's a cute command to teach.  People really ooh and aww over your dog when he can sit pretty.

I also started working on "down" with the puppies.  I have to separate them for this one.  Otherwise they are both trying to get the treat.

Other than that, I did nothing today.  I am exhausted.  I don't know why.  I just am.  I went outside and played with the dogs for a while.  I took some pictures using the macro option on the camera on my phone.  This will be my new obsession.  Not that taking pictures isn't already a passion of mine.  I have taken about 1200 of them on my phone this month.  What can I say?  I love my life and like to document it.

I don't know if this is a mom bug carrying around her baby bug or if these bugs are being intimate with each other.  I hope it's the mom and baby option.  If not, I apologize for taking an X-rated photo.  Either way, they are cool looking bugs.

It was pretty warm outside today.  We played outside anyway.

Tanker cools off by the air conditioner.

Shiloh lays and chews mulch.

Topher plays it cool on the deck.

The puppies always come in and lay on the air conditioner vent.

Shiloh decided she needed to work out her jaw muscles and carried one of my weights around this evening.

Wes went for a HIDA Scan today.  He will find out the results next week.  Tomorrow, we have an interview with the volunteer coordinator at Mary Washington Hospital.  We are excited about that.  Promotion results also come out tomorrow.  Wes is nervous, yet he feels confident.  Regardless if he makes it or not, he will always be the best in my eyes.