Grow, Dog, Grow

This month has been crazy busy, but I thought it was high time for some updates. First, about my special girl dog, B. We entered several trials this past month, and across all the trials this fall, B qualified in 32 out of 34 total runs, including a stretch of 30 straight Q's! I'm still keeping her at the Novice level for a while even though she has now finished all her novice titles, but will probably move her up to Open in a few months.

She has also been enjoying having a little brother to play with. She's been a remarkably good teacher, and it has been interesting to see her in this role so soon after she was the pupil. She is now teaching P all the things that L taught her not so long ago, and it makes me feel a little bit like his legacy is living on.

Which brings me to little P. By the way, for those who said that they will always think of him as "Piglet" - that's fine. We refer to him as The Piglet all the time.

P and B play very well together. They have plenty of wrestling matches which P only wins when B lets him.

But their favorite is to play chase. Some dogs like to be chased, and some dogs prefer to be the chaser, and then some, like B, are happy either way. So far in their relationship, it has mostly been P chasing B. Especially since whenever P tries to take off running, he only makes it a few steps before B catches him. I expect as he gets older and quicker, he may take some turns at being the chasee.

Z is mostly content to watch the youngsters run and play...

But sometimes he will still join in the fun. His gait may be a bit awkward, but he can still run! I think I caught him in mid-bark in this shot.

P has also been reaping the benefit of B having so many nice playmates - he has gotten to socialize with lots of other dogs. So far, he seems remarkably even tempered and confident with other dogs. Nothing much really phases him. He doesn't get overly excited and rude, and he doesn't get upset when he meets other dogs who are overly excited and rude, even if they are much bigger than him.

I took a few pictures the other day of a play date with one of B's friends, the pit mix, who is still just a big puppy himself. It was a smashing success.

P has been great in his puppy kindergarten class, too. He is calm enough that the shy/scared puppies in the class can deal with him, and he doesn't get rattled when the big rambunctious puppies tackle him

We actually have to watch B a little more carefully when her friends come over now - my former shrinking violet now sometimes has to be reminded to not get too rough. She seems to have some proprietary feelings about her little brother sometimes.

Having a puppy has been exhausting, especially with so much other stuff going on right now, but it has been fun, too!

Happy Halloween, everyone!

Nevermind. I am crazy.

How embarrassing. Not even two months after defiantly declaring my sanity, it turns out that I am crazy after all. Dang! Really, though, it is all Mr. Geek's fault. Again.


Meet P. I think he looks like a little piglet, but that's not what the P stands for (although I will admit to seriously considering naming him Piglet.) He's kind of a funny looking little fellow, but I'm a sucker for big huge pointy ears. (Which I think might be how Mr. Geek tricked me.)

He is a little rescue pup, about 11 or 12 weeks old. He was listed as a cattle dog/border collie mix, which may be right - who knows? I definitely see some cattle dog in him, and we were told that he was relinquished to the shelter with a littermate sister who looked like a purebred blue heeler.

My first thought when I saw that big white head was that he was sure to be deaf. I told Mr. Geek that there was just absolutely no way I could take on a deaf dog right now. I guess that he took that to mean that if the puppy could hear normally (which he can) that he could get him.

B has been amazing with him so far. She plays so nicely and handicaps herself - sometimes I wonder if she is being a little too nice. He's a pretty confident little guy. B will correct him if he gets too far out of line, but she's been extremely tolerant so far.

Sometimes I feel a little sad for B that she is not the baby any more. But I'm also happy for her that she has someone to play with again. Since L died, hiking with B changed dramatically. The dogs used to race around non-stop, but when it is just B and I on the trail, she practically does the entire hike in heel position. So when we get back from our hike, I'm just as tired as ever, but she's barely warmed up! Perhaps this new addition will add some of that unbridled joy back into our hikes.

My little girl has grown up so much this summer. She has matured into a gorgeous, happy dog with some pretty good dog skills. (I hope that P will learn some good play skills from her!) Last weekend B and I went to another agility trial. Believe it or not, we had a perfect weekend and qualified in all 12 classes! The trial site was in a rural area, and on Sunday there were shotgun blasts sounding not too far away. Several dogs at the trial were scared or distracted by the noise, but I was happy to see that B didn't care at all - we worked so hard on her noise sensitivities, and it has paid off in spades.

Z is a trooper, even though I'm pretty sure he didn't see the need to get a puppy. He seemed to say, "really? Not another one!" But even Z gets in on the action sometimes, when everyone gets to running.

So, it looks like my course has changed again as P and I get acquainted, and a new chapter has begun. Maybe even a whole new book. It is a little exciting, and a little scary, and I'm not sure I'm ready for it. Rarely does Life wait for us to be ready, though, so here we go!