My Little Green Visitor

Isn't this little guy cute? I couldn't find this specific frog but I think he is a type of American Tree Frog. (My sister Dlyn will look him up for us cause this will drive her crazy)
I found him hanging out on the deck railing the other evening. Just hanging. He was little nervous about me snapping pictures of him.
Then I put a pen next to him to give some perspective and that really gave him a start. He's just so tiny!!!
I was afraid he might jump but in the end let me snap away and stayed to chat while I grilled our dinner.

Its tough Job...

You guys know I am a dog trainer and like any job there good things about it and bad things about it. There are times when I am afraid I am in danger and there are times I am afraid I will be licked to death. But by far my favorite part of doing this for a living is when I do Puppy Temperament Testing.

Last Saturday I tested a litter of 5 Whippet pups. Oh my gosh, you talk about cute? Well just look!


The breeder is a student of mine. You may remember little Lacey the whippet learning the A-Frame back in January. These pups are from another dog that student owns.

The test helps determine what type of home each pup will be placed in. Whether they will live life as performance dogs competing in lure coursing or agility or whether they will be pets and companion dogs for children or seniors.
This is Connall,

and Dancer.

Mom Bridget with the whole family!!! The other pups are Murphy, Sloane and Keaton. Such lovely little pups.
They hardly ever stop moving so taking pictures was a challenge but I am sure you can see they were a delight to work with.
I love that I had a small part helping these little ones to homes where they will be loved members of the family.
Definitely the most fun part of my job.

More fun in the doggie pool

I've been taking a lot of pictures of the puppy since she came home so I need to give the other dogs some blog time.

They all love the pool but its Jackaroo whose antics are the most interesting. Tell me what you think.

I think Beta has the rule book and Jackaroo is ignoring it. He is not supposed to MOVE the pool and it is against the rules to splash the water out of the pool.
All that pool monitoring exhausts a girl.

Kindle's first swim

Kindle had a great day in the yard yesterday but her favorite thing was coolin' in the pool.

Happy Birthday Winee

Our buddy Winee turned 1 year old today.

Happy Birthday Winee, we are loving watching you grow.

Puppy Update

Oh we have been so busy but I have been admonished by my niece Ellyn (go look at pictures of my fabulous great neice & nephew!) for not posting any current puppy pictures. So for our fans, here are a few from last weekend at the agility trial.

Winee and Kindle had lots of play time.






Kindle had a snack


They had a little cuddle time.
Kindle hung out with mom for a bit and then.....
Crashed.

Happy Anniversary to us!

23 years ago Scott and I trudged through the Zilker Rose Garden in Austin Texas and got hitched. It was a hot day and our friends and family gathered to witness the ceremony and wish us well. Even a Japanese tour group stopped to take pictures of the occasion. We are sure somewhere in Japan people show our wedding in their vacation slides.
So we celebrate today marveling we have pulled it off for 23 years.

Happy Anniversary Scott, you're the best!!

More puppy stuff

I have had 7 dogs since I became an adult and each has been a new experience especially since I started formally training dogs and teaching others to train their dogs. Kindle is number 8.
Watching little Kindle grow, change and learn is just fascinating. Because I have specific goals in mind for her, I have started her training with a particular "bend" toward those goals. One thing I desire for her is independence but still a strong bond with me. So I am letting her experience the world with my support.
She is discovering the toys in the yard and is experimenting playing with them. Sometimes she stalks them and pounces on them, but sometimes she is frightened of them and backs away barking at them. Once she figures them out she is crazy for them!

She has also experimented with going farther away from me in the yard. She keeps a good eye on me though and if she gets too far away she comes running back to get her courage. I reward her and send her off to continue investigating.

More tomorrow.

Playtime

I'm in a rush today so just a few photos of Beta and Kindle in their play session yesterday.

Doesn't Beta look vicious?
She is really very gentle with Kindle but a show of meanness keeps an uppity pup in line. And she is not allowed to put her teeth on Kindle so she does a lot of air biting. Very cute really.

They tire each other out nicely too.