Jen Pinder Seminar

I just audited a Jen Pinder Seminar for Novice dogs. It was fabulous, I learned a lot and I have a couple of pages of notes and tips.

The oddest thing ever was many of my fellow classmates received the same advice from Jen Pinder as from our instructor. If our instructor mentions you need to work on your recall, why does it take so much more importance when Jen brings it up as a necessary skill?

It was great and Jen Pinder was hilarious, I highly recommend attending one of her seminars.

Just when I'm totally proud of Marley

I know I'm really lucky to have such a great dog and there are times when my heart overflows with love for my dog.

Marley's recall stopped traffic. Not many of our neighbors are up and about when we take our morning walk and it is quiet and peaceful. Marley was walking ahead of me on the stretchy leash and I noticed a car driving in our direction. I call Marley and we wait for the car to turn and drive away before proceeding on our walk. My neighbor pulls her car over, gets out and said, "you called your dog and she came back." I'm a bit startled. My neighbor continues, "Was that hard to teach?" Now, I'm a bit perplexed and I tell her it was relatively easy to teach and Marley will recall to both sides.

When I'm fully awake a couple of hours later and thinking about this event, my heart just fills with pride in Marley. I'm so very happy she is my dog. Just when I think my heart can't contain this much love for my dog...

Marley behaves like a total bitch. Yep, I said it! I took her to a nice dog park and she proceeded to claim a section of the park as "hers" and she barked at everybody who entered her space; people, dogs, birds and kites. Ugh!

Bored Dog

Marley is very disappointed with my behavior.

There are times when life becomes incredibly busy and complicated. These last couple of months have been extremely busy for me and Marley is not a happy dog.

When I decided to become a dog owner I knew I would spend a lot of time with my dog. I expected to spend time at the park and in classes in addition to providing fun and mentally stimulating activities.

Due to my busy schedule we have had to postpone our Agility classes and our long evenings at the park are now brisk walks. We have missed a few fun events. Blogging has been reduced to once a week instead of multiple posts during the week (I still have a lot to share). We are grateful our fabulous dog walker is still providing Marley with mid-day activities.

Fortunately, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and I expect my schedule to clear up in a couple of weeks. There are a few activities in May we don't want to miss.

I have made some changes to our blog, if you read this in reader or via email, you may want to check it out. I've added a section of regional dog events. If you know of a fun dog friendly event feel free to let me know and I'll add it to our calendar.

Waiting for the Easter Bunny

Marley spent the entire morning waiting for the Easter Bunny; unfortunately he skipped our house this year. I've warned Marley he wouldn't show up if she tried to chase rabbits during our walks. She was looking forward to a tasty rabbity snack.

Is that him? Is he here yet?

Eventually I started to feel a bit guilty and I drove her to an upscale dog park. She made some new friends and afterwards we went on a long walk.

If she avoids chasing rabbits this year, he might show up next year.

Marley the Inventor

Marley is quite smug!

Marley has created two new games and I'm not sure how I feel about my dog being so smart.

The first game is played outside while walking off leash. She'll begin to dawdle behind me and I usually notice when I'm about 10 meters away. As I start to panic, I'll notice she is behind me waiting for me to notice she is waiting. As soon as I see her back there I'll call her and she runs to me, where she repeats the entire process. Today, for extra fun she found some bushes to hide behind (she had a huge grin while "hiding" from me) and she always looks so pleased with herself when she is running my way.

The second game is played indoors in the morning. While I gather my things for our morning walk she'll bring me a toy and wait for me to throw it and she'll bring it back. While it may sound like a game of fetch, it is a bit more complex. When she returns the toy she sets it down about 1 foot in front of me, causing me to move forward to throw the toy. I've recently realized this is her method of making me move towards the front door faster.

I love her innovative play; however I suspect she thinks she is training me.

Celebrating the Sun

According to Marley there is only one way to celebrate warm sunny days.

Walking

Marley and I enjoy long walks; however, we seem to be in a walking rut. To rectify this we have joined a dog walking group. I was a bit concerned about Marley encountering a lot of dogs while on leash. I expected to walk behind the group while Marley became acclimated to walking with the other dogs.

I warned everybody prior to the walk that I did not allow Marley to meet other dogs on leash. I issued a quick reminder when we arrived and everybody was very respectful about allowing Marley some space.

Marley of course behaved perfectly. While we waited she ignored the other dogs and laid down next to my feet. While walking she sniffed the other dogs and continued without any barking or threatening behavior.

The walk was a lot of fun, Marley enjoyed walking in a new park and I enjoyed the brisk pace the group maintained.

Marley doing her favorite thing.