Feeling frisky

This morning was a milestone day for Sweet Pea! As usual, we walked to the dog park to play with other puppy friends before heading out on our short hike on Bobolink Trail. Sweet Pea surprised us all by actually playing and running with the other dogs! Look for yourself!

As if this morning wasn't amazing enough, she and Fuff showed us that they are really getting along these days. In spite of the occasional hiss or growl, they co-exist quite peacefully. Hooray!

Sweet Pea also accompanied me to PetsMart (Bruiser needed more crickets). Her weight is now at 87 pounds! That's down 1.4 from Sept. 10. Hooray! Granted, this is a different scale than the vet, but as long as the numbers are going down, we'll take it!

Hooray Sweet Pea! Hope you continue to frolic this way every day!

3.4 pounds down!

Hooray hooray! From 91.8 two weeks ago to a slender 88.4 today, Sweet Pea is losing weight! She is down to 1 cup of dry food in the am and pm, and about a quarter cup total of teeny treats for training. We are so excited for her!

The vet will return in a month to check her progress, but at almost 2 pounds of weight loss a week, she's doing great. Perhaps her metabolism just needed to be kick-started? I can't believe that she is getting so little food - she is now eating what Ole, at 49 pounds, ate most of his life. And he didn't eat diet dog food! Poor dog. But she's happy and seems fine with it all.

water loving dog

She trots more on her walks now and has taken to swimming around the water holes we frequent mid-day. She's still a chewer; she chewed through her collar last night and has gotten into the mitten bin, so we are trying to be extra careful about leaving things around that she can get into.

She still has her morning crazies. Every morning after the alarm goes off she starts whimpering and will do anything to get us out of bed! She even chases a ball in the morning. She is so funny. I hope that when she is down to a healthy weight she will have that happy energy throughout the day.

We need to schedule another Basic Manners class for next weekend although she is doing really well at "Target" and responding to her name. We even have her off leash on the trails now because she doesn't stray very far from us and will come back to us when we call her name. Bonus!

She will chase squirrels, we discovered, so we may discontinue the Gentle Leader, which can give her some serious whiplash if she were ever to bolt off unexpectedly. She doesn't pull on a regular throat leash at all (Well, if I'm around...)

She still needs to know where I am at all times. Paul is a close second, but I'm #1. I wonder why this is, as I still think of myself as a cat person. Oh well. She's a sweet sweet dog and we're so glad she's ours!

First Hike

 On Labor Day, we were scheduled to go on a hike with some friends. Rather than a toughie, we settled on Sanitas, where the energetic among us could hike to the summit while the rest of us could meander along the trail.

Sweet Pea did great on the trail, sticking close by us and interacting with other dogs in a mellow manner. We stopped twice in the shade to offer her water, then the group split into two.

Waving off the summit-ers, Sam, Mae, SP and I took a nice long rest in the shade before walking back along the higher, shadier section on the trail. Our plan was to beat the others, run to the store for more water, and meet them back at the trail head.

Almost immediately after starting back, SP lay down and wouldn't get up. She was hot and tired and darned if she was going to keep this foolishness up, we felt like we could hear her saying. A kindly young mother gave us an entire bottle of water (yes, she had been drinking the entire time but by this time our water was running out so extra was awesome!) which we poured into her water bowl and on her back and head to cool her down.

I admit I was a little worried. How in the world was I going to get this 90 pound dog down the mountain? Had we overtaxed her? Was she going into heat exhaustion? My sweet children gave up their water for her - how long would they stay so patient?

We spent probably 20 minutes in the shade while she cooled off. And then, miraculously, she got up and trotted down the trail. We didn't stop til we got to the trailhead and immediately drove to the store for a gallon of water (and more snacks. Of course!)

SP finished off about a half gallon of the water and then happily dozed at the foot of the trail in the shade while we waited for Ted and Paul to meet us. We all felt badly that we had obviously worked her too hard and she spent the rest of the day napping.

Last night around midnight I awoke to a terrible smell. The poor thing had had diarrhea, luckily on the hardwood floor and not on the carpet! We cleaned it up and sat with her for a while to be sure she was "finished," then returned to bed.

She seemed fine this morning and had her regular walks today. Let's hope she continues to improve, and for heavens sake, we need this heat to break! Poor dog.

But, all in all, a super fun hike and we know she'll do better next time when we go on a cooler day! We love you Sweet Pea!

First Day of School

Today Sweet Pea went to her first day of Level 1 Basic Manners class at the Humane Society. She did surprisingly well. She enjoyed the treats and seemed to catch on quickly to what we were asking of her. She learned to look at me when I said her name, to sit, and how to target. These basic skills were taught pretty quickly and I bet she'll be a pro in a week's time. She was remarkably uninterested in the other dogs which meant she paid attention to me quite well. When she was supposed to relax and chew on her bone, she just curled up and went to sleep. Cutie!

She did have a moment of being over it though and that was funny!

It's fun having a treat bag around my waist again. She's going to do great! Happy first day of school, Sweet Pea!