Shelby's Visit

         Since Churry got spayed on Wednesday, I don't have a whole lot of exciting news to say about her, except the night before she got to go shopping with Jordan and myself.  Now, if she could talk, she would probably have a lot to say about that terrible day.  I've never seen a more pathetic looking, agitated, relieved to see me, dog in my life as I did on Wednesday evening.  My mom went with me to pick her up from the vet and it was clear that even a dog knows a grandma when it sees one!  She briefly greeted me, but then went immediately to my mom for some sympathy and told her all about her awful day!  She seems to be recovering very well and thinks it's very rude that I won't let her play rough with her sisters.  

    When we got home from the vet Churry's sister, Shelby, was there.  She is staying with us this weekend and has been a lot of fun!  First of all, Shelby is a big snuggler!  Churry would never dream of sitting still long enough to cuddle with anyone and when she sleeps she prefers to do so in her kennel.  But, Shelby, on the other hand, can't get enough of snuggling with us!  She is such a sweetheart!  Shelby got to take in Topeka Ballet's production of The Enchanting Nutcracker, which my daughter danced in.  She was very well behaved.  She just sat under my feet the entire time.  I wondered what she would think of the dark and the loud music, but she took it all in stride and just hung out at my feet.  It makes me laugh when I think of what Churry might have done if I had taken her.  :)  It's hard to believe a year from now she will hopefully be mature enough to take to an event like that.

Crowded Stores!

     I was feeling quite a bit better today and also very tired of being stuck inside, so after Pat and I had lunch I took Churry on a little outing.  We went to Petco, where she met some ferrets, birds and fish.  Other than some slight interest in the ferrets she was fairly bored and just kept laying down.  So we practiced walking past other dogs and "minding our own business."  She really does not do very fantastic in pet stores for some reason.  She is not very attentive to me and usually is just  rolling around on the ground.  This is the only store she ever does this in.  I think the smell of all the other animals distracts her a lot.

    When we were finished in there we went through Office Depot and Tuesday Mornings.  These were both uneventful and not a lot for her to look at or see.  The last place we went to was Pier One.  The ladies in there were very nice!  It's amazing what you notice about stores when you are practicing with your puppy!  Pier One is a VERY crowded store with lots of tight spaces to maneuver through.  Churry was the best behaved in this store. (Thank goodness!)  She stayed tucked very close to me and didn't try to sniff or grab at anything.   Shopping with her is a lot like shopping with a toddler, except I can't pick her up and carry her!

  I'm looking forward to having some time with her big sister, Shelby, this week, too!  Hopefully, Shelby can give her some lessons about behaving while being groomed!  I hear Shelby loves to look beautiful!

Couches are not for PIT's!

Churry has been having a very difficult week with the couch.  She's not understanding the idea that she's NOT allowed up there.  We've had to work on it a lot this weekend because, once again, I've caught some bug from school!  You would think after this many years of teaching my immunity would be better!  This makes for a very boring weekend for Churry, but we have been working a lot on "Off" in regards to the couch.  It doesn't help when I fell asleep and wake up with her on my legs very comfy and gazing up at me with those huge puppy dog eyes! 
     She's also very sneaky about it.  So I know she KNOWS the rule, just chooses not to follow it.  She will do a "Here up" as invited and sit there and enjoy the petting.  But she will gradually and very sneakily (or so she thinks) get a little bit more of herself up there one back leg at a time and very carefully snuggle her way into me, watching me the entire time to see if I'm going to notice.  So I make her get off and the sneakiness starts again.  As naughty as it is, it sure is cute!

Puppy Gathering

On Saturday Churry got to go to the Lawrence/Kansas City area KSDS puppy gathering.  I love going to these.  I learn very helpful tips and love getting to talk to other puppy raisers and graduates.  Churry loved getting to play with new dogs, although at first I thought she might be scared.  She warmed up after a bit and made friends with her big sister, Shelby, who is coming to stay with us next week!  She also loved playing with Buttercup, who is an adorable yellow lab about her exact age.

After the playtime for puppies, they had to work.  She had to do an obstacle course where they practiced heeling by a wheelchair, greeting a person in a wheelchair, walking through a hula hoop, and ignoring distractions such as tennis balls, food, etc.  Churry didn't do too bad.  She would have probably done a lot better if I would have been behind the wheelchair instead of on her left side.  She is usually the one on the left side so it was a little awkward, but it did give me some ideas for how to work with her.  Then later, she got to practice her awesome Down Stay with lots of distractions.  She did fantastic!  That's her favorite skill to show off!  She ended her outing by practicing her modeling skills for a KSDS fundraiser flyer.  Topeka/Lawrence people:  Keep this in mind in January.  There is a wine tasting at Marcelli's in Lawrence that will benefit KSDS.  Too bad I despise wine!  Sorry Lisa and Mandi!  I'll just sell some tickets.  :) 
     Tonight we took Churry to Home Depot.  I wanted some practice beside a shopping cart before taking her at a time when I actually need to shop.  She did really well.  It was a night and day difference between this outing and her very first Lowe's outing where she was tugging on the leash and acting scared of the singing dancing monkey.  We did revisit those singing obnoxious animals and this time she just sat and watched them.  If I was a better puppy raiser, I'd remember my camera on these outings!    I think I'll do better at getting her pictures when she's older and I'm not totally focused on whether or not she may need to pee! 
    I think Churry is at an interesting age where sometimes she is very skittish about things and some times she is just calm as can be.  The outings I think are going to potentially be stressful for her she is very pulled together and acts very mature.  Times when I think she should not be having a problem at all she is pulling and acting silly.  It's these silly times where she will get startled by things she should be used to like birds or leaves.  Time will tell, but I think Churry's going to be a great partner for some very lucky person one day!

She's thinking, "I'm trying to heel, but this kid won't let me over there!"

Fred!

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Who needs toys when you have dead tree branches?

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But, Churry gets new ones anyway!      Churry has once again got to go shopping!  She gets more new things than I do these days.  She had worn out her favorite toy so I took her to PetSmart to get a new one.  She picked out Fred.  Hopefully, Fred is made as well as her last toy because it lasted through a good two months of her non-stop hard chewing and rough playing.  She did really well in PetSmart except for in the toy aisle.  She's as bad as a kid!  She wasn't grabbing anything, but whined several times.  I can't decide if it's because I wouldn't let her play with the toys or because she was bothered by something!  She really wanted to play with a tire toy, but I wouldn't let her have it because it was $25.00.  I told her maybe she could tell Santa she wanted that one. 
     Churry also went to a 4-H Dog Obedience class.  I had never been to a 4-H dog event before so I wasn't sure what to expect.  It was perfect for her!  It was very well organized and ran.  The other dogs were very well-behaved.  We worked on heeling, extended Sit and Stays, Down, and about turns.  Churry did awesome!  She was just as good as the other dogs and I think would have won the "Stay" contest, but they finally moved on to something else.  I look forward to going back.  She needs to work on her commands around lots of distractions like that.  The only thing she didn't do well was heeling when another dog was right behind her.  She wanted to turn around and socialize!  They don't let the dogs have "play time" like they do at KSDS puppy class so I think she will enjoy that next week when we go to the puppy get-together. 
    Churry has also enjoyed some long walks this week.  The weather has been beautiful.  In order to keep her walks interesting, we've been walking in the leaves rather than on the sidewalk.  It gives her a different walking experience.  At first it was really distracting for her, but she's getting better.

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Churry was the cutest witch I saw on Halloween!

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Best Friends!

Churry meets my students!

     Churry got to meet my students for the first time yesterday!  Kinsey had an appointment so on the way back to school we stopped home and picked up Churry.  It worked perfectly because it was Kinsey's Star of the Week day and she wanted to share Churry with her class as well.  It was also perfect because Churry was only there for about an hour....perfect for her first visit!  Pat went with us for Kinsey's Star of the Week, so he was able to assist when Churry needed a break outside.  Churry did really well.  She was really excited and wiggly at first, but settled down very nicely after about 30 minutes.  She walked nicely and didn't solicit TOO much attention, maybe just a little!  She even handled the chaos of releasing to the busses like a pro!  There's something to be said for that!  She still did not care for the intercom AT ALL and whimpered at me a little bit.  She just doesn't care for that mystery person not showing their face!  I have confidence she'll get used to it, though!  I'm hoping to get her out for some good walks this weekend...outdoor walks that are enjoyable for me might be becoming limited with the weather getting colder!  I'll have to join the elderly at the mall!