Silly Ducks!

      Yesterday afternoon we were getting a bit bored so we decided to to feed the ducks...something Kinsey hasn't wanted to do for several years now, but thought it would be okay since it was a good exposure for Churry.  :)  Pat, Kinsey and I all went.  While Pat and Kinsey fed, Churry and I sat back and watched.  The ducks were quite loud and Churry really had a hard time focusing.  She would sit for just a couple of seconds, quivering with excitement the entire time, and then get up and try to go closer.  She really wanted to just jump in the pond and swim with them.  When she realized after several attempts that I was really serious about her not swimming with the ducks, she started whining!  Churry has never been too much of a whiner, so I knew she was really having a hard time.  We took some breaks and walked around and then would return to watch some more.  This is definitely an outing we will need to repeat several times this summer!  Good thing it's close and free other than a package of stale bread!  :)

Learning about her roots at the Flint Hills Discovery Center

We visited the Flint Hills Discovery Center today.  On the way home she stopped to pose  in front of part of the actual Flint Hills, although I know some places that will be much prettier than this, so we will go see those sometime this summer!

     Since KSDS places their puppies all over the United States, I thought it would be important for Churry to learn about her roots so she can share about where she came from in case she's far away!  Her people enjoy good educational outings, too, so it worked out well.  Here is some of what she learned...

She was excited when she spotted her birthplace and future college town on the map!  Although, we kept insisting to her that we were right there in the best college town today!

She practiced some downs and waits a lot today.

She practiced lots of "go up" only when asked.

She really enjoyed watching the fire on the movie screen here and learning about why ranchers burn their pastures in the Flint Hills.  There were tons of special effects in the museum today including loud thunder and lightning periodically while we were in there to simulate a Kansas thunderstorm.

She wasn't sure about these people and horses...they look a bit off!

She enjoyed watching the train go around.

She learned about our state flower.  We will have to get some pictures in front of some real sunflowers sometime.

She was very confused about why she couldn't see the animals making all of these noises.  She was just sure they were back there.  She heard various birds, insects, and a coyote.

She learned about our state mammal, the bison.

And she slept right through the cool movie and all of it's special effects including more fire, more thunderstorms, snow actually falling on us, lightning bugs surrounding us in the dark, etc.  None of it bothered her resting a bit!

And finally, she enjoyed watching the crazy spouts of water popping up everywhere and didn't try to jump into them.

It's a great educational outing for kids of all ages.  We'd highly recommend the Flint Hills Discovery Center in Manhattan, KS!  Churry, Kinsey and Tayler were sad we had to leave so soon...Bill Snyder was going to be making an appearance and giving a presentation there later today, but we had to get home for Tayler to work.  It would have been a great addition to her K-State photo collection!

Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!

Today is my sweet girl's birthday!  I think this day must be the day every puppy raiser dreads...you don't know if you'll see another one.  I feel pretty good about how much time I have left with her considering how many litters are still out ahead of her, but I can't get the thought out of my head that my time with her could easily be halfway done.  I put together a power point of her first year that I intend to put on a CD and give to her partner...if I get one of my techy friends to help me I'll get it on here somehow.  It was fun to go back and look at all of her pictures...the things she's learned, places she's been and how much she has grown and changed.  It's because of her I've made some wonderful new friends and my kids have had a wonderful experience learning about the gift of giving!

We celebrated her birthday with her brother Perdido.  We took them to the lake, had a picnic, opened presents, played on the playground equipment, and then let them swim.

They weren't sure what to think of those hats at first, but eventually sat and posed for us.

They just caught sight of their cake sitting below them!

Very good "Leave it" Churry!

In pure Churry fashion, she will not take her new toy in her mouth!

Perdido is more interested in her new octopus than she is at the moment!

Perdido showing his good manners and thanking his PR, Daisy for the party!

And Churry is enjoying all of the special attention today!

Working at the lake?!

     Tonight was another one of those times when I took Churry with me thinking I was just going for a walk around the lake and wasn't particularly going to have any interesting training opportunities.  However, the usually quiet lake was hoppin' tonight!  Pat and Kinsey went kayaking and right by the dock where we put the kayaks in there was a  band playing, complete with some bells, trumpets, drums, and all kinds of other very loud instrumental music.  It sounded like a cross between polka music and fiesta music.  The part that was really disturbing to her is that she couldn't figure out where the music was coming from because the shelter house they were in was behind some trees, but it was very close.

    Then, there were sailboat races going on, which I enjoyed watching.  We had impeccable timing with our walk because we were right there when three of them pulled up to the dock.  Churry was very fascinated, yet a bit nervous about the loud flapping sails up close and personal in her space.  As if that wasn't enough, the dock we were walking on was kind of swaying and the planks had gaps between them so you could see through to the lake below.  LOTS of stimulation in a short amount of time!  We sat and watched them pull the sails down and load the boats up.  The gentleman was very nice, although Churry let out a little woof when he bent over to pet her.  A non-threatening one, but it still caught me off guard.  I think she was nervous about his hat he was wearing.  Hopefully, she doesn't do that again!

    After that, we continued on our walk and went over a couple of rickety old bridges that, again, you can see through down to the lake.  One of them was very narrow and about 12 feet in the air with wire type fencing for sides so she could see down to the lake below.  She did great on all of the bridges and all of the swaying docks.  She also did awesome at keeping her paws on the ground and her tongue inside her mouth when a couple of kids pet her.

   It was a beautiful evening and she's excited for her birthday tomorrow!
   

First Visit to the Library

      One of my family's favorite destinations in the summer is the library.  We go at least once a week to stock up on some good summer reading.  Yesterday, Churry accompanied us for the first time.  She did really well.  I wasn't really thinking it would be a place with many great training opportunities, but as it turns out there were many things that could have produced anxiety in her that I hadn't noticed or thought about before.  The first being the adult section with the tall narrow aisles filled with books from floor to ceiling.  She kept looking up to the top probably wondering how we were going to get out of there!  Then we walked through the children's section to pick up Kinsey and Tayler.  Churry was very well behaved with all of the kids/toddlers that were there.  The place is packed in the summer!  Her experience at school paid off well in this environment!  The we stood in the line to check out.  She's been having a problem with wanting to "go up" on every counter or elevated surface she encounters.  Sure enough, as soon as I set my books up on the counter, Churry popped up there to see what was going on.  Always something to work on. :)

     We also went to the vet this week for Bailey's yearly appointment.  Churry was a holy terror!  She is always "Supercharged Churry" when we are there for some reason.  This time was no exception.  She was incredibly jealous that Bailey was getting all of the "attention" from the vet!  She even stooped to making a strange unnatural whining sound a couple of times in between trying to get up on the table for her own "exam".  Between Churry acting like that, Kinsey CRYING because Bailey had to get stuck with a needle, and trying to talk to the vet, I was a hot mess by the time we left!  Luckily, Bailey is such a sweet girl that she just sits calmly for all of the procedures, although she does give me a dirty look the whole time it's happening.  After the appointment was over Churry was able to get some love from her favorite vet tech.  I find it so interesting that she responds to this girl the same way she responds to me when I get home from work....uncontrollable excitement, excited vocalizations (not barking, kind of a strange whine), and ridiculous rolling into her for more love!  She's the only other person besides me that Churry responds this way to.  She must be a really good person!

    Stay tuned for some exciting opportunities later this week!

June's Puppy Gathering

   Today I had the scary experience of running puppy class!  Our regular fabulous leader was not there (and apparently no other competent person was available or willing!) so she asked if I would run it.  Hopefully, everyone who attended didn't think it was a total waste of their time.  We worked on many things...greetings with people, passing by other dogs without interacting with them, lots of children's toys that moved and made noise, sits, downs, stays, etc.  My proud moments today were when Churry worked for my friend Ethan and followed his commands willingly!  Great job, Ethan!

Churry is not setting the best example of a Down right here, but at least she's down I guess.

But, she did awesome with her Stays today!

Here is one of the new Wine litter puppies, Reisling doing an awesome Down/Stay.

And Blizzard showing off her Stay skills.

Very good manners from Reisling!

I love that Churry was keeping her eyes on me all day today!

Heeling with a nice loose leash for another handler!

Getting some Golden kisses from puppy Emmons!

Churry's First parade

     Something that I have wanted to take Churry to for quite awhile and haven't had the opportunity to is a parade.  Today, the opportunity presented itself.  Since Pat and I had already decided to spend the afternoon together taking Churry to puppy class, we decided to make a day of it and attend a nearby parade, too.  There were tons of new sights and sounds for her to take in from bands to noisy little cars to sirens to a gigantic flag hanging above her very close to where were were seated.  She was very interested in everything and didn't know where to look first, but eventually settled at my feet to rest for the second half of it.  After that, we went to a bike shop for Pat to look, out to eat, then to puppy class.  On the way home, we hit Mass street and explored another bike shop and a few other stores.  She is one tired puppy!

Our first distraction of the day.  It's hard to tell, but it was almost directly overhead as we walked past.  Then we sat very near it.

We walked right past this fire engine on our way in.  She has never been around a loud, running firetruck and it made her a bit nervous, but she maintained her heel.  Now, it was running it's siren!

More loud noise!

Not only loud, but they looked to her like they were coming right at her!

Another loud and potentially aggressive car!  She didn't take her eye off of them!

She is watching those suspicious cars!

Finally, something trustworthy that she could not worry about!

Relaxing at last!