Churry had a fun time at our friend Gentry's birthday party this weekend. The people were very nice to her and she did a good job laying beside me the whole time, even when the wrapping paper would land on top of her. There was also a very small baby there that she REALLY wanted to go check out, but I wouldn't let her. I didn't think the mom would have appreciated a puppy kiss on her son! Every time the baby made a sound Churry would sit up and look at it and then me and back to it and then me. She was very confused!
And yes, Churry looks like a golden skunk right now! She has a stripe of adult fur going down her back. I can't believe she's big enough to be losing her soft puppy fur! Her adult fur is just slightly darker than her puppy fur, which I kind of expected. I'm glad she's going to be a light colored golden. I think that's prettier! She's also lost 2 teeth! She's growing up so fast!
Monday, September 26, 2011
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Last of the puppy shots!
Look at this "stay"!
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Thanks mom!
Churry thinks it's fantastic that Mr. Hageman, my boss, hands out a gift card at every staff meeting. Because when I win it, guess who benefits...Churry, of course! She's enjoying her brand new bed! She thinks it's much better than going on these little car rides to get over car sickness! Churry has been busy already this week. She went to the kids' 4-H meeting on Monday night and was SURROUNDED with love from kids. She thought she was pretty special. Then, she went on an extra long walk last night and met some birds for the first time. Churry thought they were pretty neat and thought she might want to fly around with them, but she couldn't jump up quite high enough. After that little workout, she got an extra long brushing and went to bed. I thought about taking her with me to pick out her new bed and drop the kids off at church, but I just don't trust the other dogs at Pet Smart yet, so she hung out at home playing with Bailey and Pat. She's such a good dog! She's learning so fast and makes me feel so good every day. I love how she's so excited to see me every day when I get home from work and would just sit for hours letting me snuggle and pet her. She very much wants to please me and learn more every day! She's a pretty special dog!
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Churry, the sock thief
Yes, Churry has discovered the joy and wonder of socks this weekend! I've decided to give her some more freedom in the house off of her leash so she's been able to explore. The result of that was her finding socks, socks, and more socks. It's hilarious watching her try to hide them from me. She thinks if she prances through the living room with her head turned away from me I won't notice the sock hanging out of her mouth. After confiscating at least 30 socks, nerf gun bullets, and various other odds and ends she has found during her "free" time, I decided she must be bored with her toys. So I made a trip to Pet Smart and she has 3 new "big" girl toys. She's been bored with her other toys for about a week now, so it was time for some new ones anyway. She now has a couple of squeaky toys which are very entertaining!
Churry also took 3 field trips this weekend. Unfortunately, I learned why she has an aversion to the vehicle...apparently, it's making her tummy hurt because she got sick on 2 of the 3 trips. :( The first night she went to a landscaping night at my school. She did really well with the kids that were there. She sits very calmly and lets them pet her. I was going to let her play on the playground equipment because there are pieces of equipment with very different surfaces that you can see through to the ground as well as moving things to play on. But, it started raining, so we'll go back another night. The second field trip was to the Huff and Puff Hot Air Balloon Festival. It was the biggest event she has been to and she did wonderful. She was very calm around all the people and was not bothered at all by the balloons. She did pull a LOT on the leash trying to eat everything in sight on the ground....sticks, leaves, etc. Then today, she went to school with me to work. Not too many distractions, but good for her to get out of the house anyway.
And Churry can "stay" for 30 SECONDS with me about 3 feet away from her! I was very excited that she seems to understand this command! It seems to take her about 2 weeks to really catch on to things pretty well. Now, if she can extend that and work on it with distractions...
Have a great week!
Churry also took 3 field trips this weekend. Unfortunately, I learned why she has an aversion to the vehicle...apparently, it's making her tummy hurt because she got sick on 2 of the 3 trips. :( The first night she went to a landscaping night at my school. She did really well with the kids that were there. She sits very calmly and lets them pet her. I was going to let her play on the playground equipment because there are pieces of equipment with very different surfaces that you can see through to the ground as well as moving things to play on. But, it started raining, so we'll go back another night. The second field trip was to the Huff and Puff Hot Air Balloon Festival. It was the biggest event she has been to and she did wonderful. She was very calm around all the people and was not bothered at all by the balloons. She did pull a LOT on the leash trying to eat everything in sight on the ground....sticks, leaves, etc. Then today, she went to school with me to work. Not too many distractions, but good for her to get out of the house anyway.
And Churry can "stay" for 30 SECONDS with me about 3 feet away from her! I was very excited that she seems to understand this command! It seems to take her about 2 weeks to really catch on to things pretty well. Now, if she can extend that and work on it with distractions...
Have a great week!
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
A visit to the vet
Churry had her second visit to the vet today for another round of shots and a check-up. She is up to 13.7 pounds. On her first visit, which was a couple of days after I brought her home, she was 9.2 pounds. She's growing fast! The vet thought she looked fantastic though. In 3 weeks she goes back and will get her last round of puppy shots and her rabies shot. I'm excited for that, because after that she gets her cape and we can actually go somewhere!
Churry has shown a great distaste for a couple of things this last week. I don't think it's fear, but a definite distaste. The vehicle and the stairs. So tonight when we got home we hung out at the top of the stairs for about 15 minutes. I gave her a couple of little pieces of food to get her to sit there with me and pretty soon she started to very slowly creep down them. She got all the way to the bottom. I was proud of her for overcoming the fear so quickly! We will have to keep working on the vehicle. I really think it's just too hot for her taste when we first get in and she'd rather go back inside.
I took Bailey and Churry on their first walk TOGETHER last night. They did wonderful. They both do really well on the leash individually, I just wasn't sure how it would go together because they like to play. Churry changed from walking right beside me, which is where she generally prefers, to walking out in front beside Bailey, which is where Bailey prefers. She had to trot along very quickly while Bailey was walking really slowly. Churry kept on looking up at her as if she was looking for her approval for walking so well. It was pretty cute! I do miss the workouts that Bailey gives me with her normally quick pace. She doesn't pull on me at all, we just walk fast. Bailey has been getting her exercise with runs out back instead of walks so I guess if I want a workout, I'll have to go on two separate dog walks until Churry can keep up with us. I also decided it was time to get rid of her puppy "playpen" because I'm tired of my house being clogged up with our dogs' furniture. So I'm using a trick I learned this weekend to keep track of her. I have her hooked to my beltloop. It's working really well! She's much happier being right by my side.
I wanted to post some new pics, but when I went to download all of the pictures that Pat took of her last night, I saw he didn't have a memory card in the camera, so I'll have to take more this week.
Churry has shown a great distaste for a couple of things this last week. I don't think it's fear, but a definite distaste. The vehicle and the stairs. So tonight when we got home we hung out at the top of the stairs for about 15 minutes. I gave her a couple of little pieces of food to get her to sit there with me and pretty soon she started to very slowly creep down them. She got all the way to the bottom. I was proud of her for overcoming the fear so quickly! We will have to keep working on the vehicle. I really think it's just too hot for her taste when we first get in and she'd rather go back inside.
I took Bailey and Churry on their first walk TOGETHER last night. They did wonderful. They both do really well on the leash individually, I just wasn't sure how it would go together because they like to play. Churry changed from walking right beside me, which is where she generally prefers, to walking out in front beside Bailey, which is where Bailey prefers. She had to trot along very quickly while Bailey was walking really slowly. Churry kept on looking up at her as if she was looking for her approval for walking so well. It was pretty cute! I do miss the workouts that Bailey gives me with her normally quick pace. She doesn't pull on me at all, we just walk fast. Bailey has been getting her exercise with runs out back instead of walks so I guess if I want a workout, I'll have to go on two separate dog walks until Churry can keep up with us. I also decided it was time to get rid of her puppy "playpen" because I'm tired of my house being clogged up with our dogs' furniture. So I'm using a trick I learned this weekend to keep track of her. I have her hooked to my beltloop. It's working really well! She's much happier being right by my side.
I wanted to post some new pics, but when I went to download all of the pictures that Pat took of her last night, I saw he didn't have a memory card in the camera, so I'll have to take more this week.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Churry's Big Week!
Churry has had a big weekend! We started off the weekend with an outing on Friday night. We went over to our friend's the Garrett's for a remote control car race. Now, Churry has been around Pat and Jacob's cars a lot in the yard. In fact, she even did "sit" and "down" the other day several times with the cars racing right by her. I was very proud! But, I wondered how she would react to all the people, kids, and lots of cars racing around the track...She did fantastic! She just sat and watched them for awhile, then decided it would be time for a nap. She stayed at my feet the whole evening without tugging on the leash or trying to be Wild Churry. She was even very polite to the toddler who liked walking her, etc. She had a great night.
We then got up at 4:00 the next morning to go to PUPS days at KSDS. She didn't get sick on the long ride this time and she didn't even have to "go to jail" in the back because she rode very nicely on the passenger floorboard. Yay! At PUPS days she was very well behaved while we learned a lot of valuable information. It was wonderful listening to the trainers, the vet, and get grooming advice for Golden fur, which is MUCH different than Lab fur! The result of that was me coming home and ordering a new grooming kit just for Churry...SSSHHHH! And Churry learned to potty on rocks while we were there. That may seem silly to celebrate, but Bailey sure wouldn't do something like that!
I met so many wonderful people while I was there and it felt good to hear how well they thought Churry was doing. I haven't mangaged to ruin her yet! I was also amazed at all of the wonderful donations that Lisa got for the drawings, Silent Auction, etc. She's awesome!!!! And I've always been very appreciative of Hill's Pet Nutrition for supplying all of the puppies' food for free, shipped right to our door. But, I also learned that they supply the food after they have graduated AND retired! What an awesome company! They certainly are very generous. For those that don't know, KSDS places their dogs with their matches at no cost to the person receiving them. I think that's pretty awesome! Companies and individuals that provide generous donations certainly are appreciated and help them to do this.
This week Churry gets to visit the vet again and we will continue working on the skills we have been introduced to so far. Have a great week!
We then got up at 4:00 the next morning to go to PUPS days at KSDS. She didn't get sick on the long ride this time and she didn't even have to "go to jail" in the back because she rode very nicely on the passenger floorboard. Yay! At PUPS days she was very well behaved while we learned a lot of valuable information. It was wonderful listening to the trainers, the vet, and get grooming advice for Golden fur, which is MUCH different than Lab fur! The result of that was me coming home and ordering a new grooming kit just for Churry...SSSHHHH! And Churry learned to potty on rocks while we were there. That may seem silly to celebrate, but Bailey sure wouldn't do something like that!
I met so many wonderful people while I was there and it felt good to hear how well they thought Churry was doing. I haven't mangaged to ruin her yet! I was also amazed at all of the wonderful donations that Lisa got for the drawings, Silent Auction, etc. She's awesome!!!! And I've always been very appreciative of Hill's Pet Nutrition for supplying all of the puppies' food for free, shipped right to our door. But, I also learned that they supply the food after they have graduated AND retired! What an awesome company! They certainly are very generous. For those that don't know, KSDS places their dogs with their matches at no cost to the person receiving them. I think that's pretty awesome! Companies and individuals that provide generous donations certainly are appreciated and help them to do this.
This week Churry gets to visit the vet again and we will continue working on the skills we have been introduced to so far. Have a great week!
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Early Bird!
I love having a puppy, but I sure wish that Churry would sleep just a bit longer! I've put my foot down and decided she cannot have breakfast before 5:15. She was getting earlier and earlier each day with when she wanted to get up to eat. I put my foot down at 4:30. She is learning to "lay back down" though so hopefully she'll just start sleeping until then to begin with.
We worked this week on sit, stay, and down. She definitely knows what I mean on all of those commands, but is very choosy about when she's going to do them. We will keep working. I've also found something that she can practice "up" and "jump on" with. This is important for visits to the vet and for people who need to groom her on an elevated surface. I also think she knows "heel" but can't really tell if she knows the command or just knows that's the position she is supposed to get in when I'm ready to walk somewhere.
She is very different from the snuggly little puppy Bailey always was. She doesn't particularly like to snuggle when she sleeps. If she's going to sleep she wants to get in her kennel to do it, not lay beside me. But, she does like to lay with me when she's just hanging out. This week she has discovered that she can squeeze herself between my lower back and the couch when I'm sitting on the floor and that has become her favorite spot.
I'm excited to take her to the vet next week and see how much she has grown. We have really been able to tell a difference this week. Especially when we see Kinsey holding her. She's just about to outgrow Kinsey's strength! I'm really looking forward to PUPS days next weekend to see what new things we learn!
We worked this week on sit, stay, and down. She definitely knows what I mean on all of those commands, but is very choosy about when she's going to do them. We will keep working. I've also found something that she can practice "up" and "jump on" with. This is important for visits to the vet and for people who need to groom her on an elevated surface. I also think she knows "heel" but can't really tell if she knows the command or just knows that's the position she is supposed to get in when I'm ready to walk somewhere.
She is very different from the snuggly little puppy Bailey always was. She doesn't particularly like to snuggle when she sleeps. If she's going to sleep she wants to get in her kennel to do it, not lay beside me. But, she does like to lay with me when she's just hanging out. This week she has discovered that she can squeeze herself between my lower back and the couch when I'm sitting on the floor and that has become her favorite spot.
I'm excited to take her to the vet next week and see how much she has grown. We have really been able to tell a difference this week. Especially when we see Kinsey holding her. She's just about to outgrow Kinsey's strength! I'm really looking forward to PUPS days next weekend to see what new things we learn!
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