A little here and there

Tuesday is our garbage pickup day and my plans were to sit on our porch with Haddie to see the large, smelly, monster truck park in front of our house with all the noises. However, I apparently missed him when the four legged friend and I were re-reading the CCI manual together. We both heard the roar, but were too late in getting out the door. Next week ....

Honestly, I did not pose these pictures. I had sat down on the floor to reread some CCI chapters. Haddie was sitting on the other side of the room facing me. A piece of paper slipped out of the notebook creating a curious puppy. She came closer to sit down and observe the papers flipping back and forth. A few times she would lean over the notebook, or stand on a particular page. A quick No correction and she was back to sitting or laying down intrigued and content. Good Girl!

Before the kiddos left for school today, they wanted to know what CCI Adventure I was planning with Haddie. I have a page full of ideas, just bursting to be explored, but the pup needs to walk on her leash farther than fifteen steps. I decided to try another stroll around our block to see if perhaps in the quiet of the street, as all children had departed to the school buildings, that Haddie would keep up with me.

She started off slow; her usual routine of the week. But we kept at it and she eventually got the swing of hanging with me. She didn't pull and I tried not to pull her either when she chose to stand! still! and! not! move! Mixing up talking in a high squeak tone and using the Here command - she eventually decided that walking on leash was really not that difficult or stressful.

We made it around the corner of our block and sat at the school bus stop. The neighbor dogs were going wild behind their fenced yards. Haddie was observant to the noise and would look to the left and right and back again as the dogs took turns making conversations. She never pipped in, however.

Five minutes in and she settled into a Down and watched the cars go by, all the while I was talking to her about her environment in a calming tone. Yes, I was the crazy lady at the bus stop. I had heard that when you expose them to new environments at this age that talking calmly helps - and you don't even have to make any sense. Well, I at least made sense! I described everything she was looking at (wink).

The other adventure was after nap time and lunch, when we visited the Vet for booster shots. Of course all the staff members coo'd over the sweetness of Haddie. I carried her in and carried her out because of her early pup stage and not being fully vaccinated, but they had a good look at her in her cape while standing on the scale. A whopping 16 pounds with some ounces. All is fine!!

The rest of the day was spent sleeping by her water bowl tuckered out from the heat and vaccines. She feels this is the coolest place for her, as this is a usual scene in our house. Luckily we have another watering hole for our Beagle to enjoy with out waking the sleeping puppy. She is a messy drinker, the sloppiest dog I have ever met. It's as if she doesn't really have the muscle control to perform the duty as she leaks water from her mouth quiet rapidly as she turns to leave. But she quickly flops down on all the dribbles and puddles she leaves behind, soaking it into her fur, while settling down into a cool day dream. Sweet Dog.