Maude's First Co-ed Slumber Party

Meet Blue, Maude's boyfriend.  He is staying with us for a few days and she is loving it.  He is a Catahoula Blue Heeler mix.  They enjoy each other's company immensely.

Saturday Skiing

Here are a couple shots of today's Saturday morning ski:

Who's the retriever in our family?

After accidentally throwing Maude's frisbee into a little water culvert under a walking bridge, Brian went to great lengths to retrieve it.  With the creative help of our dog-walking friend and neighbor, Chris, and a long metal ladder from another neighbor, they got it.  I watched uncomfortably and took these bad iPhone pics.  

Maude is a lucky canine-lady to have such a good puppy-papa!

Family Manners

Here are some more glimpses into Manners Class.  We are getting good!

Down!

Sit!

Good down!

Good girl,  Maude!

Loose-leash walking with treats as bait to stay at my hip.

"Where's my treat, mama???"

Loose-leash walking at its finest :)

We learned that people who show dogs and hold their hand like I am in this picture are technically ok, but it's kind of looked upon as cheating, because they're tricking their dog into thinking a treat is there.  

No dog shows are in Maude's future, so we're totally fine with tricking her :)

Maude, fetch!

After six months of playing fetch with ourselves, Maude is finally catching on to the whole concept of the game.  It's much more entertaining for all involved now :)

Here is a little glimpse into our lunch-hour play:

Maude's "Manners Class"

A couple weeks ago we started "Manners Class" with Maude and about seven other dogs, all ranging in size, age and temperament.  Maude is the youngest dog in the class; she's now going on 7 months!  

So far we've worked on loose-leash walking, sit, down, and stand.  It's all treat-based, so we feed Maude a reduced dinner before the class, knowing she's going to get about a bazillion treats.  Needless, to say, we think she enjoys herself.  We have six more classes to go.

Here is a little glimpse into last weeks' class: