Maude's Manners Class Graduation

Maude recently graduated from her Manners Class!  

This class was more for Brian and me than it was for Maude, but all three of us had a good time.  It met every Wednesday evening for six weeks and we covered topics like sit, down, stay, no jumping, loose-leash walking, leave it, come when called, etc.  Maude has gotten much better at all of these, and we now know how to continue training her as she grows through her puppy-hood.  She's almost 8 months old already!  It's a good thing she has her manners in place, because we had our first bear encounter the other morning and she thankfully found her ball to be much more interesting than the bear. 

Congratulations, Maudie!

The class was taught by these two women, Sue & Hazel.  Hazel (white hair) is from Whitehall, Ohio.

Hazel spent three hours baking homemade doggie treats for gifts bags for all the dogs in the class.  We also got dog biscuit-shaped cookie cutters and recipes to make our own.  I've already made some pumpkin biscuits that Maude ate right up. 

This was from a photo shoot Maude and I did to send to Brian while he was away. 

Brian was gone for 10 days for work and play and had to miss Maude's graduation.  He was actually pretty bummed about it, and was happy to come home to our furry, little light!

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: