Dog Days

Sometimes Matt threatens that I am going to become the "crazy dog lady." I assure him that I'm not, but to be generous and give him some material to use against me, here are some dog updates...

Last weekend we drove a couple hours to Montgomery to check out an agility show. We went when the "expert" dogs were running the course. The event is divided up by the dogs' ability/experience and size. It was fun to see the different dogs go through the course and how different each owner/ handler was. We saw lots of shelties, but a good mix of other breeds as well. Golden retrievers, border collies, poodles, dachshunds, etc. Here is a clip of some impressive training:

To add to Matt's material, here's an excerpt from a recent e-mail sent to my parents:

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Well, Chaz did it. I’m not sure if he realizes that he finally defeated the dog in the mirror or not. Chaz loves to spaz out running up and down our hallway, yap at the dog in our full length mirror that lives in my closet, and then fly back down the hallway. Today, the laundry basket that usually sits in front of the bottom of the mirror was gone. Chaz must have gotten a good pounce in with that basket out of the way. We heard something fall and saw him scoot out of the room into the hallway. Sure enough, the mirror had fallen and shattered. No more mirror dog…

Little did Chaz know that beating the mirror dog would bring out his worst enemy, the vacuum… :)

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I've also been reading some puppy books that Matt's mom sent down with us and learning a lot about why Chaz is how he is. We've got a lot of socializing left to do with him to get rid of his "fear-induced aggression." Turns out sitting alone in a small patio area for a month without meeting new dogs and people before going home with your owners does not help a dog develop socially... We have a lot to work on but are enjoying the process!

If that isn't enough, we're adding to the mix. Double Trouble. One of the reasons I'm looking forward to Christmas this year is featured below. Isn't she a cutie? :)

Before putting up the Christmas tree this year, I decided to rearrange our living room. It's made a big difference and the room seems more comfortable / livable, but I'm not sure that Chaz approves. It puts a cramp on his style and doesn't allow him as much creativity on his loops he runs. Below, you can see that I convinced Chaz to try and be friends with the Christmas tree (after growling at it for two days and giving it dirty looks when it caught his eye). Merry Christmas, everyone. We are looking forward to seeing friends and family soon!