Zoe's A Working Girl

Not the kind you may be thinking of though! Zoe is learning to do her commands no matter where she is -- restaurant, busy mall hallway, dog class, home. You get the picture!

These pictures were taken at the MOA and although they're not very good quality (I'll update with better ones later) you can see how even at 4 mos of age, a puppy can learn all sorts of good stuff. :)

She is a hit wherever she goes! You can see in the pictures also that she is getting her adult coat...I'll certainly miss that oh-so-soft puppy fuzz!! She's also getting her adult teeth! Better get more chew toys quick!

She's still a bit put off at dog school, so we're starting the next class in November. The more she's exposed to this environment, the more she'll accept it as normal and just another part of life.

The other morning (early morning I might add!) she spotted the moon and stood looking at it in a very quizzical manner - very funny! This morning she tugged of my socks for the first time..she also tried to walk away with them..but hey, a little at a time!!

October Update - Zoe's Really Growing Up!

Boy how time flies! Zoe is such a fun puppy - she's smart and loves to learn so training is going very well (she definitely makes me look good!) Zoe will be 4 months old on Monday...she's now 25lbs!

Let's see if I can run through all the things that have happened since the last update:



Zoe was auctioned off at a fundraising event for Angel on a Leash (check that out at http://www.akc.org/) put on by Sue and Steve Schnarr. Sue and Steve are the people who so graciously donated Zoe to A.A.D.

O.K. - so she wasn't actually auctioned off... the bidders had the opportunity to donate money towards Zoe's care for the next couple of years while she's in training.


A VERY special thank you to DON AND LAURA BATEMAN for the highest bid and LAURENCE AND KATHY HARMON for their generosity. We will have their links in our "Businesses of Honor" on the A.A.D. website (http://www.americanassistancedogs.com/)






Puppy class started and what an eye opener it was! Thinking that Zoe was more than socialized, it came as a bit of a surprise to see how she hung back and was unsure of herself off leash with the other puppies. She's making progress -- it will be very interesting to see where she's at when the classes are over!

She has the "sit" command mastered and we continue to work on "down", "Stand" and "watch me". Of the skill commands she's learning "tug", "bring the ____", "give", "leave it" and "touch".

Zoe has also become part of the family...as evidenced in the next picture - which I call "Three Dog Night"

She's also been working on using the dog door. While she understands she can come and go through it, she has yet to figure out if she needs to potty she can use that door; she still goes to the back door to let me know "it's time!" - she's a good girl, so I'm just fine with that.

We'll be working at the MOA next week - I'll be able to update with some working pictures after that...it's difficult training and taking pictures at the same time!