just got out of puppy class

And Rosy was a star. She knows a lot already, very smart girl, & is wonderfully responsive. The one thing she wouldn't work on with the instructor was the leave it command, mostly because she wanted to go play with the other puppies more than she wanted food. Funny girl. She's more & more wonderful every day. Annie even got down on the floor four times yesterday & bumped noses with Rosy. She goes away as soon as Rosy gets too interested in sniffing her, but things are greatly improving. Rosy seems to be getting it that I don't want her to chase Annie and ever since the new (very tall, close to five & a half feet) cat condo was installed, Annie's been happier too. I'll have to get pictures of Annie in the new cat condo up soon. Meanwhile, here's another good picture of Rosy.

And a good quote: Choices are the hinges of destiny."
– Pythagoras

Rosy & Annie and the mysterious paper bag

Here's Annie, sitting inside Roi'si'n's exercise pen, which is in the backyard, so I can deposit her in there for a variety of reasons. Such as when she tried to help with the painting the garage project or when she was nipping me unmercifully.

As it is, now that Roi'si'n knows that nipping me means all the fun is over, the exercise pen is now used so Annie can be out in the backyard with us, so that Rosy doesn't try to play with her, which Annie, for some odd (coff) reason, doesn't appreciate much.

Today, we had the adventure of the mysterious paper bag. Went grocery shopping and we heard a lot of rustling coming from the kitchen after I'd unpacked the bags. Ro wanted to go in there & see what was going on and.... help. I knew that the rustling was probably Annie, and given her liking for bags, she was probably not going to appreciate help, so I put the baby gate up & put the bag on its side so Annie could get in. She loves this.

But just now, I let Ro in from outside, and Annie was in the bag with just part of her back feet sticking out. Ro went over to look, and an angry cat face appeared & she got her face smacked. I called her back & kept her away & Annie eventually came out & went up on the table. Rosy then walked slowly over to the bag and looked inside, poking it with her nose, as much as to say, "Hey, where'd that thing go? I wanted to play with it!"

Why dogs want to play with scratchy things that smack their faces is beyond me. Sure fun to watch Ro looking at the bag hopefully.

Rosy update

Sorry not to post sooner, but it has been (again) hectic. Roi'si'n is enjoying the snow and loves to dig in it. She also went to her first puppy class today (Saturday, January 17) and had a blast. Met a lab puppy and a miniature Aussie. Let's just say Rosy was the most animated dog there! She did well and was obviously happy with herself, has a long way to go in terms of learning not to jump on people, but we'll get there. The handouts will be really helpful in terms of guiding us in practicing small things every day, that will wind up with a nicely behaved puppy, who doesn't knock down small children. ;)

Annie obviously likes having Roi'si'n around, although sometimes I think puppy behavior ticks her off. She made a mad dash toward Rosy's back and made slapping motions toward her tail before madly dashing off down the hallway. But I think they'll wind up pretty good friends as soon as Ro quits chasing her.

Things of note : Rosy doesn't like Dave Matthews Band. Awww! They're one of my favorites. Guess I'll have to play things she likes better, like Christmas music and classical stuff! Really, I'm not kidding, her reaction to Dave Matthews Band is very much on the order of horrified realization that there's AWFUL NOISE coming from the CD player. Maybe her tastes will improve as she gets older.

On the reading front, over Christmas & New Year's breaks, I read Sue Grafton, Michael Critchton, and about fifteen other books that I can't recall right now, because its been too busy. Also started Inkdeath, but for some reason, can't find it now. Maybe Sis took it back. Picked up four or five books at the local (and favorite) bookstore today, including Jenny Nimmo's Charlie Bone series, which I really love. Need to win the lottery so I can buy lots of books, right?

Tomorrow a friend is going to show me how she does ski-joring and tracking with her dogs. Roi'si'n is showing increasing aptitude for using her nose. I'd love to get her certified soon (when she's six months old) and get her entered for some tracking tests coming up this spring. so that's what's been going on with us lately. Stay warm out there!