August 29, 2014

Riley in Watercolor


One of my other passions in life is watercolor painting. I haven't done any paintings in ages, so please go easy on me! I did this quick painting of Riley today using watercolor pencils. She's such a gorgeous girl. Watercolors definitely don't do her pretty face justice. Please let me know what you think!

Here is the original for reference.


August 28, 2014

Napa Vacation



The pups are having a blast on our vacation! We found a park called "Canine Commons" where dogs run off-leash through long grasses & can chase after birds. We've met 1 wire haired Vizsla and 2 short haired Vizslas on our walks. All the pups have been very well-behaved!


August 26, 2014

Agility 2

Riley has moved up to Agility 2! Her favorite obstacles are the A-Frame and the Jumps. She's not a huge fan of the Tunnel, but after a few tries she ran through like a pro! Agility class has been an excellent confidence builder for Riley and has also built up her endurance. We used to finish class and she would nap for at least half an hour. We got home from class on Sunday and she immediately brought me a toy for a game of fetch. Crazy pup!

Reuben (my amazing hubby) made a video compilation of her last Agility 1 class and her second Agility 2 class so you can see the progression from the first video.


Also, I have more exciting news! I will be working part-time (weekends) at the Zoom Room in Campbell once I have completed training/shadowing. I've always loved working with pups and I'm looking forward to being part of an excellent center!

August 22, 2014

New Adventure!


Riley's CGC patch arrived in the mail this morning! I am excited to announce that with passing this exam, we will be embarking on a new adventure (no pun intended!). 

Over the course of the next few months, Riley is going to be a service dog in training. Her new harness arrived in the mail yesterday & we took it on a test drive to our new local shopping center. They gave us 4 tickets for free hamburgers! (Riley is excited to try one.)



I've also ordered a special "New Trix" halter for practicing heel in high-traffic areas. I love the way it has nice padding for the nose & clips at the back of the head. Riley's at-home task training is coming along well. She can now go grab a small pouch and bring it to me on command. We'll be enlisting the help of a professional trainer to fine-tune her tasks.

I'll be updating this blog as her training progresses, so please check back to see how we are doing!


August 18, 2014

Desperation + Crazy Idea = Problem Solved!

As you may or may not know, poor Cooper cut his leg open on some mysterious object in our backyard a few weeks ago. We took him into the vet for stitches and he somehow ripped a few of them out a few days later. The vet said we could either get the wound re-stitched or we could do a daily soak in a special solution and keep him from messing with it and let it heal on its own. We opted for soaking the leg, which worked to keep it clean, but no matter what we tried he was still able to lick the wound. I even had him in a plastic cone AND the inflatable collar at one point and watched him very carefully perform some kind of insane yoga move to get his leg up and around in front of his face for licking.

How??? How could he still reach his leg???
I was about to give up, but then an idea came to me.

CGC Test!


I am proud to announce that on Saturday Riley passed her CGC test! Her new AKC name will now be Living the Life of Riley, CGC. I always wanted to try passing the test, but didn't think Riley could remain calm enough. When our trainer at Zoom Room said she was ready, I had my doubts. Riley breezed through the test without any issues! I put her in a down-wait for the last test item, which is staying with a stranger for 3 minutes while I was out of sight. She stayed laying down the entire 3 minutes & didn't break until I walked back up to her and released her! I'm so excited for our next steps in training. We'll be taking some therapy dog classes as well as doing some extra training for a special project. I'll make sure to update as she progresses! 

If you are interested in learning more about the CGC test, all the items are listed below (taken directly from the AKC website).

August 2, 2014

Farmer's Market

We took our weekly trip to the Farmer's Market this morning & Riley had so much fun visiting with everyone. She practiced sitting while being pet & it was a challenge! I'm looking forward to our obedience class today at Zoom Room.

Next trick: carry mom's grocery bags. She does make a good bag holder!


If enough people are interested, I'll do at tutorial on training your dog to sit still while they have something on their nose. It's a fun trick! :)