Field Day Nerves!

Riley's "Fun Field Day" is coming up tomorrow... we will head out at 5AM (yes, you heard me right) and pick up sister Penny and her human on our way. The entire journey up and back is a little over 4 hours and 224 miles. I asked my friend today if I'm insane for doing this and she said "a little"... haha!

I am SO NERVOUS about this whole thing! I know, it's silly, but I have a feeling I'll be the same way on my child's first day of preschool. I mean, it's just for fun and there's no pressure, but still I'm hopeful that Riley does well. In the end, the most important thing is that she enjoys herself. :) I can't wait to post pics and a little summary of our new adventure. Stay tuned!

Recall Training

Does your V need to brush up on his/her recall skills?

1. Go find a nice, big field of grass at a park

2. Take someone else with you

3. Each person should stand about a hundred feet apart with treats

4. Call the dog back and forth and give out lots of treats

(If your dog has questionable recall, please do this with a 30ft long-lead attached to your dog's collar and let them drag it. Riley's recall is about 95% on a bad day, so we trust her off-leash.)

Reuben and I have been brushing up on Riley's recall skills, plus we throw in some extra commands to keep her interested. You can see Reuben having Riley do some sit-stays in the video. :)

Easter Hike

What do you do on Easter when you are sick, don't want to infect anyone else, & the dog needs exercise? Sit in the car while the hubby takes the dog for a hike! It wasn't a *great* way to spend my Easter, but Riley was happy & tired afterward, plus Reuben took a few pics for me to enjoy. :)

More panting = more sleeping!

Running up the trail

Something smells delicious!

Happy Easter, sweet pup <3

I call this her "Whatcha lookin' at???" face.

Not guilty!

I found this cartoon floating around facebook and I thought it was adorable and SO TRUE! I tell all new puppy owners - when things start getting frustrating, pour yourself a glass of wine and repeat after me: "This too shall pass!" :)

More where this came from:
www.barsotti.com!

Almost 7 months + Nail Length

My baby is almost 7 months old! Only 3 days left... I can't believe how quickly she's growing up. She stayed at my sister's house over the weekend because the hubby and I were in a wedding. My sister's friend and her 15 month old baby are staying at her house and Riley did SO well with them! My sis said she gave lots of gentle kisses on the baby's face and hands and when it became a little overwhelming a simple "leave it" made her back off immediately. She never knocked the girl over or scared her in any way. I am SO proud of my girly! I came to pick her up on Sunday morning and the little baby was in her highchair eating grapes. Riley was standing on the back of the couch next to the chair staring intently at the grapes. We said "leave it" and she laid down and didn't even try to take one. :D Chelsea gave Ri a frozen yogurt in her bowl on the back of the couch and had the baby pet Ri's ear as she ate. Her tail wagged the entire time and she showed absolutely no signs of aggression. To top it all off, my sister said she was very well-behaved and followed all the commands they gave her. She enjoyed having Ri at the house so much that she didn't want me to leave with her! Needless to say, I am really looking forward to having children now that I know Ri does so well with them. :D

Okay, enough blabbering... here are some new pics from our park trip yesterday. I love how she is starting to fill out. She had another big growth spurt over the weekend.

I'm amazed at how far she can lean!

She really is filling in beautifully.

Looking less and less like a puppy every day!

Stick?!?

Say cheese!

One last pointing picture.

I also wanted to post some pictures of her nail length. A lot of other V owners have been asking me about what length I keep her nails at, so here are some pics that show her current nail length. I would prefer her front nails were a little shorter. We will be dremeling them this week. :)

Front nails... *almost* touching the ground.

Back nails... perfect length right now.

Front paw when not flexed.