Home from Training

My mommy decided to send me to a trainer with more experience to work on my barking and get a better jump on my SD training. The trainer said I was doing really well. Then on Thanksgiving I got sick. She gave me turkey and rice for a few days and I got better. Then she tried to add some kibble. I got sick again and kept her up all night. So she decided that maybe it was stress causing my tummy upset and it was time to go home. So 6 weeks after I left I came home with my mommy.

I was soo happy to see my mommy. I jumped all over her. Then I got to meet my new little sister, Taffy. She is fun to play with. She is still small so I can push her around.

We will be going back to training again soon. Mommy says she won't be leaving me this time though like before. She will be working with me with the instruction of the trainer.

She has been keeping me with her more too. Lily has been sleeping with her little sister lately. Mommy still brings Lily in the room sometimes in the morning while she sleeps as long as Lily is being nice. She has been a bit touchy lately and has snapped a few times (over food smells). So mommy decided that Lily should sleep with little sis for now and occasionally with us. She hogs the bed anyways so mommy can move more freely without her in the room. I usually move if mommy asks.

Washington DC

We went to Washington DC for the annual PSDS Gathering. It was my first time flying. It was a new experience but it didn't bother me much. I pretty much slept the whole time. We got in really late. I got to meet 2 other dogs, a basset mix and a lab.

The next day we went for a tour of the capital. It was my first time on the metro. It wasn't that bad though some people were a bit rude. Someone said they thought "I was going to eat them" when I just walked by without looking at them. Another time someone said I looked mean and like I was going to bite them. What is wrong with these people? I didn't even look at them. I did get plenty of good comments like how I was a beautiful girl and well behaved.

The tour was pretty cool. After we all went to the steps of the Supreme Court. I got to meet my boyfriend, Destry. Destry and his mommy headed off while 4 of us walked along the national mall. Our humans took pictures of us in front of the capital. Random people kept coming up and asking if they could get pictures of them with their dogs. We cooperated for a little while but sitting still with all that excitement going around was too much. We walked a little further but then one of the people was very overweight and getting tired of walking so we headed for the metro to go to Joan's apartment.

We had to walk from the metro to the apartment. We had to take a break because of one person who was out of shape. So we all rested off to the side of the sidewalk on a ledge with plants on it. While we were sitting there a guide dog passed by. My mommy announced us all because the dog started getting distracted and almost walked the lady into a pole.

We finally got to the apartment. My harness came off and I got to be off duty with all the other dogs. I walked around and was a good girl for the most part just a bit nosey of the activity around me. I got to play a little with the basset mix I met on the first day with permission.

After we got back to the hotel room, mommy made a comment about one dog should have been watched better as it was counter-surfing to someone and she reemed my mommy out for my behavior. Stating I was terribly behaved cause I didn't want to heel nicely around the other dogs. She claimed I was trying to steal food from people and was being generally ill-behaved in the apartment for a service dog. Hello I was off duty and no one else saw me doing the things she accused me of. She said that my mommy was making excuses for my lapse in behavior such as not wanting to heel with the excuse that I'm a puppy. I might not be a young puppy, but I am a teenager. Teenagers do things like that. I can't help it if she has broken her dog's spirit so badly as to turn him into robodog and thinks he's well behaved cause he's scared of making mistakes. Then she went into me playing with the dog I had permission to. That the wife was trying to get his attention while he was playing. She understood it as she was telling him to play a little calmer as he was getting rough. She brought my mommy to tears. If I wasn't such a good girl and knew I wouldn't get sick, I would have bitten her right on her fat rear!

The next day we left early on our own. We went to the gathering were we got to talk to others and avoided her completely. I got to play in the dog park. There my mommy asked the wife of the owner of the dog I was playing with the night before what she had meant when she was trying to get his attention. It was exactly as she thought. She felt he was getting too rough and was telling him to play a little more gentle. We had fun at the gathering. We bet on a few things and made Nikki bet more than she wanted on a multi-purpose leash (sorry Nikki). We took home a small red vest, a smaller version of my harness with a patch on it, and a leash with 2 handles.

After the gathering Nikki and Teddy decided to come with us to olive garden for dinner. We had to take the metro and the bus. It must have been the night of homecoming cause there were a bunch of teenages dressed fancy outside. One drama queen start shreiking as we approuched that she didn't like dogs. I rolled my eyes and told her to grow up and deal with it. The service was terrible at olive garden. The waiter completely ignored us. We had to ask for everything, cheese, refills, etc. Then everything took a long time to get once asked for it. She ordered fettichini alfrado and they brought her some with red sauce instead. When we sent it back, they brough her out a refill bowl instead of the large first portion bowl. When she said something, the guy took the food out back and simply dumped the bowl on a plate and brought it out. She wasn't amused. We complained to one another about the service and someone must have overheard us and told the manager. He gave us a free dessert and we didn't leave any tip. The service took so long that we missed the last bus by the restaurant and had to walk 0.5mi to the next bus station. I made sure I was extra alert since it didn't look like the best area.

We got on the bus and decided to take the metro to the national mall and go sight-seeing late when no crowds would be there. We walked to the washington monument and got pictures. Then walked from the WWII memorial to the Lincoln Memorial. We didn't know there was an elevator so we walked up all those stairs. It was after 2am when we left and we had to hurry to the metro station before we missed the last metro of the night. We got there just in time for it. There were some unruly college kids on board that stated barking at me. I woofed back and got in trouble so my mommy told them loudly that it was very rude to do that and they stopped. We got off at our stop while Nikki had to go further down to where she was staying. She said they started barking at Teddy after we got off. Nikki and my mommy said that if I hadn't been with them, we wouldn't have gone sightseeing so late. They felt quite safe with me since I was very alert to people around them and some people are intimidated by my breed.

It was way past the last shuttle to the hotel so we needed to take a cab. We didn't have cash on us so my mommy tried to find out if they took credit cards. They didn't want to. One claimed the hotel was close enough to walk to. So mommy looked it up on her gps phone. It was a very long way to it, not within walking distance. So we started walking and found an ATM. Then since no Taxi's were around we, walked to the closest hotel which happened to be the hotel the cab was thinking of, same brand different location. They called us a cab and we got back to the hotel by 4am. We were both exhausted and sore. I was literally too pooped to poop. I just jumped up on the bed and passed out while my mommy took care of her blisters. I didn't even eat my dinner. Thankfully our roommate decided to stay the night with someone else.

The next day we went out for lunch then back to the hotel to pass out until the night tour. We should have just skipped it cause it was with our mean roommate and just rested the rest of the night. It was a little overwhelming but we got to see some really cool spots.

The day after was the day we left. My mommy packed everything up and we took the metro to baltimore. We made the flight just in time as they were saving us a seat. I was still so exhausted I slept the whole way home. I was very happy to get home to the rest of my family. Mommy went to bed and slept a really long time.

Camping

Mommy brought me camping for 4 days in Vermont. We had lots of fun. She brought be for lots of walks in the woods. We walked a trail up to a really cool and quiet pond. I waded in the water as I don't really know how to swim yet. There were lots of smells too. One the way back I went to go over to a giant puddle in the middle of the woods to drink. I looked up and there was this strange looking critter. I was really afraid of this strange creature that looked like a cactus and high-tailed it over to my mommy, who quickly grabbed me and reattached my leash. She said it was something called a porcupine. She said it could have really hurt me and that she was glad I choose to run than investigate. After securing me she watched the big prickly porcupine climg the tree. That thing was huge not as big as me but probably as big as a cocker. She is just so glad that I ran and didn't get hurt by it.

Then one night mommy let me meet something she called a frog. I was very curious of this creature as it was small and looked harmless to me. I sniffed it and got startled when it jumped. Then I sniffed it again and was startled again when it jumped. I kept following it and being startled when it jumped. Mommy was laughing at me and said I was so cute.

I also discovered chipmunks on vacation. I have a hard time resisting searching for them when I hear their chirps. When I see them I really feel I need to chase them despite the fact my mommy doesn't want me to. We'll work on that.

The hardest thing about camping was that our site was in a busy location and it was so hard to keep quiet and not alert my mommy to everyone walking by. By the time we left she had gotten me to bark less at people walking by and quieter.

One the last day Lily joined us. I pestered her when she got there but she wasn't too happy about that so mommy separate us. Lily took my spot next to my mommy so mommy made her move to her feet and offered me to lay next to her. I moved sometime after she fell asleep. Lily can be such a brat hogging mommy.

I was so good for my mommy on this trip. I didn't chew up any of her things while she slept and slept right with her in the tent. It really helped strengthen our bond.

BBQ

Mommy and I went to the EHMO BBQ. It was very crowded. While we waited to enter I was great and made people move to give my mommy some personal space. My mommy decided to go ahead of her sister as we entered. Her sister was pushing a carriage and wasn't watching where she was going. She kept bumping into my legs. My mommy told her to watch it but she still continued to bump into me accidently. So by the time we got in I was very freaked out by constantly getting run down by the stroller. I kept looking behind me. My mommy went to a table but then her sister insisted we sit in the bleechers at the very bottom. My mommy was not in the least bit happy about that. She knew I needed a nice quiet place to calm down after being run over and the bleechers was not the place. Then her sister left her youngest with us and took the other kids to go get food. My mommy was getting very upset that she was left alone in this big crowd and couldn't leave cause the young child had been dumped on her. I couldn't help her cause I hadn't had the chance to relax yet and so much was going on around us. Finally after what seemed like hours her sister made it back and we left the room. We both found a quiet corner in the hall to relax and calm each other. We reentered the room a more relaxed team. Then my mommy's sister tried to do a no no. She tried to offer me a hamburger. Mommy yelled at her cause I am NOT allowed to be fed while I'm working. My mommy was furious with the way her sister treated us and the disregard she showed to us. We never even got to say hi to any of the designers because we were stuck babysitting.

Extreme Home Makeover Fundraiser

Yesterday we had the oportunity to go to a fundraiser for the Giunta family who is getting a new home from Extreme Home Makeover. Yes the TV show Extreme Home Makeover is filming nearby this week. My Mommy brought me to the event as she knows I'm good around food. The place was packed. I was a good girl the whole time and obeyed my commands. I was a little figgity but I behaved. I got pet by so many people and loved every minute. I love being the center of attention. I even got stepped on multiple times. I don't mind that much and never yelp. Usually getting stepped on means and apology and getting pet so no biggy. Mommy says I'll eventually learn to keep my tail in. I'm starting to do that when I lay down. I was definately a good representative of a SDIT. Everyone was so impressed at how good I was.

There was lots of food at this event. They had a whole buffet table cover with all sorts of goodies, including chinese food. I never even tried to touch any of it. I didn't even bother the stuff that was on the floor. I waited nicely while mommy got some food for herself while the people around pet me. Mommy was a little annoyed by the lack of permission but she let it slide. I'm so cute and was doing so good in the large croud. I never even got overwhelmed by all the stimulation.

The entertainment was good. Unfortunately we didn't win any of the raffle items. The fundraiser did raise alot of money for this family. One person who won tent passes which gives them access to meet the designers decided to auction them as they already had some (I think they were involved with the construction company). Right there they sold for $8,000 which all goes to the family.

Sadly Ty didn't show up. Mommy was hoping he would. She'd also would have loved to get me on TV. Someone video taped me sitting watching the stuff going on around me when we first arrived but we were told it was for a documentary on the making of the show. However there is another event planned this week that we intend to go to where the designers WILL be present. This event will be taped and shared with the family. Maybe a cute service dog in training like me will attract their attention. We can hope. I'll keep you posted.

A day at Fun World

Yesterday we went to a place called Fun World with my mommy, her little sister, neice, nephew, and my nana. It was a very busy place, full of kids. We started out at the playground. While the kids played and nana read her book, my mommy and I worked on my commands near the ball pit. Things were very busy in this area and I did very well. Then the kids wanted to go over to the rides. The rides were very noisy and made the floor shake. I was alert and watched but never talked. I just sat there next to mommy while the kids rode the small roller coaster. Then they went to the carosel where I was also very well behaved.

We ate lunch there. This was my first time in a restaurant setting. I was great. I was a little scared of going under the table but my mommy got me to. Then I just layed down and took a nap while they ate. Behind us was a noisy machine ride sort of thing. It was one of those virtual reality roller coaster sort of things. It shook the whole floor where I was sleeping but I didn't wake up. I was so good.

Mommy was so proud of me. I was such a good girl. The only time I got mildly upset was in the arcade area near a bowling game. I wanted to chase those balls so bad. Mommy had me move and I refocused on what she was asking of me. We had so much fun. I was so tired after. I went home and took a good nap. It was definately a good day for me. I was very good despite all the excitement around me.

Hello

Hi I'm Sophie. I was originally obtained to be trained for another person but my mommy decided to keep me when the person had financial difficulties. My mommy is training me to take over Lily's job. I am doing very well and am a fast learner. My mommy also thinks I'll be great at agility when I'm older.

My mommy got me from a breeder. My Doggy mommy's name is Allie. She has a dogster page too. Now you can see where I get my big ears from. http://www.dogster.com/dogs/663197

My mommy has chosen a name for my papers. It is Prinzessin Sophie der Schatz which means Princess Sophie the Treasure. She thinks it fits me perfectly.

(Update) The name my mommy chose for my papers was too long so it was changed to Catherine's Sophie der Schatz instead.