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Mischief Managed

I won at musical chairs!

Tonight we had training class, it is intermediate II obedience and it is a lot of fun! Mom didn't think she'd need her cane or anything since it is just a little 1 hr class, but after a little walk around the neighborhood she was in a fair amount of pain, around a 3 or 4 on the 10 point scale. But she sucked it up for me because we have a lot of fun in training class!

We started out the evening playing musical chairs! I am very good at this game, and mom especially likes this sort of thing. Miss Nancy and daddy were laughing at how competitive mom is at these games. Silly mom, I just like walking around and getting treats! Anyway, we WON! Yippie! Dad shot a video with his cell phone camera:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKXbUZOKt-k

The game helped mom forget about how badly she was feeling, and it was fun! We did a lot more heelwork after that, even with daddy and Miss Nancy bouncing balls! Oh boy that was HARD! And Miss Nancy was walking a toy cat on a leash even. We worked on our stays with other dogs being called to run in front of us, and we worked on a drop while running command. We went outside and worked on heelwork with distractions, which was pretty fun. We ended the night with a send out to a jump. Well, I had never jumped before so I had to get a little lesson in that, but I learned fast!

By the end of class mom was feeling really poorly, but it was worth it!

I've been tagged!

I was tagged by my pal Jolanda, I have to list 14 things about myself.

1. I am a service dog! I love to go out in public with my mom and help her out.

2. I love the water, but this shouldn't be surprising since poodles are water dogs!

3. I am a nudist! I like nothing better than to have nothing on.

4. My legs are so long that if I am walking slowly, my back legs bump into my front legs. So to fix this, when I have to walk slowly I walk with both my right legs down at the same time, then both my left legs down at the same time.

5. My bestest friends are Jolanda and Josephine. They are super awesome and I LOVE hanging out with them!

6. The only person I still pee (in excitement) about is my Auntie Sonja. She is SO awesome that when I see her I can't help peeing just a little!

7. I love playing with my sissy Sabrina, she is a lot of fun and we wrestle every day.

8. The only thing I ever chewed up when I was a puppy was the corner of a footstool that mom left butting up against my crate. I thought it was a toy! Mom sewed it up, though, so it looks almost as good as new.

9. My favorite human store to visit is Costco. For some reason, I really like that store even though it kind of makes mom dizzy.

10. Even though poodles are supposed to be smart, mom thinks I am kind of dumb because sometimes when I am sleeping, my back end slides under mom's bed. Then I wake up and want to stand straight up, but my back end is caught! I whine until she wakes up, then she slides my back end back out and I lick her in thanks.

11. My least favorite human place to visit (where I have to be on duty) is the UC Botanical Gardens. It is outside, full of nice smelling plants that would be nice to step and sit on, and there are lots of cool animals there, too. But I have to walk and sit on gravel and ignore everything!

12. My favorite parks are the Albany Bulb and Fort Funston. I think I like the bulb a little better because I can get int he water, and I can walk on cool trails.

13. I am going to compete in rally soon-- once mom graduates, she plans to enter me in some competitions!

14. My favorite food is rabbit!

Rough times

Mom's still having rough times, but at least today she wasn't in her wheelchair. Things have been really really stressful with the dissertation and other stuff, so I was happy when mom and dad said "Let's go to the park!". We went to the bulb, and I was SO excited! I was a very good boy, and when I tried to drink out of puddles, I would leave-it when mom told me to. I got some nice duck breast for that!

We did have a few negative encounters, though. We were walking down one of the narrower trails (the top trail right before the bridge for those familiar with the bulb). There is a little place underneath a tree off the side of the path. Well, as we approached we heard a LOT of barking and a dog ran out and charged us. The owner was cursing at her dog and screaming really mean things to her dog, so dad body blocked and the dog ran back to the owner. Mom thought the lady had leashed her dog, so we continued, but mom put me on leash just in case (it is unwritten rules at this park that if your dog is on leash, other people don't let their dog bother yours).

We continued down the path and the dog came charging at us again, with hackles totally up, looking very mean. The lady was cursing and shouting mean things to her dog again, so daddy body blocked but the dog wouldn't go away! Mom was feeding me yummy duck breast, so I didn't care, but mom and dad were kind of pissed. So mom calls out, "Can you get your dog, she's blocking our way" and the lady started screaming and cursing us out! She called mom and dad some very nasty names, made fun of mom for having a cane, and was really mean! Dad tried again to say that her dog was not happy, and ask if she could get the dog, but the lady continued her stream of cursing at her dog and us. Eventually we made it past! But whew, that was hard on mom. After an already very difficult day at home, this very nearly made mom break down.

But we continued on and mom let me visit the next dog we saw who was very nice and calm. Then we rounded a corner and a lady had one dog on leash and another off leash, and the off leash one was VERY intense. Dad again body blocked, but this dog was not deterred. Eventually the dog went back to the owner who leashed her dog and apologized, and teh dog was friendly, just way too intense for me to be comfortable. Ususally there are not so many intense or upset dogs at the Bulb, but today we just had bad luck I guess.

We continued our walk down to the statues and back, and I did see a really nice Rottie that I enjoyed playing with a little. Mom was VERY proud of me, because she worked a little on my recalls while I was playing and I came every time! Go me!

Now we are home, and I think mom is going to take a computer hiatus for the rest of the night.