White and scary Christmas

We spent Christmas break up in Truckee with my family. Terra is still scared of my dad, even though he did everything right and I tried to do counter-conditioning. That didn't go great because it was hard to keep her under threshold while in the same room with him. She did best when she was on the far side of the room, with her back to a wall or piece of furniture for security. She even spent a little time hiding behind the curtains that close off the entryway, with just her face peeking through to see if it was safe.

On the first night, she woke me up with all the symptoms of bloat except for a swollen and hard abdomen: pacing, panting, drinking water, and unproductive efforts to vomit. I was so sleepy that I didn't think of it, and fortunately she was already improving by the time I thought of bloat 30 minutes later. It seems to just have been bad indigestion. She had diarrhea later that day and the next. She didn't eat until two days later.

Outside in the snow, she was a different dog. She ran in circles in joy at being off leash. I took her for a long hike every day.

Back to nose work

I'd said that I was fine with just having a cuddly dog who didn't do anything, but it turns out I lied. I want to do something with my dog. Our nose work practice had sputtered out earlier this year, but now I'm back to it with private lessons with Jennie Kiefer.

Terra is doing much better now. We are pairing the tin with food (though usually Terra is too timid to reach for the food on her own), and the tin is always out in the open. A few times she's had trouble because the odor was at her chest height and she was blocking it with her own huge body. However we're seeing steady progress in her desire to find the odor as well as her ability to follow it to source.

I don't need to compete in nose work with her, but I need some sort of structured activity that we can do together, that gives me goals to work towards. I'm feeling hopeful now that we're back on track.

Poodle feet

I was practicing grooming stuff. She gets burrs and foxtails and clumps of mud stuck in the fur between her pads, so I think this will actually be more comfortable for her.

I left the tops fully furred.

First heat cycle

Terra started spotting on August 18th. She quickly learned to clean herself, and the blood was only a problem when she got up from a nap, during which it would apparently pool near the opening to her vagina. That was when big drops would end up on the floor - or splattered all over if she was vigorously wagging her tail to welcome me home.

I didn't notice any behavioral changes while she was home. Unfortunately her heat coincided with me having an intact adolescent male boarding with me. I sent her off to stay with my parents during the second half of his board, as he was getting worse in his behavior. Terra has always been wary of my dad, but this time she started barking at him when he would make noise from his office or enter the room she was in. She likes my mom, who provided all her care.

The spotting had stopped by the time she returned on September 3rd. On September 13th she had gooey discharge but that cleared up after just two or three days. All seems back to normal now.

I put a note in my calendar for February 18, 2019: "Terra heat sometime around now." I hope she's regular.

I made her these adorable panties for the most part they weren't needed.

Birthday!

Today is Terra's first birthday! My baby girl has grown so much!

3 months old

6 months old

9 months old

12 months old

We've made a lot of progress in her socialization. She now greets most of my visitors with a wagging tail (with the exception of some men), she's eager to get out of the car in new places, she has good dog social skills (except some small dogs she overwhelms when she wants to play), and she's a great house dog and hiker. I'm eager to see how she continues to progress as she matures.

New collars

Martingales from 2 Hounds Design. Love them.

More playtime in creek

Dipping toes in water

I've always wanted a dog who enjoyed playing in water, if not full on swimming. Terra is my fourth attempt. Her initial introductions to bodies of water went similarly: she got excited, then jumped in deeper than she was comfortable, then avoided the water. I didn't take her to any swimming areas over the winter, but now the weather is over 80 degrees and it was time to try again.

Earlier this week, I took her to the local creek and waded in.

Initially Terra paced the shore, wanting to come to me but nervous about entering the water.

I praised her every time she tried to muster up her courage, and slowly she started to venture in more.

Eventually she joined me where I was standing, in about a foot of running water!

She started whining a little, like she didn't know what to do with herself. I did some playful gestures and got her to smile at me. Then we exited the water and went home. A successful trip!

A few days later, we walked through Point Isabel with Miki. Her dogs ran down to the water to cool off, and Cai followed to investigate. I was thrilled to see Terra go in, too!

She only went in to a depth of a few inches, but it was another positive experience. Yay!

Puppy strip complete!

FINALLY I have finished tugging out Terra's puppy coat. She looks naked. On the plus side, it's easier to bathe her and the remaining layer of undercoat is so soft and nice to pet. We are both relieved that she won't need to get a full strip again.

March 11

March 12

March 18

March 21

March 22

March 24

March 24

April 6

April 6

April 18

April 18

April 18