Saturday, June 30, 2012

the city --- again!!!

Bogey and Moxie seem to be excited... yup, it's another NEADS check in day, and we're heading down to the big city. I've only had Bogey just a couple of weeks, but we have been having a good time together and I was anxious to see "how he looked" under Dave's guidance.

I don't  know if I will ever quite "get used" to the city... especially on hot summer days... but, it is kind of fun to head down there once a month. Guess you can say 'nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there".

Think Moxie agrees, seems like she is saying to Rick "do we really have to be here???"
 We weren't the only "working dogs" out and about... caught a glimpse of this nice working team on the streets......
 This month we had our "question and answer" time in a park. It was nice in the shade and taking in the sights as we chatted.... lots of pigeons, some skate boarders.. baby carriages, people of all kinds... and so on.. just the things we look for while doing our city work.
Puppies on the street... (l to r) Monty, Jackie (in the back ground) Moxie and Mr. Bogey right up front.
 Dave running us threw the lessons and ever watchful over the puppies progress.
 After our street work, we took a lunch break at the hospital. The puppies were more than happy to chill out on the cool tile floors. We work a lot on "chillin' " especially with the younger dogs.
Then, it was onto the elevators. Bogey actually enjoyed this... he watched out the side and seemed so curious as to how it went up and down again. He wasn't one bit afraid of the heights!!!
I..... on the other hand... still am not that crazy about the height... I just do the glass elevators because of the puppies....
Then we went over to the train station.... Dave wanted to work with Bodey a bit, so that gave me sometime to shoot pictures... 

 It's hard to think of all the things we do with the puppies... stairs are one. For us, running up and down them is "nothing", but we have to remember that we aren't training these puppies for "us". So, one exercise that we do at the station, is take one step (literally) at a time. This teaches the puppies to go slow and steady, and to stop and wait if needed. On top of that, the train stairs are stone, so it's a slippery feeling to the puppies.
 We got to board the train as usual. Looks like Mr. Bogey boy needs work on "under".. he wasn't too excited about squeezing under the train seats.....

Moxie did pretty well.. though she kept giving her Daddy the "can we be done now" eyes.
Tired puppies. You can always know when the day has come to it's end. These little guys put alot into a busy city day, and they are more than happy to crash when its' done. And so, to another successful day, and another month gone as marked by our check in day. Summer is here, and sadly already zipping by...

Birthday party...

 Last Saturday, my niece celebrated her sixth birthday. First off, I have to wonder-- when did she become "6"!!! and then I have to say, she is a "dog person" just like her Auntie.. which makes me as pleased as can be!! Being the dog person that she is, her birthday theme was "dogs"... and it began with this pawprint cakes (which was made by Kassy!!!)
And then cupcakes, with "dog cookies" in them (cookies for kids that is).  Abbie was so excited to be going to her cousins birthday party...

 Camille was also invitied, as was Bogey and Moxie (Kelli and Rick's puppy)
 So, it was a combination of kids and K9's and cake... what could make a "better" afternoon than that.
 There were all the "usual" party games (dog themed).. Abbie wasn't so sure about this pinata thing.. she really isn't into "hitting" things (especially something that looked like a cute little dalmation!!!)
 But once it broke open and all the kids were getting candy.. she thought differently!!!
 There was also a "surprise visitor" that came. A "big dalmation"... the older kids thought "she" was kind of cool... but Abbie-- not so sure. I had to agree, "she" certainly was a strange sort of creature....
However, Naomi, Bogey and Moxie didn't mind "her" at all......
We sang the "happy birthday" song... and cut into that great cake...
Opened a few gifts... but really what Naomi wanted.. was to have everyone bring dog food and other donations that she and her Mom will be bringing up to the animals shelter. She spent quite a bit of time with Bogey (maybe we have a future puppy raiser!!!) He certainly enjoyed the attention.
And by the end of the day... most of the children and certainly the adults and puppies....



looked like this....



Happy Birthday Na!!!!