Friday, October 26, 2012

pumpkin carving time..

A time honored tradition... pumpkin carving time. I like to do this for the wonderful pumpkin seeds inside... roast them up with a bit of salt, and yummy fall treat.
Now, back in the day.. a good ol' fashion jack o lantern suited me just fine.. ya, know.. the one with the big smile and the triangle eyes... but Sadie is more into this "negative space" carving... and keeping with the theme of Abbie's party just a week ago... "hello Kitty"....
Abbie was delighted with her Mom's artist ability!!! and then showed me all the seeds when the pumpkin's cap was cut.
Telling us all about "hello Kitty" and saying, "Mom this looks perfect!!!"
Then it was onto cleaning out the "guts".. which actually this year was carefully saved.. turkeys love pumpkin. So between the seeds and the "guts", the inside of the pumpkins were put to good use...
hello in there.... lots of seeds!!!! Abbie so enjoyed this part, (which pleases me, because even though I will do it... it's not my favorite)...
Pumpkins ready to light... hello kitty on one, and horses on the other... far cry from the old jack o lanterns....
Seeds ready to roast in the oven.. we got two full pans.. can't wait to try them....

howl-een check in.....

What in the world is this??? Shark dogs??? actually it's our October check in at NEADS... now, our fearless head trainer Dave just loves sharks (which is a lie... Dave "hates" sharks).. so nothing doing, we just had to have some fun with that. Out shopping one night, Kelli and I found these great "shark fins".. and so, I thought that the Maine puppies just had to dress up....
but, ya know.. it's good training too... if our puppies can wear their capes and leaders.. what's a little fin or two.....
We were trying to decide if we were a "school" or a "pod"... though I think that sharks actually swim alone, unless they are eating!!!!
Making sure everyone is all dressed up and ready to meet Dave!!!!
Too bad this photo is so fuzzy.. because the look on his face... it's kind of like, "I don't believe it" and yet, "ya, it's the Maine Chapter, so what else would I expect from them!!!"
Any who.... it was fun, and we all had a pretty good laugh about it. And then it was onto business as usual... our "round table" discussion (no table this time)...the puppies are beginning to know the drill.. and do quite well at "chill'in" until we are done.
Dave had a different game plan, and we didn't go into the city this time... our first stop was the kennel. Some of our puppies haven't had the chance to see the inside of it, so we just played around there for a bit. Nice for them to see it, because at some point in their training, kennel time will be done....
Marv taking it all in stride......













Then it was onto the mall. We trained with door manners, being around other people.. and all the sights, smells and sounds that come with the "mall." Moxie tells her Dad.. nothing to it, I'm ready to work!!!! 
 
We headed into the food court for a light lunch and some more time to talk. Rylie hasn't done this work before, so it was all new to her. But, she did just fine!!!!
Rick and Moxie took a little time and did some PR work with a group of young folks. The thing along with our puppy training.. is ambassador work as well. It's good for everyone!!!
Back outside -- potty break for the youngsters and then onto another store....













 We went into this creepy Halloween store. To be honest, it's just not my kind of place, but it certainly had "lots" to work with. For the most part the dogs did quite well with things that screamed, jumped out at you and were pretty awful looking. This was the only photo I got, because the battery went in my camera.. but here Monty and Rylie check out this hairy spider thing that jumped out at you... (yuck!!) . It goes to show that we always have to be on the look out for training opportunities.. even if they aren't really our style.. because we don't know where the  puppies will "end up"...

Overall it was another fun and interesting day, and I brought home one very tired pup, who can add all kinds of new things done to her list.....