It's been a while!

[moosikins]

Hi there!

It's been a while since I've been on here. Just thought I'd give an update on my girls and see how y'all are doing. What's new? Who's got new pups? Who's pooches have done something impressive lately? Tell me about your adventures! Show off your pics!

Calypso and Pandora have been awesome. Cal is newly four and doing great - we've discovered some hip soreness but a daily joint supplement has rapidly helped her get and stay better. We're going to be investigating some potential thyroid issues this summer, but it's bothering me more than it is her. Her attitude issues aren't a daily struggle at home anymore, she's no longer guarding her food even though we're always cautious, and she's really let Panda into her personal space lately. Panda recently turned two and is finally starting to calm down. Her energy level is a great motivator for Cal and they really enjoy playing together and are often found wrestling in the backyard or in the house. They take turns being the instigator and it's nice to see Cal letting her guard down and allowing Panda to be in charge. They're both enjoying the kids and being really tolerant of the typical toddler behaviors. I joke with my husband that we were right to get a second dog - each baby needs his own dog! They love their puppies and take good care of them. My nearly 3 year old feeds his pooches every evening and pats them on the rump while telling them they're good girls. The 1 year old leans in and gives kisses. Unfortunately, he's also completely unafraid of large animals as a result of growing up in a dog-friendly home and recently kissed a giraffe...

On the downside, both dogs have developed some dog reactivity, but we're working on that with some controlled exposure to the type of dog they react on (GSD, due to some bad experiences because some people are just idiots and shouldn't handle beautiful dogs). We're hoping to see some improvement with consistent work and in the meantime, we're holding off on attending things that require close proximity to other dogs unless we're able to give each dog our full attention. 

Cal is a certified therapy and crisis dog with a national team and we're really enjoying that. We got to nursing homes and crisis events (such as funerals, thankfully we haven't had a large-scale crisis in our area). She's got her CGC, CGC-A, and CGC-U. I'm working on getting her registered to earn the AKC Therapy Dog title. If we had been logging hours from the start, she'd be somewhere between the THD and THDA titles. 

I'm also looking into doing the AKC trick titles with Panda. She's so goofy, I think she'd love it. Here are some photos of my pups, they're a joy. Calypso is the one without white on her nose, Panda has the white nose marking.