West Woods

It's pancake breakfast time! Which means that we eat a junky, but delicious breakfast, and then need to go walk it off! On the way home from Burton, there is a park called the West Woods that we just love. It has very hilly terrain, and a cave! This hike was just what we needed to burn off that maple syrup! Here's our sweet Charley sitting for a picture on a big rock! This is one of my favorite pictures ever of him!

Here we are going down to that creek for a drink of water. (for Charley, not me :o)

This is one of several bridges you cross along the hike.

Here's where the cave is. It's called Ansels Cave.

Me and my Charley on another bridge. Isn't he growing!

This is a great park for the birds. There's wild grapes and berries everywhere. It's full of lots of happy chirping and full birds!

More yummy bird berries! At the nature center they have a wall of glass where you can sit and watch the birds that come to the feeders outside. It's amazing, there are like 20 different species of birds at one time. The park also provides binoculars for a close up view of the birds.

Happy dog on the way home!

Growing Up

Charley is turning into a little dog. Here he is looking out the window, in protector mode.

Tunnel Dog

Here's Charley on his test day running through a tunnel. This took some work for him, as he didn't want to go through at first. But, after a few weeks of practice, he was just fine. He even had to stop to gobble up someone's leftover treat! Good job Charley!

Our Puppy Star!

Charley had a great last day of school. They had a whole test course set up for us. We waited in chairs as each puppy went one at a time. Charley was last, which was very hard for him, cause he was SO bored waiting.

This is what Charley had to do to pass his test:
PUPPY BEHAVIORS:
7. Free of aggression toward people during at least 6 weeks of class
8. Free of aggression toward other puppies in class
9. Tolerates collar or body harness of owner’s choice
10. Owner can hug or hold puppy (depending on size)
11. Puppy allows owner to take away a treat or toy

PRE-CANINE GOOD CITIZEN® TEST BEHAVIORS:
12. Allows (in any position) petting by a person other than the owner
13. Grooming-Allows owner handling and brief exam (ears, feet)
14. Walks on a Leash-Follows owner on lead in a straight line (15 steps)
15. Walks by other people-Walks on leash past other people 5-ft away
16. Sits on command-Owner may use a food lure
17. Down on command-Owner may use a food lure
18. Comes to owner from 5-ft when name is called
19. Reaction to Distractions-distractions are presented 15-ft away
20. Stay on leash with another person (owner walks 10 steps and returns)

We took the training a step further, and Charley learned to sit when I stop walking, stay when I'm about 5 feet away, go through a ladder on the floor, go through a tunnel, look and pay attention when I say "look", and sit when I greet another person.
Here we are waiting...

Walking up to our first station.

Being good while I shake hands with the teacher.

Class picture. This took forever as the puppies had a hard time sitting still next to each other (Charley especially).

Ahhh, put him on the other side, and he was good.

Another "graduation picture".

Sweet Charley, doing his "Look".

And he passed his test! Charley got a graduation certificate, a stuffed toy from his teachers, and I got a Hershey's bar for all our hard work!

He didn't like when I took his toy...

So, I just let him carry it!

Charley at home exhausted from his hard work and concentration (with his new toy).

Charley's certificate!

And medal!

Charley is our little Puppy Star!! Canine Good Citizen, here we come!

March 11, 2011 is a Good Day to Have a Baby!

Congratulations to Stacy, Ryan, and Aidan! Aidan is now a big brother, as Stacy gave birth to Austin John Chambers at 1:03 pm today. He was 9lbs, 8oz and 22 in long! I will update with pictures when I get them. Just wanted to share the happy news!

Monster Snowbanks

I will never ever forget being in Tahoe, when they had 155 inches of snow in a matter of days. Yes, days. I had never seen so much snow in my whole life, and still haven't. The roads looked just like this! It made for the most amazing snowboarding EVER! Kirkwood is the mountain/ski resort in Tahoe that gets the most snow. Something about the way weather comes over the Sierra Nevada's, it always drops the most on Kirkwood. It is really sureal.

Please click this link for a bigger photo. Carson Spur Monster Snowbanks - iWitness Weather Photos and Video Photo "After 12 feet of new snow in a week, the Caltrans crew were working hard to clear Highway 88 westbound around Carson Spur. They shuttled cars to Silver Lake on Saturday afternoon, because, as you can see, they were still working on that snowbank. Kirkwood has received 475 inches of snowfall to date." That's almost 40 feet!!

Puppy School

Charley has been learning how to be a good dog at Digging Dogs puppy school. Although Charley is a yard digger (we will stop that), Digging Dogs does not teach digging. They have a nice Puppy Discovery Program. Charley was with other little puppies and learned many things, He was working towards getting the AKC (American Kennel Club) Puppy Star certification. The AKC puts out a test that a puppy must pass to get this certification. It's open to all breeds of dogs, not just purebred AKC breeds. The AKC supports good dog citizenship for all breeds and mixes of dogs, so this is a nice way to recognize all their hard work.
Here's puppy school!

This is me and Charley, practicing walking. Charley learned how to heal (which he's naturally very good at), and then stop when I stop, and sit. He was very good at this.

Here's Charley again, sitting by the "stop" cone. Good job!

This exercise teaches the puppy to listen to your voice and come to you. (We're still working on this, especially with coming in from outside) The teacher would hold the puppy, and the handler went behind that curtain in the corner. Then we'd call our dog and see if they could find us. Charley did great!

Then the other person who was with the dog got to come out and hide, and do the same thing. Here's Robb and Charley playing foot-paw high five while waiting for their turn.

Ok, Charley is up!

After class, we had puppy play time. This was a good chance for the puppies to socialize with each other. (we're very lucky that Charley gets to socialize often with the pack of dogs our neighbors dog sit, so he was an old pro) They also got to explore strange textures and objects, like a teeter totter, walking through a ladder, and tunnel. I love this picture because all of the puppies are blurs, and the humans are in focus. Just like real life with a puppy!

Charley playing with another pup.

Class was for 6 weeks. Charley learned to sit, down, stay, heel, walk next to me and stop, turn around, go through a ladder, a tunnel, and a hoop. He learned how to leave it, and began to come. The last week Charley had a big test of all these things for his Puppy Star Certification...