Oh hai!

I haven't updated here in forever! Oops, in my defense it was mainly due to a lack of training photos, but we fixed that the other day with a quick stop (okay maybe an hour) stop at Tractor Supply Co. Cara's training is coming along fantastically and I couldn't be more proud of how well my little girl is doing at now going on five months old. I am so happy I will have this to look back on when she hits the dreaded teenage phase and all this lovely training goes out the window. 

Sadly Cara still doesn't know any "fun" cues, I've chosen to focus more on the basics and her manners at this point and then when she is 100% on all of that we'll move on to fun stuff. We have been doing a TON of loose leash walking training or her "lets go" command, sits, downs, waits/stays, focus, and polite greeting manners. :)

So here is a quick video of us practicing "lets go" as well as sit/down in TSC. If you have any suggestions I would love to hear them as I'm always looking to improve. But first I'll tell you a few things I noticed and have already had pointed out to me. First and most obviously she popped up out of her first down as soon as I clicked, I handled it by simply putting her back in a down and feeding her a few extra treats for holding it a bit longer (we are working on her not moving until I give her release word and I'm also going to start dropping the treat to reward for a down instead of rewarding from above as that causes her to rise to meet the treat). Second I need to hold my hand in a more natural position when I'm working on llw as I don't want her forging later on (I might end up just going hands free now that she's getting it more). And third, yes I know my shoes untied. Now that we've covered that on to the pictures and video!

And some pictures. :)

And of course a bit of sass:

A horrible week.

I'm sad to say after a horrible week that I haven't gotten much done with Cara in the way of training. We're continuing to work on bare bones basics such as sit, down, and stand (along with recall of course). Another big thing right now, she NEEDS to learn that biting feet is not okay. That last bit is still very much a work in progress, sometimes it seems like it's going great and then other times she backslides and turns into a bitey monster who has little to no bite inhibition. We'll get there eventually, hopefully sooner rather than later. doG help me get through her teething.

On a lighter note, here's a picture of my little girl looking ever more grown up.

52 Weeks of Chazhound Dogs 1/52

The theme for the first week was 'The First is the Worst' or show your dog being naughty. So for my submission, bad puppy noms hands. :)

Can I just say I'm excited?

This post is totally unrelated, but can I just say I'm excited?! Why you ask, well my SS package should soon be arriving and I'll be getting these beautiful tags one for each girl. :)

Mina's is on a maple leaf with the chinese symbol for peace.

Upendi's is on a cottonwood/redbud leaf and the symbol means love.

And finally there's Cara Bear's which is on a Gingko leaf, which is believed by the Chinese to confer longevity and resilience.

The photo credit all belongs to Renee over at You're It! Tags, you can check out her site here You're It! Tags .

52 Weeks of Chazhound Dogs 0/52

The theme for the 'practice' week was Right Hand (Wo)man. I chose Cara as my main subject mainly because I think it will interesting to watch her grow over the weeks!

So what's the big idea?

You might be wondering right about now what the whole point of this blog is? I don't blame you, and first off no it's not about growing up in Australia. If I've disappointed you I deeply apologize. Now, if you're still with me this blog is meant to follow the progress of my three month old australian shepherd puppy Cara as we embark on our journey together.

Cara is a red bi puppy at around oh 13 weeks now? Her parents were working cattle dogs and if all goes as planned Cara will be started on sheep when she hits nine months. How exciting! As of right now we're content working on the basics and let me tell you this little girl is smart. I can't say how happy I am to have her as mine because my little bear has a ton of potential just waiting to be unlocked, so please don't misunderstand me if I ever refer to her as 'the pesky puppy', it's all out of love honestly.

What I can tell you with certainty  is that she's a little spit fire with a ton of drive, lots of determination, and the smarts to back it all up.