What Did You Do With Your Dog(s) Today?

I did not take any pictures, but we went on a walk, then had a CGC class. We have our test in 3 weeks! 🤞

GrandmaToGoldens said:

Good luck for your CGC test!

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Thank you! Our main issue is excitability with greetings and interactions, but improving slowly but surely. Often she does better in class than at home. Last week, she got excited when we practiced "approaching a friendly stranger" in class, but last night she was almost perfect. Hopefully with 3 more weeks of practice in and out of class, we'll pass!

last night my 3 year old passed her CGC! So proud of her. Today, we're just going to hang around the house. We've had a ton of rain lately, so if the yard is dry enough, we'll probably play fetch. The puppy is trying to learn the rules of the house; he has just started to discover his teeth and enter the land shark phase. We're going to try to have several small training sessions throughout the day if I can time them appropriately: hungry enough to be food motivated but not hangry, alert enough to learn but not be too wild. Every time we try, the teeth come out I didn't forget about this phase, but I forgot about this phase 😂

Sankari said:

Congratulations on the CGC! 😀

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Thank you!! I felt confident in most items, but she does tend to pull to say hello to people (otherwise walks well on a leash). Most of us arrived early, which gave us the chance to practice approaches before test time, so I think that took some of the excitement away.

We are having several days of sunny and 65-75 degrees here after what seems like weeks of nothing but dreary rain. I took my girl hiking yesterday and she had the BEST time. She actually doesn't love water, but voluntarily splashed in the creek some too. She was zonked on the way home and in the evening. 🙌 We went for a walk this afternoon, because it's too pretty to waste the sunshine by staying inside. The puppy is 11 weeks so most of our time together is training. He did meet my brother and sister-in-law yesterday, and went through his first drive-thru today. He's also learning patience with sit/down and already catching on to some hand signals.

It's raining here, so it's a perfect day for Kongs/Toppls. I also went to the store and bought some plastic Easter eggs to do some [carefully supervised] nosework in the coming days.

The puppy started basic obedience tonight. I'm pretty sure he's the youngest in the class, and he definitely wasn't the worst behaved. (Thank goodness). There are some owners who need the most training

Today my girl and I went hiking, which was more like a walk in the woods. It was a trail I hadn't been to before, so I didn't really know what to expect. It ended up not being my favorite. Very muddy, not much of a view, and two ticks were stowaways I saw one on her head while we were walking and immediately got rid of it. I briefly inspected after we got back to the car, and thoroughly inspected while on the grooming table after arriving home, and even still, hours later, another one was crawling on her head. Inspected again and haven't found anymore, but now I'm paranoid. Putting Nexgard to the test...

Sankari said:

@AllThatGlittersIsGolden - sorry about the ticks! They are nasty bugs. I hope Nexgard will be effective for you.. Ramses is on Nexgard year round but so far 🤞🏽🤞🏽 I have never found any... Those things are everywhere in the French/Swiss forests where we live..

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They are! I think these were the first ticks I've ever found on one of my dogs, and I've had dogs in my life for about 25 years. So far I haven't seen any more emerge. I'm assuming the Nexgard did it's job, because they weren't attached. 🤞🏻

Sankari said:

That's saying something in 25 years - only because I'm a first time dog owner. Glad to hear that they work! 😊 I have a lot of choice words for ticks but I don't want to get banned 😂

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We used Frontline back in the day with my dogs when I was growing up, but my husband and I have been using Nexgard for one of our dogs. I'm using a different vet clinic for my puppy and they have him on Simparica Trio. So far so good 🤷🏻‍♀️ I have some choice words too 😂 After I saw the first tick while we were hiking, we saw a snake. I love nature, but I was ready to get out of it by that point 😂

GoldenRetieverL0ver08 said:

@AllThatGlittersIsGolden So far i havent found a tick on my pups. I use a topical treatment. This time of the year is worst for ticks. And i dont mind snakes but im sure i would hate to see one. Hope you can keep the ticks off of your pup.

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Sankari said:

Oh yes I have heard of Frontline and Simparica Trio.. actually my vet recommended that too but because Ramses must return back to France, we decided to not change anything.. you saw a snake??!! I'm so scared of them! Positively petrified! 😬😬 I work with nature (as my job) but it's all frozen around me - that kind of nature is safe for me. Only bears to worry about 🤣🤣 at least they are big and you can see them coming + I have a rifle just in case! What can I say, I'm a coward! 😂

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That makes sense, not to change anything! I was hesitant about trying a different brand with the Simparica but I went to college with my vet and I really trust her judgment. I like that it's only 1 tablet to remember about and it makes it a little cheaper overall; I don't like that it's only 1 tablet so if there's an interaction, we can't pinpoint what it is. So far so good.

I think it was probably just a rat snake or kingsnake, as it didn't look like the poisonous ones in our area, but it was still too close for comfort. My mom was with me and she got a better look (apparently I passed it without noticing it, probably because I was scanning my dog for ticks) and said it was about 5 feet long. What I saw just looked long. I'd much rather see a bear too 😆

Ok, I'm done, and ready to get back on topic 🙃