Hitting The Trail

Well, not yet, she's still just a pipsqueak. But after she crawled into the backpack, she did get a ride around the living room!

Trash Day

I gotta admit, I was a little nervous about this one. The truck is loud, the cans are loud, the whole thing is loud and crashy.

We wanted her attention as the truck first came down the street. (You'll notice our nosy ghost is still with us and is hanging around for this adventure.)



Ruby was a little timid as she peeked around the corner to see what was the commotion next door.



But all kinds of curious when the excitement rolled up to our house.



It was a noisy, wild, turbo garbage extravaganza! What's not for a puppy to love!



She was a little bummed when it was all over. Poor Roo.



Nothing a delicious beefy treat won't cure.

This Spider

Was so not itsy bitsy.

Bruiser

Well, if she fails service dog school, she can always join the Navy.

Narcissus in the Fitting Room

Oh, she knows she's pretty. She stayed like that a looooong time.

Puppies Can See Ghosts!

How exciting! And who knew I had a ghost-catching camera! It's just like the Madonna of the Toast!



Or, you know, a snoot print on the lens. But don't tell Ruby. She likes to think she's being watched over by a higher power.

School Daze

Ruby loves to watch video of herself in training class. She finds that it helps her to troubleshoot weak areas and improve her technique. This level of perfectionism at such a young age gives me very high hopes. Although, to be honest, I've also seen her glued to America's Next Top Model.

Puppy Kisses

Ruby with big "sister" Peyton. No air-kisses for these ladies who lunch. Isn't Peyton so pretty? And fashionable! I covet that ruby-red leash.



Watch out next week in puppy class, Judi. The leash WILL BE MINE.

Stretching Out

When puppies are very little, we keep a divider in a large crate to help train them. Most puppies will not eliminate inside the crate if the space is big enough to be comfortable for them, but not so big that they would be comfortable having a poop for a roommate.

We're doing really well on that front, plus we woke up to find that overnight, someone had switched our puppy with a baby elephant, so it was time to remove the divider.



Of course, Ruby helped.

So, The First Couple Weeks?

Bliss! You know how the beginning of a relationship is. Could this angel do any wrong?



I mean besides the piddles and explosive diarrhea, rabid lunging at the food bowl, annoying of Kiva (eternally patient big sister), shredding of body parts (mine), and screeching like a deranged chimpanzee when put in her crate. But that was Week One. Week Two was much improved! My good girl leads me to the door when she has to pee, we cured the poo problem, and we've made great progress on de-chimping so the neighbors don't think we're waterboarding the puppy.



Our greatest achievement? Now she sits and waits for the go-ahead before devouring the kibble. I didn't think to take a "before" video, but she was like a starving lion cub on a wildebeest. Not anymore!



Magic? Xanax? Nope, just patience and training. The process involves lowering the food bowl incrementally and treating for calmly sitting at each stage. Ruby caught on very quickly, although it did take two or three days to get her to focus complete eye contact on me while she sat. (She kept glancing at the bowl.) Once I had that, we were golden; she'd wait for as long as I requested. Her eyes just lock on mine until I release her.

I think we'll let her stay here a little while longer.

I Can Do That!