Penny, Theo, and I went to my parent's house this weekend, and we had a ton of fun!  We got back pretty late on Friday, so we just ate dinner and had a relaxed evening.  Then on Saturday, we spent the day outside gardening and playing fetch.  Penny was thrilled to be able to help and even tried planting her own tennis ball tree!  She liked to put her ball into whatever pot I was planting things in because she knew I would throw it faster.  This turned into a game where I asked her to put her ball in various types of baskets including a little plastic cup at one point and then throw it.

On Sunday, we left in the morning to go to Devil's Lake State Park.  We spent a few hours hiking the trails and got to see some beautiful views.  There were a few steep trails, and I was really impressed with how well Penny did with staying close to me and not putting any pressure on the leash which would have made it harder for me to keep my balance.  We got to eat at a picnic table in the park, and Penny took a nice snooze under the table for the majority of the time we were eating.  Theo opted for keeping a keen eye out for the other dogs and people walking around.  I think he enjoyed "people watching" just as much as I did!  When we got back to the house Sunday night, both the dogs fell asleep and stayed asleep until I woke them up for their last potty before bed.

Monday was a little more relaxed.  We had a late start and just hung out in the backyard playing some games and drinking coffee.  Penny got to play even more fetch which she was pretty excited about.  We headed back to my apartment after dinner and then watched a movie and had a nice relaxing evening cuddling on the couch.  I think both dogs were pretty tuckered out, and I have to admit, I was definitely a bit sore and sleepy as well!  Until next time, stay pawsome!

I just completed my penultimate semester at University of Wisconsin - River Falls!  And by just completed I mean I just submitted my last final of the semester about an hour ago.  The past few months have been extremely hectic and rather exhausting, so I am happy to finally be done.  I had the toughest course load of my education so far, so between that, my job, ADEPT, and a few other little things behind the scenes, I definitely stayed busy this semester.  Hence why I haven't made a blog post since January!!

A couple weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend the Dog Behavior Conference which was very interesting and super inspiring!  I always love the chance to learn more about training and behavior.  Some of the topics were adolescence, puppy socialization, shelter dogs, out of the box solutions to behavior problems/listening to your dog, separation anxiety, and more.  It was three entire days of sitting in front of my laptop, but I was engrossed by the speakers the whole time; it was fascinating!

It has been so wonderful working with Penny over the past few months, and I am so excited to continue building her skills and hang out with her over the summer!  That girl has a phenomenal nose, so we have been doing a lot of diabetic alert work lately.  She is regularly hitting both high and low scents, and she is starting to get better at distinguishing between them with her alerts.   I have a super exciting YouTube video planned in the next few weeks talking about diabetic alert and showing you Penny's alerts in action.

Over the past few weeks, Theo, Penny and I have also been going on lots of walks/hikes and getting out in nature since the weather has been so nice.  There is a trailhead only about ten minutes from my apartment, so we go there about once a day as long as it isn't raining.  I let the dogs splash in the stream one day since it was bath day anyway.  They had a blast getting all dirty, and I loved watching them be goofy.

As for public access, I have still been limiting the amount of time I spend out and about, but as of tomorrow, I will officially be fully vaccinated (two weeks after my second vaccine) against COVID-19, so I will hopefully be more confident about going out on more outings with Penny over the summer.  I am thrilled with how well she has done on the outings we did manage to fit in this semester, and I know she will continue to do great things.

I leave to go on a trip to Florida with my sister and a friend of hers on Sunday, and I can't wait!  Penny is going to spend the time I am gone with her other trainer, and the current plan is for her to spend the rest of the summer with me.  I will be working full-time on campus, so Penny will get to be a full-time working dog too!  She does super well at the desk, and since the summers are usually pretty quiet at my job, we will hopefully have some extra time to do some training when it isn't busy.

Anyway, that is probably enough rambling for the time being.  I will be trying to post a new update at least twice a month over the summer, and I also want to focus on getting the training page of this site more fleshed out.  Lots to do, and I can't wait!  Until next time, stay pawsome!