Sunday, January 20, 2008

Wrapping up the weekend

Well, despite us, Samson graduated from Beginner Puppy class! He is making terrific progress and we are thrilled. He passed the 'name' (he absolutely knows his name) short distance come command with distractions, sit, stay, walk with relaxed leash and 'watch me' command. He is becoming increasingly calm and responds to almost everything we say. It's remarkable.

We have never had a rescue dog before and we had no idea what to expect. As many know, the first couple of weeks were challenging but of the late, he is coming into his own. He has realized that we aren't going anywhere and most importantly, he isn't going anywhere. He no longer barks crazily when we get his food, he no longer gulps it down at lightening speed and he waits quietly in the morning when he awakes before us. When we are sitting quietly, reading or watching TV, he will get a bone and come sit at our feet. We can just tell, he feels at home.

We had the MOST fun with our friends and their dogs. Lies gets a lot of the credit for Samson's adaptation. She emailed her trainer when we were having problems and got us involved in the training. She and her husband Phil have two beautiful dogs, a GSD named Kenya and a rescue dog, Coke. Kenya is just gorgeous - she reminds us of Allie. Here are a couple of pictures from our playtime. It looks rough but the three of them are having a grand time.

Paul made me filet mignon with Cabernet sauce for dinner. It was delicious. Today is some pretty wild playoff football. It's a balmy 6 degrees and we are curled up with a fire in the fireplace and some warm coffee.

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