Sunny is one year old!

Wow, how time flies! I'm so behind in updating Sunny's blog that suddenly she is a year old today. So much has happened in the last few months and so many things not caught on camera - riding on a jam-packed tour bus and acting as well as any service dog, going to crowded, noisy farmer's markets and walking at heel past all the people and dogs, letting people and kids pet and hug her. She also started going on trail rides with the horses, moved to a new house where she loves her big yard, and for her fist birthday, passed her Delta Society Pet Partners exam with high marks in every category so she can do therapy work this winter!

Stats at one year are 26.5" tall and 75 lbs.

So a big, happy birthday to my wonderful, sweet girl.
To see her first year in pictures click
here
To see the whole litter grow from 3 weeks to one year old, see the 'sibling' links at the top left of the blog.

Howling

Another landmark that my baby is growing up. Yesterday Greg left the house with Cupcake to feed the horse. Sunny came running to me whining, wanting to go with them. She ran to the window and back a couple of times, whining when she got to me. Knowing wolves howl when they are first separated, I howled to her. She whined more and yipped like a wolf cub (not the first time she's done this), then to my surprise broke into a full-throated howl. Skye had the most amazing musical wolfie howl, so it was fun to see that Sunny has it in her genes too.

7 Months Old

In the past couple of weeks Sunny has graduated from her intermediate obedience (as a star pupil!). I was happy that she did so well, calm around the other dogs, patient throughout class and the best one there in all around obedience (at least in my opinion!). We are continuing to work on our own on down-stays, and other behaviors she has a foundation in, but always a work in progress (like not jumping up).

She also got to go to her first therapy dog play day May 11th. It was her first play day with big dogs and her first try at the agility course. During play time my heart was in my mouth when they ran and cut flat out! - especially as she had her first boo boo playing too rough with Cupcake just the weekend before and had a sore right leg for the rest of the morning (play between them has been toned down a lot by me now). I don't have any agility goals for Sunny and don't really want her jumping, but it was a fun new thing to do for both of us.
Also this week was the first time I am having her dog walker take her out of the kennel mid-day for her walk, then leave her loose in the house/yard until I get home in the evening. The first few days were perfect, but yesterday she must have had a burst of energy and played a bit with a runner rug and some rag towels, but otherwise is very good for 7 months old. I feel I'm pushing the limits a bit and would rather progress her more slowly, but now that heat and thunderstorm season is here I sure feel better if she is good enough to have the freedom to go inside.

At 7 months old she was only 24" at the shoulder and 65 lbs, a little small for her age for an Acer daughter, and seems so small compared to Skye as an adult, but think she may grow slowly over a longer period of time, which is probably better in the long run anyway.

More socializing

April 17th - I realized today I've been a little remiss on socializing lately - except for obedience class Sunny hasn't been getting off the property much lately, so off we went downtown today. Traffic, schools letting out, a loud motercycle, and she walked at a nice loose lead heel. Then off to the grocery store where I stood by the electric doors with people going in and out with carts - she just sat at heel and took it all in, though she'd never been out of the car at the store before. She was obviously out of her element but trusted me. Last I walked her in the parking lot while pushing a cart - nothing.
April 27th - Today it was back to the grocery store. Surprisingly only a couple of people stopped to pet her, but I was pleased that she again sat quietly with people walking inches from her without getting up or pulling to sniff and greet the people who didn't want to meet her. After the store we went to the skate park where she watched the kids on skateboards and bikes and a whiney motorized car on the dirt track (which I didn't give her time to spook at, so she didn't). Next was another park near home that she is familiar with but there was a big multifamily picnic going on. As we walked in that area people were coming and going and a couple of children came over to say hi to her. She has not had much practice at greeting new people, so I had her sit before they petted her, but for a dog who has very rarely seen children she did great at having 3 around her at once petting her, while a toddler of about 2 yrs old (one of identical twins) lunged for her then fell back afraid and screamed, then lunged forward again another 2 or 3 times. I was so proud of how quietly she sat through it all!
This has been my first week back at work since getting Sunny in December. I was very relieved to finally get a dog walker lined up at the last minute (after a month of looking for one) as she'll spend 10 hrs or more in her kennel each day that we both work. The dog walker will give her a mid-day run in the pastures for 1/2 hr, and she seemed to be doing well when I got home each day. I think I probably have more seperation anxiety than she does!

Sunny turns 6 months old

Sunny turned 6 months old on April 12th. She looks larger in the photo than she looks with someone standing by her, but she is about 23.5" at the shoulder now and 55lbs.
This has been our last month of 'together time' as I return to work next week from winter lay-off. Sunny came to us as she fit all the requirements I had for a puppy and as her litter was timed perfectly for my lay-off. She arrived 4 days after my last day at work in December for maximum puppy time before I go back to long hours this spring for the next 8 months. It will be hard on both of us to be seperated for 12-14 hours a day after so much time together, but she has been having kennel time everyday since she graduated from her crate a couple of months ago to get her ready for the change. I have been looking for a dog-walker for over a month and finally, in the last couple of days may have found someone. Also, Dad's schedule is very changeable right now, so he will be home with her some of the time.
She is still a very quiet, very obedient girl and we hope she will be totally trustworthy in the house soon, so she can be left loose. For the past few weeks I have tried to leave her alone in the house 1/2 hr to an hour at least once a week. The only things she has destroyed so far, inside or outside, are bits of the carpet in her kennel and the ear pieces off my reading glasses from the nightstand. Not bad for the past 4 months of puppyhood!
She just started her second obedience class last week so we are working on sit-stay and down-stay right now (as she already walks at heel). There are 10 dogs in class and she did well with the ones she met, and tried to play with the instructor's German Shepherd after class. She still loves all people and the other day I took her to the elementary school when school let out as she never sees children on a regular basis. She sat quietly on the lawn and watched about a hundred of them walk by. It was too bad we couldn't interact with any of them, but I would need parental permission first. Now to find a toddler she can see! I would also like to take her to the local Fire Dept and Police Dept to meet people in uniform.
She also did very well about 2 weeks ago when we went to a therapy dog testing for Delta Society. Sunny had to stay in the car during the testing so she wouldn't be a distraction. An hour in the car by herself, which is the longest she's been in there alone with me out of the car, and she just slept and hung out. After the testing I brought her inside to meet the people and dogs. She happily went up to all the people and loved them and cautiously approached the 3 big dogs (two labs and a boxer)and made friends with them too, then just lay on the floor and waited while we talked. She got told a lot that she was beautiful, and everybody just loved her and was amazed at her quiet little personality for 5 1/2 months old! They all agreed she's going to have no problems being a therapy dog when she reaches her 1 yr old required age.

March

At the end of February Sunny graduated from kindergarten, where the instructor said she was well beyond her age level in obedience. She never joined in the puppy playtime as the high energy in that small room made her prefer to observe instead, though she has met a few older dogs and has been friendly with them all. To celebrate graduation she also graduated from sleeping in her crate at night to sleeping loose in the bedroom.
She has become quite an athletic dog, faster now than Cupcake, our 6 yr old Aussie/GSD cross and just as tall. Sunny's new buddy is our friends' 1 yr old border collie and she loved running and cutting with her when she came to visit. Sunny loves to go x-c skiing and hiking with us, and went on her first camping trip in early March to Utah.
On March 12th she turned 5 months old, 49.5 lbs and 22+" high at the shoulder.

February

Sunny turned four months old on February 12th! She got her 3rd set of boosters Jan 30th and a whole new world started opening up to her: puppy kindergarden, meeting other dogs, walking in new places. She even went to Petco last week for the first time. Way more acitvity, people, dogs, things than she has ever seen in one place - she did great and got lots of attention. Also walked the pedestrian bridge into town, lots of people, cars etc and a light metal section of the walkway that rattled and shook as we walked on it. We had the good luck to pass a young guy in a motorized wheelchair as we crossed the bridge and then pass him again on the way back. Unfortunately he was not one of the ones who stopped, but she shied the first time and did well the second time she saw him. As I want her to do TDI work later, this was really good! Lastly, we had a big breakthru this week on walking at heel!
On Feb 11th she had her first field trip to Aspen when we went up for the day with my mother and brother for my mom's 90th birthday! Aspen is a great dog-friendly town and we were stopped every few minutes by people wanting to pet her - she even got sweet talked to in Italian while she gave the man puppy kisses. We passed one store where a few women crowded to the window to see Sunny pass by. I stopped but they couldn't all see her where we were so I picked her up and carried her back to the window where 5 faces suddenly broke into big grins all at once, and they all said "oh!" and pointed and waved. Quite the kodak moment! Guess I'm not the only one who thinks she's adorable!

December

Sunny (aka: "yellow girl" of the litter, Asia - as the kennel help nicknamed her before her adoption, and Zion's Miss Golden Sunshine - to be her registered name) arrived just after midnight on Dec 19th, 2007 at Delta cargo in Denver. She handled the flight from Rochester, NY with a transfer in Atlanta, GA and then the 4 1/2 hr drive home from Denver with the quiet patience she has shown ever since. Not that she isn't a puppy - the first four weeks were 2 hours of high energy every morning followed by 3 walks a day and lots of playtime and lessons, but for all the work it takes, that adorable puppy phase still goes by too fast.