Living with Rudi at 6 months...

Here I am, begging for attention as usual from inside the car. I am in here with Andi, but waiting for Lora to come back is just torturous! I am really happiest when all of my people are right here with me, wherever I am. If I am in a house with people who insist on sitting in different rooms, I can run myself ragged trying to keep track of all of them. Of course, it is just because I am just such a people dog! For me, doggie heaven would be a big room filled with my loved ones, lots of other little dogs for playing, soft couches, and my Buster Cube filled with Cheerios. By the way...the Buster Cube is the most challenging toy that I have so far. It looks like a big die, with a hole in the top for kibbles or little treats (like Cheerios). Andi or Lora fill it up with food for me, and I get to chase it around the floor. There are little compartments inside so that the food does not come out all at once...it keeps me occupied for hours. The box said that it improves intelligence. That may be true, but what I love most is the CHEERIOS! I even eat my dinner this way sometimes, for fun!

Oh, it is just so tough to be me. Here I am, relaxing in Andi's Honda Civic. The Civic is our official car, I have ridden in several since Lora and Andi both own them! I love to sit in the front seat on someone's lap so that I can see what is going on. I do NOT like to lie down, but I do have my doggie seat belt for safety. I even like riding in the back seat, for variety...that way I am unfettered by these people who want me to sit still! I have always loved riding in the car. One funny thing, I am very quiet and good in the car for as long as it is moving. If we stop at a light and anyone walks by our car, I realize that it is my duty to growl so they will back off! You do know that we are invincible in the car, as long as it is moving, right? At least I think so! I am actually pretty protective in general, but as soon as I can get close enough to see that a person is not threatening, I will run to them with my ears back and tail wagging. Please pat me, I love the attention!

This is something that I do every time we are going upstairs in our building. I am quick on the steps, much faster than any human I know, so there is always a lot of waiting. Because dogs are pack animals, we like to check on each other. Lora and Andi are in my dog pack, so I watch them from above as they come up the stairs. This is what you would see if you looked up to see me waiting for you at the top of the steps. Hurry up, I want a treat, let's go! The funny thing is, there was a time when I couldn't go up or down stairs by myself. One day I could go up, very slowly, and then a few weeks later I could go down, very carefully. By the time I was 4 or 5 months old, I was a pro on the stairs. These days I run up and down just for fun.

Here I am, getting a good belly tickle from Lora. She put this photo on the site because it looks like I am laughing. One of my favorite things to do is to wrestle with my people...especially Andi. Lora and I usually play fetch rather than wrestle. I am really trying to learn not to put my mouth on them during play, but it is a little hard...I just have to remember that they are not really dogs, and biting people is ALWAYS bad (unless you are learning Schutzhund from a qualified instructor...but let's be honest, a 12-pound dog is just not the best candidate for formal attack dog training!). Any way that I can be close to my people is just fine by me!

Guess what? I finally learned to sit correctly, thanks to my classes with Georgia Bialk and Winifred Strickland here in Delaware. They run an excellent obedience school for all breeds. I started with the Beginner level in September '99 and finished in late October. Then I started on the Intermediate level, but it got really cold and Lora got pretty busy with school applications, so we are taking a break until the spring. I learned Sit, Stay, Come, Heel, and Down in Beginner level, and the Intermediate level goes on to teach Heeling off lead, Retrieving, Standing for examination, and so on. We may try competing in obedience trials this spring, but I really need work with precision. As you can see, I don't have a whole lot of fur to cover up any mistakes, like if my feet are not perfectly aligned. It is pretty hard, but I am trying. Lora and Andi try to incorporate my obedience training into everyday life, so I have to sit before I get my dinner, and when we are fetching for fun, I usually have to Sit or Down before they will throw the toy again. This way I get used to obeying in the natural course of things, so it is easier to remember in obedience practice. By the way, Winifred Strickland wrote a great book on dog obedience called Expert Obedience Training For Dogs. She has done some really amazing things with her German shepherd dogs, but everything in the book works on me as well. Since she is known for Shepherds, though (she breeds them), the classes are mostly Shepherds. In any case, I am always the smallest dog there.

Here I am in my little bed. It was made especially for me by a nice lady in Texas. I love to snuggle into a ball inside of it; I feel really safe surrounded by the soft sides of my donut bed. Of course, it is red, my signature color. Lora got the bed for me off the eBay auction site. eBay is also the place where Lora gets a lot of great dog books and pictures that are hard to find in stores. Much fun and really useful...also horribly addictive!

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