All Posts

Look at that face! We have definitely entered the teenage phase. Izzy is the smartest girl and has learned so much, but she seems to have forgotten most of it recently. She has also decided that she has aspirations to participate in the Iditarod. Walking her is a challenge especially in new places. The class we are taking is perfect and is working on the two areas we really need to focus on: loose leash walking and calm meetings. She also weighs 58 pounds now and has gotten t

Izzy rocking waiting calmly at a busy store. We worked with Izzy at Jerry's Home Improvement on Sniff-Train-Sniff and being calm in an exciting place. We started with a sniff walk outside and rewarded when she checked in. Once she was giving us more attention, we moved inside. I think she did really well! There was lots of things going on and people walking by us. We rewarded her for looking at all the people and activities but not reacting. for walking on a loose leash and f

Another one of my favorite photos of Izzy. It's been a busy week of training, play dates and daycare. Izzy had her second Teenage Social Club class. We met near the River Park in Eugene. We first walked the dogs to park. We rewarded them whenever they gave us attention on the walk. Izzy gets really excited so I was happy to get 4 check-ins. Once at the park we practiced training (when they were calm enough to respond to commands), reinforced calm behavior when they noticed pe

For Izzy's 7-month-old photo shoot, I decided to let her do whatever she wanted in our back field. She is so much fun!

Emmi visiting the Eugene Airport. I've realized that not everyone realizes what a Certified Therapy Dog is. Some people I've talked to think a Therapy Dog is an Emotional Support Animal (ESA) and others think they are a Service Dog. I've found a lot of people get Service Dogs and ESA dogs confused. Sadly, it's gotten more confusing because a lot of people with ESA dogs either think they are the same as a Service Dog or think they have the same rights and that really makes it

Izzy with Baby post play date with Runa. It's been a great start to January. Izzy started a new class, Teenage Social Club, on Thursday. What a great course and perfect for us. We are focusing on calm leash walking and calm greetings. I learned so much in just the first class. Izzy did much better than I anticipated so I think our work is paying off. It was helpful to hear that teen dogs are crazy and to have strategies to work with them. Izzy just loves every dog and every p

Izzy getting to know her to friend, Juno. Izzy has a new friend, Juno. Juno is a 1.5-year-old black lab my friend adopted as a teen. Izzy and Juno have walked together twice prior to their date. I was afraid Izzy might be a bit too rough for Juno and initially she was a bit intimidated. We gave them some time and before we knew it they were taking turns playing chase and next they were wrestling. They played so well together, taking turns at chase and who was on top as they w

Izzy is doing a lot better with checking in. We started 2026 with a pack walk with Connecting with K9s. It was a great way to start the year. I was reminded this morning how things change when a photo of the New Years walk in 2019 came up in my Facebook memories. Of course, that walk was with Emmi. These walks were an important part of helping Emmi with her dog reactivity and we attended them diligently. They were also a great activity for us, and we made lots of friends. It'

One of Izzy's recent activities was meeting Santa. What a great socialization activity for her. Merry Christmas from Izzy and me. We hope you all have a wonderful holiday!

Izzy really loves to play so I have become an event planner for her busy social calendar. She does one private park adventure a week with LuckyDog Day Care. She loves going and gets to play with different dogs. She seems to really enjoy other goldens but has friends of all types. She doesn't mind the mud. Thankfully they clean her before she comes home. Izzy loves chase. Her besties are Iylah, Runa, Winona and Maya. I try to arrange at least 2 play dates a week for her. We ha

This has nothing to do with accomplishments. I just shamelessly hoped more people would read this. Izzy is now 52 pounds! She looks so much like an adult, but I have to remind myself she is just a teen and a crazy one at that. It's easy for me to focus on what she is not doing but it's important to focus on what she is doing. Today I just wanted to share some really big accomplishments we've seen in the last week. #1 Izzy sat calmly in the driveway and watched a herd of dee

I can't believe Izzy is now over 6 months old! Puppyhood is flying by! Izzy is 50 pounds now! Her favorite thing is to play with her friends. Iylah, Runa, Winona and Maya are her besties. She loves daycare. Unfortunately, because we will not be spaying her for at least 2 years if at all, she can't participate now that she is 6 months but thankfully, she can do Adventure Club where she goes to a 4 acre fenced environment with a small group of dogs. She is doing great with the

Izzy's wound. It's been too long since I've posted! We were on vacation for a week. Izzy stayed with Tracy (her breeder) and met a new friend, Maeve. She was having so much when we left, she didn't even notice. She did great and enjoyed her vacation as much as we did ours. It was so nice to not worry about her. I think she forgot most of what we taught her though. She chased the cats, pulled on the leash with new vigor, rushed through the child gates and forgot what "come" me

Looking so serious. It's hard to believe we have had Izzy for over 3 months now! Time really flies! She has grown so quickly! She lost her last baby canines last week. Her adult teeth are much smoother than those razor-sharp baby teeth. She rarely bites now and when she does, it's gentle. Two months ago, I didn't have any confidence in teaching her to have a soft mouth, but she does. We remodeled our family room as the x-pen was too flimsy and wasn't allowing the cats to come

GrayC feeling at home I still remember the exact moment GrayC entered our lives. It was June of 2018 and I was looking out our front window and saw her at the end of our driveway. My first thought was "oh no, not another cat" and my second thought was "great it's a female so it's either pregnant or has kittens". Living in a rural area, I had been dealing with a constant stream of dumped cats and I really didn't want to deal with another one but I help who I encounter that nee

Who could not love this face? Izzy makes progress every day. I realized we hadn't worked on stay. After just 3 repetitions, she got it. Now we will work on distance and duration. We are also working on having her sit to get what she wants. I'm hoping to enlist some volunteers to help us practice this when greeting people. The biggest progress this week though is with the cats. I think the remodel of the area was a success. Both the gates have cat doors, and they can get up hi

Then and Now (she is starting to take up two beds) One of the books I read before we brought Izzy home said to "embrace puppyhood" because they grow so fast. Wow was that good advice! I can't believe our girl is just 2 weeks short of 5 months old! When we brought her home, she weighed 17 pounds! She now weighs 40 pounds! The photo Tracy sent us when we were matched. Gotcha Day! She fit in the stroller! Our first outing. Izzy is losing her baby teeth. She is now playing with t

The remodel Having a huge x-pen around our family room wasn't working for any of us. Izzy often jumped on it, and it wasn't secure enough to leave her in. She also got her toe stuck in it and if you have never heard a puppy cry in pain and fear, it is awful. The cats would jump into the area and then be stuck. We couldn't put something for them to get on to get over the pen as Izzy is a little mountain goat and would have got up on it too. Lastly, we were tired of tripping ov

Izzy laying on me for the first time! Emmi was a big snuggler. I loved when she would get up and take a nap on the couch with me. I remember one of the first times she did this. It was after I had tongue surgery at OHSU to remove pre-cancerous cells. I was in so much pain after the surgery. When Emmi got up on the couch and cuddled with me, it was such a comfort. Emmi cuddling with me after my surgery. That surgery was so painful and something I hope to never go through again

Now this was fun! Orchard Point Kennels has a Hunted House. They have their barn decorated and have treats hidden in plastic eggs that are on haybales or hanging from the stalls, a shell game with spooky cups and a variation of bobbing for apples using a kiddie pool and balls. After the course, we got to pick a costume and get photos. What a fun and amazing socialization activity. A new location, new smells, decorations, haybales, a new person, nose work and more. Ryan, who o