She's a Lapdog!

My 61-pound lapdog.

Izzy is becoming more and more affectionate as she gets older. She has recently got up on the couch when I am there and lay on me and fallen asleep. It just warms my heart. Emmi used to do this, and I would often have her get down because I'd either get too hot or her weight was too much. I felt bad about that when we lost her and vowed to appreciate it if I was ever lucky enough to have a dog who wanted to snuggle on me. So, I am being true to my word.

It is so amazing seeing the change in Izzy as she matures. As a young puppy, it was all about her and having fun. We just weren't all that important to her. As she ages, we have become important to her and being with us is where she wants to be. Pleasing us has also become important to her.

Dave and Izzy.

We are focusing on training in conjunction with learning to calm. Izzy is doing great! We now have her wait before going out or coming in. Today in her class, she was able to wait before leaving her pen and then wait calmly and do a few touches before going back. That's in a very stimulating environment and with all the other dogs doing the same thing. At home we continue to work on come and learned some new ways to reinforce that in class today. While Izzy still becomes deaf if she has a friend over, the rest of the time, she is doing really well with coming when called. I am so impressed with her. Of course, she is just a 9-month-old puppy, so she gets frustrated. Emmi taught me how important it was for me to be calm when she was struggling. The things she taught me really help me with Izzy. I got really good feedback from our trainer, Tera, today. She commented on how she liked that I stayed calm when Izzy had trouble focusing and that we worked really well together. It feels good to get that kind of positive feedback as some days, I'm not sure I'm doing anything right.

Awww.

Just because she is so darn cute. Found her in the laundry basket this morning.