Happy New Year, friends!
My first December was fantastic! I experienced all the magic the holiday season has to offer. One highlight was seeing all the holiday dΓ©cor! I visited a house with tons of lights and moving characters, including a life-sized Grinch, Santa, and a big Minion playing a strange song. I was curious at first, giving my signature head tilt, but quickly got used to it and realized it was no biggie (plus I got kibbles!). Experiencing new and novel things like this is important for my training as I prepare for the big world out there.
I learned that the holiday season means a lot of visiting with friends and family. This provided plenty of opportunities to practice being a good house guest and showing my manners around new people and dogs. I spent Christmas Eve at my raiserβs parent’s home, which had two dogs! One loves to play (most of the time), and the other doesnβt want anything to do with me despite my best efforts to make friends. I think everyone appreciated the entertainment I provided while playing my favourite games of tug and bitey face! We then woke up on Christmas morning, went for a quiet trail walk, and I watched everyone open gifts. Apparently, they didnβt need my help, so I opted to work on a stuffed Kong instead.
My raisers and I also visited new places this month for me to practice settling and working in new locations. This included the hair salon, rec centre, library, grocery store, and gym. I reached a milestone with my gym visits and can now accompany my raiser for a full one-hour workout. This can be a challenging environment with loud music, big equipment, and lots of people moving in strange ways, so my raiser is very pleased with my progress. I look forward to joining in for regular morning workouts in the new year. Of course, we balanced all the hard work with plenty of downtime. This meant running free on the off-leash trails to play with new dogs and practice my recall and snuggling up to watch holiday movies with my raisers.
Wishing you all the best for 2025!
Submitted by: Tanya
