Shasta spent the month of January up in the Okanagan. She is great on the five-hour car ride, especially when she can cuddle with her buddy Willow in the cargo area of our SUV. She loves the cold weather and will often run around and bury herself in the snow in the field behind our house. Shasta has proven to be a great running partner, though, at the beginning of each run, she will often chew on her leash from the sheer excitement of it all. We are working on having her show excitement in other ways!
Shasta is no longer in heat, so she is back to being out in public in her cape. The break seems to have done her some good as she seems more tolerant of waiting in public places and has done very little demand barking while out and about. Shasta went to a hockey game this month and managed to sit through two periods without needing to stretch her legs. We found a great dog park in Vernon that is just the right size and has just the right number of nice dogs to permit appropriate play while practicing our recall. Shasta’s recall got better and better with every visit.
We have been working on Shasta’s kennel tolerance this month. She is happy to stay in her kennel for up to three hours, even when we have visitors or while we are eating dinner.
Shasta has a new Education Plan to reduce her food thievery and counter-surfing. She is perpetually trying to tell us that she is dying of hunger and is often on the hunt for food. We recently caught her searching for crumbs under the chair cushions. She could find a molecule of food anywhere.
This month Shasta has been to numerous grocery stores, coffee shops, a pharmacy, a pet store, the chiropractor, Costco, MEC, the dorms at UBC – Okanagan Campus, two wineries, and a Mexican Restaurant.
Submitted by: Lisa Heiberg
