Sawyer started out the month of May spending some time with puppy sitters while I attended a conference. As usual, she was a hit and got to experience a different routine, which builds good flexibility and relationship skills.

The highlight of the month was a trip to our family cabin up in the wilderness on the Sunshine Coast – Sawyer got to experience the ferry, and her first speedboat ride (she didn’t miss a beat), and then spend 4 days “off” as just a dog – wading in the ocean (she wasn’t convinced about swimming yet), hiking in the forest, and trying out barnacles (hence the little pink spots on her lips in the photo of her in the car – she’d scraped the pigment off her lips with the barnacles).

She enjoyed our class field trip to Burnaby Lake Park; the photo in the car is her practicing being in a calm, working mindset when she gets to a new place. She was quite intrigued by the horses and didn’t miss a beat going across the dam and down the grate staircase at the other end. She continues to be small but mighty, at about 45 lbs.

Submitted by: Jackie Clark