It's been a while since I've had time to post, and I know my fans are interested to know what's been going on in my life for the past three months!
As some of you know, my trainer Mary Cortani was named a Top 10 CNN Hero for 2012. (
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/cnn.heroes/2012.heroes/mary.cortani.html)
For all of us dogs, this meant the month of November was a whirlwind of visitors and photographers in our classes. It was very exciting! In early December, Janet went to Los Angeles to attend the awards ceremony. She did not take me. Mr. Bill went, too. I was very disappointed not to go, but while I stayed home I got visited by a new friend David until Auntie Trudi came home from LA. Then Auntie Trudi took me out for pack romps with dogs and cattle in open fields, and let me eat my dinner inside the patio because she felt sorry for me having to eat outside in the cold rain (even though my nice kennel has a roof that keeps the whole center of it dry.) When Janet got home, I had taken the stuffing out of two of my three pillows, and I no longer wanted to eat dinner outside. I heard some talk about Trudi "spoiling" me. As if this were a bad thing!
After Janet and Mr. Bill came home, Janet got sick. She stayed sick for a whole month. I was sorry she didn't feel well, but it was very fun for me. I got to lay on my warm re-stuffed pillow in the family room, and sometimes Janet would get on the floor with me and let me snuggle with her and her furry purple blanket. I would like that blanket for myself, but Janet says I have plenty of blankets and she only has one. AND????? She made me eat dinner in my outside kennel again, in spite of the fact that she would have been much more comfortable feeding me inside the patio. She said "rules are rules", whatever that means. I guess it means that the next time Auntie Trudi comes I will have to work harder to con her into feeding me inside.
There was "Christmas", a thing that I didn't have last year because I hadn't learned to be good in the house yet. Mr. Bill put a train under a tree, and I tried to follow it into a tunnel. I didn't fit. So I had to wait for it to come out again. I didn't like that it stopped and started on its own. I had to bark at it and watch closely. Last week all the sparkly things and the Christmas tree and the train disappeared and the furniture got moved back. I feel safer without that train!
Also last week we started going back to classes again. I was really happy to see all my dog and human friends, but less happy to have to work hard in the cold weather. I was very out of practice on all my commands. But I fell back into a good routine, and now Janet says I'm behaving very well again. Scott and Megan got a new puppy Oreo, and they have joined classes, too. They brought Khepri along for a refresher. I like Oreo very much, but Khepri and I still do not get along. Mary will need to give us some counseling one of these days....
I now do EXTRA training work in class---it is my New Career---being a Peanut Detector to protect Janet from her allergy. I don't know what an "allergy" looks like, but it will not sneak up on her while I'm around! Mary has been hiding two plastic boxes of peanuts in the training facility, and Janet gives me a very loose leash and we GO FIND them. I always find them and get excited and scratch with both paws at where they are. Then I am invited to jump up on her and she gives me a treat. This is VERY fun...just about the best fun I've ever had!! Last week I scratched at the cabinet where the dog treats are stored. Janet opened it to tell me the peanuts weren't there, but she saw a jar of PEANUT BUTTER on the shelf that I had found! It had never been opened yet, but I found it anyway because I have such an amazing nose! Bosco's mom Bernie gave Janet a tin of Christmas cookies, and Janet got mad at me because I was telling her to check out the tin (and she thought I was just liking the food smell.) But Bernie had forgotten about Janet's allergy, and there were peanut butter cookies inside. So I got rewarded! I am liking very much being a Peanut Detector! I also alerted on a person the other day who had eaten a peanut candy bar---I could smell it on his breath! After I jumped on him and he confessed, I got rewarded!
Technically I'm only supposed to jump on Janet, unless I'm invited up, and I'm only even supposed to jump on HER unless I find peanuts or am invited up. This is difficult, as I love to hug and kiss people....sigh....but Janet is making me wait while she counts to 10 before I am even allowed to greet anyone to help keep me from getting over-excited. This is a challenge. But I'm good at challenges. I am determined to be the Number One Peanut Detector dog in Operation Freedom Paws!
[NOTE from Janet: Clover will most likely be the ONLY peanut detector dog in Operation Freedom Paws, but we want to encourage this enthusiasm. If she thinks there will be a competition, it will help keep her on her toes.]
