First Haircut

Today Nova got her first serious haircut.  She had a great introduction to grooming while still living with her breeder.  All the puppies had their nails cut and hair trimmed on a regular basis from the time they were very young.  I've continued that with Nova, putting her on the grooming table every few days for nail trims, ear cleaning, minimal clipping and brushing.  By the time we got to her first major haircut today she was pretty accustomed to all kinds of grooming.
We started this morning with a brushing, then a bath and blow dry.  Then she took a little nap.  After lunch I brushed her again, then got to work on the haircut.  Except for a little silliness, she was very well behaved during her haircut, which took about an hour.

Before.....

After

In case you can't tell much difference, here she is with the hair I removed.  I think we could build another dog!

Play group Friday

This afternoon Nova spent 45 minutes at the canine playgroup.  It took every minute of that 45 minutes for her to show any sign of getting tired.  However, the effects are apparent now.  She's been a little, black pile of fluff for the past hour.

Exhausted puppy!

Road Trip!

Nova had her first road trip this past weekend.  On Friday morning we headed west to meet members of my family along the Mississippi River for a couple days of visiting.  It took us 5 hours in the car to get there and Nova was a perfectly behaved traveler.  She snoozed in her crate, enjoyed a potty break and romp about 1/2 way there, then snoozed the remainder of the trip.  We met my parents, my brother & his wife, and one of my sisters and her 2 grand-daughters at a campground called Fisherman's Corner near Moline, IL.  As usual, Nova was eager to make friends with everyone and everyone loved her.  She also met 3 family dogs:  2 Cavalier King Charles Spaniels - Grady and Tucker - and a Corgi mix, Bo.  Tucker and Bo were not especially thrilled to meet her.  Tucker had always been a bit anxious around Russia, and he was equally anxious around Nova.  Bo, Tucker's self-appointed protector, was friendly with Nova if Tucker was calm, but that didn't happen very often.  Grady didn't mind having Nova around, but he wasn't much interested in playing with her.  Nova wasn't discouraged.  She tried to be friendly when she could, but otherwise concentrated on charming the human members of the family.

She loved watching all the ducks, geese, herons and other birds along the water.

She loved chewing on the driftwood.

She enjoyed romping with Maddie & Audrey.

But, maybe her favorite thing was the opportunity to snuggle on Aunt Susie's lap.  Hmmm, she thinks she might like to be a lap dog!

 Nova had lots of firsts this weekend:  first long car ride; first hotel stay; first time meeting her doggie cousins; first time meeting Reynolds family members; introduction to Grandma and Grandpa's RV.  She was wonderful with all of it!  My biggest anxiety was if she would behave in the hotel.  But, she was great.  This trip was definitely a success!

Week 19

Nova is 19 weeks old today.  She has graduated from puppy pre-school and will start AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy class next week.  S.T.A.R. stands for Socialization, Training, Activity and Responsibility and is an AKC class aimed at both the puppy and the puppy owner.  After 6 weeks of classes and successfully passing a test,  Nova (and I) will earn a certificate stating she is a S.T.A.R puppy!
She is also signed up to take a beginning clicker obedience class at the Greater Lafayette Kennel Club.  This class will teach her to listen and follow commands in a distracting environment.  Right now that's a big challenge for her.  When other people and dogs are around she puts on her "puppy ear muffs" and doesn't seem to hear a word I say.  As she gets older, this challenge will get easier.
On the 19 week anniversary of her birth we took the Coke bottle picture again.  It was a challenge, again, to get a picture with the Coke bottle upright, but I have 1 good one that shows her size pretty well.  Below it is her 9 week picture for comparison.  Getting big, isn't she?

19 weeks

9 weeks

Fun in the sun

Like any athlete, Nova likes to take time away from training to have a little fun.  This weekend has been perfect for that!  Of course, training can be worked into any activity and frisbee is no exception.  She runs off to get the frisbee and that gives me an opportunity to practice recalls.  If she doesn't come the first time I call her, usually running in the opposite direction does the trick!  (Note:  she's dragging a 20 foot leash so I can catch her if she suddenly decides to chase a robin!)

Nova loves being outside!  She spends a lot of time just sitting and watching the wildlife.  We have geese and ducks on the pond, lots of birds flying around, and a couple days ago she spotted a bunny.  (Just in time for Easter!)

She has mastered the fine art of drinking water from the outside faucet.  She usually ends up with a wet head, but that doesn't seem to bother her.

The hazards of dog training!

Anyone who knows me, knows I LOVE spice drops.  Little bits of sugary heaven!  You know those hats that hold 2 beer cans with a straw that goes to your mouth?  If they made one of those for spice drops I'd buy it in a heartbeat!

Anyone who knows me also knows I'm a champion multi-tasker.  So yesterday at Nova's training session I was fully prepared with a handful of dog treats in one hand and a handful of spice drops in the other.  No, I did not give Nova a spice drop.  Since there is only one possibility left, let me say that dog treats do not resemble spice drops in any way, with one exception.  They DO get stuck in your teeth.