Nova is 6 months old!

Nova - 6 months old!

Nova turns 6 months old on June 7, 2012.  Happy birthday to Nova and her 10 brothers and sisters!  As you can see, she’s grown a lot.  She’s also learned to sit and stay, although shortly after this picture was taken she gave into the irresistible urge to attack the Coke bottle.  I started taking pictures of her with the Coke bottle at 9 weeks old.  At that time she didn't sit and stay.  It was a real challenge to snap the picture before she knocked the bottle over.

Nova - 9 weeks old

Nova and I have come a long way in the 4 months we’ve been together.  She no longer tries to eat the mulch under every tree and bush in the yard.  She’s finally accepted that she can’t catch robins.   She still picks flowers, but not every one she finds.  She still loves to leap into the air in pursuit of a butterfly, but I’m hoping she never outgrows that!   She can sit, down, stand, stay, “get your toy” and come on verbal commands, in addition to many agility skills.  Although she has been able to heel on a leash for a while when there are few distractions, it took a bit longer before I could walk her around the neighborhood without feeling like I had the Tasmanian Devil at the end of the leash.   We still occasionally have walks that start like that, but if we go back home, give her a little time-out in the crate, she is better behaved on the 2^nd try.  She still loves to steal socks and dish towels, but a yummy enough treat will sometimes convince her to trade.  Her latest accomplishment is the realization that a quick sit makes the crate door open faster.  What a smart girl!

She has graduated from both a puppy pre-school class and an AKC S.T.A.R. puppy class.  She is a member of the Klondike Canine Academy Canine Playgroup, where she romps and wrestles with her doggie friends once every week or two.  She is one of several puppies at my local kennel club and the club has become one of her favorite places to be.  I'm working on teaching her to NOT drag me through the door, but it's a tough sell!  She is currently enrolled in the Foundations for Agility class at the kennel club.  She is the youngest dog in the class and the most disruptive, although she has quite good skills when she settles down and pays attention.  Our classmates are all wonderfully understanding.  They give me the same patient look I give parents in the grocery store whose child is laying on the floor screaming.   But, each week brings improvements and I’m certain she will be a model student eventually.

Stay tuned for more news.  With Nova, life is never boring!