ALMOST 9 MONTHS OLD!!!

Two more days and she will be 9 months old. I can't believe she's almost so old! It is a strange feeling, like she's been in my life forever, yet has only been in my life for a little over 7 months. We went to the dog beach in Long Beach Friday, and ummm....That was interesting. Ariel has NEVER EVER in her life gone outside the coned off area that marks the dog beach, but something was super interesting and she kept running outside and I kept bringing her back, until I decided if she couldn't behave and play with the dogs, we had to leave. I find it really strange that she has been going there since the day she was done with her puppy shots, yet Friday was the day she decided to test the limits. I'm starting to think home training might not be enough and it's time to look at proper puppy classes to solidify my alpha status. She's usually really good about listening to my commands and doing as I ask, but recently she seems to be going through a puppy-teenager stage. That means I need to step up my Alpha.

On another note, she's doing really well on the bike. An hour in the morning or so sets her up for the day, then another shorter bike ride at night finishes off her amazing boundless energy. I really want to get her into flyball or agility, but the closest good one is on the westside or long beach on Mondays or so. By the time I grabbed her after work and got there, the class would be over. Maybe I'll check out the herding meetup in riverside on Sundays.

She's really loving daycare. Two days a week seem to be good. The caregivers tell me she loves the runners and rarely lays down for a rest. That would mean for approximately 9 1/2 hours, she's running and playing. That would explain why she passes out in the car on the way home and is "hungover" the next day. The funny part, they say, is that she is submissive to smaller dogs when they play bitey-face or wrestle. I think I just got a sweetie. Yes, she tries to be dominant with me right now, and is testing the limits, but she really is good natured and is a fair player with other dogs. She's especially gentle with small and tiny dogs.

Oh yeah, I can't remember if I documented this, but she's on a new food and we both love it. http://www.naturesvariety.com/ She eats a combination of Nature's Variety and Instinct. I chose the Instinct over Prairie because she seems to do better without grain. Her business is finally all solid with kibble. Lord knows I wasted hundreds of dollars trying out kibbles that left her business less than pickup-able. She eats 25% raw, 25% canned and 50% kibble. I swear she eats better than I do (regardless of the fact that I don't eat meat). Her varieties are Duck, Chicken Rabbit, Lamb, Venison, Beef and I think I'm missing a couple, but geez.

Final note: I love her way of getting around not being allowed to be a nuisance and bark when people pass by in the hallway. Every other dog in our building causes a ruckus and barks like crazy when you walk by, but she knows that is not ok indoors, so she makes low, quiet woof sounds that sound like a gorilla. When she does this I call her King Kong and tell her thanks for letting me know, but it's ok. I got it.