My 8:00 didn’t show tonight, so I killed some time in the training building sweeping, straightening the interlocking mats, etc., and finally I gave up and went to get Laev. Might as well get some… 

…that a grouping of four 24″ dried steer pizzles arranged in a vase can look just like brown bamboo shoots? More or less? If you squint? …that if you sit on a 24″ dried steer… 

Happy Birthday, Laev! She’s six months old today — February 16 to August 16. Informal retrieves today; I’d throw a rope bone and she could bring it back directly to me for a treat. (I… 

Laev is eating her kennel. Well, not eating, but biting. And tugging. And yanking. She’s got a mouthful of chain link and is flexing it backward. I happened to see this as I looked out… 

Yes, yes, I can be nagged. 🙂 As requested, here are new photos! “I just love photos — I get to eat the camera!” It’s hard to take photos myself, as I’m usually working with… 

Laev’s feet are larger than Shakespeare’s. Is this a problem? She’s not supposed to be an oversized Doberman…. A very short track today, probably only a hundred feet or so, but with two turns. I… 

Okay, so maybe it’s time to do something about this young-dog-jumping-up behavior. I’ve been pretty much just letting it go, as I don’t want her to be inhibited about jumping on a helper later, but… 

We’ve made it through infant puppyhood with relatively little chewing damage — my best puppyhood yet, I think. That’s due to an obscene amount of supervision and management. 🙂 But I can see that as… 

[dunno what happened to this original post, which seems to have vanished, but anyway, it was commentary on improved tracking seen in both dogs. It was a really good post, about Laev focusing well and… 

Laev is very erratic. She did a horrific puppy square on Tuesday, so bad that I actually took her off it and crated her while I tracked Shakespeare. (A second food drag for him, by…