Sunday, August 12, 2007

Loving The Outdoors

Shannon just loves to spend days outside, as I'm sure you can see by the smile on her in the photo, lol. Her favorite outdoor activity must be searching for fallen apples in the backyard and munching on them, even if they aren't ripe.

She chases after squirrels and tries to climb a tree to get to them, it looks so funny, she is so determined, it's like she actually thinks she can climb up the tree.

Shannon has discovered the existence of raccoons, she will go into a barking frenzy whenever she sees one, we can't even say the word "raccoon" because that sets her off. We refer to them as the "R" word.

As much as she likes the outdoors, she is just as eager to come inside when I tell her to. I guess that's the positive side of having a clingy dog that always wants to be around someone.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Dog Toys


Shannon got a new dog toy, it's a plush Woodstock, from the Peanuts cartoon. I call it Woody and she already knows the name and goes looking for it when I say "where's your woody?"

My brother thought that the woodstock dog toy was well made and that Shannon would not be able to tear it, well there's already a rip in the seam. Shannon just loves to tear apart her toys. The only thing she hasn't wrecked yet is a nylabone.

Playing together with your dog and its toys is a great way to practice commands and teach new things. I taught my dog to sit pretty and to give me her paw just by playing with her.

Thursday, June 07, 2007

Under Cover

Shannon loves to sleep covered up, even in the summer. She "builds" a tent out of her blankie and crawls in and out of the opening. At times she's completely covered up and sticks her nose out a wee bit,it looks so cute.

This morning she was with my Mom outside in the backyard, I came to the glass door, Shannon was way in the back sniffing around but when she saw me she just stood there looking at me. I looked back to see what she would do but she just stood there with her eyes fixed on me. I said her name and she came running straight to me. That gave me a happy feeling, she would rather be with me than have the freedom of being outside.

She seemed so eager to see me, I gave her a hug and scratch and I gave her a chewy rawhide strip to show her how pleased I was with her. I know she didn't come running to me because she thought she was going to get a reward, she ran to me because she likes me, she really does.

Wednesday, May 09, 2007

Outside At Last


Spring is here and Shannon is spending the warm days outside. She's likes to sniff the grass (don't all dogs?) and sit on the veranda (on my lap of course). Today she spent the afternoon watching me plant flowers in the front yard. See the photos?




She also gave me a surprise today, the patio door was open just a wee bit and there's a small rip at the bottom of the screen (Shannon didn't do it, it was already there), without anyone knowing she was able to get through it. Twenty minutes or so must have past by until I noticed that she was no where in the house. I finally found her in the backyard munching on crumbs my Mom left out for the birds. You should of seen Shannon's reaction when I came out to get her, she knew she had done something wrong, her ears went all the way back, she got down really low to the ground and started to walk away. I called her to come to me and she was apprehensive but crawled on her belly to me. I picked her up, patted her on the head and brought her inside.


I was actually pleased with her reaction, it showed that she was submissive and that she knows she's not the boss. She also seemed to understand that what she did was not okay for her to do. I'm glad she didn't take off anywhere, that screen needs to get fixed.