Another Busy Week

Well, we had another busy week at our house. There was a dog show and agility trials at the Fairgrounds on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday that I worked all three days; therefore, Mariko was at home practicing how to be in the kennel during the day and not at work (only dogs entered in the shows were allowed to enter the Fairgrounds).

On Saturday, after the competition, I ran home, changed clothes and grabbed Mariko to head out for our daughter's dance review. Since Mariko had been kenneled for the day, we decided she could experience a dance review first hand.

Laying under my legs.

The floor was slanted and smooth concrete and Mariko kept sliding underneath the seat in front of her, which was funny to watch, but it was hard to get her out from underneath without hurting her (especially when you're laughing).

She soon decided that the best place to be was in the "sweet spot" between the seats:

 

Sleeping through the dance recital.

She did very well, even with a lot of "little people" running around.

Yesterday Mariko took her first trip to Sam's club. It was during the middle of the day on a weekday, so we decided there wouldn't be a mass crowd of people, and we were right. She was on her best behavior, sitting when we would stop to shop, didn't put her head down to sniff the floor and ignored all of the little crumbs that were dropped on the floor near the bakery area. She's pretty amazing when we go into a new environment for the first time, she act's like she has been doing this forever. Now if we could just get the three "D's" with stay proficient, I will be feeling pretty good about our progress. Yes, she is still a puppy, but so amazing.

Last night we were downstairs helping Kyle get his new computer up and running. While I was working on the computer, Mariko decided she really liked watching the basketball game with Kyle (yes, and she still thinks she is a lap dog):

Hanging out, watching the game.

We also got our family pictures back this last week. Katie had a very long talk with Mariko and told her that since she was in all of the pictures, she couldn't leave us now. After Katie left, Mariko and I had to review why she is such a "good dog" and how she will be an awesome companion whereever she ends up.

Our extended family!

We are back to work today after having a four day weekend. She wasn't quite sure she was ready to be under the desk this morning, but after a little walk outside she settled right back into the routine and is being the "good dog" we know and love.

We will hopefully get some puppy play time in with Lucy this week and work more with the "bed" command, especially from a distance.

Mariko, you are such an amazing dog!