Update

I just started a new job on Monday this week and due to this don't have much time to update. I am still with the same company but moved to a different client; very exciting times but also very busy right now as we have just gone live.

The girls are doing fine. Lily was at the vet last week for her blood tests and hopefully we get the results and the pet passport back soon. On Saturday, Jessie ended up in a fight with a big staffi/bulldog cross; he was new in the dog park and the owner said that whereever he goes, he takes over the alpha role. He was trying it with every dog in the park and everyone backed down apart from Jessie. Jessie told him off and he backed down and she showed him that she was and continued to be Alpha. Nothing happened to her, I checked her for bite marks etc but she was fine but it was scary to watch.
Sunday I took the girls up to Water Gate Park and we had a lovely morning walk around the fields, woods and lake. Jessie was playing in the water in her usual way (up to her belly) and Lily was joining her. I tried to coax Jessie into swimming by throwing the ball but she was only barking at the ball in the water to come back to her. Next thing I know, somthing red, small and fluffy launched her self in the water and swam to get the ball and bring it back. Lily was drenched after that but I think she enjoyed it.
Lily is getting very good on the retrieving side; she could play ball all day with me if I let her :-)

Today I am off and I took Jessie to the vet. She had problems with her anal glands and we had them emptied. She did not appreciate that at all and showed the vet what a nice back flip she can do :-)

It was the first time in 3 month that I had Jessie out without Lily and I really appreciated having just Jessie around. As much as I say her nickname is Trouble, she is actually a lovely, good natured dog. I had no pulling, she walked heel without me telling her, stopped at each road etc it was so relaxing.
Don't get me wrong Lily is lovely too and I would not give any of them up but they are two different characters, where Jessie is laid back and calm, a people dog and extremely mature for her age, who loves nothing more then to get cuddles, Lily is a bouncy puppy with too much energy, always on the go and a retrieving fool, who prefers dogs to people and who is still not learning that her teeth are too sharp :-)
They are the perfect mix, Jessie is getting more active and hopefully Lily will calm down one day :-)

October Pictures

Here are couple more pics from the girls:

Pictures of the last month

I know I haven't been updating this for a while but work and the girls kept me busy and away from the PC. Both girls are doing fine and enjoy each others company. Jessie is much more active with Lily around and plays more with other dogs, it's a real joy to be out with them and see them just enjoying playing around. Lily has a great insting to retrieve and is easy to train. I have good hopes that she will be able to do quite well in just about anything :-)

Lily is growing nicely, she had her 4 motnh check up in the begining of September and was 6.92 kilos at 18 weeks and I was told that she is growing in the righ proportion.

She was back at the vets last Friday for her rabies vaccination and I had her weight checked again and at nearly 5 month she is 7.5 kilos. We have to get back to the vet on Friday 23.10. for blood test and then I should hopefully have her pet passport and next summer she will be able to travel to Europe (that is if we are going). We haven't planned anything yet but better get the passport started as early as possible.

Below you fill find pictures that I took during September.

Training

Lily has started formal classes on Saturday. She was, as I expected a star pupil. Did everything on the first try and had a lot of fun. We started with focusing on the handler and then sit and down. Down was causing a few problems but she got the hang very quickly. Then we did some recall and recall with distraction. Lily’s recall is brilliant. She is extremely focused on me and one command and she is back with me. We constantly practise it off lead outside and even with other dogs, she is coming straight back if I tell her to. We also did leaves and I particularly enjoyed them. Jessie did the leave with treats fine, then we moved on to toys. Sue the trained took out a big drumbell and placed it on the floor. She said she uses it because it’s big and non of the pups would think about picking it up because it’s bigger then them. I secretly hoped Lily might prove her wrong and when it was our turn. Lily walked to the object, picked it up and walked away with it head and tail held high. The whole room was laughing and Sue was just saying well she is a Retriever she is supposed to pick stuff up. I placed the item back on the floor and walked past it again and Lily did a perfect leave.

After training Lily was tired all day, I guess it took a lot out of her.

Apart from the formal classes I mainly teach Lily at home. We usually spend some time on our walks doing sits, downs and recalls and she enjoys the training. Unlike Jessie she is not solely motivated by food, she enjoys just getting praised and pleasing me. She also has a strong drive to retrieve items and brings them back to me straight away.

First Rosette

On Sunday 48/08/2009 we went to Scrufts at Saltwell Park in Gateshead. I planned to enter Lily in the show, just for fun. Since I eventually would like to show her, I thought it’s a nice practise for both of us. I entered her in two categories “cutes dog” and “best puppy”. I think Lily is gorgeous and thought she might have a chance to win. The first competition she was in was “Cutes dog” and she won, I was pretty pleased, I know it was a just for fun competition but still she won and there were actually breeders there with their dogs, to use it as practise too, so I was not the only one. Lily’s friend Jay won “scruffiest dog” (not that he is scruffy at all) and then it was on for “best puppy”. There were about 25 pups entered and Lily ended up becoming 2^nd and got another rosette. Because Lily won cutes dog, we had to stay to the end for the Best in show. There were six dogs in total but Lily didn’t get under the first 3. Well it would have been a bit strange for a 13 week old pup to win Best in Show.

Needless to say, I was very pleased with the overall outcome.

Sleeping Arrangements

Lily is a little bugger and has her own mind about how the sleeping arrangements are. Both of them have their own bed, Jessie's is big and green Lily's is a bit smaller and orange.

Usually she clims to Jessie in her big bed and the two of them cuddle up

But there are also the times when she chases Jessie out of her bed and Jessie has to go and curl up in Lily's

Once Jessie is in Lil's bed, Lily usually decides that she wants in too and it ends up like this:

Walks

I took the girls to Water Gate Park the other week. Jessie was walking and Lily was in my bag being carried most of the way, since I didn’t want her to over do it. Once we got there, Jessie’s expression changed to one happy and enthusiastic Toller. We haven’t been up there since before I was in Germany and I could clearly see how much Jessie enjoyed it. Lily followed Jessie everywhere and more then once did she end up falling in the water because she didn’t stop running and following Jessie. I did carry her back home too and at the end all three of us were exhausted and went for a snooze.