Pink puppy is now ELLA!

The last puppy from the M&M litter has headed home and Swing and I couldn't be happier.  Congrats to our friends Ann and Mark for taking Ella home with them.  She will join Dodge's brother Stanford so it really is an extension of our family.  We know that Ann will have loads of fun with Ella as I am having with Swing.  I can hardly wait to receive reports on how she is doing.  I understand Mark is the tracking person in the family while Ann's niche is agility as well as obedience.  Here is the shot of the family before they left on their trip home to NY.

Ann w/Ella, Mark and Stanford

Swing has had a busy day helping set up the agility training area at the clubhouse and then supervising the mat laying in the bldg.  She tested the club tunnel and made sure the humans had the mats spread out evenly and straight.  She even helped with the sweeping, indicating the spots that were missed or finding the stray hairballs.  After a good lunch and a nice nap she helped me clean the yard and get all of the trash together.  We took a break to play with the exercise disc (I'm using a clicker to shape her to put her feet on it which is great for balance but also it is preparing her for the movement of things like the teeter and dog walk) as well as a board that I want her to learn to put her back feet on (again, something for agility).  While I'm not a pure shaping/clicker trainer, it is fun to watch an 11 week old puppies wheels turn as they try to figure out what it is that you want them to do.  It is also a good exercise on focus and concentration which is a major thing for a puppy at this age.

This week we'll do some tracking on Tuesday and go to obedience class on Thursday to meet our trainer's new puppy.   I hope to post some more pictures later this week and perhaps have an update of how Ella is settling in.