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| Raven is the most valued gift under our tree |
Raven is so SMART!!! She takes to training very quickly. I'm by no means a trainer, so I hope I'm not teaching her any bad habits or using confusing techniques. So far she's responding to my novice attempts well. At approximately 4 months old she already knows: "Sit", "Down", "Over", "Here", "Release", "Kennel", "Ahh-Ah", (my sound for no),"Bed", "Up" & her name. Most commands she knows on both word & hand signals. The hand signals come in handy when I'm working form home on the phone. All I have to do is snap & point to her bed & she jumps in it. Next we'll work on perfecting "Stay"&"Whoa". She retrieves like a dream & no nipping or potty accidents. She sleeps in her crate up to 7 hours. Raven LOVES people, dogs, balls & toys. Not much of a chow hound? ... proof there is something other than Lab in her mix. She has learned to leave the chickens alone (unless they run, then she has a hard time resisting - we're working on that) I think her best characteristic is still her adaptability. Last week she had her 3rd vaccination so very soon she'll be ready to get out in public to get her exposed to the world. Her only set back has been a pesky spot of ringworm on her nose. Dr. Wilson, her Vet assured me this is a very common fungus that lives in soil & prevalent this time of year. None the less, it's difficult to get rid of & takes a long time to go away completely. Raven is very "nosey" - literally! She pokes her nose everywhere, it's no wonder that on her nose is where she got it. I thought seeing Jasmin, Lucy & the puppies go to new forever families was hard..... parting with Raven will be devastating! The sole motivating factor is knowing there is a bigger picture.
