"A sleeping puppy is a good puppy"

I recently heard someone say that a sleeping puppy is a good puppy and I couldn't agree more! Sasha is exhausting, but I think we are both adjusting pretty well. We make sure to take a 20 - 30 minute walk in the morning before I go to work and again when I get home in the evening. That usually either tires her out or gets her even more worked up. I think this morning's walk just served to ramp her up because when I got home from work, she had shredded the bed sheet that I use to cover her kennel when she's in it. It's a good thing I used old sheets, towels and blankets!

She's growing like a weed. Her legs are getting longer, her body is stretching out and she's what the adoption woman would call an "agressive chewer". She's a big fan of chewing on my hands, which we are working stopping post-haste! She also has several toys that she takes her aggressions out on. Her favorite is "Dolly", which is a pink squeaky toy whose arms and legs are tugs. Poor Dolly. She's been sewn up twice already. A mere 4 days into having her, her belly was ripped open and stuffing was coming out. Fortunately, a little thread and a needle and she was as good as new. Tonight, I stitched up Dolly's neck and shoulder. Her head was slowly being ripped off. Anything that squeaks, rings or chimes usually gets her attention pretty fast, so she spends tens of minutes constantly biting down on Dolly's belly to make her squeak over and over. She's a very smart dog!

She adapts to most situations pretty well. Over the holiday, she went with me down to Troy's family farm in southern Indiana, where she had a great time playing with Wally, a chocolate lab that lives at the farm. We then took a long ride up to Fort Wayne to my parents' house. I don't think my mom's cat, Loo, was thrilled to have a new houseguest, but Sasha had a great time and adapted to a new front door where she would stand when she wanted to go outside. She's wasn't quite sure what to make of the snow though and insisted on finding some grass before she would do her business. Once the rain fell and the snow melted, she had a great time rolling around in the yard getting wet and icky. Fun! We then visited Troy at his house when we got back from our holiday excursion. She loves Troy and his house. He has a much better runway for her to race down and back and she loves her Troy! There is MUCH tail wagging and jumping for his attention when he comes to visit us.

She continues to do well at learning "sit" and "lay down". She knows that if she wants out of her kennel or if she wants to go outside, she has to sit. She's even getting steadily better at ringing a bell when she wants to go outside. I know I'm biased, but I'm certain she's brilliant.

Unfortunately, she's also stubborn. I swear all I ever say is "no", "what are you eating?" and "drop it!" It was easy enough to teach her how to sit and how to lay down, but I haven't quite figured out how to teach her to "drop it" or "leave it". Luckily, we start training classes early in January. I can hardly wait. In the meantime, if you have any suggestions for teaching these skills, I'm all ears!