In which Mia tells about her Birthday...

Today is my first Birthday and it was a wonderful day indeed!  I went for a long walk and then to Home Depot.  Lots of friendly people there thought I was well behaved.  There were some loud noises when the forklifts were backing up, but I got used to that right away.  I was patient while Bonnie looked at things.  We didn't buy anything, but I got plenty of kibble.

After that we went to the clinic during lunch break.  I did my training for the nurses and doctors who were working today.  They were a very good audience, and once I started working I did a pretty good job.  The picture above is of me rolling over, which I do with just the verbal command!  

I am learning new things every week, including look, behind, light, and under using a small space.  They gave me the evening off today since I worked so much during the day.  Can't wait for green grass and warm breezes!

More work on get your pack and get dressed...

Mia has so many commands now we really have to start making sure we are getting her to master all of them, and not just do the ones that are the most fun.  She loves training more all the time.  

Here she is getting her pack out of the stool.

We still haven't got her to shimmy on command and now when we ignore her bark she shimmies to get attention!  It is just like when our kids used to misbehave and we had to try not to laugh.

We are learning to get Mia dressed on our lap.  This will be something she needs to do if her owner is in a wheelchair or has limited ability to reach or bend over.  When she is on George's lap she also can also give him a kiss or a snuggle.  My friends ask whether these commands work on humans. 

This week Mia graduates from Awesome Adolescent class. Next she starts big dog class.  Mia is small for a lab, only about 45 pounds, but will still grow a bit more.  Good things come in small packages sometimes.