Sunday, March 18, 2012

Jasmine Grows Up

Grace, left, gives Jasmine some advice ...

Six months old!  We are in that lull between adorable, cute-puppy-who-can-do-no-wrong phase, and the exciting and sometimes challenging adolescent phase.  Right now things are fairly quiet and easy and comfortable. 

After a rocky period of recurring UTI's, the potty training is FINALLY under control!  Yay!  Jazzy is just as cute and sweet as ever - giving me little nose bumps along my face until she finds just the right place to give me tiny sheltie kisses.  Her tail wags all the time.  She is so happy!

She is super smart, and if I spent more time teaching her one-on-one, she'd be a genius!  She still offers sits for anything and everything that looks interesting, which is a lot when you are a puppy.  She knows signs for good girl, stop that, quiet, off, sit, down, come, stay, right and left spins, outside, go potty, time to eat, and probably some others I forgot about.  She is learning to crawl and jump over my outstretched leg.  She can shake hands and target her nose to my fist.  She is learning to weave through my legs when I walk, but this is tricky because sometimes she misjudges the distance and bumps into my legs.

Jasmine likes to carefully and meticulously pull the stuffing out of her toys.  But I can't complain too much, since she is very good about not chewing my stuff.  I can even trust her to behave while I take a nap on the couch now.

She shows physical signs of growing up, too.  Her adult teeth are just about completely in.  And her sheltie coat is coming in longer now.  On her tail, it is very noticeable and she has gotten a little ruff of hair that pokes out all around her neck.  She looks a bit scruffy at times, but it's so endearing.

Jazzy has a bit of her own agenda, and it can be hard to get her in from the yard during the day.  If I can catch her eye and signal her, she comes just as fast as her legs can carry her.  But usually she is hunting for bugs or digging in the dirt and she doesn't see me.  Night time is easier.  I can just flash the porch light once and she comes running.  Although, I have noticed that if she's way out across the yard she may not always see the light.


She still occasionally bumps into things (or me!) when she misjudges distance.  And she doesn't usually see treats dropped until I point them out to her, even if she drops them herself.  But she races around the place with the rest of the pack - no fear for this one!  She chases and runs and jumps and tumbles! She loves to race through the agility tunnel too!

Jazzy compensates so well that unless I really watch her, it's hard to tell that she has trouble seeing her friends.  But her body language and expression change in mid stride when she loses sight of them.  She continues running, but there is a slight confusion in her step and a quick head turn back and forth while she searches for them.  As she catches sight of them again, she's off with renewed determination once again. Jasmine is such a fun girl and so full of joy! 




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