Molly Reports on True Color Thursday: Purple

Mommy sex dat I kan do da pikshures fur dis weeks purpel post. Purpel is Mommys faverit color but she haz more purpel stuff dan Shawnee n I do.

Dis is me wif my liddel friend Fluffy. Fluffy iz visitin us frum Germany. He belongs ta Mommy's friend Edif. U kan reed bout him n his family at Edifs blog. But da reezon Im postin dis pik heer iz so ya kan see da purpel ball. It duzzent look so purpel here, but Mommy sez it is in da reel wurld.

Wun af my portant servis dog jobs is ta help wif Mommys shoes. Mommy haz a purpel pair af plastik clogz dat she wearz a lot ta take me n Shawnee out. Sometimez I haf ta help her take dem off win she iznt feelin so good. Mommy kant bend over vewy good, so I hafta pik dem op fur her. Heer I am givin da shoe ta Daddy!


My liddel sista Shawnee got her own dog tag from PawPrint Pet tags. Itz a 4 leef klover lik mine but herz iz purpel. Iznt she kut?

Molly Reports on Shawnee, Her Little Sister

I taut we waz just goin fer a drive so I kud see sheeps da odder day. I got ta see da sheeps from da kar. Den I waited der wile Mommy n Daddy went in ta da peeples. I waited a while. Wen dey kom bakk, dey haft a liddel furry ting. Mommy sez shez my new sister n her name iz Shawnee.

She duzzent no much yet, so I haz ta help Mommy wif her. I help teech her da wordz like "kitchen" n "potty" by showin her wat ta do. If she duzzent do what Mommy sez, I woof at her.



I also haf ta teech her how ta play. Shez preddy good wif tug, but not much else.



Silly gurl tinks balls r fur chewin on. I haf ta werk hard ta keep my ball fur myself.



I also help ta make her sleepy by running around after her or lettin her chase me. I may look mad, but it iz all in good fun.

Cuz Mommy iz so tierd frum havin her, I haf ta do a lot af odder stuff ta help Mommy right now. I pick up bowls n fetch toyz fur her. I wanna help wif da late night potty walks, but Mommy sez I distract Shawnee too much.

It iz kinda fun ta haf a liddel sister, but it iz very tierin too. I haf ta relax on da sofa now while da liddel one iz sleepin in da crate.

Molly Reports on Thanksgiving

Mommy sez dat today is a speciel day in da US. It is a day fer giving tanks for da tings you luv. Since Mommy is from over der and duzzen get to selebrate today really, I tought I would share sum af de ting I am tankful for so she duzzent miss it too much.

I am tankful for morning snuggelz in bed wif Mommy. I lie down wif her wile she is sleepin. Whenever she wakes up, she pets me n rubs my tummy n tells me she luvs me.

I am tankful for evening snuggelz and playz in bed wif Daddy. We restle and akt silly n stuff. And he pets me n tells me I'm a good girl n he luvs me.

I must mention Bunny. He is soft n squeeky n Im lowd to take him to bed wif me in Mommy n Daddys bed.

Den der is pindsvin. He is yellow n squeeky n rolls life a ball. Mommy n Daddy play wif me wif him.

I luv my fence. It lets me run round n go VROOM-VROOM wen I wanna. Der are peeses of horse hoof in der dat I can play wif and chew on wen I am out der.

I am tankful for Mommy n Daddy. Dey give me werk to do n yummy stuff to eat n a nise home. I luv dem so much.

I wanna wish Grandmom n Granddad a veree special Happee Tanksgivin. I know de miss Mommy n wish she was der. It wud be wunderful ta see dem igen.

Luv ya!
Molly

Molly Reports on Fleas, a Bath, and Taking Care of Mommy and Daddy

Can whoever gave me fleas for my birfday come and get them PLEASE? We dont like fleas!

Mommy was combing me last week and suddenly complained of a "big, fat flea." I lookd but only saw a little reddish speck. But Mommy sayz dat where der is one flea, der are more.

I thought it waz gonna be okay, cuz she didnt do anyfing more right away. But den efter dey ate dinner, she went bonkerz! First she had me help her take all da stuff off da bed. Im good at pulling covers offa comferterz.

I thought it wud be nice ta sleep on da fresh kleen bed. Den she started ta vakuum! I HATE da vakuum. She did da bedroom n da kitchen n shut me outta da bedroom! Den she took all da nice warm blankies offa my bed and took dem outside. She did give me da mat from my crate, but I miss my wool blankies!

Efter all dat, she gave me a BAF!! I HATE bafs more den I hate da vakum. I had ta sit in da baf all soped up for 5 minz before she wushed it off. YUCK! But she sed it killz da fleaz dat were on me.

So once I kam out and Daddy helped dry me wif a towel, she went to bed wifout me! Daddy uzually letz me in, but he went wifout me too! So der I waz, all wet n lonely and not even a flea to play wif. It wuz awful.

Mommy sed it wuzzent my fault--dat it waz cuz I was wet... but shez da one dat made me all wet!!

Finally I got ta go to bed wif Mommy da next morning. Daddy told me to take care of her when he left for werk. She waz tierd and sore. Poor Mommy. It makez me hate fleaz more.

Da next day she had to vakuum da living room. She let me play in my fence while she did dat. Den she waz tired and I took care of her again.

It iz a big job ta take care of Mommy. She drops tingz and I haf to get dem for her. And sometimes I carry tingz ta Daddy for her.

Dis weekend, we wnet for a drive. I saw odder doggies frum da windoz, but I waznt lowd ta go play wif dem. Sunday, I had da super big job af taking care af bof Mommy n Daddy. She was tierd n sore and Daddy had a migrane. I hafta be really quiet when he haz a migrane. Deyz nastier n bafs n fleaz tagever!

So Ive been a buzy SD. Yesterday Mommy waz sum better so we trained paw targit. Today she mad eme look her in da eyez fur shed play wif me.

Lukly she dint find nodder flea when she brushed me today. I dont want nodder baf and shez too tierd for more vakuum.

Molly Reports on a New "Friend"

Mommy got a box from her freind Edith da other day. She found dis littel fello when she opened it.

His name is Fluff and he's from Germany. Mommy says he's here because he wanna go on the trip wif us and he wanna learn about my life as a Service Dog.

I was very xcited to meet him. I fink he is cute and really wanna play wif him.

Here I am checkin him out for da first time.

I fink he smells yummy. It isnt fair. How come he gets to eat chocolat and I dont?

Mommy says he is not food and is not a toy. I hafta be careful when I wanna play wif him.









Mommy said I had ta leave him alone when she put him on the floor. I wanted to see if he worked like a ball. But I did like she said and watched him for a while.



















After a littel while, she told me to Take him and Give him to her.

I was really careful pickin him up and Mommy said I was good. I gave him to her like a good girl.

He'll be riding around in my vest when we travel so he can learn more. I hope he doesnt get me into any trouble!

Mommy says u can read more about Fluff at http://www.edith-parzefall.de/fluffclub.html.

Molly Reports on Panties and a New Blog Award

Mommy and Daddy keep making me wear these things they call "panties." They won't let me in the living room without them. :-( The first time I had to wear them, I thought they invented some new tortur device, but now I'm sorta OK with them. But I'd rather be left in peace to lick myself clean. Since my blog has gotten so boring without pictures, Mommy insists that we must post panty pictures. I'm SO embarrassed! This is almost as bad as that potty picture she posted before. But at least she will let me pick which ones to share.


Here I am just after I got a treat. I dunno why Mommy had to take a picture when my tongue was stuck out, but she says it is very cute. At least I am wearing one of my cool western panties instead of the pink Minnie Mouse one.

You can also see my nice new dog tag. It doesn't dig into my chest like the old one did and it's purty.





Even though I am drippy and stuck in panties, I still have to do work. Here I am fetching Mommy's pants for her.

She also makes me fetch my mat and the fone a lot. It is fun to run around and find what she wants. Sometimes I have to give things to Daddy and he might not even be in the room! It's hard work to be an SD and it is SOO hot here.

To help me stay cool, Mommy made me ice cream again. This time she put peanut butter in it too. I lurve peanut butter!

But Daddy was busy in the other room so she told me to "leave it" and made me wait until Daddy came in to eat it.

I wasn't happy about waiting, but I did what Mommy said.


I got tired of waiting so lay down for a bit. But then Daddy finally came in and we all had ice cream. I ate mine really fast then Daddy let me lick the stick from his. I even made Mommy happy by keeping my ice cream on my mat.

We are honored to have gotten another blog award from our new friends, Desert Pups. Mommy read the rules of the award. It says we have to nominate 7 other blogs. As much as we like all our favorite blogs, we think it is a bit much to ask of our friends. We're honored to be chosen, but we de-kline to pass it on.

I hafta run now! Daddy has a BALL and is offering to play with me. It is finally cool enough to run around a little.

Molly Reports "I Passed Another Test"

Mommy trained me at putting my paws up on a chair this morning. I got lots of yummy treats, so that must mean I'm getting good at it. In between "paws up" commands, she had me doing all sorts of things like sitting, lying down, and touching her hand with my nose. I think she's silly, but I'll do it if it makes her happy. She's had a headache, so I really want to make her happy because then she doesn't look miserable.

This afternoon we lay down together out in my fence. Mommy read a book and I chewed on my kong. It had liver stuff in it and kibble and it was SOO yummy! I tried to share it with Mommy, but she'd rather read her book. Silly mommy.

When Daddy got home, he fiddled with fixing something in the kitchen. I wanted to help, but they wouldn't let me. So Mommy played with my kong with me and I got the rest of the yummy out of it. She squeezes it in her hands then throws it on the floor and more comes out. I like it when she helps me.

Then when that was gone, she had me get up on the chair in the kitchen. I haven't done that before, so I did mess up once. It's hard to do this new stuff and be ready to help Daddy at the same time. But Mommy says I did good and this means I pass my test for my trick at Level 3. I'd have started putting my feet on chairs ages ago if I knew she'd make such a big deal out of it!

After Daddy finished, they went out and left me all alone inside. I was good but I could hear them talking to a horse out there. I dunno why they don't let me come and help. I could hear them telling her to stand still--if I'd been there she'd of learned it. I'd be ready to help and stare at her until she did what they said. For some reason they don't like for me to work the horses. I'm just trying to help! Mommy says it's because I could get hurt, but I think they just don't want to share the big beasties.

But eventually they came back and Mommy let me out in my fence again. Daddy was in the garden so I got to be with him for a while. Then it was dinner time and I had to come in again.

Mommy put some rice in my bowl but that's BORING so I didn't eat it yet. Maybe later if I get really hungry. It's better when they play with me and give me food by hand. I was good while they ate and just lay down quietly. Daddy used to play with me during meals but he says I'm too old for that now. Whatever "old" is, I don't like it.

Now I'm going to see if one of them will play with me before bed time. It is cool now and I wanna play.

Molly Reports "It's Not Fair!"

It isn't fair. Mommy and Daddy went to a country music concert with a long drive and left me home by myself. Mommy wore a dress. They say it was really cool. Why couldn't I go too? I'd have been good and could have waited in the car.

But at least they took me to the beach for a little while before they went out. They made me go out in the water and swim. I didn't like that. But I said hi to another dog and got to sniff around and dig a little.

From Rebecca: Molly had to stay home because it was too hot for her to wait in the car and I didn't want to push to take her to a concert a place we didn't know. It was crowded and not a good place to be practicing public access.

Molly Reports "I Got Ice Cream"

Today was warmer again. Mommy let me spend a lot of the day outside in my fence. But if I barked at the neighbors, she made me come in. It's no fair--they get to be outside and make a lot of noise but I can't. Mommy keeps saying, "Just because the dog next door is being a fool doesn't mean you have to be, too."

Mom made pancakes for them for dinner but I got some, too. I love pancakes. But Mom is silly and made me pick pancakes up off the floor when she dropped them. She gave them to me to eat afterwards. She says it's for "practice." Oh well, if it makes her happy.

After dinner, they went out and worked in the vegetable garden. They were mean and wouldn't let me help. But they did let me be out in my fence while they worked. They were picking this weird green stuff they called "spinage." I didn't think it tasted very good, but they seemed to think it was important and packed it into plastic bags in the freezer.

Then we all had ice cream! Mommy and Daddy had popsicles. I got a pupsicle that mom made special. She says it is made of tykmaelk, which is like yo-gurt, and has kibble in it. I just know it was YUMMY!



I even got to eat in the living room with them but Mom said I had to keep it on my mat. That isn't too hard though. I've been practicing staying on my mat a lot, so I've gotten good at it. I even lay on my mat with a bone to chew while they ate pancakes.

Mom added pictures of me eating my ice cream so you can see for yourself how yummy it was. They didn't even make me share with them!

I'll write more another time. Now it is time to play some with Daddy before we go to bed.

Molly's Report on the Last Few Days

It's been a hectic few days here. Mommy and Daddy had a lot they had to do, which means Mommy has been tired and hasn't had time to blog. She was supposed to let me at the computer yesterday, but she fell asleep. Oh well.

Saturday--that's what Mommy says it is called anyway--was a pretty quiet day. Mommy rested a lot and Daddy did some things outside. Part of the day I stayed in and took care of her and part of the day I got to run around and play in the pony pasture while Daddy was out there. Then they got showers and put on nice clothes.

I think they thought about leaving without me, but I asked nicely so I got to come along in the car. The sun was shining, so my crate stayed covered to keep me cool. But I could hear lots of things going on and rest. After a while, Mommy came out and sat with me. She was hurting--she said she sat too long--but I couldn't make her feel all better. I did lick her fingers and make her smile though. Then Daddy came and we went home. They said it wasn't a good time for me to practice.

When we got home, Daddy took me for a walk then everyone went to bed. I stayed by the door until they were asleep then went to bed myself.

Sunday was a lot more fun. They slept late and were slow getting moving, but they were both in here with me for a while. I walked around, trying to get something to happen. Finally it did--Mommy got out my mat and trained me.

She put the mat by the wall next to a chair and told me "Mat". The first few times, I just stood on it and she gave me treats, but then she waited until I lay down. Then she was really happy and clicked and gave me a couple treats. So after that I lay down on it when she said "Mat." She kept working me for a little while, making it harder all the time. I kept having to stay lying down longer and longer before I got treats. For example, she'd tell me mat and I'd go lie down on my mat. Then a little while later (mom says 10 secs is a good example), she'd click and give me a treat. I'd stay lying down and she'd wait again (she says she did it the same time for each mat command) before clicking and treating. After about 5 waits, she'd send me off the mat to go get a treat. Then I'd go back to the mat and do it again. Each time I went back to the mat, she made me wait quietly a little longer. Sometimes Mommy and Daddy talked while I lay on the mat--but I knew I had to stay there if I wanted my treats, so I did. Mom says I got up to 30 secs consistently in that one training session. She and Daddy were really happy with me and praised me and pet me a lot.

In the late afternoon, they said we were going out. I got my harness on and my leash and my SDIT vest. We got in the car and went for a drive. When we stopped again, we were at Farmor and Farfar's! Farmor and Farfar are Daddy's parents. So I got out of my crate on leash and walked nicely with Mommy on crutches along the road and into the garden. I pottied on command in the yard. Then we went in the house. I wanted to go say hi, but mom reminded me that I was working. So I went with her to go help get her shoes off. I was a good, quiet girl and sat nicely when mom said. Then daddy took off my vest and mom said I was off duty. So I ran to say hi to farmor and farfar and sat down so they could pet me. They said I looked great in my uniform.

It was a nice evening. Mommy brought my mat so I could practice more and show off how good I was. I got to go outside and run around in the yard several times, but when the dogs in the neighbor's yard teased me so I barked, mom and dad made me come inside again. Farfar dropped a crutch once, so Mommy told me to take it and give it to him. I did it, of course, and got treats and lots of praise. I also practiced down and stay some. Mommy says my mat work is consistent at 30 seconds on one cue (mat only, she doesn't have to tell me to lie down) despite the distractions and all the fun waiting to happen.

When we got home, I helped Mommy get ready for bed then they went to sleep. Daddy got up and went to work in the morning like usual, but Mommy went back to sleep. I finally had to make her get up when morning was almost over. She says she's lucky I did. It wasn't long after I got her up that she had to go to her "training." I helped her get her shoes and stuff ready to go, but stayed home. I don't know what she trains, but she is usually tired and smells like chlorine when she gets home. The good thing is that she often feels better the next few days.

After she got home, she gave me my kong with liver pate and kibble in it. I got to eat and play with that while she started dinner for her and daddy. After I emptied my kong the first time, she filled it up and I ate it all again. Then daddy got home. I was so happy to see him. He took me with him for a drive and mommy stayed home. When we got back, I got another kong of kibble and pate and they ate dinner. After dinner, we snuggled for a while all three of us.

But then mommy fell asleep so I stayed quiet for the rest of the evening. Then they went to bed and I got to sleep in my own bed. Now we are at today. I've already had two kongs of kibble that was extra-tasty because Daddy put soup on it. Mommy promises to train more with me. She is feeling better. I've also warmed her sofa for her while she ate breakfast and we've enjoyed a few snuggles. She even tossed my kong for me and let me chase it.

The weather is really windy and nasty, so mom wants to stay inside. But that's okay, because she is good at keeping us both busy and entertained in here.

Recent Blog Changes

Molly and I have been working on fine-tuning the blog recently. We want to make it more fun for people to read while still very informative.

Our resource list is back and better than ever. The things on there are things we have experience with ourselves and can recommend. If you know of a resource that you think we should check out and consider adding to the list, please send us an e-mail and we'll check it out.

Because our blog entries are meant to be informative as well as entertaining, we're trying to index them. Use the list of index terms to find entries related to a particular topic. The glossary defines special terms and acronyms that we use regularly but might not be familiar to everyone. Please let me know if I'm using a word that you think should be added to the list.

We've learned about a new tool for tracking our levels training and sharing it with you. So now you can view Molly's scoreboard to see her current status in Level Training and check out our Level Training Journal. I'd first planned only to list tests in the journal, but I've since decided to put some training info in there, too. So the more interesting training posts will still show up here in the blog, but stuff that is just day-to-day training as aprt of the levels program I will try to track in the journal. That way you don't have to read things that say "today we worked on mat training in the living room with this treat" unless you really want to. But if I learn something new or Molly has a neat experience she wants to share, we'll still blog it like usual.

You've probably noticed that we're getting more pictures in our posts. I'm trying to get better about taking them so you can see how we do things and what Molly looks like in different situations. There's also the slideshow of newer Molly shots in the corner to give you a constant fix of pictures of the pretty girl in different situations. Expect future posts to hold even more pictures of Molly playing, training, and working.

Our friends list includes people we know in real life and those net contacts that we consider personal friends. We have more friends than are listed here, but we can only list the ones with web sites and blogs. If you're a friend (or think you are) and have a site we haven't listed, please let us know. I may be hesitant about my evaluation of our relationship or I may not know of your site. The list is for both my friends and Molly's.

Molly and I like to read about and see what other dogs are doing, especially working border collies. We've listed some of our favorite sites to share them with our readers. You can find all sorts of neat dog blogs on "Dogs with Blogs" to read about dog lives all over the globe.

Molly has made a blog entry reporting about things from her own point view. That isn't the last time we'll have a "Molly Reports" entry. She loved doing it and I enjoyed the break, so expect more reports to come.

We hope you'll continue to enjoy our blog and will enjoy the changes we've made. We'll keep trying to find ways to make the site better.

Molly's Report on Today

Mommy (Rebecca) hasn't been feeling well today, so we decided it was my turn to make a blog entry. I had a rough night and morning keeping an eye on Mommy. She didn't sleep well, so I stayed on the rug outside the bedroom door (silly people don't let me in the bedroom at night) just in case she needed me. I worried myself sick about her, so I had to make her get up and take me out after Daddy left for this thing they call "work" in the morning. I felt bad about making her get up--she was just falling asleep--but my tummy was so upset and I couldn't hold it anymore.

Then I went back to my guard duty while she slept. She finally settled down, but I didn't want to leave her to go to my own bed. But after a while I had to wake her up again because my tummy hurt and I needed to go out. I ended up not being able to potty after all and just ate grass, but I couldn't help it. It would be so awful if I waited and ending up having a potty accident in the house.

After that she stayed out of bed so I got to be with her all day. I could tell she needed some space, so I lay under the couch instead of on it, but I came out to bring her toys and check on her a lot. It's part of my job to take care of her and make sure she's okay. But today she didn't drop things and Daddy wasn't home, so I couldn't go get him and tell him to help her feel better.

Mostly it was a boring day because she didn't teach me anything. Daddy usually plays with me more than Mommy but he was at that "work" thing. I dunno quite what his work is. But I think they like him there because he always smells like shrimp when he comes home. Yummy. I like to kiss him and lick him when he gets home, but he doesn't always like that too much. Shrimp are my favorite!

In the afternoon Mommy let me out in my fence for a while so I got to have a little fun. I don't know why they don't just let me go loose all the time. I don't really go anywhere except maybe over to the neighbors to say hi to whatever it is that barks all the time. Apparently I'm not supposed to do that. But I haven't in ages! I'm a good girl now who sticks with mommy and daddy and comes when they call me!

Once Daddy got home, things got a little more fun. He played some with me before they ate and talked to me more. Mommy fell asleep on the sofa, but she needed it.

After they ate, I started playing with my kong to tell Mommy I was hungry but wanted fun food, not plain old boring kibble in a bowl. She took the hint and filled my kong with food. I don't know why they get so upset that I won't eat kibble from a bowl. It's boring. They should try having to eat a bowl of the same stuff day after day without getting to do anything fun for it. They at least get to "shop" and cook their food!

Then we really had fun! Mommy and Daddy took me outside to the place the ponies used to be and we trained and played. Mommy promises she took pictures of me and will show them off tomorrow.

Now it is time for bed. I'm beat from running all over chasing the ball. Mommy and Daddy want to sleep first. Daddy has to get up early in the morning to take me out for a potty and go back to work. I wish he could stay home more. It's so much fun when he's home. He takes me out all the time and lets me do all sorts of fun things.