I really like posting a weekly Top Ten list for Tara, because I think it is a nice way to pay attention to what she likes/doesn’t like on a weekly basis and to see what she is learning and how she is growing over several weeks. So, here is her top ten for this week (18 weeks old).

Tara’s Top Ten For This Week

1. Being sideways and upside down (Tara can get herself into all kinds of crazy positions)
2. Eating poop
3. Eating sticks
4. Going to the dog park and getting slobbered on by other dogs
5. Trying to get her gentle leader off (although she is getting used to it through her normal fun activities)
6. Laying underneath the coffeetable
7. Snuggling with Kiko and getting into Kiko’s bed with him
8. Belly rubs
9. Eating her ‘puppy fish’ and bully sticks
10. Eating her breakfast and lunch out of her ‘treat ball’ instead of her bowl

Tara’s Not-Favorite Things
1. This week we discovered she is afraid of the wind. We were at the dog park when this fear of wind came on suddenly. She began trying to run away from the wind. So I started doing recall and sit with her to redirect her attention and that worked pretty well, she eventually became less afraid of the big bad wind.

We are using the Susan Garrett training tips that Mary-Ann alerted us to a few weeks ago, and they are really fabulous. Today is week 4 at puppy class, and she is doing pretty well. Walking on a leash is becoming much easier since we started using the gentle leader, and Susan Garrett had some great tips today on how to really normalize using this head collar.