Our annual scavenger hunt

Puppy meeting venues are always planned around our climate, so the scavenger hunt gives us a chance to spend an hour in the air conditioning after our "business meeting" outside.  Nobody minds.  ;-) 

Our puppies get very used to hanging out in parking lots while the grownups talk.  This does give us the chance to get some great portraits!

Dakota:

Monti:

 

 

Parker:

 

 

Willie:

 

The group bids farewell to Kay with an armload of gifts and just as many good wishes.

 

 

Willie sits through announcements dutifully.

 

 

Jan shares a photo of her new housemate.

 

 

Monti gives up.  ;-)

 

 

Into the store we go, with directions in hand and competitive spirit intact!

 

 

Monti practices his heel finish in the underwear department.

 

 

"List four bright colors of lids and filters for Brita water pitchers."

 

 

"How many 'wiffle' baseballs come in the multi-pack?"

 

 

"With your pup in a down stay, 'shop for' greeting cards for three minutes."

 

 

"Take your pup's photo with an item of children's clothing that features an animal."

 

 

"With your dog in a 30-second down stay, dust the stacks of buckets with the 'pivoting duster.'  If he/she breaks, begin again."

 

 

 

"Take your puppy's photo with a Target Employee."

 

"Take a vacuum cleaner down from the rack and roll it back and forth with your pup in a sit stay."

  

"What is the diameter of the largest available wall clock?"

 

 

"Take your puppy's photo with a Hello Kitty rolling suitcase."

 

 

(Enough already with the cats...!)

 

A photo with "the Hulk" wasn't required, but is nicely colorful!

 

 

"Does Target sell Elmer's School Glue in sticks?"

 

 

"Which is not a legitimate flavor of Pringles Potato Crisps:  Salt & Vinegar, Fiery Pepper, Barbecue, or Sour Cream & Onion?"

 

 

 

"Go into a bathroom stall with your puppy and sit down for 15 seconds (busying optional).  Run the hand dryer with the dog nearby."

 

Loretta takes one for the team to get the potty shot!

 

 

"Random yellow dog" opts for privacy.

 

Whoa!  What was that?!  You could warn me next time...

 

Always a fun morning.  Thanks, everybody!

Aw, cool -- the DOG store!

Ask a puppy raiser what the toughest venue is for dog handling, and chances are you'll hear, "pet stores!"

But it's the difficult places that we need to visit frequently; they don't get easier by avoidance.

So this week's meeting was at PetCo, where we were able to expose the dogs to numerous stimuli on a very quiet weekday evening.

Dakota and Brad take turns making friends with the ferrets.

 

 

Brad can't believe his "great good fortune!"  (Sorry, buddy.  No rawhide for program pups.)

 

Dakota does a great job resisting the (huge!) temptation of a cat teaser. 

 

 

Parker shops in an aisle full of forbidden fruits!  (We just expose them to these "real animal" products for their fascinating smells.  Some dogs are actually fearful of them.)

 

 

Brad gives the fish only a cursory glance, then moves on to bigger and better.

 

 

"Sniff but don't grab" is the goal.

 

More "sniff but don't grab."  It's not easy, but the dogs did well and the raisers were quick to praise.  Monti shows youthful curiosity but an urge to please.

 

 

Face-high rodents!  Gotta love 'em. 

 

 

Dakota gets in some nice "ear action," but sits solidly for the squeaky-toy experience.

 

 

These tong-style pooper scoopers were on our suggested-experiences list.  They surprised us all by having very strong springs that caused a jarring crack when released. 

 

 

Parker ignores the ball as a good program girl should!  There's a reason we don't give balls as toys; they're far too prevalent in public (parks, tennis courts, playgrounds).

 

Parker's world

My sister is odd...

 

But I love her!!