![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif)
Well, I wasn't sure what I would really do with a day to myself. Now I know. It is already 3:30 and I've managed to. .. take myself out to eat for Mexican food!
![Smile :)](./images/smilies/icon_e_smile.gif)
Dogs: Labs don't really grow out of puppyhood for 2 or 3 years. Maia is now 3 and we'd say she's still pretty puppy-ish, though she's definitely calming down. Pepper was also puppy-ish for many years, but her personality is just generally more chill than Maia's, mainly b/c Maia is SO very extremely extroverted. Her high energy can still be a nuisance for guests who don't like/don't feel comfortable around dogs as she focuses all her doggy energy and enthusiasm on being social, and some people just don't want to be social with her - and she doesn't get that, of course. I think she believes everyone in the world loves her as much as she loves everyone in the world. .. . We do crate them during small group.
Pepper walks very well on a leash. We trained her a lot when she was a pup. Maia was not trained as much as Pepper, but she naturally heels -- b/c she wants to stay as close to you as possible. We do use pinch collars when walking them (which we rarely do anymore. . ), which some people don't like. However, the trainer we took our dogs to either approved of them or was OK with them. Labs have thick fur and are actually intentionally bred to be quite impervious to pain. Originally, that was so they could bear the cold Canadian waters while retrieving birds shot into them. The pinch collars have never been a problem for us, and both dogs walk well on a leash now.
I'm going to read my moms group books now.