Five Months With Hannah

You guys, it turns out that Hannah IS a dog who loves snow. She just doesn't like cold feet. Boots have changed her winter life for the better.

We got a pair of QUMY boots. We started training her in them in early October. We were mostly concerned about the salt irritating her sensitive skin, but it turns out she also does not like her paws to be cold or wet, so we use them for all those purposes.  (I mostly think these particular boots are okay. They hold on with velcro straps and that's fine, but as soon as the velcro gets wet, it doesn't work well. That means we have already lost one.  Also, because Hannah wears them a lot, they get stinky.  They have to be handwashed and they take FOREVER to dry.) 

The training was slow going. The first day we just had her sniff them while giving her treats. The next day we put one on for about two seconds while treating her. We repeated that for a day or two. Then we put on two for like ten seconds. Lots of treats. Repeat. It took us probably three weeks before all four boots were on and she was walking. She did highstep in them for some time. Don't laugh at your dog when they're doing this!! (Although it is funny/adorable.)

Once we put them on, she was such a playful winter dog. She threw her face in the snow, ran around like a crazy dog, and was generally just loving her life.

There's a tiny playground for pre-schoolers a block from our house. It is entirely fenced in. Sometimes I take her in there (at night when there are no kids there) after she's been on a walk and done her business, and let her off leash to play in the snow. 

Hannah's other big adventure this month was that she went to the dog park for the first time. Our county dog park is HUGE and wonderful (regularly listed as one of the best dog parks in Wisconsin and definitely the best dog park I've ever personally been to) and Hannah loved playing with the other dogs and being able to run and run and run.  We have to take her to the doggie wash afterwards because she's usually muddy and stinky, but that's a small price for her to pay for so much fun. (Actually, she hates baths, but she'll let you bathe her.)

We've introduced eggs to her diet in the last month and so far, so good!  We're so happy that maybe someday she'll be able to eat a food from a non-specialty store.

She continues to be smart, loyal, and sweet.  We're struggling to get her to do the command "stay" if we leave the room, but honestly, I don't mind. She just wants to be with us and I don't mind that at all.

She has some comedic timing, too.  Last night I put her in a down stay during our training session and left the room to talk to Dr. BB about dinner. I was just saying that I wasn't sure if Hannah would stay where I had left her and he started laughing. I looked down to see her sitting next to me (PERFECT SIT), looking up at me, like why did you leave me? I want to talk to Dr. BB, too. She was so quiet about it! 

But SHE can do it, I promise. She just doesn't WANT to.