Sit Stay & Down Stay

Lately I have been experimenting with Frito and her ability to "stay" in different situations and for different lengths of time. She is getting pretty good at staying until she hears either "come" or her release word of "free." At this rate, she'll be a rockstar by the time she goes back to GEB for her IFT.

Sit stay:



(I am definitely not a professional videographer - I almost tripped walking backwards over the hill in the dog park)

Down stay:

Go Place

One of the commands Frito is currently working on is "go place," where she is told to go to a designated location and lay down until I tell her she is free. Her "place" is usually her dog bed or another soft surface. I decided to experiment with another "place" - an x-pen laid on the floor. As the following video shows, she was a bit confused and kept trying to go place to her bed. After a few more tries, I think she now understands that "place" does not necessarily mean her dog bed.

Fashion Queen

Welcome home, Frito!!

After two long weeks without my Frito Bandito, she has finally come back home. I missed her terribly, which is probably not a good sign for when her time comes to leave me for good. She had a great time with her Christmas family, although she managed to eat part of a plastic toy which made her quite sick. A trip to the vet determined that there were no obstructions in her stomach and that the toy had just made her tummy very upset. After several cans of prescription food, she is finally getting back to eating her regular food. Lucky her - I got to increase her food intake by a cup until she gains some weight back. In the meantime, she is svelte enough to fit into this super stylish I Love Lucy t-shirt (the off-the-shoulder look was her idea). :)

Merry Christmas!

I know it is a bit early for a Christmas post but I was not sure if I would get around to it on Christmas Day. Sadly, I will not be with Frito on Christmas. I am flying home to Wisconsin for a week or so and only have enough room under my airplane seat for Dexter & Bailey. I will miss Frito but I could not have asked for better people for her to spend the holidays with - the Pollak's, who finished raising Nordic (my first GEB pup) and eventually adopted Nordic when he decided that guide work was not for him. I am sure Frito is having a great time and I look forward to all the adventures that await us in 2010.

Best Friends Forever

Julia raised Persia for several weeks before Persia went to her permanent raiser, Charlotte, who lives on the Upper East Side. During the time that Julia had Persia, we got Frito and Persia together at least twice daily at the dog park to play. They became the best of friends (contrary to the sounds they sometimes made at the dog park) and when Persia left Julia in mid-December, I truly think that Frito was depressed about it. Thankfully, Persia still lives in Manhattan and is free for playdates! One such playdate occurred in Battery Park at a dog park that had just been cleaned and made for a super wet and fun experience for Persia and Frito.

Photogenic Frito

I had a professional pet photographer come to my apartment and take pictures of Frito and my two pet dogs, Dexter & Bailey. I struggle with my simple camera and getting good shots of the dogs so I figured I would splurge and hire someone who actually has skills in taking pictures. Below are a selection of my favorite Frito shots.


*All photos taken by Ixiana Hernandez of Petographs, http://www.petographs.com

Time for Class!

Frito is now six months old - I can't believe how fast time flies!!! As the NYC puppy raising region is growing by leaps and bounds, the dogs in each puppy class had to be moved around to accommodate all the new puppies. The classes now consist of the grade school class (with pups Persia, Jessie, Fern, & Breezy), the middle school class (with pups Fabri, Laddie, Filo, & Joba), and the high school class (with pups Frito, Fanta, Taft, Ritz, & Opehlia). Here are a few pictures from Frito's first day of "high school":