Back To The Woo!

Pebbles has officially been back on campus for a week! After a long month in Cincinnati with Maddie, she's happy to be back in Morris House. Since coming back to campus, we've realized how her time in Cincinnati changed her. It seems that most of her changes in behavior have come from spending time with Maddie's two dogs at home. While Pebbles loved having other dogs around to interact with, it's hard to say the same for Noel and Joy. Then again, it would be difficult to deal with a 55 pound puppy trying to swat her giant paws at you when you're a 13 year old dachshund. I can't say that I blame them for not being thrilled with Pebbles's time there.

With the exception of desperately trying to make friends with little to no success, Pebbles had a great time in Cincinnati. Maddie and her were able to walk in lots of different parks all over Cincinnati, go to lots of stores (other than Walmart, which seems to be the main option that Wooster offers), spend time with another 4 Paws For Abilities dog in training (Maddie's aunt's dog named Digory), and have her first experience at a mall. She did really well on the whole with everywhere she went, which was pretty impressive considering it was the holiday shopping season. She gets a little bit better every day, and it's a ton of fun to watch her improve.

As for the 'fun' little habits that Pebbles picked up from Maddie's dogs at home, we're working hard to stop them in their tracks. Most notably, she has decided to start jumping up onto kitchen counters to see what she can find and tries to chase after squirrels. While they might not seem like that big of a deal, those behaviors are the kinds of things that if they aren't dealt with and stopped immediately, they can be the difference between a dog in training going on to help someone or failing their training and then simply becoming someone's pet. So right now, we're keeping an eye on those behaviors and correcting her immediately when any of them occur.

Overall, Maddie had an awesome break with Pebbles, but is definitely happy to be back on campus and have two other people to share all of the responsibility with. Heidi and Rachel and both studying abroad this semester, and we all (including Pebbles) miss them so much! So it's just Taylor, Colleen, and Maddie that will be around campus with Pebbles this semester. We're hoping to get Pebbles into upstairs Lowry pretty soon too! So if you see us around, don't hesitate to talk to us!

-TCMP (the H and R are temporarily taken out)