Tatum Tot Spice

This weekend the Mum took me, Muffit and Chase to an agility trial. Chase was the only one who got to do agility, but me and Muffit got to eat treats and walk around. And I got to run and play with Chase. It was fun. And when we were running around yesterday I saw this lady and thought maybe she’d have some treats, so went to check her out. The Mum got all excited because I went to someone on my own. Well duh, maybe she had treats! And I know humans have been kinda scary in the past but they usually have treats now and I like treats!

The Mum had me step into this box thing in front of her and get treats. And she’d say Front, which I guess is what that means. It was pretty easy though at first I didn’t like the box much. Then she threw this toy thing around and I wanted to go after it a little… when I found out it had treats in it! Way cool! But when the Mum let Chase out too today and we both ran after it… Chase doesn’t play fair ’cause he gets it every time, so I went off to sniff instead ’cause it was way hot and there were lots of smells to check out.

But the grass was nice even though I didn’t get to say hi to as many dogs as I would have liked. I said hi to some people and they had treats too and so that was good. The lady by the car had treats I’d never tried before so I pushed them onto the ground with my nose so I could smell them. I wasn’t sure what they were so I didn’t eat them much. I always have to test out treats before I’ll eat them, you just never know if the Mum or Dad is sneaking in a dumb apple thing or carrot, and those are not food!

I am tired now and am going to take a big long nap as it was a hot tiring weekend!

The Mum took me and Chase to Colorado just a couple of weeks ago… it was fun, but scary… but fun too! I got to meet Kiwi and Cor and play with them… ’round and ’round we chased each other they are super nice. They are both Australian Shepherds and very friendly and fun! The Mum didn’t get any pictures of them, though. She shoulda!

We got to walk around a nature park and see lots of ground hogs as they were warning each other about us scary dogs.. and Chase got to swim in the water. I didn’t want to swim, so I played with Kiwi, but then I got kinda nervous and really wanted to find my crate. And so I left.. and the Mum came with me but I didn’t really want to go to her… I like her, but sometimes I get in a mode where I just want to hide and I don’t want to be around any humans at all. So I went looking for my crate, and the Mum said I went right through the agility ring! But Ringo was running, a springer friend of mine, so that was okay. And then I followed the Mum to my crate and I felt lots better.

The Mum says I still get stressed and I kinda shut down… and that’s when I want to make Lucy and Angel know I’m boss, too. I guess I take it out on them, but the Mum says she’s gonna teach me how to deal with my stress in other ways. And hopefully it’ll go away completely someday!

Yeah.. so the Mum went into a store without me and bought this bed and it’s just too small. But it’s comfy and I wish I fit in it better. I like the raised sides and sometimes let my head flop over because it’s very comfortable.

The Mum took me and Chase to a place called Colorado last weekend. It took a really long time to get there, and a really long time to get home, so I was kinda stressed. Plus, I got to play with Kiwi and Cor, my Aussie friends from there! They were so much fun! I wish the Mum would have taken a picture of me playing with them… we ran around and around and around and around and around… until I get tired and stressed and wandered through an agility course looking for my crate.

I wouldn’t go to the Mum.. I got kinda in my old fearful mode that someone would catch me and hurt me.. so I trotted around, but I followed her to the crate area then slipped inside, I was happy to be back in my crate, in this tiny bed!

The Mum dragged Chase and me to a hotel again.. this one was different. It was only me and Chase and the Mum in the hotel this time. I missed having all the other dogs around. But it was fun to play with Chase, and it was safe in that room, though it smelled kinda funny.

The Mum and Chase did a flyball tournament. I got to stay in my crate where it’s cozy a lot of the time, but sometimes the Mum would bring me out and we would walk around. I have a new best boyfriend! His name is Oreo and he’s a border collie. He’s very handsome! We had a great time playing!

There was some really scary stuff and I tucked my tail, but then there was mostly fun stuff and so I was okay. The Mum said she was very proud of me for being so brave!

The Mum’s been taking me to a scary place the last little while, it’s called Ma and Paw’s Dog Bakery. The good thing is whenever we get home we get super yummy treats that we all love. That are home made and great!

Well I’ve been going there just with the Mum and I get scared. I tuck my tail and I try to do scary dog darting out the door. The Mum says she hasn’t seen me get any better… and she hasn’t! I’ve gotten even more scared. Just a little, but not too much.

So today the Mum brought Levi with us. Levi is such a great older brother. He wasn’t scared at all and I followed him around to all the fun stuff and guess what? There is really yummy stuff there! I ate treats for the first time and they were really good. I was able to relax with Levi there and really check stuff out. The Mum is great and all but if she were a dog she’d be better.

Levi even jumped up on the counter and the lady back there gave him a treat ball. He swallowed it whole! Then I got one and I ate it slowly and enjoyed it. There was even a strange man there shopping and guess what? He had Livers! Wow! So I ate some Livers from him and they were good.

Then we got home and the Mum gave us what she bought, some heart shaped valentine dog cookies. Oh boy they were great and all 7 of us got one! I want more!

Yesterday me, the Mum, Chase and Levi got to go to an agility trial. It was fun. I checked every human out to see if they had Livers. And guess what? They did! Amazing. People are not so bad when they have yummy Livers. The Mum said Chase and Levi had lots of fun too and did really well. She also said I did well too!

It got scary when we walked to the car because stupid Mum dropped my flexi leash. And I dragged it behind me and I panicked! Oh man! It was scary. I tried to run back into the big building but hit my head on the glass and then Aunt Astrid caught me up. I was pretty afraid for the rest of the night, but when we got home I just wanted to play with Chase and then eat dinner then sleep ’cause I was tired.

This morning the Mum took me and Tony out for a walk. It was fun at first but then got stressful ’cause of all the cars going around. I wanted to go home so the Mum took us home, and when we got home I wanted to play with Chase again. The Mum says play relieves stress but duh, I already knew that!

It was a fun couple of days. The Mum says that I won’t be as nervous the more i do stuff. I sure hope so. I don’t like being nervous.

The Mum gave me a bath today (because Chase peed on me yesterday), and it royally sucked. But then the Mum says how gorgeous I am and she brushes me and scratches me. But I already know I’m gorgeous. But I kinda like the Mum too, and the rest of the pack. It’s a pretty good life here.

Today the Mum took me to a scary place. It had strange noises and people and smelled really funny. Tomorrow I get to go with to an agility trial, and when there are lots of dogs around I have fun!

The place today the Mum called a store.. and had weird things for sale. We only walked in one door, then out the other door, and then went home. And I’m fine when I’m home or back in the car. I only tried to bolt from the Mum once, right after we went out the door. It probably wasn’t more than one minute we were in the store. And no one bothered us, so that was good. I wish there were more dogs around.

The Mum said she wants me to do Therapy someday. Well, I don’t know what Therapy is, but it’s supposed to help people to feel better. But I need to feel better first! So the Mum wants to do this lots, almost every day (she said we were going to do it every day but we haven’t, dorky Mum).

I’m excited for Tomorrow.

Oh, and I have some sad news.. or the Mum says it’s sad. She says my big sister Lucy might have Cancer. And the Mum was crying today because of it. But Lucy is my big sister, so she’ll be around forever, right? I think so.

I’ve only been to the dog park twice. This was my second time. The Mum took me and Tony and Angel a few weeks ago but I was a bit nervous then. This time, I wasn’t nervous at all!

Today she took me, Levi, Chase and Tony. The Dad took Lucy and Levi for a walk around the house ’cause they don’t like to run run run like we do! I got to meet a ton of new dogs and we even saw Kibu from flyball! I wanted to go with all the other dogs too, and I kinda lost track of the Mum and Levi and Tony. Usually Chase would come to get me though, but then he’d just play with me and the other dogs and the Mum would have to come get us both!

Boy I’m tired now. I ran and ran and leaped and ran and plowed through the snow. Collies love the snow!

Now it’s nap time!