My Birthday!

Hi! It's Cinnamon.

Yesterday was my third birthday.

Can you believe that I am three years old now? As I am smaller than most adult Beagles we see in New Zealand, many humans tell me that I still look like a puppy. But those who know me very well also say that I have matured significantly within the last one year.

I remember that Cookie celebrated my birthday with us a year ago. He showed me how to pose in costume for a camera.

I really miss him!! And at the same time I hope he is proud of what I have achieved in the last year. Now it is my turn to show Mint how to behave. It is a challenge for me, but I will do my best!!

To start with, I showed Mint what I had learnt from Cookie, i.e. posing for a camera!




Then, we enjoyed my birthday cake together!

Mint turned six months old!

Hi! It's Cinnamon.

Today Mint turned six months old!



He still sometimes wet the floor when he is overexcited or very sleepy, but he has grown so much that, weighing just over 1 kg (2.2 pounds) less than me, he now looks almost the same size as me, who is turning three years old next week.

Today, to celebrate Mint's birthday, our humans gave us special treat that they had bought from a doggy bakery called Miss Maggies Barkery and Dog Deli.



The biscuit I ate was not only very yummy but also good for my heath, according to my humans, as it is called Sea Biscuit and contains glucosamine from krill and shrimp. The one Mint ate is called Doggie Wonton and was actually in the wonton shape!



Although it took Mint much longer to finish his biscuit, he looked really happy!!

My first obedience class ... and some report

Hi! It's Cinnamon.

Well, as you know, I have been training hard with Mum recently and I often go out without Mint. He says he gets bored, as he has so much time without me. On Sunday Dad took pictures of Mint to show us how he was doing when Mum and I were not home.





Last night Mum and I went out without Mint again. I attended my first obedience class. Ah, well, that is not really true. I thought I was attending a class, but it turned out that the course had finished a week before, and yesterday they were doing a practice Elementary obedience test, or a mock trial, instead.

Of course we entered the trial and my running order was the third, as my Mum registered our entry very early without knowing how many people and dogs were coming. If she had known that so many were entering, she would have let some other people register their entries before us so that she had time to prepare herself for the trial. I could sense Mum's extreme nervousness from her voice and breathing.

When we were called in the ring, I tried hard to calm her down by ignoring her a little bit. Then, I was given a tug on the lead as soon as we started walking, because I was still trying to calm Mum down by sniffing the floor. But, I realised that that was not what Mum expected of me doing, so I brought my head up quickly. Then, somewhere in the middle of the heel exercise, I picked up some nice smell and was tempted to go to find where it came from. But, seeing my nose starting to move away from her leg, Mum said "Leave it!" firmly, so I brought my attention back on her. I think the source of the smell was treat that someone had dropped while practising before the trial. The rest of the heel work was not too bad, I think, although Mum didn't look entirely happy.

The next exercise was the recall. When Mum left me, I waited without moving an inch. But, when she said "Cinnamon, come!!", I suddenly remembered about the smell I had picked up earlier. So, instead of going straight to Mum, I went over to the spot the smell came from before going to sit nicely in front of her. Later she told me that at that point she had thought about going home without doing the stays. But she decided to stay and I did the stays without problem in the end.

When we were waiting for the result, we were called into the ring to do the recall again in the runoff. This time I did it nicely without detouring.

And ... to my surprise I was placed the second and got a certificate and a toy as a prize!!



Although Mum's face was clearly saying that she couldn't believe it, I was just so happy and proud!! Mum, you always worry too much!


Before I go, I have something to report today. Now I can stay in my crate calmly without barking or digging my bed when my humans are out!! How do you think it happened? A trick is my brother Mint. My humans have decided to move my crate to beside Mint's so that I don't feel lonely. Look at this photo. We stay in our crates happily even after Mum opens the latches of the crate doors when she comes home. :-)

Training weekend

Hi! It's Cinnamon.

I hope everyone had a great weekend!! Our weekend was full of training, which I really enjoyed.



On Saturday I met up with our blog friends, Lexi and Jasper the Great Danes, in Mission Bay. It was not just a play-date. Lexi and Jasper's human helped my training not to react to other dogs. Thank you so much, Lexi and Jasper's human!!!

Our humans wanted me to meet as many dogs as possible and that was one of the reasons we met up in Mission Bay, where usually many dogs come down to have walks on the beach. But, we didn't see many dogs on Saturday. However, fortunately Lexi and Jasper's human had brought two dogs under training to become mobility dogs as well as my friends, Lexi and Jasper, so I could practise walking pass them in turn one at a time. Although I sometimes couldn't control myself well enough not to pull my lead toward the dogs, I didn't bark much. :-)

Among other things, the Dane friends' human pointed out that my Mum needed to behave more confidently. The more confident Mum behaves, the less I need to try to protect the pack, which means Mum and me. I thought that was a good point, as I could see Mum getting nervous and in tense whenever she saw another dog coming. Although I didn't realise myself that I was trying to guard ourselves, now I can see why I felt so nervous when I saw another dog coming. Actually some of my blog friends also mentioned the influence of the handler's feeling over the dog in their comments to Mum's post. Thanks, friends!

Hee hee. My barking was not entirely my fault after all!! Mum needs to practise more and more to become a good reliable handler!

After the training, our humans, Lexi, and I went to a cafe in Mission Bay. Because the cafe is next to a burger shop, Burger King, many families who came to the burger shop found us sitting or lying by a table and came to pat us. Then, those families were surprised to see more dogs in Lexi's human's car parked in front to the cafe. If they had been small breeds like me, they wouldn't have been so surprised. But, in addition to Lexi, there was Jasper, another Great Dane, in the car. I wished Mum had filmed it to show you their reactions!!

Then, we went to Waiatarua Reserve together, although we couldn't stay there long as it started raining soon. Actually I couldn't enjoy running around with other dogs much, because I was busy eating rabbit poos and looking for the right spot to do my business. What was funny was Jasper! He kept following me when I was busy. I had to tell him off so many times!



My mum says that Jasper really liked me. If she is right, I am sorry I behaved like that, Jasper. I will play with you more nicely next time we meet up!



On Sunday we trained with our dancing instructor. One of the things she taught us was how to turn when heeling. She showed Mum how to gently pull the lead to keep me close to her knee and when and how to give me reward.



I had a great time in the training because I got to get so much treat!! I felt so full, when we left the place, that I fell in sleep as soon as I got in the car.

Telling a lie might be a good idea

Today's post is by Cinnamon's mum.

It seems that I need to follow advice by some of our blog friends that I should tell other dog owners a lie that my dogs have a skin disease or something.

Today, when I was walking with Cinnamon on a narrow footpath, I found a woman and her Labrador coming. Because the road was busy with traffic, there was not an option to cross the road to the other side. I looked for a driveway where we could walk in and stay until the other dog was gone, but there was none. So, I decided to turn around, go to the nearest corner, and wait there. But, when I did so, pulling Cinnamon who didn't want to move, the other dog owner quickly followed us, saying "He is a friendly dog!" Apparently the woman thought that we were running away from a dog that we thought might be aggressive.

Also, I might need to start carrying a bottle of water again when I walk Cinnamon. When I was intensively training Cinnamon not to bark at other dogs before the CGC assessment, I always carried a bottle of water and gave a splay over Cinnamon to distract her whenever she barked, which seemed to be working. Those who advocate 100% positive training might disapprove of the use of water in that way, but I think it is far more humane than pulling her lead to stop her pulling.

Wordless Wednesday