Visitors

What a long day it has been for little Ruby. . I got down to some training with her and was working on 'lie down'. She was getting good at doing it when a treat was offered but without the treat she was a little less forthcoming. To be fair, until this afternoon, I was just teaching her "down". When I had a chat with my sister-in-law's husband (raised on an Irish farm and loves sheepdogs), he suggested I use the command "lie down" as it is what the farmers tend to say. Ruby seemed to respond well to this. That said, I think it's going to take a little longer to master than 'sit' did.

As a little puppy, I don't want to do too much, too soon, so I gave her lots of play time. She does like her Kong toys.

Ruby likes peanut butter in her Kong

Later in the afternoon, we began to have guests visiting. My 2 sister-in-laws arrived along with their children. The two older children were really very good with Ruby. The little toddler (Jared) was just too young to understand and when Ruby wanted to take charge, Jared made a fuss. This just excited Ruby even more. Having said that, Ruby was brilliant in responding to me. She came on command and sat for me. I found it quite easy to calm her down. 

Over the course of the next few hours we had a houseful of people. Lots of movement, noise, fuss and attention for Ruby. She was spot on and took it all very well. There is no doubt that Gillian (the breeder) has done a wonderful job in breeding puppies that have a lovely temperament. She handled the attention like a pro and when she was tired, she found a quiet spot and went to sleep. She didn't flinch when the odd shriek or loud laugh occurred and when awake, she went about her business without any fuss.

Today could have been real trouble for Ruby but she passed the test with flying colours. Ok, there was the odd bark and a bit of jumping up now and again. But when it is put into context, she remained remarkably composed for all the commotion going on around her.

She's a very tired puppy now though.

It's been a tough day

Proud of you Ruby......real proud of you :)