Swap Week Sweetie

Well, Hope has done it again with another great week for the books. And this one was swap week! She knows all of her commands and even a few extras. She is so full of life and energy. She loves to play but doesn't seem to care much for toys. She does, however, love food and people! No signs of separation anxiety were noted and she just showed her swap week trainer a whole month's worth of love in just 7 days! Make sure your hearts are prepared for this sweetie pie, cause she'll steal it!

Simply Irresistible

Whoa! Where has the time gone!? I know time flies when you're having fun, so I guess Hope and her trainer must have been having TURBO levels of fun. It seems like just yesterday that this sweet girl walked into her trainer's life. Hope is so smart and has already learned extra commands, one of which is speak! It's so funny. She can use her inside voice, too, so don't worry about her barking up a storm! 

Hope is so sweet and can brighten anyone's day - ANYONE. She gives kisses constantly (okay not constantly, but there are a lot of kisses to be had when Hope is around). Hope does not understand the concept of strangers. She loves everyone she meets and you cannot help but love her right back. She could probably create world peace with her loving personality if someone gave her a global platform to do it. 

Hope's trainer says he is going to miss the dickens out of her, but he knows she will get lots of attention and love in her new forever home. She'll squeeze her way into the center of your heart. She is such an awesome dog and is ready for graduation and the next stage of retired life: sleeping on your couch and loving you to pieces. Your heart better be ready to fall in love hard and fast!

Social Butterfly

Hope is going to make one lucky family VERY happy. She is such a sweet girl, it's hard to believe she wasn't ever someone's pet! Hard to believe she was even a racer; it's easy to picture them popping the gate and watching all the other dogs take off while Hope trots over to  say hi to the audience and get loved on. She is definitely a social butterfly, fluttering between people, soaking in all the love she can. She gets along great witih other dogs as well. Her trainer has yet to see anything but positive reactions from her when another dog enters her personal space. She is continuing to work on her stair training every week and her trainer says she is doing GREAT!  She seems to be getting extremely comfortable with the elevation change and she knows all of her basic commands so well that she can start learning extras over the last few weeks! 

Until next time! 

Shower You With Kisses

Hope is such a sweet, loving, playful girl, that has not met a stranger.  She is also smart as a whip and cute as a button!  She already knows all of her basic commands very well, so her trainer will have them all perfected by graduation day!  Who knows.  Maybe she will learn some extras.

There are no dreary days with Hope around.  She will brighten up your day by showering you with love and kisses.  Lots and lots of kisses!!   I know you are going to fall in love with this sweet girl just as everyone else has.  You're in for a treat with Hope!

Working This Training Thing

Hello my human friends!  I have to tell you I feel a bit deceived with this whole retirement thing.  I mean I kinda thought it would be all treats and dog beds.  Perhaps even a few human servants bringing me food and water in bed would be acceptable.  Instead here I am teaching my inmate trainer how to feed me treats!  I swear this man acts like he’s lost in the mountains and I have to be the one to rescue him.  SIGH…  As long as he keeps dishing out those treats I’ll keep working with him.  

So I’ve been here 5 weeks and I know everything – seriously.  I respond to all my commands with hand single and/or verbal cues.  I agree to go back over them daily to help my inmate trainer get better with his requests.  AND I get treats out of the deal so it seems like an even trade.  

Outgoing Personality

Another week has come and gone with Hope.  She is continuing to excel in her training sessions.  This week  Hope got a taste of jump.  For her it is more like a climb!  She is in no rush when it comes to leaping, unless it's leaping for a treat!  If there is a treat involved she will cross oceans for it.

Hope also learned "down" this week, which was a cinch  She has already mastered that command and will perform it with fervor.  She isn't much into toys, but her trainer is going to keep trying to get her interested in them. 

Hope is doing great and gets constant attention from everyone because of her outgoing and energetic personality she has.  She's the life of the party and an all around greyt hound!

Total Charmer

Hope is doing great, as always! She is such a sweet and loving girl, it's just too easy to spoil her with affection ALL the time! Not to mention, she is just cute as a button. She sat for the first time this week all by herself without any assistance from her trainer! If it weren't for her nonchalant attitude, her trainer says he thinks he may have startled her with his excitement when she performed an unassisted sit! 

She has also been working on remaining on the bed amid distractions tempting to break positions, and she has become a very proficient "bedder"! Stay is another command she began building a foundation for this week. She will do very well once she fully grasps the concept. As it stands, she does very well for brief durations at this point, which is to be expected. All in all, Hope is doing an excellent job catching onto her commands, even though she has a stubborn streak (don't we all?). It's such a joy to train her and she's going to charm your pants right off, so get ready!

100% Treat Hound

Hope has been progressing steadily this past week and a half with her training. She is doing well with "hurry", "let's go", "release", "wait" and "bed".   She was very reluctant to go into the kennel for some unknown reason.  She would stand in front of the kennel prancing around acting incredibly happy and once she realized that she gets treats just for entering the kennel she was all about that "kennel"!  Speaking of treats... Hope love her food!  She's a 100% treat hound!!

Hope is doing very well with her leash walking.  At times she still tends to try and pull ahead, but nothing like when she arrived.  She also started working on "sit" this week and it almost at the point she is sitting on her own.

Hope is absolutely adorable!  She is a bursting with energy and her trainer can already tell she is going to be an awesome dog to train.  Hope is going to make an amazing addition to some lucky family.  

What?! Is This Retirement?

This whole retirement thing is not starting out the way I thought it would.  I mean I kinda thought I’d go to some big dog house with dog beds and perhaps a pool.  But yet, here I am in a training program wondering where all my rest and relaxation is hiding.  Now, don’t get me wrong I’m not all disappointed as there are some yummy treats and my inmate trainer seems to be pretty trainable.  I can see this working out; if he listens well.  Just dish out the treats man and we’ll get along swimmingly! 

Okay I have to admit, I was a little embarrassed when I first arrived… they asked me to step on a scale in front of everyone!  Come on humans, you don’t ask a lady to weigh in with an audience, SIGH.  So I’ve been eavesdropping on the humans and apparently this training gig will last 10 weeks then I’ll get a forever home.  So y’all just sit back and watch me bring it like nobody’s business! Check back next week!