Wilma's Visit: Part 1

I got a call a little over a week ago from a raiser asking if I could watch her puppy from Monday evening to Saturday afternoon. All I knew before she was dropped off was that she was a thirteen month old yellow lab who was very sweet and very good. I was so excited especially since I am finished with exams and second year. That meant that I could do anything with her without having to worry about classes.

When she was dropped off she started to explore the house right away and paid little attention to her "mom" standing in the door. Since she was happy as a clam her raiser decided to slip away without her seeing. Before she left she did say that the puppy's name was Wilma. Immediately I started calling her Wil because every time I said Wilma I thought of the Flinstones.

Turns out that she was very sweet and very good! And very, very silly. It didn't take her two hours for me to fall in love with her. She loved her crate, she let me sleep until I work her up, and she had a wonderful pace and listened really well to all of the commands. She loved her crate so much that she would wonder in there in there to take her afternoon nap...but not before trying to make it more comfortable.

Wilma sitting in the crate with the bed under her chin and covering her

Wilma trying to get comfortable with the crate mattress

And the best part was, her raiser wasn't lying. Wil was very, very good! First, she had wonderful house manners. She would grab onto a nylabone and lie on her bed and just go to town on it. Sometimes she would grab the rope and get me or Lisa to play tug with her. Poor thing was so persistent even though we have wood floors. Or she would bring us one of the stuffies and have us play fetch in the house. And when she was feeling particularly needy she would sit on our feet and wait until we scratched her ears. But she wouldn't bother us too much and when we needed to stop she would just sit at our feet.

Wilma on her first day with me looking at the camera

Wilma lying near the bed

Second, she had wonderful leash manners. She didn't pull too hard and listened when I said steady, forward, leave it, hopp up, and left and right. Now she did have a little trouble with her "right" but mostly she was great. When we went to puppy class on Tuesday morning she was wonderful. She was a little excited when we first arrived, but she settled down eventually and listened really well. She even got super excited when she returned to me after we did a puppy swap. That made me feel special.

Wilma sitting near my feet while watching TV

Wilma

Wilma showing off her golden nose

Now, I knew that she was a yellow lab but some of her mannerisms just screamed golden retriever. She always had to be touching someone and she had this great smile she would give me this silly smile that reminded so much of Colorado (I mean it was scary how much that she looked like him when she looked up with me and smiled). She also used her paws when she played and talked with her bones. And she had lab fur in a stripe down her back and golden fur on the sides. Haha! When she was picked up I asked and she is half golden and half lab.

Tomorrow I'll put up pictures from our free run.