Mollie finds a mentor

Yesterday a prominent poodle breeder in our area chose Winnie as "best puppy" at the poodle club workshop. This doesn't give us any points but we "won" 3 stuffed toys and I got a big ego boost. The breeder also offered to mentor me. This is a great opportunity and something that I hope to take full advantage of. My big concern is keeping W safe - making sure that I don't give up or lose control over how my pup is handled, trained or treated. I have a different approach from many people in the dog show world. I need to find the strength to keep things on a path that I am comfortable with.

Big compliments from an important poodle person:
"Hi Mollie,
I am delighted that you got back to me. I did want to tell you that although you bought Winnie for obedience competition, you can do it all with her. I checked out her pedigree and it is obvious that the reason she is such top quality is that she comes from the very best bloodlines in miniature poodles !
I am so glad you turned up at the match and you were willing to take her into the conformation ring...it was a real treat to "find" her.
You have a good hand on the pup...and you listen...not an easy to find combination.
I would be very happy to mentor you.It is the wisest way to get involved. I could teach you so much. I also used to teach obedience,years ago.
I will check my calender and call you"

Back to the day-to-day details

• W woke up at 6:40 (luxurious!)
• Straight out to the yard
• We hung out in the kitchen for an hour until D woke up.
• I left W in her pen so that Dolce could go out to the bathroom in peace.
• I offered breakfast at about 8am. I hid breakfast for both dogs. Both dogs found their breakfast but only Dolce ate.
• W played fetch with deedle dude
• I gave them both flossies (highly prized) and we only had 1 guarding incident. Not bad!
• The dogs helped me do some gardening - always interesting. W loves to bite the water and try to grab weeds out of my hand.
• I tried to leave W in her pen when I walked out to the yard - I turned around and she was behind me. She must have jumped out b/c the pen was still closed. Great.