Nutmeg - Elise/Silas 2014

"Do I look like a sled?"

Dear Stephanie and Rhonda,

We've had Nutmeg (Miss Pink from Silas/Elise Fall 2014) for almost two months now. She's as sweet as ever. She settled right in here and makes everyone in our house smile and laugh everyday. She has a lot of energy for play and walks. Thankfully she has our 3 year old golden to play and burn off energy with. They can really go at it and she is not intimidated by his larger size at all. They pretty much bonded instantly, and we love watching them play and snuggle together. They even share bones together, each chewing on one end at the same time. I will include some recent pictures of them sleeping cozy together. Where he goes, she follows, and I think he loves all the adoration.

Nutmeg also likes exploring our backyard and is content to spend twenty minutes or so outdoors by herself, just sniffing things and sometimes just sitting and watching things. She comes pretty reliably when I've decided she's had enough. We take a walk every day for 30 to 60 minutes. She hasn't yet mastered heeling perfectly by my side, but we will work on that when it gets a little warmer. I see the walks now as time to relax, have fun, and meet other people and dogs. To an observer of our walks, she can often be seen chasing leaves and finding buried grass clumps in the snow, romping wildly when she gets one, and getting all tangled around my back legs from going back and forth so much. Always a fun time on walks! But really, they are a highlight of my day and boy does she get happy when she hears her leash jingle.  

I'm amazed by how Nutmeg can go from high energy to gentle, snuggle mode in a snap. This gives me high hopes for someday training her to be a therapy dog. I have taken her to visit my kids' classrooms twice and she was a perfect angel... sitting well and allowing all of the children to give her pets and hugs. I never worry about her biting/mouthing children, like I did with my other golden. She does have a need to chew, but chews on bones and toys. We've used bitter apple spray to deter chewing on furniture and it's worked like a charm. 

We started our puppy obedience class last week. This trainer is very focused on socialization. Nutmeg has no problem with that! She was a star student. I really enjoyed the time with just her to work on commands. She knows sit, down, and come. I need to work harder with her on stay and leave-it. Oh, one really nice thing about Nutmeg is that she rides wonderfully in a car. She sits so nice in the front passenger seat. I take her with me to a lot of places. It's so much fun to have a companion! 

One thing I haven't mentioned yet is how much we love her. We can't imagine life without her now. She's the best puppy we've ever had and we're thrilled to be the family she gets to grow up with. Thank you for giving her to us! 

Sherry 

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