HaPPy 6 MonTHs My LiTTLe BLacK MoNsTeR!

My little Winnie is going to celebrate 6 months tomorrow. Now here comes a difficult confession: It wasn't easy to accept Winnie in my life. Nor Ben. Eventhough I wished her more than anything in the world, it's always the same with me, I need my time to accept somebody into my life. It was the same with Ben. What I wanted to say is that I think our bond is getting stronger and stronger, every day she fits more and more into my life, and she is becoming my dream come true. At first, Winnie was a difficult shock for me, she was the exact opposite of my dear Ben that I love so much. Not that I didn't like that, I never wanted or expected a dog who would resemble my Ben, beyond any doubt Ben is one and only. So I kind of liked the change, and feared it at the same time. Especially when I realized how fearful she is, afraid of everything, unfocused, but self-confident at the same time - which meant she would trust her own opinion more than mine, especially when it came to her fears or destroying the house. But she had all the craziness I hoped for her to have, she turned out to be stunningly beautiful (at least to my eyes :)) and a real one-person dog. There's nothing more I would wish for. Anyways, she came to my life totally expectedly and still, I could not open my heart immediately. I had the same story with Ben, it took me more than half a year to completely accept him. Well, that's just me, I need my time, but when I open my heart to somebody, he/she stays there forever. I learned to live with all her fears, all her craziness, destroying habits, tugging on my trousers and sleeves, tearing my clothes, kissing my face or jumping on the furniture in the middle of the night, hanging on my curtains when I work with Ben, barking, driving everybody crazy, etc. And I love her just the way she is, my pretty little black monster.

And now comes a really sad news :( My dear Ben hurt his paw the other day on our walk, it looks really ugly and it might need some time to heal :( It's really not anything serious, it's just that it rips my heart when I see his sad eyes when I go for a walk with Winnie (no, he cannot even go for a walk or he starts limping), or when he wants to play with a ball (which is all the time!). I at least try to do more tricks with him, but it's just so sad to see him like that :(.

Family

Family is very important. And very cute, especially if we are talking about Ben's or Winnie's family. Thanks to facebook, I have a chance to see a lot of our siblings' photos, and I even dared to steal some, only to show you how cute families my doggies have! I just love them all, each one so different, but they all have a lot in common!

Ben's brother Dream

Ben's sister Fiamma

Ben's half-brother Lee

Winnie's blue merle sister (don't know her name :))

Winnie's sister Gazelle

Winnie's sister Pomme

Winnie's half-sister Page

Winnie's half-brother Aneou

Bennie & Winnie Tricks

Little Winnie is 5,5 months old already. I wanted to say "she is growing so fast", but it's not quite true :) She actually isn't growing anywhere, she is so very tiny, and she is actually growing up very slowly, she still lacks of teeth, and her behaviour in general, her running style and movement still look like those of a 3-month-old puppy. Therefore I don't like to rush with anything, because she is still such a baby, but on the other hand it's pretty convenient, she will remain a puppy for a longer period of time and I will have so much more opportunities to enjoy her puppyhood. When I remember Ben at her age or if I compare her to other puppies of the same age, she is so way behind with development and her view on the world around her. She is hilarious, and just like a three-month-old puppy, she still wakes me up in the middle of the night and early in the morning, either by crying or by destroying something. Her energy has no limits, after 6 hours of running she would go and sleep for an hour and then she would start with her mischievous look again or she would start disturbing Ben's peace. And yes, she is still going through all other puppy stages, too. Other than that, she is full of enthusiasm, always happy (if only she isn't afraid of something), her tail never stops wagging, she loves working and running, and above all she loves teasing Ben. They've become real BFF's by now. Nothing new with Ben, he will never change, thank God! :) I took him to a school trip the other day and the children just loved him, he was named "the cutest dog in the world" (and I thought I'm only saying this because he's mine). He sure is a heartbreaker, I don't know anyone who would stay indifferent around him. It's surprising that Ben usually takes all the glory when people meet both of them. With all Winnie's energy and with her being all over the place all the time I expected she would win any situation. But Winnie is still very shy around new people and she is all mine, while Ben knows no reason why not to say hello to the whole world and even ask for some treats, or even better, some toys, (by offering the funniest tricks he knows) so in this case Ben always wins all the attention with those funny tricks and those little eyes, no one can beat that :)

And I've finally made that promissed video, you have no idea how much time it took me to put this together, I guess more than teaching the tricks. It's not actually any good in terms of video production, but it's cute. I just have to admit here I am not talented for this, so next time I'll just ask Simona Limona again and maybe bake her a cake in return or sth. :)

I know I keep saying this all the time, but I have to say it again: God, I love my two funny dogs! Finally the long promised video: Bennie and Winnie Tricks

A3 / Autumn

I am sooo horrible when it comes to making videos, I still haven't made a video of Ben's and Winnie's tricks, eventhough I filmed most of the tricks already a month ago... But I am really planning to do it tomorrow!

Anyways, Ben is running so well lately that I decided to finally move on to A3. I enjoy running with him so much, we finally make a really good team. I feel like we finally speak the same language on agility :D I am not saying that our runs are perfect, but at least they are not such a disaster as they were 6 months ago. Now I really enjoy running with him. I made a video of his last runs in A2: Ben winning his last competition in A2

Autumn has come. Of course, I took the time to go walking all day with the dogs yesterday, since it was the last "summer" day (in the middle of October). Some pictures from our walk yesterday...