Whoever said you can't buy happiness forgot little puppies.

So...  Have I mentioned that my superstar puppy is... well... a superstar :)   I'm a little concerned actually - I know what happens when horses are smarter than their owners and it's never good.  What about when puppies are?

So once-upon-a-time somebody threw some crunch out in front of the barn.   I have no idea how long it's been there as it's protected from the weather, but probably a while at least.   Sasha thinks this is the best treat ever!  And it's reasonably harmless, so I let her have some once in a while; usually as part of house/barn training.   But, now she knows that when she comes outside there's a marvelous buffet!  No worries, the barn has big solid doors that adult people sometimes have trouble opening - little puppy should be safe inside.  The only door that has a puppy-sized gap is to the shavings area which is quite a ways away from the main barn and through another door.

Yeah, but the door between the two barns has a cat passage way.  Covered with a flap, but still there.

Uh huh, she definitely figured out how to move the flap, fit through the cat-door, follow the path to the shavings, slide *under* the door and get to the treats -- in about 45 seconds.   The dogs that have lived there for years who are small enough to fit through there still haven't figured out that trick.  And maybe the first time *was* a fluke (we know all about taking credit for flukes at GRS :) -- but the second time she knew *exactly* what she was doing.  "Never teach your horse something you don't want them to know" -- I'm thinking the same applies to the dog; the difference is, the dog is teaching herself!

She also has no problem finding me if I call her while hiding in a stall or another area of the barn.  Knows enough to go around whatever wall to where there's a door.  Crazy smart pup.

On the plus side - "come" and "sit" and "with me" (of course I make up random commands to teach my dog) are about 70% installed.   Still not there if she's distracted, but I've only had her for two days *g*   And she's very housebroke (thank God!)   And she now travels well in the car, sleeping in the back seat.  Sweet.

I'm a little concerned that puppy class doesn't start till Jan.  hahaha I know how much trouble a novice horse owner can do in a month with a greenbean -- can only imagine what I could be doing wrong with poor Sasha now.  Yikes!

But she's soooo much fun.   And I was highly amused that people came to visit her at the barn today :)  Not me, or the horses, nope - just Sasha.

And my poor cat is very unhappy with this situation.  The other cats don't mind but Sherlock is definitely suffering from eldest child syndrome.  Right now he's sitting between me and the keyboard looking for attention -- not that he didn't always do that, but these days it's with a whole new level of determination.  And every time I pet the puppy he appears -- and then promptly hisses at Sasha and backs away.  I try to play with him all the time I'm home, but of course Sasha gets to come with me and that's just Not Fair.   Ah well - it'll work out in the end.

And it works the other way too - Sasha was NOT amused when I was riding Athena today.   I don't know what she thought I was doing up there, but she was very unhappy at not being allowed to participate.

For all the extra time and lack of sleep Sasha causes that mostly makes people think I'm even more insane than they thought, I have to say every time I see her, she makes me smile.  N that counts for an awful lot.

As for the barn itself... Starting to get the hang of the routine.   Spending so much time getting organized (well and playing with/taking care of Sasha) that unpacking still hasn't really happened -- hoping I can get the vast majority of that done on the weekend when I have wonderful working students doing the barn :)   I tell ya, taking care of Sash nearly doubles the amount of time it takes me to do stalls.  I'm sooooo productive when she's asleep *g*  But when she's awake - omg.  hahaha Lessons have been going well and the horses are soooooo much happier.   Going to start getting Apollo and Lissy fit again and it looks like potentially even Dixie!  Not holding my breath on that one, but will be amazing if it happens.