Mavis

Welcoming Spring

Spring has officially arrived! So did a nor’easter here in Pittsburgh. But hey, I think there’s a saying that goes something like if you don’t like the weather in Pittsburgh, wait 15 minutes. So true.

I was able to walk Lola and Mavis in gorgeously sunny 50 degree weather earlier in the week, and today I will be pulling out my snow boots for my pet sitting jobs.

Cocker spaniel and black lab walking on grassy trail in sunshine

Walks with Lola and Mavis are so lovely due to the fact that we have a leash coupler, so I only have to use one leash! Walks with Lola and Mavis aren’t so lovely when Lola walks backwards and slips out of her harness to run away.

Our pets certainly know how to keep Jimmy and I on our toes with their antics. We spoil them anyways. We just bought Lola the harness in the above picture and Mavis chewed the handle (while Lola was wearing it!) until it was hanging on by a thread. So what did I do the other day? Bought them a chew toy.

Cocker spaniel with Petstages deerhorn chew

Mr. Malcolm over here isn’t much more well behaved than his sisters. He’s actually the instigator in our household and has quite the penchant for trying to slip out our back door (is life with us that bad that our pets want to run away?!). But we spoil him, too.

His new obsession, as I mentioned in my most recent vlog, are Friskies Pull ‘n Play treats. He goes crazy for these and runs all around the house with the treats in his mouth. I think he tries to tease Mavis and Lola!

Friskies Pull 'n Play cat treats chicken and cheese flavors

Speaking of cat treats, I have a great resource to share for any cat parents out there! Reviews.com has an awesome cat food guide that has a list of the best cat foods for 2018. The researchers that created the guide analyzed over 2,000 cat food formulas and picked their top 18 high-quality brands.

Okay, back to talking about spring. To celebrate its arrival yesterday, I decided to bake one of my favorite spring-like recipes: lemon poppy seed muffins! When I typed out poppy seed, I accidentally typed “puppy seed.” I guess I have dogs on the brain?!

Lemon poppy seed muffins

I think I’ll go enjoy one now as I watch the snow pile up outside 😉

What food reminds you most of spring?

Mavis at Nine Months

Mavis is now nine months old! She’s closing in on a year so fast that I almost want time to slow down. I’m also excited to see her become a dog, you know?

Parti colored Cocker Spaniel puppy therapy dog in training harness on walk

New Things

  • Mavis graduated Adult Level II training classes with flying colors! She is now phased out of training at Petco because they don’t have any classes higher than Adult II, haha.
  • She took her Canine Good Citizen Test and missed the mark on just one behavior, which was having a stranger touch her paws. This is important for therapy work (because people will be touching her if she’s a therapy dog!), so we are working really hard on paw touching before we re-take the CGC test.
  • She’s going to be a big sister!

Hard Things

  • She loves playing fetch with a ball, but if it rolls underneath something, you would think the world was ending. She whines, cries, scratches, and barks until she gets that ball back.
  • When it’s cold out, she goes #2 on our back porch. Yuck.
  • She still jumps on the couch from time to time (when Malcolm taunts her… he is a bad influence on her, ha!).
  • I recently had to run into Walmart while Jimmy and I had Mavis in the car with us, so I left her in the car with Jimmy and he said her little body shook the entire time I was in the store because she missed me. Poor gal. I missed her just as much!
Black lab cuddling cocker spaniel puppy on raised dog bed

Mavis loves cuddling with her big sister! Also, they really love their raised bed.

Other Things

  • I can’t wait for it to warm up in Pittsburgh so we can do more training outside!
  • Mavis still hasn’t gone into heat. I think it’s normal for the first heat cycle to begin any time from six months to a year, so I expect it to happen soon.
  • Her growth seems to have slowed down.
  • She is still doing great with not being in a crate and not chewing things.
  • She still gets along wonderfully with basically any dog she meets. She wants to play, play, play all the time.
  • Sometimes I just look at her and just kiss her little face. She’s so cute and truly brings me so much joy!
Cocker spaniel puppy practicing leave it command with dog food puzzles

Practicing the “leave it” command by waiting patiently before being allowed to figure out her puzzles!

Favorite Things

There you have it, that’s Mavis at nine months! Our puppy is turning into a dog before our eyes! We love the dog she’s becoming and can’t wait to see her be a big sister in the fall!