Ok, we've been remiss in updating the blog the last few weeks, so there's lots to catch up on here...

Since we last wrote, Maggie has learned a new trick - getting in the car on her own. As with most of Maggie's behavior, we didn't really train her, she just started doing it. She absolutely loves the car, and now the second we open the door she runs and jumps in. That's great, but the really good trick will be when she learns to get out on her own. There's really nothing like wrestling 58 lbs of dead weight (or trying to get away from you) out of the car. So far she shows no signs of coming close to jumping out on her own though. For Maggie, apparently it's not about the destination, just the journey.

And yes, she's 3 lbs overweight. We overshot, so she's on a little bit of a diet now until she gets back to her goal weight.

Mags has completely given up on going to the bathroom in our yard now. So she has evolved from the dog who wouldn't go, to not going if we were looking, to not going on the leash, to going on the mulch but not with a leash, then sometimes on walks, to now only going on walks. She knows which times of the day we take her in the yard and which times we go on walks, so now if it's a "yard time" she just runs upstairs to bed. So, she just misses that chance to go now. Not sure what her hang up is, but it's not a huge deal now. She'll have to re-learn it in the winter time though.

Two weeks ago our niece, Skylar, got to meet Maggie. We took Maggie on a field trip to her Grandma Lela's for a cookout (we also want her to be familiar with Lela's home in case she has to stay overnight sometime). Kat's brother, Kevin, his wife Shannon, and daughter Skylar were in town for a visit. Skylar was adorable, and very gentle with Mags. Of course, Maggie pretty much just sat there like she always does.

Maggie = 1
Car Safety Harness = 0

As we've reported Maggie's not a huge fan of her car safety harness. I've caught her chewing on it a few times and she has stopped when told. Well, last night coming home from Michigan I thought she was doing some intense grooming when all of a sudden she popped up in the backseat free from her harness. Our little Houdini chewed it in half.

Poor Steve did a lot of research to find the safest harness and now we're back at square one. In the meantime Maggie will be roaming freely around the backseat panting in our ears.

On a positive note we had a great weekend in Michigan with Miss Maggie. On Saturday we were walking thru town when a woman pulled her car over because she wanted to meet Maggie (seriously, things like this happen to us all the time now). It turns out she's a local resident who recently adopted the labradoodle of a friend who passed. We exchanged doodle stories and then she told us about a dog park located within a county preserve in Michigan City. Guess where we went the next day?

So Sunday morning we went to check out the dog park. It's a big, beautiful dog park located within a 112 acre county forest preserve. As usual, we arrived and everyone ran up to meet Maggie (dogs and owners). There was a Beagle that she tried to play with right away, but he denied Maggie and she was a bit discouraged. We kept walking around because we could tell she really wanted to play, but just couldn't find the right dog (all the others were too small, too big, etc). Mags finally gave up and decided she didn't need anyone else to play and just started running wildly around in a circle weaving in and out of other dogs and owners. The whole crowd - owners AND dogs - just stopped and watched. Finally a puppy, Gill, decided to join in and they had a great time running and playing. Nothing makes us happier than seeing her let go of her past and have fun!

We've often joked about Maggie's "prance" of a walk and get comments from people about it all the time. At the park a little girl pointed to Mags and said to her mom, "Look! She walks like a show dog!!" It's like some Rags-To-Riches story - - Ha! Ha!

The park charges a small fee based on the honor system - - it was the best $3 we've spent and we look forward to returning soon.

Post-park Maggie got a very thorough brushing because I'm crazy worried about fleas and ticks. She's had her Frontline Plus treatment, but I'm still worried.

Saturday Steve and I celebrated our five year wedding anniversary. We enjoyed a lovely meal at a small Inn near our place in Michigan and spent the entire time talking about our favorite topic - - Maggie!