Happy Halloween!

It really hasn't been much of a halloween-y day for me. I did put a cute shirt on Irie that said, "Will do tricks for treats", but that only lasted about an hour before she started chewing on it. Otherwise, our halloween party at work took place yesterday and my evening activities have consisted of going to the bar for our typical tuesday night $1 burgers and beers and now I'm sitting on my couch watching Boston Legal with a friend. Well, ok, he's watching Boston Legal and I'm blogging. But, it wasn't a total waste of a holiday - I did get a little pumpkin carving in on Sunday and I did get to enjoy some cute halloween costumes on the kiddies as I went from place to place this evening.

In other news. I made it through my latest trip - this time to Portland. It actually turned out to be a good trip. Both of my presentations went really well, for the first time people seemed to really know my organization, and the best part - I got to reconnect with one of my highschool friends! My buddy, Sarah, who I haven't seen in eight + years currently lives in Portland and as luck would have it she emailed me a month or so and I just happened to have a trip planned out there. We got to spend a great night catching up on each other's lives and taking in some of Portland's great finds. I have to say "Le Happy" for crepes was definitely among my favorite. I mean, "Le Happy", c'mon!

Irie did just fine on my extended time away. I ended up boarding her instead of leaving her with a friend as originally planned. I think it was for the best. She's quite a bit to take and I really feel more comfortable leaving her with people that are paid to keep her! I think boarding has been good for her. She used to be much more timid at the dog parks, but now, ever since I've had her in doggy-daycare here and there, she's been much more social.

In other Irie news... training is going really well. She has gotten "sit" and "down" pretty well figured out - though I will admit she does lay down if I don't praise her quick enough for sit. I can not get her to stay yet, but we're working on it. I'm hopeful! I also got her a new harness at obedience class last night. The new harness is pretty awesome. It's a "SENSE-ible" harness that latches in the front - right in the middle of her chest. Apparently it works by offering gentle cues to the dog as to which way I want her to go. It's working beautifully! She's really not pulling on her leash at all and when she rarely does, I just stop and she instantly stops and sits. Pretty cool! And I like that it's not a choke-collar.

Currently, Irie and Maverick are in a rowdy game of King of the Hill. In this game they both start on the top of the bed and they fight it out until one of them gets knocked off the bed onto the floor. The game then continues as they fight to keep control of the top of the bed and keep the other off. Good fun!

I should probably go break it up though before it gets too intense. I know the vet said to let Irie chase Mav to get some pounds off of him, but this just seems a little too much. :-)

Hope everyone's having/had a great halloween!