How smart is this girl?

We've had an exciting weekend, with a fun training outing every day. I love having Nettie's jacket!

The funniest moment was in Nettie's first trip to the mall. We were doing great and she was trotting around like she'd been coming there all her life. We were walking past Express, and suddenly she shied to the side.

At first I couldn't figure out what had startled her. Then it hit me.

Headless mannequins. My puppy is smart enough to know that "people" should have heads, after all. And you know, the more I looked, they started to creep me out too. :-)

The good news is that Nettie is quite resilient. After her initial startle, she wanted to go investigate further (by wanting to jump on the glass.) We settled for doing a sit-stay and checking it out, and then she willingly walked by again.

The other funny incident was that we were providing the entertainment for a dad and his two kids, probably junior high age. I could see they were watching me work her, but I didn't really pay them much attention. Then I looked up after I'd moved to another area and they'd followed us to watch! They weren't interfering at all -- they were quite respectful and stayed back -- but it was still funny.

On Saturday, Nettie came with the whole family to the Gorham Days Parade. What didn't bother her: a huge rig blasting its air horn as it passed us, about 20 feet away; the Gorham fire trucks, with sirens and lights; the local dance school dancing by; a Model T's Kazoo-like horn; or the delegation of 3- to 5-year-olds from Andrew's preschool, many of whom were shrieking and waving at Andrew.
What we did have to work on: The black Lab puppy watching the parade a few families down.
(Sidenote: Not that I wasn't ready for dog distraction. I have often said that in Maine, they practically issue you a Lab when you cross the border.)

Sorry, no pictures! I have enough on my hands w/o photo, and Bob did forget the camera at the parade.