Since it's impossible for me to pick just one Get Pet pup to be the cutest, I thought I'd let everyone else decide with a fun friendly Cutest Puppy Photo Contest!

Post your puppy photos on our Facebook Page or Tweet your cute puppy photos using the hashtag #GetPet and you could win some cool prizes. Plus the winning dog will receive a featured Valentine's Day blog post to tell the world all about why they are so cute and loveable, and their picture will be added to some clothing items that will be available for sale in the Get Pet Shop.


Photos must be posted before Sunday February 5th and voting will take place from February 6th through the 12th. 

Not sure what a cute puppy looks like?  Here are some examples :-)

I'm super excited to announce the newest weekly installment for my blog.  I'm calling it "Tricks and Treats" because you (the humans) can win treats (aka prizes) when the pups perform tricks.  For our first week 13-week-old Metro, a Danish-Swedish Farm dog, is donating the footage from his very first "sit" lesson.

Here's how it works:
1. Watch the video
2. Show some love
3. Be entered in a drawing
4. Tune in next week to see if you won

How do you show some love, you ask? It's easy.  You can either:
- post a comment here on the blog about the video
- post a comment on the Get Pet Facebook page with a link back to this blog
- send a Tweet to @GetPetChicago with a link to this blog
- post a comment or "Like" the video directly on the Get Pet YouTube channel

And you can earn up to one entry for each form of love for a possible total of 4 entries.

Prizes will range from credits to use in the new Get Pet Shop to Gift certificates for awesome Chicago businesses.

Enjoy Metro's video and be sure to show some love before next Wednesday, February 1st for your chance to win.

Thanks to my mom for sending me this video.  I know everyone will enjoy it :-)

Isn't it just so great that the weather is getting nice finally?  Yesterday Sandra, Ryan and I decided to take advantage of it by teaming up for some of our walks so that Amber, Dexter, Meshach and Tobias could have some fun together and some extra time at the park.  

Of course, whenever I'm around it has to turn into a photo shoot, but these models were amazing!

Christmas morning started off quite rough at the Get Pet "chateau" as Rolfe and I began the day with an argument about whether or not he needed to get off the bed.  This meant that a training session was mandatory before anything else could happen, but that completely connected with Rolfe and he made huge progress today!
 
1. He ate both of his meals in full - that's a first in the week he's been with me.
2. He stopped trying to eat Dr. Seuss and actually cuddled up with him on my bed for a nap.
3. He successfully stayed on his bed (with Gatsby at his side) for 30 minutes without trying to break and eventually fell asleep curled up next to Gatsby.
4. He finally let loose a little and played chase with Gatsby, Tugboat and Chainsaw at the dog park.

He still has a lot of work to do, but I'm super proud of this affectionate little man.  Enjoy the pictures and video from our crazy fun Christmas day!

And REMEMBER THAT ROLFE IS AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION!  Visit http://www.great-lakes-weimaraner-rescue.com/application-requests.htm to get your application process started

For Christmas I created a Get Pet email address for each of my nephews: Blake (10), Dylan (8) and Caden (4).  To tell them about it, Gatsby and Dr. Seuss insisted on creating an instructional video.  Due to popular demand (from my mother), I'm sharing the video for all of you to enjoy.  I hope it makes you laugh or at least puts a smile on your face :-)

Rolfe has officially survived more than 24 hours in our crazy household.  When I left this morning to go walk dogs, he barked in disagreement, but when I came home he was quietly napping.

Although he doesn't seem to be overly interested in playing with Gatsby yet, the two of them are definitely getting along well.  I just need to teach him that Dr. Seuss is not tasty :-(  Thank goodness Dr Seuss is such a chill understanding kitty; I'm sure that Rolfe will figure that out soon enough.

Since it snowed today (again), I decided to put Rolfe on the 30-foot lead and let him run "free" at the park with Gatsby.  Rolfe seemed apprehensive about it all, but he did just arrive so I wouldn't expect much more from him.

On our way home from the park we met a bulldog named Lenny who was vicious to poor Gatsby but seemed to love Rolfe.  Right now Gatsby is napping in my bed and Rolfe is curled up on the very edge of his bed.  I caught him yawning (the picture above)...too cute!

Don't forget to visit www.GreatLakesWeimRescue.com to learn more about how to adopt Rolfe or another Weimaraner who needs a forever home.

Hugo decided to join Gatsby, Meshach Rolfe and me for the afternoon, and there's nothing quite like seeing four large dogs completely passed out after an hour at the park.  Whoever said that large dogs are not suited for apartment living clearly never exercised his or her dogs...all the large breeds I know LOVE to nap.

Two separate pictures because Rolfe chose to snuggle up under my desk at my feet while I did some work while the "grown ups" took all the beds.

Our first foster, Rolfe, from Great Lakes Weimaraner Rescue just arrived at the Get Pet "chateau".  Rolfe is a 13-month-old mouse-grey male, and I can already tell he's got a super sweet disposition.  He seems to be a quick learner; Gatsby should have an easy job teaching him the ropes. I'm sure he's going to fit into the family perfectly while he's here, but the goal is to find him a forever home.

Meshach was staying with Gatsby, Dr. Seuss and me this weekend, so it's kind of Weimaraner central right now at the house, but everyone got along splendidly right out of the gate.  As I type this, Gatsby and Meshach are napping and Rolfe is sitting attentively next to me.

We are dedicated to helping Rolfe prepare for his forever family, and I encourage you to keep checking in to see how he's progressing - I will do my best to provide regular updates and photos as Rolfe learns all about being a dog in Chicago.

Also, if you or someone you know, have always wished Gatsby could be your dog, Rolfe is your chance to have the next best thing :-), Be sure to check out the GLWR website at www.greatlakesweimrescue.com to learn more about how they are helping Weimaraners and for information about adopting a Weimaraner. 

So, this post has nothing to do with dog training, but it does have pictures of many of my dog walking clients so I thought I'd share it in the blog.

i recently received a letter in the mail from my 8-year-old nephew, Dylan, who lives in Pennsylvania.  Enclosed in the envelope with the letter was a paper doll named Flat Stanley who came to visit me and learn more about Chicago.

I figured that while I had an extra "hand" from Flat Stanley, I should put him to work.  Here is a picture show of some of what we did and how he helped me take care of some of Get Pet's clients :-)

To read the letter I received with Flat Stanley, Click "Read More".