Today, I took BHRR’s Ava Marie with me for a short training and social session in Stittesville when I met up with a couple of friends. Poor Ava Marie, she was a little bit unsure and nervous at first of the 5 month old Great Dane puppy there! Yet, once she realised that she would not be hurt(she worries about her knees), all was great. Ava Marie was wonderful in providing the right level of correction to the Great Dane puppy when she felt that boundaries were being crossed. SO proud of you Ava Marie. She just loved every person and dog she met and while the walk was not a large one by any means; it helped her immensely with the losing of some more weight and building up more stength and muscle(you can really see how much she has built up on her thighs and ribs) in those legs plus body. After our short walk, we hung out on the grass for a bit and Ava Marie just loved watching all the action her, basking in the sun, being loved on and while her body was tired and could not do more, her brain and mind were sharp and you could tell she so wanted to do more. Yet, baby steps and to think that when she first arrived, she could barely move. The loss of so much weight, adding of muscle and what other rehab I can do with her with massage etc. has been making a HUGE difference in her quality of life. She was so ladylike around the mud puddles we encountered and she proved herself worthy of total freedom being given with how great her recall and obedience was to me. She is very bonded to me and no way was she going to let me leave without her! LOL Her leash manners are getting there. She is still all puppy herself and can ‘forget’ herself but she listens to the ‘wait’ command both on and off her leash and she is only going to get better and better the more that I can do with her. She is a DREAM indeed. One of my friends took some of the best pictures EVER and I am hoping she might share some  😉 for me to post of BHRR’s Ava Marie and possibly use one or two to create an AVA MARIE CAFEPRESS section in our BHRR Cafe store; so that any additional funds that come in can be donated to her ‘Ava’s Action Assistance’ Fundraiser cause. So many people could not believe how mellow, relaxed, calm and genteel she was! She makes me so proud of her!!!! She slept on the way home and I can tell she has dropped more weight for each time she gets into my back seat, more and more of her fits better on my seat! I cannot wait to get that new weight and if all goes well, we are getting closer and closer to her first cruciate repair surgery to be scheduled in May. GO AVA MARIE GO! I also noted that when we were out, she had a clear preference of being called ‘AVA MARIE’ and not ‘Ava’ at all! LOL I think she likes her revised name…just a wee bit after witnessing that!