Chicago Film Festival

Oops, I better stop neglecting my blog! Well. Better late than never. A couple weeks ago I accompanied my human to the Chicago International Film Festival. Both the festival staff and AMC employees were so nice to us and helped out my human a whole bunch without fussing over me. We appreciate that because I am to be ignored while I'm working unless given permission to say hi. I had a wonderful time despite being very tired. There was so much going on that week and being an assistance dog is mentally exhausting even when you're just laying around.

I took an opportunity to practice my poses. Someday I'll be famous and I need to be on top of my game when the photographers surround me.

I saw Cheap Thrills!

And Contracted!

The directors of those two films are super cool. Although I did not get to meet them at the festival (Eric England was there but we didn't bother him) I was able to briefly say hello to them online afterwards and that made me happy.

I did meet Ti West after the screening of his film, The Sacrament. He was very nice and told me something special. I hope I get to see him again sometime. I am his biggest dog fan!

My human was so proud of me for not jumping on anyone in greeting, except the guy at the ticket counter but that doesn't count - The counter was high!

I love my WetNoz toy from @PetmateProducts

I love to chew. I only get to have certain toys because if it is easy for me to chew pieces off I destroy them in minutes and eat them! That means no stuffies, ropes, soft plastic, or fabrics go into my toy bin for unsupervised play.
My toy bin is 75% balls with a few other really durable chews. It's always nice when I find a new toy that can withstand my teeth.
I was recently sent a cool new toy from Petmate from their WetNoz line. It's a hard silicone duck called QUAX and I was so excited when I opened the package. I needed to play with it right away!

The great thing about the WetNoz toy is that it has a fun shape without small pieces that can easily be chewed off. It's also textured, and my human can put treats inside the slots of the QUAX body so I can dig them out. I'm not sure if this is meant to be a treat holder but it works really well for small or flat treats like jerky.

After a few plays I did manage to chew the beak off, so I now have a beakless duck and it looks pretty silly but I don't care! The rest of the toy is still intact with a long life ahead of it. This one has happily found it's way into my toy bin for anytime play! I highly recommend the WetNoz toys for other moderate chewers or teething puppies. There are three designs - a duck, fish, and worm. I have not tried the other two designs but I'm sure they are just as great.

Thanks to Petmate for the fun WetNoz toy!

Montrose Dog Beach

A lot of Chicago's dog parks are hardly parks at all. The two closest to us are tiny concrete runs and it's silly to even call them dog parks. I suppose it is nice that they even exist, but a dog like me needs more. When a few dogs are playing in these "parks" the already limited space becomes congested. My human doesn't like areas that are too crowded with off leash dogs, and I don't either. Since I don't have a yard, finding a nice space to run and play is important, so I get most of my exercise at the beach. We try to avoid weekends in the summer since those are very busy times and some of the visiting dogs are not so nice. Midday trips are good and we can always find our own corner away from most of the action. We also go in the evenings if the day is too hot.

Have I mentioned I LOVE to swim? Lake Michigan is a dog's paradise. I would swim all day if only my human would let me.

We spend a good two hours at the beach every other day or so (as long as the weather cooperates) so that satisfies my urge to run. I also enjoy hunting for abandoned toys. I have tripled my tennis ball collection, and sometimes there is something really cool to be found. This lonely Cuz was so glad I rescued it!

Now that the season is changing the human part of the beach will be empty, so I like to run on that space too. It's easier to play and explore without having another pesky dog on my tail. I'm a nice pup but mostly I just want to play with my ball.

I am a Service Dog.

It was destined to be my job from the minute I came home. I got lucky. My human had another dog before me that didn't work out. Not all dogs have what it takes to be service dogs. In fact, most don't. A lot of people don't realize that we go through very intense training for a very long time. We have to be extremely well behaved in a lot of distracting and sometimes scary public places. I have been training in public for 7 months, although for the first two months or so I didn't go out much because of the weather. Those were some difficult times. I was learning what was expected of me and had trouble with noises and new things.
We made it through the first year and now I am proud to say I'm getting really good at my job! I still have more training ahead but hopefully things will just get easier. I cannot wait to experience life as a working dog, partnered with my favorite human teammate.

The Beginning

I am LY's Sweet Sundance "Sun". I was born on August 9 2012 in rural Indiana. Nine weeks later I was on my way to Chicago. I'm starting this blog to share photos and document my life, and to dispel the myth that all border collies require big homes and big yards, neither of which I have. I live in a small studio apartment with my human partner in the city. We have no yard at all, just a small space in the back where I can potty late at night or during bad weather.
The one thing that my breed does need is time. I adore interaction with my human and prefer having a job to do over playing with other dogs at the park. I get bored easily. I would hate to be sent out into a backyard alone. Some of my favorite things are swimming in the lake, herding bunnies, playing tug, learning tricks, and my all time favorite thing... BALLS!
I have been learning freestyle dancing along with my obedience training. I'm also now old enough to start agility and I can't wait for that. Someday I also want to try dock diving.

That's me on the left!