Nova

Please note that Nova’s success has been due in large part to the excellent advice and assistance of the staff at our

vet clinic – Forest Grove. And a huge shout out must also go to Diane Mapes of D&S Dogs of Course. We had worked some agility with dogs in the past, so when

Nova was diagnosed as ‘reactive’ I got in touch with Diane. She has made it possible for Nova to participate in classes with other reactive dogs, where we work

at a distance and has also welcomed Nova at Rally-O drop-in classes where reactive dogs stay in their kennel until it is their turn to work, but still get some

experience having other dogs and people around. Nova also attended a reactive dog class at Crazy Tails that was most helpful. Nova is our 6th dog, but we had

never been faced with reactive behaviour and were struggling. New Hope also provided some ‘hot tips’ early on. So, with all of these folks from the dog community

lending a hand and giving us tools to work with, Nova has come a long, long way!

On each birthday (August 31st), I make Nova a cake. This year’s offering was a base of hamburger/rice with some plain rice for ‘icing’. Little carrot sticks for her name with the

‘O’ in Nova being a cut out from a cheese slice. A couple of pieces of lettuce as decoration and the 5 cut from a double layer of cheese slice, so it wouldn’t be

too limp to handle. Who’s a happy birthday dog?