I Have Stolen Lance

Well, Rocco is at the vet's office for the day. He's had pretty bad diarrhea since his operation and last night he peed in his kennel. With all the other accidents, he's never really peed in his kennel. So I was shocked when I pulled him out this morning. Then while he was doing his morning business he peed (like in a stream) 8 times. I know some dogs have trouble with their relieving after being fixed, but that just isn't normal or good. So he went off to the vet this morning. I'm pretty worried about him, but what has the unexpected day vet visit given me the opportunity to do? Steal Lance of course! So, I picked up Lance from Mary's work as I came back down from the clinic so she doesn't have to have both Colorado and Lance in there with her today and I'll drop him off on my way to pick Rocco up.

Lance is just the cutest thing you'll ever see! And he's a pretty good boy too. He did get a leaf that had been trekked into my car, but he's a baby so that's to be expected. He is right now checking out the area and walking all around the bed a sniffing. I got to pull out the puppy toys too! He just loves him his toys. He's just adorable. Pictures to come tonight.

Bridal Shower

Rocco and I just got back from Katlynn's bridal shower. She asked for recipes and ingredients that won't spoil. I gave her a few recipes including the one for my homemade peanut butter dog treats. But I didn't want to just give her flour and a whisk. I did almost get, and she might kill me if she reads this post, I almost got her some really sexy lingerie. It looked like a maid's outfit...but I decided against it as I was pretty sure that would embarrass her. So I didn't get her a gift because I figure when I'm in Scotland I'll get her something really nice for her (like shoes or something) and a nice practical house gift. She's worth the shipping. Anyway, me being the person who never takes pictures *wink* *wink* I forgot my camera, so I didn't get any pictures. But the dogs did great and we all had a great time. I'm going to miss Katlynn...it seems like both of us are just starting off on our adventures. Hmm...it's time to think.

~I'd just like to say that I spelled lingerie correctly the FIRST time. That's pretty amazing.

Rosie

Do you guys remember a while ago to my first name game. That's when we were getting a labradoodle puppy right around this time. Well, my parents decided to wait for a smaller puppy and I went to go see her today. As the post suggests her name is Rosie. I couldn't talk them out of the name into a more unique name. It's cute and all, but I probably wouldn't have named her that. So, I'm calling her PrimRose. I think that sounds unique and pretty. And she's so prim and proper.

She is such a mellow puppy! She fell asleep in my hands and just allowed me to hold her. I mean she was sooooo mellow. This is a good thing because my step mom is probably going to hold her in her lap all day while she works. :)

She's also really tiny. She's so small compared to her bothers. I don't know if you can tell in these pictures but she really is TINY!

Oh and here's a picture of her Mama, Brandy.

I got so excited today. While I was out shopping for some kitchen supplies for college I came across the dog aisle in the store. So, I bought two toy's for PrimRose. One is the stuffed giraffe that doesn't squeak, but it honks. What's really funny about it is that it is bigger than she is. :) Another is this cool rope toy that looks like an octopus. I love octopi! So I had to get it! :) It is also bigger than she is. It's been so long since I've been able to buy toys for a puppy without checking to see if it was approved first. Rosie comes home on the 12th of September.

Off House Arrest

So Rocco is officially off house arrest today. To celebrate this we are going to take his normal 2 mile walk which he has not gotten to do in days. Because of this it's been a little harder to keep him busy while having to stay put in the house except for short, easy outings. But no more! The boy shall be walked today! I think he's pretty excited about only getting out of the house for an hour or two. This boy really loves going places so I'm really glad that he gets to work now. I think it was killing him only to go to maybe one place a day. He's used to 3 to 6 long outings. I am very happy about this, because it'll make him happy.

On the side note of the surgery, he's healing really quickly. No whining or anything. You can tell he's a little hyper because of not getting to move for days, but he's also very willing to sleep. But he's acting like himself and is really just being a good boy. No popped stitches and no infections! WOOT!

No More Puppies...

OK, not no more puppies forever or anything like that. I don't think I could live without a puppy.

No, you see, I got this email yesterday from Belle's breeder custodians. I really like Ken and Nancy. They're just wonderful people. I mean, I got a CD of pictures of Belle's "F" litter. A lot of the great little puppy pictures of Freya I have are from that CD. And when the "E" litter was born I expressed the want to have who would later become Epic. It might have totally worked out too if I kept my receive date the same. But this is only somewhat beside the point. The point is that they recommended me to the puppy raising department to raiser Epic. Of course I didn't end up with another Belle puppy this time, but I got the CD of their first 2 months of life all the same. So you can imagine my sadness when I get an email saying the Belle is going to be retired from the breeding program. So, no more Belle puppies. They had a whole bunch of options and opted to retire Belle right away with, I believe 4 litters. It might be 3, but I'm pretty sure she had one in between her "D" litter and her "F" litter.

So, no more Belle puppies for me. I guess it's a good thing and I am totally excited about it, but Mama Belle is a wonderful dog and I'm sad that her genes sort of stop here. Unless one of the "E" puppies is chosen as a breeder. I don't think any of the black ones are on breeder eval, so I guess that means our hope is in Epic.

I am a little sad because I would have loved to raise another Belle puppies, but it's time. She's almost 7 years old, so she's probably ready to retire.

Snip Snip

So as you know Rocco lost his boys yesterday. Yes, yes, he was snipped. I dropped him off at the vet's office at 7:45 yesterday morning. I don't think the poor boy knew what he was in for, because he was just so happy to see everyone there. While I was there I ran into my old boss at ARF (Animal Rescue of Fresno) and I got to catch up with her. She told me I should go back, but I'm still not sure. I love the animals there and I loved seeing them adopted out, but I'm not sure if I'll go back and volunteer. Anyway, I spent the day worrying about how he was doing and then I got a call from Mary. She told me Allyson (Rockford's raisers are vets and they do the neutering for us) had been to visit him and he was doing just fine. I was so relieved to hear he was moving and doing fine. I was sure that Dr. K would do a great job, but still...he's my baby boy you know. Anyway when I picked him up he wouldn't speak to me. He just laid in the car and he didn't respond to his name or anything. Finally he looked at me once when I called his name and he gave me this look that could freeze hell (excuse the language but that's really what it looked like). I think he's over it now, but he wasn't too happy with me yesterday.

The Cone of Shame.
I do not like the cone of shame.
He's favouring the fleece toy right now. And he's doing great with it so I'm letting him have it because I want him to be comfy.
Do you see his shave mark?

He has a little time out of the E-collar. He won't go potty or eat with it on so I figure that I'd let him have it off while I was watching him.

Since I'm paranoid, Rocco is basically on house arrest until our optional meeting this Thursday. He's not happy about it, but I'd rather not have to spend the rest of our time together when he has an infection or something like that.

"Every guy eventually looses his balls." ~Marley & Me

Camping: Part 2 (Pictures)

OK! Pictures are here! They aren't in any real order, but there are a lot of them. Just bear with me. :) First some pictures of the campsite.

This was our itty bity, two person tent. Yes, we fit two people and two dogs in this little tent.
A really pretty view of the river we were camped by.

Another pretty picture. You can't really tell but right before we got there there was a lightening fire and since there was a controlled burn due anyway they decided to monitor the burn, but still let it burn. My asthma went crazy.

And now I believe it is time for some pictures of Arwen. Arwen was a little crazy the first night. She didn't really like sleeping in the tent. She wasn't used to having people walk through her bedroom in the middle of the night. She calmed down quite a bit, but then my mom left to yell at some teenagers who were talking at the top of their lungs by our campsite. My mom can be...annoyed when her sleep is disturbed. So after she got up Arwen was up and wouldn't settle. But the second night Arwen did so well. She slept at my mom's feet and my head and just slept. We need to take her camping more often because I think she really enjoyed it.

Me and Arwen the second day. I don't look that bad even though I'm all dirty and oily. :)
I like this picture of me better. The last one was better of Arwen.

While she got used to the campsite she was on a tie down. She did not appreciate being treated like one of those puppies.

I think Arwen really enjoyed herself.
She's such a pretty girl.
Look! She's got on happy ears and everything. I was worried that she would be too nervous to have fun, but she loved every minute (minus the first night in the tent) of it.
I think Arwen is the most gorgeous Golden ever! But I'm a little bias.
OK, so this one wins for my favourite picture of Arwen...EVER. It's hilarious. Can you see her wonky face?

Arwen liked playing in the River.
Look how happy she is.
See? So happy. At one point she went over to the river and laid down in the water. It was so cute!
Here's Arwen on the way back. I decided that I couldn't have Rocco at my feet again because he kept popping up and down like a jack-in-the-box. So we smushed both dogs in the back.

I think Arwen is so cute.

And now some of Rocco and me and Arwen probably.

Why is Rocco always licking me?
This is my profile picture now on facebook.
I like this picture of us.
There are a lot of pictures like this.
Another one. It took a while to get a good one.
Rocco, Arwen, and me in front of a little stream we found.
Another one. I don't know why I have so many of the same picture.

My two babies.
I don't think Rocco is too happy about all these pictures.
Them in the river.

They really liked the river.I didn't let them go out too far because the current was pretty strong.

But they found a way to have fun.

I love this picture. Rocco still tries to get under Arwen.

My good puppies!
They really liked this camping thing.
I love how Rocco looks so dejected.

Rocco played with his Jollyball all weekend.
It's like we never left home.

I like this picture of his paw.

Aww...

I let Rocco have a bit of freedom while camping. He loved being able to sniff everything.
He loved the river and loved being able to get in and out on his own.

The most interesting thing about the river. Not the fact that he got to swim but that he could drink this water too! I swear he was really excited about that.
Can you see how sandy and wet he is? Oh they were sooooo dirty when I got them home.
Does he look tired to anyone else?

I really like this picture of him. I think it's my favourite.

Or this one is my favourite. I can't decide.
My pretty boy in the small tent.

He's so cute!
OK, maybe this one is my favourite.

I just can't get over how handsome he is.

So cute!

I love how he gets his serious face on when the puppy jacket is on.

He really loved this water.

He loved the freedom of the flexi leash.
He was so far ahead the entire time.

I think that Rocco really enjoyed his vacation away from Guide Trianing. We still did a little work with dog distraction and obedience training, but not that much. I think camping is a wonderful thing for the guide dog puppies. It works so much with not picking up stuff off the ground. He did get a few things, but not much. Dirt in a dog's mouth is just a part of camping I suppose. But his poop looks great which is a great relief! Now he's off at the vet's office getting snipped. Poor boy. He also didn't throw up this morning which is also a great relief because he didn't have breakfast today! YAY!