Happy Birthday!!!

I totally forgot to post this on the day because my brother came in for his visit and then other posts have been piling up so I haven't gotten around to it. But still, I feel like a horrible dog owner.  

Arwen, Hilly, and Rosie. Arwen is such a good sport.



Arwen in her Santa hat.

 

Arwen in front of the tree in our backyard.

A closeup of Arwen's wonky nose.

On January 2, 2012 my gorgeous golden girl turned 10!!!! I love her very, very much and couldn't imagine my life without her. We bred our golden Brandy and Arwen was puppy number 5 born. When we would have people over to look at the puppies we would have to shove Arwen in the back room so that no one would want her. Haha! She really is my absolute heart dog and, while my parents say she doesn't seem like she misses me when I go, I do think I see a difference in her when I get back for vacations. She was basically my dog from the time she was a year and a half and if I could she would be here with me right now. I love this girl!

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays from all of us here! In our house, we celebrate Christmas. But we all wish you a happy Channukah, Kwaanza, and Solstice!



Rosie, Hilly, and Arwen. Rosie and Hilly are wearing jingle bell collars and Arwen is wearing a Santa hat.

Rosie, Arwen, and Hilly outside. Hilly and Rosie are wearing their jingle bells and Arwen is wearing her hat.

Little Late

I know I've been terrible about getting onto the computer and writing something, but the past few days have been filled with appointments. So, this is my Wordless Wednesday from yesterday. I missed these girls. I promise to get on and give you an update on what's been going on.

Arwen and Hilly curled up on the sofa.

Three More Weeks

I had a Skype conversation with my parents this evening. When I said hello all three dogs went nuts. I saw them on camera bouncing and barking. They started looking around the house trying to find me. Hilly kept wandering in and out of the room. It looked like she was saying, "I hear her in here, so why can't I find her?" A couple of times she jumped up on my dad and looked really confused. Then she would give him a couple of kisses as if to say, "Where is she?"

I have to tell, I felt a little loved to see all my dogs get excited just to hear my voice. I can't wait to see them again in three weeks.

November 9: Letter from Arwen

Hey Bloggers,

I haven't written much as of late because things have been relatively quiet. The boy Rocco was a lot quicker to learn that I was the head four-legged in the house than Miss Freya was so I have had very little need to complain. But I would like to tell you of the injustice that has recently been brought upon my life.

First off, my girl has gone away for school. This has never happened before. I mean, sure, she would go away during the day for school but sure enough everyday she would come home and give me a big hug. It's been almost 2 months now and she hasn't come home from school. What is this? A conspiracy towards all dogs to be taken away from their people? I just don't understand it. My boy went away too for a while, but at least I had my girl. Now I don't have either one of them and I'm stuck with the old people. Don't they realize that I'm not a senior just yet? I'm a young 8-year-old for goodness sake! Dad tells me that my girl is away at "COL-LEGE". I've hear about this "COL-LEGE." It's suppose to be a lot of fun. I like to have fun! Why didn't she take me? I'm the life of the party at any social gathering. What's worse is that the boy is gone too which means she must have taken him.

Now if that weren't fair enough the old people have brought a new puppy into the house. It's this itty, bitty, furry thing that they call "Rosie." That little pipsqueak shouldn't even qualify as a dog. And she barks at birds. Probably because they could fly her away to their nests if they had any interest in her. But I'm sure they realize that then they would be stuck with the barking. And you know what the worst part of this is? I don't even get a break from this one. Sure I was jealous some time when Dad and Erin would take Freya and Rocco places that I couldn't, but at least I got a break from the fur ball of energy. And, at the end of the day, I was the one sleeping on the bed and they were the one sleeping on the floor. So I knew who was most important in the household. But I'm with this one all day and all night and my girl is probably off at COL-LEGE with Rocco and now he's getting to sleep on her bed.

They say I'm a grumpy old woman now. Is there any wonder as to WHY?

Golden Kisses,
Arwen

November 7: Nothing to do with GDB

So, I recently had a conversation with my father about how Arwen is getting on without me. He said that she was depressed for about two weeks and now she's over it and is just a grumpy old woman. I'm not too sure how much I believe that. Now here's why;

For those of you who have ever owned a Golden Retriever you know that they get particularly attached to one person. I am Arwen's person. There's no getting around it. She loves everyone, but at the end of the day I'm definitely her person. I know my family would disagree to this but that's just because they're jealous that the pretty girl chose me. I mean, I've been walking, feeding, watering, bathing, and everything else her since she was 2. She is know 8. She's been sleeping with me since she was 8 weeks old (Arwen was by far the easiest puppy we've ever house trained). so for basically 8 years we've been inseparable until this point. She was never what I would call a "grumpy" dog even with the PITs. But she is now. I only assume that this is because her girl is gone and she just doesn't care anymore. I'm sure my dad and step-mom are talking her for a walk everyday, but she's a fast walker, much like myself, and to be truely exercised she needs to be walked at that pace. I don't know.

What are your feelings on this? Do you think she just misses me and is grumpy because I'm gone or am I being to conceited?

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!