Coming Home...

After three straight weeks of traveling, I am very happy to be coming home tomorrow....esp given that earlier this evening we were under tornado watch here in Indiana. When I left work at 5 30, it was miserable hot and humid with clouds rolling in. A vicious line of storms came in and we had a light show not like anything I had seen in awhile. Luckily, we were inside at dinner while most of this was going on. I also took a quick trip to Petco and B&N after dinner...have a new toy for each of the kids tomorrow to celebrate mom coming home.

While I was gone the first week, I came back to Ace having 4 adult teeth on the bottom and 2 on the top. Last week, we added 2 more adult teeth on top. Who knows what I will come home to this week. He has officially grown out of having his panel in his crate - and needing his panel in his crate for that matter. He is doing very well with housebreaking, and unless he had an accident my mom hasn't told me about, I think we can officially call him housebroken. We are still not ready for him go all day with no potty break, so his auntie Carol will probably come through the end of August - by then, he should be able to go 8 hrs fairly easily. My parents are up in the hood quite frequently, so that will help as well - but for right now, it is just much easier on the mama to know that the puppies will have a "break" in the middle of the day.

Both dogs are doing well. Chel is becoming a little more agressive in telling Ace to buzz off, and will actually lunge at him while pulling her lips back if he has crossed the line - and believe me, he does cross the line! But she also will pick up a toy she knows he likes and walk at him with it in her mouth...and will then engage him in submissive play. For the most part, Ace is doing well also...the boy is a real little YAK in the morning. Brings new meaning to waking up full of himself...not mention the volume factor involved. In his mind, waking up is an opportunity to bark. Loudly. Excessively. Usually, within 15 minutes of finishing his breakfast, he has had at least 2 timeout cuddles with mom...ie, getting pinned into submission. After that, he is quite happy to chew his bone or lay on the bed. He goes in his crate like a champ, which makes my life a lot easier. Chelsie always HATED her crate, and therefore I always HATED leaving her in it. I don't relish putting Ace in his crate, but it sure is a lot easier knowing he doesn't HATE it.
Both have started class at a new facility called Incredipaws and that is going well. It is hard for Ace because he wants to play with all the puppies! Chelsie has her first 2 day competition since hurting herself this weekend, and I am very excited. Little Space will get to go as well.

In the event anyone cares about the mama (smile - I know you all do) I saw my rheumatologist on Monday...and left him 5 vials of blood, which was swell. I have been MUCH better about taking my medicine, but am still incredibly fatigued. Granted, I have been busy, but this is a different kind of tired. I wear out easily and seem to require naps at a much higher rate than I used to. Clearly, I have new limits that have not yet been defined, but it is very frustrating. The blood tests are simply follow up blood tests to make sure nothing has changed. My elevated antibody counts will be what they were before, but he wanted to make sure there was nothing else involved. My rash is starting to show itself here and there, but nothing to the level it was a year ago at this time. My guess is my bloodwork will come back fine, I will continue to take the medicine and see him again in 6 months. Hopefully, I can figure out what my new limits are, because how I am currently functioning is not sustainable on a long term basis. Yesterday, I came in on a 6 30 AM flight and was asleep by 7PM. Probably won't be doing that in the future!
And now, I leave you all with what you want to see....photos of Ace. You will note Ace's necklace...it is actually his flying disc - which has clearly seen better days. I looked into purchasing a new flying disc for him...the dumb things are $21 at Petsmart. Sorry buddy, you will have to continue to play with your ripped one. Not that you care...you seem to love it no matter what!

Chelsie and Ace's Week

Playing with the kong at his Aunt Carol's house...

So, it seems despite me being gone, my puppies are having a pretty good week. As I correctly predicted, Chelsie is going everywhere with grampie and got an empty peanut butter jar as a treat the other day. She has also had a harassment free week. :) Grampie takes VERY good care of her...I got a call from him on Tuesday night because the bag of food marked "dinner" did not have pills in it and he thought it should. She gets her pills at breakfast. Yep, hard to be a Chel.

As for Ace, well, little Ace. Here is a note I got from Carol, his pet sitter who is watching him. She comes and lets him out every day and he loves her. Here is a recap of the Ace man's day from Carol - note, she took himt to half his puppy class in my absence - she teaches the class we are in at 6 30 and she went early so he could play in his 5 30 puppy class.
FROM CAROL
Morning started at 5:30, out to potty, breakfast and back to bed!!I was hoping for a lazy morning, had been up extra early the past few days.Able to sleep til 8 !!!WOOHOO
Went for a walk, helped me fill the bird feeders.
He does need to get out and socialize more with strange places, dogs, people. Even though he knows me, he is acting insecure. Jumps on me all the time for reassurance. Hackles come up and he barks at noses, horses, different things. He comes around nicely and could be going through a puppy shyness. See if you can invite yourself over to different peoples houses once a week or so, to see different places, people, dogs, whatever. Its a BIG world!!
BUT, he really is doing well, he is trying hard to listen and be good!
Got home this afternoon, another walk and play with the puppy Kong I made him.
Left for WW early, he got to play in his puppy class for 1/2 hour, then I needed to get ready for my class. He did very well in class. He did refuse tunnel twice, Annette said he was doing that. We were doing small combinations. Jump-Tunnel.
We did a front cross after tunnel to jump. Then we did jump, with a pull to chute. Then jump and front cross to chute.
As far as I was concerned, he was the star of the class. He slept in crate for over an hour while I had class, ran Porsche. Then before we left, I got him out to say hi to everyone in the Run Thru class. Home for dinner.
My gelding was right at fence, so I went out to pet him, and Ace would *woof* and run back. He would come up behind me and try to jump on me for support. I kept telling him to get off. He finally came up behind me a was able to sniff horses leg through fence. Then he was got within a foot of his nose. GOOD BOY!!!

He just crashed in crate!!
Have a good time Mom!
Carol, you rock.

                         Playing at Carol's house...obviously, she lives in a more "rural" area than we do.

BAD Blogger....BAD, BAD, BAD!!!

Yeah, I have been a bad blogger. I know. I will turn in my blogging card if my readers wish.

We have been busy...to say the least. As I type this, I am sitting in a hotel room in Virginia - marking the first of three weeks of travel. This week, Chelly Bean is with her grampie and Ace is with his pet sitter Carol because grammie is in Ca. I have had reports on both, both are doing very well. I miss them immensely, but I don't think they miss me!!!
Here are a few pictures, because I know that is what everyone wants to see. More to come later.

Baby Ace @ 15 weeks

Baby Ace @ 16 weeks

Award for Exellence in Writing

WARNING - TISSUES MAY BE NECESSARY

Not by me, but by my 11 year old cousin Jennifer.

As many of you know, my cousin Michelle lost her hubby in the line of duty 5 years ago. Recently, she rode 300+ miles from East Hanover, NJ to Washington DC on the "Police Unity Tour" and raised over $5,000 for care of the memorial in DC that has Mike's name on it. The ride went into DC to mark the begginning of police week 2 weeks ago.

As you can imagine, life has not been the same - the girls were 9 and 7 when they lost Mike. Below is Jenn's award winning essay in the Solano County Reading Association's Annual writing contest.


My mom sat on the couch and cried as she remembered my father. My dad was a good man with a big heart for his family. My family always went to church, dinner, and on vacation together. We were close and loved each other.One New Year's Day when we were camping in our trailer, my sister and I were awakened by my tear-eyed mom saying she needed to tell us some news. I had a feeling something was wrong when my grandparents sat at the table in tears.

I thought my dad must have been in the hospital since my grandparents had made the two hour trip during the night. As we sat on the couch, my mother announced the tragic incident that occurred the night before. She told us that as my dad helped a driver stuck in the mud on Hghway 17, setting out flares and calling CalTrans for backup, a speeding driver crashed into the back of the CalTrans truck. The truck then rolled forward into my father, causing internal organ injuries. She said he lay there until an ambulance came, hoping to rescue him, but unfortunately God had already taken him to Heaven. Later that morning, policie officers came to bring my family and me to our home.

Since that day, I have felt like my time with my dad was cut short. I felt sadness and a piece of my happiness had vanished. My heart knew he was gone and in Heaven , but my mind doubted he was actually gone. Ever since that day I have felt jealous of other peoples' dads but now I know to be happy for others and to realize how special my father still is to me. On the day we went to the funeral home to say goodbye, I remember kissing him and breaking into tears because I wanted him to respond to me when I said good bye.
I learned to lived for the moment because you never know how long you have left. I know now, you need to tell someone you love them when you feel the need and I would tell anyone who lost a parent that it takes time to recover and not to constantly cry. I feel blessed to know my dad is in Heaven with God and I will see him again. Although it was hard to realize it at the time, I know God did this for a purpose and one day I may come to realize why God took my dad from me. Until then, I will wait and treasure my memories.
- Jennifer Walker, April 2010, Age 11

BACK TO AGILITY!

We had a great day Saturday in Cleveland - all of us.

Our first run was our standard run - mom's timing was off on a front cross that caused her to take a turn too tight and drop a bar, but the rest of it was beautiful. She got lots of cheers when she came off the course from all her friends, many of whom told me if you didn't know she had been hurt, you never would have known. I was very, very happy and let her stick her nose in the treat bag so she could inhale them all at once.

We moved on to jumpers, where she got a record setting 8 pts! The course was wheeled very generously - meaning more yards and therefore more time. I just wanted a clean run - the course had some tricky spots - but was thrilled when all the bars stayed up. And then to find out the course time was 47 seconds (our time was 38.45) was the icing on the cake. Again, she got the opportunity to stick her nose in the treat bag and inhale again.
Also, we got to see Ace's sister Ella! She lives in Cleveland and her sister Reggie competed today at the trial. Ace enjoyed over an hour of play time with his sister (broken into 2 sessions), and they just went nuts. This picture below says it all...no question, Ellen, the breeder, had her hands full!!

Moose Baby

Baby Ace on his 3 month birthday, 5/13/10

Baby Ace and his sister on his 3 month birthday on 5/13/10.

                      And one for the ages, to celebrate our return to the agility ring this weekend!!! Ace is going to the trial also, and will see his sister, Ella this weekend, as she lives in Cleveland and will be at the trial. I will be sure to post pitcures.

What puppy?

With the exception of Little Girl (who weighed a mere 15 lbs last week), Ace and his siblings are getting close to the 25 lb mark. They were 12 weeks old on Saturday. Ace has lost his roly poly puppy look and all of sudden has HUGE feet and paws that are way too big for his body. It is definitely the start of the gangly puppy stage.

He is doing pretty well training wise for a 12 week old puppy. Some of his habits are less than desirable - he is a garbage mouth to the n'th degree (tonight's treat was ripping goose poop out of his mouth along the path by the river, which was just "fowl") and when he doesn't get his way, his first instinct is to reach out and chomp whatever is closest - your hand, the couch, my computer bag. Last week, I had Chelsie at Medvet for an eye exam - it was free for all service dogs, and as a TDI dog, she is considered a service dog - and some lady was there with her 6 month old lab because she thought he had swallowed a sock. He had. At our current rate, we will be there for Ace swallowing some sort of foreign object.

Here are some pictures from this weekend. They are not really all that great - but please keep in mind I am usually trying to either take something away from him he shouldn't have or take something out of his mouth. Just as soon as I correct him for one thing...he is off to the next. Oh the joys of a 12 week old puppy.

His sister in hanging in - becoming a little less tolerant and has actually told him to buzz off a time or two!!!