Off to University

This is the last post I'll be writing from my room for a while. Tomorrow morning, I am off to Halifax, Nova Scotia (almost halfway across the country!!) to start my career as a university student. I will be studying english and journalism at Dalhousie University.

My foster puppy plans are up in the air for now- of course I will continue to track Fielder's progress and see where he ends up. I'll also be getting him back at Christmas for our school's Home for Christmas program, providing he is still in training at the time. (PLEASE still be in training Fielder!!) As for foster puppy number three.... that depends a lot on if I move out of res second year, since they don't allow animals in residence. If the foundation and the university lets me, perhaps I will take a puppy with me to school. If not, I could start one when I get back in April and then in September, transfer him/her to either Amy G or Sam.

As for this blog, I'm definitely keeping it. I find that I like writing here more than journalling, so I'll be documenting my university life here in addition to all the puppy stuff. Hopefully you'll stick around and won't find it too boring-the first few weeks will probably be wailing away about homesickness since I won't be home for about four months.

Anyways, I'm pretty excited but I think in all honesty, more of me is kind of terrified of leaving home for so long, and not knowing anyone over there. Sometimes I wish I'd chosen a closer university so that I could still be away from home but be able to come back on weekends if I wanted to. But in the words of my favourite song ever, "Too late for second chances/Too late to go back to sleep/ It's time to trust my instincts/Close my eyes....and leap/It's time to try defying gravity"

Thank you all so much for joining me throughout my puppy raising adventures...I hope you'll all keep reading or stay in touch....sooner or later I WILL have my own puppy again :)

And if I'm flying solo
At least I'm flying free
To those who ground me
Take a message back from me...

Tell them how I'm defying gravity
I'm flying high defying gravity
And nobody in all of Oz
No wizard that there is or was
Is ever gonna bring meeeeee downnnnnnn

Not that I expect a wizard from Oz to bring me down, but I love Wicked too much to not quote from it at some point in my blog. Anyways, peace out homies, and see ya in a few days- next time I write to you I will be in my new home in Nova Scotia!!!

My Life, It Is Complete

Puppies + the Twilight Series = MY LIFE

Warning- This is a Post of Epic Proportions!!

Puppyless- and it SUCKS!! Minus the odd vacation or long day away, I haven't been puppyless for about a year and a half. Compared to other puppy raisers, that probably seems like nothing but it is a big change to not have anyone to snuggle with, take out with me, let out every few hours, or play with. Slightly depressed.

But for some good news, FIELDER PASSED HIS MEDICALS!!!!! This makes me very very happy and relieved, and now my fingers are crossed that he does well in the kennels and that he takes to the training.

This is the last post concerning my having a puppy until at least December, so I'm going to make it a long one! (Hopefully. Perhaps I shouldn't announce that before I even write the post.)

On Wednesday, we headed to my mom's co-worker's house to return Shammy. She was very interested in Emmett as was her 4 year old son. He was a very good boy and sat very still while being petted by little Luca. Then we headed to Dee's where not only we got to meet up with Dee and West, but also Sam, Dallas, Wylie, Juneau, Missy and Quizz!!!!!!

West Wylie

Emmett was so funny, he kept being beat up by West and Wylie! I have declared Wylie my little ninja goddaughter. Ninja is a good word to describe her I think, as she loves to launch herself in the air, paws up and screaming away. One time she landed on Emmett, raced around him, stole a chunk of his fur and ate it! Emmett did not appreciate being beat up by little snot nosed brats and so he exacted revenge on West by waiting til he was taking a sip from the water bucket and then putting his paw on West's head and tried to dunk him in. Oh, sneaky little poodles.

Also on Thursday, I had finally grown my hair long enough (or so I thought-it turned out shorter than I wanted), so following in the footsteps of Thing Two of This Full House and of course, Sam, I cut off ten inches to donate to an organization that makes wigs for children out of these donations, Angel Hair for Kids. Honestly, if I was a mail...person...worker.. and I opened up an envelope with that inside? I would be freaked out. Just a tad. But anyways,back to cute puppies:Then on Friday, we headed up to Amy G's since Amy B's Cottage Puppyfest '07 was on Saturday, and I didn't want to wake up early to bus and train it to Oshawa. Turns out thanks to our TV watching addiction, and needing to leave earlier than expected, we only had about 3 hours of sleep on Friday night ( Saturday morning???) anyways. Back to Friday morning- Emmett and I somehow ended up getting to Union station almost a full hour ahead of schedule.So I settled in with my McDonalds hash brown, juice and People magazine (not that I buy/read trashy mags on a regular basis, but I was desperate and usually People isn't as bad as the rest. Except this issue, Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens were on the cover talking about their "relationship" and, ugh, High School Musical 2, POKE MY EYES OUT WITH A HOT SPORK PLEASE. I fail to see the greatness in this production. And for the record, Zac Efron aka Jesse McCartney incarnate, is not hot. NOT HOT AT ALL).

Emmett watching the train pull in. The angle is weird which is why it looks like the train is headed straight for him. But rest assured, it is most definitely not.

Amy and I whiled away the hours with dog walking, playing ball (with the dogs), watching tv and going out to the movies and watching Superbad. Quick note here: The first time I saw an ad for Superbad was way back when I was in California and I thought it was the stupidest thing I'd ever seen and promised myself I wouldn't watch it. Thanks to the power of advertising and marketing, and my brain melting into mush during the summer,I decided I did indeed want to see it, and so Amy and I went off with Zoom and Emmett. It was actually so superbad it was good, and very hilarious. Chicka chicka yeahhhhhhhh. (That's my new phrase from the movie) Definitely not a movie for everyone though. Anyways, the funniest part came after the movies. Amy and I were sitting outside waiting for her mom to pick us up when this conversation actually happened:

Random girl: Excuse me, is he (he being Emmett) a dog? Me: *shocked into silence/trading incredulous look with Amy* Amy: Um....yes?! Random Girl: Oh okay. I couldn't figure out if he was a dog or a lamb.

Yes, because I'm so sure I would BRING A LAMB TO THE MOVIES!!!!! Silly girl.

Anyways, we spent the rest of the night talking, watching tv and having random hilarious talks with her brothers. When we finally went to bed at four, I fell asleep right away curled up with my favourite PoleyWoley (umm aka Polaris)

Hmmmm let's see... which one of these don't belong? The correct answer would be POLARIS because he isn't sitting up like the rest of them. Get up lazybum!Zoom: Pfft. You guys are so immature. Bunny ears? ARE NOT ENTERTAINING. I'm fifteen months for god's sake. I'm not even going to acknowledge you silly humans anymore. But Nat, I do love you cause you're so cool. Cuddling with Poles. On the bed. Because he's a pet now. Unlike those darn foster puppies that have to loll about on the ground. Yeah. Me and Poles- we're cool.

We woke up three hours later and then headed off to Amy's. Unfortunately, everyone in the household was asleep. We decided to go ahead and let the dogs play in the backyard which is how we discovered the back door was unlocked. So we let ourselves in, crept into Amy's room and found her asleep in the bed. Well that wouldn't do so I threw Polaris on her which woke her up real quick.

Then we finallly headed up to the cottage. For once I called shotgun first and Amy G was stuck riding in the back with the fifty million dogs. Which was only fair because approximately all of them were hers. I somehow lost my shoes on the way there but found them after a while of walking around on the rocky driveway. While waiting for everyone else to arrive, we were bored and started a little photoshoot.

Amy's sick bruised toe!!!!!!!!!!

Then people started arriving in droves and there were eighteen puppies (I think) in all. The best part was the four baby 8 wk olds, all from the same litter- Abbott, Ariel, Aspen and Addison.

After several hours playing with the dogs, having a nice bbq, and catching up on each other's lives, it was time to go home. I think Quizz sums up how we were all feeling by the end of the day:

If you've made it to the end of the post, congratulations! Sorry if your eyeballs have fallen out, but you know, we do raise guide dogs for a reason. If you've made it to the end, please leave a comment- I'm very interested to know who read all the way through this novel!!!!

A Whole Bunch of Randoms

Again, I am postponing the university post because I want to make that a post all on its own- sorry for the wait! I actually meant to post it in June after I graduated but this summer has been busier than usual what with everyone desperate to see each other before we all go our separate ways.

I am currently babysitting Shammy (13 yr old toy poodle) and Emmett (3 month old apricot standard poodle foster puppy). I've not been without a dog since Fielder left, but still I miss my little poodley man so much. He had his xrays done on his birthday (12 days ago), so we are anticipating a call soon. Fingers crossed everything is okay!!!!!!!!!!! I'm a little more concerned than I was with Petey just because he was such a froglegged puppy;he never lost the habit even when he was older. Everyone says this means good hips, and I believed that until a month ago when one of our friends' pup got cc'ed for grade one hipD and she was very froglegged too.

Emmett is an adorable puppy, but after babysitting constantly to keep myself occupied after Fielder's recall, I have called him:
Curly
Shammy
Fielder
Cliff
Chandler (?!)
Arghhhh whatever your name is come here right now!!!
And sometimes I even manage to call him Emmett.

Emmett is a huge cuddlebug, and his favourite thing to do is barrel up to you until his head hits you, drop into your lap and smush in as much as he can. I love this puppy :)

Fugly picture of me, but Emmett looks adorbs, yes? Plus the book beside me is one of my favourite books ever. It's called "Bright Lights, Big Ass: A Self Indulgent, Surly Ex-Sorority Girl's Guide to Why It Often Sucks in the City, or Who Are These Idiots and Why Do They All Live Next Door to Me?" It is absolutely hilarious and it's Jen Lancaster's second book, and I lurve the both of them. And Jen. And her blog http://www.jennsylvania.com/ Good stuff.

Anyways, back to Emmett. We've been out every day since I got him, and he's been very good for a 3 month old. He protected us from a random rapey man who was looking for emails; he had "come from Germany looking to fall in love" and was apparently trolling malls in order to find underage girls. At dinner, he fell asleep under the table. (Emmett not the creepy man)

He also LOVES Shammy's bed and his toy bunny.That is all for now folks! Tomorrow we are off to return Shammy back to his owner and drop by Dee's to see her new puppy West, grandson of our favourite Samantha Hobbes. Peace out homefries!

PETEY NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So today I was very excited when Amy came on msn and told me that SHE SAW PETEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Apparently he was competing at the National Dog Agility Championship(but only on a jumpers course, not like a full out agility course)!!!! Since he was heading into the contenders' ring at the time, all Amy could was chase down the lady, and confirm that it was indeed Petey and that yes, the lady liked him (undoubtedly the question earned Amy a weird look). Anyways, I am SO happy to at least hear this little tidbit of news about him. It brings a lot of comfort to know that he is happy, loved, and keeping busy. After all, I am sure that agility is the perfect discipline for Petey to be enrolled in.

He is DEFINITELY a good jumper

He sure can run fastHe's cute as heckAnd he's just an all around COOL (get it?! hahaah) dog

GOOD LUCK PETEY!!!!!!!!!

Petey Says

Whatcha doin Sam?

In Love With Dallas

After having babysat Curly (R) for almost a month, and Shammy(L) for a week,

babysitting Dallas the Landseer Newfie here was QUITE the change.

Dallas at 8 WEEKS- the exact same size as 7 MONTH old Fielder

Last night, I went over to my friends' Kimmy and Carolyn's house to babysit their 7 month , 70 pound "PUPPY" for a few hours while everyone was out. I am so in love with this dog it's not even funny. He is the sweetest, funniest, goofy dog ever. He's just like Beethovan minus the breed difference and need to save people.

Thankfully he is well trained and responded to our little obedience session really well, or else walking him would have been umm....interesting to say the least. He was a bit pully in the beginning but with a few corrections and making him sit and wait along the way, he was heeling like a pro not too long into the walk. Did I mention I love this dog?

I was trying to compare our sizes in this picture above, but he looks smaller in pictures than he does in real life. And I guess you can't really photograph his huge personality and prescence. But I thought this shot showed it a little better: His toy is bigger than Fielder was at 12 weeks, and you can see his long body stretched out behind him.

This is my favourite picture of the night cause he's such a comfy pillow and I love his huge head!*sigh* If only we could foster one of these bad boys! Guide dogs for basketball players, yes?

Lastly, we would like to wish Sam the best of luck as she heads off to Nova Scotia to see yet another awesome Dallas and her grandbabies!! We'll miss you and the nightly chats, but have fun, take tons of pictures and STEAL A PUPPY FOR ME!!!

Happy Birthday Fielder!!!!

To my little deary:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I still remember the day I met you, you were so little, and did not stop crying the whole time at Open House. Now you are a big boy (figuratively not physically =P), all grown up and ready to start training. I hope you had a happy day today, and although I so wish you were here so I could give you hugs and kisses and extra treats in person, I know Sam was nice enough to give you lots of loving today. Hope to hear from you sooon!!!!!!!!

Love,

Your One and Only Momma!(except for of course your actual mom...but besides that!)

Tip of the Day *UPDATED

When going to the mall specifically to buy pants, don't wear your one pair of shoes with laces, unless you like tying and untying shoelaces approximately eleventy billion times in three hours.

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I am very very excited for tomorrow, except for the whole waking up early part. Early tomorrow morning, I'll be meeting Sam downtown and then we will take the train together to Oshawa and we'll be spending the night at Amy's! Yay!

For once, I won't have to pack a whole huge travelling bag with me because it's just me, no puppy. I guess that's a good thing....except I kinda wish I had to pack a whole huge travelling bag...

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Amy has updated her blog for the first time in a MONTH and her post is all about MY dog! Yay! Go check it out for some very cute pictures of Fielder!

This Is What Happens When You're Puppyless, Bored and Slightly OCD

Yes, I have converted my mini bookshelf into a dog paraphernalia organizer. And yes, the collars are in order from smallest to largest, not to be confused with the haltis that are in order from largest to smallest. And in case you were wondering, life really is one big suckfest without puppies. Surprise, surprise.

Goodbye Fielder

Today Fielder went back to school. Lynn picked us up early in the morning, and Fielder got to go back with his best friend Whim and his sister Fawn. We got there a whole hour earlier than planned, so since the other puppy staff were busy, Sam, who came for moral support (thanks Sam! <3) got the paperwork all ready for us.

Then the dreaded "okay whenever you are ready...." As I bent over to take off his jacket for the last time, I started absolutely bawling. Which was tres embarassing in front of Sam, Lynn, Dee and a bunch of random trainers. After using Fielder as a kleenex a few times, I let him out into the courtyard to play with Whimmer. There was a big window in which you could see into the courtyard, so I went to stand by it to watch my baby play a bit before I left. Wouldn't you know it, two seconds after he ran in, he did a bigggggg poo. Which, obviously I told Sam was her responsibility to pick up, since he wasn't technically 'mine' anymore ;)

But then he came over to the window and started jumping up and down (cause he's too short to see over it otherwise) and crying and looking at me and then I lost it all over again. And then we left shortly after cause I didn't want to stress him out, but it was the hardest thing I've ever had to do, leaving when I knew he wanted to be with me. Looking back, it was a lot easier to leave Petey cause he was all absorbed in chewing on his bone and didn't even notice.

Anyways, Fieldy- you are my very best mini poodle and I miss you tons already. But I know you will have lots of fun being kenneled with your buddy Whim and seeing your favourite sisters Fawn and Fairy everyday. I would say make me proud, but I already know you will no matter where you end up. You've been the perfect puppy for me this past year, and I love you so much. Good luck little buddy, we're rooting for you!!