A long overdue update!

The past few weeks have been crazy, hence why there has not been any new posts. Between school, work, volunteering, homework, training, exercising the boys, and other stuff that had to be done, there are just not enough hours in the day sometimes. I will do a recap of the last few weeks.

Rocky has been fabulous and he’s growing again! He is up to 77 lbs and is getting taller! He is no longer considered your average teenage lab; he was the first of his litter to try out the harness. It didn’t faze him one bit! He started out wearing the harness without the handle, which didn’t bother him so he got the handle pretty fast. It was hard to believe that my little Rocky is almost all grown up! He truly looked great wearing that harness. It gives you a glimpse of the final product. Rocky was definitely proud wearing it and pranced even more than normal!

[Rocky looking very handsome in harness]

Since there are 5 puppies from Rocky’s litter who all need practice in the harness, I was able to bring one home and work with Rocky with it for a few weeks. When I walked in the door and Ely saw the harness he went absolutely crazy doing his happy dance - his ears were so happy and he just sniffed and sniffed the harness. That made me realize that Southeastern is a major party school in the eyes of the dogs in for training. Ely was only down at Southeastern for a month before he came home. For him to get that excited after two years of being home just shows that the wonderful trainers, kennel assistants and staff make it so much fun for the dogs in for training. It is good to know that even though there are tons of dogs in for training that each one of them is spoiled!

[Rocky watching a bear on TV, he loved watching the puppy bowl on Sunday!]

Rocky went back to college classes during my blogging lapse. I gave my teachers a little’s head up that I would be bringing a puppy to class with me. Thankfully none of my teachers have a problem with Rocky coming. My sign language class is in the same room that it was in last semester and Rocky remembered just how to get there! He was very happy to see some of his old friends. I am super proud of Rocky for being able to sit still during class for 5 hours in the afternoon. My class schedule is right when he normally has more energy. My lab teacher for my sign language class loves Rocky! I am attempting to teach Rocky a little sign language; he knows no, good dog and we are working on his name. Our class is set up in a circle so that everyone can see each other, Rocky lies under my desk and just watches the people sign. He has learned to sleep through banging on tables and loud claps and some very interesting sound effects that are common in sign language class.

[Rocky ready for his first day back at college]

[taking a break from classes]

[Sleeping through algebra]

Our normal monthly obedience class location has changed, which allows the puppies to play off leash so that they learn that when they are on leash they can’t go play with other dogs. It was so much fun to watch them play and welcome new friends to play as they got there.

[Spike giving the choke hold on Rocky]

[Rocky with a comeback]

After playing for a while it was onto some obedience, working on passing other dogs, recalls, puppy pushups, finding steps, elevators, doors and curbs. Then it was some more play time at the end. Rocky and his brother Spike only have eyes for each other. They will play with the other puppies, but then go off and play by themselves. They have a special bond that they had even when we picked them up at 9 weeks. They were the two that preferred to snuggle together and sleep.

[Rocky and Spike at 9 weeks]

[Spike and Rocky taking a nap]

We got a lovely winter weather mix of snow and sleet. It started snowing Friday afternoon, but was not sticking. Saturday morning Rocky walked outside to go busy before breakfast and there was cold, wet white stuff everywhere. For the puppy who adores ice he was in heaven! He did several laps around the yard and went busy. The morning was filled with fun as one of his lab friends (who is only 2 weeks older than Rocky) from across the street came over to play. Those boys had some fun! The roads were horrible so most everything was canceled, so Sunday it was back outside to play. Ely actually played with Rocky; it was a lot of fun to watch them play. Later in the afternoon, another one of Rocky’s friends came to play, a boxer name Duce who is only a few days younger than Rocky. The great news for me at least was that class was canceled for Monday! Rocky and Ely both slept very well for a few days!

[Rocky picking up his kong in the snow]

[Rocky playing with his friend Cole in the snow]

[Rocky and Ely playing in the snow]

[Rocky standing in the snow]

[Rocky standing in the snow]

[Eating a yummy piece of ice]

Last Thursday, the big shopping center near our house was having a girls night out, so of course Rocky came! The store that was hosting was a pottery painting store, where you pick out something to paint, paint it and come back a week later to pick up your finished project. The owner of the store loves my puppies and donated a dog bowl for me to paint to put in Southeastern’s auction last year at walkathon. It went for $100! Every time I paint something there it has a doggy theme and Thursday night was no exception, but it is a surprise so you will have to wait a few more weeks. There were around 15 stores participating in the event, so we went around and visited each store got our paper stamped and picked up goodies along the way. It was a cold, drizzly night, but still a lot of people turned out. We ran into another puppy raiser, but since her puppy wasn’t feeling so great and is still on the young side she left him at home with her husband. Rocky did great in all the stories. My mom even won a gift certificate to one of the jewelry stores.

[Rocky sitting in the drizzling rain at girls night out]

[the bowl I painted last year, a hint of what I painted on Thursday]

The last few days have been pretty normal with school and work. Got to visit with Rocky’s sister Duchess and her raisers Sunday afternoon, boy did I get a sniff down when I got home! Yesterday on my way to school I made a quick stop at Chick-fil-a to get something to eat when I ran into another puppy raiser and her puppy, Cindy Jae. Boy do puppies grow up fast! I also love running into other puppy raisers when I am out and about!

I am still amazed that when I first started raising the nearest puppy raiser was a good 30 minutes away. Now there are 6 out of the 10 puppies in our group that are from a 5 minute walk to a less than 10 minute drive from me! The stores and restaurants around are very use to puppies in training now!