Easter

Joe and I hope all our readers had a wonderful Easter. Joe had a very busy first Easter. To start with, we headed to church where Joe helped teach some awesome first graders. At our church, K-5^th grade are all in one big room for church, so Joe gets lots of kid exposures. Out of all of the grades, the first grade area is the most popular; there are always a ton of kids from all grades that hang out in our spot. Every Sunday  there are at least 3 or 4 kids that come up to Joe and look at him longing to pet him and I have to ask if they remember the rule. Usually they deep sigh and say “yes, you can’t pet Joe.”  They are usually the same kids each week. My friend picked up on this and said that they are hoping I will forget that rule one Sunday!

My happy little Easter bunny!

After teaching in kids church we headed into a very packed church service. Joe slept through the service like he normally does.  He did have a added distraction Sunday morning. Our church was collecting to restock their food pantry so there was a huge mountain of food in the middle of the lobby.

After church we headed out to eat with part of my family. After lunch Joe came home and took a short nap. 

My not so happy Easter bunny

poor Ely!

While Joe took a nap I sat up his first Easter egg hunt. For the first round Ely (who’s helpers were my sister and her fiancé) and Joe (who I helped) had to find an egg and do the commands that were written on paper inside each egg. Joe got one of the more challenging ones for his helper ;) He had to maintain a sit stay while I got to hop like a bunny around him. Joe was probably wanting to know what was wrong with his crazy puppy raiser :) Both Ely and Joe did what was in their eggs without a problem. Joe seemed to really enjoy more of a challenge to his obedience routine. 

The next round had something special in each egg, which both the boys enjoyed. 

The boys and their Easter baskets

Joe apparently wanted to do another Easter egg hunt

As soon as Joe found his last egg, he had some visitors show up. It was Judy and Tillie, Judy is a current puppy in training in our group and Tillie was career changed a few years ago. Joe and the girls had a blast playing while Ely went inside to chill out. 

Joe and the girls (L to R: Judy, Joe  and Tillie)

We then went over to my grandparents house for dinner. Joe passed a big test; I ate dinner while sitting on the floor and Joe sat right beside me snuggled up next to my leg, he never even looked at my plate of yummy food. I was very proud of my little guy! 

Happy Easter from Joe! ( Joe was practicing his hold command)

Let’s just say Joe came home and went to bed after his busy Easter Sunday!

11 months

Joe tuned 11 months today! The time is flying by with my special little guy. In honor of Joe turning 11 months…

11 things that I love about Joe

1) He is always so happy and cheerful no matter where he is. 

2) Joe is super smart and learns extremely quickly

3) He adores kids, toddlers, and babies and loves all the noises that they make.

4) Everywhere he goes he is always on his very best behavior and loves going new places

5) Joe is awesome about walking over food without even giving it a second glance

6) He loves to be next to either Ely or me. Joe has actually gotten Ely to be a more snuggly doggy!

7) Joe’s tan is starting to peak through his black coat which is making him even more handsome of a pup!

8) Joe is wonderful about remembering where we have been and knows even before I tell him which way we are going, even in a store he has never been in before!

9) One of Joe’s favorite things is going for a ride. As soon as we get in he lays down on his bed in the back and either goes to sleep or chews on his bone. Every once and a while he will nudge me with his nose, but then will go back to laying on his bed.

10) He never slows me down when we do errands. He is wonderful about keeping up with me and is always so patient when I stop and look. He makes an awesome little shopping buddy! 

Joe and one of his friends Beamer. Joe is on the left and Beamer is on the right. Hard to believe that Joe is older than Beamer!

11) Joe loves to carry around his blankie when he gets excited. He is my little Linus :) 

Happy, Happy 11 month birthday Joe!!!

Glad to be home

I picked Joe up at 9:15 this morning. I talked to the vet who did his surgery (who happened to be one of our favorite vets). He said that Joe did great and that he let them know this morning that he was ready to go home. :-)  The post opt vet tech loved Joe! He wasn’t crazy when she brought him in the room and he was walking on a loose leash for her. He was happy to see me and did his happy talk. 

While we were checking out, Joe saw one of the receptionists who loves him and knows him by name. Several of the receptionists love Joe; one of them lives near us and always comes say hi when she sees us out and about. 

The first thing Joe did when he got in the car was to pick up one of his bones and start chewing on it. He was very happy to get home and see Ely. Those two missed each other, but they both had to be reminded that they both can’t run yet, especially in the house. 

Joe got some pain meds and seems to be his normal happy self. He was just rolling around on his back with a toy in his mouth. He has slept a bit more than he normally does, but that is to be expected.

I know he will be happy when he is all recovered and can go out and work again.

The worst part....

According to Joe the worst part about not being a breeder eval is that you have to miss breakfast before you go to the vet to get fixed! 

He actually did pretty well with not getting breakfast this morning. He could not have anything to eat after 7:00 last night, but could have water. I offered him an ice cube as a bedtime snack. It was not what he wanted, so he preceded to spit it back at me. 

Before we left this morning, my mom told Joe to come give her a kiss bye, he went and gave Ely (who was standing right beside her) a kiss and turned around and left. :) He sure does love his Uncle Ely!

When we got to the vet, he was such a good boy; they were waiting for him with all his paper work ready and his collar with his name on it. He did get a note on his paper work that he was an escape artist! Once I signed some paperwork and I gave them all Joe’s paperwork from Southeastern, he was ready to go. The vet tech put a leash on Joe and I took Joe’s collar and leash off and off he went without looking back. Joe has a lot of friends at the vet, so hopefully he is getting some extra loving while he is there.

I ran some errands after I dropped Joe off; it is absolutely no fun running errands without the little guy!  Our house has been very quiet without Joe. Ely has missed him and has been snuggling with Joe’s toys and blankets today.

I got a call around 1:15 from the vet saying that Joe was out of surgery, awake and doing great.

I can’t wait to pick up my little guy in the morning!

Off to the vet we go

I got a phone call Wednesday afternoon from my AC. Southeastern has started implementing a new breeding eval criteria. Since Joe has had some tummy issues while growing up, he was released from being a breeder eval. Thankfully his tummy problems are all better, after 4 different foods, he is now on a sensitive stomach food and is doing very well on it! Now that he is no longer a breeder eval it means that Joe will be heading to the vet to get neutered. 

I broke the news to Joe and he went and got his puppy coat and brought it to me. I guess he is not too disappointed that he is not going to be a daddy. 

I think Joe would have had adorable, extremely smart puppies, but personally I was going to feel sorry for his breeder host if he was picked. Joe is one puppy who needs a job; that boy is way too smart for his own good and if he doesn’t get enough work time in, he is crazy boy in the house. I guess you would call him a workaholic. One of Joe’s favorite things is his puppy coat since he knows that he gets to go out and show just how smart a puppy he is to his adoring audience who watch him wherever we go. 

Joe got his official letter from Southeastern on Friday and he is heading to the vet tomorrow to get neutered. That boy has a very busy schedule and it was a bit of a challenge to fit his surgery in where he would get several days to recover. 

I have not broken the news to Joe yet that he will not be getting breakfast in the morning. I think he will handle it a bit better than his Uncle Ely. :-) 

Joe has to be at the vet by 9 tomorrow morning and I can pick him up Tuesday morning after 9AM. I am going to miss my little Jo Jo! Hopefully he won’t figure out how to bust out of his crate at the vet. Sherman did that and went visiting with the other doggies.  Out of all my puppies, Joe would be the one who I think would try and figure it out.  :-)