Thank You!!!!

I wanted to thank everyone for their kind words and support during this difficult time. It really means a lot to me! It is nice to know that I have so many friends, most of which I haven't met, who really care. Thank you so much!!
Megan, Sherman, & Prudy ( the angel dog)

Another at the Rainbow Bridge

Here is a post I wasn't planning on writing for another 30 years or so. I am sure you are all familiar with this poem:

The Rainbow Bridge

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

Author unknown...

Well, Prudy passed away today. I am absolutely heart broken as she was and always will be my baby. I got a call from a woman while I was unpacking things at my apartment. She told me that Prudy had been hit by a car and she thought she was dead. Of course I lost it and started wailing while I was on the phone with her, I asked where she was, while I grabbed Sherman, my keys and wallet and was headed out the door. My little sister was headed to my apartment so that I could help her get her books for her college classes and so I called her and told her to head home. The whole drive I was wondering the kind of scene I was going to drive up on. All the worst going through my head. I was wondering if I really wanted to see her in whatever shape she was in. I drove up and saw her lying on her side on the sidewalk, and she looked oddly peaceful. None of what I imagined was there, no blood, no guts, she was just laying there as if she was asleep. I got out of my car and slowly walked up to her, the people that lived in the house that she got hit in front of where there and were telling me what had happened and the driver had left to get her kids from school. (turns out the lady is in our neighborhood and is friends with my mom and has a kid in my moms class) I sat down next to her and started stroking her. A few minutes later my sister drove up and got out of the car and came over. The people there got a blanket to wrap her in and loaded her into my car. I drove to the vet, the whole drive I almost expected her to lean over the seat and rest her head on my shoulder like she always did. The vet was very nice and came out with one of the vet techs to help me get her out. He knows me and Prudy pretty well. He is a good friend of Dads and I worked for him in 8th grade. Also Prudy has allergies so we have been there quite a bit for follow up exams. He asked which dog it was and when I said Prudy he, and a few of the nurses said, "Aww, not Prudy." While they were getting her out of my car the vet tech kept telling me how sorry she was and how she had always thought Prudy was such a sweet happy dog. That made me feel a little better knowing that she had touched more lived than just those in my family. They are going to have her cremated and the people who do the cremation are going to make a mold of her paw, I thought that was really nice.

I am going to miss my girl so much. I am going to miss her happy face and wagging tail when I get home, her constantly staring at me while I eat, the crazy puppy mood she gets into every once in a while, her biting my ankle when she gets excited, the way she would jump with me on the trampoline, the way she would follow me around the house no matter where I went, the clicking of her nails on the floor, the way she felt when I gave her a big bear hug, the weight of her head on my shoulder as I would drive, how excited she would get when you would say "Do you wanna eat," or "Lets go for a ride." and how she knew exactly what those two phrases meant, the way she would hog the entire bed, the way she would move the sheets and blankets so that they were the perfect position for her (and always off of me), how she would calm me down after a stressful day, how her ears where darker than the rest of her, how she is so patient with my puppies and with small children, how she has a way of making everyone love her, how expressive her eye-brows are, how gentle she is when she licks your face, how she snorts and grunts and rolls around on her back when she is happy, how she begs for belly rubs, how she gets so exited when she gets told she is a good girl, and so much more. I know that she is happy and she was not in pain. I can't wait to see her again, but until that day comes a big void has been left in my life. Prudy will always have a piece of my heart and I will never forget her.

Longish Update :)

This has been a very crazy week. I just got back from my trip on Sunday, then on Monday I puppy-sat for Montgomery. He is Seven and a half months and is Sherman's cousin. Their moms Yolie and Yollete are sisters. Montgomery and Sherman got along really well too. On Monday I took Montgomery to UVSC to clear up some school stuff and he did fantastic. After a few hours I went home and switched dogs and then took Sherman on the rest of my errands. Then he left on Tuesday and got passed onto another raiser and then a third from Wednesday to Friday. Then on Tuesday after I dropped of Montgomery I picked up Hartley, a five month old, and had him from Tues to Fri. He is a bit more high strung than Sherm but is a great little guy. He did manage to poop in my car (which is a first for me) I was baffled as he had pottied and pooped before we left the house. (Cleaning poop out of a car is very difficult, but I got it all out) Oh, well! I took both him and Sherman to work with me on Tues, Wed, and Fri and they took turns being on tie-down and in the crate behind my desk. My boss really liked Hartley and kept commenting on how good he was. :) Hartley's raisers picked him up from work on Friday.

Then on Saturday I moved into my apartment. YAY!!! I am on my own again and it feels so nice!!! (those who don't know I lived in an apartment in Cali for nearly 1 1/2 years and moved back to Utah about a year ago and have been living with my parents, which has been majorly annoying since being on my own.) Anyway, apartment hunting was a joke. I started looking about a month or two ago and when I found a few places I liked I went and talked to the office managers. Most of them were really nice until I mentioned the dog and they would say, "We have to check with our lawyers and see what they say and we will give you a call back." Of course when I got that call back, about 10 minutes after leaving the office, they all gave the same frustrating response, "We will not be accepting dogs into the complex at this time." That made me so mad, but GDB doesn't want us to make a fuss if we are refused access somewhere. The very last place I went, when I was at my wits end, was so good about it. And it is the apartment that I wanted to live in from the very beginning. I should have gone there first. When I mentioned Sherman she said, "Oh, ya, that's fine. I will just let the owners know so that they are aware that he is here but it'll be fine." It was such a relief I almost made her repeat herself. :) Now I am here and they have been really accommodating. The only bad part is there is no relieving area near by, so I have been going to the parking lot across the street and having Sherman potty in a patch of grass there. Sherman has taken to the apartment really well. We only have a tiny room and I haven't unpacked all the way yet so we don't have much room. He has a little nook that he loves though. :)

I am also starting school on Thursday. I am not quite ready but I got most the way ready on Monday. I just need to get my school supplies and my books and I am set. I am exited to start school again. Woo Hoo!!!

My last bit of news is that I got a promotion at work. I am now the Assistant Store Manager. I am so exited because I get a pay raise, benefits, and paid sick and vacation days. It's awesome and I love my job and Sherman loves the job. I will probably only have it for two more years because my plan is to move back to Cali after I graduate from school. I miss California and after my trip I miss it even more. I want to go back so bad. But I have to finish school first, my plans usually go to crap so we will see what happens. :)

Here is Sherman with his cousin Montgomery.

This is Hartley, the happy boy. :)

Sherman's nook in my apartment.

Sherman behind all my crap. Hopefully I get it cleared up soon so he will have more space to move around. :)
So, that is what is going on with me right now.

The rest of the trip

The last part of the trip went by too fast. We drove to Oregon from California on Thursday and arrived at about 5pm. I haven't visited Oregon for a good 2 1/2-3 years so it was really nice to go back there. I forgot how beautiful it is, and green. I absolutely loved Oregon. I need to go back there more often. Then on Friday me and my sisters baby-sat my cousins kids. They are adorable and talk a mile-a-minute. It was so fun to be with them, I haven't seen them since they were babies. The next day was Fun Day. We only stayed until around noon but it was still fun to see and chat with people I know from blogger and yahoo groups I am on and put names to faces. After SR Fun Day me and my sisters decided to dress up, so we made mardi gras masks for us and a mask for Sherman along with a yellow shirt that we swirled with color and glitter and topped it off with mardi gras beads. It was fun and Sherman was a really good sport and left the costume (and glasses) on the whole time we were there. We left for home straight from there and got home around 1:30 in the morning. It was a great trip and a good experience for Sherman. He had a great time too, and slept for two days after we got home.

This is Sherman after arriving at my aunts house in Oregon. She has the most beautiful, and huge backyard. I just like this pic because it looks like he is screaming or something. :)

While watching my 2nd cousins we went on a hike along a trail behind their house. I love the outdoors. So pretty!
We ended up at a park and Sherman loved the slide. He kept taking me up and then sliding down. It was so funny. He was so proud of himself when he would get to the bottom.

Mason ended up racing Sherman down the slide. Mason always won it made him so happy.
My aunts backyard. She has all kinds of fun stuff in her yard. Sherm is so cute in the pic.

Our costumes.

His awesome glasses. I still can't believe he left them on the whole time!!

I stopped by a ritzy dog store called Lexi Boutique and picked up a dog donut for Prudys souvenir. She loved it. Too bad it went down so fast!

And about 10 seconds later it is gone.

If you can't tell by now I am a major pictoholic. I think I need to find some PA meeting. lol

The Beach

I was so mad at myself because we went to the beach before Fun Day but stupid me left my camera card in my computer and so couldn't take pictures of Shermans first beach experience. He had so much fun though. He loved the water. I put him on a long line and he would jump over the waves and into the water and then paddle back to shore. He got sopping wet and drank half the ocean. He ran around in the sand too and loved that. The beach we went to the first time was a dog friendly beach. The second time it was not and the lifeguard asked that I keep his jacket on so that people wouldn't think that they could bring their dogs. I didn't want him playing much in the water because I try not to get his puppy coat too dirty. It did get dirty though with the sand at the water but I washed it really good when we got home. :)

Sitting in the sand.

Watching the waves.

In the water.

Dirty boy getting ready for a bath.

And bath time. :)

San Francisco

So, after the first Fun Day I lost my Internet connection so now I have to play catch up. The next Monday me and my sisters went to San Francisco. It was a lot of fun and we did a lot of the touristy stuff. :)

We parked at Union Square and walked around a bit before getting passes to ride the trolley. We took it down to Fishermans wharf and then back at the end of the day. He did really well on the trolley and enjoyed the bumpy ride. I remember last year with Adeline it took so much coaxing to get Adeline to even get on the Trolley and then she was kinda stressed on the way there and back. Poor girl. I was really relieved that Sherman took to it so well. It wasn't until that day when I learned that Sherman has a major bird distraction problem. We will have to work on that. (We don't have many birds around where I live) He was very focused on them and it was hard to get his attention back. Darn pigeons are just more interesting than I am.
We got to Fishermans Wharf around noon and where hungry so we stopped in a restaurant and had the most delicious sea food EVER. And as always Sherman waited patiently under the table until we were done.
After lunch we took a boat ride under the GG bridge and then around Alcatraz. It was so fun getting that close to the bridge and Alcatraz. Sherman did really well on the boat too and the tour guides were really nice to let us get on with him. This is probably the only time he will ever get on a boat while he is with me so I am glad that he got the opportunity to do it. It was really fun for the peeps as well. :)
Me and my sisters Whitney and Haley by the GG bridge.
We went on got Sundaes at Ghirardelli, they were delicious!!!

I couldn't resist.

This is by the Trolley getting ready to go home. He did so good doing all that walking but was so happy to go home. He was very tired.

Fun Day #1 (Lots of pics)

Fun Day was amazing!! It was nice meeting people from e-mailing lists that I am on and finally put some names to faces! After I got registered and opening excercises my CFR caught me to do a relay with another dog. We had to weave around some cones and around a construction baracade and back while balancing hot dogs on a plate and keeping your dog on a loose leash. Sherman did awesome, his competator was a female black lab named Octave and she was adorable, a bit of a distraction for him. (He is starting to like those little ladies) But, he totally concured! I was so proud, he didn't pull once.
Then we took a walk around the kennels, outside the vets office they had a bunch of physical therapy and training stuff for the dogs. They had this teeter totter thing and had then weave between cones and then go across a ladder on the ground. We watched a dog go through it and it froze at the ladder and couldn't figure out how to get past it. So, I decided to give Sherman a try. He was supposed to just stand on the teter totter thing while the vet tech rocked it slowly. She said that Sherman had a good center of balance and that he was a very confident puppy, he was fine being on it while it was rocking. Then we weaved and went across the ladder, which he did no problem.
Then it was time to meet littermates!! There were two of his siblings there, Spartan and Samantha. The three of them could not look more different. Siroccos raiser was also there but left him at home because she flew. She said he is more short and stalky like Samantha and Spartan and Sherman are long, tall, and lean. Sherman and Sirocco are black labs and Samantha is a light yellow while Spartan is a darker almost red. Last year Adeline's litter all looked exactly the same so it was kinda funny. I am exited to keep in touch and see how they all do. From what they were telling me Spartan and Samantha are real spit fires and have thier own agenda. And Sherman and Sirocco are more laid back, and go-with-the-flow types. It was fun to chat for a while.

And, just a cute shot after lunch for kicks and giggles.

Then I went over to try a shot at Juno. I have never done it before so it was a lot of fun. The instructor held the harness while I walked behind and would stop at obsticles that I had to find by probing with my feet and hands. It was really neat to do that and see how it feels to work with a dog. They also had little tables where you would be blindfolded and you smelled things and tried to guess what they were, spell words with those magnetic letters, etc. It was really fun!!
Of course there were vendors and presentations that were really interesting too. I can't wait till next Saturday. I hear that the Boring fun day is quieter with less people but I know I will have a great time!
After Fun Day me and my sibs decided to stop in San Fran to walk across the GG Bridge. We parked and just started to walk some trails when we came upon some old gun safes.

This is such a pretty picture, I really like it!
Sherman did great on the GG Bridge with traffic and people and everything. He didn't care at all until we were walking back and a huge bus came barreling down the street way to close to the sidewalk and Sherm kinda freaked but gained himself pretty quickly. It was nice and cool too, it felt so good. And the fog was awesome.
On the way home Sherm was absolutely exhausted. He found the funniest postition and slept the whole way home. Big day for a little guy, but he did great!

Meeting Adeline!!!!

It was so fun to see little Miss Adeline again. It was so nice and relieveing to meet her family, playmate and neighborhood. It is a total "Adeline" area, she fits in there so well. Her new/old mom (she was adopted by her first raiser) showed us around the neighborhood and we went to the park that she plays and runs around at. It was so nice to see her so happy and she looks really good. She has filled out a lot since I last saw her. She went crazy when she saw me, her mom showed us into the backyard where she said she would let her pups out to meet us. We were standing in her backyard when I heard a familiar voice, Adeline was staring at us through the window and barking. (I have only heard Adeline bark once so it was strange to hear but I still recognized it, I was happy that she recognized me) She came running out of the house and barreled into me. I was so happy to see her too. We had a nice visit, I was there a lot longer than I had planned. We hung around for 5 hours, got there at 5pm took all the dogs on a long walk, went to the park, ordered a pizza and chatted. She even did some agility for us with equipment in her backyard, I was so mad I didn't have my camera but Dika (It's a pain to keep writing "Adeline's mom so her name is Dika) said that she was going to take a bunch of pictures of her doing agility and send them too me. Man is Adeline good, she flew across all the obsticles and and seemed to love it. Dika said that Adeline is better at agility than her pet dog Madeleine even though Madeleine has been doing it for the last 13 months or so and Adeline has been doing it for 3. She said that Adeline has no problem with any of the obsticles while Madeleine is afraid and refuses to get on a few of them. She is exited to see what Adeline makes of herself in Agility, she also wants to start competing her in competition obedience, so that will be fun too. It was amazing to see Adeline so happy. I know she is going to have a wonderful life, which she totally deserves!! Good girl Adeline!

She looks so adultish now. I can't believe she is two in October! But she has filled out plenty and looks really good.
People: My sisters Whitney and Haley, and then me. Dogs: Sherman, Adeline, Madeleine.
People: Me and Dika Pups: Sherman, Adeline, & Madeleine
Adeline and Madeleine play in the park. They loved it and chased balls and ran around. (Adeline was not so good at the fetch but Dika said she is getting better with Madeleine's influence. So she will be catching balls soon :)

We are off to the boardwalk and beach pretty soon so I better go. See y'all at Fun Day tomorrow!!!