Eight Whole Months

Fullerton has reached that eight months mark and has been here now for six months. I cannot believe how fast it has gone by. I was just thinking the other day that we have possibly been together for half the time he will be here. There is a chance he could be leaving in just six short little months. :( Anyway, NOT thinking about that yet. :) I weighed Fullerton today and he has actually lost a pound since last month, he is now 47 pounds. EEK! I am still waiting for him to reach that fifty pound mark. That's okay though, he is my small fry! Now that I am out of school we have had a lot of time on our hands (and paws) I think I tried to cram a little too much into today. . . but we had fun. So he are the adventures of Fullerton's eight month day.

I got home from work and let Fullerton out of the kennel. He settled down to chew a bone while I got on my computer to figure out what classes I am going to take next semester. I settled on Geology, Geography, Biology, Intro to Music, and Group Clarinet. I am really excited about the Clarinet class. I played Clarinet in Jr. High and High School, but I have not touched it since then and have really missed it. So, I am really excited to play again. While I was absorbed with my class hunting I didn't realize that Fullerton had squeezed himself under my bed. He used to take running leaps under my bed when he was little and then would camp out under there, but a few weeks ago he became just a little to large to fit. So when he tried his running leap under the bed, he CRASHED into the bed frame and screamed like a little girl. I felt so bad for him and he hasn't tried it since, but today he managed to crawl under again and. . . got himself stuck.
Here he is "gracefully" getting himself out from under the bed. :D

After he got out we headed to the bookstore. I discovered a new series (Rangers Apprentice) They are EXCELLENT books. I was halfway through the first one and decided I needed the rest so I bought the other four in the series. (and now I am halfway through the second one) Fullerton was a sport in the book store. I get a little. . . absorbed in there and we ended up wandering around for an hour and a half.

When we left the bookstore I went to my school to sell my textbooks. AND my school isn't buying back three of my text books, BOO HOO! I was hoping to sell them back and use the money to help with textbooks for next semester. College books are ridiculously expensive. :( After the bookstore we went back home where Fullerton had a play date with my brothers dog Moose. I practiced recall with Fullerton while he was running around with Moose and I was very impressed with how quickly he still responded. Of course I have pictures. :D

This one makes me laugh so hard. Fullerton tripped over his legs and I got a picture right when he thudded to the ground. It looks really painful, but he was totally fine. I just cant believe that I managed to click the camera right when he went down. (And I know Moose has a ball in his mouth. He seriously can't run if there isn't something in his mouth and Fullerton doesn't try to take it from him, he couldn't care less about the ball.)

This one is funny, it looks like Fullerton is dancing.
The boys. Fullerton and MooseAfter the play date Fullerton was kinda stinky so he got a bath.

I love how Fullerton's tail looks after he gets soapy.

Of course the after bath labby loops.

Fullerton wrapped in a towel, my little munchkin.
When he was mostly dry he got a good brushing from the Furminator
Why do I love the Furminator? Well, as they say "a picture is worth a thousand words."

After he was thoroughly brushed he got dinner. This is the best time of day for this labby boy.

Waiting patiently.

Then it was time for puppy class. Puppy class was a touch chaotic today. I think everyone was really hyped up over the new puppies. We also learned today that our club grandpa, Dax is leaving for formal training June 3rd. We will miss him.

Here is Journey and Peanut

Fullerton doing puppy handling with a fellow club member. :D He looks so sweet.

Here is Hannah and Dax doing puppy handling. Me and her fought over Dax, so I handled him first and then passed him off to Hannah. :) He is such a fun dog, I love Dax.

Fullerton doing puppy handling again.

And Meade chewing on Fullerton's foot. It was pretty funny. Fuller didn't try to pull away or anything, he just let Meade chew on him.
The End. We had a long, busy, non-stop day and Fullerton was pretty much sacked out after puppy class. So we headed home and now he is snoring on his dog bed.

And on a totally unrelated note. . . Juniper is doing GREAT. It has been two and a half weeks and she is thriving. She started off with four tiny little stems, but is now a very lush, and large plant.

That's about it for now. Toodles. Hope everyone has a good night.

OH, WAIT!!!!!! Sherman is graduating in ONE MONTH!!!!! YAY!!!!!! I can't wait!!!!!!

(was there enough exclamation points in that line. LOL)

Okay, now thats really it.

FREEDOM!!!!

Woot Woot! The semester is over! It was a crazy coincidence that all of my finals happened to be today. Usually they are spread throughout the week but, lucky me, had them on the same day. I was at school from 10am until 7pm. It was a LONG day. Anyway, since Fullerton has been neglected all last week thanks to my frenzied studying I decided to see if I could get someone to watch him for the day. I think sitting through hours of exams would push him over the edge. Lucky for me Hannah was happy to oblige, and it sounds like he had a great day. Fullerton got to go to High School, and I am sure he loved it. :D He got a very good report from Hannah too. Now that I am done with school I have a lot more time on my hands to spend with my lovely labby boy. And we will be spending the next month preparing to go back to camp. I am so excited to go but am sad about all the things I am going to miss around here too.
:( But, I will have a blast, and everyone will be here when I get back.

Here is a picture of Fullerton at the doctors office. (apparently I had a stomach infection. . . so my silly stomach would not let me eat for a week. I lost 14 pounds though so that's nice, I was gonna wait for an even 15 but decided a visit to the doctor was necessary. I am on some antibiotics and am doing MUCH better, but I am trying hard to keep off those 14 pounds. :D That was probably a little too much information. . . oh well.) Fullerton was great at the doctors office, he sat calmly and waited for it to be over. What a good boy. . .

Finally. . . A Puppy Fix!!!

First off, Thanks to everyone for their flying tips, I feel a little more confident and I think I have everything planned out, so hopefully all goes smoothly. :D

I was not planning on going to puppy class tonight since it was just for the baby puppies but I looked at my clock at 6:50 after studying for finals for four hours straight and I was in desperate need of a break so I decided (since puppy class was about 5 min from my house and started at 7pm) that I would go get a puppy fix. That's reason enough to put off my studying. . . right?!?!? So, I put Fullerton in his kennel (since it is a baby puppy meeting and he was not invited) grabbed my camera and was off. I am so happy I went, all the new pups in our club are freakin' adorable. I tried to steal a couple of them but worried about getting beat to death by their raisers. Just kidding, but I really wanted to take them all home. It seems like we got a bunch of really nice pups, they all seem pretty mellow and are learning really fast. Their raisers are doing great! I am sure you guys are sick of, well, reading me talking so without further ado, here are the pictures. :D Enjoy!

This is Journey. He slept through most of the meeting.

This is Meade. He is awesome!

This is The Big Butterball. . .

I mean Dickens. Seriously, he is the biggest 9 week old puppy I have ever seen. He is really spunky too. I love his droopy face and his full body wrinkles.

And this is the tiniest puppy I have ever seen. I swear he is a mini-lab. His name is Peanut. I like to call him Roasted Peanut though. :D He is probably about 5 pounds. LOL And he has a perpetual look of surprise on his face. His personality reminded me A LOT of Sherman when he was a puppy.

This is Mara, she and Meade are siblings. She is her raisers first female and they actually requested another male so they are getting used to having a girl in the house. Her raisers said they are afraid to break her because she seems so fragile. She is a very nice little pup.

The rest of these pics are just cute, I took a TON of pictures at class.

Journey has an itch

Chunky Monkey playing tug (Dickens)

Meade doing puppy handling

Dickens demonstrates puppy handling.Mara
Peanut
Journey is tired
Meade taking a nap
It was a fun meeting, I mostly handled Journey, Peanut, and Meade (Thanks guys for letting me steal your pups for a bit) and they are all doing so well!! Fullerton had to give me a thorough sniffing when I got home, I think he was a little upset that I was playing with other pups instead of him. Oh, well it made me happy. Now I better get a little more studying done before bed. Good Night!!

Flying with a PIT. . .

Okay, so soon I will be going on my first flight with a puppy in training, and Fullerton feels honored to be my first puppy on a plane. :D Anyway, having never flown with a puppy I, of course, have about a bazillion questions. So if any experienced fliers can help me out I would really appreciate it. I need to get my tickets in the next couple of days because the prices are already rising for the flights and dates I need. So thanks!

I am flying from Salt Lake City, UT to Sacramento, CA and then to get home I am either going to leave from Burbank, CA or Los Angeles, CA to SLC, UT.

1. What airlines have you found that allow PIT's?

2. At what point in the ticket finding process to you notify the airline about the PIT, should I call them before I get my ticket or should I get my ticket and then add him to the reservation?

3. How should I handle airport security? I have been told that security is pretty tight these days.

4. Is it better to do the early boarding when they call for that or should I just go when my seat is called?

5. Do I need a health certificate? And does GDB cover the vet bill for that or do I need to do it? Also, I will be gone from June to August so if I need another Health Certificate do I need to find a vet in LA to do it for me? I guess I am really asking how long the Health Certificate is valid?

6. Any other tips you can think of to help me out?

I am a tad nervous, but I have always wanted to try flying with a PIT so I am excited too. Oh, and my leader has already cleared Fullerton to fly, so that isn't an issue. :D Thanks Everyone!!!

And because no post is complete without a picture. Here ya go.

"I believe I can FLY!!"

(Sorry for my cheesiness)

Random stuff

Today was blissfully hot. Like in the 70's. It felt so nice! So, Fullerton had a nice long romp in the yard before we had to go to school (which is our last week until finals next week!!!!) He was nice and tired during Math and didn't move once. It was so nice. LOL Besides that nothing interesting happening lately. So here are a few random pictures and videos for y'all. :D

"Chomp, Chomp, I love my goughnut!"

The first video is Fullerton's intro to bubbles. He is pretty funny. In the second one I am talking to Fullerton in a helium voice. :D Today was my dads b-day so we got some helium balloons, I stole one and sucked out the helium and Fullerton was so funny I had to film it. :D

The Weekend

Since the puppy truck didn't come on Friday I went to Salt Lake with my family and we played all day. We took my grandma and cousin to the airport and then we went to the Gateway to play.

This is Fullerton at the airport, after my grandma got out of the van he stood up and when I told him to sit he sat in her vacant seat. My older sister, bro-in-law and nephew beat us there so they went to the children's discovery museum so after we got to the Gateway we had to wait for them to finish in the museum so we went to Barnes and Noble to look around. While we were walking out we ran into this Great Dane named Daisy. She is a seizure alert dog that her owner trained. We talked for a long time about service dogs and I told her about Sherman (my pup who is now a medical alert dog for Dogs4Diabetics) and she told me she has a friend who is diabetic and has been looking into getting a diabetic dog and she is going to tell her about the program. :) I hope her friend is able to get a dog, that would be awesome! Anyway Daisy and Sherman enjoyed saying hello to each other and after we left the back of Fullerton's neck was all wet. Daisy is a slobbery dog. It was so neat to meet her and learn about seizure alert dogs. Daisy was gorgeous (and humongous!!) and very well behaved!! The funniest thing though is that my nephew kept pointing at her and saying "Moo, Moo!" My sister was so embarrassed but Daisys mom thought it was funny too and said, "Yes, she does look a little like a cow." It was pretty funny. :D
Daisy's handler told me that Daisy has pulled her across streets to get her to safety before a seizure and that Daisy has saved her life many, many times! Good Girl Daisy!! Daisy's handler also thanked me for raising puppies for other people and wanted me to know how much she appreciates puppy raisers and all they do. :D

After we left the book store we went out to the fountain. The water sprays to the beat of music. The song was playing, but the pic got taken between beats, I tried to get one with the water spraying behind us but it didn't work. Oh, well. :D

After walking around and window shopping for a bit, we were all hungry so we got lunch. Fullerton waited patiently under the table while we ate.


After lunch my nephew played on those little quarter toy things. Anyway, Fullerton got to ride in a rocket ship.
After lunch we walked around the mall for a little longer before making our way to Trax to ride to Temple Square. Here is Fullerton on Trax for the first time. This is how he looked at me right when the train started moving. He was a little surprised.

He was great during the short trip to Temple Square. Good boy Fuller!

And just because he is SO cute, here is my nephew on the train. He REALLY enjoyed the ride.
Cannon was so funny, he climbed the steps of the temple and started knocking on the door. My whole family got a kick out of that and were just cracking up. He is such a goofy kid.Fullerton on Temple Square. He is so very handsome. I love this boy!!

Fullerton with the flowers. My mom always gets super jealous of the flowers on temple square because hers never get that big or bright.

After temple square got back on the train, walked to the parking lot and headed home. Fullerton was amazing as usual. I love that I am able to trust him going everywhere. He is already starting to be really consistent and trustworthy. (until the teen phase kicks in at least) I adore Fullerton!!

Once I got home from Salt Lake I took Fullerton over to the puppy sitter for an over-nighter. I went and judged the Utah State Drama Competition today and had a blast. There are some very talented kids there. I was happy to pick my boy back up on my way home though. He got a great report from the sitter as well. She really enjoyed having him for the night. But, as usual I am glad to have him back again. It is hard to sleep without him snoring next to my bed. :D

Bummer!

It has been snowing here for the last two days. We have about 10 inches right now and it is really heavy, wet snow, so it sticks everywhere! And since the weather has been so bad lately the puppy truck that was supposed to come through tomorrow is delayed until Saturday. And now I can't go get my puppy fix. :( On Saturday I am going to be a judge at the state drama competition for all the high schools in the state and it lasts all day long. I am sad I don't get to meet all those little puppies. It is supposed to be really nice and warm on Saturday so that's good.

Here are some pictures of the snow this morning. This shows how it sticks to the fence. There are some places you can't see through at all.

And since the snow is so heavy there are trees that have lost HUGE branches all over the place. This is my neighbors tree that has fallen into our backyard. We also have a tree in our front yard that got split in HALF, seriously it is so sad. My other neighbors fence collapsed from a big branch falling on it.

My mom loves Tulips and she planted about 50 bulbs before winter and they are all starting to grow, but now she is worried that the tulips are going to freeze. Poor little things!

Fullerton thinks the snow is way fun though. He had a good romp this morning until he was all soaking wet and shaking from the cold.
So, he came inside to relax and warm up on his dog bed. (thanks for the idea from some other raisers) I put both of my Costco dog beds together and Fullerton LOVES his Pretty, Puffy, Prince bed. :D