Our GDB filled weekend. . .

What is better than a weekend full of puppy raisers and their dogs? I myself can't think of anything. :D I love puppy raising and all the people involved in it, it's amazing!!

Anyway, on Friday me and Paris went up to the school for the blind in Salt Lake for the Braille Challenge, it was a lot of fun and Paris got a lot of pets and we answered a lot of questions. The kids really enjoyed the dogs and I was so proud of Paris who was on her best behavior and was so good with the kids. A bunch of them enjoyed playing tug with her and she was so careful. They would giggle and giggle when they told her 'okay' and she would start tugging and then 'that's enough' and she would stop. It was cute. A few of them also liked brushing her, she is super smooth and shinny and I think they got all that loose hair out. :D

[Paris playing tug with one of the blind kids.]

Then today we had a puppy raising workshop. It was so much fun and I really learned a lot, I always do. Anyway, I got a ride up with my leader and we always have some fun chats. Here is a picture of her pup Sugar. She is super cute and really smart.

[A close up of Sugars face, she is a very white golden retriever with dark brown eyes. She also has her tongue sticking out a little bit.] While we were there I met a few of Paris' siblings. Here is a picture of them. It sounds like they are all quite similar personality wise and even have a few of the same quirks. The yellow ones look quite similar but their brother Peanut really doesn't look much like the rest. :D

[The puppies and raisers lined up. Peanut (Male Black Lab), Panama, (Female Yellow Lab) Porche (Male Yellow Lab) and Paris (Female Yellow Lab).]

We played a game called 'My dog can do that' where we could pick a card (rated easy, medium and advanced) and then have our dog do what is on the card and get points if our dogs could do it. We split into two teams Ricks Retrievers (The CFR from SoCal/Arizona also came, he is really awesome) and Barbs Barkers. Me and Paris were on the RR team, it was a really fun game. I picked advanced card for Paris both times it was our turn and Paris was great. The first time she had to come to me while someone was jumping up and down next to me, she was perfect and the second time she had to do a layover without me saying anything which is a piece of cake for this girlie. So we won 6 points for our team. Unfortunately, our team lost but it was fun to see all the dogs doing all these bizarre tasks and realizing just how much we need to prepare them for. Some people had to give commands with their back to their dogs and that one seemed hard for them, it may be something for me and Paris to work on. Afterward our teams voted on an MVP for each team and Paris won MVP for our team! I was so proud of the girl!! :D

[Me kneeling next to Paris who is in a sit next to me in front of a gray stone wall. I am holding Paris' MVP trophy. It's a small gold trophy on a black pedestal. Way to go Paris! (It's now on display on my GDB shelf.)] After that we did some work on GTB, Paris is very good at this so no worries there. We all did it individually and then we lined up the beds and did a mass GTB. It was cool and all the dogs were very impressive.

[Paris laying down on her green mat chewing on a piece of kibble with a 6 mo old male black lab named Clifford sitting on his mat to her on the right and a golden named Joaquin sitting on his mat on her left (sadly, I only got a sliver of Joaquin but he is a cutie. What good puppies!] [Paris laying down with her head raised looking at me, she was such a good girl through the whole meeting.]

[Paris and Sugar sleeping in the car on the way home. They are both on the floor of the car with their heads next to each other.]

[A minute later Sugar adjusted so her head and foot are on top of Paris' head, she didn't seem to mind at all.]

Paris has been sacked out ever since we got home, it was a big day for her and she was a champ. Hope everyone else had a great weekend. :D

That's not my dog

Last Wednesday I did a puppy trade with Paris' brother Peanut. He is a good dog but I am very happy to get my girlie back tonight. I have really missed her. We haven't really done much this week just school and work and a few errands. Anyway, here are a few pictures of Peanut at Wal-Mart.

[Peanut checking out a baby doll that moved and made funny noises, Peanut was very interested in the baby.]
[Peanut sitting with some toys behind him.]
[Peanut in my room, on my dog beds, he is standing up.]

Also,

Right now I am also puppy sitting for my two favorite goldens EVER! My friend is going out of town until Saturday so I've got Ginger and Chelito. They are super sweet and spoiled rotten, it'll be fun to have pet dogs around for a few days, it has been a LONG time since I have had non-GDB dogs in my house. Chelito is seven months old and Ginger is fourteen months old.

[Chelito, he is such a nice puppy, he is a light golden color and has super droopy eyes. His hair looks like a fuzzy muppet.]

[A close up of Chito's face and droopy eyes.]

[Here is Ginger laying down, she is a bit darker than Chelito and super clingy. She is really obedient too.]

[Close up of Gingers happy face. She is so stinkin' cute]

That's about all for now. I get my girl back in 7 hours and 45 minutes. I can't wait. This is the longest I have been away from her since I got her. . .

Happy Birthday Paris!

Well, my little girl is a year old today. I can't believe it! She has been here for 5 months now and I couldn't be more pleased with her. She is a great pupper and only gets better and better.

Today has already been quite eventful. We had puppy meeting at my house this morning and we decided to make it a birthday party because four of our clubs puppies turned a year old this week. My leader passed the torch on to me to plan and everything so it was fun. I am afraid I showed my more dorky side today but my club seemed to enjoy it. :D And as an extra special treat Paris' first mom, Sarah came too. Paris was so excited to see her, it was cute.

[Paris with her goofy birthday hat on. It is a round cake shaped hat with three candles on top that all of my puppies have worn.]

Here are the pupcakes that I made for the party. Each dog got one. They are peanut butter and honey cupcakes with blended cottage cheese frosting and carrot shreds on top.
What is a birthday party without games. We played tic-tac-toe first. It's where we have the pup down-stay in a square and if they move they loose the square. We split into a yellow dog team and a black dog team. The yellow dogs won in the end. It was fun and it works on the dogs stay and dog distraction. Paris did really well, I was very impressed with her stays.

[Paris starting the game in the middle square.]

[Paris and Mara staying in their squares.]

[The baby of the group Sugar not so happy about her birthday hat but staying in her square still. If the pups are under 8mo their raiser can stay next to them but if they are over 8mo the raiser has to walk away]

Paris and Sugar staying on one side with Rafferty in the middle.]

[And Mara goes between Paris and Sugar for the block. Everyone staying so well.]

[Got two yellows in a row (Paris and Sugar) and then Rafferty in the middle square.]

[And Meade blocks Sugar and Paris.]

After that we played musical chairs where we walked around in circles and had the dog sit on a piece of paper when the music stopped. Paris' brother Peanut won that game.

After that it was time for pupcakes. I think the dogs enjoyed that the most!

[Paris waiting. . . patiently for her pupcake.]

[Peanut sitting and waiting for his pupcake.]

[Paris scarfing down her pupcake. Mouth open with crumbles coming out]

[Meade eating his pupcake.]

[Mara eats her pupcake.]

[Sugar (a 3 mo old very white little golden puppy) was quite impressive with her pupcake, she gobbled it down in one bite.]

[Moseley (10 mo old yellow lab) took his sweet time and made a big mess with his]

After everyone left I got to chat with Sarah for a bit and she even brought Paris a birthday present. Paris loves her new Nylabone and is currently laying at me feet gnawing noisily on her new bone. I'd say she likes it a lot. Thanks Sarah!

And that was the end. It was a very fun party and I am so glad everyone came. I think people and pups had a grand time and I hope to be able to do it again sometime.

PS. There were human cupcakes too, just so you know. :D

A Paris Post!!

Okay, okay, I feel horribly neglectful because Paris has not been represented on this blog for over a month! Sorry, little girl! So here is a quick post about what she has been up to the last month. :D

Paris had a great Christmas! She got a few new Nylabones and extra kibbles for dinner. :D

[Paris sitting in front of the Christmas tree holding her new Nylabone in her mouth] She also got her nails painted for Christmas. They were red and green, she was wonderfully patient while they were being done.

[A close up of Paris' front feed with her toe nails painted alternating red and green] Here are some pictures of Paris at work on Christmas day. . . yes I had to work Christmas and Christmas Eve, I wasn't so happy about it but, what can you do? Paris had fun running out in the yard while it was snowing.

[Paris standing with snow on her face, and a blanket of white on everything in sight][Paris running toward me with all her front feet in the air and her ears flying crazy, and a big spot of snow on her nose] [Paris lying on a trash bag at work. She does what she can to be comfy. I forgot to bring her bed to work that day.] [Paris laying down with both her front feet tucked underneath her. It doesn't look very comfy but she does it quite a lot.] This is my first picture taken of the year. She was sound asleep when the ball dropped and we all screamed "happy new year" and it didn't wake her up. So I called her name and snapped this picture. :D

[Paris laying in a ball, lifting her head with a VERY tired look on her face] [Paris sitting in front of some rolled up hides in a leather shop that I frequent. The shop owner gets very excited to see Paris each time and asks about her progress] My family had my sister take family pictures of all of us, so I asked for some Christmasy pictures of me and Paris. I love them!

[Me looking at Paris and her looking at me, we both have serious looks on our face. I don't know why I like this one, but I do] [Me kneeling with Paris sitting next to me. I have a big smile on my face and Paris is looking at the camera.] [A close-up of mine and Paris' faces next to each other.] We also started school again. Here is Paris in our first class.

[Paris sleeping with her nose tucked under her paw.] Also, GDB's partnership with Science Diet has ended so we got to take the patch on the puppy coat off. That was very exciting! I was very tired of all the science diet questions. :D Here is our patchless jacket. I love it! [Paris laying down in a guitar shop. My friend was playing and trying out guitars and Paris settled right down to listen, it was great.] [Paris sitting in front of a row of guitars. One of the is bright blue, I really liked it.]

Me and a friend started rock climbing about two months ago and the other day it was basically empty so I brought Paris along. She did great! I put her in a down stay while we climbed a bit and she didn't move a muscle. Then I found a bolt in the wall to tie her down to and she hung out happily there. She did get a little concerned when I would climb and watched me go up and down, it was cute.

[Here is Paris sitting in front of the rock climbing wall while we put our equipment on.]

[Cheesy set up with Paris sitting in front of the wall, we pulled ropes behind her and put our climbing shoes next to her.]

[Paris sitting in front of the wall with my rock climbing shoes on her feet.]

[A picture looking down at Paris from the top of the wall. She didn't take her eyes off of me the whole time]

Then we went upstairs and went bouldering. Bouldering is where you climb with no ropes or harnesses up short (about 10 feet) walls. It helps you learn technique and hand and leg placements. It was fun. I put Paris in a down stay on some crash pads and she got really comfy and stayed there. I was very proud.

[Here is Paris sitting on the crash pads]

[A close up of Paris' face with the rock wall behind.]

[Paris super comfy on the big pads]

[Me and Paris sitting on the floor with the rock wall behind. Paris is sitting between my legs and I am giving her a big bear hug.] I was so proud of her, she did GREAT!!

Then on Thursday I got to puppy sit Peanut. It has been great to have him. He should be leaving sometime today. :D Peanut is Paris brother. This is the first time I have watched sibling and it was really fun. They look nothing alike but they act very similar. Anyway, Peanut is a black lab and he has been a pretty good house guest. :D

[Peanut and Paris playing tug with a rubber ring toy]

[Paris leaping toward Peanut who got the ring away from her]

[Paris and Peanut in the car on the way to puppy class. They are both laying in the back seat asleep and Paris is resting her head on his feet.

[Paris and Peanut ready to get out of the car and head to class. They are both sitting looking out the front window.]

[After puppy class both pups were bushed. Here is Paris sleeping with her Nylaring between her feet.]

[Paris and Peanut sitting next to each other in my backyard. You can really see that they look nothing alike. Peanut is really tall, long, and skinny and Paris is quite a bit shorter and. . .stockier.]

Last picture,

I took Paris to see the movie Avatar on Saturday night. She did great through the nearly 3 hour movie. I wasn't going to take her but decided I might as well. She was perfect and only got a little antsy half way through but settled herself down pretty quickly. What a great pup she is!!

[Paris sitting in the theatre with my 3D glasses on]

I guess that's about it. I should never get this behind again because this post took me forever! So that should get y'all about caught up on what the Paris has been up to. She continues to grow and mature and is such a sweetheart. She tries really hard to do things right, of course she is not perfect and makes the occasional mistake but she is wonderful and I really have enjoyed our last four months together. She will be 11 months on Wednesday and then she turns a year old next month. I can't believe she is almost 1, how scary. That means that she could be recalled anytime really. I think she is with the older group in Utah right now so she could be recalled late March/ early April . . . scary!! Anyway, hope everyone else is having a great MLK day!