Birthday Girl!

Today my second puppy Tahoma turned 5!!! Oh my goodness I cannot believe she is that old. I wonder if she is graying yet. . . I have not heard from her partner in a while so I sent off an e-mail today wishing her happy b-day so hopefully I hear something soon. So, HAPPY BIRTHDAY HOMIE!! Hope you had an uber good day.

I totally forgot I had this picture it was sent to me about nine months after her partner and her graduated. She is at a wedding that her handler officiated. She travels all over the east coast doing weddings and they spend two months a year in Israel. I am so jealous of all her travels. :D Keep up the good work Homes!

Today me and Fuller went to my little sisters softball game. He had so much fun, well at the beginning and then he was just bored. But there was about a mazillion little kids there to pet and love on him and he really enjoyed that part. This picture was during warm ups, my little sister is the girl with #1 on her back. During the game she hit a home run! Go Tori!! We were so proud, it was a good game. My sisters team lost by 1 run, they would have won but. . . never mind, don't get me started. :D Anyway, while my sisters team was warming up I sat on the grass with Fuller, after about five minutes I hear these sweet little girl behind me clear her throat. So, I turned around and there is a cute little six year old girl behind me in a wheelchair. She asked me about Fullerton and why he had a jacket on. I told her he was in training to be a guide dog. Then she got really excited and told me that when she was old enough she was going to get a service dog. She asked if she could pet him and of course I said sure. So I told Fuller to sit and he did and then my precious little man put his head in her lap and let her pet him. It was so sweet and she was giggling like crazy. It totally made my day!! She started asking me if I knew anything about service dogs "for people in wheelchairs" so I told her what I knew. She is really excited and told me she wanted a girl yellow lab. She stayed pretty close to us during the game and gave Fullerton pets periodically. She was such a sweetheart, I loved chatting with her. :D Anyway, here are the rest of the pictures. Here is Fuller watching the game This little boy was so cute. He would come over and squat in front of Fuller and just stare and him. He did pat Fuller on the head once but other than that, the closest he got was showing Fuller the softball. He was such a smiley little guy it was cute. "Mommy. . . can we go home yet?!?!?!?!?" That was our day at the ballgame.

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)