Poor Lacey

Little Lacey got spayed yesterday and it was a little bit more than she bargained for. Not only was she spayed but she had her rear dew claws and a few teeth removed too! She is a pretty sad little pup today in her teeny tiny cone. She is so laid back than when the cone gets "stuck" on something she just stops and stands there. It is funny and sad all at the same time. When the cone comes off, she perks up immediately but she also starts to lick her feet so it goes back on pretty quickly. I'll try and get some pictures tonight or tomorrow of the sad little tyke.

Coulee on the other hand had a great morning. We met Marja and Tundra for a dog walk and as you can see, the two of them had a blast! She really loves Tundra and the two of them haven't been on an off leash walk together for a long time. They didn't mind the cold but my hands were sure freezing by the end.

Starbucks Fetish

I'm not the only one who can't get enough Starbucks!

Better than a photo

Here is a picture my niece drew of the furry kids... We laughed at how accurate Coulee's nose was. :)

The scribbled out part is where she wrote "pests" instead of "pets". A freudian slip perhaps. :)

Walrus

Long Weekend

It was great to be able to spend the long weekend with my family. My sister and her family arrived on Friday night after Marlin and I spent the day cleaning and hanging out with the dogs. We went on a great walk down at Peenaquim which is where all these photos are from. Don't you love the way Lacey stayed nice and clean for the company?

The dogs and kids got along great - unless you count the fact that the kids (the youngest especially) were fairly scared of Coulee. They don't liked to be kissed but they are at the perfect height for Coulee and she couldn't resist. They are also pretty scared whenever she barks - which is fairly frequently! But Lacey did wonderfully and the kids also liked Coulee whenever she was calm. Playing fetch was also a pretty fun game for all of them.

I don't think any of us had as much fun as we would have liked, we were too busy working! Marlin and Steve installed our laminate floor in the livingroom (it looks great!!!) and also started on the frame for a new visual barrier for one of our fences at the daycare. We have people that walk down the street, see the dogs and walk up to the fence to either stare or stick their fingers through...not a good idea. The dogs go crazy and bark their heads off. We will ask people to leave and despite us being polite, they are pretty rude back to us. So we are hoping the visual barrier will help avoid the problem. If nothing else, it will provide some shade for the dogs as well.

Instead of dying easter eggs this year, the kids dyed wool! Last night the kids got to work painting some wool with Kool-aid and had a blast. My sister now has requests to knit it into fingerless mitts for the oldest, and an easter egg for the youngest. They also painted some raw wool for me so I can spin it into yarn. I can't wait to see what it will look like.

They left this morning but were having trouble with their Van so I just found out they are on their way back - good for us, not so good for them.

Preparing for the big visit

I'm really looking forward to the long weekend. It is the first long weekend I've had off in a long time and I don't even have it completely off. The 2 cat visits I have will barely feel like work - they live on the same street as me, and the cats do not like to visit so I essentially run in, check their food, water and litter, do a quick health check (i.e. lay eyes on all the cats and make sure they don't seem to be labouring with any sickness) and run back out. And to make the long weekend extra special, my sister and her family will be visiting.

We've been preparing Lacey by introducing her to any kids I can get my hands on. :) First she met some kids at the indoor dog park, then she met Natalie's kids when they stopped by one day at the daycare. Then I brought her to Natalie's house one night when we had a meeting about the adoption fair where she met Alayna's two boys as well. This past weekend we had friends stay with us and they have a two year old boy. She did pretty good and only got freaked out a few times when he would run towards her. I'm pretty confident she'll do great with my nieces as they are a little older and are pretty respectful of dogs' personal space.

Coulee should be OK with the kids. She does love to give them kisses (they are at a great height for kisses!) but Sarah, the oldest loves to play fetch with her and they keep each other fairly entertained. The last time they visited Ali, the youngest, was still a little unsure of her but I'm hoping a little aging on both their parts will improve their relationship.

Job Search

When I started dog walking 2 years ago, I had quite a bit of time on my hands. Even as the business grew, I had large blocks of time between dog walks and cat visits that I wanted to fill with work to help suppliment my earnings. My only problem was I never knew what my schedule was going to be and I would often get calls with just a few hours notice. Dog walking was my main priority so I wanted to be able to maintain that flexibilty, yet we really could have used a little extra cash. I scoured the classifieds and did managed to do a few contract jobs that I could do from home. Then Marlin and I got a newspaper route. It was great exercise, not-so-great income, and had horrible hours. We had to have the papers delivered by 7 a.m. so we had enough time to come home and get ready for work. Plus it was 7 days a week so we never got to sleep in. The good news is, those horrible hours rarely conflicted with our "day" jobs so it was a great fit. The weird thing is, I can't seem to stop looking for work! I have barely any spare time, but help wanted ads always catch my eye and actually make my heart skip a litle. I find myself thinking, "I wonder what the hours are?"