A Bird Dog?

On a trip to Home Depot this weekend for gardening twine I acquired a tree for the patio garden. It's a great little globe blue spruce in a topiary form, and was planted in a rather large wooden box.

Needing help getting the tree in the car, I solicited a couple gentlemen to assist. (Actually I needed to figure out how it was going to fit in the car - I drive a Subaru Outback, a.k.a, the Grocery Getter). When I opened the back there was the crate that Boston rides in. Sans Boston. One of the guys looked at it and asked "Oh, do you have a bird?". Hmm....

The tree didn't fit in the back. The guys ended up wrestling it into the back seat and I opened to sun roof so it could stick out the top. Thank goodness for the sunny day. The tree made it home unscathed and is happily in its new digs. I must show it off.

Send Pictures

My family keeps telling me to send more pictures of Boston. Boston has had a couple unplanned visits to the vet. Without going into detail, I'll just say "Montezuma's Revenge" has been knocking at her door. Boston has made several new friends at the South Metro Animal Emergency Care in Apple Valley. While we appreciate all the great service and loving care they have extended upon Boston, we hope we don't see them again soon. On a recent visit one of the techs asked if she could "decorate" her.

This one is just plain cute, and I have to post it before she grows any more. Boston has doubled in size since we got her!

My First Sleepover

We have a guest blogger today. Julie Vanderheyden took care of Boston while I was out of town. I got to know Julie while training our first service dogs together, and we've become friends.

Boston tells of her visit to Julie's house, as translated by Julie:

Mom packed my bags and sent me on my first sleepover adventure while she traveled to Washington D.C. I got to go to Marley's house - he's a 4 year old black lab that has about as much energy as me! We had lots of fun wrestling, playing tug-of-war and chasing each other around the yard. I was a little scared to go down the steps at Marley's house, but now I am a pro at it. Marley has a lot of neighbor dog friends, so I got to meet all of them. One day we all chased each other around in the yard - it was like a mini dog park. One of my most favorite things to do at Marley's house is to run under the bed and hide. One day no one could find me and I think everyone got a little nervous until I wiggled out from underneath and then everyone was laughing and smiling again. I also had a lot of fun with the toilet paper rolls!

Marley's mom thinks I'm showing promising signs of being a service dog because I brought her lots of things that I found on the floor including shoes (but I never chewed them), baseball hats, pieces of clothing, the dish towel, etc. I also helped unload laundry from the dryer. And most importantly, I gave out lots of kisses and affection.

I really enjoyed my first sleepover at Marley's and hope I can go back there again sometime soon!

Happy Mother's Day From Boston

Here's an email I received from Boston while in DC since, of course, I'm a dog-mom.

Hi Mom,

I'm having lots of fun at Marley's house. He is very patient with me when I nip at his ears and his tail. He and I slept until 9 a.m. this morning. Then I met his cousins Lucy and Lily. They are little white westies and they are real crabby! They barked a lot at me - I'm not sure why because I was very nice to them.

Marley and I went on a 45 minute walk, and I saw a lot of birds that I wanted to chase. Then we played outside with all the neighbor dogs - Lucy, Lily, Abby the french poodle and Marley. I've never been so tired in my life. I'm taking a nap right now trying to recover.



There was a dinner party here last night and I met a whole bunch of people and snuggled up with all of them. Everyone really likes me here, and they all like to hold me and squeeze me.

Marley has some really cool toys and he likes to play tug of war with me. Sometimes he wins, sometimes I win. I'm sending you some pictures because I'm sure you are missing me. Have a good time in Washington with Kathy and Joy, and I'll see you on Wednesday.

Happy Mother's Day!

Love, Boston

Bath Night

Boston had a big night tonight so we wanted to make sure she was spankin' clean. She still fits in the kitchen sink if she has two feet in each tub. Boston behaved herself pretty well, but of course had to get a taste of the soap. How many adults does it take to give a 20# puppy a bath? Two.

We attended Helping Paws' Spring Graduation tonight, where two individuals received service dogs. What an exciting time that is. It was the first large group event for Boston and she did quite well. With all the activity I had to work harder to keep her attention on me. I also realized this was the first time Boston has heard applause. She was puzzled at the noise at first, but easily accepted it as the program went on.

I am leaving for Washington, DC in the morning and Boston is spending the time with a friend, Julie. Julie met us at graduation to pick up Boston. I felt like a mother giving a new babysitter instructions. I wrote out a list and also had to tell Julie everything I could think of. And then, of course, on the way home had to call Julie because I forgot something. I keep thinking of other things I forgot to tell her but am restraining myself from calling.

It's the first time away from home for Boston so will be interesting to hear how it went. In talking with Julie we realized I forgot to pack the boots.



Oops, sorry Julie.

Good luck.

A Toast to Cheers!

In anticipation of Mother's Day, Boston would like to extend a Salut to her mom, Cheers. The Cheers' litter had a theme, and I'm speculating you can guess what it is. Need a hint? Think of a pub... where everybody knows your name.

While visiting with, er..socializing, Boston at a friend's house we decided to have a beer. When Jody pulled this mug out of the freezer we couldn't resist the Kodak moment.

Of course, Boston being the gal she is she had to try to get a taste. The good parents we are, and the fact that she is under age, we didn't let her have any.

Check out Cheers Doggie Bloggie to get the full story on the litter. There's some great humor. Boston's birth name is Kelly (Kelly-Kelly-Kelly K-E-L-L-Y!). Although some days I think she was switched at birth with Carla.