Ruff House

So, I'm still working at that awesome Doggy-Daycare, Ruff House. I love it! I am privileged to work Monday, Friday, and Saturday. Poli is just not a fan of having dogs swarm him, but he puts up with it, and will readily get into the car to go with me. He will play as long as there is no chance of another dog "sneaking up on him". I love his guts!

Poli hadn't had a bath in about 3 weeks, so he was pretty dirty, but I gave him a bath and he looks great! He's such a fluffer duffer!
He has played with this little girl:
She's the white one. The brown one is her brother, and he hates playing just as much a Poli. Leyah is still a puppy, but she looked just like Poli as a puppy. She is a Coton de Tulear.

I'm so freaking excited for our new puppy! I'm still not sure when we'll get her, but we'll know if the mom I want is pregnant in just a few weeks. The litter would then be born in the middle of February and we'd do a major road-trip to Michigan RIGHT after finals(April) to pick her up. The, hopefully, mom and dad are Leia and Solo from Terra Pines: http://terrapines.com/images/Leia/Leia%206%20months.jpg AND http://terrapines.com/images/Solo/Solo%202%20and%20half%20years.jpgthese two have gorgeous pups! Anyway, more updates to come!

...

Hello again to those, my sister, who read this. It's been a crazy year etc. but I'm lovin' every minute of it.
Poli is still a crazy character, but maybe a little better behaved. I've been working at Ruff House Mondays, Fridays, and most Saturdays since April. I still take Poli nearly every time. I've been going to school too. Last semester I took Biological diversity: plants, Ecology, Geography 211, intro. to Archaeology and The first half of the New Testament. It was great! I even earned a 3.78. I'm very proud of that GPA!
This semester I've had some changes and last minute class adds/drops. I'm 90% certain I will stay with what I have now, but we'll see. I have 3 classes for my major(which I have officially declared to be Wildlife and Wildlands Conservation) and 2 Science of Family Life classes...maybe for a minor?
I've also gone through a very special summer. I made a deal with my father that if i lost 35 lbs, I could get another dog...a Native American Indian Dog. I accomplished this feat, and hopefully we will get our girl in April right after finals. We are waiting to hear if the mother, Leia, is pregnant, and then in mid-February the pups will be born. We are all so excited!
The breeder is in Michigan and they are wonderful people. It's called Terra Pines. When we know for sure if our perfect girl will be available for us, we will finalize plans, but for now we plan to take a roadtrip. We, meaning me, Linz, Spencer, Mom, and Dad, will go see some church history sites and then visit our cousins in Chicago. we will then pick up Artemis(Missy) and drive home. (If you think Artemis is a boy's name, you are uneducated!!! Look it up in the dictionary or any Classical Mythology text)
I may add pictures soon, but we'll see if I have the time...

Las Vegas

Last Tuesday we decided to go to Las Vegas. I has work until 7 on Friday though, so we were gonna leave after that. My brother refused to watch our dog while we would be gone, so, luckily there was room, I boarded him at work. When I left ruff house without him, he would not be quiet. He was so upset, and I nearly cried. I drove home and we left for Vegas. Our hotel messed up our reservation, so they gave us two suites for the price we had paid through travelocity(cheap rooms etc.) Nice! Linz and I shared our suite and each had a room to ourselves. Both of us were missing Poli though. Anyway, we were ready by 9 am Saturday for the hotel's breakfast, in the casino. Wouldn't you know it, this hotel doesn't enforce the no smoking rule, so I could hardly breathe as we waited in line for food. We left and went to the Paris's buffet instead. It was amazing!!!!!!! Afterwards we walked theh strip for a while and, being exhausted, I slept on a small couch while my dad had a meeting and Lindsey looked for a nail salon and my mom just sat. And Yata, yata, yata, we drove back home.
We got home at 12:30ish and went to bed. Sunday I could hardly hold still through church. I wanted to go get my dog! Ruff doesn't open on Sundays until 12 and closes at 3, so I left Relief Society, finally, a little early to go get him. When I got there I went into the back to get him, since I work there, and the big dogs who remembered me from Friday surrounded me. Poli was too scared of them to get close so he whined his hardest. When I finally got him to the car he jumped in. I closed the door and he freaked! He may have thought I'd leave again, but I entered on the driver's side and he couldnt' be happier. We drove back to the church to pick up lindsey and waited. When she finally came out I said, "where's Lindsey?" He jolted alert. When he finally found her he started whining, and when she started jogging over he went, again, berzerk. It was adorable.

hike...

So... I love the mountains and wilderness. I've been wanting to go hiking (walking slowly, with many breaks, up a mountain) for a few weeks with Napoleon. So today I drove up to dry canyon, only there is a sign saying something like, "no motor traffic beyond this point." You can't even see the parking lot. Whatever... so i parked there and walked all the way up the PAVED ROAD to the parking lot with, wouldn't you know, CARS! By the time I get there I'm already exhausted, but I haven't even found the trail head yet... then I find the different trails and take one with steps into the canyon. It was beautiful, but I went very slowly. (Of course this is the point where at least three athletic people finish different hikes and see me slowly going up a trail since I'm already tired...) Anyway, Poli did pretty well; He would sniff around when I would pause, and jump up the "big" steps. Don't worry, it was at least a 30 degree incline at least 80 percent of the time. Anyway, we got to the one shady area, and it had lovely squarish rocks on top of each other. Perfect place to rest and listen to Mo. Tab. while looking at God's creations. (the two sides of the canyon making a frame for the valley) Poli rested too. we kept going a little ways, but soon turned around and came back.
On the way down, we passed two old men coming up and a kid later. Poli tried to guard the trail as they passed. He would not leave the center of the trail... he's totally crazy. We eventually made it to the paved road again and went down, down, down. (after going down, down, down dirt and rocks, watching every step so I wouldn't fall to my death) We saw this:
And yes, I do believe it is a half eated moose leg. It gets better. It was about 50 feet from my car, and the subdivision where I parked. Yum.
Anyway, I gave Poli water when we got to the car and I had some too. When we got home though I walked in, and about 10 seconds later, heard poli plop down on the tile floor. He wouldn't move either... he was exhausted;) Then, of course, I had to bathe his feet. the end.

wow. it's been a long time...

So I did have things to talk about and pictures to show, but the pictures were on Lindsey's camera. so, now we have them... or not. she erased them. But... Poli did great on Feb. 14 at work. He was still a scardy cat, but did much better and even approached a cocker and others. Of course, the moment they wanted to play he ran away...

Skip to this week... Poli has been getting resistent. Everytime we tried to leave he would stay away from the kennel so we wouldn't leave and he wouldn't get stuck in there. Then I decided to teach him to stay in the house. I love to watch "It's me or the dog," and she suggested a kong for the dog to play with for the first few minutes while the owners are gone. I filled his kong and Monday nad Tuesday we left him for over three hours. He did great. He is still learning, but did much better than I expected.

So, we all know my obsession with Native American Indian Dogs, right? Poli got into linz's asperin and I became worried, obviously. I know a great deal of his mess making is because he's bored. Reading articles and letters of people with NAIDs etc. I think one of the best ways to help this would be to get him another dog. I realized that getting that second, a NAID, dog was not just for me anymore. I realized that I wanted to get him one so that he would be happier... I thought about what I would be willing to do to get that dog. I thought about what would tempt my dad to get us one... of course! I made a deal with him. We are both happy with it. I lose 35 pounds and he buys me my NAID. I've been doing well so far this week. I'm eating WAY LESS and we go exercising everyother morning. I also hiked a mile into the canyon for a class today. I definitely think I can do this. Not only do I want that do REALLY bad, but I know I need to lose weight and be more healthy. This will be great!

doggy day care...

So, I got a job at RUFF house doggy day care a few weeks ago, (www.utahruffhouse.com) but it's been so slow that I had only worked once. So, today when my dad took me to get the suburban safety inspected, and were gonna go for a walk while waiting, I brought Poli. We were right by my work, so I took him there. I also wanted to see if I could come in, and I wanted to ask if i was allowed to bring my dog to work. Something you should know is that even though I try to train Poli and make him AWESOME, he's got some problems. Other dogs would be one of them. He is terrified. It's so stupid, but that's Poli. So I walked him over to RUFF House and said "hi" to my boss etc. She had me bring Poli back and he went crazy. He ran as fast as he could away from the other dogs and whinned the whole time. She told me to ignore him because I'm his owner and it would help teach him how to behave... Basically he did badly, and pooed, and stayed right by me, but Terra told me to bring him to work every time and he'd get better (I'm going in again tomorrow at 3). So, three problems solved: Poli will get the socialization he NEEDS, I can bring him to work, and I am going to work!!!! Yay! Another reason to love this twelfth of February...

HOORAY

One year ago today I drove with my parents and sister to pick up my brand new puppy. He was perfect. Although it was a rough week or two teaching Napoleon not to whine in his kennel and then to not pee in my room at night when he slept on my bed, it has all definitely been worth it! I have noticed, and I've talked to my family about it, but having a dog completely changes me. I am all around happier and I have someone to distract. I have always known I would be a dog person, and I thank my Heavenly Father for one of the best blessings I have. Although I'm allergic to many things, dogs have never been one. There was a time when I thought I may have dog allergies, but it was just grass. I have worked with MANY dogs the past year and can say with all confidence that I am not allergic, and I am definitely meant to handle dogs. Poli is the greatest blessing in my life, and I love him so much. Thank you Mom and Dad for giving him to me, and thank you everyone else for dealing with my ranting and crazyness about my dog.
And now, without further adu... Poli as a rug... or, at least he looked like a bear rug and I thought it was funny so here it is:

This is where Poli decided that the couch wasn't enough, or a pillow on the floor. He actually moved the pillow into position to lie down on it on the couch. He certainly seemed content. Happy aniversary!