Adventures In Puppy Raising

"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went." ~ Will Rogers

If you've been reading this blog regularly, you know we recently added a beautiful Golden Retriever to the family mix. Cedar is now nine months old and 70 lbs of sheer goofy stubbornness.

Now, I'm not saying Cedar is a bad dog. He's actually quite delightful for the most part. But then there's the other part. Like when we tell him not to do something, he'll stop the one time, then do it again a few minutes later. The worst of it is, I know he knows he's not suppose to do it because he has that guilty look on his face and watches you out of the corner of his eye waiting to see if you notice what he's doing.

We took him to obedience school and he did great. Well, medium great. He was easily distracted when anyone new entered the room. Whatever was going on had to stop while he rushed over and went crazy with exuberance over their arrival. That was all well and good when he was only a small, fuzzy puppy. But he's a big boy now (albeit still a puppy), and if you've ever been barreled into by 70 lbs of muscle, you'll know it isn't exactly a joyous experience. At least you'll come to that conclusion once you regain consciousness and find yourself laying prone on the ground, your body feeling as if it's met the business end of a Mack truck.

Anyway, I have been bemoaning the fact that we have not kept up with his training and now we are having some issues. Mostly pulling on the leash, trying to jump up on any newcomers (or just anyone walking by), and his new thing - barking then biting the arm of the couch when he wants our attention.

We tried several methods that our trainer suggested, and while they worked when he was a younger pup, now they no longer do. Frustrated with how to handle the situation before it became a permanent thing, I found myself watching At The End of My Leash yesterday. Brad Pattison, the trainer guy, told the people on the show who had similar issues as we did with their lab, that they couldn't talk to the dog for a week, and when they needed to correct him, to give a quick snap to the leash. Not a hard, yank-you-off-your-feet yank, just enough to get their attention.

Hmm...I thought. I wonder if this would work with Cedar? I had the opportunity to find out about a minute later when he started barking and biting the couch. And oddly, it did work. J and I stopped talking to the dog and did the collar jerk when he barked, interrupting his behavior and showing it was unacceptable. After a few minutes, he figured it out and settled down at our feet. But he kept looking at us all night like he couldn't figure out why he was ensconced in the Cone of Silence. Have you ever had sad, golden retriever puppy eyes turned on you? It's a deadly weapon. But I was determined and refused to cave! Plus, it was working.

It's only been one day, but the walk this morning went better than usual. J rated it a 5/10 as opposed to his usual -12. So, we are going to keep the silence up for a few days and see how it goes. Hopefully, we are onto something, and the bad behavior will be a thing of the past. Our goofy not-so-little pup will grow up to become a well-behaved member of society. And this time, we will keep up with the training and not slack off. I refuse to become one of those dog owners people point at (curse at) because they have no control over their animal.

Re-focusing for 2010

This year was really busy. Kind of insane, really. When I look at everything I had to deal with in 2009 I sometimes wonder how I got through to the other end with my mental status still registering normal. Well…normal for me, anyway.

However, the year is almost at an end, and despite all the brouhaha kicked up in the past twelve months, the lack of publishing success, the questioning of my goals – in writing, life, etc (you name it, I questioned it), the belief that I was living under a dark cloud that kept chasing me everywhere I went, I am actually looking forward to the holidays.

And not because that means 2009 is almost at an end. I made the mistake of saying at the end of a rather trying 2008 that I should look on the bright side – 2009 couldn’t be any worse. Then the sh*t storm that was 2009 hit and, well, I learned that yes, Kelly, it could get worse.

I also learned that what doesn’t kill you makes you scarred and bitter and angry. Oh no, wait, no…that wasn’t it…hang on, I wrote it down here somewhere…just give me a minute…ah, here it is: it makes you stronger. Hm. Well okay then. I suppose it beats the alternative. Not to mention much more attractive than scarred, bitter and angry.

So I will not say 2010 cannot possibly get any worse. I’ve learned my lesson on that account and there’s no point in throwing that challenge out to the karma gods yet again.

But I will tell you what 2010 will be. It will be a year of re-focusing. Of getting my head back in the game. And even more importantly, getting my heart back in the game. Re-discovering my joy of writing, the rush of can’t-get-to-the-keyboard-fast-enough, the wonderful play of words and ideas and emotions. And the craft. I think the past two years I got so caught up in the business of writing, I forgot to have fun. I forgot about the craft.

I forgot that I love to do this and can’t imagine any other alternative.

Given all of that, 2010 shall henceforth be dubbed the Year of Re-focusing. Actually that sounds kind of blah. How about The Year of New Beginnings? I like that better.

This year, I’m going to play. With words, with ideas, with new genres. I’m going to invest my time in the craft and improving my skills and rediscovering why I do this and why I can’t not do this. I’m also going to update my blog more regularly. Hopefully once a week. I swear.

And speaking of new beginnings, I’m starting off the new year with a new addition. A fur-baby in the form of a fuzzy golden retriever pup who will be ready to bring home on my birthday in mid January. And this time, I don’t care what catastrophe befalls me, this puppy is going to stay.

Rejuvenation!

The writing gang (aka 10 members of the RWAC chapter) converged on White Point Beach this past weekend for our annual Writers’ Retreat. Each year we rent a private cottage on the resort that sleeps about 10 and we spend Friday-Sunday writing our little hearts out. Not to say writing is the only thing we do. We also do brainstorming sessions, writing exercises, plenty of eating, movie watching (for inspiration of course), and wine drinking.

This year’s format allowed for more writing time, so I had lots of opportunity to work on the two new manuscripts I’ve decided to concentrate on and figure out which one will be the chosen one for NaNo. I had intended on working on a contemporary story with romantic elements, but I think I will save that one for the new year and use the YA paranormal for NaNo. It means a lot of work trying to get the structure of the book outlined and the characters figured out before November 1st, so I’m hustling my butt and my brain, and the retreat gave me the opportunity to do both.

The retreat always rejuvenates me and as soon as we leave I’m already looking forward to next year’s.

Below are some pixs of retreat that Julia took. Mine are still languishing on my digi-cam and will hopefully get downloaded this weekend when I find a spare minute.

Meanwhile, in other news – we’re still waiting to hear if we are getting a pup from the current litter the breeder has or the next one. I’m really hoping for this one, but if it doesn’t happen, guess there’s not much I can do but wait until the next one. I’m really happy with this breeder and her dogs and definitely want one of them.

In preparation however, we did get the kitchen and hallway floors redone and now have the ugly peeling linoleum gone, gone, gone replaced by lovely new ceramic tile. Which is very cold in the morning, but oh so pretty to look at.

It was REALLY chilly when Julia and I arrived. We were the first ones there and the heat was turned off, so we had to bundle up until things got warmer.

This must be where I'm regaling everyone with my brilliantly constructed plot. Or where I killed the clown. I forget. Either way, they're obviously riveted.

Me and Julia imbibing during dinner. I did mention there was wine drinking. : )

Poking My Head Up

It has been a busy month for me, hence my lingering absence on the blog. I keep waiting for things to calm down but I think I'm beginning to realize calm is a relative term. So I am attempting to find a balance between all the things that need to get done, and all the things I want to do. Oddly these are often two very separate lists with little overlap.

The past year has been one fraught with ups and downs. Between illnesses (mine and others), family issues, sick children, getting a dog, giving the dog away, forgoing my single life and living in sin, uncertainty at work, writing, rejection, placing in contests, and still feeling as if I'm slogging away and making little progress, and realizing there really are never enough hours in the day, I am one exhausted (albeit resilient) individual.

I would love to take a week and get away from it all but unfortunately with one of the issues being an ill child, any trips have been put off until next year.

But slowly things are improving. The child is doing well. Big sigh of relief. I was thankfully given the diagnosis that I do not have MS, another big sigh of relief that was seven months coming. And though we had to give up the pup, we now have another one on the way, scheduled to be born September 30th, which means a bring home date of around end of November. And I don't care what catastrophe befalls us this time, that dog isn't going anywhere!

The writing is coming along. I had awesome comments from the Toronto judges, which was very satisfying. The Indiana contest was not too helpful. I had two judges but their comments were almost diametrically opposite. What one liked the other didn't and vice versa. I have one more contest entry out there, so we'll see how that one does.

I have also decided not to enter the GH this year. I was planning on it, but now that going to Nashville is probably just a pipedream due to finances, I am going to hold off and not rush my revisions to get the manuscript ready for the deadline. I'll work on them in October and December, taking November off to do NaNoWriMo and hammer out a first draft of something new.

What that new thing will be, I have no idea. I suppose I could do Book 2 in one of my two series but I would really like to venture out into somewhere different. A different time period, a different setting, even a different genre maybe, I don't know. But I better hurry up. I like to have my outline ready by November 1st and I'm still stumped on an idea. Hopefully our writers' retreat Oct 16-18 will help loosen the creative muscle and pump out a new idea.

I also realized that Christmas is only three months away, which naturally, like every year before it, means my knitting projects are far from being finished and I need to get my proverbial butt in gear.

The cake decorating course is going good. Unfortunately, due to a day surgery procedure I need to have done, I am going to missing the last class of Course I. So unless I can slip into another class that isn't fully booked to make up that last class, I won't get my certificate. So I'll have to figure something out because I'm starting Course II the following week.

And there you have it, the latest update of what's going on in my little world.

Mine, Mine, Mine

This little girl is mine. I went to the breeders to visit her for the first time today and don't ask me how I got away without tossing her in my satchel and making a run for the car.



Ain't she cute? She was the calmest one of the bunch and had such a sweet disposition.



When I picked her up, she just melted like butter in my arms, closed her eyes and started falling asleep. Usually when people do that to me I get annoyed, but this time I found it rather adorable.

This may end up being the longest two weeks of my life. Good thing the BF is taking me away this weekend!

A Crisis of Some Kind

Ennui (en-nui): A feeling of utter weariness and discontent resulting from satiety or lack of interest; boredom. Synonyms: listlessness, tedium, lassitude, languor.

I can’t seem to shake it so I figured I might as well blog about it. Maybe it’s the times we are currently living in. The sad state of the economy seems to have most people walking on egg shells or feeling like a dark cloud is looming over their head, a perpetual Schleprock state of existence. Yet, no matter how much I try and outrun the cloud I can’t seem to lose it.

In the past five months I’ve watched the majority of our executive management at work leave, including my own boss and another close friend. Then another friend was let go a month after that. I’ve stopped counting how many people we’ve lost to lay-offs or those who jumped ship before the lay-offs occurred. I refer to my area of the office now as The Dead Zone with the sudden quiet of empty offices and missing podmates. We used to call our pod of four, The Fun Zone. It’s not so much fun any more.

Added to all of this was the stress created by months of waiting to find out if you were on the list of those getting axed, or if you were safe. It was like a bad version of Survivor where you didn’t know if you were going to be voted off the island or not. Then when you discovered your name did not have a pink slip attached to it there was the inevitable dichotomy of feeling relieved and guilty, because it meant someone else took the fall, likely someone you would have preferred to keep around. All of this was topped off with the news wage freezes were in effect for the year, putting the kibosh on the slim hope that maybe all your hard work from the previous year might result in at least a minimal increase to help offset the 6% cost of living increase. But no.

Worst of all is that somehow this has begun to bleed into my writing. Not so much my output, or what lands on the page, but the optimism I feel about my work eventually hitting the store shelves. With rejection after rejection coming in from agent queries, it is beginning to feel as if my feet are stuck firmly in the sludge with no hope of escape. I find myself more days then not staring into the future and no longer seeing or feeling a light at the end of the tunnel.

Normally, I’m a glass half-full kind of girl. I’m pretty good at keeping my spirits up and just ploughing through tough times. I rarely let anything stand in my way and if it does I find a way around it, through it, over or under it. I'm Solutions Girl. It's like a super power without a cape to go with it. But lately I find I'm running out of ideas where the writing is concerned and the bleakness that thought creates only seems to compound the original ennui.

My hope is that it’s just a temporary glitch. I’ll get back to my old rarin’ to go self in no time. Maybe the onset of Spring will improve my state of mind. In the interim, I will just hang in and chant under my breath, ‘this too shall pass…this too shall pass…’ And hopefully I will be right. I have to be. The alternative is far too unpretty otherwise.

But it hasn't all been bad news. I am going for a little puppy visitation this Friday. I found out I am getting a girl, though the right name still escapes me. I'll be sure and take plenty of pixs while I'm down there and post a few next week. In the meanwhile, here is one from the litter:

Meanwhile back in Crazy Town

This week has been another roller coaster. We did more lay-offs at work. Thankfully I managed to come through unscathed, but a few friends were not so lucky. It’s an odd situation. On the one hand you are breathing a huge sigh of relief you still have a job in this economic climate. On the other hand, you’re feeling bad about your friends who lost their jobs. And then you feel guilty for feeling relieved because they don’t have that option. I’ll be glad when this economic cycle starts swinging back up the other way. I know it will, but right now there are days when things can look pretty bleak.

On the plus side, at least it has hammered home the need to leave below my means. Luckily the BF is adamant about doing this which should keep me on the straight and narrow. Not that I spend money left, right and centre, but sometimes I can get that ‘need it now’ rush where you try to rationalize why you simply MUST HAVE SOMETHING. When in fact, you really don’t need it. Or at least you don’t need it right this minute and perhaps you can save up until you can afford to pay cash instead of whipping out the ole credit card.

So once the lay offs were done we were hit with another snow storm. Oh joy. I went into the gym on my lunch hour and it was barely snowing. I came out 40 minutes later and there was at least 2 inches of snow on the ground. I went up to the office and told my boss I was leaving now, but my usual 10 minute ride home took nearly an hour and at one point another idiot nearly side-swiped me when he lost control of his car. I managed to avoid him thankfully.

Then today I find out I have to pick up a job from one of the people laid off. Now, when I started this job I flat out said – I am not doing phones, no way, no how. They said fine, wasn’t an issue, no problem. But with the lay-offs our receptionist’s usual lunch time replacement is gone. So my boss asked me to do him a favour and pick up one lunch hour a week. I was not happy. It felt like a demotion, which is maybe being a bit dramatic about it, but that’s how I felt. I started my career on the phones and suddenly 22 years later here I am back on them? What the hell??

Sigh…but my boss and I have a really good relationship and he hated asking me but what can you do. So we worked out a deal that made us both happy and I picked Monday lunch to get it done and out of the way for the week, and then promised not to answer the phone with ‘Good afternoon, what the @#$% do you want now.’

Writing-wise it was a good week. My goal was to edit / rewrite 6 pages a day, five days a week. Monday and Tuesday I managed 6 pages, but I missed Wednesday because I forgot to reset my alarm and slept in. Then Thursday I squeaked out 7 pages. Then today I went on a tear and blew threw 15 pages to end the week with 34 pages – 4 pages over my goal. Whew.

Work-outs are also going great. I’ve done two days of cardio and weights, one yoga class, 35 minutes of cardio yesterday, followed by about 40 minutes of shovelling. Today I survived my first Spin class in several weeks and then tomorrow its Boot Camp day. I am fitting into my new jeans too and already I’m a bit concerned about the waist. They fit fine on the legs, but the waist is a bit too big (my usual dilemma…argh). I’ve belted it up for now and we’ll see how that goes. I hate the feeling of the waist being bunched up though so I might need to look at tailoring.

Puppy news – STILL trying to decide on a name, but I was talking to the breeder and I can go pay the puppies a visit next weekend at which time I should know which one is mine. And I get to bring it home for good on March 21st.

And there you have it, the weekly recap.

How to Improve a Bad Day

Sleepy is not a good way to start what is bound to be an insanely busy week. Waking at 3:15 am and not being able to get back to sleep, is not a good way to end the night. But, fitting into a pair of pants you haven’t been able to wear since last year improves the day and stumbling into work and finding new puppy pictures waiting for you -- well, that somehow makes all the bad stuff go away.

I’m Off to Boot Camp

Hi-ho, Hi-ho, it’s off to boot camp I go.

Work-out boot camp that is. I don’t think they’d want me in the military. I’d be just as likely to shoot someone who gave an idiotic order than the guy on the other team. But I digress.

As I was saying, work-out boot camp. It is based on the 12 week body changing program. Basically how they are doing it is setting up two teams. My team meets every Saturday morning, and the other team meets Thursday evenings. They work you out, teach you proper nutrition, etc. We compete against the other team for pounds lost. And anyone that knows me knows, I do love me a good competition.

Which hopefully will mean that I will buckle down with the healthy eating and get back into the habit of making better choices (you know, like carrots instead of carrot cake, that kind of thing). They give us this log book where we have to log everything we eat. Somehow the idea of having to write down the amount of crap I can consume is making me much less inclined to eat the stuff.

The free intro class is this Saturday and the 12 week run starts after that. My goal is to drop a pound a week minimum. I’ll keep you posted on how it goes.

Meanwhile, my revisions to Salvation Falls are going pretty good. I planned on getting 30 pages revised this week and ended up with 70 pages. The first few chapters were in pretty good shape. It’ll slow down a bit soon where I have more major changes and some rewrites needed, but its nice to get a bit ahead of the game first.

And, I’m hoping to have updated puppy pictures next week so stay tuned…
Which reminds me, we’re trying to develop a short list of names, so if anyone has a good idea for a golden retriever name, throw it at me.

They're Here! They're Here!!

The puppies arrived on January 24th... now the waiting begins....

The Time Has Come…

It appears I will be getting a golden retriever puppy from the breeder I want. The litter is due on January 29th and as some people dropped off the waiting list I got bumped up from the reserve list. The new litter, provided they arrive on time, will be ready to go to their new homes by about first of April.

As excited as I am about finally getting a new puppy, I have to admit there is that gut clenching nervousness I had forgotten about at the thought of taking on a new bundle of fur and realizing you are responsible for this living, breathing thing for the course of its natural life. Its health and well-being now rests in my hands. Ack…

I know once the pup arrives the nervousness will subside and I’ll fall back into the grove of dog ownership and re-juggle my schedule to fit in the walks and the feedings and the training, but until then, every now and then I feel the anxiety of what I’m doing. I’ve never been one of these people that rushes into buying a puppy because their so damn cute you just have to have one. Maybe its because I firmly believe the reason puppies are so damn cute is because it’s often the only thing that saves them during that crazy stage when they are learning it isn’t okay to eat your furniture or gnaw on the baseboard or run through the backyard with your skivvies trailing from their teeth.

What puppydom is really is a lot of work. A lot. There’s the regular exercise the dog requires, the housebreaking, the training so you have a well behaved dog, the incorporating it into your life as a member of the family and not sloughing off your responsibility just because you’d like the day off. It will be making sure there are dog-sitters if you want to go away, and vet visits and pooper scooping (ah yes…pooper scooping…the glamorous side of dog ownership).

Most of all it will mean a curtailing of the freedom you have when you don’t own a pup that is sitting at home waiting for you to return. I can’t run out after work and go somewhere. I will need to get home pronto because there is a dog waiting there that needs to be let out, fed and walked. The lunch time gym workouts will have to stop at least for the first 6 months since I’ll have to zip home and lunch and let the poor guy out for a pee break and midday feeding. Which means figuring out just when the gym will be fit in…later in the evening? Weekends? A walk in the morning before I leave for work is also a necessity, how will I fit that in with my morning writing schedule? Get up at 5:30 am?? Oiy…

Sigh…this would be so much easier if I only worked part-time…

But despite all of the nervousness and changes that taking on a new pup hold, there is a much bigger part of me that can’t wait to once again have a pooch meandering around the house. Despite the curtailed freedom, I never regretted a day of it when I had Cooper, and I know once I get into the groove again I won’t regret it this time. The pay offs are so much more than the time you hand over to them.

Now, if I could only come up with a name for the pooch...

My Christmas Wish

I came thisclose to saying yes to getting a golden retriever puppy in mid January. You see, the breeder of my dreams has a new litter, and while this litter is all reserved, I called to get myself added to the reserve list for the next litter in 2009. But by some fluke it turned out there was one female left because a potential family had a change of heart. I spoke with the breeder, she asked me questions, etc and in the end said if I wanted it, the pup could be mine.

Did I want it?

That’s like asking me if I’m partial to filling my lungs with air.

But the timing was all wrong. It meant getting the puppy in mid January, well before the BF and I were under the same roof. And, for anyone who has ever entered the crazy days of puppydom, you know once that little critter lands on your doorstep you are a bit housebound while they become acclimated and housetrained and a million other things. Which meant the BF and I would see each other only on the occasion when he ventured over to my abode, as his apartment does not allow dogs.

I hemmed and hawed. I wanted the puppy sooooo bad. The BF said if I wanted it we would make it work. But the facts were what they were. And there was also the financial consideration. Pure breeds do not come cheap, and even though the BF said he would get the puppy for me as a gift, there was still the additional cost of food, shots, puppy classes and spaying to consider within the next few months. Costs I hadn’t budgeted for and wasn’t sure I could manage while still paying all the living expenses myself.

So I did what any Capricorn would do in this situation. I made a list. Pros and cons. The Con list was all the practical reasons listed above. The Pro list read something like this: puppy puppy puppy puppy puuuuuuuppppppyyyyyy!!!

And not just any puppy. But THE puppy from THE breeder that I really, really, really wanted.

I mulled. I considered. I rationalized to the best of my ability. But in the end it came down to the same thing – I couldn’t give the puppy what it needed right now. Four months from now – no problem. But not right now.

Sigh…I hate when logic rears its ugly head.

So sadly I called the breeder and gave them my decision and asked to be put on the reserve list for the next litter. Which it turns out is due January 29th as they did two breedings with two of their females. On the downside, the litter is already reserved by others. So basically I’m number 8, putting me on the reserve reserve list. My only hope is that three other families change their mind and I can slip into the #5 position.

And that’s my Christmas wish.