Monster

I ordered a new collar for my little monster yesterday. It should be here in the next week or two. I'm super excited about it. It's customized with colors and will have her name on it! :)

Ivy herself? Being a monster at home like usual. Trying to get into everything she can find and not leaving the resident dog alone. hahaha But I'm pretty sure "big dog" doesn't mind. I think they like playing together. I've been staying with friends for a few days and it's great. I enjoy it here much more than staying with my brother. ;)

But move in into the new house is today. I am still staying here with friends until tomorrow, but then I'll be all over there. It's only across the street, which is very nice. Friends close by. I'm excited to finally get into it, too. Last time we're moving places with Ivy. She needs to have a home that stays her home. :)

The command 'sit' is getting better and better. When we are out for walks, she's usually too distracted to pay attention to my talking, but we are making progress. She's listening much better now.

We also started with 'down.' It's not as good yet, but she's a smart puppy and figuring it all out.

I love working with her. She picks things up quickly and while she is a bit stubborn, we can still work it out. I am learning so much myself from it, too. I'm getting more patient and more creative. A puppy can be very frustrating, but we're managing it well together!

She is wonderful when we go on outings though! Couldn't ask for a better puppy! I took her to the vet with my friend and she was very quiet. While she didn't like the vaccine shots, she didn't protest really either. After that, we went out to the Chinese restaurant where I always go with the bf. She just laid down and took a nap. Same everywhere else. I went shopping to Kroger and Walmart and it wasn't a problem at all. :)

Here's the little monster as we are waiting for the bus. Looks a bit like a teddy bear, doesn't she?

Day 5.

Just to keep up with the sleeping schedule reports: Ivy was quiet until 8:30 this morning and only woke up because I had to get up. I think we can call this a complete success. No worrying about her needing to go outside during the night. We got this covered!

Our busying routine is getting better, too. Slowly, but surely. We're not supposed to let them go while we are walking. Walking is for walking, not busying. They learn to go in a designated spot when they are told to do so. I must say that we are getting closer to this goal!

The "sit" command is almost perfect inside. She also does it when we visit other places sometimes, such as McD. Our only problem is doing it outside. There are just many other things to pay attention to, mommy! She is getting pretty good with "leave it" and "quiet" though when we are outside!

I walked up to the bus stop with her. Originally, I planned to actually ride the bus with her because we have to do it on Friday to get to the vet. I decided against it though. So we just sat there, watching the traffic. Some puppies are scared by cars, trucks, etc. driving by. Not my Ivy! She doesn't really care much. She's such a champ!

Successes.

Ivy is sleeping through the whole night! She woke up at 7:30 this morning, which is great.

Last night, we went to McD. I thought she'd be curious and would look around a lot or maybe even be scared a bit, but nope. She looked around once and then laid down at my feet while I was waiting in line and ordering. I sat down outside and the same thing happened. She wasn't fazed by anything.

We're working on the command "sit" right now and she is getting better and better. Hopefully soon she can do it every time and when other people tell her also.

She seems to like her crate. They are supposed to be their safe haven for when they are scared or want to be alone. She goes there several times a day to take naps. She barely ever cries anymore when I close it, too. Maybe at first, but then she quiets down pretty quickly and goes to sleep. Good pup! :)

She's starting to play more with her nylabone, too. She likes to put everything in her mouth, but I always distract her with the bone or kong filled with pb and it's working wonders. She's a lot better now. The didn't really look at her bone so far, but today it must be the coolest toy ever!

I'm having a lot of fun with her. We're going to get food again later. Maybe McD or something similar in hopes of it being quiet there again with not too many people. I want everything to be positive and that she doesn't get scared. :)

Ivy

She's here! I picked up my guide dog puppy on Saturday and she is gorgeous! Her name is Ivy, which I think is so cute. Here she is:

Adorable, right? :)

I went on a couple of walks with her the first day. From the first time on, I made sure to make her walk on the left side. After only three days, she's almost a pro! She's pretty smart. ;)

She also doesn't care at all about busying on concrete, which is something all of our puppies have to learn. Most of them will go to NY and not all of them will have access to grass, so we want to get them used to busying on concrete all their life.

She also pretty much sleeps through the night already. She woke up the first night when my brother came home and this morning at 6:30 because my bf got up. But besides that, she sleeps the whole time! I am very happy about that!

I love her. She's cute. And fun. :)

We had a first outing today. We went to a gas station close by. She had her coat on and was so good in the store! I bought her some peanut butter for the Kong she got today. Everyone liked her, especially the police man.

She's being good and I want to take her out tomorrow again. :)

Blog Name Change

I changed the name of my blog. I no longer feel like a silly girl with unreachable dreams. I now feel like a person who has a goal and does everything she can to reach it.

Life should be full of learning. Learn something new every day! Don't finish school and think you are done with learning. Finish school, go on to your career and never stop improving!

What I love about becoming a vet is that there are always new things you can learn. You might be an expert in your area, but there are so many more areas that you can study. And it's a science that never stops improving! There will always be new things to learn about!

I am excited to be getting a guide dog puppy this week. I have had dogs all my life, but it will be a completely different experience to finally have one where I am the primary caretaker. The only caretaker actually. And with the help of other volunteers, my area coordinators and the puppy itself, I will be able to learn so much more about dog training and myself. It will be hard, but I am definitely ready!

PUPPY

ONE MORE WEEK.

I'm going to my brother's house tomorrow to stay with him for the two weeks before I move into my house. Hopefully I can start working on Monday!

La di da..

Not much has happened. Life seems to stand still. Not much to do while I'm at home.

I've been reading a lot though, so that's nice. I miss reading during the year, so it's nice to catch up on some books. I get a lot of emails about different horse and veterinary topics and I really enjoy reading up on all kinds of different things.

This is the latest article I read: Equine Practitioners: Beat feed stores at their own game. It's about tips on developing a better relationship with your clients and how to financially help both sides. I thought there were some good tips and wanted a place to safe the article, so here it is. Maybe I'll need it some day.

I might start work next Monday already. My boss wants me to start as soon as possible, but he won't answer his phone now. I'd like to start early, because then I wouldn't be so bored, I'd make money already and it's work better with the puppy's arrival. (:

I'm bored. I really need to clean and pack up my room. After all I'm moving into the new house in three weeks. And leaving this one in two, so I actually have to be done in two weeks! My room is a mess. I've started a tiny bit, but just have no motivation. At all. I packed a box of my clothes and one of my books. That's it. Ugh.

Here's another cute GS picture. Random one. Can't wait to get mine! <3

Nothin' much

Not much has happened in the last few days. Just being lazy like you should be over your break.

I hung out with my friend's guide dog puppy yesterday. A collie puppy. Very cute.

I hung out with my best friend yesterday. We had some weird stories. Hahaha. Going to see Snow White and the Huntsman tonight with her and some other friends. :)

AND.

I'M GETTING A GERMAN SHEPHERD PUPPY IN A FEW WEEKS. I'm super excited. I don't have pictures yet, but should be about as cute as this one!

I haven't even met the puppy yet and I'm already in love! :)

I'll update about it when I get my info email! :)