Adventures in Puppy Parenting

My wonderful husband and I have been using the book "Puppies for Dummies." It's because we're dummies when it comes to raising puppies...Here's why:

1) How many times do I have to let her into her potty area WITH HER LEASH on? Only to have it drag through her poo 5 minutes before I am supposed to leave for work...

2) David has forgotten a number of times to put her out into her potty area after she eats. Mmmmm....nothin' like poo in your house!

3) And, here's the latest and greatest: We were looking at the conversion chart on her food, and I looked at the number "60" (because she's eventually going to be about 60 pounds) and it said we should be feeding her about 5.5 cups of food a day! WHAT?! We had only been feeding her 3! I felt terrible because we had been starving our little puppy. So, we quickly started giving her almost twice as much food...and she was behaving oddly - she seemed sick and has been pooing MASSIVE amounts. HM...something must be wrong! So, I checked the chart again and discovered our flaw: The chart said 60 KILOGRAMS, not pounds! OOPS! So, turns out we're supposed to up her diet to 4 cups of food...yeah, we feel terrible :(

Our poor puppy! At least she is always showered with love ;)

UNbelievable!

For those of you who don't already know: TREASURY OF MEMORIES is closing! Yes, it's truly unbelievable!

Thank you to my friends for running to their first day of liquidation sale for me and picking up some of their staples. Check out their link (to the right) to see what's on sale!

This store is more than just a place to shop for us - it's been the centre of countless road trips and National Scrapbooking Days for my friends and I for years. No offense to all the other amazing scrappin stores out there, but TOM has always been my favorite! Nowhere else has compared to their amazing selection (always the latest and greatest), fabulous prices (just can't help that the mark up is so high in Canada!), and brilliant ideas (a WONDERFUL design team for sure)...not to mention incredible service (who else sends you handwritten thank you cards just for shopping, knows you by name, and never hesitates to let you order anything ON SALE over the phone with a credit card!)

The loss of TOM cuts deep for me, and I am sure many of you. Please tell Elizabeth, the owner, how you feel! I've had the very special priviledge of reaching her a couple times over the phone, and I know this is a difficult and emotional time for her. Offer her the support and love she's shown us over the years! Truly, Elizabeth, you will be greatly missed!

Announcing: Jolie Violet!

We have a WONDERFUL announcement to make, for those of you that don't already know: WE GOT A PUPPY!!!! She is our pride and joy - a beautiful Australian Labradoodle (a magnificent mutt as our bumper now reads). Little Jolie Violet came to us from Gemstone Labradoodles Kennel in Armstrong BC. Last Thursday night we picked her up in Vancouver. We were immediately in love with her! Can you see why?!

David and I enjoyed a week of vacation with her - which was much needed, considering all the time it takes to train a puppy! Fortunately, she was 11 weeks when we got her, and already knew the basics: sit, come, and loose leash walking. She's truly a gem! So smart, she's caught on very quickly to other tricks already like laying down, shaking a paw, and SORT OF pottying outside...that's the hardest one ;)

This little ball of fluff has brought us so much happiness! We love watching her play and sleep...which is pretty much all she does right now. She'll grow to be about 60 pounds or so, and her coat will change to a "lavender-grey" color (hence the middle name Violet!) We're so thankful that everything worked out for us to finally be puppy-parents. We've wanted a dog for SO LONG and now she's finally here! Well worth the wait :) More pictures to come...