pooping drama

Anthony does not seem to want to poop for us so we spent some time in the back yard trying to get him to run around and "Do his business". We never did get him to poop but we had fun playing.

Anthony chews on his soft toy in the back yard.

Alex tries to teach Anthony how to tug.

The bad part about playing in the back yard is that Anthony likes to eat leaves. This is not allowed in GDB world so Alex had to keep pulling them out.

"I gotta bone, I gotta bone, I gotta bone, and I loooove my bone!"

Alex and Anthony snuggle a bit on the blanket.

Our turn to get up early!

So this is our first full week with Anthony. He is now 10 weeks and 3 days old. It is amazing how much he has grown in a week. The Guys say he has been active for them, but he seems to only sleep for us. No accidents though today so that's good.

I don't have any super cute pictures to post because he has slept all afternoon. I think I will wake him up soon so he will sleep tonight. Alex says to let a sleeping dog lie.

Anthony is actually sleeping like this, not stretching.

We spent some time in the doogie pool this afternoon and while I was trying to dry him off, he feel asleep. So I just laid him down on his pillow wrapped up in the blanket.

A few minutes later Anthony had wriggled around and ended up completely covered. Oh and boy does he snore!

First little puppy meeting

We went to our first "little" puppy meeting last night. Betsy and Anthony had a lot of fun playing with each other. Compared to a lot of other puppy they are both pretty calm.

Betsy and Anthony fight over a black Kong.

Anthony pauses from attacking Betsy to catch his breath.

Miss Betsy being held by Shawna.

Anthony gives Betsy a kiss.

Rainbow

When I got home today from work Alex had our new hammock up. So I sat in it and ate dinner and looked at the beautiful rainbows in our back yard. The sky is so big here (i.e. when you look to the east, it is so flat) that you can see all of the rain cells and the complete rainbow. It is so pretty!

Beautiful rainbow in our backyard.

If you look closely you can tell that this was actually a complete double rainbow.

And just because a blog posting would not be complete without a picture of the newest member of our family... A picture of Anthony from his visit with us yesterday.

Forgot to post

There are two pictures from Friday that I forgot to post:

Anthony in Gardner's Vest

What a difference in size a year makes.

More pictures of this cute little guy are up on flickr and you can access the link though our website (www.kaplunfamily.com)

WE HAVE BEEN INVADED!!

Over the past 3-4 days our back yard has become more and more filled with swallows. At times we probably have more than 500 of them in our trees. I don't mind the constant squaking of the birds but the amount of bird poop that is accumulating on our deck and patio is really becoming a problem. Most of the gnats and mosquitoes seem to be gone though!

Just a few of the birds in our porch tree.

Look closely, all the black dots that look like dirt on the lens are sparrows flying around. Hundreds of them.

Our first day with Anthony

Guys are watching Anthony for he first week but we asked if we could watch him while Shawna went to work today. Yippee!! What an amazing sweet puppy he is. So far (3 hours) and we haven't even had an accident in the house (knock on wood)

"I know I am not suppose to be up on the crate but look how cute I am with my toy."

Nap time - he was making suckling sounds, it was soooo cute!

"I know I am not Gardner, but I am cute too right?"

"wow, a pillow, we didn't have these at the GDB Campus... this is pretty cool!"

A wet puppy spends some time on his back.

A cute wet face.

Alex and Anthony try to find a place for our new hammock.

He is just too darn cute.

A happy Alex wrestles with Anthony.

"I love water, but I am not sure what to make of this pool"

"Pool time...yippee.... I love water!!!"

Splashes!!

WELCOME ANTHONY!!

I was disappointed when I first heard that we were getting a black lab because they are so tough to photograph but Anthony has already won my heart over. He is only 9 weeks old and is exceptionally tiny. His little face is just so precious. He seems pretty calm and very smart! Maddie also got a new puppy since Gabrina went back with Gardner and I swear her puppy who is only one week older than Anthony is twice the size.

The puppy truck guy (supper nice) hands me Anthony.

I show off Anthony to the crowd.

Alex introduces Anthony to Shawna Guy.

The new little puppies (Anthony and Betsy) meet Gardner and Gabrina. Anthony is on the left and notice that he is about half the size of Betsy on the right who is only a week older than Anthony.

(left to right) Alex, Shawna, Carol, Gardner, Gabrina, Betsy, Maddie, Stacie, Anthony, Cali, Leola and Fred. (this is only a small fraction of the FC GDB group).

Carol Guy holds Besty (the clubs - maddie's 10 week old huge puppy)

OMG, how can you not love that face!?!?!?!

Alex, Gardner, Me and Anthony

Again, what a face!

Our new puppy is so cuddly!

He finally takes a nap on the way home (slept for a whole 10 minutes)

We try to get Anthony to pee on the rocks - wish us luck.

The Big Send off

Friday was a big day for Alex and I. We drove with the Guys to meet the GDB Puppy Truck in Denver. I can't really express the emotions I felt when we put Gardner on the truck and said goodbye. Lets just say there were lots of tear from all involved. I now fully understand why it is a good idea to get a new puppy on the same day. It gives you something to hug and wipe your tears on. I kept telling myself that Gardner was off on a grand adventure. His sister was right above him on the truck and his other two litter mates were across from him. I think they all are going to have a great life. And who knows, maybe we will get lucky and he will fail and get to come back and live with the Guys.

This is Shawna and Maddie (left to right) with Gardner and Gabrina. These two litter mates have become great friends - so too have their raisers. They are going to have a great time in CA together.

Maddie gives Gabrina a kiss before she had to put her on the truck.

Doesn't the "knuckle Head" look like he is ready to head off for a good time? He is truly a beautiful and wonderful dog.

One last shot of Gardner. Guide Dog puppies are not allowed dog bone treats until they get to the campus. So as our final farewell we gave him a milk bone once he was in the kennel on the truck (don't tell on us, ok). What a send off. I tried to get a better shot of him but I had a hard time seeing through my tears.

Puppy Assingments

There are only three more days until Gardner goes back to California for training and placement. Boo Hoo!! He is with the Guys this week and we are all taking him to the puppy truck together on Friday.

We got some of the details about the new puppy we are getting today. We will be getting a Male black lab whose name starts with A. The rumor is that he should be between 10 and 12 weeks old when we get him. He has already been confirmed to be neutered at 6 months. That's all we know so far. Check back on Friday for pictures of the new little guy as we are keeping him for the first week. I was really hoping we would get another yellow lab (as they are so much easier to photograph) but Alex assures me that I will fall in love with a black one just as quick as a yellow one.

The day after

Gardner was such a stinker yesterday that we decided to make sure he gets his energy out today. We took him to the grassy hill behind our house and practiced "wait" and "come" commands. He did really well and got a lot of energy out while he ran between Alex and I. It was a pretty hot day and when we got home he was seriously panting. We even hosed him down with cold water to help cool him down.

Pant, pant, pant. Happy puppy.

In a Mood!!!

I woke up this morning to the sound of crunching. I quickly looked around and found Gardner eating the treats I give to our cat after I brush her. Ugh, nothing like starting your day off at 5:30 am with a "Gardner, what are you doing....That's enough!" and then getting a hand full of half chewed cat food while you pull it out of his mouth. And the strange thing is that I know I put the Tupperware with the cats treats in it up on the top shelf.

I am on call all weekend so I headed to the hospital around 8am today and Alex went too. He is trying to get hours in for PA school, so we left Gardner in the guest room. Before I shut the door on him, I checked to make sure there was nothing he could destroy, as the number of couch pillow is quickly dwindling.

When Alex came home from the hospital to let him out...4 hours after he had left...this is what he found. And I have to add, Gardner had five toys to chew on in the room.

Now, I really don't know what to make of this one, except to think that he was mad at us for leaving him. He literally chewed an entire roll of TP off of the holder, cardboard included. It doesn't appear that he ate any of it, he seems to have done it just to spite us.

In the afternoon Gardner "helped" me do some weeding and yard work. One minute he is sitting right beside me and I swear two seconds later he was gone. I couldn't find him anywhere in the yard and he didn't come when I called. Then a burst of fear I saw that the fence gate was open. A few minutes later, in a complete panic, I found Gardner. He was down at the lake about 6 houses down from ours. He normally never leaves my side. I about had a heart attack thinking I had lost him. I also found out who had opened the gate just prior to Gardner's sneaky exit (he shale remain name less but lets just say he shared in my panic as he helped search).

When we went out for dinner later we found that we had a dog on our hands that was truly "in a mood" and he was determined to miss behave in every way he could. Alex and I chalked this up as him being a teenager... he has had days like this before but today was special.

On a different note, we had some beautiful clouds the other day and I couldn't resist taking a picture. This evening we had a gorgeous full double rainbow but we were in the car so I couldn't get a picture.

Clouds as seen from our porch.

Gardner visits New Belgium

Gardner, Alex and I went to New Belgium today to get a new 1/6 barrel for our Kegerator. It was a bit overwhelming for Gardner as it was very crowded but I think it was a good training experience for him.

Gardner in front of the New Belgium Brewery (practicing "wait").

Picture update

Just an FYI - I finally got the rest of our pictures uploaded to flickr: (http://www.flickr.com/photos/kaplun/sets/72157619010968010/).

Hope everyone has a great 4th!

Busy Week back

It has been a crazy first week back. I think I kept my sanity only because Gardner and Bree have both been so sweet! Since Bailey has passed, Bree has become a different cat. She is super snugly and has become quit vocal. She still hisses at the puppies on occasion but she never chases them or swats at them the way Bailey did. She actually seems to like the puppies as long as they don't get too close.

I can't believe that Gardner goes back next week. I am going to miss him so much! I am comforted though when I think about what a wonderful companion and guide he will make for someone. And who knows, maybe we will get lucky and he will come back to live with the Guys if he gets Career Changed.

Gardner and Bree take a nap together in the living room.