6 Days & Counting!!

That's right only 6 more days and I am off to San Rafael to be an intern in their training department. I made a promise to myself that I would write a post every night about my day so I will not forget this experience, so be sure to look back Monday night!

As excited as I am for my internship I got the news Mojito is being recalled August 11, right in the middle of my internship. I am beyond excited Mojito has made it to being recalled as there were a lot of doubts about him, he will be almost 15 months when he goes back so prime age of being recalled! Of course how can I spend 2 weeks at GDB seeing all the cute puppies and knowing Mojito will be staying a GDB when I come home, I decided a puppy will be heading home with me on the 18th. I have no puppy assignment yet, all I know is it will be a male, so as soon as I get it I will post, and the name guessing can begin!

I can honestly say Mojito has been my most challenging puppy, yet the one who as worked his way into my heart the most, and it will not be an easy goodbye. He was a challenging puppy from day 1 with his extreme puppy jacket sensitivity, to his extreme body sensitivity. I am proud to say that today he has no issues with wearing his puppy jacket and loves to be groomed. I could not be more proud of this puppy and I learned it really takes a community to raise a puppy! I could not have raised Mojito without the help from my leaders, club members, and CFR.

Summer Internship

This is the second year I have applied for the GDB summer youth internship. Last year I was not accepted, however this year I was!!! I will be interning in their training department from Aug 6-17! I am very excited as I know this will be an experience I will remember for the rest of my life.

My goal is to blog about it every day, so I can share my experiences with you and also to look back on and remember all the little details!

~Katlynn & Mojito

So I am sure as all of you can tell, my blog has been neglected & put on the back burner for the past 7 months. But I am back and wanted to give you a quick update on Mojito!

First off I am loving the experience of raising a cross, he definitely acts golden and has those "golden moments!" He is definitely a funny dog who has a crazy personality, but yet for the most part works really well. When he was a puppy up about until he was 6 months he had severe body sensitivity, he would constantly rub/scratch at his vest (and gentle leader but more so the vest) and would walk very nervously & unconfident. It got so bad that my leaders took a video of how he walked in jacket and how he walked without a jacket and sent it to guide dogs. It was amazing the difference and confidence levels he had with/without the jacket on. He has been on food protocol to try to get him over the vest problem, and I am happy to say that he is pretty much over it. He still itches at it more than normal but it is 1000 times better!

Ryder and Mojito out hiking today!

*Mojito only had his jacket on and leash off for this picture*

Katlynn, Mojito, & Ryder

Welcome......

MOJITO!!

Breed: 1/2 Lab 1/2 Golden

Gender: Male

Born: May 15, 2011

P.S. Happy 4th Birthday DeSoto!!

200th Post!!!!

So for my 200th post, I thought it should be something big, something exciting, and something extraordinary! Well lucky for you all I have some pretty exciting news!! But exciting news comes with bad news too, right? Right.

Well let's get the bad news over with first. Aniko was recently Career Changed at 10 months due to his awful alarm barking. My CFR was up a few weeks ago, and I mentioned to her about his barking, and her immediate response was I will have to drop him. Needless to say, I was shocked!! I just figured she would give me some protocol as to what to do with him and help him stop alarm barking. He will bark at door bells, when someone enters the door in our house, and at other people's house's when I am visiting and they are answering the door. Just recently he started growling/barking at those items. His alarm barking has not gotten any better it's only gotten worse. I was very bummed about him getting CC'd as he was my special golden boy and he was such an AWESOME puppy, I had high hoped for him, and I am graduation hungry it's been almost 3 years! My family and I made the hard decision to let GDB place him. They are going to neuter him and do a few months of training with him, to maybe help his barking issues.

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Now for the exciting news!!!

With Aniko being CC'd, I of course was offered a puppy. How could anyone turn down a puppy?! My plan was to get one on Fun Day (July 23), but I got an e-mail from my CFR saying there was a puppy that needed a home by this weekend!! Now here where the fun happens! You all get to guess the:

~Breed

~Color

~Gender

~Name: "M" Puppy

~Birthdate

I will post the details this weekend, when I get home from picking it up!

Bittersweet Ending

Today while driving around with my mom, my leaders called. I didn't think much of it because it was not Thursday and I had nothing to worry about. They told us they wanted to talk to us in private, I was now worried that I had done something totally wrong and they were going to tell me Aniko was going to be transferred or some awful thing like that. I was now worried.

When they arrived they had sad looks on their face, they said to go sit down and they want to talk. They began by saying, "it seems like every time we call or come over it's bad news." They then said, I'm very sorry we just got they news Ryder has been Career Changed." I didn't know what else to say besides when can I go get him.

He was dropped for dog distraction and hackling an unknown dogs while in harness. I did observe him hackling as he got older and more hormones at unknown dogs while out working. I can't say I am no disappointed, because I am. But I am more then thrilled he gets to come home and live with me. Ryder and I always had a special bond that no other dog and I will have. My CFR was bummed to hear that I would be adopting him as she knew he would be the perfect dog for an adoptive family because of his calm temperament.

I will post the actual CC info when I get it which should be in the next day or to! I am planing on going down Friday to get him, needless to say I am MORE then excited!!

One of the last pictures I had of him!

On a more happier note! Aniko is 8 months old and is doing awesome! I am in love with the Golden's and I would love the opportunity to raise another one! He is such a kind hearted, loving dog. I can't wait to see what the future holds for him!

Aniko at the Capital grounds on Monday.

Katlynn, Aniko, & Ryder!

What Do You Call Your Puppy?

I do apologize for not posting, I have been super busy with school and now work. I'm hoping to get a post up of Aniko soon, but he's doing great almost 6 months old, and is a great worker and over all awesome dog!

Just to have some fun I was wondering what all of you call your dogs and what nicknames they have. Aniko has accumulated a lot over the past 3 months.

Of course he is "Aniko" while out working and doing commands but around the house or just having fun he could be one of the following:

~Nikko (most common and easier to say than "Aniko")

~Freaky Nik

~Nikky Freak

~Nikky Freaky

~Nikko Freako

~Freak

~Aniko Freako

~Nikky Nikky

Notice how 99% of them all have "freak, or freaky?" He got the name freaky for being a golden as we thought all golden's were freaks (turns out he proved us wrong, he is a lab in a golden's body) and not have a typical lab temperament, so it just kinda stuck and it fits him well. :)

We went up to Tahoe today to get some professional pictures done by a friend, I'm hoping to get them back soon so I will post them! But for now here is an i-Phone picture of Aniko and 5 months! He LOVED the beach but was not a fan of the water, i'm thinking it was because the water was freezing as it is January! We will hope for better success in the summer!

Katlynn & Aniko

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Katlynn & Aniko

Let The New Years Puppy Swap Continue!

As most of you know, Brittany quit blogging for the time being and with that the New Years Puppy Swap got cancelled. I decided to take it into my own hands and continue it! I e-mailed her last night and she sent me the 2 people who have already signed up. I will need at least 8 people to have it happen. So please sign up!!!

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I would like to host a New Years Puppy SWAP for all of us doggy people. I am pretty much a newbie at the whole swapping thing, but the one I did participate in was really fun! And no, we are NOT trading puppies with each other!

Here is how it works:

*Everyone who is participating will be paired up and will be sending a gift. Have fun getting to know your swap partner and picking out their gift. Oh, and the receiving part is pretty fun too.

*If you want to participate send me an email at puppyrazor103@yahoo.com by midnight December 15 (that gives you 15 days + today). Send me your name, # of dogs and their info (name, breed/description, age), mailing address, email address, and blog address. This information will be sent to your swap partner. ***

*If I don't have at least 8 people I will postpone the swap......so spread the word! The more people that sign up, the more fun this will be.

*When you enter, please post about it on your blog with a link to this post so we can spread the word about the swap and get as many people as we can. If you know of a blogger who maybe doesn't READ blogs that often but might like to participate, feel free to let them know about the swap. Remember, the more the merrier!

*If you feel like it, add the swap button to your blog. It's on the right side of my blog. If you don't want to or don't know how, that is ok too!

*Wait patiently until after the 15th for your partner's information to be emailed to you. After the 15th, or once I get 8+ people I will pair everyone up and send out the partners email. This will have your partners name, their dog(s) information, email, blog address, and physical address along with a reminder of the swap rules.

*HAVE FUN!! Visit your partner's blog, get to know them! The best part of swapping is getting to know another blogger, and best of all, anotherDOGGY blogger!

*Pick out your gift to your partner! This will be a two part gift. One part for the canine(s) and one part for their human counterparts. However big or small you want to make your gift, just make sure part is for the human and part is for the dog(s). Your gift can be eatable, decorative, big, small, homemade, store bought, expensive, not-so-expensive, priceless, durable, fragile, WHATEVER!

*Your gift must be made/bought/whatever, packaged, and ready to ship on December 27th. This will avoid most of the Christmas mail madness, but if you know you will not be able to send your gift on the 27th make sure it is sent before NOT after the 27th.This will ensure that everyone will get their gift during the first week (or two)of 2011.

*HAVE FUN!! Visit your partner's blog, get to know them! The best part of swapping is getting to know another blogger, and best of all, anotherDOGGY blogger!

*If you sign up, FOLLOW THROUGH! If you are not going to participate, don't sign up.

*When you receive your gift, post about it on your blog to show everyone just how amazing your swap partner is!

*Add your blog to my "link list" that will be posted after I receive my gift (yes I am in on this too). That way everyone can see what everyone else got. Make sure to leave some comment love on each others' posts!

*HAVE FUN!! Visit your partner's blog, get to know them! The best part of swapping is getting to know another blogger, and best of all, another DOGGYblogger!............Hmmmmm, did I already mention this one? Good, because it is important!

***If you would prefer to NOT give me your mailing address, just say so in your email, but PLEASE tell me which of the 48 you hail from. Then email your address to your swap partner as soon as you get the partner email.Comprende?

P.S. - So Sorry! This swap is only for people living in the 48 mainland states. Not that I don't love all the international bloggers, but the shipping costs and time don't make for very easy swapping. I briefly considered including Canada and just matching them up with other Canadian bloggers but......It got all jumbled and complicated in my brain so......maybe next time?

Finally Legal

Aniko went to the vet today to get his last set of shots! As a puppy raiser this is very exciting as our puppies can now go pretty much anywhere we think they are ready for. Aniko weighed 31lbs and he did not even notice the shots! Let the adventures begin!

Katlynn & Aniko