Poodle Club Clipping Clinic

Last Saturday Savanna and I want to the Enchantment Poodle Clubs, poodle clipping clinic. Raleigh has only ever been clipped that one time before Christmas, and they only did his face, feet and legs. It was high time we cut all that puppy fluff off of him. After all... he's a big boy now. It was HARD work. But 4 hours (yes, four hours) later I had a poodle who looked something like a Chicken Nugget with legs. Thank goodness poodle hair grows fast!

I was so thankful to all the club members (who knew what they were doing) who helped us along. What blade to use. Which direction to cut. So much to learn!

Poodles aren't dogs... they're a piece of art!

Poodles Poodles everywhere! ahhh heaven.

Raleigh looks nothing like this beautiful girl... but with a little practice, maybe someday.

That's all Raleigh! AKA precious poodle puppy fur.

Fun with poodles

We took these pictures a couple weeks ago. Raleigh can gives us hours of entertainment in the office. (isn't that what an office dogs job description is?)

Raleigh's super dog cape

Raleigh got his "in training" service dog vest this week. It's a little to big on him, but I'm sure by next week it will fit. So now we can work on training in public places. Yesterday we went to the Post Office, DMV and Moriarty Foods. Today we went to Walmart. He was a good boy (mostly).
AND he's feeling MUCH better!

Update

We slept all night last night!!! Got a baggy of poo this morning and took it to the vet... Still waiting to hear on the results. But the vet said he shouldn't go to obedience school tonight.
He's laying on the bed with me right now chewing his toy and looking cute as can be.

Sick doodle

Raleigh (and I) had a LONG night last night. He had a touch of diarrhea late afternoon. But he was playing and ate his dinner like there was nothing wrong. Until a few hours after dinner when it all came running... and I mean running out of him like water. I was up with him every two hours during the night, standing on the back porch, freezing, in my PJ's watching him either poop or eurp (that's my Grammy's word for throw up). I felt so bad for him, because I've been there before... well not in the yard, but driving the porcelain bus.
This morning he wasn't any better so I call his vet as soon as they opened. They told me to bring him right in, but to call from the parking lot and someone would come out and give his a parvo test. Raleigh was NOT happy about the test (being done in the back seat of my truck). In about 15 minutes they came out and said the test was negative and we were invited in. Two hours and almost $300.00 later we know that he doesn't have parvo, but he's sick (blood tests showed that). He had an x-ray, but it didn't show that he had a blockage of any kind. They tried for a stool sample, but he was empty so that didn't work.
We left with a bag full of drugs, and a request for a bag of poo when it comes out again. (at this point in time it hasn't happened). We went to work and I shoved the "stop throwing up" pill down his throat and he promptly threw it back up. I called the vet and they said to try again. This time he kept it down, and I gave him his first round of antibiotics about 30 minutes later, which has also stayed down.
Until I get get a stool sample into the vet we wont know for sure what's wrong with him, but it seems like he's a little bit better... I'll know for sure he's better if we get to sleep tonight.

Valentine’s Day Dinner

For the past few years Scott and I have enjoyed cooking a fancy dinner at home for the girls instead of going out… fighting the crowds…. Over paying for a so-so meal… and not remembering what we did, and spent that money on. We did our dinner a little early this year because Lauren is home for the weekend, and we want her to be in on the fun.
Now that Lauren is turning into a wonderful cook, she and I have turned into quite a team in the kitchen. We made up some great recipes today. Below are some pictures of what we created for our special dinner.

One of the things Lauren and I created was this appetizer of toasted sourdough and an “Italian Salsa” that we made with Roma tomatoes, fresh chopped basil, fresh mozzarella and cucumber. It was tasty and very fresh and light.

Asparagus (nice and thin... the way we like it)

Shrimp marinated in olive oil, lemon juice, fresh garlic, cilantro and rosemary.

Shrimp and steak on the grill

Garlic & cheese mashed potatoes

Shrimp

Rib-eye Steak

The blueberry pie that doesn’t look so pretty… but tastes WONDERFUL

41 pounds.... and still growing!

We use the Wii Fit to track Raleigh's weight. Pictured below is Savanna weighing him.

Snowday X 2

We've had such crazy weather the past two days. RV Sales even closed today for what I think might be a first. I've missed two days of work (so far this week) and Savanna has had two snowdays. Scott's work was even closed today.... again another first.

I thought it's about time I post some pictures of Savanna singing in the All State Choir.
Lauren and Savanna with the choir directors they both had in Elementary school and middle school.

Savanna in front of the Music Building at New Mexico State University.

New Mexico All State Choir

Savanna is singing in the New Mexico All State Choir at NMSU in Las Cruces. We are staying in our 5th wheel at our favorite RV Resort (also Lauren's employer). This is Raleigh's first trip in the 5th wheel and he's doing great. He LOVES going to the dog run!



Oh yeah.... and here's a picture of Savanna's choir practicing.

Raleigh's Glamor Shots

Today was Raleigh's photo shoot. Debbie Klecan who was in our puppy class with her dog Chama thought that Raleigh had "the look", and asked if she could photograph him sometime. Turns out she lives in Edgewood and has a wonderful studio space in a separate building behind her house.
She did such an amazing job with Raleigh, I honestly didn't think he would have the attention span to be able to take more then a handful of pictures... but she got what seemed like 100's of wonderful shots of him! I was so impressed by Debbie AND Raleigh. I can't wait to see her pictures, but in the mean time I have a few fun shots of got of her taking pictures of him.
You can visit Debbie's blog and see some of her work at:
http://threeperrosdesign.com/blog/

Chupacadra sighting in Edgewood

Be afraid.... very afraid!

It's a blustery day!

I sent Raleigh out in the wind to do his business..... but the wind was blowing his hair and it made Savanna and I laugh, so I had to take a picture.

The Graduate

Raleigh graduated from puppy obedience school tonight. He has mastered "sit" "come" and is learning "down". He can walk on a leash really well... most of the time, and we now know that he is terrified of snakes. Trish (owner of the school) walked around the room and let all the dogs smell the snake. Raleigh tried to bite the snake, so he then became the "example" to the class. Trish took him out to the middle of the classroom where another one of the teachers threw the snake at him. He was so afraid that he spent the rest of the class time in Scott's arms, under a chair, under a table or trying to get out the door. Trish had Scott take him outside for a little while to see if he would calm down. He didn't.... and refused to go to Trish and get his diploma.
Below are some fun pictures of the evening.

Just enjoying class.... Raleigh has no idea what's coming his way.

Everyone lined up getting ready for snake proofing (this is where Scott takes over for me, as I don't do snakes). Trish takes the snake around the room so each dog can smell it. At this point Raleigh thought he'd bite the snake.... things turned bad for him after he made that bad choice.

Trish takes Raleigh from Scott and she snake proofs him herself. (poor Raleigh... poor snake)

You can see the other teacher behind the blue wall. She throws the snake at Raleigh. He couldn't get away far enough or fast enough. If he had thumbs I'm pretty sure he would have opened the door, ran to the truck and drove himself home.

Trish trying to make up with Raleigh.

In Daddy's arms

Under the chair

Under the table. (notice all the dogs making fun of him)

In my arms, waiting to get his diploma.
(now all the other dogs laughing at him for being such a big baby).

Poor Raleigh's heart was still thumping on the way home. He couldn't wait to tell Gabby and Jester about the horrible time he had at school.