Christmas is in the AIR !!

Halloween came and went and so has Thanksgiving.  You would think I would have a lot to write about but it actually was quiet around the house until the GREAT house FLOOD !  But first a few other stories.


Miss M has been coming over to play off and on so when she is here I work on her commands.  She gets a little rusty between training so I know how important it is to keep up the sessions.  She usually comes on days that it is warm enough to be outside.  We will play and work on commands either at Grandma's T house or go over to the big fenced yard Miss M calls the tennis courts.

 Avalon had to go to the Vet for her yearly physical so Mom let me tag along.  Boy, I will think twice about that next time.  I had my nails done but I was not too happy about it.  Mom had to help calm me down and another nail tech had to hold my paw.
Right after that Dad and Mom took our house on wheels over to the storage unit for the winter.  We had to unpack some of the RV stuff because it could not stay over the winter.  One of the most important things was our puppy food.


 In November it was election day here in Nebraska.  You have to be 18 years old to vote so I just missed the cut off.  In puppy years I am around 17.5 years.  Mom left to go to the voting house and meet Dad there. While they were gone the GREAT Kitchen flood happened.  I tried to get to Mom's ipad to call her but it was up to high so the flood lasted around 2 hours.  I heard Mom say the water filter under the sink broke and the water came flying out.  We couldn't see it from our room but sure could hear it.  When Mom came home she was soooooo upset.  Grandpa T and Grandma K came down to help.  About the time they had it all cleaned up Dad came home.  Mom went to go get some fans to help dry things out in the basement and there was more BIG flood.  They had some clean up guys come that night and for the next five days we had hug fans and dehumidifiers in the house.  It was soooo toasty warm.  We had breakfast and dinner in the living room for almost a week.

The next story is kind of a scary one !!!!  Mom went for her walk with Avalon and I stayed in her office.  I was a little upset about being left behind so I did some snooping.  Found a plant Mom had moved to the window shelf so I thought I would see what it tasted like.  It was delicious so I ate the whole thing.  When Mom got home and came into her office to let me out she found the crumbs I left behind.  I have never seen Mom lose it before !  She was so scared that it might be poisonous.  Mom called our Vet who told her to call the ASPC poison Hot Line.  She did and I heard them say it is slightly poisonous but that they should give me something to get rid of the plant in my tummy.   Mom put peanut butter in the bottom of my food bowl with what I thought was water on top.  It was some medicine to clean out my tummy.  Miss M and Grandma T had arrived by then so Miss M took me outside.  It sure did clean out my tummy !!

The house was just put back together after the flood when Thanksgiving finally came.  The clean up guys had taken all of the machines away and another guy had come to fix the walls and painted.  Mom and Dad then put everything back in place.

On Thanksgiving morning we went for our walk around the lake then had some play time with a big turkey in the yard.  He didn't say much but twirled around in the wind.  I asked Mom and Dad if that was the turkey they were talking about cooking and thank goodness it wasn't.  I would have felt so sad for him.  Later in the afternoon family came over.  We got to stay in the kitchen and smell all of the wonderful food cooking but when company arrived Avalon and I were banned to Mom's office with the gate up.  I was kind of upset but Avalon told me that once Ruthie had table surfed and stole  some food at Thanksgiving and so the tradition of being banned started.  However, after some of the company left my two legged sister came and let us out and like Mom predicted we were a little crazy !!

 The next could of weeks Mom and Dad decorated around the house for Christmas.  Avalon and I mostly supervised.  We even have some special puppy ornaments on the tree. It is so cool to see all of the inside and outside lights on at night.  My elf on the shelf Sparky showed up at the house so I have been on my best behavior hoping he will tell the big red guy how nice I have been.  He moves around from room to room so I have to be on my best behavior all of the time.  Hope he goes back to the North Pole after Christmas.

On Saturday we had a BIG adventure.  Our day started with our weekend walk around the lake then a short nap.  Miss M came over and took me out and we played and I worked on her commands.  She said she was wearing me out but I didn't know why.  Well, later in the afternoon Mom and Dad loaded me up and we were off to do something called "Bell Ringing for the Salvation Army."  I remember doing this before when I was a puppy in training but it wasn't as much fun as it was this time.  Not only were there lots of two legged people there but Huxley a KSDS Inc. puppy in training was there to so I had four legged company.  We had live music provided by Miss K plus people and dogie treats to give out.  Channel 7 news came and interviewed Mom and filmed us bell ringing. We were on the TV that night and were able to tell the story about how wonderful the Salvation Army is and KSDS.

Before Bell Ringing
Miss M and
Grandma T with Grandpa D
were at the 
National Cemetery 
honoring our

Veterans 

at
Christmas 

                                            Hope Everyone is having a Wonderful Holiday Season !!

Merry Christmas from our Family to yours !

Halloween - Spooky Night at the Village

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Miss M and Mr T came to play after school

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

  Miss M, Miss K and Mr T all dressed up for trick or treats
        

I love to see everyone all dressed up but I never get to trick or treat.  Mom said being a black puppy could be dangerous on Halloween.  If I would get spooked and run off Mom said it would be hard to find me.  I stayed at home by the front door and helped Dad pass out candy.  Though I might get some but Dad said chocolate could be dangerous for puppies.  Maybe Halloween is not my favorite celebration.

Hope everyone had a GREAT Halloween !

My First KSDS Booth

Boy, was there a couple of very exciting days last week!  First, Letha - my Commander at KSDS -  came and visited with us.  She was flying out of Omaha on something that was like a car but flies in the sky. She stayed overnight with us because her flying car was leaving very early in the morning the next day.  I was soooooooo excited to see Commander Letha that I left a trail of puddles on the floor.  I don't know what came over me but I just could not hold my excitement.  I heard Mom say she thinks I broke every KSDS command there was when I saw Letha. Commander Letha even had to take me aside and tell me to settle down.  Since KSDS Commanders understand puppy talk I told her I was just happy to see her and promised I would settle down if she gave me a hug !

On Saturday while watching the Huskers play football Mom worked on the stuff Letha brought so we could do a booth on Sunday.  It was at the Nebraska Humane Society "Walk for the Animals."   This booth will be our first one.  We had posters, handouts, treats and of course my business cards.  Letha also brought a special cape for puppy in training Huxley.  Bob and Shirley Corn are his puppy raisers and also good friends with my Mom and Dad.   I met Huxley when they stopped here on their way home the day they picked him up.  Puppies are presented their puppy in training vest after they get all of their puppy shots.  I remember Miss M giving me mine.

                   KSDS Assistance Dogs Booth

On Sunday we were off to set up our booth!  Miss M and I drove together while Dad drove his car.  It sprinkled all day so we had to stay inside our tent off and on so we would not get wet.  Huxley had no idea that Miss M would be giving him his working vest and I had to try hard not to slip and tell him.  It is nice to have someone to talk to besides Avalon however, he is a youngster and you kind of know how that can be.  After he got his vest I tried to tell him about puppy in training outings and maybe we can do some together.   

After we got our booth set up Channel 6 and the Omaha World Herald stopped and interviewed us.  They talked to Mom, Huxley's Mom and Miss M but not me or Huxley.  I guess they don't understand puppy talk.  We had lots and lots of people stop at our booth but being on TV and in the newspaper is a wonderful way to spread the word about KSDS Guide/Service Facility Dogs.

I thought it would be a good training experience for Huxley so I had Miss M work on her commands with him.  He wasn't to sure about them at first but after a bit he and Miss M were connecting.  After Miss M was done we worked on our commands together and I told Huxley to watch.


Since it sprinkled off and on the whole time we were there Huxley looked a mess.  I guess one of the good things about being a black Lab is that the dirt/mud doesn't show up. I heard his Mom say Huxley was getting a bath when he got home.   I didn't have to take a bath but we had to wash the table cloth and some rugs when we got home.  I think we put to much spray and wash on the table cloth !!

Miss M presenting Huxley with his working vest 

Enjoy the Story on Channel 6

Click on the link below -

All types of pups and people attend NHS fundraiser

Fall is coming !!

Summer is GREAT but fall is coming.  In August is was HOT and we didn't always spend that much time outside unless we were swimming in the lake.  I am sooo glad Mom and Dad live on a lake so we get to swim a lot !!  Miss M came over one day and we decided to do some picture taking.  After we posed for a few shots me and Miss M played fetch

and then I worked on some of her commands.  I don't want her to forget them after all the work I put into training her.  She did Ok so I rewarded her with some more fetching.  We really have that down and what is even better is that I get to play with those yellow balls just like Avalon did when I was in training.  Miss M has a lot of them at her house.  Mom and Dad have lots of them too so I get to play with them everywhere !!  I miss my orange fetch toy though but it floated away one time when I wasn't looking.

 Mom smelled up the house again doing something she calls canning.  It was hot that day so we had to stay inside and smell the icky smells.  I think she canned tomatoes, salsa and froze some of those red round things.  She also got this big machine out and put something she called a zucchini in it and it came out all shredded up.  Some even went flying on the floor so I went over to investigate.  Zucchini really doesn't have any taste so I don't know what the big deal is ?  Mom cooks with it and bakes with it.

On one of our weekend walks around the lake we stopped at a tree and Mom picked red round things called apples, I think.  When we got home she started canning again and I thought for sure we were going to have to smell icky stuff but that was not the case.  It smelled sooo sweet !  I think Mom was making something called Apple butter and Apple sauce.  I wish I could have some but we all know how that turned out.

I did not get to attend my Grandma K's special ceremony over Labor Day weekend but Mom took pictures and let me look at them when she got home.  They were at a church then had brunch where Grandma lives.  Mom said she now has a special friend to share her adventures with just like I have Avalon to share mine with.

After brunch Mom and Dad came home and started to load up our house on wheels to go camping and watch the first Husker football game.  Dad was soooo excited.  Dad and I put Little Red up in our yard and we all put our Husker red on.  Dad was watching his weather app and it said a bad storm was coming so later in the afternoon Dad cancelled our camping trip and we were just going to stay home and watch.  The BIG BAD storm came and everything was cancelled even the game.  I thought Dad was going to cry  :(

                                                                                                              

Since we didn't go camping over Labor Day Miss M came over and took me to her house and we got to play and work on commands again.  It was hot so after commands we had some swimming time.  I asked Miss M to swim with me but she 

liked to just throw the ball for me. I was fine with that and did a lot of swimming
and fetching.  Mom and Dad stayed home and cleaned out veggies in the garden again. When I got back home I saw the vegetables down on the grass but these ones looked very different.  Long orange things and hard red/purple things.  Mom again got the big machine out and shredded most of them.  I will say the orange shredded stuff that fell on the floor didn't have much taste either.  Don't know what they see in them.

The Omaha World Herald story came out over the Labor Day weekend.  It told the story about my career change and how wonderful KSDS Inc. is.

On 911 this year Mom and Dad told me about what happened 17 years ago.  It is sad that all of those people lost their lives on that day.  Mom and Dad said we should stop and remember them. They were innocent people and some were courageous people trying to save others lives.  Dad told me there were special service dogs that help find people and comfort people.

The next big event was our trip to Lincoln to camp and go to the Husker football game.  I got to go and represent KSDS Inc.  Mom had lots of our pamphlets and cards to give out.


We started our weekend adventure camping in Lincoln on Friday night.  It was a cool camping spot.  Little Red came along with us so he guarded our camp site and let everyone know my Dad is a Husker fan. Next, Mom and Dad put out our other Husker football decorations then it was time for dinner.  We had our usual dog food while dad cooked on the grill.  We ate dinner kind of late so right after we were done we started to get ready for bed.  Kick off  on Saturday at the Husker game was at 11:00 and dad likes to get there early to walk around. He also likes to see the football players when they do something called the tunnel walk. We had really cool seats right on ground level.  I don't think football players can understand puppy talk so it probably sounded like I barked at them twice when I was really rooting for them.

During something called halftime we went outside the stadium for me to "hurry up" and you would not believe who we ran into.  Little Red's twin.  He was watching over something called a tail gate party.  Mom and Dad
talked to them before we went
 back in to watch the game again.

 Avalon did not get to go with us camping and to the game because of her car sickness plus she did not get special permission to go.  When Avalon made her career change she decided to just be a forever family pet while I decided to be an Ambassador for KSDS.  Avalon stayed at home and Miss M came over and let her out to "hurry up" and feed her breakfast and dinner.  They also went for a walk.  In between Miss M babysitting she went for a really long ride on her other four legged very large puppy.  I am not sure I like sharing Miss M with this other puppy but I thinks she really likes to ride so I guess it is OK.  I am not sure the name of the puppy but I know they go to command competitions and she wins ribbons.
                          GO BIG RED !!!!