Monday, November 30, 2009

30 x 30

Woo! I made it! 30 posts in 30 days. That's asking a lot of a very busy high schooler! I'm not going to say that all of my posts were great..but I did it! I don't think that posting daily is the thing for me. I ran out of things to say and it turned into more of a ramble! But hey..I tried.

I hope everyone had a great day and enjoyed their Monday...as if that's possible!

And a special shout out to my friend Morgan who is 16 on this very special day!

Maddie and Betsy

Sunday, November 29, 2009

White Stuff [By Betsy]

You know what!? Sometimes this white stuff falls from the sky. But I can't remember what its called! It is super cold..like ice! And whenever it falls I get super excited. And then momma lets me run in the backyard! I play and play and play! I love love love to eat the stuff. It tastes like ice cubes only it makes me mouth wet super fast! I sure hope we get some white sky stuff soon, even though mommy doesn't like it very much.
Here is a picture of me in it. 


Do remember what that white stuff is called?

Betsy

Momma says Gabrina is in phase 8. I'm not sure exactly what that means but mom is excited for her! Mom said that she is close to graduating college. I will be very excited if she does. Then I don't have to share my mommy with her! So go Gabrina!

Saturday, November 28, 2009

7 whole months! [By Betsy]

That's right guys! I am 7 months old!

Mom said I could write 7 things I really like about me this time! There most certainly are not in order!

1. I am a good little sleeper. I sleep sleep sleep at night. And I sleep sleep sleep during the day!

2. I am a champion at climbing grated stairs!

3. I have beautiful black fur and big brown eyes!

4. I can eat two cups of food in less than a minutes!

5. I weigh 55 pounds!

6. I get to go lots of places with my mom!

7. Everyone loves me!!

Betsy is looking up at the camera. Her ears are perked up and her eyes are yellow because of the flash
[Mom is hoping to take some nice pictures of me soon! I am way more beautiful than I look here]

Betsy the BIG girl!

Oh yeah and mom wants to know if anyone got the GDB Phase Report? 


Friday, November 27, 2009

Award..Thanksgiving Style!


We received this award from Toby and his trainer! Thank you so much!  

"This award is to be bestowed upon five individuals with the hopes that they will cut and paste the badge above for their blogs, then honor five more and so on and so on... "

Now to honor 5 other bloggers! We have lots of friends..but here are 5 great blogs that haven't already received the award!

1. Elizabeth and Peyton - Peyton is Elizabeth's 4th puppy from GDB. She also raised his momma Holly!

2.Heather and Ellie - Ellie is Heather's 2nd puppy she is raising for NEADS.

3. Sarah and her Pack - Sarah is currently raising her 4th dog for GDB, Rafferty

4. Martha and Ardella - Ardella was recently career changed from GDB. Now she is enjoying life as a pet. Martha just adopted a new kitty too!

5. Carrie and Waffle - Waffle is a CC pup from GDB. Lani, a puppy Carrie raised, just turned two and had her first litter of puppies! 6 of them!

There are many other blogs I wish I could have nominated! I am blessed by many blogs to read that make me laugh and teach me about amazing puppy raising adventures!

Maddie and Betsy

How to teach stand

I hope everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving yesterday! Betsy sure did! She got to play with another puppy all day long!! Anyways...
I have been trying really hard to teach Betsy stand but she just doesn't get it! I have done everything in the puppyraising manual with no success. I am planing on asking my leader about other techniques...but I won't see him for a couple weeks. I am hoping that you guys will have some advice on how to teach her; and then I won't have to bother my leader at all ;)


Wow sorry for the horrible quality! 

Maddie and Betsy

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Thanksgiving

Wishing everyone a fun and safe Thanksgiving from chilly Colorado!

Maddie and Betsy

I am posting it tonight because I will be busy all day tomorrow!

For you football fans...Go Giants! [I'll be there :D]

Return of the fuzzy! [By Betsy]

So I don't know if momma ever told you..but my most favorite toy when I was a pup was my fuzzy!

Here is a picture of one..but not mine it's my buddy Anthony:

9 week old black lab Anthony holding a white fleece toy in his mouth.
One day..my 4 month old birthday to be exact...my fuzzy disappeared! I looked everywhere but couldn't find it! Until today...mom has slippers that have my fuzzy inside! I love to carry them in my mouth and show people, but for some reason mom doesn't like it when I do that. I just want to show her that I found my fuzzy!!

Betsy

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Uniforms!

Here is my post for the day; in a kind of poem way. But not really a poem. 

When Betsy was a little puppy
a UPS man came to our door in uniform.
Betsy coward when he tried to pet her.
I think she was afraid of the uniform.

When we visited the fire station,
Betsy was afraid of the firefighters
before they even put on the breathing mask.
I think she was afraid of the uniform.

I have been exposing Betsy
to all kinds of people in uniforms
and I think we have tackled her fear!

Yesterday two navy recruiters came to our house
to talk to my older brother and my parents.
They were of course in uniform
and Betsy wasn't afraid of them!
She loved them.

And this morning
when we saw a UPS man delivering a package
Betsy got very excited.
I think it was the uniform.


Betsy sleeping on the floor with her head resting on her paw. Her leather leash is going out the the left side, under her body


Maddie and Betsy 

Monday, November 23, 2009

But it's fun! [By Betsy]

Hey Pups!
I'm usually such a good girl that momma lets me wander around the house. My favoritest thing to do is go lay on the doggy beds in mom's room! But today I had other plans. When mom was in the bathroom blowing air on her hair, I snuck into the bedroom. Mom watched me go in but she just thought I was going to take a nap. She closed the bathroom door and turned up her music. When I was sure she was busy I tore up some of my doggy bed! It was sooooo much fun! I am a smart dog though and didn't chew up the whole thing. If I did that I wouldn't have anything to sleep on! When mom walked in the room I gave her my best puppy eyes. But I think she was still pretty mad. She cleaned up the bed super quick so her parents wouldn't see and get mad at me. Mom said I lost all my freedom! Now every time she gets up I have to follow. And she never lets me wander off on my own. I am always on tie down, in my kennel, or glued to my mom's side. This is no fun!!

I promise never ever to chew on another bed!
Betsy

Sunday, November 22, 2009

I think I got it!

I think I finally figured out how to do ALT Text on my pictures! A special thanks to Ro, Anna, L^2, and anyone else that helped!

betsy's old nylabone. It is a quarter of the size of her new bone. It is chewed on both sides.
 [Betsy's new and old bone]



Betsy sitting with her butt on the seat of the car. She has her front feet on the floor. She has her ears back and very big puppy eyes.
[Betsy sitting silly! Don't worry, she got off promptly after I took this picture.]

I sure hope this works!
Maddie and Betsy

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Guess what I did! [By Betsy]

Yesterday after school mom got out my vest and I knew that something exciting was happening! I got in mom's friend's car and we went for a drive. When I hoped out of the car we were at that school place I have told you about. I walked in and there were tons of people standing in line for something. Mom bought a ticket and we went into this room full of chairs! I slept for a little bit but then some music started playing. I'm sure you all know what a drag it is to sleep through music. I sat up to see what was going on and there were people on this big platform thing up front. There was a pig and a spider and a little girl. It was amazing! They were talking and singing and laughing. It put me in a very good mood. But after a few minutes of watching I fell asleep. Mom woke me up and everyone was leaving. She said it was a very good play. I like to play to; I play tug and hide and seek real good! I'm not sure what those people were playing, but I sure hope I can play that game someday!

Betsy

Friday, November 20, 2009

Funky Seating!

Betsy has always sat/laid in the car weird. Usually she curls up in a tiny ball under the seat. Or she will sit and fall asleep with her head on the seat. Sometimes she spreads out and take up as much space as possible. Or will sit and stare out the window.
Get the idea?
Well this is the weirdest position I have seen yet, she put her butt on the seat and had her front feet on the ground! It was very uncomfortable looking. I have a picture of her right before I told her to get off, but Blogger isn't letting me upload it...Maybe someday.


Maddie and Betsy

Thursday, November 19, 2009

I got a new bone! [By Betsy]


Look at my new bone!


I got a new bone!
Look at my new bone!

Bone, bone, bone. I got a new bone!

Chewin on my new bone. Chew chew chew!

Betsy and my new bone!



[Note from mom: My ALT tags aren't working. The alt="" part isn't there on edit HTML. Is it possible that it's because I'm on a Mac?]
Maddie

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Bath Time Pictures!








This is my first attempt with ALT descriptions. Did it work?

Maddie and Betsy

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

A bath!

Last week I was carrying a glass of juice and Betsy so nicely bumped me. Causing the juice to spill all over her back. She didn't mind, but I didn't want her to get sticky and itchy. So it was time for a bath!


Betsy is a pretty easy dog to bathe. She is content to just stand there while I scrub her and spray her down. Rinsing her can be difficult though. She doesn't like to move around so I usually end up spraying either myself in the face or spraying water all over the bathroom.


Oh the joys of bathing puppies!

Maddie and Betsy



I was going to add a picture of Betsy's pathetic "I'm all wet" face, but Blogger won't let me! Maybe some day.


Monday, November 16, 2009

Pictures

I have been wanting to put the alt tags and image descriptions on my photos so screen readers can get the whole gist of my blog.

Can some one please tell me how to do it!


Thanks so much,
Maddie and Betsy

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Freedom [By Betsy]

You guys will never ever guess what happened yesterday! It snowed and I got a taste of freedom. Here's the scoop
It was snowing outside and mom was getting ready for bed. She had taken off my dragline and thought I was laying on my bed in her room. But little did she know I wanted to play in the snow! Mom opened the front door to go outside and get her phone from the car when I made an escape. I didn't mean to bolt out the front door but snow is my favorite! I ran around and around the yard. Mom immediately ran out the front door. She yelled Betsy Come. Well all you pups know come equals food! And with all the snow I couldn't help but be extra excited and run right past mom. She called me again and I came to her, but when she reached down to grab me I just ran away again.  I never once stepped out of the yard or went out of mom's sight, but for some reason she was very scared. She would try to grab me and I would run. I just wanted to play, honest! Mom is sneaky too though, she snuck up behind me when I was eating some snow and grabbed me. I guess she was pretty mad because she made me sleep in the kennel with no toys AND no bed :[. Poor me! I promise never ever to run out the front door again and mom says she promises never ever to let me! So pups, the moral of the story...while running out the door and having freedom is fun, it's not any fun when your mom is mad at you!

[Here is me running in the snow in the FENCED backyard!]

Did anything exciting happen to you today?

Betsy the runner!

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Do Your Business

Every puppyraiser does them...a monthly report. How in depth do you go on your reports? do you write a few sentences at the bottom or entire paragraphs. A year and a half into puppyraising and I'm just now wondering if I have been filling these things out right at all. My leader has never said anything to me so I'm hoping everything is okay.

How detailed do you go with your monthly reports? When do you consider something serious enough to get put on the report?


Maddie and Betsy

Friday, November 13, 2009

I love my tug toy!

My mommy just bought a brand new rope for my jollyball! Yay!





Love,
A very happy Betsy

Thursday, November 12, 2009

It's those stairs again! [By Betsy]

You will never guess what my mom did yesterday!!! She made me walk on those scary stairs with the holes in them. But this time she had food with her. I waited at the bottom while she walked to the top. (Editors note: there were 5 steps). Then momma said "come!". Well, "come" is my favorite command in the whole word. So I took off running, but then I realized that it was those stairs again. I had my front feet on the first step. I really wanted to go up to my mom and get that piece of food but it was scary! I stretched my body all the way up to the 3rd step, but I still couldn't reach her. I had to put my back feet up. Slowly but surely I climbed all the way to the tippy top of the stairs! And you know what mom did?! She gave me a jackpot of kibble! Yippee! Then we walked up and down the stairs until I forgot all about those silly holes. Hopefully the next time I have to practice on them I won't even notice the holes.


[I'm one sleepy girl!]


Do all you hot dogs have a wonderful Thursday?
Miss Bets-a-roo!

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Yummmmmy Ice!

Betsy absolutely loves her ice cubes. When she hears someone get out a glass she jumps up and sits by the refrigerator. Then she waits very patiently for her ice cube. She looks you in the eyes until you say the magic word (Betsy OK). And then crunch crunch crunch! Yum Water!


Do you give your puppies even after they finish teething?

Maddie and Betsy

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

All Growed Up? [by Betsy]

Hellooooo World!!
Momma says I'm growin like a weed. I don't know exactly what a weed does, but I'm sure it is beautiful if my mommy is comparing me to it. Yesterday mom made me stand up against the wall while she drew where my back was and then she made me stand on this big pad thing that beeped! That wall must have been magic because as soon as I walked away mom said my back was 21 1/2 inches tall! If my back is that tall, can you imagine how tall my head must be?!? Wowzers! And the beeping pad said I weighed 50 lbs! I'm one big puppy. My big sister, Gabrina, weighed 55 lbs at recall. I am going to be bigger. Ha, I always knew I was better than her!! And just think, I'm only 6 months old! Aren't I a big girl? Practically all growed up...don't cha think?

XOXO
Betsy!



Monday, November 9, 2009

Thank you

Thank you to everyone who commented on my rant. It's great knowing I have your support!

Maddie and Betsy

A Busy Weekend

Betsy had a very busy weekend, but there are no pictures for this post.
Friday: 4-H Achievement night. Betsy got to experience a crowd of over 600 people. There was lots of applause, music, noise, little kids, food on the floor, and people talking on a microphone. I must say that Betsy was awesome! She laid and slept for the first half and the second half she just sat up beside my chair and watched the people. Then at the end (3 hours later), I took her potty, which she was  grateful for, and she "stayed" as I helped clean up.
Saturday: I had two soccer games. Betsy sat through the first one. We went out to lunch at Qdoba and then Betsy slept through the second one. The field I was playing on doesn't allow pets so we (I should say my parents), got to educate the public on the access rights of PITs in CO.
Sunday: Another soccer game. Betsy chewed on her bone the whole time! Then we went to lunch at Red Robin. Despite the crowd, dirty floor, and loud noises, Betsy was able to sleep! Good Girl.


Sorry for a boring post,
Maddie and Betsy

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Buzz!

I can fly!
You wanna know why?
Because I'ma bee!
Yippee!




Hope everyone had a lovely weekend

Miss Betsy


And mom.

Friday, November 6, 2009

Any Connection?

*Warning* This post contains a rant.


For some reason I have been having a lot of trouble connecting with Betsy. I mean I love her to death, but I don't feel as close to her as I was to Gabrina. Maybe it's because she is my second dog, or maybe it's because she would rather just stay home and sleep. Gabrina was always ready to go, it didn't matter what time of day of what she was doing. I could open the door while she was eating dinner and she would come running. And Gabrina was fearless, she went basically everywhere from day 1. We were always together. Betsy doesn't like going anywhere. I will pick up her vest and show it to her and she doesn't even get up. She has no interest in going anywhere with me. Now if I sit on the floor with her she will come and cuddle up, but honestly, I don't have a lot of time to spend cuddling. I need a dog that is eager to go everywhere and do everything. A dog that will do anything to please me. Betsy isn't that dog. Everyone falls in love with Betsy. What can I say, she is a great dog, but I guess the point of this post is to say...she isn't my Gabrina.


[Betsy and me being silly]


[Gabrina and me sleeping. I have a ton of pictures from all different days of us like this]


Wow, I just reread what I wrote up there and that is not at all what I meant to say when I started this post. But I can't bring myself to delete it, because it's the truth. The point of this post was to say that I don't think you can effectively train a dog that you are not connected with. You don't have the desire for them to succeed. I haven't been working with Betsy nearly as much as I did with Gabrina. Maybe that's why we aren't as connected. We didn't have that "love and first sight" connection so I gave up. It's my fault. I need to try harder, make things funner, and give it my all. Betsy needs to succeed.

I think that Betsy came to me for a reason. I have this strong belief that every puppy raiser is given the puppy that they need at that moment. Gabrina came "brave" because I needed someone strong to get me through my crazy freshman year. But Betsy is a softy because I need to slow down. I am way too busy. Betsy is here to force me to slow down, to stop over committing myself. I need to "stop and smell the roses" enjoy high school, I only have 2 more years and I'm done. That's it, game over.

I have thought about transferring Betsy, but I can't bring myself to do it. I love her. She may not be my soulmate dog, but I love her. And I can't cut my time with her short. On top of that, my dad loves her. Sure, she's not my soulmate dog, but she's his. He has spent countless hours working on her commands and taking her on outings. She is the perfect dog for him and I can't take that away.

Betsy and I just need to find something that we have in common. Something we both love. For Gabrina and I, it was being busy. But Betsy and I haven't quite found our interest yet. It will come with time. I know it will. Even if it's the day before recall, I will connect with Betsy.

End rant.

If you stuck it through that, thank you.


Maddie and Betsy

Thursday, November 5, 2009

BIG day!

Today is a very exciting days for one of my favorite puppies!

Mr. Gardner is graduating today!

Can you believe it? It feels like he just left.

I would like to wish him and his new partner luck as they begin their lives together. I'm sure they will work great as a team.

Gardner's raisers are going out for graduation so I will post pictures when they get back!

Congratulations to everyone involved in his success!



Maddie and Betsy

What are those? [By Betsy]

Hey all you wild hounds! It's Betsy here!
Today I got to go to school with my mom, but it was after school! She said something about parent teacher conferences..who knows. We walked around to all of her teachers AND all of her brothers teachers. They all commented on how good I was. Not to toot my own horn, but I was very well behaved.
Except there was just one little problem, we went to walk up these stairs and there were holes in them! [Editors note: It was grated stairs] Why would you ever want to put holes in stairs?!?! I was kinda scared at first, I mean what if something tried to reach up and grab my little paws?! But then my mom sat down on one of the stairs and I just had to go play with her! It was the perfect opportunity to kiss her face. She told me what a good girl I was and before I knew it I was at the top! I guess they weren't that bad.
So pups, any ideas why there were holes in those silly stairs? I know that the next time I have to walk on them I'll handle it like a champ! After all, I'm not scared of nothin!

That was my excitement for the day, what about you?

Miss Princess Betsy


and mom of course!

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

new dog food and shampoo!

Our CFR told us about a cheaper food that GDB has approved. It is Purina One Lamb and Rice Puppy. She said we could feed the dogs this until they are a year old when we need to switch them to Science Diet Lamb and Rice Adult so they will be ready for recall. This food is so much cheaper! It's about $25 a bag instead of $45. And the best part..it doesn't have the stinky fish smell that Science Diet has. I switched Betsy to it about 2 months ago and so far so good!


I also found a new shampoo! It is simply equal parts clear hand soap and white vingar. I know, it sounds really weird, but I swear it works great! The very first day Betsy smells like vingar but the next day she smells like puppy! It makes her super soft and shinny. For me this is a great soap. It works the same as expensive dog shampoo but it's cheaper. And I can use as much as I want and not worry about wasting it.

As you can tell I like to save money!


Maddie and Betsy

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Pumpkin Patch

On Sunday the 18th my puppy club went to a pumpkin patch. The dogs got to see goats, horses, and lots of little kids. We went on a horse drawn carriage ride. Some of the puppies were afraid to climb up the steps into the carriage, but once we were in all the dogs were fine. There was also food on the ground so the dogs got practice ignoring food. And the best part of the outing...we got free pumpkins!


Monday, November 2, 2009

6 things!


Miss Betsy is now 6 months old. Can you believe I've had her for 4 months? Yeah, I can't either.
Here are 6 new things that have happened in the past month:
1. Betsy sleeps loose every night.
2. Betsy is now wearing her big girl collar.
3. Betsy has grown almost an inch in the month.
4. Betsy loves to carry around socks. She doesn't chew them just parades...(we are working on stopping this)
5. Betsy is no longer afraid of stairs.
6. Betsy will put her front feet in our SUV and will jump out all by herself.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

4 day weekend!

This past weekend I got 4 days off! Woot Woot! I know..you are probably wondering why I didn't update sooner..but hey I'm a teenage girl..I was busy.
Let's start with Wednesday. It was Betsy's half birthday! I'll do another post on that later. To begin we woke up to snow! This made Betsy the happiest pup ever. It really pleased her when we got around a foot of snow! Woohoo! She played in the snow and slept while I was at school and when I got home we went shopping! We were shopping for over 3 hours so by the end she was exhausted. It was probably a little bit much for her, but I had some things I needed to get done before Halloween (like getting a costume). She was awesome despite being tired and not wanting to walk.
Wednesday night Betsy slept out of her kennel and she slept until I woke up at 10! She didn't even get up when she heard my mom feeding our pets dogs!
Thursday I went shopping again. This time I left Betsy at home. She just chilled with my brothers all day. When I got home we practiced stay, which she is awesome at!
On Friday I got together my own costume and started working on Betsy's. She was an adorable little bumblebee. I made the whole thing..and for someone as uncreative as me, that's a big accomplishment!
Saturday I was planning on taking her trick or treating with me for a little bit but she was stressed out all day so I just left her at home.
And that brings us to today which we spent doing homework.


I promise I have pictures for you, but I can't find the cord to upload them to my computers. Hopefully I can get them up soon!

Have a great Monday!
Maddie and Betsy the bee