Doggies gone wild!

For the last few weeks doggieland has been busy!  Junebug competed in the Swamp Splash at Cabelas in Gonzales, LA and we attended Bark in the Park in Lafayette, LA as well as going to work daily at the doggie daycare! 

First off Swamp Splash was a huge hit!  The Delta DockDogs club gained much needed attention as well as some new members on the cold Halloween weekend.  The waterfowl festival brought in a good little crowd for us and tons of people came back to try it out with their pups on Sunday.  I was so excited that our club pulled it off with the help of the Heart of Texas club.  We even had Jim Zelasko at our event doing an event review which brought us even more attention.  Junebug and I also had an amazing event as a team!

We started out the weekend a little stressed and my throws were off so our first two jumps in wave one were basically flops.  We placed 1st in the Junior division with the 14 footers she jumped.  After that we got rockin and rollin when Micheal arrived.  We jumped a 19' 2" in big air by the end of the day making a new personal best in Big Air and winning a couple more 1st places in the senior division.  We made 4' 10" in Extreme Vertical making that a new personal best and placing 2nd in EV Cadet.  Then we also tried Speed Retrieve for the first time ever and making an 8.2 getting second in SR Express.  By the end of the first day I was ecstatic about our improvements and accomplishments.

Day two was just as great.  We made yet another personal best jumping a whopping 19' 11" in Big Air securing us the top spot in Senior finals qualifications (the cut off is 19' 11" then it moves to Masters at 20').  We competed in speed retrieve and Big Air finals on Sunday and placed 1st in Big Air Senior finals and second in Speed Retrieve Express finals.  We actually ended up getting second place in Iron Dog Warrior which is the top jump of each category throughout the weekend.  There was a mess up in paperwork though so I did not find this out until this week.  All in all Junebug is an amazing dog and we couldn't be more proud (yes she's our kid) of how far she has come in just three events!  I owe a huge thank you to Nancy, Stephen, and Greg for allowing us to practice and the training tips! 

Today we went to Bark in the Park which was an event put on by a rescue organization in Lafayette.  NOLA Lab Rescue was there as well as work but I spent my time doing work instead of playing with all the chocolate lab pups in the expen at NOLA.  Junebug was well behaved and we discovered her love of flavored bubbles!  Hiker played mascot for the Camp booth and hung out by the table greeting everyone and begging for treats off the table!  One thing I noticed was the astounding amount of pregnant dogs and un-neutered dogs.  I definitely expected to see more dogs who were spayed and neutered there since it was focused on adoptions and humane societies.  Spay and neuter your animals please!  It is sad the amount of animals that get put down daily including pure bred dogs that people bred purposely.  I challenge you to go like the local shelters pages who do weekly and monthly rounds of putting dogs down including gassing.  Its sick.  Ok stepping off my soap box now. 

It's been a long update but doggieland was busy!  We'll be back at it full force again very soon I'm sure!!!!  Once again thanks for reading!

Doggie land updates!

I am happy to report that Ruger the foster dog is happily in his new home!  He now lives in Canada with three kids and has a comfy home!  In his first week he even got to go to the doggie park multiple times!  We are so happy to know that he is settled in and happy with a furever family!

Jumpin Junebug (find her on facebook) is headed to Swamp Splash this weekend!  We have been waiting for a long time for our clubs event debut and its finally here.  We have been preparing for weeks!  Junebug will now be competing as an Iron Dog which means she is competing in all three classes and for the Iron Dog division titles at the end.  The three divisions are Big Air (her PB is 17' 11"), Extreme Vertical (her PB is 4' 6"), and Speed Retrieve (our first time).  We decided to go big or go home this time!  :)  Look for updates soon!  We will be posting daily results as we jump on saturday and sunday on her page!  Wish us luck!

What's in a name

Bringing home a new pet is always super exciting but the same question agonizes us all, "What is his/her name?"  If you're like me you rush and try and name your pet as fast as possible with only the few hours of knowing them to judge them by.  I have come out lucky and all my names fit my animals pretty well, but have you ever sat down and thought about what you really call your pets? 

I think its hilarious what I really call my pets and you might get a laugh out of the lists yourself so here we go!

Hiker: Hiker Jones, Jones, Poopy, Doody, Hiker J, J, J Dog, Baby Boy

Junebug: Bug, Stinky, Stinkbug, Smelly, Smelly Butt, Bugger, Baby Girl, Bug Butt

Romeo: Momos, Momeo, Mo Sito, Meowmeow, Fluffy Butt, Romes, Momes

Cheddar: Cheddar Bad Cat, Cheddar Long Tail, Cheddar Mean Bean, Cheddar Bean, Cheddar Biscuit, Bad Cat, Fucktard, Fuckhead, Mean Bean, Purr Bucket, Bastard, Fucker, Asscat, Fuckin Piece of Shit

 

 As you can tell we like to call the last one bad names.... well thats cause he's bad!  Hope you enjoyed!

Doggie Land is upside down!

As of my last update my little foster Ruger with NOLA Lab Rescue was about to embark on the long trek north to Canada.  As it turns out the adopters were not as patient as we'd hoped.  Hurricane Isaac threw us a little delay of a week and in that time they found another pup to rescue.  Kudos to them for still rescuing though.  Come last weekend Ruger was still supposed to leave for Canada but last minute we decided to keep him here since we didn't quite have the room for all the dogs.  In the mean time applications have been put in on him for the area!  Yay!  Maybe it wasn't meant to be and Ruger would stay in Louisiana to be adopted.  Currently we are awaiting reference checks and paperwork but we will see what is in store for Ruger the love pup soon! 

During this week Ruger has gone on quite a few rides and has now started getting motion sickness!  He has never had any problems riding in the truck before, but now every time we start driving he looses his cookies in my truck.  Micheal wont be happy with this but what can you do.  We will be using the crate to go anywhere now.   Doggie Land tilted on its axis when this started!

Also in the last week the most horrid smelling thing has happened in my house!  Junebugs anal glands (YES ANAL GLANDS) have leaked a few times, one of them being my LEG!  BARF!!!!  You have no idea what the worst stench in the world is until your dogs anal gland leaks on your leg!  I have had to express them twice now this week and I want to die!  I wish this smell on no one!  Doggie land has now completely fallen off its axis and is in a free spin!

To throw one more shift in our world we also decided to change back to Wellness food.  Even though we are doing it slowly and mixing it with the old food the pups all have been having the runs!  They say things come in threes and I hope this is it.

Doggie land has lost all its normality!  Every time you turn around now I am smelling something gross!  What can you do but embrace the love these pups give in apology for the nasty smelling presents they leave us.  I wouldn't give up this love for anything!

Ruger the Foster Puppy with NOLA Lab Rescue

Ruger has officially been with me one month and he is about to embark on his next adventure.  I got the news a little over a week ago that a family that is already approved to adopt through us would be a great fit for Ruger and Ruger a good fit for them.  After talking with another person in the rescue and a transport up north being arranged it has been decided that Ruger will be leaving us on Labor Day weekend.

I have been emailing the potential foster mom all week and got to meet the whole family via Skype last night.  The three kids were so cute fighting over the front seat at the computer to see Ruger up close.  When I told them that he likes to fetch they got so excited and told me they wanted to throw the ball for him.  All in all I completely approve of his potential new home and am excited to see how it goes when they meet him in a week or so.

Fostering with NOLA has definitely been an experience to cherish.  Micheal and I are so happy that our first time being fosters has gone so seamless with this great rescue.  We jumped both feet first with only a few days notice and every experience has been great.  We will be fostering another dog but will wait til the right one to foster comes around.  After all these dogs keep a permanent place in your heart.

I would definitely recommend fostering if you have space and experience with dogs.  Truly an experience I will keep forever in my heart.

Welcome to Doggie Land

Today I decided I would capture some of this dogginess whirling around in my head 24/7.  My life is filled with dogs day and night and I am ok with it, and for the most part my husband is too.  First of all we own two Labrador Retrievers named Hiker and Junebug.  Hiker is an 8 year old black lab career changed guide dog for the blind.  Junebug is a 1 year old Mexican jumping bean.  Ok, ok she really isn't a Mexican jumping bean but its the best way to describe her.  She is actually a 1 year old chocolate lab.  Junebug and I compete with Delta DockDogs in Louisiana and frequently visit our friend Heart of Texas DockDogs over in the Houston area.  We have two more members of this crazy family named Cheddar (affectionately Cheddar Mean Bean) and Romeo.  Cheddar is a pain in everyone's arse and Romeo sleeps 24/7.

As well as helping with Delta DockDogs I also volunteer and foster with NOLA Lab Rescue (New Orleans Lab Rescue).  Currently taking up temporary residence with us is Ruger a 6 month old yellow lab.  He will soon be moving to Canada though and has a potential family who wants to adopt him when he gets there!  Yay go Ruger we love you but are so excited for you to find your furever home! 

After all that dogginess I decided to add one more crazy factoid to the party.  I work at a doggie daycare!  I love my job, and love that I get to love and play with 50-90 dogs on a daily basis.  We currently have 8 fosters who live at my work and I have a soft spot for the little chocolate lab named Millie.  She came in a week ago and the girls took me straight to her when I got in cause they knew I would melt.  She just wants love and has a severe case of wiggle butt!  Sweet little girl!

So my life is filled with dogs and dogs and more dogs and I just love it.  Id like to share with everyone the funny things and adventures in my daily life with all these little buggers running around.

Thanks for stopping by and feel free to leave comments!  If you have any requests or questions for me please leave them! 

Nicole