What a year!

What a year this has been! Mom and I have had a rough year. Russell had another back surgery in August of last year and is just really getting around good now. We had an unexpected litter of pups - just two of them - but they brought Monkee to me, she is my bestest friend. Ranger left us to wait at Rainbow Bridge. Zeke moved in the house. School was great this year! New kids, everyone lending a hand to help me learn to be a therapy dog! I got my CGC!



I have not grown much since my last entry in February. I am about 11 inches tall and 14 lbs. I think I may be as big as I am going to get. I can run sometimes, I can jump off the couch all the time but jumping up is really hard unless I have a running start. My back legs get stiff and hurty sometimes. I have to take a day off of school every once in a while, especially when it is cold.

The school year started out rough as Russell has back surgery on August 1st. He was in bunches of pain and was really grumpy! I did my best to make him feel better but there were days that even I could not make him smile. I would just try harder. Mom was very worried about leaving him home alone. I reminded her that Kate and Ranger would be there to take care of him. She felt much better after that and off to school we went.

On 9/10/11 puppies were born at our house. Daisy has two girls. Daisy was kinda mean to me the first week the girls were born. she made Mom move my steps to get up to the bed. It was hard to get in the room! Mom talked to Daisy and then Daisy got nicer to me. I loved the puppies! By the next week I was laying in the box with them and Daisy. Daisy took care of all of us but she would not let me nurse with the girls that is one thing she really put her foot down about! Three months later Amy went to live with Liz, Ronnie, Kenzie, Middle, Little, and Ro. I really missed her but Monkee was still at home with us.

Monkee is a wild beagle! She is really little about 9 inches or so. She doesn't look like me you know all dwarfy, she is perfectly porportioned. She climbs and jumps on every, and I mean everything! She can jump! Monkee is such a great name for her. Mom tried really hard to find her a great home. I was hoping she would never find her a home because I knew Monkee was mine! Just like Mom knew that I was hers! Monkee is my best friend, she can go places I can't but she always knocks the important stuff down so I can see/have it too! She is smaller than me so when we play I don't get hurt! Well not too often anyway!

Ranger was my great great great grumpy grandpa. He would let me get in the chair with him to sleep during the day. He would grump at me when I wanted to bite his ears, run between his legs or when I would bark to wake him up. We slept together on Mom's bed and in his favorite chair! He got a bad thing called cancer. The vet said that there was no way to make him better to just take him home and love him. He got to eat the best things for the last month of his life, he didn't want to share. Mom was very sad when he left us I did my best to make her happy. I didn't understand why she was so sad, she did explain to me that Ranger wasn't coming home ever again and that she needed time to be sad. I just stayed close to her while she was sad and pretty soon she was happy again! I miss Ranger but now I have Zeke!

Zeke is my uncle there are a lot of greats in front of that uncle! Zeke is not as grumpy as Ranger was but he can get darn grumpy when I take his toys! We play a game called "rabbit" Zeke is never the rabbit, he is the chaser! He is not as fast as Monkee and he can't run on the tile like I can so we have bunches of fun laughing and play with Zeke!


This was an explanation blog so much happen this year. Summer vacation has begun and Mom and I will rest for another week and then get started on working on next years lessons!

It has been so long since I have written...

...and so much has happened. Let's start with my stats. I am 10 1/2 inches tall and I weigh 13 pounds.
I walk well and run occasionally. I can jump on the couch - if I get a running start - I can generally jump off the couch. Mom has steps up to the beagle chairs for me and to her bed. I am now a year old. I love to travel and go every where with Mom. Which has brought me to my next adventure.

Over the summer I went with Mom to Jeddito to work with some great kids! They had all sorts of disbilities. My favorite was Drew, he has something called Autism. Nobody seems to be exactly sure where Autism comes from or what causes it. Drew has severe Autism, he doesn't communicate they same way other kids.  Drew can't talk but he seems to understand. He gets to a point where he just has to run - that was fun! The first day I met Drew he did not want to be inside, he wanted to run but just like everyone else Mom said he had to learn first we work then we play. He really didn't want to work. He fell down on the floor and kicked and cried. I went over to see if I could make him feel better but he didn't want to feel better! He grabbed my ear, twisted and pulled me up to his face. Mom was scared that he was going to hurt me but I knew that he just needed to have me close to him. Mom made him let go of my ear (which was nice) she told me to get into my crate. I don't disobey Mom very often but this time I knew she was wrong. Drew needed me to be close to him. He was laying on the floor on his side, he was still crying. I went and layed down next to him. Drew put his arm around me and quit crying. I helped him to get his inside work done so that we could go run! Mom and my favorite Occupational Therapist Linda were amazed at what I had done with Drew. I still don't understand why they thought it was amazing, he needed me to help him! On the way home that night Mom and Linda were talking about therapy dogs. They said I might make a really good one. The next day Mom started researching and we started working on what we both needed to learn. I need to take my CGC (Canine Good Citizenship) test. I have been going to school with Mom to learn to work with students. I generally listen to them, they read to me and talk to me. I play with the kids too! I really enjoy going into the K-2 class - they all love Scotty kisses! I have learned to ask to go outside to potty and not to eat erasers. Loud noises don't scare me. Walkers, wheel chairs, and canes are normal for me. Strange dogs with their Moms or Dads don't scare me unless they are really big! I can walk through a crowd of people and stay with Mom. The only thing I really don't like is when Mom hands my leash off to a person I don't know and walks away. She always comes back but man I just hate that!

Mom's boss, Dr. Rex,  is a great person who understands what dogs can do for kids. She lets Mom bring me to school on a regular basis. I go to school on Tuesday and Thursday I love when I hear the words, "let's go work Scotty!" I even have my own ID!

I am hoping that I will be a certified therapy dog in the next year or so. I am so excited to be making a difference in the lives of kids.