Warm Wishes for the Holidays

It is Christmas Eve and I do hope that everyone is settling in for Santa to come. At my house we are patiently waiting and we even have some christmas snow!

I was so happy to recieve all of the cards you sent and have displayed them all over the house

The dogs had a great time sniffing the cards and everyone here enjoyed seeing where all the cards were from and what they looked like. It has been pretty busy here but we hope to have some new features to the blog in the new year.

We were saddened to hear about the loss at The Pittie Pack and I send best wishes to them during this time. The pittie pack lost 5 members during an awful fire and blogville has been wonderful in helping them. It is truly amazing what people will do in a time of need and the spirit of giving will help them I'm sure.

On behalf of the crew and myself we wish everyone a merry christmas and a happy new year

Not too late for wordless wednesday are we?

Oh Sophie

We have always let Sophie get away with more things than Koda. Mostly because she is so much smaller and doesn't shed that she usually gets run of the house. Its funny though because she then takes the initiaive to break many more rules that are in place for both of them, like cruising the table top, barking, biting, and running away when off leash. Of course these are all rules that have never ever changed for her.

You all know that we finally were sick of her behaviour and decided to enroll her in Petsmart training classes which were great......when we were there. At home she thought that listening was only when she wanted to. This all changed when Iwent away for 5 weeks and for those of you who don't believe in Alpha dog this will convince you. I am top dog..always never changes but when I'm not around Sophie takes over. She ended up attacking my Mom when she would wake my sister up in the mornings. So things needed to change and fast!

I made the following new rules for her;

1. Sleep in crate at night

2. Stay in crate when everyone is gone from the house

3. Tied up when outside ALWAYS

4. Must sit before going outside, coming inside, playing, snuggling, eating...anything she wanted to do

To be honest she was slightly confused at first like why do I have to do this, but once she understood that she needed to give in order to get, she was on a roll. I still have to ask her to sit but sometimes she does it on her own. I know she hates being in her crate so much so I make sure that she has a bone, toy and some hidden treats in there during the day. Most of all we are ALL consistent on the rules so it is being reinforced all the time. Its working slowly but surely maybe by christmas Santa will be able to bring her gifts for being good.

We have also been working hard on all the season greeting cards we have for the card exchange. I am really enjoying seeing where all the bloggers are from and a few are just hours away from me. It is really and truely a great way to get to know other bloggers. I should be mailing them out next week! We recieved our very first card from Minnie and Mack and the entire family was excited to see where the card was from and who it was from. We can't wait to recieve all the others!

EEEEEEKKK SNOW!

We got our first dusting of snow last week but it didn't stay long. It was a nice reminder of the wonderful snow to come. I just love snow at christmas time it makes everything seem less dull and cold. We also put up the christmas lights on the house, I will get a picture soon. My 13 year old brother climbed up on the roof to do it and was very proud until he realized that he forgot to check the last set of lights before putting them up and half of them didn't work. So back on the roof he went. The christmas spirit is starting, I am loving Micheal Buble's christmas album and have heard some good things about Justin Bieber/Usher's christmas album. It will soon be time to get out the house decorations but I think we will start with the snowmen to encourage more snow to come for us to play in!

I finished my first placement for school last week and will miss all the little ones. I was happy to come back to my job for sure since I missed all the kids there too. It was nice to have new songs and games to play with them. The semester will be all wrapped up within the next threee weeks and it will be nice to have some time before the next semester without any homework to do.

I am still working at Petsmart and loving it. I really enjoy meeting all the customers and their pets as well as helping them find products that work for them. Of course I am not above sending them elsewhere if we do not carry what they are looking for. My cashier skills are getting better too and hopefully they will continue to grow. I am looking forward to getting my dog training in the new year as well. Overall it seems like one of the best part-time jobs I have ever had.

Sorry the crew and I have not been around much to comment but we have been reading and keeping up with everyone's blogs. We also joined the Christmas Card exchange so you can send a card to Blair or to Jack, Sophie, Koda, Indy and myself or all of us together. We look forward to sending out our cards as well. A big thanks to everyone who helped put it together, it is a wonderful way for bloggers to connect.

A Little Bit of Everything

I hope that everyone had a great halloween! I dressed up to handout candy and of course dressed up Indy too. We waited ever so patiently all night but only had 20 trick or treaters.

I am amazed at how fast time is going, only one more week and a half left of my placement. I will certainly miss the kids but I will be happy to get back to my daycare! I am almost completed all of my assignments and am not feeling too rushed. I am keeping up with all my other classes and keeping my grades up which is a wonderful feeling. I am even looking forward to signing up for next semesters classes and a sign language class. I am just loving the idea of signing and eventually being able to sign fluently enough to get a job within a deaf school. That is my new goal!

Work at petsmart is still going good although I swear that I make as much as I spend! After cleaning up after the kitties I have finally coming to the realization that I am indeed ALLERGIC TO KITTIES! I know I'm shocked too! I have always just written off the itchy eyes and nose to the cats shedding and having them up in my face but on sunday I had all 10 cats out of their cages at the same time and eventually had to open a window in order to breathe. So this writes off any cat hoarding I had planned in my life but it certainly will not stop me from owning cats that is for sure.

Full Post Friday

Wow it has been an amazing last two weeks, I couldn't believe how fast they have gone. I started my placement within a daycare located in a high school. I am in a junior preschool classroom so the children are about 2-3 years old and boy are they cute. I am loving the emergent curriculum yet still miss theme. It is very neat to see it put into practice compared to just reading the theories. Of course all the children are excited for Halloween and the costume ideas are too funny. They range from witch ballerinas to super-bunnies and pirate spider man. I have also been laughing lots as these guys have the funniest things to say like;

"I'm not cross no more"

(upon being asked why he was sad)

"What can I do for you"

(after hearing name called)

My favorite being "dip" after the child

reached his fork and meatball into the

sauce on my plate instead of their own!

The work load is a lot but I am handling it so far, I will be happy to be completed placement in a few weeks just for that. Otherwise I am perfectly content doing my placement.

Wordless Wednesday

"Rope, Koda get your rope"

Poor guy just looked at me with this sad quizzical look on his face as if to say

"my rope, what rope, my rope is gone"

Luckily we got the replacement last spring, didn't think that rope toys could last seven years

but I guess if you love them enough they will

Wordless Wednesday

A Bit of Education

I have always loved dogs and have been interested in history and genetics and how breed traits are passed down along lines. I find that many people who breed dogs or are interested in dogs are not keen on designer breeds. In theory it makes sense their are enough mixed breed dogs in the world why are you senselessly breeding more. One case in point is the recent popularity of the goldendoodle and the labradoodle yet both of these breeds have been bred for almost 20 plus years.

I have to say that I think only registered breeders should be allowed to breed since they are the ones taking the time to show, test and educate themselves and others. Many people tend to breed without ensuring they are adhereing to breed standards, health of their dogs and puppies. Let alone showing and taking time to truly learn about breeding healthy pets. That being said many of our well beloved breeds have evolved from breeding different breeds together to create a new or breeding size varients from an existing breed.

Recently I have fallen in love with the Australian Shepherd and decided that this was to be my lifelong breed amonst others of course but I have choosen to have Aussies as my showing breed. As I researched into the breed looking at how this breed would fit into my lifestyle that I hope to have, I discovered that some breeders have begun size varients. To be honest I was a little taken aback but then interested since a 60 plus pound dog is alot to handle. After owning Koda, I know that 80 pounds is alot to get in and out of the car, in and out of the bath tub, eats alot, and is fully able to pull me down the street if he felt like it. After looking into it more and realizing that these breeders are not breeding other breeds into the Australian Shepherd just breeding them smaller like they used to be bred. I quickly realized that this was something I wanted to be involved in.

To me having that Australian Shepherd in just a smaller package was perfect. I personally enjoy the mini size compared to the toy. I think that any size variants should look the same as the standard size just smaller or larger. I have done quite a bit of research into the breed and came across several different breeders. In fact these breeders are instrumental in creating the Canadian Mini Aussie Association. http://www.canadianminiaussies.com/ . Many standard breeders are very against breeding smaller aussies. As well neither AKC or CKC has approved the breedings either however they have begun accepting those breeders who wish to change their dogs names to the North American Shepherd. I think that this is wrong because no other brreds have been used to create a new breed. These are australian shepherds whose parentage can be traced back to AKC and CKC registered dogs, they are simply bred from small dog to small dog.

In my own research I emailed several breeders and all of them were very helpful however I did choose one. I have visited the breeder and met several aussies. I have also attended a herding clinic with many other different breeders also attending. I have flip flopped over colour choices but am currently stuck on red merles. I have actually now choosen the mother of my eventual puppy but she herself is only 1 year. This means that I will have plenty of time to continue my research and keep learning!

Some excitment around here

I feel like it was just yesterday that I posted by turns out a whole week has gone by already. It must be because I`m so busy that I don`t even notice. I was recently hired on at Petsmart, yay! I am always in there plus Indy is my only dog not on their brand of dog food, we do training, and salon visits there too. I am very excited to really get to know all the different aspects of working in such a big company an added plus is that I was hired on to eventually be a dog trainer! During my hiring I was told that potentially I would go for my dog traing training after christmas, super exciting. This means that I no longer have weekends to myself but I think I will enjoy the job and get lots of pet experience. Hopefully my organization skills will come in handy here as I try to juggle supply teaching at my daycare, school and working for my Mom in the mornings getting my siblings off to school and the house clean.

School is doing pretty good, I have my A average back which I am very greatful to have. I also start my very first placement on Monday. I am very excited to be in a different daycare which is in a bigger city so hopefully more exposure to have to plan inclusive activities. It should be a little weird transitioning from being a teacher to a student but hey no more changing diapers or cleaning up!

While I am doing my placement I will be living with my Dad and will therefore get to see more of Indy. Hopefully this will also mean more walks and photo shoots with him! Koda and Sophie are doing good, we battled fleas again after our visit to the cottage although thanks to finally putting them on advantage it was an easy battle with just one flea bath.

I hope to be doing some weekend pre-posts so that I can have time to post on my own blog and not just for Blair!

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope that my Canadian readers had a great Thanksgiving and took some time to spend on themselves and with family. We made a trip to my Aunt and Uncle's cottage again to spend some time in the sun and even the water. We even found some time to write some blog posts!

Hug Your Pets A Little Tighter

This week the most horrifying thing occured while I was driving home late one night from a friends house. I have not really hit anything in my life while driving aside from the occasional frog, snake or chipmunk. Even while hitting those I felt a little sick to my stomach. But this, this was way worse.

I was driving over the speed limit yes but I did have my high beams on. A little orange kitty darted in front of my car and even though I swerved and slammmed on the brakes, I did hit the cat. To be honest, I feel anything right then. I did quickly turn the car around and go back to see if the cat had died or not. I walked over to the cat and called kitty kitty but no movement came.

Since it was right near a house I got in my car and drove to the driveway. It was then that I started to shake. I knocked on the door several times before someone came out, I politely apologized for the late hour and asked if they had an orange cat. They said no but they had seen one living in the fields next to their house. They did ask if the cat was dead and I told them that yes I had checked and that it didn't appear to be alive. They then told me that it was a good thing that the cat didn't suffer. They also nicely told me that they would remove it from the road. I thanked them and went to drive home.

The way home I cried, couldn't control my breathing and couldn't believe that it had happened. When I got home I hugged my pets really tighter because I learned that our pets really can disapear in an instant. I was glad to know that I didn't kill anyone's beloved pet but I am saddened to know that I'm really the only one who cares about the cat.

Lazy Daisies

How can I possibly have time to blog when this cute little bum keeps me from completing my school work?

We are back to commenting so yay for that!

Frogs and Fleas

It has been quite the exciting weekend for the dogs, we visited my Great Aunt's cottage. It was cloudy and rainy and chilly but we had a great campfire at night and played by the water. Only my Aunt, sisters and Koda were willing to go in.

Koda loved fetching the ball even though the water and the air were chilly.

We soon learned about Sophie's frog addiction and it is just as bad as her chasing chipmunks one.

She is quite the little frog hunter,

Of course we wrapped up the weekend discoving that poor little Sophie was covered in fleas hence the reason she couldn't sleep all night. They honestly were crawling all over her. I picked off and killed at least 20 and then decided to attempt to use nit remover to kill off the fleas. Lucky for Sophie it worked!

I did find one flea on Koda after checking him all over but just to be sure I will be buying some flea spray tomorrow for him. He is just too hard to bathe in the house now.

It wound up being quite the weekend but overall it was quite fun watching the dogs enjoy themselves in the water.

Bath Time

It's hilarious, she has so much independence and sass.

As in the carpet is much better at drying me then your silly old towel!

My 100th Post and Wordless Wednesday

Wow it is strange to say that I have reached one hundred posts. I may not have as big of a following as Blair does who reached one hundred way before me but I hope that my readers enjoy my posts. I try to include many different things since this blog will continue to be a work in progress throughout my life. I hope my readers continue to join in on my journey of footprints through life and those who join me.

On to wordless wednesday, the joys of having a seven year old sister;

Mopey Monday

I think I am ready for summer to be over, I'm sick of my job, and the heat. Although maybe it is because I really have not had any time this summer to just sit out and enjoy the sun without any worries in the back of my head. Perhaps I just need a vacation but with September brings another semester of school and hopefully heading back to my old supply teaching job.

I really miss the kids at the old job, and it is heartbreaking to know that many of them will be joining the new kindergarten programs meaning that they will not be coming to us anymore at all. Of course all children must grow up but sheesh why so fast!

I was able to get through my mopey monday today with this little gem;

Child: Are you a Mom?

Me: Not yet, maybe someday

Child: Do you know God? Do you have a baby in your tummy from God?

Me: Oh no not for a long time yet!

Wordy Wednesday: Summer Summary

Wow what a summer, I certainly did not expect to be soo busy.

Between school, work, dog training classes, camping, and life the summer has just flown by.

* I took a full course load of classes this semester and while classes were enjoyable it made for evenings filled with homework. It was hard work to keep up my grades with all that sun outside but I rounded out the semester with about an A average. Yay!

* My summer job this year was fulltime in a school age program run out of a school. I learned alot watching the other teachers espescially dealing with children who have behavioural issues. I also learned that I really enjoy dealing with younger children who do not test limits much much better. LOL.

* Sophie and I spend the beginning of the summer doing beginner obedience classes at petsmart. Suprisingly she was much better behaved while in the classes and she passed. Unsuprisingly she has proved to be unwilling to do her trick without a treat and only when she feels like it and her behaviour has home has pretty much been unchanged. Clearly we still have lots of work to do.

* Most of our weekends were spent away and Koda being the lucky fellow he is, was able to spend lots of time at our cousins cottage. He has met two new girlfriends, who just follow him everywhere! One is Arden a golden retriever whom my siblings say is a good match while the other is a husky named Souka. My cousins taught him to fetch a frisbee out of the water and says he spends hours chasing it again and again.

* The family spend the civic weekend at Canada's Wonderland and Bass Pro Shops. We all had a great time, it helps that everyone is able to ride the big rides this year although my younger brother didn't conquer the Behemoth he did take a wild ride on the bat and loved it. Bass Pro Shops was a huge hit as it is enormous. I couldn't believe it, the store has pretty much everything you could ever want and of course we came home with a little fishing boat.

* I didn't get up to see my Dad's family as much as I wanted to but my Uncle came all the way over from Germany to visit. I think it is one of his last trips since he is getting older now. It was quite interesting with his limited English and my German-English dictionary.

* Indy is his same old happy, slobbery self. Dad is slowly trying to work on his leash agression and his overconfident play which scares many potential playmates away. I'm hoping that he gets better but I know he needs lots of work. I actually had Sophie over to meet him and he was a little anxious but not agressive which was really good.

* The family and I also had the chance to attend the Havelock jambouree which was amazing. Headliners were Billy Currington, Johnny Reid, Chad Brownlee, Joe Nichols, Deric Ruttan and Martina Mcbride. They all put on wonderful shows and I had the chance to meeting Chad Brownlee.

* I also turned 21 on August 17th, which was pretty crazy to believe. I'm one of those people who forget my age and think I'm still younger than I am LOL. I recently worked out my 5 and 10 year goals all of which are mostly about getting through school, finding a job and moving out on my own, hopefully mr. right will come along somewhere in there too.

* Blair's blog has been going along pretty well and I do wonder sometimes whether I should shut it down for the time being. It's hard knowing that she will be living with Grandma for another 2 years but we have had some great adventures through her blog and recently hosted a contest of our own. One that I still need to go buy prizes for..OOPS.


I hope to be able to post regularly now that I have my school break and I have been excited to get back to knitting and getting books from the library. I have been missing blogville too!

We have been away, but hope to be back soon

It has been a busy summer, keeping up with work, school, Blair's blog, family and my own life, I have been too busy to write in my own blog. I have lots of news to share about my dogs, cat, and fun things that I have managed to squeeze in . I hope to be back to writing sometime next week!

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday with Will and Kate!

Hard Questions in Life

I think that pretty much every student I know who is on the verge of graduating to life is facing some of the same issues that I am.


- Do I want to stay in school longer?

- Do I want to go out into the real world?

- How do I afford to follow through with a choice?

- Where do I want to live?

- What are my friends planning on doing?



To be honest I always had this plan in highschool that I would go to university, then teacher's college and throughout school find the man of my dreams and get married. Clearly my plan became more than a little sidetracked and changed this past year.



My life currently stands at living at home, taking my college diploma online, and working part-time. I am more than a little confused about what to do after I graduate next summer.

I know I know, focus on the here and now, but I like to have goals to work towards. I have kind of narrowed it down to a couple different choices.


Schools: Apply to go full time or part time at a univeristy OR apply to an online university


Jobs: If I choose to go to school part time I will need a part-time job to help support myself which I will have my ECE diploma to help with this. I can work within a daycare, or within a school.


Places to Live: I really like Ottawa, Guelph and Kingston as potential places to live. Ottawa, and Guelph currently have lots of potential job offerings which would be helpful.

And I'm still looking for Mr. Right, I'm sure that we will catch up soon though.

I'm more than a little frazzled but I'm trying to stay focused on finishing my ECE Diploma by next summer, fingers crossed!

Wordless Wednesday

Hanging out with Indy

Wordless Wednesday