Pumpkin Carving Party

Last night my weeks of hard work came to fruition. I hosted my neighborhood's first annual pumpkin carving party with one of my neighbors, and it was awesome! About 50 people showed up and had a great time. Lot's of food, fun, music....a firepit for making smore's. Puppies and kids in costumes....I can't wait to host the next neighborhood holiday event!-The picture on the invitation I sent out. And the pumpkins I carved last year-

-Elmo Pumpkin-

-Rob toasting marshmallows-

-Shelby and her psychedelic peace sign pumpkin-

Graduation Day!

Unfortunately I wasn't able to make it to Jackson's Week 6 of Intermediate Training. Derek went, but forgot the camera at home, so there's no pictures to show for it. I made it to Advanced Graduation day though!! He passed Advanced Class, but I'm still not sure about the CGC, we're going to do a practice run through next week. I brought little Halloween goodie boxes for all the dogs, and cupcakes for all the people. It was a huge hit. Makes me happy. Oh, and Gus came! His owner was in the hospital, but I'm glad he's better and Jackson got to see Gus one last time.-Our official Advanced Class Graduation Photo-

-Jackson's Certificate of Completion!-

Howl-O-Ween and Training

Yesterday I took Jackson to the Petsmart "Howl-O-Ween" event. He was dressed up like a dinosaur and saw all the other puppies dressed up too. He ended up winning an obedience/trick competition and was rewarded with a squeaky plush pumpkin toy. I have a feeling it wont have a long lifespan.
-Jackson is already for the costume party!-
-Dot with her mom, Cindy--Jackon, Miss Kathy, and Dot-


Today we went to Week 5 of Advanced Training. Gus still didn't come. I don't think they can pass the course at this point :-( However, next week is Graduation for Jackson from Advanced, so I'm rather excited about that. I'm going to make all sorts of special treats :-) Today Kathy gave me paperwork for a big Dog Expo coming up in February...she recommended me as a vendor. And she surprised me today with a big approval! I'm pretty excited.
-Sassy and Dot love eachother. Such good sissies-

Time to Get the Energy Out

Today was week 5 of Intermediate Training. And it was really nice, because their was 2 different walk in dogs that Jackson and the other pups got a chance to play with. Jackson sure came home tired after all of that.
-Calli and Jackson playing with a walk-in Weimaraner-
-He decided to take a playful bite out of Jackson--While Jackson and Fenway were wrestling, the walk-in Bloodhound Ellie-May watched-

Advanced Training: Week 4

Today I took Jackson to Advanced Training. Once again Gus didn't show up, I hope his owner is ok. Today we practiced proper greeting with strangers, and proper greeting of people with dogs. Jackson did very well, and we were all surprised. I still don't think he's going to be ready to take his CGC test in a couple weeks. I guess we'll see.
-Jackson and Dot sitting nicely for the greeting-

My Hiking Adventure

This morning I headed out to Lost Dutchman park. I arrived around 6am. Just me and my puppy, Jackson. We started off going on Discovery Trail which is nice and easy. Pretty scenic as well. This led to Siphon Draw trail. Which is a moderately difficult trail that has alot of loose gravel and gets rather steep. We continued upwards even more to Slick Rock Basin and a very difficult unmaintained trail up to the base of the Flat Iron, which is at the very top of the Superstition Mountains. It was an awesome hike. Round-trip it was a little over 8 miles and was about 5 hours with all the breaks for photography and snacks.And the trek begins

The rocks around us towered so high

Part of Slick Rock Basin

The view from the base of the Flat Iron

Me and my Jackson boy near the top

Yesterday's Training

Yesterday, as usual Jackson had his Intermediate Training class. I can't believe we are already done with week 4! Over half way done! His trainer Kathy and all of the others in the class agreed unanimously that I should make a graduation cake for the puppies. And Calli's owner is the first person to officially buy some of my gourmet dog goodies. She bought a 6-pack of muffins! Horray!Et tu, brute?

Dog pile!

Practicing our distance commands and park-it skills.



After training we came home and let Jackson blow off some steam by practicing his Agility Jump. He jumped over the 24" bar with complete ease. A standing jump even! He's a little bunny sometimes.
One of the groomer's gave Jackson a free bandanna! So cute

Daddy and Jackson hugging.

So, I think I perfected my Peanut Butter Banana Puppy muffins. I decided to make a batch last night, which yielded 42 miniature muffins. And were yet again a huge success with Jackson's training class, and even a couple of my co-workers. Heh. Calli's mom decided to buy a 6 pack for next week. I'm pretty excited about it.

Windcaves

This morning I hiked the Windcaves at Usery Pass. It was so fun. My two friends Tabitha and Justin came with me and brought 2 of their dogs, Boomer and Jake (Yes, these are the hosts and the pups from the dog birthday party last night)
A passing hiker was nice enough to take some pictures of us.

Me and my baby boy, Jackson at the top of the Windcaves

The weather was truly gorgeous. I wish Derek had come.

Yesterday Jackson went to Intermediate training. The pupcakes were a HUGE success. Some of the owners in the class have already asked me if they can buy some. Jackson is getting much better at the jumps and the weave poles. I think I'm going to make him a set.Jackson and Jake really want some muffin!

Our attempt to get all the pups together for a group training picture.


Last night was the dog birthday party. The cake I made was a huge success and all the dogs enjoyed. As well as the breath mints and the pupcakes. Mission completed! Jackson had so much fun seeing Winston, Boomer, and Jake again. He loved playing in the water and running around like a crazy dog!
It was half eaten within a couple minutes

Winston-2nd Birthday

Jake-1st Birthday

Boomer- 2nd Birthday

Canine Culinary Skills

Last night I decided to put my imagination to work, and create some canine goodies to bring to the dog birthday party tonight. They all turned out excellent. Last night I created: Peanut Butter & Bacon cake, After Dinner Mints, and Peanut Butter & Banana cupcakes. The cupcakes were an especially huge hit with my training class today. And 2 of the people in the class have already offered to buy some.

Here's the pictures of making the cake and the finished products:

The finished cake
Puppermints
Pupcakes
My first collection of Canine Cuisine!