December Pupdate

Hello Everyone!

Hey, Sam here! I hope you all had a grrreat Christmas and holiday season! And happy new year!! This month was so exciting with all these fun holidays! Where do I even begin?

Well, I’ll start at the beginning I guess. Early this month, me and my puppy friends from class, and our human mommies and daddies, of course, went to an elementary school to visit all the kids. It was so much fun! They sang us cute songs, gave us tons of yummy treats and presents, and they were even allowed to pet us! I got lots and lots of hugs and kisses from those guys. It made me happy to be so loved and to see all the kids with huge smiles on their faces! Woof!

My mommy and I have been working really hard this month on a new command called “light”. That’s where I have to push the light switch on the wall with my paw to turn the lights on and off. This command is kind of hard, and I haven’t completely gotten it yet, but I am getting better! When I perform this command, my mommy points to the light switch on the wall with her finger, says “light”, and I put my two front paws up on the wall and try to aim for the switch. Sometimes I don’t have very good aim, and my mommy will help me by moving my paw on top of the switch to show me where my paw is supposed to be. Every time I get right, she gives me lots of praise and pets, and makes me want to do it right again! I still need a lot more practice, but I’ll have it down pat soon!

And what would December be without Christmas?! My mommy and her family decorated our house so pretty with lights and a big tree and lots of other decorations. They went to the store a lot and came home with so much stuff, I couldn’t believe my eyes! And do you know what they did? They took all the stuff they bought and wrapped it up in pretty paper and stuck it under the tree! Can you believe that? I didn’t understand it until Christmas finally came. All of my mommy’s family came over and there was lots of delicious-smelling food, none of which I was allowed to taste, of course, and the humans passed around the paper-wrapped gifts to each other and tore them all open! That’s when I realized that they were wrapped up so that they would be a surprise, because every time somebody opened a present, they looked so happy and surprised! It was so much fun! I even got a present, too! My mommy unwrapped it for me because I don’t have thumbs, but that was ok with me because I got a brand new toy! Yay! I played with it all day and I carry it around with me everywhere at my house. I made sure to give my mommy lots of kisses to thank her for my new toy!

What an exciting month this was! I hope you all had a fun and safe break, and I’ll bark at ‘cha later!

Sloppy, wet kisses,
Sam

November Pupdate

Hello Everyone!

I can’t believe November is over already! This year is going by so fast! And I don’t know about you, but I sure have had an exciting month! Let me tell you about it!

So first of all, it’s finally starting to get cold here! Yay! That means I don’t have to wear those silly booties anymore! (Phew!) Well, for the most part. I don’t have to wear them during the day. But if I go anywhere at night or early in the morning my mommy stills puts my booties to protect my paws from the freezing cold ground. ‘Cause when the sun goes down, the ground gets really, really cold and that can hurt my paws almost as much as when it’s really hot! Yikes! It doesn’t snow here though and it warms up enough by noon so I can take the booties off. It does snow in a lot of other places, though, and there are special booties that puppies can wear to protect there paws from the snow! Those booties are really cool because they’re lined on the inside with this really soft, fuzzy stuff called fleece, and it keeps their paws nice and warm in the winter!

I got to have a sleepover this month! Well, sort of. My mommy went on a really cool field trip with her school to Washington D.C., and I couldn’t come with her so I got to stay with my future handler for a whole week. It was really fun getting to bond with her and play with her family! She has two dogs, too! She has a Schnauzer and a Chihuahua. The Schnauzer and I became like best friends! We played and played and played all the time together! I got to go to work with my future handler down at the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, and she took me to the mall one day because my puppy class had a little booth set up in one of the picture stores, and it was so fun getting to see some of my puppy friends there! I had a lot of fun with my future handler and her family, but boy was I so excited when my mommy got back! I jumped up to give her lots of hugs and sloppy kisses! I had missed her so much! And when we got home I told her all about my week with my future handler, and she told me all about her week in Washington! Hehehe!

And of course, the best part about November is Thanksgiving!! We had a huge Thanksgiving at my house. There were lots and lots of family and friends over, and LOTS of super yummy smelling food! I couldn’t have any of the people food, though. People food can be really bad for puppies! So when it was time for everyone to eat, I had to behave real politely and lay down away from the table. That part was kind of boring, but I sure did have a lot of fun after that greeting all the people and playing with the kids! It was a very eventful and busy and fun day, and when it was all over, I went to my bed and took a nice, long snooze!

Well, this month has been great, but my mommy says to just wait...next month will be way better! So I’ll talk to you later and let you know what happens!

Sloppy, wet kisses,
Sam

October Pupdate

Hello Everyone!

Something super exciting happened to me this month! Can you guess what it might be? Well, I’ll tell you anyway! I won a very special award! I was chosen by the Friends of Animal Care and Control to be the 2009 PetSmart Pet Hero for Community Service. How special is that?! I won the award for the work that I do down at the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office and in the courts. The Friends of Animal Care and Control thought that it was very honorable that I will be helping so many different people when they have to go to court and testify. That can be very scary for some humans! So my mommy bought a really pretty dress and got her hair, nails, and makeup done really nice...and I got a bath...and we went to a fancy resort where the award ceremony took place. I couldn’t believe how many humans came to the ceremony! And they were all dressed up so pretty! And guess what? There were other doggies and kitties there! They all won special awards, too! After my mommy and I walked around and met lots of people, we sat down and had our dinner, then my mommy walked me across the stage so I could get my medal! The humans up on the stage had a medal for me that was on a cord so I could wear it around my neck and show it off to everybody. I had so much fun that night, and I know my mommy and my human family are all so proud of me.

Something else very exciting happened this month. The teachers at my mommy’s high school, where the puppy class is, put on a puppy birthday party for us pups to celebrate all of our birthdays! There was a birthday cake and presents and everything! It was so fun! Us puppies got a bunch of food and toys as gifts. It was sooo nice of the teachers to do that for us! We were sure to give them lots of puppy kisses as thanks!

And Halloween was at the end of the month! My mommy and her family don’t celebrate Halloween, but we sure did see a lot of strange things that night! My puppy brother and I looked out the windows and saw scary decorations on our neighbors’ houses, and saw creepy looking creatures walking around the streets! My mommy told me that those creepy creatures were really just human children dressed up in costumes, so I wasn’t so scared anymore after that. The doorbell rang a bunch of times throughout the night, and I didn’t know what was going on, but my mommy said that it was the human children. She called them Trick-or-Treaters, and said that they go around to each house, ring the doorbell, and get a bunch of candy! My family didn’t give out any candy, but it sure sounded exciting for those Trick-or-Treaters! I wish I could go around to a bunch of people and get lots of doggie treats! How fun would that be?!

Ok, well, that about wraps it up for this month...I’ll bark a’cha later!!

Sloppy, wet kisses,
Sam

September Pupdate

Hey Everybody!

Good news! My mommy and I started going downtown again this month! My mommy gets out of school early two days a week, so we get to go to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office on those days! Yay! My mommy and I are so happy that we get to continue my training in the courts. Plus I love getting to greet all the attorney’s who love me so much over there! I’m getting really familiar with that place, and I feel right at home when I walk in! My future mommy always has a treat ready for me when I get to her office, but I can’t have it until I do one of my commands...nothing is free, anyway, even for a puppy! Hehehe!

Another really exciting thing that happened this month was that we got tons of presents! A bunch of donations were made to us pups, and we got cool things like a bunch of treats, really cool shampoo, new booties [cause it’s still hot outside!], special fleece lined booties for the winter time [the fleece makes them extra soft and warm for our puppy paws!], supplements to keep our joints healthy, and Furminators. Furminators are special brushes that remove all the extra fur from dogs’ undercoats, and makes our fur look shiny! Those brushes are especially good for when summer starts, so us pups can get rid of our heavier winter coats! Us pups and our human handlers are so thankful for all of the wonderful donations. That was so thoughtful of the companies that sent them!

The football season started up this month, and guess what?! My mommy took me to my very first football game!! How exciting! I didn’t know what to think about it at first. There was really loud music, and lots of people running around and up and down the bleachers, and lots of shouting and cheering! There was the high school band on the other side of the bleachers that kept playing lots of loud songs during the game, and humans on the side of the football field doing silly dances. I think my mommy called those dancing people cheerleaders? But after a little while I got kind of used to all the strange things, and I laid down by my mommy’s feet and enjoyed the game. And guess what? Our team won! Yay! All the football fans on our side of the bleachers were cheering so loud and were all so excited, and I wagged my tail to congratulate our team! But boy was all that excitement exhausting! My mommy and I went home and went straight to bed! I slept really good that night!

In puppy class, my mommy learned about canine CPR this month. Canine CPR is a lot like human CPR. If a dog isn’t breathing, a human has to blow air into the doggie’s lungs, and give the dog compressions [push up and down] on its chest to make the heart beat and pump blood up to the dog’s brain. The human will do this until they can get the dog to a vet, and it can save the dog’s life! Very cool to know how to do canine CPR!

Well, I’ll bark a’cha later everyone!

Sloppy, Wet Kisses,
Sam

Winner!!

Guess what everybody?!

Today I found out that the Friends of Animal Care and Control awarded me as the 2009 Pet Hero! Isn't that awesome?!! I'm going to get a special medal and everything!! I'm so excited! Woof!!!

Many slobbery kisses,
Sam!

Vacation!

Hello Everybody!

I just got home from a fantastic vacation to Colorado! It was so much fun there! It wasn't nearly as hot as it is at home, and everything is so green and pretty! I got to meet my mommy's friends and family who live there...and I made some new friends of my own.

We went to some human's house up in the mountain one day...where I got to meet lots of new animals that I've never seen before. I met a horse, pigs, chickens, and a baby duck! My mommy says there were cows there too, but I didn't meet them. [Phew!] I also made friends with a doggie named Heidi. She was nice, and she showed me around her place. I had lots of fun!

But what wasn't so fun was the car rides. We drove in the car all the way from our home to Colorado...and then back again. It was SO long!! I tried to just sleep the whole way, but some parts were too bumpy or curvey for sleeping. Of course we stopped a couple times to stretch our legs and take a potty brake, but only for a minute...my family wanted to reach our destination as soon as possible.

But I'm home now, and I'm so happy to be here! While we were gone in Colorado, my mommy's brother took care of my puppy brother, Cody, so I didn't get to see him for a long time. When we got home, and Cody came back to our house, I was so excited to see him! I had missed him so much! We went outside in the backyard and ran and ran and ran around together! But that made me realize how tired I still was from the long trip home, so I went in my kennel and crashed for the night.

Things are getting back to normal now, and next week I'll go back to my puppy class and I'll start going back downtown to the courts! I've missed all of my puppy friends and court attorney friends...I can't wait to see them again!

Well, that's all for now...bark a'cha later!!
-Sam

V.I.P.

Wow, this summer has been so exciting! My mommy started her internship at the Maricopa County Attorney's Office this week, and I get to go with her!

My future mommy works there, and she has a bed and toys for me in her office! How cool is that! My mommy is training my future mommy how to be a handler for me. I think my mommy gave her a "C+" yesterday. BOL!!

We also went around and met a lot of attorneys and other important people [I even shook hands with a judge!], and we got to sniff out some courtrooms, and all around the Attorney's building. It's all starting to seem pretty familiar to me now. The security guards already know who I am and let me come on through! I feel like I'm a V.I.P.!!! [a Very Important Puppy! BOL!]

I look forward to these next few weeks of getting to go down there a lot and making it feel like home. My future mommy says I get to go to my first trial next week!

Bark a'cha later,
- Sam

Shiny Jingles

I'm so excited! My mommy went out to get the mail today, and she came back with a surprise for me!

Wanna know what it was???

It was a shiny new tag for my collar! It's my Canine Good Citizen tag so I can show off to EVERYONE that I'm a good citizen!! It's so pretty! BOL

But it's really loud, too. Whenever I move, my new tag bangs against my license tag and makes lots of "jingley" noises. I didn't know what that noise was at first, and I kept trying to look down and see what was making jingley noises under my head, but I couldn't see anything! Then my mommy told me it was just my new tag on my collar.

I felt really silly. BOL

Ciao for now!
-Sam

Booties

Hello everybody,

Hmph.

We got a box in the mail today in class. It was full of puppy shoes. "Booties" is what the humans are calling them.

My mom stuck all of my paws in these "booties" and strapped them on so I couldn't get them off. When I started walking, I tried to make them fall off my paws, and my mom started laughing at me. Hysterically.

Apparently humans take great pleasure in seeing us pups walking around sticking our legs out to the side and half hopping trying to get those annoying "booties" off our paws.

They make me look like big foot. Like I have flippers on and I'm ready to go snorkeling.

Hmph. At least they match my vest. Yellow and black.

My mom says I have to wear them all the time now. I think she just wants me to wear them so she can laugh at me when I walk funny. I have to admit, though...they do make it feel better when I'm walking outside. It's really starting to get HOT here, and the ground doesn't always follow that "heat rises, cold falls" rule.

Hmph. Booties.

- Sam

Day at the Beach

Ok, it wasn't a beach. It was just a lake. But to us Arizonians, lakes pretty much are beaches. BOL

But anyway, we went to the lake yesterday. And I went SWIMMING for the very first time!! It was SO MUCH FUN! My mommy would throw a stick or a frisbee into the water and I'd go jump in after it!

On the first throw, I didn't know what I was getting myself into, though...I didn't realize that I'd have to SWIM. But once I got that part down, I didn't want to stop!!

Cody didn't like the swimming part as much as I did though. He'd just run along the edge of the water. He's a scaredy-pup. BOL

But even us puppies have a limit on how much we can play...after hours of splashing and swimming, I was beat. I slept the whole way home, and all night long!

Well, off to work. Bark a'cha later,
- Sam