Tripper Visit

Now that Mike and I are finally settled in our new place in Maryland, I just now got around to downloading pictures from the summer. And obviously the best pictures are from my visit with Tripper and his new family the Clarks. But before we get to that I should fill you in on our summer.

After moving out of our spacious (free) 4 bedroom house at Salisbury (oh the perks of working at a boarding school!) we moved in with my parents for a couple of months to help save a couple of bucks. While we were very excited to move the bills that come with renting were not so exciting. So we moved in with the rents and pups Riley and Maya.

Most of July was spent playing lacrosse and visiting family and friends. The end of July and beginning of August started a very crazy and eventful month for us. We moved into our new apartment outside of DC. Thankfully we hired movers because unpacking our two Pods and lugging all of out stuff into the house ended up being a six hour job for six strong men. But then the next day Mike and I had to rent a truck and repack all of the stuff that didn't fit into our tiny apartment.


After a week of unpacking and getting settled I was happy for a well placed trip to attend one of my best friend's bridal shower in CT.

 But before spending some well needed time with my UConn girls I got to visit Tripper!!

The  Clark Family was nice enough to host me for the day and let me visit with my favorite Guide Dog. They video taped our hello and it was super cute...he might have made my lip bleed from kissing me too hard...but it was worth it. 

After spending some time in the back yard we went to a local park to let him swim a little. Tripper and I went in my car to spend a little alone time. It was clear that he hasn't been on our kind of car ride in a while.

As soon as Tripper jumped in the car he frantically inhaled all of the smells of his long lost sisters. Then he just sort of sat there not sure what to do.  Until he finally remembered about the window...

and the joy of sticking his head out of it.

I forgot to bring my camera swimmies but needless to say he was pooped after.

It was so great to see my big man. Mike and I are really thankful that he's happy with the Clark Family and they are taking such good care of him. He'll be going in for his training pretty soon and then he'll be on the final stages to becoming a real Guide Dog.

Tripper Check In

It's been two weeks since we've said good bye to Tripper. Luckily for us the past two weeks have been full of packing, moving, weddings, conventions and lacrosse tournaments...so there hasn't been too much time to think about how much we miss Trippy.

Thankfully the Clark family has been amazing on keeping us up to date with how he's doing and what they're up to. They had to give away their Fidelco dog Samson, so they understand how hard saying goodbye was. They have two teenage children, Mathew and Amanda who have already bonded with Tripper and introduced them to their own pets...Buddy, a golden, Panda, a Pomeranian and their bird.

We we first met the Clarks Amanda asked me if I thought Tripper would eat the bird. I was hesitant as I know Tripper is very trainable and would never mean to hurt anything...but I said yes, if the bird flew right past him I think he could try and take a chunk out of it. Needless to say they have been introducing the bird slowly. Tripper was afraid at first (shocker) but now is getting better, mostly barking at it. I suggested to Eva (the mom) to feed Tripper near the cage to help get him used to the bird, she says he's been getting better.

Now that school is out everyone is home for the summer...a great time to transition Tripper to a new home. The kids have been playing with him a lot in the back yard...thought no lacrosse, he's been playing soccer and chasing the badminton birdie around like crazy.

He's been doing a good job of leaving Buddy alone...I think he probably likes getting so much attention in his new home. Without Rocky around he probably runs the show over there....although Panda isn't shy to put him in his place either!  

The Clarks say that training wise he's been really good for them. They've taken him so many places already, flea markets, shopping and everywhere else with them. Mike and I are so thankful he's adjusted well and is enjoying his new family.

Even among all the ciaos of the past two weeks, there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think of him and miss him. Sometimes it's when I wake up and reach my hand down off the bed expecting to receive a kiss, or even when I go to the grocery store dog-less...he was really apart of every second of my day and I truly miss him.

Aside from Tripper we of course miss our family best friends Maya and Tarra. Later this week they will finish packing their bags for the long drive to St. Louis. Though it will be easier to get updates from them, our time in Connecticut would not have been the same without the Rawdon's or Tripper.

Tripper's Last Week

 This post is going to be short and sweet. The McCormick Family has been going nuts for the past two weeks trying to get everything in order before we leave Salisbury. There was Salisbury Graduation (a tearful goodbye to all of the students but especially the seniors) followed by the faculty party where my boss and Mike's boss (who are married and their two cute little girls were the flower girls in our wedding) almost brought me tears on three different occasions...but now there is Reunion (like right now). I've snuck away for a minute to try to wrap up everything here in the office, but got tears in my eyes when I had to break down Tripper's cage.

 Tomorrow we meet up with the Clark family who will take Tripper. We have already met them once, they have two teenage children, an older Golden Retriever and a little dog (Pomeranian I think). Tripper was very nice to the Golden and understood that he was too young to rough house with...and the kids will be a nice addition to playmates.

We asked Tarra to take the pictures above so we could make sure we remembered our last days with Tripper. I'll post more later when I have more time. But I just wanted everything to be thinking about us tomorrow as we make the drive to Winstead, CT and say goodbye to Tripper for the final time. If you're getting teary eyed reading this...know that I started crying when I started typing. I'll miss him so much...and will be waiting patiently for the day he retires as a Guide Dog.

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a really great holiday! The McCormick's were very busy traveling I-95...my favorite road! After my last post (see I told you not to count on me posting over the holidays!) we packed the car and headed to Mike's parents house in New Hope, PA. After unloading our bags, presents and three dogs we were able to say hi to Bill, Linda, Ashley, Bronson and of course Ebeneezer (weimaraner) and Trixie (a mini dalmatian...don't ask). So of course six people and five dogs makes for a very cozy Christmas.

After opening presents on Christmas Day with the McCormicks, Mike and I pack up the kids, get back on 95 and head to Baltimore where we evened out to five dogs and five people...and then add my bother, his wife and two dogs we are a whopping 7 and 7!! Good thing we're a dog lovin' family!

Over the break Tripper went to his first movie, How Do you Know (super cute...highly recommend) and sat through the entire thing without making a peep. And to a fancy restaurant, the Peppermill in Towson, MD....also an angel. Though I wanted to bring him everywhere, like to meet Sara or to dinner with Tom, Cindy and Alexa, I was having a hard time telling my friends who hadn't met him yet that they needed to ignore him and let him "work". Everyone just wanted to love on him...can't really blame them.

For New Years we packed everyone up again and headed back home. Tarra and Maya came over and we had a pretty chill New Years, making and eating way too much...as usual. And there may have been two plus hours of playing the wii games I got for xmas; you know the really popular ones that everyone has been asking for...Disney Sing It and Glee Karaoke :) (if you're asking yourself "Does she know she's a loser?" the answer is yes, I've known for a very long time.)

So we're back in action now. As I'm sitting on my couch wrapped in my new snuggie (thanks Tarra!) the boys are moving back in for the winter trimester. The plan for Tripper this trimester is to start having him attend one class at a time with the boys who were in training last trimester. I think we're going to offer another training class as there have been a bunch of boys who still want to learning training techniques. I'll keep you up dated on how he does in class...I was never good at sitting still and being quiet so lets hope Tripper is better than I was!

**Laura, since I know how you feel when I dress the dogs up I didn't take a picture of Tripper in a Happy New Years Hat...actually that's a lie I totally wanted to but wasn't organized enough to buy a hat ahead of time! xoxo

OK Mom...you win.

I have no excuses or even a good story I made up....I'm just slacking. I guess that's not entirely true, I've started making dogs collars (Web site coming soon!!) so I've been spending my very limited free time trying to finish the 35 orders I already have!

So Thanksgiving came and went...my family came up to visit, bringing their two dogs Riley and Maya. I must have been in a turkey coma because I didn't take any pictures of the group!! I do have a great video of them meeting but I'm in the process of editing it. I promise I'll get it up soon.

Other than responding to my Mom's cries for more posts...I really needed to post today, December 1 to announce a contest between my friends. On my most recent trip to NYC to visit Laura and Leah we were talking about how the blog provides them a nice study and work break. Of course I gave them a hard time for never commenting and hardly voting. I mean how do I know that anyone even looks at the pictures none the less reads what I write? So they decided that during the month of December they would have a contest to see who could generate the most comments and posts.

So consider this the official first day of the contest. I'll sort of make up the rules as we go but the winner will get an entire post...pictures and all...just about them. I'll obviously count comments and voting but they'll get 2 points for every time a person posts something and references them and 3 points every time someone "follows" the blog because of them. So we'll see how it goes...Good Luck Ladies!

Oh yeah...I invite anyone who wants to join the contest to please step right up. I mean who doesn't want me to blog about them???

Thinking of You...

Every so often when I can't think of anything to write on my blog, my inner nerd kicks in and  I check the "site stats". They are pretty unimpressive, I mean once you take out all of times I visit the page in a given day. But the stat that I've looked at every week for the past month isn't how many times someone has visited the site or voted on the Tripper Picture of the Month Page (which if you haven't done already please do so) but it's been how many times "someone" in Australia have been visiting the site.

I've really enjoyed the e-mail updates I've been getting from my friend Emily and it makes me smile to know she is thinking of me too. But this weekend in particular, while Tarra was taking the McCormick's family picture and I was surrounded by my pups and Mike, I was again reminded of Emily and her unbelievable journey in Australia.

It is easy to forget the weight of the world when you eat, sleep, work and live at a school. Between the beautiful surroundings and small town feel, Salisbury can often feel like a different place all together.

Though the reality of the world is not often seen on the Hilltop, it doesn't mean that it doesn't touch us everyday. And though we are worlds apart my heart reaches out to you.

VB Family...our love, thoughts and prayers are with you.

So Far So Good

We managed the impossible.  Mike and I actually got a decent night sleep last night (thanks to Casey...she growled at Tripper until he stopped crying). Let's just hope that our luck continues tonight.

So far he's been an angel. He has a sweet disposition, is a kisser not a bitter and just follows us around where ever we go. If he continues down this path he will be the easiest puppy ever! (but I wouldn't bet on it)

TRAINING CHALLENGE: Everything is new to him. This morning he was finishing his breakfast (and by finishing I mean inhaling) and I sneezed...he yipped and ran to me. It was hard not to laugh because I'm sure it scared the crap out of him. I guess we're taking things one step at a time!

FAMILY FEELINGS: Today Mike likes him a whole night sleep more! I'll let you know how he's feeling tomorrow :) As for the pooches...we actually caught Rocky trying to play with Tripper today!

But that quickly ended and she spent the rest of the growling,  showing her teeth or avoiding him (Don't be concerned...if you've never met Rocky then you should know that she acts the same way to every dog except Casey. Even her best friends.) As for Casey she has been a good sheriff today, gentle but enforcing the rules. She even let Tripper stick his head in her food bowl during dinner... Which is the greatest sign of acceptance (especially from a lab) with the exception of sharing her ball (not going to happen any time soon).

PUPPY PROGRESS: Today Tripper discovered the refrigerator and toilet. Thankfully for us it had nothing to do with stealing food or a drink of water. Just like when Rocky was a puppy, Tripper is blessed with a beautiful fluffy coat...in the summer time. Every time we open the frig he either lays down in front or tries to climb in. And whenever we loose sight of him we can always find him wrapped around a cool toilet. Could be worse!

Day 2