We Moved...Again?!

Yes. Again! Partly why I haven't posted in so long (we also ran off to Napa & Hawaii during the last couple of months. So we've been somewhat busy). Regarding the move though... We couldn't stand Fremont any longer! It just isn't the neighborhood for us. So, when an offer to move into a family friend's house came up, we were more than thrilled to jumped on board. We are now comfortably living in Phinney Ridge, and couldn't be more excited. And the transition for Delaney went much smoother than we anticipated! Her reaction was completely different then with the Fremont move. She's so happy!

The house itself is beautiful. It has been newly updated (by our friend's hard work), wood floors, large beautiful kitchen, partial covered deck that overlooks the fenced backyard, a lovely master with attached master bath & patio that leads up to the rooftop deck! Oh man, we scored. The neighborhood is also pretty great. Hearing kids playing, people working in their yards, and seeing others walk dogs & pushing strollers -- it feels SO much safer! It's how I envisioned my Seattle "grown-up" life, haha. All I need now are a few little ones. ;) But that's a future life. For now, we are so excited to share our days with a dog. And living within a block from some good friends! I cannot believe how hard the last year was for us. We struggled with so much all at once -- but these last few months have been a complete 180! We were able to pull through, together. Not saying that the bad times are gone; they are sadly far from gone. But at least for now - Dean, Delaney, and I are doing very well. We are all incredibly happy. DeLaney enjoying her new backyard:

Graduation Day!

DeLaney graduated today from Sound Animal's Imermediate Class!! Onto Advanced, beginning May 29, 2012 - that is, if Jeff thinks she's ready!

The Car

DeLaney does so well in the car. She can't really be left alone at home right now. Both Dean and I work quite a bit. And a 1 year old dog really shouldn't be stuck in a kennel for 10+ hours everyday! Eventually, we want to close off a little DeLaney area of the house so she can have some space, and have Sound Animals come and pick her up for a few hours of play time during the day. But for now...it's not an option. We are renting, so I don't want to cause damage. We are looking to move to a house in Phinney. Huge back yard, large house where we can easily create a doggy alone space in.

So right now, alone time training has turned into a car event. She's so good at it too. The longest we've left her in the car is about 3 hours. The weather is great for it right now, not too cold for a furry pup and definitely not hot! We give her water, crack the sunroof, give her toys & bullysticks for entertainment - and she just waits/naps patiently.

Her success gives me hope for being home alone when she's older! Such a smart, good girl. Now if only we can quit the yapping at everyone! ;)

Happy 1st Birthday!

You were once so small...happy birthday my sweet girl.


I love you more than you will ever know. Thank you for helping me grow in patience & understanding. With every new day, our bond becomes stronger. And I cannot be happier with the amazing lady you have become.

I will make sure your day is a grand one! With gifts, treats, and lots of birthday hugs & kisses. I love you so much Miss DeLaney. Thank you for enriching our lives! I look forward to our many years together as a family! Thank you, thank you for making us whole.

DeLaney's birthday cookie - it will last for more than a week, so big!


DeLaney sportin' her new "It's My Birthday" bandana!


She wears that ridiculous birthday hat well!


Laney with her toy birthday cake...


"I'm the Birthday Girl!"


Dinner in Honor of Miss Laney's Birthday!


"I love you forever, I'll like you for always. As long as I'm living, my baby you'll be!"

Scary People Monsters, Oh My!

I will bark at you! You've been warned!


DeLaney has developed quite the "Stranger Danger" fear. When people enter the house, we have started the "Go to Your Bed" command, so she isn't at the door barking someones ears off. So she goes to her bed, stays (still barks), and the guest gives her wonderful treats like bits of chicken breast or string cheese. We ask them to toss it her way every now and then, but basically ignore her so she calms down. We've realized though, we don't have many visitors. So we are going to have to begin asking neighbors to come visit. We have so many dog neighbors who are understanding, so I'm sure we can find a few willing participates!

On leash, Laney does well on walks. She ignores people, generally. Since I always have treats in hand to keep her attention on me. But when someone wants to meet her, she becomes rather panicked. At the vet, she gets into quite the frenzy of fear. Poor thing. The vet does well with her by ignoring, treating silence, etc. Gets her to eventually get out of the frenzy mode, but Laney doesn't ever snap out of her fear completely.

She is great at the dog park though. She get so excited and is a little yappie at first. But she then ignores all the humans and plays with the dogs. And Daycare is the same way. Daycare is actually even better since she knows the people. So she does extremely well and enjoys her time...And since we know that we don't want her to have to ignore people all the time but get used to them wanting to interact with her -- we are starting a few classes this next month in the hopes that this fear situation can be overcome, at least a little bit. I'm sure age will help it immensely as time goes on. But practice doesn't hurt!


First, we are going to do an Intermediate Dog Training Class at Animal Sounds with Jeff Tinsley. I'm somewhat nervous. I went back and forth thinking we should probably trying Basic Training again...but she is really good at the basic commands. Her only issue is her unsocialization, freak outs -- which take less than 5 minutes to overcome. And when there is chicken, there will eventually be calmness. ;)

Intermediate Dog Training Class with Jeff begins March 6, until April 10th. Every Tuesday. We are very excited to get her enrolled in another class. We haven't since September and she really needs the training/socialization atmosphere.


The second class we are doing, is just a 1-hour session at Fuzzy Buddy's Daycare.

We love Dana. We have taken Puppy Good Start and Basic Training with her. I adore her attitude. She's super helpful. We also have been taking DeLaney to the daycare again, off and on. She seems to really enjoy it. I think I might do a half/half situation, between Fuzzy Buddy's & Barking Lounge. We shall see.

Anyway, hopefully we can figure out this barking situation. I refuse to get a barking collar; Dean wants one. But that's abuse in my opinion and doesn't resolve the underlining issues as to why she is barking. She is fearful and under socialized. We need to work on the root cause, and with time and effort it will get better. And besides, it can always be worse!

President Day & Valentine's Day Wkened Getaway!

Since we had a three day weekend, and haven't gone anywhere with Laney since New Years Eve -- we decided WHY NOT!? Let's go!



We stayed in a lovely studio cabin, next to the Skykomish river. It was beautiful. Laney had a ton of R&R next to the fire. She loves her catch up sleep. Since daycare is Mon-Fri most weeks, she catches up on her zzzzz's over the weekend. This cabin was just perfect for her. She loved the yard filled with snow! She dug and puppy frapped until she could not anymore!



Sorry about the quality of the photos. They were taken on my phone.(Seems like most of my photos are from my phone these days - hrmm perhaps we should start using Dean's birthday present.)

A New Look...

DeLaney experienced her very first Spa Day. Brushing, Nails, Bath, BlowDry & Haircut...
My Failed Attempt at a Proper Pose

My first thought was...she's beautiful. She looks like she can be in a show. She's so shiny. The stripping on her back was done well. But after the initial giddiness wore off, I started to notice stuff I did not approve of...please note, I spent $115.

- There is absolutely no blending on the head or her backside. You can see the lines from the clippers, and trust me they are uneven and severe.

- Her left back leg feathers start about 1/2 inch higher then her right.

- Her head is just too short. It was suppose to be medium, if that's medium - I'm requesting long from here on out.

- I know it's suppose to be short behind the ears, but that's pretty much a close shave.

Who did I go to you ask?
The GroomingSpa, in Greenlake.

I'm unsure at this point if I will go back. The semi-botched haircut doesn't truly bothered me. I mean, it's a dog. Any bad haircut will be a good haircut in a matter of days...what bothered me the most was the time frame.

I dropped her off at 11:30AM (knowing very well that she will be put into a kennel for hours). But by 5PM, I was starting to wonder what was going on. I ended up calling around 5:30PM to see when she'd be done (since, ya know - they close at 6PM). She answered and said that if we got here at 6, she should be done. Hmm, okay. No wonder she looked botched. You overbooked your appointments for the day, you let her sit in a kennel for over 5 hours and you rushed it with her. When at a grooming appointment for 6 1/2 hours, I expect not a hair out of place.

What lesson did we learn from this? I will never again schedule a doggy haircut on a weekend Saturday. If I do, I might as well take her to PetSmart. Yeah, not doing that. Ever.

The reason I'm so panic about time is simple: Sadie (our beloved Golden). Her last day on Earth was at the groomers. She sat in a kennel for hours, stressed out of her mind. Later, to be so thirsty and hungry she gobbled down her food and drank a sh*tload of water -- resulting in a trip to the vet. She twisted her stomach, yes...just like Marley. She had to be put down. So, I'm darn sensitive when it comes to time. I'm very particular about most things when it comes to DeLaney. But honestly, I don't care about clipper marks at the end of the day. I care that they told me, 3-4 hours, and it was nearly double. So yeah, I'm unsure whether or not DeLaney will visit the GroomingSpa in Greenlake again. We might try for something a little different next time around.

Currently, I have been unsuccessful in terms of getting a proper photo of her new haircut, but we are running away this weekend to a cabin -- so hopefully we can snap a few decent ones. While we wait, here are some we snapped with my phone:

In these last photos, you can really see how smooth her back is. The stripping really was done well (can't complain about that):