At The Beginning

I always found it interesting how they always say that at the end, you always remember the beginning. Well truer words have never been spoken! As the weeks wind down, I remember that day in November when i picked up Bright. She was a little squirmy thing that wanted to play with everyone. She was handed over to me and I remember my heart melting. This one was a keeper.
Now I think that the ones I want to keep are the ones that are destined for great things. As one Puppy Raiser said that day, "This one is special, she's going to graduate". Tears sprang to my eyes and I had to scold myself and remember that there is a goal to be reached, even if it is very far into the future.

That future is now here! Oh how the time has flown by! That dreaded manila envelope has arrived and so goes the process of turn-in. I think this is the one thing about puppy raising that I dislike the most. Sure, I hate the turn-in day as much as the next person, but I dread the time when that envelope arrives. Its like we can believe that we have all the time in the world to spend with our pups and nothing can stop us. That envelope is like a splash of cold water. A way to remind us that this pup is not ours, and we have to return it in just a few short weeks.

For all you repeat PRs out there, you know what the next few weeks consist of. For those newbies out there? You're in for a bit of a surprise! Once that envelope arrives, time just speeds up. You're in a whirlwind of motion these next few weeks as you get paperwork filled out, vaccinations updated, pictures selected for the slide show. When you finally stop to take a deep breath and prepare, the day of Matriculation is here. Surprise! It snuck up on you when you weren't paying any attention.
So these next few weeks are going to pass by quickly and pull me along for the ride. Bright knows something is different. She knows that there is something coming, but she can't figure it out. This seems to be a trend with my pups. They know something is happening. (Shane ate my cell phone, Tiffany ate my mom's glasses) She has become a bit on the sulky side as if she knows that soon our time together will come to an end and that makes her sad.

So we will spend the next few weeks playing around and working hard on our commands. (She's almost perfect on everything but Speak!) I'm ready for the next few weeks.....BringIt On!!