More summer fun!

This past weekend Emmy continued to enjoy the perks of summer. On Sunday we took Emmy to church for the second week in a row. She did much better this week...even slept through part of the service! YAY! After church, we went over to a friend's house and they have Emmy's dream come true - another dog to play with, a fenced in yard....and... a swimming pool! Emmy spent the afternoon chasing their dog around, playing all over the yard and of course refining her swimming skills. Emmy conquered her fear of jumping into the water and fell in love with flopping into the water. She is quite the swimmer...and very fast! Of course she was also exhausted after all of this.

We also had a second round of hives this weekend with Emmy. Last weekend she got hives on her face and the vet thinks she ate a bug, such as a bee, that she was allergic to. Well, needless to say she did it again this past Friday night...this time we think it was a lightening bug. By Saturday morning she had hives all over her body and was quite itchy. A few more doses of Benadryl and she was all cleared up. Now we just have to figure out how to get her not to eat bugs!

I like swimming

Well it has been a busy few days!!!! First Bill and Amy went to Chicago for their anniversary and Emmy went to spend a few days with her best friend Duke!!! If she wasn't tired enough already, then Bill's mom came to Holland for a few days, which was a great opportunity for Emmy to get petted and loved to her little heart's desire. Then for the finale we went to Bill's friend cottage at Gull Lake, and Emmy not only got to spend time running around the yard chasing ducks and geese, but Emmy had her first chance to swim!!!! You can see the videos, she was a little skeptical at first, but once she got in, she was clearly a natural!! She was all over the place splashing and chasing balls, it just gets me tired describing it all. To top off the weekend Emmy went to church on Sunday. Emmy was extremely well behaved and handled sitting still during church relatively well. The only issue is that sometimes she likes to sleep on her back upside down, and she rolled under a pew and began to scratch and tap the seats of those in front of Amy.....oooops, sorry. After church we went to a friend's house and Emmy met, Cooper, a 7 month old puppy who weights about 10lbs. Let's just say there was lots more running and play. Well after all that it is time for a nap for all of us, enjoy the pictures and videos.

What is it Lassie?

I love swimming

The First Dive

June Time Fun!

Time out from fetch for a water break! Unfortunately, two heads don't both fit in that bowl!

Waiting patiently for Barb to throw the ball!

Everyone practices self control and waiting while Barb throws the ball

Emmy's most recent sleeping/hiding place...inside our closet! Silly pup!

Duke comes to stay for a weekend! Good thing there's enough lap to go around!

Sorry it's been so long since we've posted! The three of us have been enjoying the nice summer weather and using it as a opportunity to do lots of playing and having fun. It's pretty much been life as usual around here though. Emmy just weighed in last week at 53 lbs! YAY! She had been hovering around 50 lbs for so long that we never thought she'd take the leap into what's considered "adult" weight for her. She has really shot up in height the past few months and we think she's just starting another growth spurt which will hopefully help her fill out a little. We know she's growing, but we still think she's small compared to most dogs of her kind. We'll see...she may just be a petite one!

Now that it's summer, Emmy has had a lot of chances to go to work with Amy because the Admissions Office is definitely a lot quieter in the summer months. We set up Emmy's kennel in Amy's office so if there ever is a time when Emmy can't tag along we have a place to put her. Also too, as was the instance a few weeks ago...there are a few occasions when Emmy just isn't having a good day (a.k.a- she ate one of Amy's dress shoes while sitting nicely under the desk!) and needs a little time out. Everyone at work seems to really enjoy having her around and she's handled being in that setting really well.

We also have been spending time with our good friends' dog, Duke. One afternoon, Emmy and Duke had a playdate in the commons area of campus to play around and such. Emmy was a little sad because she had to be on her tie-out and Duke could run around freely but they adjusted pretty quickly. They sure love to play! Two weekends ago, Duke came to stay with us while his parents were out of town and so they both got to play with each other even more. The biggest adjustment has been for Duke actually because he is not used to Emmy being just about as big as him and she wasn't so strong last time they stayed together...so he was very tired by the time he went home.

This summer has also allowed Emmy to experience her first thunderstorm...which didn't really bother her at all. In fact she slept through most of it with no issues! Other than that, Emmy is up to the same old same old...but definitely more well behaved and more mellow than before- YAY for growing up (minus the fact that means that she gets closer and closer to leaving us for the next stage of training with every passing day)!

This week, Bill and Amy are headed to Chicago for their 1st wedding anniversary, and are leaving Emmy with Barb, Carl and Duke too (we have a lovely puppy exchange with them which is great!). She loves going to their house mainly because they have a fenced in yard that she can run free in...plus it doesn't hurt that Duke is there too!

Hope everyone is doing well! We promise we'll keep the updates coming more regularly!

Back to Chicago

Look mom...I helped!

Bill's parent's new backyard!

This weekend found us back in Chicago for Memorial Day and to celebrate Bill's grandma's birthday. It was another beautiful weekend that allowed us to be outside planting, playing, and enjoying the long weekend. Emmy has been loving our trips to Chicago because of having a yard to play in...and lots of people around to give her lots of love. There was a lot to keep us busy and Emmy certainly tried to help! Saturday we spent a lot of time planting flowers, the Bill's parents had a part of their yard landscaped with trees and new sod. Of course it needs to be watered too...so Emmy decided to help Bill's dad. Well...help may not necessarily be the word. She decided to be like the grass and get watered too! Silly pup! I'm sure she enjoyed it though being it was a warm weekend in Chicago.

Now we're back home and Emmy seems to be pretty exhausted still this morning so I'm sure she'll sleep well. Her incision from surgery is healing very well and she is finally back to full activity now...yay! By the time the weekend rolled around she was mighty anxious to run around and play!

Emmy recovering from surgery

Emmy & Amy snuggling/sleeping

Can't....keep.......eyes..........open..............

Thanks to those of you who have posted, emailed or called to check in on Emmy. For those that missed last post, Emmy got "fixed" Monday morning. Her surgery yesterday went well and she was able to come home in the late afternoon that same day. She of course was VERY groggy and we could tell she was pretty sore. She slept most of the evening except to eat a small dinner, which was good to see. Today she has more energy but is still pretty tired of course and you can tell she is restricting some of her movements to not make her incision hurt more. She is on a pain medication but only until tomorrow and her physical activity has been restricted until next week just to make sure she has time to heal. Thanks for all your "get well wishes".

Chicago- family, fun, and emergency vet visits

Hanging out with the family at Bobby's birthday party.

Watching the guys play bean bags

Exhausted from a late night Friday

An entire lawn full of plush green grass...and she sleeps on the hard patio!

Another one of Emmy's usual "glamor shots"!

Tummy time! (below)

Exhausted from the weekend...boy does she look excited for what lies ahead today at the vet.

This weekend we went to Chicago to spend some time with Bill's family. Emmy and I headed out on Friday and met Bill, who was already there. We had great weather on Friday and Saturday, which Emmy loved because we were able to be outside a lot more. We brought Emmy's tie out and were able to hang out a lot in the backyard playing and relaxing. Friday night however, brought some issues as Emmy found a mushroon in the yard where an old tree stump is hidden underground. She got a piece of the mushroom apparently (Bill caught her in the area and rushed her away, but she must have snuck a piece of it without him seeing) which made her sick. We assumed mushrooms weren't good for dogs, but didn't realize the sickness they could cause until we looked online. In the process, Emmy vomited 3 time within 30 min. We of course were very concerned and didn't know how much mushroom she had injested, so we took her to an emergency vet close to Bill's parent's house. By the time we got there, Emmy was feeling better and we assume she had gotten it all out of her system. But, to be safe the vet gave her some activated charcoal to make sure that all the toxins were out of her body. She is now doing great...in fact she bounced back full swing the next day! We were definitely very scared Friday night though.

The rest of the weekend we spent still out in the yard (complete mushroom checks were done on the yard first) enjoying the sun. Saturday we also had a birthday party for Bill's brother Bob, so there was a bunch of family over in the afternoon. Emmy certainly loved the attention! We played lots of fetch and ran around with everyone. On Sunday afternoon we headed back to Michigan to recuperate from the long weekend- Emmy was exhausted!

Today Emmy is off to PAWS to get "fixed". We dropped her off this morning and will pick her up later this afternoon. We're assuming she'll be pretty sleepy and lethargic for the next few days because of that now!

Tulip-ed out!

Earlier that Day we met Jim & Trudi VanderPloeg and their PAWS Foster Puppies- Griffin (left) and Aspen (right)

Hanging out at the parade - (from left to right) Amy's mom, Emmy (nose is the only thing visible), Amy, and Amy's grandma

Getting comfortable!

Watching the parade go by

Waiting for more ice cubes from Amy's mom
Standing up as flag passes by

*PHEW!* Parade is over...let's go HOME!

We concluded our Tulip Time Festivities with Amy's parents this weekend. Saturday we attended the Meijer Musikparade...basically a 2 hour long parade with over 50 bands, and equal numbers of floats and such. We brought Emmy and she did SO WELL! We were a little hesitant as to how it would all go as the first car of the parade was a police car and motorcycle who kept blasting their horns. Emmy was not a fan at all. Once that got by, she settled in between Amy and Amy's mom for most of the rest of the parade. She kept munching on treats, carrots, and ice cubes most of the time...and was happy as a clam. The only thing that caused her to get up was the drums from each passing band...but Emmy never barked...only sat up and looked with a very curious look. She also did very well with the crowds! After about an hour and a half, she needed a break, so we slipped away from the family to let her "break" and get some fresh air. When we got back to the parade, she finished in style and didn't let all the people climbing over her (seriously people...dog in cape= walk around!) bother her at all. We were so proud! When we returned home she of course got lots of love and her favorite frozen peanut butter kong. The rest of the weekend we enjoyed relaxing around the apartment- we're pretty exhausted from all the festivities this week!