Sassy's 1st Vancouver Snow

Even though Sassy was born in Connecticut, she isn't quite sure what to think of the snow. She doesn't want to be in the snow without one of us out there with her, so that is making potty breaks in this "arctic blast" weather we're experiencing difficult.

She was happy to come out and help shovel the drive way and, thankfully, was able to do her "business" while we were out there.

If there is one thing that I absolutely love, it's the precious moments Sassy has provided us. I love watching her with the kids--her patient and gentle nature with them and the love she shows all our kids, not just Jack. Here they are by the fireplace after spending the morning in the snow.

A look back at Halloween 2008: Incredible Hot Dog

I realized that I never posted Sassy in her halloween costume--she was a hot dog! We couldn't come up with anything to match our costumes, so this was what we came up with! We were the Incredibles, so she was our incredible hot dog!

Round and Round they go

Here's a cute game that Sassy and Jack play together.

April 2008: Jack and Sassy at Speech Therapy

Here's some old footage I had of Jack and Sassy at speech therapy at PSU. I took it on my cell phone so the quality of the footage is not that great, but I thought it was cute. This was taken in April 2008 from the observation room.

Sassy is a Wonder Puppy!

Oh how time flies! In November 2008, Sassy and I took the Canine Good Citizen test (CGC) http://www.akc.org/events/cgc/index.cfm and we became certified! We are so proud of her!

Sassy also turned 1 year old on December 10th! Happy Birthday, Sassy! We can't believe it's been a whole year since we first got the news that you had been born!

What's next for us? More specific training to make Jack and Sassy a great team! We can't wait to see what next year brings with more training and both Jack and Sassy maturing together. Stay tuned!

Great Puppy Graduation!

Sassy graduation from the 2nd level (Great Puppy!) training class! We have one more level: "Wonder Puppy" which will conclude with the Canine Good Citizen Test. We'll continue public access training from there. We have a month break for now and will start level 3 on September 10th which goes for 6 weeks.

Congrats, Sassy! We're so proud!

Sassy & Jack 5 Months Later

Tomorrow marks 5 months since Sassy joined our family. Despite still very much being a puppy (she's 8 months now), she has matured (and grown!) beautifully and has solidified herself as a member of our family. We are just about complete with the second level of training and have been doing several "public access" outings this month and will continue next month.

We started to allow Sassy to sleep in Jack's bed (she already slept in her crate in Jack's room) and they have been bonding even more. Jack is becoming even more attached to her and I suspect as Sassy becomes closer to being a full-fledged sevice dog, she will be able to be there for Jack a lot more.

The journey has not been easy, but we have traveled it willingly and with much love. We thank God and our family every day for bringing Sassy to her boy, Jack, and into our hearts.

These photos were taken today, July 31, 2008.