Sunday, April 1, 2012

Farewell, Sweet Victory

March 16 - 17, 2012

Victory has been limping on her right foreleg since late November. We thought it might be a strain, then she was diagnosed with Lyme Disease in mid-December. She was treated for that for a month, with antibiotics and anti-inflammatories, and her condition improved.. but she was still limping. When she underwent spay surgery on January 25th, x-rays were taken. The final diagnosis is elbow displaysia, so she is being released from the guide program. We already have two full time dogs, and we want to continue raising puppies, so we returned her to Freedom on Saturday, March 17th. While we were there, we got to cuddle with some 8 day old black lab puppies, one of which we will be fostering.. and so the cycle continues.

Last day with her mentors Inga and Hannah

Yes, we let her sleep on the bed at the hotel

We went for a stroll with my cousin and her terrier mix,
Simon, in E. Greenbush, NY, our halfway point to Freedom.

Playing with Simon at Becker's Farm

They had a blast!! Look at that goofy labby grin!

Hebron Maple Fest

March 10-11, 2012

I hosted a Freedom booth at the Hebron Maple Fest, thanks to Dr. Angela Mawson, who allowed us to use her parking space next to her chiropractic office. On Saturday, I was joined by Bob & Karen Bass with Valley, along with Marge Minor with VaLinda. Norine and Ed Stepule were there for a few hours, also. It was a very cold, windy day, but there were hundreds of people who stopped by our booth to see the cute little blonde labby sisters. We gave away over 250 pencils to children and literature to their parents. Sunday was a bit milder- much less wind and more sun. Marge and VaLinda came back for more. We raised almost $100 for Freeom over the course of the two days, but much more importantly, we got the word out to hundreds and hundreds of people.

Victory and VaLinda

Valley makes a new friend

The Three V Sisters

Victory gets ready for a belly rub

Victory takes a break

She sure is loving all the attention!

Getting in some play time with sister VaLinda

It was an exhausting weekend.. but oh, so much fun!