Sleeping Beauty

Victory has been coming in to work with me almost every day. However, the days are long and that walk at lunch isn't enough for her (average is 30 minutes.) By 3:30, she feels she has slept long enough and quietly tells me that it is time to go home, but we still have an hour to go. Luckily, Paul got temporarily laid off at the beginning of January, so sometimes she stays home with him. 

The most activity she gets in the office is with the changes of her sleeping position.

 Initially, I kept her in her crate most of the day.

Really, Mom- do I have to stay in here?

Even with the door left open, she enjoys sleeping in the crate.

Back feet in the crate, the rest of her body out of it.

Letting it all hang out.. shameless girl.

This guy is for the days that Vicci stays home.

My co-workers aren't fooled, but they are quite amused.

I love having her in the office, being able to see her all day. She is on a tie-out attached to the crate, that allows her to come over to me at my desk, and going the other way,  it stops her about 2-3 ft. from the doorway. Sometimes the FedEx guy has to come into my small office to have me sign for something. 

If she's awake, she'll get up and stroll over to him, but is very calm and doesn't try to get his attention.

He politely ignores her, which is great. That is pretty much how she greets anyone

that comes into my office space. She really fits in well to the office environment.

Snow at Last!

January 21, 2012-

My dogs just LOVE the snow, and Victory is no exception! She got a taste of it back at the end of October, but she is 6 months old and a lot bigger and more active now. To watch her gallop and pounce on things half buried in the snow is sheer joy.

 Love the flying ears!

 She found her juice bottle.

 She's so proud of herself!

 Look at her go!

 Her tail acting as a rudder.

 Change of direction.

 Look out, I'm comin' to getcha!

Finally get her sitting still.. lovely portrait of this sweet girl!

Happy New Year!!

January 1, 2012-

I invited all our Freedom friends over to our house for a New Years pot luck get together. Almost everyone was there, but unfortunately, Marge, Edwin and Todd could not join us. Their pups came, though! We had Vegas, VaLinda, Valley, T-Bone and Toby, and of course, our Victory, Hannah and Inga. Cousin Lacey also came to play for a little while. (We kept Inga in the kennel, she gets overwhelmed in a crowd and gets snarky. The pups went over to say hello several times and she started to relax. Next time, she may be more comfortable, and we can let her out on a leash.) Temperatures were in the 50's (very unusual winter we are having in CT!) We enjoyed our appetizers down on the patio, while all the pups romped in the yard. By the time we sat down to dinner, they were ready for a nap. Looking forward to our next gathering!

Those Blasted Ticks!!

December 2011
We live in Colchester, CT, where deer ticks are abundant. Victory was vaccinated for Lyme Disease in Mid-November, but a couple of weeks later, she started limping, favoring her right foreleg. We let it go, thinking it was just a strain. I talked to Sharon at Freedom on 12/15 and she suggested that I bring her to the vet, since it was not improving. I brought her in the next day and she tested positive for Lyme Disease, meaning she had gotten infected at least two weeks earlier. She was put on Doxycycline for 30 days, and Previcox for 10 days. Well, she is still limping, but she is much perkier than she had been. No more "Droopy Dog!" We have her on buffered aspirin, which is helping with the limping. She is getting into all kinds of trouble now- jumping onto the furniture, following the kitties onto the window sill and taking garland off the Christmas tree. I guess we have a normal, rambunctious labbie puppy after all!!

Here she is on the window sill, trying to figure out how to get down.

Relaxing with Hannah on Christmas Day

Happy Holidays!

We brought Victory to the Colchester Town Green on Saturday, December 3rd for the Holiday Homecoming celebration. It was a fairly mild evening and there were a lot of families in attendance, many with small children waiting for Santa to arrive on the fire truck. When we first got on to the Green, Vicci was so excited, straining against her leash to try and go greet all the people she saw.  We made it to the Lions trailer and hung out there, allowing the little kids to greet her. She did a very good job of keeping her four paws on the ground.. When not being swarmed, she just sat there, taking it all in.  We then went over to the Hayward House for their annual Open House, but barely made it into the front reception area before she found something on the floor. I took the crayon out of her mouth and decided it was not the best place for her right then.

On Tuesday, December 13th, we had a small holiday luncheon at my office, and Victory got to officially meet my manager... well, to say the least, he turned into a puddle of mush when he saw her. Cute labbie pups do have that effect on people!

On Wednesday, December 14th, we had our Lions Holiday Party and again, she was very well behaved. At one point toward the end of the evening, I allowed her to go over to the next table and say hello. She made her way around, getting pats from everyone, then she strolled toward the head table, and found the packages of leftover food on the stage just behind it. She does have a really good sniffer!

Paul and I made a Christmas centerpiece to be auctioned off for our administrative fund. We bid on it ourselves and gave it to one of our members who was in the hospital.

She's the life of the party, all right!

After we got home and settled in to watch TV, she started bothering the cats, then started a full-on wrestling match with Hannah and Inga that lasted about 20 minutes. It's so great to see them playing like that!

Working Girl

November 28, 2011

Mom decided that I was ready to come to the office with her all day.  I don't know why people complain about work-- this is GREAT!

Giving Thanks

November 26, 2011

Thanksgiving weekend was unseasonably mild and we were able to have a picnic of turkey soup with fresh bread out on the patio. The pups got one last chance to play in their kiddie pool before the chilly weather sets in.  We had a little birthday party for Lacey and Flint who will be 2 in December, and Izzy who just turned 3 years old.

Vicci, Flint and Hannah

She easily leaps in and out of the pool now, clearing the sides.

Izzy and Flint