Fun with friends, both old and new.

Good morning!  I hope you are all enjoying a peaceful Sunday morning.  After this past week, a peaceful Sunday morning is just what I need.  It's been a stressful week at work; one of those weeks that makes me want to win the lottery, pack up the Jeep, and hit the road....and just leave everything that isn't important behind me.  Thankfully at the end of every one of those stressful days, I get to come home to two stubby-tailed wiggly butts who are always happy to see me and who help me remember what is really important in life.

The week started out well with a visit to Grand Rapids on Sunday afternoon to attend the "Corgis on Ice" event at the Grand Rapids Griffins hockey game with my friends Mike and Amy and their Corgi, Doug.  We've had some adventures in the past with Doug and she's a sweet little girl and I was excited to see them all.  Doug was pretty happy to be out making new friends!

It was a fun time and I was excited to meet some new four-legged friends like Vixen.  She sat so nicely the whole game!  While this was a dog-friendly event, I knew that this wouldn't be a good place for Peaches with her leash reactivity issues or Maddie with her anxiety, so they got to stay home.  It was nice to get out with friends and fellow dog-lovers and enjoy something new.  Plus I enjoyed a great dinner while in Grand Rapids. Plus I may have even been inspired at looking into trying to organize some GSP friendly gatherings...Why should Corgis have all of he fun?

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful for us.  After each stressful day at work, I came home to my nightly routine of eating dinner, walking the dogs, and sitting down to relax for the night.  And each night Peaches made sure I knew that she loved me!

Tuesday...

Wednesday...

And Thursday...

And I was thankful every night that she was there to snuggle with me.  She is such a sweet girl!

Finally Friday arrived, and with it, a new adventure.  Friday was the day that I would be bringing current ISR foster dog, Roxanne, home with me for the week while her foster family is on vacation.  I met her foster family after work and headed home with Roxy in tow, ready for her to meet the girls.  Since Peaches came into my home, I'm always a bit on edge when bringing a new foster home.  Unlike Imke who had an easy-going personality when it came to meeting new dogs and having them join our home, Peaches is a little more high-strung and anxious when greeting new friends.  She gets so excited and she just wants to play with every new friend so badly that she doesn't always know how to control that excitement.  And when you bring a nervous, unsure, unconfident dog into your home, that can cause issues.

Luckily, Roxy handled Peaches' pushiness pretty well, and while she doesn't want to play with Peaches yet, she hasn't been overwhelmed by her persistence either.

We spent the first hour Roxy was here on Friday outside enjoying the sunshine and nicer temperatures.  The girls enjoyed pulling wood from the fire pit and wood pile and Peaches tried to show Roxy where the birds are hiding in her trees.  Why those darn birds continue to nest in my backyard is beyond me, and I know that in a few short weeks, I'll be picking up dead baby birds who will meet their demise when they try to spread their wings and learn to fly.  Just part of the natural selection that happens every year in the backyard of some bird dogs.

Poor Roxy didn't have much time to adjust to my house before I was off for dinner with friends to celebrate the upcoming wedding of my friends Katelyn and Sean.  While I felt horrible leaving so soon after she got here, it was nice to get out of the house for a bit.

Saturday morning, I headed out to the shelter for our Saturday morning dog walking club where I was lucky enough to get to walk Sugar Bear.  She is such a sweet girl and she did great on the walk.  Since most of the time I am leading these walks, it is a rare occurrence that I actually get to walk a dog any more, but it was a nice change of pace to be able to do just that.

While I had considered taking the girls on an adventure on Saturday, I decided it would be better to give Roxy some time to settle in at my house, get familiar with our routine, and just enjoy some time getting to know her better.  So we spent the day at home doing a combination of cleaning, playing, and relaxing.

It was sunny and warm, I had the windows open, and the girls were happy to go in and out, in and out, to their heart's content.  I sure do love Spring!  It was a great day to get some things done around the house, but it was also nice just to sit outside and soak-in some sun.

Peaches was also excited to play her favorite game of dragging the food dish of any foster around the house.  She is so silly.  She actually fell asleep lying on the couch with it in her mouth...and made us all jump when it crashed to the ground when she really relaxed and let it drop.

The girls had spent the day running around the yard, playing with me as a threw the tennis ball over and over, and napping periodically, but I wanted to make sure we got out for a walk too.  Since I hadn't taken Roxy on a walk with us yet, I decided it was best to stay in our neighborhood to see how things went.  Let's just say it wasn't the best walk I've ever taken!  Roxy clearly hasn't spent much time walking on a leash and she is terrified of new noises.  She jumps and tries to hide every time a car drives by...and I can't tell you how many times she nearly tripped me.  But we made it through and got two miles under our belts, so I can only hope it will get better from here.

.After a long day of fun in the yard and a good walk, it was time to settle in for the night.  It had been a really nice day at home and we had all enjoyed it.  While this isn't the best picture, it was nice to see all three girls snuggled up on their beds for the evening.  Clearly they had had a great day!