Winter is flying by and at Puppyjackpot we are anxiously awaiting spring. We live in “Too Crazy Far North”, and understand that a snowstorm is bound to happen again before we really see the end of winter, but in the meantime we are enjoying sunshine and temps in the 30’s. Vivian and Ike are each approaching another birthday, Ike will be five on April 4th and Viv will be 2 on May 21st. It is fun to watch them mature and learn new things. Ike is the solid old boy of the house and he likes to be wherever his Dad is. Vivian still has her puppy moments, but I do see some maturation in her. I say this just a week after she took the socks I bought for my sister off the kitchen table and gave them the Vivian touch by chewing on them. Luckily my sister is a veterinarian and found pre-chewed socks sweet!
Getting big dogs exercise when the temps are cold and the snow is high is tough. Greg snow-blowed a trail around the house and Vivian and Ike like to walk it or in Viv’s case run it, every night. Sometimes I go out with them and stand on one end of the trail with Vivian while Greg stands on the other end with Ike and then Vivian races between us, looping around me on her way back to Ike. Ike being the more mature and all Golden Retriever that he is, hangs down on the other end with Greg and watches crazy legs run. 
Our therapy dog visits continue and it has been really fun for everyone. Vivian goes crazy when her therapy dog bag comes out of the closet and happily trots into the nursing facility every Saturday morning. She has her regulars that she visits, but also meets new folks every week. She sent valentine cards to her residents and it was fun to see them displayed in their rooms the next time we visited.
As I look forward to spring and green grass I am researching jumps and weave poles so that I can set up a bit of a course for Vivian to run in our yard. Along with that we daydream of the day monkey comes out to play again!
With April came the return of MONKEY GAMES!!
puppyjackpot 