Now summer can start!

Planning a grad party kind of takes over your life. Planning, shopping, baking, cleaning, setting up, taking down...yikes. But that's done now! My youngest has now registered for his college classes. A bunch of his friends came over last night, and I listened to them laughing and talking downstairs - I'll miss that!

Sully is our "empty nest filler". And he's filling it out more and more! When we got him, he weighed 8.5 pounds. Wednesday, he tipped the scales at 17.2! Oof! No wonder he's getting harder to lift! We're still struggling with puppy diarrhea - he has been through a prescription of Metronidazole and is on probiotics. I cheer when he has a normal stool! (He thinks he's doing an extra great job of going outside, so it works!) He's now at 1/2 rice and eggs and 1/2 kibble. Hopefully, his little system will get back to normal soon. Rice cakes as training treats are a pain.

We have fallen into more of a routine. Up at 5:30. Outside. (As a former coffee shop manager, it's do-able.) Then we eat breakfast.( Sully in his kennel, me at the table.) Then I finish my breakfast and read the paper while Sully licks every last atom of food out of his bowl. Then a trip outside. Hopefully, cheering will ensue. Back inside for playtime. I read part of a paragraph, notice he's not in the same room, hunt him down. Show him a toy. Read some more of the paper. Hunt Sully down. Peel his teeth off my pant leg. Give him a toy. Try to...SULLY! Off the leather chair!! Peel his teeth off my slippers. Throw a toy. Fetching ensues. Then my arms become more interesting than ANY toy - time for the kennel! He gets a few ice cubes, which he munches happily. Then, if all goes well, he falls asleep. This gives me time to: Empty and reload the dishwasher, make the bed, start a load of laundry, wipe down the bathroom, work out, shower...Pant, pant! Then, off to the studio, after another trip outside. We greet friends at the studio, then do a bit of training. That's usually enough to wear him out, and he sacks out in the kennel at the studio. He's usually just waking up at lunch time. We head outside, then home for lunch. After lunch, more training - then a walk. Hopefully, more cheering. Back to the studio. Some playing, chewing - maybe some more training. Nap. Hopefully until about 4 when I'm ready to head home to make dinner. Outside. Head home. More training, playing. Supper. Playing. Walk. Playing. Outside. Playing, chewing. Outside. Bedtime is around 9:30 - for both of us.

He' picking up on all the skills really well! We're working on eye contact, name recognition, grooming, walking on a loose leash, fetching, recall, greeting people with our paws on the ground, taking a treat gently, "getting dressed" (putting his own slip-collar on), etc. And he's been doing everything for stale, salt-free rice cakes! What a trooper!

Tonight, an evening with his pal Cassie while we go to a wedding. Much puppy wrasslin', I'm sure! He can hardly wait.

Now that things have settled down in the entertainment segment of my life, I'm hoping to update more! Of course, now I'm about to plunge into the summer art fair season. I'm trying to create work for that and the galleries that have my work - so I'm glad for the fact that Sully is a good napper!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone! Happy Father's Day to you dads!