The past week was nice weather, and Sandy took advantage of it, playing for hours outside. Most of us may not look forward to the changing of the clocks, but Sandy sure enjoyded he extra hour of sunlight. Her lunch time walks have frequently involved running into Daisy, an 8 year old dog from the neighborhood.

Last weekend, Sandy thoroughly enjoyed the great outdoors, going for a long walk with family around Fawn Lake and playing in Somerville with Addie and friends. She also started sitting in the backseat of the car all by herself! Another big upgrade - girl got a queen size bed! She took to it immediately, including turning it over to scratch the hell out of it. She may be getting bigger by the day, but that doesn’t stop her from trying to hang out in her favorite cubby. Won’t be long…

Last Saturday, Kyle and Cappa came over in the rain for some puppy playtime. Once again, it didn’t take long for Sandy to become more interested in the rhododendron than the humans or canines. Afterwards, she was a hot stinkin’ mess, and we convinced her to stay in the bath long enough for her first wash. All it took was a tub wall smeared with cream cheese and topped with some kibble.

Third week with Sandy and she keeps learning and getting bigger! This champion sleeper despises getting out of her crate at midnight for her potty break. She also is still working on the concept of catching items thrown at her (food, balls, or toys). She’s taken to lettuce and carrots, but mostly to just shredding them instead of eating. Her favorite sound is the ice dispenser, which she runs to sit next to you every time, hoping to get a piece that misses your glass.

Second week with Sandy is in the books! She’s gotten much better with some of her tricks, and even ventured into some new ones, like “paw” and “look at me”. She’s also starting to venture out further on walks, even going by the big park to watch the kids skate. Though when the walking gets rough, there’s always a human to carry her, as she sometimes prefers.

The first week with Sandy has both crawled and flown by. I may constantly be annoyed by her biting and barking, but she has some admirable traits that shouldn’t be ignored.

Our little girl started becoming more and more her true self! Thankfully enough sleep to fully function for us and the pup so far. Lot’s of play and good starts on her training. She’s already bounding up and down the deck stairs like a pro!

It’s finally happening!!! Our Nova Scotia Duck 🦆 Tolling Retriever, Sandy, came home to us tonight! She’s a tiny fluff ball at 8 weeks but hopefully we can capture all her puppy cuteness before she’s all grown up.

Back before COVID-19 ruined 2020, I was fortunate to go on an amazing ski trip through Utah and Colorado. Huge thanks to Katie and Kyle for flying out to Salt Lake City to join me. Kevin was an excellent guide at Snowbird. Thanks to Riley for letting me steal her car and ski with Madison! So grateful for Kevin, Paul, Nick, and Jack for inviting me to join them in Colorado. Can’t wait to do another trip in the near future, and finally play someone other than the computer in pitch!

What an amazing first day to the epic 9-Day 2020 Ski Trip! Took a 6 am flight out of Phoenix and was on my first chairlift by 9:30 am.