Happy 2017

[Catherine]

Thank-you Ruth and thank-you all. A new year is a chance to start over and try again or plan new things. It is like spring everything is new even if it is the same stuff as last year.

It is also a good time to think over what we have done and what we still want to do. I think 2017 has lots of promise. It is still too new for disappointments and failures. It is all about hope and promise. It is going to be a good year for ALWF. We have good members and we know what we believe in and we all care very deeply for animals.

[Libby]

Happy New Year! A little late but better late than never.

[Catherine]

It is still a pretty new year. I am still eating leftover new years cookies and there are still be a few dirty dishes to wash from the party. (I forgot to bring them home from the reptile centre so they were still waiting for me.)

How do you like 2017  so far?

[Libby]

It's been pretty good so far. Wedding planning is in full force now. As much as I can't wait to get married all the planning and people telling me do this, do that, why did you do this?, have you done that? and everything else just have me wanting to elope. The one thing I hate is being told what to do when it's my wedding and I want it done as simple as possible and people are making it more complicated.

Other than that it's been pretty slow. I'm looking for a new better paying job. Something I can sit at a desk for 40 hours a week and then do dog training on the side as my own business. Hopefully leading up to dog training being my full time job in 5 years but we will see.

Dogs are doing well. Buddy is 15 this year. He's still doing pretty well for his age. Still loves to play and go on walks. He's almost totally deaf now though so we have to keep a close eye on him. Thankfully we use hand motions a lot so he understands hand signals which I never thought would come in handy. Its taught me to not only teach verbal commands but to teach hand signals as well.
Molly is good. She's 11 now. Her knees give her problems from time to time but we know to be easy with her. She's our watch dog. Loves to walk people out of the house and meet them at the door. Lets us know when people walk up too.
Mia is 7 this year and still doing good. She started coughing a week ago and turns out she had a cold. We were afraid it was going to be kennel cough and with her IMT it could be bad but she's doing well.
All the geckos are good. Jack, Charlie and Claire. Just busy being leopard geckos.
Jean-luc and Bellatrix are doing well. Jean-luc is getting fat. might have to go a little longer between feedings. He's 9. Where as little 1 year old Bellatrix just got upgraded to 3 pinkies every 2 weeks. She could probably take fuzzies by now but we have a ton of pinkies that she cake with. Even with some of the pinkies going to the geckos every few weeks we still have months worth of pinkies. SHe's getting more used to people now. We get her out and let her stay in a little bag so she gets used to being handled and take her out for a bit then put her back in and take her home or bathe her. Both have been having shedding issues so we have supplements for baths. Hopefully then next shed will be better.

[Catherine]

Wedding plans are crazy. Everyone knows what they think you should be doing. Some of the details are so silly. Simple and relaxed will be more fun for you. Don't let anyone push you around. You know what you want.
What ever happens it will be a beautiful wedding and you will cherish all the memories, even the things that didn't go according to plans.

I am glad the dogs are doing okay. Buddy is doing okay for his age.  Good point about the hand signals. They work with a deaf dog. They would also work if there was too much noise for the dog to hear you. It is good for a dog to know both.
I am glad Molly is well. Stiff knees at her age are part of getting old. She sound like she is still very alert.
Mia has had a good life with you. You do keep her well in spite of the IMT. It was a lucky day for her when you  took her in.

Leopard Geckos can live a long time so your three have a lot of years ahead of them.
I am glad the ball pythons are doing well. Shedding problems are the norm this time of year. I have plastic bins just for soaking reptiles and the ball pythons are always needing a good soak.  They have a water dish they can soak in, but I still like to give them the full spa treatment.

I hope the job situation works out. Sometimes you need a job to support the work you really want to do. I love working at the reptile centre, but I need a full time job to support me so I can give the place my time.
At least you can charge for your work with dogs and eventually build up a business. Keep us posted.