So we have a visitor of the puppy kind!  This past weekend we decided to take a quick road trip out to Gloria’s (Tintlet Poodles) to see some sights and pick up River’s daughter.  It was a great trip, even if there were some ‘issues’.  First, I forgot my tripod and filters for my camera.   Both are almost required to take photos of waterfalls.  Still, I didn’t cry over forgotten items.  Keith, Aiden, and I took unexpected ‘dips’ in the river at one stop, due to slippery rocks.  As luck would have it the worst fall was mine.  Thankfully the only thing injured was my pride.  I was able to keep my camera above water, though laying on your back in 6 inches of freezing stream water leaves a lot to be desired.  Just a little heads up; when you are crossing a stream and jumping from rock to rock… you might say to yourself “Hmm, maybe I should go the way Keith is going, less risk”.  Listen to that little voice people!  Do not squash it down with things like “Oh, I can make it!”.  Even if you can make it this time next time you might not be so lucky.

After driving the amazing scenic waterfall drive from Franklin, North Carolina up to Highland, North Carolina; the check engine light came on the van.  I’m not sure if I posted this, but I was unlucky enough to hit a deer on Thanksgiving day (that’s a story for another day).  ANYWAY… I’ve had the car back for about a month.  I noticed a small amount of oil on the ground where I park and mentioned it to Keith, but it was tiny and he thought maybe it wasn’t a problem.  We made a trip to Arkansas over New Years without an issue, so we were not worried.  When the check engine light came on near Highland, I told Keith my gut says we are low on oil.  We drove up to Highland and checked the oil, which was indeed a quart low.  At least we knew the issues.  Instead of staying overnight in Franklin, I called Gloria and told her we probably needed to pick up the puppy and start heading back towards Huntsville, so we could get the car into the shop the next day.  She thought that was a good idea, so after adding in a quart of oil we arrived at Tintlet Ranch.  It has been 4 years since I have visited Gloria.  Jazz was about 2 weeks old when I saw her litter at the grooming shop.  My sister Lisa and I were picking up Quincy and his siblings from Julie Tune, who was at a Flyball match in North Carolina.  Nothing had changed, except for a few new Poodle faces.  River, Jazz, and Lina just walked in and acted like they were moving in.  Gloria turned loose the girls who were not in season so everyone could play.  We hung out there for about an hour, but really needed to get on the road.  It was going to be 10PM before we made it back to Huntsville.

Jubilee is fitting in nicely with the pack.  Lina wasn’t keen on the idea of a puppy for the few two days, but now she is playing with her just like she does with Jazz.  River is very good with her, but he sure wishes she would grasp a few key rules.  His most important rule: Do not jump on mom or the kids!!  He runs over and growls, shoves the puppy off, and stands there looking at her as if to say “Try it again, little rude thing!”  River has this thing with anyone playing rough with each other, kids, dogs, anyone.  Jazz likes playing with her… or not.  Doesn’t matter to Miss Jazz.  She just goes with the flow.  “Oh, new dog.  Yeah ok.” is Jazz’s mentality.

I groomed up the baby today and took video of how to shave face, feet, and around the tail.  “Hopefully” that video turned out and I will use it on the follow up grooming blog post tomorrow or Friday.  For now, enjoy some sweet puppy photos.

~Becky