A weekend of goodbyes and celebration

It's been a busy couple of weeks that started off with the May, 2008 CCI NW graduation in Santa Rosa. It was time to say goodbye to Zucchini. All along I kept telling myself that her turn-in wasn't going to be hard as she's been such a challenge to raise. But a wise friend also told me that the hardest ones to raise, are the hardest ones to give up. That was certainly true with this pup. I think this was an especially hard turn-in because I know when she gets released I will not be keeping her, I will have CCI place her. So in many ways, this was truly goodbye as I will never see her again, making this turn-in especially difficult and unlike any of the others.

Hope and I had a good last week with her going to the lake and taking a couple of nice long walks. It just won't be the same to see how excited Hope is to have us home and her pal to play with and go to the schoolyard to play, even though Hope could never catch her!

A couple of good friends and fellow puppy raisers were my "designated driver" for the day. Since we had the earliest photo appointment, we had to leave early. I sat with Z in the backseat all the way to Santa Rosa and cuddled with her. After pictures, the dogs had a blast running at Gittinger Park, the huge playyard at CCI. Zucchini still remembered agility lessons and ran through the tire jump, across the dog walk, and through the tunnel there. She'd make a great agility dog because she is FAST! After taking a few pictures, we went out to lunch with a bunch of friends and then went to the ceremony.

Even though it was a sad day for me, it was also a day of celebration...A good friend of mine who I met several years ago through puppy raising when we were raising littermates (Rolie & Rubin as well as Hope & Hefner) came up to present her 4th dog as a breeder at the ceremony. He is a half-brother to Hope. Some other friends had dogs that were graduating. I was excited that Zucchini would be reunited with her buddy, Zane, who was graduating, but neither seemed particularly excited to see eachother after 6 months apart. Oh well...

After the ceremony, we headed back to CCI for the dreaded turn-in. Zucchini will have the same trainer that Hope and Marisa had. So 3 out of 4 of "my" dogs will have had the same trainer, what are the odds? We'll see how long she lasts, I predict I won't even make it to my first report. As usual, she walked off without a care in the world, I just hope she adjusts well to kennel life. Unlike my other girls, since she never went into heat, this was her first exposure to the kennels.

The one thing I've always been grateful for after turning dogs in is that I've always had a dog at home to greet me. I still remember Molly peeking into my car looking for Marisa after I got home from turn-in, and her running through the house looking for Rolie and Hope. Well, that's where Hope comes in (this is HER blog after all!)...it was WONDERFUL to have a dog to cuddle after what is always a difficult and exhausting day. She slept with me all night and was my pillow to cry on....

Here's to you Zuleika...whatever path you follow next, Hope and I will always hold a special place in our hearts for you....good luck.