No More Studying

Yesterday I passed both the National and State Real Estate Exams! So no more studying and no more tests!! I can actually get back to a normal life and not feel guilty by doing other things. For a while now, I have felt guilty if I haven't been studying. All I have left to do in order to officially get my real estate license is to be finger printed and take a 6 hour intro to contract writing class they call "boot camp". Then I will go down to the Real Estate Department office and get my license!! YEAH!!!

Christmas Crunch

My good friend Heidi has a Weimaraner, Vokey. Vokey sent Bogey and Jesse each a Christmas card. They were very excited to find that the card was an edible rawhide! http://www.crunchkins.com/ So on Christmas morning Bogey and Jesse each spent some time enjoying their holiday wishes from Vokey. Thanks Vokey...they loved them!!

Hospice of the Valley...here we come!

Yesterday Jesse and I had an interview with the Pet Connections coordinator for Hospice of the Valley. http://www.hospiceofthevalley.org/ It went very well and we are now on our way to being a pet connections team for HOV! We got our picture taken for the "badge" that I will have to wear when we are volunteering. I got my first of two TB tests that I will have to have and then January 26th I will have an all day volunteer orientation. Jesse doesn't get to join me for that but once I have completed that we will be ready to go! (Assuming all of Jesse 's paper work has gone through, I have sent it in and am just waiting to hear back)
I left the HOV office yesterday really excited. Everyone was so nice and I think it is going to be a very rewarding experience for both Jesse and I.
Wish us luck!

Halpern Holiday Open House

(In the picture Keely, Me, Amanda and Cristy at Pomeroys after Amanda's party.)
Last Saturday I was invited to an old friend's Christmas Party. Amanda and I went to elementary school and high school together. I recently met her for dinner but until then, we hadn't seen each other since high school! It was nice to be invited and it was fun to see some other people I went to high school and elementary school with as well. I have also been invited to join a kick ball team that Amanda has put together so it will be nice to reconnect with more old friends! (Yes I said kick ball...I had to laugh when I got her e-mail but I though it could be fun! Even though I haven't played since
probably 6th grade! Can you whiff at kick ball? I'll post more once that starts in January too! )

Jesse is a Therapy Dog!

Yesterday Jesse and I went out to Surprise for her therapy dog evaluation as well as her AKC Canine Good Citizen Test. I am so proud of her...she did great! She passed all the requirements with flying colors. We were able to take both tests at the same time because the Therapy Dog evaluation is basically the AKC CGC test with a few added tests. There were 11 requirements:
1-Accepting a friendly stranger (has to allow a friendly stranger to come up and talk to the handler, shake hands etc. without being aggresive or shy or overly excited)
2-Sitting politely for petting
3-Appearance and Grooming (has to allow someone to look at their feet, in their ears etc.)
4-Out for a walk (dog has to walk on a loose leash. (there can't be any tension on your leash)
5-Walking through a crowd (shows that the dog can politely move through people in public places)
6-Sit and Down on Command/staying in Place (shows that the dog will respond to the handler's commands when asked to sit and down)
7-Coming when called (dog has to sit and face the handler as they are atleast 10 feet away and when called must come directly to the handler)
8-Reaction to Another Dog (shows that the dog can behave politely around other dogs)
9-Reactions to Distractions (they drop loud things and the dog can look or be slightly startled but has to recover and not panic during this test they also added the LEAVE IT test...we had to walk by food and the dog could smell but when given the command had to leave it alone and not eat it)
10-Supervised Separation (demonstrates that the dog can be left with another person if neccessary and maintain "good manners" while the handler is out of sight)
11-Say Hello (tests the willingness of the dog to visit a person)
We can now volunteer at hospitals, nursing homes or other places. I am really excited about this and think that I will be a lot out of it and I think Jesse will enjoy it too! Bogey needs a little more work but I plan to test with him too! Wish us all luck!