Which do you want first the good news or the bad news? (With new pics)

The holidays came and went so quickly! We were back in Boston for a week before Alex headed off to South Africa for his FIELD program. Sadly during that week, Ozzy was hit by a car and passed away. She was out at the dog park with our neighbor who also has a dog and she was chased out of the park and into the street by two big huskies. We've been devastated to say the least and really miss her.

We feel we still have room in our hearts and our Soldiers Field Park apartment for another furry roommate. Our new tenant comes to us from Montana and is a 6 week old female red merle puppy. Ozzy was a blue merle puppy and will see why they call it red-blue when you check out the pictures. She arrives 1/27 and we could not be more excited. We are throwing around all sorts of names but some early favorites include: Red, Moose, Wilma, Mokey. We are accepting suggestions until she arrives 1/27. You can see all the early pics we have of here and a couple of videos sent to us by Out West Aussies. This pup will also be a full sized Australian Shepherd so will end up between 40-50lbs (for reference Bella is about 50lbs.)

Thanks to everyone for being so supportive during all of this. It's been really rough couple of weeks but things are looking up!

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Holidazzle

Holidazzle happened this past weekend and it was so much fun! HBS bused us over to the Westin Copley Square where we had a sit down dinner with Alex's section followed by drinks and dancing at the ballroom downstairs. All the guys wore tuxes and the ladies wore fancy dresses and gowns.

I also included a picture of Ozzy. The vet said she is 14 lbs now which is incredible! I can't believe she was once a 6 lb little fuzz ball only a few months ago. I'll be flying home with her on JetBlue. I ordered the official pet carrier of JetBlue but it is WAY too small for Oz. I'm exploring other options. Can't wait to be back in Marin and introduce her to the hiking trails and Bella!

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Fall is here.

Ozzy is getting bigger and bolder every day. Alex taught her how to shake (which is impressive) and she now sits anytime she's at a door. We're trying to focus on good manners and minimizing the amount of face biting she does :) She's had no accidents in the house over the last couple of weeks so I think we can count housetraining a success! She been sleeping through the night for a few weeks now so we're very happy about that. The new Caesar book: How to Raise the Perfect Dog has been a huge help.

I also included a couple of pics from Halloween. I was Hermione (from Harry Potter) Alex was a character from Happy Gilmore (Adam Sandler movie). We put the cape on Ozzy ONLY for the photo. As you can see from the photo I'm in I thought it was hilarious...

Campus is looking BEAUTIFUL! All the leaves are falling and Ozzy can't get enough of it. These trees are right outside our apartment and she hops around in the leaves like Turbo Chocolate (she's not that much bigger than he was). I can't wait for you guys to meet her over Thanksgiving!

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First snow is coming...

It's starting to get cold up here! Ozzy doesn't seem fazed by it yet but people keep telling me I need to get her snow booties. We also have Halloween this weekend and Alex is pushing for a costume for Ozzy. Photos to come if he gets his way. As you can see Oz is Alex's favorite study partner.

Also, we're going 5 days without any accidents in the house.

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Training on the road

We went to Maine this weekend for the HBS section D retreat. Maine is exactly as beautiful as I had expected with spectacular fall leaves and lakes and ponds everywhere you look. Ozzy would have been happy to stay in Maine FOREVER playing in the leaves and being loved on by the more than 100 students who were there with us.

The only downside was that the traveling confused her housetraining and pooping in the house was not exactly a rare occurence. At home we got her Poochie Bells for the living room door where she goes out. The goal is for her to jingle the bells when she needs to go out so even if we're not in the same room, we can hear her and come let her out. She appears to be getting the hang of it. Now we just need some kind of gadget to get her to STOP attacking my yoga pants every morning.

Today we started her on clicker training which is focused on 100% positive reinforcement and repetition. So far she can respond to her name and sit...occassionally :)

Here's a few pictures from our weekend in Maine...