Magnum and Retirement

The last few weeks have been really busy.  A new puppy is in some ways for a few days like having a new baby.  There is the getting up at night to take the puppy out to potty and the need to constantly watch what he is doing.  I have to say we are really enjoying Magnum and he is a great puppy for us.  He is now 10 weeks.  He’s been to the Veterinarian and he started his first class last week.  He is the youngest puppy in the class, but doing better than many.  I try to work at training him several times a day for about five minutes.  He has been trained to run through the tunnel, respond to his name, come, drop stuff in his mouth, sit, down, and touch my hand.  Kinsey and Shadow are doing very well with him and are quite tolerant.  He is a well-behaved puppy around older dogs.  Someone in our class said Magnum was much more mellow than other Springers he’d seen.  This is one of the reasons why we wanted him. Here he is running through the tunnel at 9 weeks.  He loves it.

Retirement is almost here and I am for the most part ready.  Mentally I am very ready and would like to be home with Magnum. I still have some stuff to do at work.  I see myself stepping back from work and involvement with staff.  It is the natural withdrawing.  I have been slowly removing stuff from my office. My replacement is hired, the Assistant Director, and her replacement is hired.  I hope the transition will be smooth.  It will be good when the transition is completed.