What I've learned this week!

I've had a busy week in my new home.  Here are some pictures of all the things I have been doing:

Playing on the beach and swimming are two of my favorite things to do.  The water is cold, but I LOVE it, even when I start shivering.  I can swim really far out into the lake now too.

Here I am, bringing back my "Wubba" toy.

I've also gone on a lot of hikes and runs.  Plus I'm learning to catch a frisbee.  That's almost as fun as swimming.

As much fun as it all is, I am pretty tired by the end of the day, which is why I'm not able to write too much.

Flying to Connecticut

My name is "Maui".

 I am a 9 month old pitbull who has lived most of my life at Best Friends Animal Society in Kanab, Utah. Best Friends is a wonderful place to live and my caretakers, Erica and Adria always took very good care of me. I also love my trainer, Tamara. She trains all the puppies who live in the puppy preschool. About a month ago, some really nice people came to visit Best Friends for a few days. 

They took me on two sleepovers at their condo, and I had such a great time. I loved sleeping on a couch, in a bed, and going for walks. They even took me to the sand dunes. Here's a link to the story of my adventure to the sand dunes.http://kanoeracer.wordpress.com/
I was very sad when they had to leave, and I tried to block the door, but they said they had to catch a plane and go home. I didn't really know what that meant, but now I do. 

You see, a couple of weeks after she got home, my mom (Kathy) realized that she missed me too. She called Best Friends and found out that the plans they had for me had fallen through, and they decided it would be best if I got on a plane and came out to be with her. Personally, I thought it would have been easier if she had just stayed with me in Utah so I wouldn't have to leave my old friends. But, she said she has a job, and that now I was going to have a job too. Mom's a track coach at the University of Hartford in Hartford, CT and she has a lot of kids to train. She thought I could help out as "Team Mascot".   

 So, that brings me to Friday, April 15th. For many, April 15th is simply known as "tax day". For me, it was the day I learned to fly. First they loaded me into my crate. They put my old name (Dyango) on the crate, packed up all my paperwork, and put me in a van. After a 4 hour van ride, we got to Las Vegas. I had to wait around for a long time, but then they picked me up, (crate and all) and loaded me onto this thing called an airplane. It was very noisy, and even though I am a really brave dog, it was scary. I was on there for such a long time, and finally things quieted down and then they took me off the plane(crate and all).  I was happy because I really had to go to the bathroom and I thought now my mom would be here to greet me. WELL, I thought wrong. I waited and waited and waited, and then you can't believe it, but they took me (crate and all) back to another airplane. I couldn't hold it any longer and pooped in my cage. I know, that's really embarrassing and rude, but I tried to wait, and I AM only a puppy. The noisy part came again, and when it stopped they took me off again (crate and all of course). I had barely gotten off when guess who I saw? MY MOM. She was so happy to see me, and I was just wagging and wagging my tail. I was a little embarrassed to be covered in poop, but who cares, I was here and there was mom smiling at me. Mom had a guy with her that I'd never met before, but come to find out, he's my new DAD. His name's Ken and I like him alot. As soon as they got me out of that STINKIN crate, we went to the car. I jumped right on Mom's lap and she didn't mind at all. She held me all the way home, and I took a nap. When we got to our house, I was very hungry. I had a bowl of food, and then Mom said "bath time". Dad said, "how about a shower?" but I said "NO FREAKIN way am I getting in there". So, Mom picked me up and put me in the tub. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. It was very dark outside, but we went out anyway. We all played in the yard for awhile and then Dad went to bed because he had to work the next day. I wasn't sleepy, so Mom took me for a walk and then gave me some chewy toys to play with in a clean crate. She kept it right by her bed, so I knew she was there if I needed anything in the night. I finally went to sleep, and was just hoping this wouldn't all be a dream when I woke up. 

Saturday morning- bright and early, I was ready to GO. First one up, as usual, and ready for some breakfast. Mom fed me, and then we went for another walk to the park by our house. It's a beautiful park in the daylight, with lots of fields, trees, and a big lake. I'm not so sure what you're supposed to DO in a lake, but I liked drinking out of it. Dad hooked up a big rope in the front yard so that I could play.

 I think once I am used to it here, I won't need the rope, but for right now they want to be sure I don't get lost. We played tennis ball, and we chased around. They called me, and practiced my new name, "Maui". In case you didn't know, Maui was actually Superman in Hawaii. Mom thinks I am kind of like a dog superman I guess. Dad left for work, and I took a little nap. Later, me and Mom went for a long walk with one of her friends, Dani. Dani has two dogs that I will meet later. I wanted to meet them today, but they said "NO". Bossy ladies. I loved the walk though- lots of birds, streams, and trees.

 When Dad got home we took another walk, to another park with even bigger streams. I was a little nervous at first, but they showed me that it was safe to cross and I actually kind of liked it.

 Now I go in every stream I can find. Mom and I went to bed early and I slept a little better, but still needed to go outside in the middle of the night to pee. You know, one thing about playing in the streams, it's easy to drink a lot of water.

 Today's Sunday, and phew has it been a busy day for a puppy. I've been on 3 walks, I met my new sister, Nala, and we had visitors spend the night. I liked everything I did, I am really having fun and my tail wags all the time. 

The most fun thing though, was meeting my new "team". Not everyone came running today, but about 15 kids came and we went on an old railroad trail. I couldn't keep up, or go as far, but I sure did like it while I was with everyone. I ran right out in front of Mom (honestly, she's kind of pokey). When we got tired, we played in a stream for awhile and waited for everyone to come back. A couple of the kids were complaining about their race yesterday, so I gave them a little pep talk and I'm sure they'll do better next time. Tomorrow is going to be another busy day. 

We're going to the Boston Marathon! I don't get to run, but I get to watch and help cheer on some of Mom's friends and people she coaches. I'm going to go to bed early and get ready for the day.