Showing posts with label view. Show all posts
Showing posts with label view. Show all posts
Thursday, November 3, 2016
Had a Wonderful Vacation at Ridge View Labradors!
Had a Wonderful Vacation at Ridge View Labradors!
Brent and I went to visit our son, Devin and his boyfriend, Anthony, this weekend in New York City. Originally, we were going to fly and had planned to leave Laurel & Hardy at his breeder, Donnas place in Huntsburg (thats why we had them spend an overnight there last weekend). We decided to drive but due to my problem with separation anxiety, we stuck with our plan to let Laurel and Hardy stay at Ridge View Labradors.
It was a really good thing that we did the "try out" last weekend because I was able to drop my Labs off Friday morning and head to New York without worrying about them. Huntsburg is east of us so we got up a bit earlier than we normally would have when driving to NYC to drop them off on our way. When we let Laurel and Hardy out of the van, they both ran to the front door and when Donna opened it, they ran right in like they were at home! We left their crates with them, took their meals in individual bags, sent along some treats for all the dogs to share as well as a paper with our contact information, veterinarian info etc. While we were still there, both Labs were very comfortable and happy ... when we headed to the door, Laurel attempted to leave with us.
Its been a long time since we traveled without at least one dog and although we missed having the dogs with us, it was really easy doing the trip by ourselves! We stopped and had a sit-down lunch (something we dont ever do when taking a long drive) and still arrived in Brooklyn in plenty of time to find a parking spot, unpack, settle in and still get to Lincoln Center in time for the New York City Ballets performance at 8:00 pm.
Because I felt so comfortable with having the Labs at Donnas, I have to admit that it was Saturday evening after we returned from another NYC Ballet performance before I stopped and thought about how Laurel and Hardy were doing. I didnt feel compelled to call because I knew Donna would have contacted us if there were any problems. We had a lovely relaxed Sunday and it was terrific getting to be with Devin on Mothers Day (first time in years and years)! Monday morning, we left at 6:30 am in an attempt to miss congestion at a couple construction areas we had seen on Friday. That allowed us to get to Ridge View Labradors at about 2:00. When we arrived, Laurel and Hardy were in the house with about 8 other Labs and Donna. They were happy to see us but then so were all the other dogs!
Donna said that they had been very good, got along beautifully with all the other dogs (about 17 Labs and 3 Mastiffs) and settled in nicely. She said that Laurel was pretty "licky" and clingy Friday but that by Saturday, she had settled down and was enjoying herself. She slept every night with Donna (which no doubt helped her feel at home). Hardy settled right in and became best friends with a female Mastiff about his age! At first, Hardy was uncertain about going upstairs (which arent carpeted) so he stayed at the bottom crying. Donna ignored him and soon enough, he joined everyone else upstairs. Once he got used to the stairs, he ran up and down just like everyone else. Our Labs also got to spend time out in the yard with Donna which they really enjoyed!
We have no doubt that Laurel and Hardy really enjoyed their time at Ridge View Labradors and it also seems that they had a nice vacation where they didnt work and Laurel didnt worry. They were happy to leave with us and were all glad to be back together but I promised that wed send them out there every couple months for a nice weekend. That way theyve have some vacation time and hopefully, well all avoid separation anxiety!
Thank you, Donna, for taking such good care of our Labs!
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| Hardy & Maggie, happy to be sleeping together again! |
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| Everybody happy together again! |
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Sunday, September 11, 2016
Some more time at Happy Lab Acres Donna Reeces Ridge View Labradors
Some more time at Happy Lab Acres Donna Reeces Ridge View Labradors
Brent drove his Dads Jeep home last Monday. Weve been trying to decide what to do with the vehicle (an 09 with 11,000 miles on it) but since we just realized that both crates fit perfectly in the back, we will probably keep it!
Friday, we took my power chair over to Brunswick (over an hour away to the southwest) for some repairs and my van down to Akron (about an hour away to the southeast) for repairs to the air conditioning lines and to the ramp, which wont come back into the van. We were heading to St Louis Saturday for Dads funeral, to sort stuff and arrange for some of it to come to Cleveland so we took the Labs out to Donna Reeces Friday evening. We had thought about taking Hardy but decided not to because he seems to be going through a bit of a fear period and we thought that might not be the best time for his first airplane flight! Instead, we left both Laurel & Hardy out at Ridge View Labradors. The nice thing is that whenever we pull up at Donnas house, both of them run to the front door excited to be there again!
The flight to St Louis went well on Saturday and we spent the day sorting and looking through boxes. Dad had moved from his house of 65+ years in March - he had over 100 unopened boxes in the basement alone which we thought wed have to ship to us in to sort. We also found some lovely brand new furniture - Dad had been "living" in the basement with a TV and a broken recliner. I suppose he was waiting to move upstairs until he had completed all the renovating and remodeling. Being there and seeing the loving care with which he did the work, we became quite fond of the house and decided that we should use the furniture since he never had the chance to. It was still a difficult decision because although it was beautiful, much of it isnt to our taste and we have a house full of our own.
Sunday, we did more sorting and finalized things for the funeral home visitation, the funeral and the internment at the national cemetery. Monday was a long day with a "private viewing"; four hours of visitation; a Masonic service; the funeral service, which Brent and I performed (Brent gave a lovely eulogy which honored his Dad but was still truthful); then the procession to Jefferson Barracks, ending in a short but lovely military service. Afterwards, we went out to dinner with some other family members at a local restaurant. That evening, we finished looking through all the boxes except those in the garage.
Tuesday morning, the packer came and it looked like she did a great job. We headed to the airport about two hours before the flight was supposed to take off. Unfortunately, it was delayed and we got in to Cleveland about an hour and a half late. We had to stop home before heading out to pick up Laurel and Hardy.
The Labs had a wonderful time with Donna and their Lab and Mastiff friends. Were still glad that we didnt take Hardy with us although wed like an opportunity to take take him on a flight sometime soon. But, wed like to do that when we can focus on the training with patience. And although they were delighted to come home with us, it was obvious that they had had a blast!
This week, we will be busy preparing our house and basement for all the stuff coming on the moving van. We hadnt planned on the furniture but now we have to swap it with what we already have in our bedroom and office, the family room, living room, and Devin and Kristens bedrooms!
And now, having had to do this for Brents Dad, weve made a commitment to not leave all our stuff for our children to have to sort and decide what might have some value. Hence, while we get our stuff ready to move, we are sorting it into different piles: garage sale, keep, donate and trash. Poor Laurel and Hardy probably wont appreciate the time we spend doing all that though! Sometimes its just tough work being a Labrador!
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