Yesterday, I was finally able to say that “Ashes of Roses”, The House of Bannerman book 6 is complete! It took me a year to finish this one, but it’s been no ordinary year.

It seems every year for the past several have been progressively challenging. Either we’re getting stronger, or jaded, because not much phases us these days. The exception, was the sudden and unexpected loss of our dog Indy, two weeks ago. That, was incredibly hard. It still is, and even when memories cease to cause an unbearable ache of loss, we’ll still miss him. Just like we miss Fox, and Maxim, and Snuggles, and Chip, and DC, and so many others. It’s hard, but to have had Indy, and all the rest in our lives for however long or short a time, is worth the pain of being left to live without them. As bad as it hurts, I can still say that and mean it. That’s why we continue to open our hearts and homes to new fur family members.

But for now, our focus is on the ones we still have. We won’t be adding to the family any time soon, and that’s something we’re all in complete agreement on. Arctic is badly in need of training, and right now that’s the priority. It’s been hard on him losing his big brother. He used to demand to be fed several times a day, and would have a regular tantrum if he and Indy didn’t get more food in their bowls. He’d kick furniture, say all sorts of things I fortunately couldn’t understand, and honestly it was pretty funny. But, a lot of the time there was already food in his bowl. It was Indy’s empty bowl he would scratch at and howl into. Every time they were fed, no matter how he complained of imminent starvation beforehand, he wouldn’t eat until Indy was completely finished. And now, Arctic is barely eating at all. Maybe he knew Indy wasn’t doing well, and he thought food would make it better. If only it had! But whatever the case, the poor guy isn’t eating much, and he’s definitely not begging. He can stand to lose some weight, and he’ll be alright, we all will, but for now we’re still trying to find a new normal. That includes training, which he’s enjoying. I don’t know about him, but I enjoy being proven right. I’ve always said he’s really smart, and now everyone else is seeing it too.

Although he started out as Em’s dog, the care rapidly transferred to me. He considers me his person, so I made it official last week and bought him from her. She was glad to have her money back, and I’m glad to have the matter of ownership settled. Arctic and I have been walking every day, which is totally new for him. He’s highly reactive, and needed regular outings ever since she got him. But, he wasn’t my dog, and it hurt my dog’s feelings if I did much with Arctic. So he didn’t get that, but now I’m making up for it. I’m proud of how well he’s doing.

When Indy was training to be a service dog, we had to do a ton of distraction training. That was far more time consuming than obedience, and training to detect and alert to blood sugar changes. So basically Arctic is starting that same process. We’re going to prove to all the nay-sayers just how awesome he is! Because he is.

I’m in the middle of re-reading “Ashes of Roses”, and when I’m finished, I’ll get it listed for preorder. I’m enjoying reading it very much, which is a relief, because yikes if I wasn’t! I am enjoying it though, so I’m going to get back to it!