Fellow puppy raisers should understand by the title what this post is about. for the rest of our readers, I found out today that Rocky will be heading off to start a new adventure in his life April 12-15. it was a bit of a shock when I opened my e-mail, as I was not expecting him to go back so soon.

Rocky will be the first of my puppies to start this adventure so young at only 12 ½ months old. But as hard as it is for me to admit, Rocky is so ready to start the next step in his journey! I on the other hand not so ready to let him go, but I guess I will never be ready. Even though I will only have had Rocky for 10 ½ months, I know he will be super hard to give up. he has a great personality that allows him to have everyone wrapped around his paw.

I know that Rocky will have a blast at college, the dogs are truly spoiled down there. it helps a little having heard just over a week ago from some of the SEGDI trainers say how great Rocky is and how handsome he is. The head of the breeding department loved him, so that might help since he is a breeder eval. I personally think he would have gorgeous, smart puppies. If he does not make it as a breeder, he will make a great guide and if he decides that is not for him, he will do fabulous in any job he decides.

I have quite a few spies that have already said they would keep an eye on Rocky while he is down there and give him some extra loving from me. Rocky will enjoy his days playing with his new friends and roomies and going new places with the super cool trainers!

I know Rocky will continue to make me proud in his new journey, just as he has made me proud every minute of every day I have had him!

Oh, hey there, Bachelor fans. what are you up to? I’m just in the middle of filling out my application to appear on America’s next top TV Recapper. I figure if I get picked I can take a couple of weeks off of work. And if I end up making it to the finals, I’m sure my bosses won’t mind if I’m gone for, I don’t know, two months or so. That shouldn’t be a problem, right? anyhow, enough procrastination — on to this week’s episode!

It’s hard to believe, but the hometown dates are here already. so Jake packs his bags, dons his mandals and heads off on the next leg of his ”journey.” first stop, New York City, where Gia waits at the docks, because she thinks the best way to show Jake the city is by boat. (Well, not always.) They circle Manhattan while snapping pictures of themselves kissing, as Lady Liberty looks on. (Side note: what in the holy hell is going on with that beaded necklace Jake’s wearing in his confessional? did he just come in from a hackey sack game?) Later, the Bachelor presses Gia on her past relationships, since she hasn’t talked about them much. Turns out her last serious boyfriend ”was into bad things,” including cheating on Gia with all of her friends. Voila! Behold the source of her crippling insecurity!

Night falls and the duo hit the town for dinner with Gia’s family — her mom Donna, her stepfather Tony, stepbrother Eric, and her half-brother Dylan. They’re a likable Noo Yawk clan, and Donna is an endearingly emotional Italian mom. ”When Gia hurts, I think I hurt more than she does,” she explains. over a glass of white wine, she pushes Jake on what makes Gia stand out over the other three girls. His answer is fairly nebulous and lame — ‘’she just has a way about her…she’s amazing” — but mom loves her daughter so much that’s all she needs to hear. Stubbly stepbrother Eric, however, is far more skeptical: ”He seems all right,” he tells Gia. but it’s Mama’s optimism that prevails, and soon she’s filling her daughter with wildly false hopes. ”I can see the love in his eyes for you,” she tells Gia. ”I really feel that he’s got this love for you…. I think he really does love you!” the bachelorette is fighting the urge to believe her mom — ”He can’t possibly love me right now!” — but she clearly hopes that maybe, just maybe, she’s going to get that final rose. the good news is, Gia’s diminutive stepbro — who threatens to ”break a few legs” if Jake hurts his sis — will defend her honor after she all-but-inevitably winds up in the Reject Limo.

Hometown date number two takes the Bachelor to Williamstown, Mass., to meet Ali and her family. the usually bitchy blonde says she’s ready to leave the ”tension” and ”drama” with Vienna behind and focus on Jake. That shouldn’t be too hard, because he’s ”ready to get real close with her” — and he even tells her that after their San Francisco outing, he considers this his second hometown date with her, which puts her ”a little ahead” of the other ”ladies.” (Kids, this is what is called foreshadowing.) Though it’s clearly freezing, producers apparently wanted some footage of the picturesque New England setting, so Jake and Ali oblige by frolicking in the leaves and strolling through the quaint center of town. Eventually they reach Ali’s grandma’s house, where Ali lived for awhile as her grandma’s nurse. ”She was more like a mom to me,” explains Ali. Though her grandma is no longer with us, Ali still wants her blessing, so she takes Jake on a tour of the nearly empty house so Granny can give her posthumous approval. Apparently, she grants it. ”I definitely think that my grandma’s looking down on me tonight,” says Ali, as we cut to a symbolic light-streaming-through-clouds shot. It’s a sad scene, and one that (conveniently) goes a long way toward humanizing the often-unlikable bachelorette.

NEXT PAGE: Tenley’s got a dance in her heart…and she’s gonna make Jake watch it