Puppy Club Pictures

Attached are some pictures from our Guide Dogs for the Blind puppy club -- "Pups With Vision" (name of the club).  

Photo 1:  We had a fund-raiser garage sale today - you can see dogs scattered throughout the area (not for sale though!).  The sale went around the whole house - and included a bake sale and a plant sale. All of the money is used for dog supplies and socials (e.g. Max Train tickets when the group does outings).

Photo 2) This big boy is "Fortune", he is the puppy I mentioned before that is HUGE!!  He is only 9 weeks old - same age as Honeydew.  Isn't he adorable?  He is so big his owner can hardly pick him up.  He has so much loose skin on his face that he looks like an old man.  He is literally, 2 to 2.5 times larger than Honeydew.  Crazy!

Photo 3) This is "Gordie", he is being trained that he can't pick up yummy treats off the ground, even when it is just sitting there.  The owner/trainer would basically kick this hotdog around in front of him and correct him each time he would try to get it.  Eventually, he would just sit and stare longingly at it.  Seems mean to tease him like that - but in the end, when he is with a blind person, he needs to just walk past things and not pick them up (even when it is a yummy hotdog) - because the blind person doesn't know when they pick stuff up, and if they do that they can get into poisonous stuff, etc. 

Photo 4) Me and the Dew, watching the folks shopping at the garage sale.  Isn't she so cute, sitting there like a good girl (Honeydew, not me)!  She did a great job today.  She stayed pretty calm -- still likes to bite on fingers to say hello, but we are working on that.

Photo 5)  One of Honeydew’s admirers, giving a belly rub. 

More Dew

Here are some newer Honeydew pictures. 

We go back to the vet on Friday - as I think she has an eye infection.  Sheesh - she is a Crim.  She did really well at puppy club tonight - her brother "Heath" was pretty rotten, so it made Honeydew look like a star.  We learned we are teaching her to go to the bathroom incorrectly - so we have to start doing better with that (we aren't supposed to walk them to stimulate them going, you stand in one spot and wait them out).  Oh well, hopefully no permanent damage was done!   She did amazing with me at work today - she was calm and quiet the whole day for the most part.  I was a proud mommy.   Glenn is taking her to work with him tomorrow morning - then he will come get me around noon to go to my MRI.

Pictures include: 

1) Adorable - kinda doing the Billy Idol eye-brow thing.  I think this picture is a keeper.

2) Sleeping in the computer room while dad surfs the internet.

3) Going for a walk with dad in the side yard - looking for slugs or rocks or weeds to eat. You can see there that she isn't as big as she looks in some of the other photos.  She is now a little bigger than Bodine/Maude...where as last week she was smaller than them.  She is growing like a weed.

Week 1 Update

Hello!

Thought I would share a little update on how Honeydew is doing (who, Glenn has already given the nickname of "Slippy Lou").  Of course, we can't really give her a nickname, but you know Glenn, always a rule breaker.

She came to work with me last Friday for a few hours - and did really well.  So today, she is here for the full day.  Hopefully it goes just as well (quiet, calm, willing to sit in crate and entertain herself while I am in meetings, etc.).  She is currently sleeping/dreaming  in her crate under my desk - so sweet.  She is learning things very quickly.  Practice, practice, practice.  The most impressive thing so far (I think) is that when you start preparing her food she sits and waits patiently -- and then you can place the food bowl in front of her and she will wait (sitting) to start eating until you tell her "OK" -- you can see how hard it is for her to stay seated until she is released (and I always have a light grab on her collar in case she goes for it) - but it is amazing that she has learned this so quickly, especially given how much the girl loves to eat!  To help keep her from getting possessive of her food, they want us to give her half the food, and then once she is done, put the other half into her bowl with our hands -- she knows that second half is coming, and she just sits and looks up at you like "ok, ready for more", very cute.  Pretty impressive for a 9-week old lab -- I would have expected her to be more of a spaz, but she is really very calm and quite smart -- which I guess is the result of a careful breeding program (rather than any skill on my or Glenn's part).

Of course, true to Crim form, we have already been to the vet with her (in week one!!).  She had an ear infection in both ears, and was "congested".  She is doing better now - in terms of the ears and her sneezing/snorting, but I think she has an eye infection now.  Uggh.  We are hoping that this isn't all the result of allergies -- because allergies is likely something that could make her become a "career change" dog (e.g. she wouldn't become a guide dog).  We have hope that it will all clear up and is more just a function of her needing to get used to new surroundings.

Our cat, Ruben (the EVIL black cat), loves Honeydew.  So strange - since he generally hates everyone and everything except Glenn.  Ruben likes to rub up against Honeydew.  Honeydew, of course, loves Emma - and she wants absolutely nothing to do with her.  Hopefully that will work itself out -- but I am guessing that Emma is getting so old and sore, that a jumpy puppy is not high on her list of "things to enjoy". 

We had our first "puppy meeting" last week (with the other guide-dog puppy raisers) -- these are weekly meetings we have been going to for several months, so it is fun now to go and have a dog of our own.  She did pretty good - especially given how overwhelming it must have been (meeting ~15 other dogs and their people).  She was the first to pee on the gymnasium floor - we were so proud!  Tonight we go to our second puppy meeting with her - but this will just be with the other baby puppies (there are 3 others - including one of her litter mates).  There is one baby puppy, named Fortune, who is HUGE - and almost white blonde (he is a yellow lab).  He is literally twice the size of Honeydew, if not more (same age as her)...and he has rolls upon rolls of puppy fat and skin, which makes him look almost like a Sharpei (sp?).  When he puts his head forward - all of the folds of skin flop forward and you can hardly see his eyes. He is absolutely adorable - Glenn says he looks like one of those big stuffed animals.  I am sure he will be growing into that skin quite quickly, given how fast Honeydew is growing -- her collar was so loose it could easily slip off her head when we first got her -- and only a week or so later we almost need to let it out to the next setting!  

So, that is our update for now.  :)

Our New Addition!

We got our guide-dog puppy today!  And oh boy, is she a cutie!  

And she has the cutest name to go with her adorable looks..."Honeydew".  Ahh.....

Here photos of our first day.  In the one with Glenn, we are at the guide-dogs for the blind campus, about to take our first car ride...she screamed in her crate for about 15 minutes, then she passed out snoring the rest of the way home.  In a little over a year we will be headed back out there to return her to the campus for formal guide-dog training.... That time will be here before we know it -- but it will be a fun adventure!

Puppy Photos

 A few photos we thought you might enjoy -- two are of Emma and Tully at the coast last weekend (a final treat before the new puppy arrives), and the other two are of "Petunia", the Guide Dog for the Blind puppy we are "puppy sitting" this week (we get our new baby guide dog puppy next weekend!).  Petunia has been great - she is getting us well trained for the arrival of our new pup.  We have been to more coffee shops and grocery stores than you can shake a stick at - she is an amazing dog.  She is a little over 1 year old, and will be going back for formal guide dog training in a few months.