Honeydew's Journey

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-26T17:14:00.001-08:00

Honeydew and her brother Linus enjoyed a fun trip to Bend for Thanksgiving. They got to play with their other four-legged cousins....MacKenzie, Fosters, Cooper, Larry and Tony.

Playdate with Old Friends

2010-08-29T11:14:00.000-07:00

Honeydew had a playdate with some old friends....including her best bud Linus (our new adoptee), Sierra (a fellow career changed Guide Dog puppy) and Amber (a fellow puppy raiser's new pup).

I have included an old photo of Honeydew and Sierra (above) when they were Guide Dog puppies together.

Sierra, Amber and Honeydew are cut from the same cloth. They are all high energy...and they look nearly identical. The only way we could tell them apart was by the color of their collars (Honeydew = teal, Amber = brownish, Sierra = pink) .

It was funny. The whole night we were calling them by the wrong name and saying "is that my dog that is getting into something, or is that yours?"

Linus had a grand time running around with the girls. Below is a video of some of their fun. Many thanks to Linda and Roy for such a great evening.

Dew and Kota

2010-08-29T10:20:00.000-07:00

I finally figured out how to download the videos from my camera!

This is a video I put together of Honeydew playing with one of her best buds, Dakota. It includes clips from when Dakota was just a baby pup (and could walk under her legs!), to now - when he is a big boy (and she could now walk under his legs!).

Linus - Honeydew's New Buddy

2010-07-04T07:43:00.000-07:00

Honeydew has a new buddy! Linus, a 3 year old Aussie/Husky mix has joined our family. He and Honeydew are having a blast together - playing tug and chase, taking naps on the same bed, going to day care together. They appear to be a perfect match in the personality department - Linus enjoys playing with her, but isn't so high in energy that Honeydew becomes a complete spaz around him (well, at least not any more than usual).

Linus has been deaf since birth - but he doesn't seem to let that slow him down at all. It is a new experience for us - learning to talk to a dog with our hands instead of the tone of our voice. But, we are all figuring it out - Linus has been very patient with us.

Honeydew seems much happier to have someone to keep her company during the day. She was left loose in the house all of last week and didn't destroy anything. Linus is certainly earning his kibble by keeping Honeydew out of trouble!

We are quite smitten with Linus - and look forward to having him in our family.

Beach Bunny

2010-05-27T17:20:00.000-07:00

Our friend Seaerra was visiting from Wyoming - so we went to the Oregon Coast. This was Honeydew's first trip to the beach, and she had a blast (click on the images for a bigger view).

She was afraid of the waves - running away from them when they would come rolling in. She loved the game of finding the nastiest and smelliest dead thing laying on the beach (crabs, kelp, etc.). She chased some gulls (bad dog) and climbed on the sea cliffs and driftwood logs.

She also made a few other puppy friends on the beach - including a big black lab boy, and a rambunctious standard poodle. Honeydew said we could go back anytime!

Terrible Twos?

2010-03-22T17:05:00.000-07:00

It has certainly been a while since a post about Honeydew. Partially, because she is just working on being a plain ole' dog - so there isn't much in the way of excitement to write about. However - she did just turn two years old (March 18), and it would appear she is going through a bit of a rebellious stage. Sigh....

She has started being destructive when we aren't home. She has chewed through all of the TupperWare from the kitchen and anything made of paper in the house - including books - appears to be fair game. As a result, she is going to spend much of her alone time this week in her kennel. Going back to square one in terms of setting expectations for good house manners.

Luckily, she loves her kennel - so she will likely be fairly content. We will also, of course, get her into doggie day care for a bit to burn off some of that never-ending energy. Maybe a pup at doggie day care gave her the low down on being destructive at home? It would be like Honeydew to run with the wrong crowd at day care.....

The pictures are of Honeydew's new favorite toy -- which is also a great tool for helping her burn off some energy. It is this great little plastic egg/ball that she rolls around the house - and occasionally it poops out a kibble. Tonight, she ate her entire dinner this way - provided a good 15-minutes of mental activity!

She has figured out how to get it unstuck when she gets it trapped in places (like under the chairs at the kitchen table), and she has perfected a move that sends the egg spinning like a top on its end - which results in kibble flying out in all directions.

I think she especially enjoys this toy because so much of her Guide Dog training was for her to refuse to eat stuff (human food, kibble, trash) that she found on the floor. So with this, she is essentially "breaking the rules" - which makes the kibble that much sweeter. You know how that is....

Lap Dog

2010-01-07T21:23:00.001-08:00

Honeydew is certainly a bit spoiled now that she isn't a Guide Dog in training! She has decided that her goal in life is to be a "lap dog". Nothing makes her happier than snuggling on someone's lap (in this case, pictures are of Honeydew with a friend visiting from Nevada).

Band of Brothers

2009-12-27T10:08:00.001-08:00

Honeydew just spent the holidays at our family's house in Bend, Oregon. This place is like Disneyland for dogs. In addition to having lots of acreage to run, squirrels to chase and deer poop to eat...she gets to run with a pack of big male dogs (her favorite, being the big American bulldog named Tony). I think she likes trying to show these boys who's boss. The pictures are from a walk we took yesterday - through a winter wonderland!

In the group photo you can see the pack (click photo to enlarge), "Honeydew's Band of Brothers"...from left to right: Tony (American Bulldog), Larry (Boxer), Cooper (Border Collie), Mackenzie (Golden Retriever), Fosters (Australian Sheppard), and then finally Miss Honeydew (well, her rear end anyhow).

Look At Me!

2009-12-27T10:02:00.000-08:00

Today there was an article in The Oregonian (click the link) about the doggie day care place that we take Honeydew. A fellow Guide Dog puppy raiser emailed us about the article -- because Honeydew is mentioned.

I couldn't imagine why they would have written about Honeydew - I mean, there are probably over 20-30 other dogs there at any given time. Why notice Honeydew?

Well - I think the description of her in the article says it all! The need to be the center of attention! How embarrassing! At least it is confirmation that she does indeed have an absolute ball when she goes to day care. No wonder she comes home so tired and has to sleep for two days to recover!

In case the link above doesn't work - here is what the article said about our little girl:

"Honey Dew, a compact yellow lab, doesn't mind being second-best, as long as she can be the center of attention. No wonder she's spinning madly and yip-yapping among the two or three larger retrievers who give chase until their target throws herself onto the ground, paws in the air and chest exposed for playful whacks and nips. "

Honeydew Sausage!

2009-11-12T19:47:00.000-08:00

Today, Honeydew experienced every lab's dream.

While we were at work she somehow got into her dog food container. She ate, and ate, and ate - until she quite literally couldn't fit another kibble down her gullet. Which, for a lab, is a lot!

She is currently walking around the house like a little stuffed sausage! It is really more of a waddle. Normally she has a nicely defined waist - but not anymore! In the picture you can see that she can't get her back leg all the way down to the ground because her belly is in the way!

Don't let her fool you with this pose - she isn't as miserable as she looks in the picture. Actually, she is quite smug and has a bit of a smirk on her face.

We will keep a close eye on her to make sure she doesn't have any medical problems - but I am guessing she is just going to feel like most of us will in a few weeks after Thanksgiving dinner!

Doggie Day Care!

2009-10-30T13:20:00.000-07:00

We tried a new experience today - Doggie Day Care. I tried taking the Dew to a dog park the other day, but she is so intense and her energy level so high that she got the whole pack at the park worked up. I decided that day care might be a better, more controlled option.

Based on a friend's recommendation - I took her to a place not too far from downtown, which will work well in the future since I work near there. Honeydew had to pass an evaluation - and she did fine.

They then let her into the large yard with all of the other dogs (I am guessing there were 40 dogs in there). She immediately went running around the yard at full speed - a total spaz. She finally calmed down and spent the next 20-minutes smelling every square inch of the enclosure.

I came home to see if I could find her on the web cam feed they have -- I can catch little glimpses of her only now and again because she is always on the move. Just a few minutes ago - on the web cam - I could see the all of the dogs running in big circles, followed by staff trying to calm them down...only to realize that the chaos was being caused by none other than our little Dew, who had convinced the other dogs to chase her wildly around the yard. How embarrassing. Hopefully, she doesn't get kicked out!

Pictures are of her when she first entered the yard.

P.S. I am happy to report that Honeydew officially had a blast and was invited to return. They said Honeydew seems to think that doggie day care is the best invention ever, and that during the entire 4-hours she was there, they only saw her sit once - and then that was only for about 30 seconds. They said she ran and played the entire time. It must be true, because she immediately feel asleep as soon as she got in the car to go home.

Sniff-Sniff...Where's the cheese?

2009-10-11T19:52:00.000-07:00

Today we tried out a new job for Honeydew - "Tracking" (think search and rescue, without someone's life on the line). We took an all day tracking workshop. It was a blast!

I had no idea that dogs could just do this, almost without any training. An absolute "plug and play" adventure. In early training you use tools to help both you and the dog be successful (putting out flags to mark the track for the human, and dragging raw chicken on the ground to mark the track for the pup).

Honeydew instantly knew what to do - I could hardly keep up with her she was so intent on the track. Even if we had to wait for a while for our turn - which meant that the scent spread over a wider swath of path - she still worked it well...nose to the ground, weaving back and forth, back and forth over the scent trail as we wound our way to the end point (which was usually a leather glove with string cheese inside - oh the excitement!).

I think that Honeydew loved it most of all because she got to do three things that were always against the rules as a Guide Dog puppy....she was allowed to smell the ground and follow her nose (instead of following me, at my side), she got to pull hard on the leash (pulling in the harness when she has the scent is encouraged) and she got to eat string cheese she found on the ground. She definitely thought that "being bad never felt so good!"

In the pictures you can see Honeydew and I giving this tracking stuff a try (small specs out in the field), my view of Honeydew's butt - which is what I was looking at most of the day, and Honeydew patiently waiting her turn. She was really into this and could hardly contain her excitement while waiting for the other dogs to finish the track. "Can that pomeranian puhleeze get a move on? What is taking her so long? Is it my turn next?"

I think we found a good "job", at least for the weekends.

Dew's Arch-Nemesis

2009-10-09T21:02:00.000-07:00

The Dew has met her match in the "cute puppy" department - her arch-nemesis of adorableness. I don't think she knows what to make of the whole situation - this little creature is taking attention away from her!

This weekend we are puppy-sitting an adorable little 10-week old Goldendoodle puppy. He isn't a Guide Dog puppy - he is a mix between a Golden Retriever and a Standard Poodle.

"Dakota Cooper North" is his name, and he is an adorable ball of fuzz. He wasn't sure what to make of Honeydew at first - but once she started spinning in crazy butt-circles (see picture), he decided she was pretty fun.

Honeydew, on the other hand, is pretty sure that he shouldn't be allowed to chew on her bones - and she sits looking longingly at whatever he is chewing on waiting for her chance to steal it away (grass is always greener, I guess).

A Dog's Life

2009-10-02T21:35:00.000-07:00

Today I took Honeydew over to Bend (OR) to visit my family. My brother and his wife have 5 large, male dogs. I wasn't sure what to expect - having never been around Honeydew playing with other dogs (we didn't let her do that as a puppy because she was so dog distracted).

Honeydew hit it off with their newest edition - a big American Bulldog named Tony (see the pictures). She played and played and played with him. Chase, tug, wrestling. It was very cute. Needless to say, she snoozed the entire drive back to Portland.

I think she thinks being a 'normal dog' isn't half bad.

Home Again!

2009-09-29T17:04:00.000-07:00

We got the call today that Honeydew was being "career changed" - which means she won't be a Guide Dog for the Blind after-all. She did a great job, and made it through the various phases of training, but in the end it wasn't meant to be.

The pictures above are from our trip to get her today, including Glenn and I picking her up on the Guide Dogs campus, her sleeping in the car on the way home and checking out the house upon her return. She looks the same - still small and skinny, with long legs. She is very alert and definitely has more focus -- but is still the same goofy girl we knew before.

About a month before she was recalled, she began being nervous around unfamiliar men. We can't think of an incident that may have precipitated this behavior - it just came on gradually, and very inconsistently (e.g. sometimes she was just fine with unfamiliar men, other times she got anxious). It really only happened a few times - but was noticeable enough that we included it in our puppy write-up when we dropped her off for training. It seems that this behavior persisted and the professional trainers weren't able to get her past it.

So, we went to pick her up today - and to bring her home to be our beloved pet. Certainly there was always that small part of us that, on any given day, hoped that we would get the call that she wasn't going to be a Guide Dog - we missed her so much. So, this news is bitter-sweet. We are so very proud of her, and so thankful to the great trainers and staff that did everything they could to help Honeydew be successful.

Honeydew appears to be settling back into life in the "home" quite quickly. She has already made the rounds of the house (nose to the floor), greeted the cats and dug out all of her old chew toys. We have her outfitted with a new collar and a new bed, and tomorrow we will get her tags and license, etc.

Next - we need to find her a new "job". She is such a busy pup, that we need to find something to burn off that mental energy. Maybe agility, or something like that - although that just brings up visions of me tripping over my own feet trying to keep up with her.

It would appear that this is the end of her journey as a Guide Dog pup, and the beginning of her new adventures as an offical Crim Critter. It has been such a fun ride. We definitely plan to raise another Guide Dog puppy in the future - but for now, we will relish this time with The Dew back in our home.

The summary of why she was career changed is below:

SUMMARY: Honeydew is an affectionate, intelligent, alert and active female Yellow Labrador. She is aware of and interested in all that exists in her environment. Honeydew bonded quickly to her primary instructor and loved the learning process, especially when it involved the clicker. She enjoyed every Guidework learning challenge presented to her and met each one head on. However she did have multiple reactions to unfamiliar men (and a few women) particularly in the kennels but also intermittently when on routes. Extensive exposures using high value food, mentor dogs and mentor people were done with employees on campus and people on the street. She improved with these individuals, but there was no carryover to unfamiliar people.

Honeydew was slow to adjust to the kennel, due to the frequent reactions when people strange to her entered the building. Her adjustment improved with the addition of a roommate. However if her primary instructor was not present when a strange man entered the building, she would often run outside barking and could not be coaxed back in until the stranger left.

It is due to the continued reactions to men which are not conducive to the Guide Dog lifestyle that Honeydew is being Career Changed at this time. This reactive behavior is consistent with comments noted in her puppy raising history.

Thema Sitting

2009-09-22T19:37:00.000-07:00

We are puppy-sitting "Thema" for a couple of days. She is a very sweet pup - and looks so much like Honeydew. When Thema first joined our puppy club it was hard to tell them apart.

Turns out, Thema's mom was a black lab and her dad was a 'red' colored yellow lab -- just like Honeydew's parents were. Thema isn't as leggy and skinny as The Dew - but very similar otherwise.

Thema settled into our home almost immediately - and has made fast friends with the cats. Bodine is pretty fond of her (see the picture of them hanging out above) - she must remind him of his best buddy Honeydew too.

Phase Nine!

2009-09-18T08:47:00.000-07:00

Yay for The Dew. She keeps moving along through her training phases. Only one phase left...can you believe it?!

In Phase Nine, she is continuing to practice everything she has been learning (see earlier posts). She gets to do more relaxing residential routes with less difficult and more straight-forward work for confidence building. She is also doing advanced (more difficult) work that require higher level decision-making.

She is "almost Class Ready", which means that she is almost ready to get paired with her blind partner and begin training with them. In preparation for this, she is working with unfamiliar and novice handlers.

She is working with her instructors under a blindfold in several traffic situations. She is also still working on riding escalators, walking in sidewalkless areas, train/rail platforms, blocked paths, overhead obstacles and socialization.

Phase Ten, here we come!

Phase Eight!

2009-09-03T08:40:00.000-07:00

Honeydew is plugging right along. She is now is Phase Eight! In this phase she continues working on what she has been learning to do...but everything gets more advanced. She is particularly focusing on sidewalkless routes - for example, maintaining a travel line to the extreme left of the roadway (facing oncoming traffic), working around obstacles on the roadway and immediately returning to the left edge of the road.

She is also learning to avoid the drop off of subway and rail platforms and riding on the light rail (she is a pro at this!). She is also learning to ride on an escalator - acquiring a safe stance, exiting safely, etc. She is always doing a lot of work in malls and stores (slower pace, elevators, multiple stairways, floor colors/textures, patience in shopping situations and intensive food avoidance situations - like the food court).

I keep watching for her when I am downtown - but I haven't seen her out training yet. I bet she is super cute riding on a escalator! We are so proud of her. Two more phases to go Dew!

Dorena Sitting

2009-08-31T07:16:00.000-07:00

This weekend we "puppy sat" Dorena. Glenn - who always has to give everyone a nickname - is calling her "Heavy D". She is a great pup. Always amazes me how different the personalities are. She settled in right away with the other dogs and cats - although, she LOVES to try to get the cats to play with her. She is just sure those hisses and swipes are an invitation to play. She is going to work with me today - and we are going to ride the new section of the light rail train which drops off just a few blocks from my work. Very exciting!

One of Glenn's work friends said that he is pretty sure he saw Honeydew in downtown Portland training the other day. Oh, to see her in action - that would be a treat.

Above is a picture of Dorena. She has the most amazing "cat eyes", they literally glow almost a honey topaz color in the sun. The other picture is of Honeydew meeting Dorena when she was a new baby - all dressed up for Halloween.

Phase Seven!

2009-08-20T21:48:00.001-07:00

Oh my - The Dew is now in Phase Seven of her training. Only three more phases to go. I am totally blown away and excited. What a good girl! Who would of thought she would still be hanging in there.

She is currently working on obedience and distraction training in various environments and with new handlers. She is also doing advanced guidework training (yahoo!) in downtown urban areas - learning to negotiate difficult crossings, curb approach challenges and pedestrian islands.

I should start keeping an eye out for her when I am going to meetings downtown, maybe she will be out training. Of course, if I see her I can't let her see me - which would be sad - but boy it would be fun to hide behind a bush and watch her in action.

She is learning to keep her handler safe around traffic - even learning to back up when a vehicle gets too close. She is learning to make "emergency decisions" with traffic problems in order to keep her team safe. She is also learning how to inform her handler of objects that are totally blocking the travel path and then working out a route to go safely around them. She is also being trained to look up (above her head) for obstacles. Certainly don't want her walking her handler into a low hanging tree branch!

Keep up the good work Honeydew, we are so very proud of you!

Hunk a hunk a burnin' love!

2009-08-12T20:47:00.000-07:00

As some may know...I have always had a big weakness for firemen...and if they are in a big red ladder truck (the type with a driver in the front and the back), then I absolutely swoon. So embarrassing! So, tonight, I was very excited that puppy class was going to be held at a local fire station! Hubba hubba!

It ended up being a great experience for the pups - they blew the air horn and ran the sirens. They even had a guy (probably the poor rookie) get dressed out in all of the gear so the pups could meet him. They also introduced the dogs to a medical transport gurney. All in hopes that the dogs will have seen and heard this emergency equipment before if and when their blind partner needs assistance or is caught in a fire.

I could have stayed there all night...but Glenn finally dragged me back home.

In the pictures:

1) Puppies learning about fire engines and fire fighters.

2) Pups listening to the sirens. Click on this for a closer view - my favorite picture of the night. All the pups have that cocked head - "Hey, what's that noise" look. Of course, unlike normal dogs - they aren't allowed to vocalize in response to the sound.

3) Another pup intently listening to the siren sounds.

4) Dorena greeting the fully dressed fireman. Funny how excited the pups were to great him - even though his gear smelled strongly of smoke and his voice was strange because he had the oxygen mask on.

5) Dogs investigating the gurney. Several of them slobbered on it - and one tried to jump up on it to go for a ride.

Phase Five!

2009-08-12T20:31:00.000-07:00

Honeydew is now in Phase Five. Good for her! We are so proud of her. In this Phase, she is being tested for consistent responses to "Sit", "Down", "Heel", "Come" and "Stay." She is also exposed to heavy distractions (food, other dogs, toys) where she has to stay focused and respond to commands. This is the stuff that I think is likely the hardest for her - because she has always been so very interested in everything else that is going on around her, from other dogs to leaves blowing in the wind! She also has to refuse food when it is offered (e.g. someone trying to hand feed her a hot dog).

She is also now entering the formal harness training. This means she has full freedom to make decisions and some mistakes to normal guidework responses (e.g. stopping at streets, crossing streets in a straight line, moving forward at a constant pace, turning 90 degrees with command "left" or "right", etc.).

She also starts working with the instructor under a blindfold on urban/suburban street route (for distances of about 14 blocks). During these training exercises she has to understand the skills she needs to use to keep her handler safe, and she has to do obedience drills when distractions are present (e.g. a fun puppy across the street).

She does more challenging obstacle courses where she has to lead her handling through difficult obstacles, requiring her to develop problem solving skills and Intelligent Disobedience (which means, refusing to follow a command like "forward" if it isn't safe to do so). Amazing.

She also gets a lot more love and attention. They focus on providing extra relaxing time for the dogs during this progressively more stressful learning stage of formal guide dog training. She gets to play with other dogs, get groomed, play with her handlers and technicians, spend time hanging out at the desks of staff and relaxing walks through the gorgeous and forested campus. Good times Dew, good times!

We are thrilled that she is, technically, half-way to the finish line. BUT - so much can happen between now and Phase Ten, and each phase from here gets progressively more and more difficult to master. Good luck little miss Honeydew - we are all pulling for you!

Phase Three!

2009-07-24T07:45:00.000-07:00

Well, Ms. Honeydew has made it to Phase Three (of Ten) in her training. Yahoo!

What happens in Phase Three?

Obedience and distraction training. In addition to learning to be spot on with 'sit', 'down' and 'stay'...she is learning to 'heel' and to put herself in a 'heel' position while the handler is moving (this is so that the dog always goes to the right spot and faces the right direction so the dog doesn't disorient the blind handler).
Getting used to wearing and working in the harness (I bet she looks so cute in the harness!).
"Pattern Training" - which means using very positive training that gets the dog used to doing guide work mechanics, but without making errors or corrections. All of the training is very upbeat and positive. Through this, she will start learning to stop at streets (regardless of curb type), clearing the handler on all sides (e.g. making sure the handler walks around/past obstacles to the side or overhead), moving forward at a consistent pace, etc.
Obstacle course practice (eventually, she will have to lead a blindfolded instructor through the course).
Learning to jump in/out of the transport van crates, riding comfortably in the crates.
Learning to avoid or refuse food on the ground or offered by others.
And, of course, lots of playing, socializing and going for walks with the handlers.

Futura

2009-07-19T13:24:00.001-07:00

We are puppy-sitting "Futura" for about a week. She is a sweet ~8 month old Guide Dog puppy (the first photo above is from when we first met Futura, when she was 8 weeks old...so cute!).

Futura is very calm - such a departure from Ms. Honeydew. She took to Glenn immediately - wants to be next to him all the time. Apparently, I'll do in a pinch...but Glenn is the cat's meow. She has met Ruben (the evil black cat - see the picture above) and did great with him. I believe this is the first time she has stayed at a place with cats. Later today we will introduce her to the other cats and the dogs. She will go to work with us this week. It is nice having a pup in the house again.

Phase One

2009-07-17T07:43:00.000-07:00

Every couple of weeks we get a "Phase Report" from Guide Dogs that lists all of the dogs that are currently in formal training (it is about 10 pages long with about 160 dogs on it!!). Yesterday we got the first one with Ms. Honeydew listed. She is in Phase One - which means that she is getting checked out by the vets, going for walks, getting used to kennel life, etc. She gets to go on campus walks and have play sessions with the instructor assistants, along with daily grooming. Sort of like being on vacation, if you ask me.

I am working on hunting down the names of Honeydew's litter mates so that I can track their progress as well. There is one named Harvard, he too is Phase One...and another named Hayward in Phase 5. I am pretty sure they are her brothers. We have met two other brothers - Hector and Heath. I don't see them on the list. Keep your fingers crossed that she makes it through Phase Two - which is where they do "dog distractions", oh my. That is going to be so hard for her.

Moving On

2009-07-15T20:48:00.000-07:00

Tonight was our first puppy club meeting without The Dew - we met in a local park. A great place to gather on such a beautiful summer day.

It wasn't as hard as I thought, being at the meeting without Honeydew. It helped to be surrounded by the other pups and supportive raisers. Apparently, the invite to the meeting only went out to the yellow labs, not the black labs (see picture above)! The black labs must have been holding their own meeting in another park.

Another puppy from our club, Louise, was matched with her blind partner today. So exciting! A lot can change while she is in this last phase of training - we will keep our fingers crossed for her. Louise was only about 9 weeks old when we started going to puppy club meetings - and I was pretty sure she was the cutest puppy I had ever seen in my life! So sweet.

No word yet on how Ms. Honeydew is settling in - but she is a spitfire and I am sure she is giving the Guide Dogs staff a run for their money. Next week we will be watching a Guide Dog puppy named Futura (I think she is about 6 months old) - so we will get our puppy fix soon. Until then, our other dogs (Emma and Tully) and 2 of the 3 cats (one of them is pure evil) are getting lots of extra love and attention.

Good Luck Dew!

2009-07-12T15:47:00.000-07:00

Honeydew is at her new home now. We dropped her off earlier this morning. It was easier than I expected, mostly because Honeydew was so happy and excited to be there. When we first walked in the door, Honeydew was immediately greeted by a huge white/brown cat named "Chester." Chester came right up and started rubbing up against Honeydew - and Honeydew gave Chester ear kisses (one of her favorite things to do with our cat Bodine). So many new smells, and dogs and toys. She was so elated that every muscle was tensed - causing her toenails to make scratching noises on the concrete as she literally vibrated with excitement.

We got her settled in her new kennel, where she ran around in excited circles smelling all sorts of wonderful things. She has lots of puppy friends in the other kennels. This week the vets will do physical exams to make sure she is healthy - and if all goes well, she will get a kennel buddy (a male) as a roommate. Just like the dorms at college (well, except my dorms were never co-ed). They brought her a couple of bones/toys...and she was so excited that she chased and tossed them all over her kennel. As you can see from the picture above...they have no shortage of toys to play with (pic is of various toys/bones stacked on a table)!

Of course, I cried in the parking lot afterward....excited for her, but sad for us. Her absence will certainly leave a big hole in our family. Goodbye and good luck, little miss Honeydew...until we meet again.

An End, and A Beginning

2009-07-11T20:05:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow is the big day...in about 12-hours Honeydew will be off on the next phase of her journey. Glenn and I are actually really excited for Honeydew, and we know she is going to have a blast. If she is meant to be a Guide Dog, then so it will be - and we will be so proud.

We spent the afternoon out at the Guide Dogs campus. We attended a ceremony where three dogs from our puppy club graduated with their new blind partners. The pictures from the ceremony didn't turn out very good (horrible lighting), but pictured, from the left...Leo (black lab male, who loved to eat everything...tissues, his leash, his collar), Clea (yellow lab female, she was a bumble-bee for halloween), and Cruz (yellow lab male, who was darn near perfect because his raiser is our puppy club leader). There were a total of six blind people from all over graduating -- California, Florida, Texas, Connecticut and even British Columbia.

After the ceremony, Glenn and I (and Honeydew) took a tour of the campus. While we had been out there several times, we have never gone for a formal tour. I think it was good for Honeydew to get the lay of the land before it becomes her new home tomorrow. My favorite part of the tour was walking past the kennels...and seeing little yellow and black lab heads pop up above the kennel walls to see who was walking by. Up, down, up, down. It looked like that "whac-a-mole" game with random puppy heads popping up and down all over the place.

In the second picture (above) is Clea's puppy raisers, Clea and her new blind partner - getting to know each other. It is up to the blind person if they choose to keep in contact with the puppy raisers. Some do. Some don't. Regardless, there is nothing but appreciation and gratitude on the part of the blind person toward the raisers, the trainers and all of the other volunteers and donors.

The last picture is of "Winslow". He is the newest addition to our puppy club. One nice thing about doing this - while you have to give them back when they get older...there is always an adorable little puppy waiting in the wings to give it a go.

So Long, Farewell....

2009-07-08T21:12:00.001-07:00

Well, this has been a week of bitter-sweet goodbyes for Honeydew. She has been making the rounds at both my work, as well as Glenn's. And, tonight was Honeydew's last puppy club class. She got to say goodbye to the trainers and her other guide dog puppy friends (which apparently requires the smelling of each other's butts). It was nice to talk to some of the more seasoned puppy raisers - to get their support and words of advice about what things will be like to drop her off on Sunday and wait anxiously for news of how she is doing.

Tonight's class was held at the child care center (long-term, 24 hour care) at a local hospital. Staff brought several of the children down - which was great for the kids and the dogs (I couldn't take any pictures though). Many of the kids were so visibly excited to see the dogs prancing around the room. One boy would almost float out of his wheelchair he was vibrating with so much excitement. It was great for the dogs to hear the vocalizations of some of the kids - and to be near the various sizes and styles of wheelchairs, and even wheeled beds. It was nice to hold the puppy class a location that served our needs, but also made the day for these kids and the hospital staff. Good times all around - and a nice way to finish off Honeydew's time with the puppy club.

A Big Girl Now!

2009-07-03T08:15:00.001-07:00

Well, it's official. Honeydew goes "off to college" (recalled to Guide Dogs for formal training) on July 12. Today Honeydew and I are headed over to Bend so that she can give kisses and say farewell to all of her family in Bend, especially her 'grandma'.

We will drop her off around 10AM on the 12th. They give you a lot of time to say goodbye, and even let you help get her new kennel set up, hangout with her in the new kennel, meet the staff that will be taking care of her, etc. It is nice that they try to make it a positive experience, rather than just dropping her off at a door.

While I am certainly sad to be giving her back - I am also terribly excited for Honeydew. This is going to be such a fun adventure for her. She is a very busy dog - always interested in new people, places and experiences. So, going into the kennels with other pups (geesh, her head is going to explode she will be so excited) and learning new skills will be very fulfilling for her.

That same weekend (July 11) 3 dogs from our puppy club that have made it through the program and are now matched/training with their new blind partners will be graduating! We will definitely attend the graduation - not only because we know the dogs and want to support their raisers, but because it will be great reinforcement that giving Honeydew back the next day is worth it. Nothing more inspiring that seeing a blind person head off into the world with their new guide dog. Absolutely, positively, worth the sacrifice on my part.

Thought I would include some of Honeydew's baby pics...so amazing to remember how little and wiggly she used to be!

Portland Walking Tour

2009-06-28T13:53:00.001-07:00

Today our puppy club did a walking tour of downtown Portland (with a guide). It was amazing...to think that I have lived in Portland for so long, yet learned and saw so many new things. I realized that I tend to walk past amazing old building and artwork without even noticing it!

All of the puppies did a great job - it was a long and hot adventure. We walked all over town, into some old hotels, down along the river, on the floating walk-way, etc. We were quite the sight - especially with 14 dogs touring through several fancy-pants hotels in downtown Portland, like the new (and very cool) The Nines, which is in a restored 100 year old building. The tour took over 3 hours - we were all exhausted by the time it was over.

In the photos: Walking through Pioneer Square (Portland's "Living Room"); Taking a break along the waterfront; Honeydew watching the geese float by in the river; Taking another break near some funky artwork that makes noise; Walking across the Steel Bridge - lots of bikes and runners, so we had to hug the rail.

Sunday Parkways

2009-06-21T16:04:00.000-07:00

We had a great outing today! The City of Portland put on an event called "Sunday Parkways", where they close about 8 miles of Portland's roads to cars...so you can bike/walk/skate from neighborhood park to neighborhood park. This event has been held in our neighborhood for two years now - lucky for us! Glenn and I biked the entire route, then we went back and got Honeydew, and walked her around about 5 miles of the route. Needless to say, she is pooped! It was a great experience for her...lots of bikes wizzing past her from behind, strange sights and sounds...and LOTS of other dogs for Honeydew to work on being less distracted around. I think we all need a nap now!

Off to College!

2009-06-21T16:01:00.000-07:00

We haven't gotten the official letter yet, but it sounds like Honeydew will be recalled back to Guide Dogs for the Blind around July 10. She will then enter the formal Guide Dog training program...10 levels/phases of training. If she makes it through all 10, then she will get paired up with a blind partner. Some days I think she will make it all the way through the program...other days I am not so sure (she is sooooo dog distracted). But, ya never know. We will get regular (about weekly) emails that will tell us what "phase" of training she is in (1 - 10), but that is about it. I have a little description of each phase, so I will post that as she enters those phases. In the meantime, we will relish our remaining weeks with her!

Murder and Earthquakes, Oh My!

2009-06-17T21:27:00.001-07:00

Tonight may have been Honeydew's last puppy social outing - if she gets recalled in July. It was sort of sad because of that, but we had a great time. Our friend Chris is in town for a few days, so we made him go with us. The outing included a trip to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI), followed by a walk along the river.

Photo 1: Honeydew checking out the "Crime Scene Investigation" (CSI) exhibit, which included stories and characters from the TV show (CSI Las Vegas). This was one of the crime scenes that you then had to process through the lab like they do on the show. Glenn says that he and Chris solved the murder...but I have no proof.

Photo 2: Chris, me and Honeydew in the "earthquake simulator"...Honeydew didn't seem to mind the shaking and noises it made. I think we went for the 6.8 magnitude quake. Chris certainly made the most of the experience.

Photo 3: Found a cartoon of Honeydew...although, she could have cared less about it. "Just take the picture already mom, geesh."

Photo 4: A group photo of our puppy club along the river walk. Click on the photo to see a bigger image.

Photo 5: Honeydew and I practicing walking on the grated walkway along the river. You could see through the grate to the ground about 10-15 feet below - she wasn't afraid at all. There is a huge cruise ship docked in downtown - such a strange site!

Puppy-Sitting Adventures

2009-06-13T19:42:00.000-07:00

This week was pretty crazy. We had to travel to Texas on short notice for a funeral - which meant that Honeydew had to go and stay with a puppy-sitter. Luckily - a very wonderful family that had been raising a guide dog puppy that was career changed offered to help us out. We are very appreciative of their kindness! And, Honeydew had a great time. Here is an email they sent us while we were in Texas, along with a picture of Honeydew and Cole (their career change pup, who we have puppy-sat before, Cole is a very sweet and calm puppy).

"So far the hardest thing is calling each dog by their correct name....
Whats that Cole, yes I know Honeydew has messed up her side of the towel.
No Honeydew, Cole is not on your side, yes I see that she is touching you.
Cole just because you were here first doesn't mean you always get the first treat, Honeydew is your guest.
Ok you two stop it now, don't do that, nope, hey I said stop, Cole sit, I mean Honeydew, aaaggh!!!

If it's not my own kids its now the two darn dogs. That's it!~, you two, go to your kennels......"

Duck Poop! Yahoo!

2009-06-03T21:24:00.000-07:00

Tonight we went to the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden for Honeydew's puppy class outing. It was really hot today - so a walk through this beautiful park was great fun. In addition to delightful walking paths and greenery (lots of Rhodies in bloom, to say the least), there was a huge lagoon with tons of ducks and geese. The Dew loved the ducks -- but even more than that, she was absolutely giddy about the, well, duck poop! Her nose would go down, I would pop it back up...her nose would go down, I would pop it back up. It looked like I had a yo-yo in my hand or something. Overall, she did really well on the outing, even when we came around other dogs (she got excited, but not embarrassingly so). She is also much improved with walking on a loose leash (although, she occasionally forgets and starts to pull again).

Evaluation Day

2009-05-24T07:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Honeydew had an evaluation by the Guide Dogs staff. We have a new lead trainer at Guide Dogs and she hasn't meet our puppy club dogs yet, so this was a chance for her to get to know us and the club pups. Of course, Honeydew didn't study for the big test (she was too busy talking on the phone to her friends), but she did a great job anyhow!

We met with the new lead trainer, she asked us a lot of questions about Honeydew - how she reacts to noises, does she vocalize in her kennel, etc. We then went out for a walk through a farmers market up the street. She gave us a lot of pointers and some new training techniques to help Honeydew with the two things that she struggles the most with....pulling on the leash when walking, and being VERY distracted by other puppies along the way.

Now, we are supposed to give her food rewards for doing what we want (walking on a loose leash and/or being indifferent to other dogs). We do what is called "marking" - which means that when she is doing the behavior we want, we say the word "nice" - and then give her a kibble. She likes that! It is very similar to using a clicker to mark the good behavior. We used this technique before to train her to "go to bed", so this is an extension of that. The impact was noticeable almost immediately. So - now we get to be "one of those people" that walk around with a treat bag hanging off their hip. Ugh!

The exciting news though, is that Honeydew doesn't have to go back for formal training in June!! So, it looks like it will probably be July now. We are very excited about that! Not only do we have more time with her - but we also have more time to try to get her over these two issues (leash pulling and dog distraction) so that she has a better chance of being successful when she enters the training program at Guide Dogs.

The pictures are of our day at the evaluation. First one is of Honeydew and I meeting with the lead trainer (called a "Community Field Representative"). Second is of Honeydew...she REALLY likes this new training approach of getting kibble for being good. She has never paid so much attention to me! Third is of Honeydew working with the lead trainer (she got high marks!). Lastly, Honeydew totally tanked out sleeping on her Aunt Deb's leg in the car. It was a very exhausting day.

Only Freakies Ride the Bus

2009-05-20T20:48:00.000-07:00

"Only freakies ride the bus" is one of Glenn's favorite excuses for why he refuses to ride on the public bus but with me! But Honeydew and I are pros at bus riding, doing it multiple times every work day.

This month Glenn and I had to plan the puppy club "social" - and since we know folks that work for our transit company (Trimet), we were able to make arrangements for the group of pups to work on the buses at the garage where they park.

It ended up being a great experience where we could practice boarding and deboarding the bus, being exposed to the various noises (beeps, rumbles, air brake puffs), seeing the ramps go up and down, etc. There were about 17 pups there, as another puppy club came to join us as well. It was fun. For some of the dogs, it was their first time on the bus.

So, now, only freakies and puppies ride the bus. In the future, maybe I should try kibble rewards to get Glenn on the bus!

Puppy Trade!

2009-05-17T17:02:00.001-07:00

Honeydew is off on exciting adventures! She is staying with another puppy raising family for a few days, while their puppy, Fjord, is staying with us. Fjord is a very sweet black lab male. He is about 10-months old - and is considerably larger than Honeydew. Tully (dog) and Bodine (cat) have taken to him quite quickly. The rest of the Crim Critters aren't too sure yet. Honeydew will have a fun few days. They have a large family with kids and dogs and rescue kittens (4 weeks old!) - she was going to go to church with them this morning, and will likely go to school with the daughter. Fun times!

Green Thumbs...err...Paws?

2009-05-16T13:56:00.001-07:00

Today the puppy club held a plant sale to raise funds. It was a great success! The woman who let us use her yard to hold the sale opened her garden to the public - it was one of those amazing "transported to a quiet oasis" type gardens with a big pond/waterfall, winding paths, etc. Some artists had set up their artwork around the garden. Lots of folks just stopped by to meet the pups (which were stationed throughout the gardens and plant sale areas), including some of Honeydews friends from work. One of the highlights...meeting a couple that used to have a dog named "Honeydew" also. Small world! It was a great event. But now, we all need a nap!

Dew the Builder

2009-05-10T16:30:00.000-07:00

Today, Honeydew supervised the building of two raised garden beds for the backyard. I have been inspired to see how many of my neighbors are converting their front yards and median strips into vegetable beds...I just had to get some of my own! Honeydew loved the sheets of weed blocker material and insisted on sleeping on it (apparently, she can supervise with her eyes closed...). She seemed to think we were building her a couple of big dog beds in the backyard. Now we just need to order dirt and get the veggies planted! Ought to be interesting to see what Honeydew makes of that! I am sure she will be more than happy to play in the dirt.

Earning Kibble

2009-05-07T07:34:00.000-07:00

Honeydew and I in our "work habitat." You can see her kennel and dog bowl, and her bed under my desk. What you don't see is the pile of dog toys and play jugs that keep her entertained. She does a great job of protecting my ankles during the work day, and helping Kyle (my office-mate) format his Word documents - she earns every penny (err...I mean kibble)!

Good Kitty, Bad Kitty

2009-05-06T20:55:00.000-07:00

Today was a crazy day. To start things off, we had a bit of drama this morning. It was time for Honeydew to get her heart worm medication, which comes in the form of a chewable cube of something that smells and tastes wonderful (well, at least that is what Honeydew says). While she is distracted with eating that, I usually apply the flea treatment (a liquid) between her shoulder blades. I set the bowl with the heart worm medication and a few kibbles on the floor in front of Honeydew and told her to wait -- she knows she isn't allowed to eat until she is told to do so. Well, while I had my back turned to prep the flea medicine...our evil, sneaky, rotten black cat ("Ruben") snuck into the kitchen, stole the heart worm medication from her bowl, bolted into the living room and had swallowed the thing whole before I could get to him (which is impressive, because the little bugger doesn't even have any teeth!). Ughh. So, we spent the next half hour calling the vet and searching "Google" to try to figure out if the cat was going to die from eating medication meant for a dog that weighs "51 to 100 pounds". All this before even getting out the door to go to work! It turns out, the cat will live. Well, provided we choose to let him.

Tonight at puppy class we had a surprise baby shower for one of the members, also named Michelle. Honeydew absolutely LOVES Michelle and her husband Thor -- they have watched Honeydew several times in the past when we have gone out of town. She is very fond of them - and likely a bit jealous that their new arrival will be of the two-legged, furless variety.

The pictures are of...Honeydew and Futura (a young pup) commiserating about what a boring meeting it is. The second photo is of a VERY brave cat. There is a young girl in the puppy club that rescues feral kittens, often just days old, and raises them to be adopted as pets...and this is one of the cats she rescued and that our group leader adopted that comes to class to help socialize the dogs. Very brave kitty. Maybe this girl could take our evil bad cat and make him good? Third picture of Michelle opening her baby shower gifts from the puppies. And lastly, a group shot...which is about as best we can do in a gym with bad lighting.

Dancing Through the Tulips

2009-05-01T20:29:00.001-07:00

Today we took a trip South of Portland to attend the Tulip Festival. It was a fun outing. Honeydew enjoyed herself, although all she really wanted to do was smell the mud puddles (something yummy was in there) and fall asleep on the cool damp soil between the rows of tulips. What a nut. All of the young kids where getting their pictures taken in wooden shoes...but Honeydew would have none of it. But, we got some fun pictures of her in the fields at any rate. A great day.

Bad, Bad Dog!

2009-04-30T20:00:00.000-07:00

Honeydew's in trouble!! Bad dog. Very bad dog.

She stayed at home by herself yesterday, because both Glenn and I had meetings that prevented us from taking her to work with us. Glenn came home in the middle of the day to check on her, and everything was fine. But...when he got home from work, he discovered that she had shredded one of his work dress shirts. To make matters worse, it was his second most favorite work shirt. Bad dog! She has really never done anything like this before.

Of course, just the day before Glenn was given a "Most Valuable Player" award/certificate from a lady he works with for being the best dressed guy in his department. He was wearing the shirt Honeydew destroyed on the day he got this award...an award he had laminated so it could be preserved forever...and on display for all to see as he strutted his stuff around the office. I think maybe Honeydew was just trying to keep him humble. It's a hard job, but someone has to do it.

So, now, Honeydew won't be allowed to be alone in the house for long periods of time. We will go back to giving her this privilege slowly. Starting with only being alone in the kitchen (blocked off with doors and gates) where she can't get to anything to destroy. The trainer also recommended getting a 'special toy' that she is allowed to have during those times when she is expected to be good. Sort of a treat to make being alone less stressful. In the end, I think we assumed she was ready to be left alone for longer than she could tolerate. Time to dial it back and set her up for success instead of failure. I guess, this weekend, we will have to go get Glenn some new duds so he can keep up his reputation as a fashion trend setter!

BFFs

2009-04-24T14:27:00.001-07:00

Awww...nothing like snoozing in the sun with a buddy. Honeydew and her BFF Bodine, the kitty.

Friday Adventuring

2009-04-24T14:11:00.001-07:00

It has been a crazy few weeks, so I took today off from work to relax. Honeydew and I went on an adventure downtown - with the primary destination being the ceramics show. She did a great job weaving through the crowds of people. The best part was the look on everyone's faces when we entered the part of the show where all of the glass work was (fused and blown glass art) - clearly they were thinking "here comes a dog in a room full of breakable glass at nose level". But, Honeydew was a champ and didn't break anything. If anything, they honestly should have been more worried about me. We also came upon an international fencing competition -- imagine a huge room full of hundreds of kids in fencing attire, whacking each other with swords (or "epees", isn't that what they are called?). She was very confused by it all, but didn't shy away from the sudden movements and buzzers, and kids wearing big mesh masks on their heads. The pictures are from our trek home. We stopped to enjoy the sun in the grass - she promptly fell asleep. We rode the train home - she fell asleep on that too. Apparently, keeping me from breaking clay pots and glass sculptures took a lot out of her!

Graduation

2009-04-18T16:36:00.000-07:00

Today we attended a graduation ceremony for Guide Dogs. It was a great experience. 6 dogs, with their new blind partners, graduated. This was a class that went through a new trial program they are doing -- usually, there are 12 students and it takes 4 weeks, with 4 students per instructor. They have tried this new system of 6 students, 2 weeks, 2 students per instructor. They weren't sure how it would go - but it turns out that, at least with this group, it was very successful.

At the graduation, the puppy raisers (standing behind the seated graduates in the photo) walk the dog across the stage and present the dog to the blind partner (although, the blind partner had already been working with and bonding with the dog for several weeks). The blind graduate talks, the puppy raisers talk, etc. All very sweet and emotional.

It is amazing to see how firmly bonded the dogs and their new blind partners are. You can see that they have started to become a true team - even in just such a short time together. Several of the blind graduates talked about how much they trusted their dog already -- truly, trusting the dog with their lives. They were from all over the US and Canada. Everyone from a highschool student about to go to college, a kindergarten teacher, and a competitive swimmer. What adventures these dogs are about to embark upon!

Of course, we are nearing the time when Honeydew will head back to campus for her training. I think today's adventure was a good way for us all to start getting in the right frame of mind for the next step in her journey. As we walked around the campus, I could imagine her doing the same walk with her trainers, and eventually (knock on wood) her new blind partner.

Guide Dogs recently put out a new video - which I think is a great summary of the amazing things these dogs can do as part of a team with their blind partner (click link above). The ladies in the video at about 3:00 minutes in have the BEST job...they volunteer to come and handle the baby puppies each day, so that they get used to having their feet, ears and mouths touched from day one. They also brush the puppy's teeth. How cool! But, I'm a sucker for baby puppy breath.

Spring is here!

2009-04-18T16:34:00.000-07:00

Some cute pictures of The Dew at the Guide Dogs campus. We went for a hike around the campus (Boring, Oregon) with Sierra, one of the new pups in our club. This was Sierra's first big walk - very exciting!

The "Observation Room"

2009-04-18T16:15:00.001-07:00

Today we went out to the Guide Dogs campus (in Boring, OR) so they could evaluate Honeydew in the "Observation Room". This was basically a room set up like a living room - complete with a couch, table, TV, kitchen counter, etc. However, it was a VERY messy room, with all sorts of "appropriate" and "inappropriate" toys and materials laying all around. For example, garbage cans full of tissues and yummy smelling food. Socks, shoes, stuffed animals, etc. We then all watched Honeydew in this room through a one-way mirror (we could see her, she couldn't see us). It was fascinating to watch what she did when she thought she was alone. At first, she was really excited and ran around the room picking up toys and bones, bringing them to the dog bed and chewing on them.

Eventually, however, the novelty wore off and she suddenly realized she was in a strange room and didn't know where we had gone. At that point she got a little stressed out and paced the room, whimpering now and then - showing no interest in the toys. When she would sit quietly, I would go back into the room and reward her for calming herself down. She would immediately pick up a toy to show off for me...and as soon as I walked back out of the room she would spit the toy out. Very funny.

A few things surprised us -- she got on the couch (ack!), she put her head in the garbage once (until the trainer lady banged on the door and told her not to...at which point she gave the garbage can a wide berth in the future). We were impressed that even when the trainer put a platter of food on the floor (Cheetos mixed with dog kibble - now that's Party Mix!), Honeydew smelled it, but seemed to understand that it wasn't ok for her to eat it without being told to do so. She left it alone, even when she was alone in the room. How many dogs would do that? All in all, the trainers said that she did a good job, and that they were particularly impressed that for being such high energy dog she calmed herself down when she got stressed...and she didn't go after anything inappropriate (toilet paper, balls, stuffed toys, socks). YAY! Good job Honeydew!

Grocery Adventure

2009-04-08T22:05:00.000-07:00

Tonight at puppy class we did an outing to the neighborhood grocery store. It was fun being in a train of puppies out for a walk. We had to climb the back steps of the store - which was very exciting for Honeydew because the garbage compactor was located below...and it smelled WONDERFUL (she thought). We then had to take a whirl through the grocery store. Honeydew is a pro at this...she has out-grown her desire to smell everything on the shelves. There was a wild rumor of "spilled coffee beans on aisle 2", (a good test to see if she would try to eat stuff off the floor) but when we arrived they were gone. Honeydew got off easy.

Letter of Thanks

2009-04-08T21:48:00.000-07:00

Below is the text from a recent Letter to the Editor of our local paper (The Oregonian). I don't know if it will be published (I don't read the paper), but I thought you might enjoy reading it here. Bryson, the Guide Dog in the letter, was actually raised in our Puppy Club. Go Team!

As we get closer to the time when our dear little Honeydew heads off to puppy training "college", it is a nice reminder that we are doing this for the right reasons.

April 7, 2009

Terrence L. Blosser, Pataskala, OH

Letter to the Editor The Oregonian

To Whom It May Concern:

As a recent Guide Dog for the Blind graduate I want to take a moment and share a reflection of my experience with all of you.

I was accepted for the Guide Dog for the Blind program. I arrived in Portland on March 9^th, 2009. From there, I went to the Guide Dog for the Blind campus in Boring. I stayed there until graduation and flew home on April 5^th, 2009.

I was matched up with my new guide dog, Bryson, a yellow Labrador Retriever. He and I trained, as a team, throughout parts of downtown Gresham, the suburbs of Gresham, downtown Portland, the suburbs of Fairview, at the Clackamas Town Center Mall as well as a few other sites.

I could not have asked for a better environment for training. All of the people that we encountered were absolutely wonderful. They were very understanding and compassionate people. I truly feel that we could not have asked for a better place to receive training.

While there, it became very obvious to me that the people there also are very proud and supportive of Guide Dog for the Blind (GDB). Many volunteer at the GDB campus, many are puppy raisers and many make financial contributions to Guide Dog for the Blind. I was truly humbled to learn all of the generosity exhibited by the Oregonian people.

At my graduation, a young girl talked about raising money for GDB by donating all of the proceeds from her lemonade stand. A Brownie troop raised funds from their Girl Scout cookie sale. A Girl Scout troop also raised money for the program.

In closing, I say: To all of the people and merchants in Gresham, Portland and the surrounding areas, I want to say “Thank You” for being understanding, compassionate and warm towards us Guide Dog for the Blind students. Words alone cannot express gratitude that I feel. I will always remember my stay there with fondness and appreciation of the people of Oregon.

To all of the volunteers, staff, instructors at Guide Dog for the Blind, I thank you all for a pleasant experience. Everyone was understanding and very professional. Bryson and I have bonded very well. I look forward to a nice journey with Bryson at my side.

If anyone is interested in helping this wonderful organization, please go to their website; www.guidedogs.com

Regards,

Terrence L. Blosser

Get Well Grandma!

2009-04-04T09:07:00.000-07:00

This week, Honeydew had the difficult job of supervising Glenn while I was out of town (I was at my parent's house in Bend while my mom had knee surgery). They even had to go to puppy class without me! (which I hear involved "role playing", one of Glenn's most favorite activities! Haha, not.) It appears Honeydew did a good job, as all of the critters, including Glenn, were happy and healthy upon my return. I sure did miss them.

Honeydew had an exciting adventure while I was away - she went to the open house for a new Guide Dogs for the Blind office located in downtown Portland. Honeydew went with another member of our puppy club. The event was very crowded and there were a lot of other guide dog puppies there. It sounds like she had a blast and was relatively well behaved. Whew. Always stressful when someone else takes her...wondering if they are going to think "my goodness, your dog is completely out of control." Glenn said Honeydew came home, ate dinner, and then immediately passed out on her bed for the rest of the night.

Honeydew hopes her Grandma to feels better soon...and thanks her for the juice bottle, she is enjoying it immensely.

Lastly, you might enjoy this adorable video of a very sleepy Guide Dog puppy!

Puppy Love....

2009-03-27T20:47:00.000-07:00

Honeydew's best friend is Bodine, one of our cats. The two of them hang out together every night, often following each other around the house in endless circles. Honeydew loves to give him kisses on his head, and Bodine likes to weave between her legs. True BFFs. Of course, every now again Bodine decides that he has had enough and the claws come out...but Honeydew is pretty good at evasive maneuvers (as you can see in the last picture).

Spring has Sprung!

2009-03-27T20:39:00.000-07:00

We got in trouble with Grandma for not posting Honeydew update for over a week...so I snagged this picture of her in the back yard by the plum tree that started to bloom today.

Birthday Girl!

2009-03-18T19:03:00.000-07:00

Honeydew turned 1 year old today! I can't believe how quickly the time has gone.

In celebration, Honeydew brought cupcakes to share with her friends at work (she did the sprinkles herself). Lots of folks came through to wish her a happy day - lots of wiggles, tail wags and belly rubs! She is currently passed out on her bed - an exhausting day apparently.

Pictures of Honeydew and her birthday cupcakes...and hanging out chewing on a bone at work.

St. Paddy Dew!

2009-03-15T12:28:00.000-07:00

Today our puppy-raising club marched in a neighborhood St. Patrick's Day parade. It was a great little neighborhood event. It has been pouring rain all day yesterday and this morning, so we were dreading the outing. Apparently, they have held this parade for the past 19 years, and it has never rained. Amazingly, blue sky and sun came out while we walked...only to start pouring rain again afterwards.

Honeydew did fairly well during the parade, but there were a lot of dogs (both in the parade, and as spectators) so she was very geeked up and excited the whole time. Her head was swiveling so fast from side to side to look at all of the pups that I thought it was going to just spin off her neck!

The photos are of the festivities.

1) Honeydew looks particularly pitiful in her festive hat.

2) Glenn helped carry the club banner.

3) A group of Irish Wolfhounds (I have always wanted one of those) was ahead of us. There was another large group of Greyhounds. At one point all of the dogs in both of these groups started howling...it was hysterical. Of course, the Guide Dog pups aren't allowed to vocalize, so they just stood there looking at these other loud dogs like they were nuts.

4) A picture of Honeydew's parade route view.

5) Honeydew was so pathetic looking in the hat that I had to wear it instead. Sucker! Glenn refused to wear it.

Hundvalp Honung...

2009-03-04T21:44:00.000-08:00

...means "Puppy Honeydew" in Swedish (or at least that is what I learned on the Google). :)

Tonight our puppy club social event was a trip to IKEA. We had to wander through the store to discover answers to hidden questions (like how to say "berry" in Swedish, etc.). It was a great place to visit with the pups because they have so many little rooms set up that it was like walking the dogs into 15 different homes (bedrooms, kitchens, bathrooms, etc.).

Honeydew was supposed to go home from IKEA with another family, and their dog "Leo" was going to come with us for a few days. We do these puppy trades every so often so the dogs learn to behave with new people and get different experiences.

3 of the pups in our club, including Leo, were supposed to go back to the Guide Dogs campus to begin formal training on the 20th of this month, but tonight Leo's mom learned that he needs to go back this Sunday instead (they had a spot open up at the last moment). So, we decided not to do the swap so that Leo's mom can spend these last few days with him. Honeydew is stuck with us for now, the poor girl.

Honeydew is going to be 1 year old soon (March 18)! Tonight we got the a-okay to allow her to sleep on a dog bed on the floor by our bed. The Dew REALLY wants to sleep on a bed instead of her kennel. She often runs downstairs to get into one of the dog beds when she knows it is time to turn in for the night - and then gives us this pathetic "Pleeeease can I sleep here? look at what a good girl I am." So, to celebrate this new development we went and got her a new dog bed on our way home from IKEA. Tonight she gets to sleep in the big girl bed...because, as much as we hate to admit it...she is getting to be a big girl now.

Pictures are from our tour through IKEA.

Sweet Petunia

2009-02-23T07:29:00.000-08:00

I am excited to report that "Petunia" has successfully made it through the 10 phases of formal guide dog training...the last step before being matched with a blind partner.

Petunia, as some may recall, was the sweet black lab pup Glenn and I had the pleasure of "practicing with" before Honeydew arrived. She was about the same age that The Dew is now at the time. She was amazing, and really helped us understand what life would be life with a guide dog pup at our side. That first trip to the grocery store with her was one of the most stressful things I have ever done -- Petunia was a champ, I was a complete bundle of nerves.

Of course, getting to this point doesn't guarantee anything. She could still be career changed at any point (there was another pup from our club that got this far, but was then let go because she was too distracted with cats!). Getting to level 10 is a fine accomplishment, and we are proud to have spent a few days with Ms. Petunia. She certainly set the bar high for Honeydew.

The pictures are of Petunia when she was staying with us for a few days.

A Day in the Life - Article

2009-02-20T10:13:00.000-08:00

A recent newsletter from Guide Dogs for the Blind has a little description of what life is like for the pups when they go back for the formal guide work training (leading a blind partner, working in a harness, etc.). If you are interested in what life will be like for Honeydew (knock on wood!), then you might enjoy the article. You should be able to open it by clicking on the "newsletter" link above.

Mall Rats

2009-02-18T21:20:00.000-08:00

Tonight we had the puppy club social (monthly outings in public with the dogs). This one was a bit of a race through a large mall - different stores were worth a certain amount of points (difficult stores because of small aisles, dark, smells, loud music got more points).

Of course, Glenn and I despise malls. We were talking about it, and we quite literally think that the last time we actually walked through a mall was over 10 years ago! So, this was torture. We couldn't believe all of the smells...so much perfume and fragrance that you could literally taste it! Yuck!

Honeydew did a great job. She got nervous near a fountain with fish, but we think it was because she was startled by her reflection in the glass by the pond. Otherwise she did great. Yay!

The pictures are from our adventure -

1) The group gathering,

2) Glenn and The Dew coming out of Victoria's Secret (haha!),

3) Some pups in the glass elevator,

4) Glenn in his own personal hell (not only is he at the mall, but he is surrounded by children in the play area!) - Honeydew looks like a devil dog

5) Honeydew greeting a stuffed puppy. So cute.

Tug of War

2009-02-14T12:41:00.001-08:00

Honeydew has been very bored today - spring fever I think. So, we just had a smack down game of tug of war. She was beating me for a while, but in the end I won...as I always do. :)

She is now snoozing under the computer desk, no doubt dreaming of the day she beats me at this game!

Musical Chairs

2009-02-11T21:59:00.000-08:00

Puppy Class tonight was entertaining. Last week, when we did "off leash recalls" (dog on one side of the gym, you on the other, tell them to come) some of the people had to repeat themselves (say "come" more than once, which is a no-no) because they thought their dogs couldn't hear them. So, this time the trainers brought a stereo, which they played really loud while we did the same exercise. That will teach us to make excuses!

Somehow, this turned into playing Musical Chairs. This was entertaining, because people sort of forgot about their dogs -- and while diving for the seats they would drag their dogs 20 feet across the gym floor. The poor dogs were getting tangled in leashes, being pulled over and under chairs - it was total chaos. Amazing what people will do when there is a little competition added into the mix.

Honeydew and I finished about middle of the pack - we just don't seem to have that competitive spirit. Plus, Honeydew is quite smitten with a gentleman that often comes to the meetings and has puppy-sat her in the past...his name is Thor. Thor was there, so she wanted to go visit him rather than walk in circles around chairs for no apparent reason.

The picture is of me and The Dew before we got booted out of the game.

Sticky Feet

2009-02-04T21:49:00.000-08:00

Tonight Honeydew and I had to attend Puppy Class by ourselves, as Glenn was out of town for work. It was an interesting night - the dogs had to walk on various surfaces. They walked over tarps, roof shingles, rugs, grates, wooden lattice, etc. The best surfaces, however, were the runners of bubble-wrap. It was funny to watch how the dogs responded to the noise and feeling of the bubbles popping. Some dogs got nervous about it - others, like Honeydew, thought it was a blast. I fear she thought it sounded like farts...which made her giggle...just like her dad [Glenn] giggles when he thinks about farts. Uggh. Two peas in a pod.

Of course, I also had to tell the group about our recent adventures with the dog bite. It was sort of stressful, especially because there are other puppy club members that had their puppies transfered to other raisers in the same situation (and we got to keep Honeydew, WHEW!) - but everyone was nice about the whole thing and hopefully learned some important lessons vicariously through us.

The photos are of the dogs with all of the various "surfaces" they have to walk on laid out.

Feeling Better

2009-02-01T21:33:00.000-08:00

I am happy to report that Honeydew is doing well with her injury. (For those that haven't heard, last week Honeydew got bit by a strange dog in the lobby of my work building. At the time I didn't think there was an injury - no blood, she didn't act in pain - but it turns out the dog did get a piece of her and she ended up with an abscess in her cheek from a puncture wound. This required some minor surgery, a drain tube, stitches, antibiotics, etc.).

While it annoys her, she has come to terms with her cone collar. At first, when she ran into something with it, she would freeze and stand there confused. Now, she just plows ahead! It is best to get out of her way - because if she hits something she just pushes forward even harder. She has scraped our kneecaps off more than once! Emma and Tully (our other dogs) are being fairly forgiving of Honeydew's bumbling and wandering in the cone - and all 3 cats just keep clear of her. Honeydew has become quite skilled at figuring out how to continue chewing on her toys - although sometimes the toys fall under the cone so she spends a few minutes trying to chew them through the cone. Eventually she figures out what is going on and adjusts the cone so she can get to the goodies. I have attached a couple of pictures of our little satellite dish dog and her toys.

She goes in tomorrow (Monday) to get the drain and stitches in her cheek taken out. Guide Dogs has given me a series of activities I need to do with her at work next week in the area where the dog attack happened...lots of treats and kibble involved...to help make sure that she isn't traumatized by the incident and that she associates that part of the building with positive things (kibble and love) rather than negative things (where a stupid lady let her dog attacked her for no reason....erggg). She is a brave heart and a fearless soul - lots of spunk - so I am not overly concerned that this incident has phased her in the least.

Guide Dogs for the Blind will keep an eye on her moving forward to make sure that they don't think anything more needs to be done. They may have her go with some of the professional trainers to do a more in depth evaluation. Their main priority is to ensure that this incident doesn't cause Honeydew to become nervous or anxious around strange dogs - as that can cause a problem for her blind partner (e.g. shying away, loosing focus on her guide work when near a strange dog, being aggressive toward strange dogs, etc.). Honeydew needs to remain confident in all situations - including those that require her to be in proximity to strange dogs. I think she will be fine. To date, she has been overly excited to see other dogs - so maybe this incident will tone that down a bit...but I won't hold my breath.

Puffy Dew

2009-01-29T21:29:00.000-08:00

We woke up this morning to find Honeydew with a swollen "melon" as Glenn would say. The right side of her face was huge, and very tender to the touch. We went to the vet, thinking it was maybe a spider bite or that one of the cats had gotten a good swack at her.

Turns out, she had a abscess from an infected puncture wound on her cheek -- from a dog that attacked her on Tuesday in the lobby of my work. At the time, I didn't think she was hurt (no sign of trauma, not even a spec of blood, she didn't act like anything hurt). I checked her over - found nothing. I guess I missed it! Ughh. So, she now has a drain in her cheek, and gets to wear the cone. Nothing sadder than a puppy in a cone! Our very own mobile satellite dish - maybe she can get reception of the Super Bowl this weekend?

I was mad at the lady with the aggressive dog at the time (why do people think it is OK to have their dogs in public places if they can't control them?), but I am even more angry now. I don't think it has impacted Honeydew, but Guide Dogs is deciding if they want to see her for an evaluation to make sure she is OK emotionally (e.g. not skittish around other dogs). She seems fine - just bummed about the whole cone thing.

Drama Queen

2009-01-27T21:24:00.000-08:00

Ms. Honeydew. She was in fine form yesterday -- working her magic on strangers! We rode the bus home from downtown, as Glenn had to work late. She looked so pathetic on the bus...head hanging low, sad, droopy eyes, lots of heavy sighs, so weak she could hardly hold her head up.
Everyone on the bus felt the need to comment "poor little puppy", "she just wants to go home", "oh, look at those worried eyes"...please! She was like a little kid - pouting because she didn't get the candy at the store. If she could have stuck her bottom lip out she would have!
So, to try to lift her spirits, we got off the bus early to go through the grocery store before walking home...same thing, standing in the check-out line being a drama queen. Several checkers came over to comment on how pathetic she looked. Geesh!
It was the funniest thing I have ever seen! Most dogs would be tickled to be out in public, going for a walk, riding the bus, going to the store...but Ms. Honeydew has been there and done that. Old news to her - just a chore now. I think she should be nominated for an Oscar for such a stellar performance as a poor little puppy. I honestly think she was doing it on purpose. Sort of like the Foster's limp (my brother's dog that knows how to get folks to feel sorry for him). She was in fine form!

More Updates

2009-01-24T22:12:00.000-08:00

Time again for another Honeydew update.

She is doing very well - recovered from being spayed fairly quickly, which was helped by all of the snow and ice which made it impossible for us to go anywhere or do anything. She thoroughly enjoyed the snow, to say the least -- although, going outside in the freezing cold to break up ice to create a place for her to "do her business" on a leash was annoying.

We continue to work on training and good behavior. She is riding the bus and Streetcar like a pro, which is something we do nearly every day at work. She is continuing to become more mature and calm. She is still very dog distracted, but at least now she keeps walking in a straight line, even if her head is swiveled 180-degrees in the opposite direction so she can watch the dog across the park.

Photo 1) Honeydew enjoying our big "Arctic Blast 08" (where do the news people come up with these names) right after Christmas. The are predicting more snow tomorrow. What a strange winter indeed.

Photo 2) Puppy class -- where we had to run a "recall relay"...two teams, dogs across the gym on a "sit/stay", first person calls their dog but the other dogs have to stay put. It was complete chaos, to say the least, because once one dog ran - they all ran! We did it about 5 times, and finally the dogs understood. So, they mixed it up and we all had to recall a dog that wasn't our own...of course, when another lady called for Honeydew - she came...but she came to me instead of her - and then proceeded to run from the other lady when she came to get her. Geesh!

Photo 3 & 4) We have some new baby puppies! I can't believe Honeydew was ever this little! Look at those big paws and that puppy belly! The blonde one's name is "Futura" -- not sure I like that name, but she is cute enough it doesn't matter what her name is. :) Not sure what the cute black puppy's name is.

Photo 5) Last night we had to go to a gathering/party with another puppy club. They had a variety of games...this one was a "wag off" -- the dogs that had the best/most tail wags won.

Photo 6) Honeydew tied with another dog in the "wag off" -- so here we are going head-to-head for the grand prize. The other dog won - but she is being raised by a professional dog trainer, so Honeydew thinks the competition was rigged. But, our little girl got second place for wiggling her butt!

Funny Dew

2009-01-08T21:19:00.000-08:00

Some co-workers in my office were taking pictures for a new staff directory, so of course Honeydew got her staff picture taken too. They did serious pictures, and funny ones. This is her funny one - what a trooper!

Introducing Honeydew

2009-01-07T21:12:00.000-08:00

To introduce Honeydew to our new co-workers (as my office was merged with another larger city office), we posted her bio on the employee blog (with this AMAZING photo of her, taken by a colleague - Betsy Ames). This is what Honeydew had to say about herself....

I’m "Honeydew" and I am a Guide Dog for the Blind puppy in training www.guidedogs.com. I often come to work with my mom, Michele Crim. She currently works out of the Ecotrust building, but she is often at the 1900 Building too. I like to go to staff meetings and events with my mom because it helps me in my training – but I understand that sometimes folks might prefer I stay behind, so just let Michele or your manager know if you have any concerns whatsoever.

I am a yellow lab – almost 10 months old! I was born at the training campus in San Rafael, California – where all Guide Dog puppies are bred and born. I get to go a lot of places, including riding on transit, and visiting stores, banks, restaurants, and coffee shops – my mom loves those places! This helps me learn to be calm, focused and well mannered, which will be important when I am an older working dog.

Every week I go to training class with about 20 other Guide Dog puppies. There I have to pass tests and demonstrate that I am learning all of the things I am supposed to know when I grow up. I am a pretty good student, but sometimes I get really excited when other dogs come around. At home I live the life of a normal pet, including sharing my den with two other dogs and three cats (which I sometimes chase, but don’t tell my mom!).

I am not allowed to eat treats, play with balls, learn to fetch or jump on people (I am working on that one!) because all of those things can cause behavior problems for me when I am a working dog. But I get to go lots of fun places (like work!), so it is a fair trade. I love to play tug with people (my mom will gladly teach you how to play that with me), and to get my belly rubbed. My favorite pastimes include attacking plastic bottles (like empty orange juice jugs), chewing on my bones and running circles in my yard at home.

You are welcome to pet me when we bump into each other, but if I get too excited it helps if you step away so I learn that I get more attention when I am calm. My mom also encourages folks to wait until after the meeting, etc., so that getting attention is a reward for good behavior. Sometimes my mom has to correct me when I am not behaving properly – but, every moment is a teachable moment, right!

I will go back to Guide Dogs for the Blind when they call for me – which could be anytime between 6-months to a year from now. I will then go through about 6 more months of intensive training to learn to do Guide Dog work in a harness. My mom, and all of my friends and family, will be sad when I go back. But I am destined for great things….to help give the gifts of companionship and independence to my blind partner!

I am very excited to be a part of the new Bureau of Planning and Sustainability! Growing up in a work environment full of love and support will help me become a well-mannered and confident Guide Dog. I look forward to making friends with you all!

Christmas Dew

2008-12-25T21:05:00.000-08:00

Honeydew, and the rest of the Crim Critters (even us two legged ones), wanted to wish you a very Merry Christmas!

"Arctic Blast 08"

2008-12-22T21:02:00.000-08:00

Well, the weather here in Portland is pretty crazy (by our standards). Below (attached) are some pictures from our Monday morning commute! Much of it was by foot, through lots of snow and ice. I actually wore my "Nanook of the North" snow boots - I haven't worn those since I left North Dakota!

Glenn worked from the coffee/book store downtown (imagine that), and I worked from my office until the Mayor shut the city down and sent everyone home. Most of the trains weren't running, and over 70 buses were stuck in the snow - including the one that goes to our house. Ugh. I waited about 45-minutes to catch a shuttle that was packed to the gills with the 100 other people that were stranded in town. Glenn got tired of waiting and opted to walk home...5+ miles, in the deep snow.

That is where he is as I type this. He is following a couple on cross-country skis (towing a kid trailer that is also on skis). He is pretty miserable and is likely wishing he would have waited for the shuttle with me. Poor guy. Luckily, he is heavily caffeinated...and this trek should cure him of the terrible case of "ants in his pants" he had from being stuck in the house yesterday. :) The odds of us going into work tomorrow are looking pretty slim, as this isn't going to melt and they are expecting more snow tonight. I guess this is the worst storm to hit Portland since the 1960's. Hopefully, it doesn't all melt at once and cause massive flooding like it did about 10 years ago ("500 year floods").

The photos are of the pups playing in the snowy yard. A good "action shot" of Honeydew.

More Snow Adventures

2008-12-16T20:47:00.000-08:00

Hello! It has been a while since a Honeydew update, so I thought I would send along a few pictures. She is doing great. She is getting bigger and smarter by the day! She gets spayed this Friday, so that will take her out for a few days, but I am sure she will bounce back quickly. At last week's puppy class she graduated into a "large" sized jacket - so that officially means she is getting to be a big girl. One of the instructors said that she will probably continue to fill out, but that her height and length likely won't change much more. We are still working on the new "go to bed" command. We had to demonstrate it at class (see Photo 1) - and Honeydew had to go first. She did a great job, much better than some of the other pups (which is always our goal! haha). Our social outing this week was cancelled due to the weather, which Glenn loves because it is his birthday and now he can do whatever he wants that night (which will likely involve eating a Hostess berry pie and watching The Simpsons).

Other exciting news - Honeydew experienced her first snow storm this week. She thought it was a blast, at first. She just ran around the yard smelling all of the snow. She didn't eat it, just wanted to smell it - over and over and over again. It was hard to get a good picture of her because she had her nose to the ground the whole time. Now she just thinks the snow is cold and over-rated and you have to drag her outside to "do her business".

Sunday night I decided to take one of the light rail trains out to the airport to greet Glenn (he was coming back from California and really didn't have any winter clothes with him - it was approximately 24-degrees out). So, I checked the train schedules and they seemed to be running with no problems from the snow and ice. So, Honeydew and I geared up and headed out into the white tundra. Well, all the transit was running great until we got about 25% of the way there....then the track switches froze and trains were getting stuck on the tracks. It took over two hours, two train rides, lots of standing in the blowing snow, and a VERY crowded shuttle ride before we arrived to meet Glenn at the airport - about an hour after we were supposed to be there. It was one of those times I regret holding out and not getting a cell phone - as we had to keep going because I couldn't call Glenn an tell him to abort the mission and grab a cab! Honeydew was a trooper, but was definitely ready to get home.

Photo 1: Honeydew and the other class mates on their magic carpets doing the "go to bed" command.

Photo 2) The Dew and a new bone. I didn't realize until the other day that she was allowed (per Guide Dogs) to have the sterilized cow bones - she was in heaven.

Photo 3) Catching snow on her tongue. :)

Photo 4) What a snow bunny!

Photo 5) Honeydew resting on my feet during our epic airport journey on mass transit! I think this is the view that most people have of her when we are on transit - these little eyes peaking out from under the seat.

First Snow!

2008-12-14T20:42:00.000-08:00

We woke up this morning to snow flakes (which is very rare here in Portland - in town)! TV folks have been worked up about the proposition of snow for a week now, but usually nothing ever comes of it, so I half believed that it really wasn't going to snow.

This is Honeydew's first snow, and she wasn't quite sure what to make of it - spin circles in it, eat it, etc. Mainly she just sniff, sniff, sniffed it. This was one of the only pictures I got of her where her head wasn't stuck to the ground like a Hoover (is it time to throw that tomato plan away?). Tully was being a little more subdued about the whole thing, she's been there and done that - I thought the picture of her turned out great, a definite keeper.

Magic Carpet

2008-11-13T20:39:00.000-08:00

She is doing really well. Getting so mature and calm (sometimes). The last two weeks of training have been interesting.

All of the dogs are learning a new command, "Go to bed". It has three parts -- go to the bed, lay down, and stay there until released. The idea is that this will be a very useful command for a blind person so that, for example, if someone comes to the door they can give the command and the dog won't be in the way greeting the new person at the door, etc. Traditionally, this would be trained by giving the command (Go to bed), putting them on the bed, making them lay down, telling them to stay, then correcting them if they sat up or moved off the bed...and praising them if they did right. They wanted us to implement a new training technique for this command, called "operative training". It is really a very foreign concept, and apparently is very hard for people with a lot of dog training experience to do because you don't get to correct the dog and show them what you want.

Long-story short, this is how it works. You put out a bath mat or some other special rug, blanket, etc -- this is the "bed". When the dog just happens to walk on the rug, you say "nice" and give them a kibble. If the dog stays on the rug, you say "nice" and give them a kibble. Pretty soon, the dog realizes that magical things happen when you are standing on the rug, so they will return to the rug in hopes of a reward, which you give. Once they reason this out (if I go stand on the rug I get a kibble, and if I stay there I get more), then the rules change to be that they have to "sit" on the rug, and then eventually lay "down" on the rug - but you don't ever give them those commands verbally. Honeydew was one of the "demonstration puppies" in class that night. I was just sure she was going to fail miserably, because she is so distracted and high energy - she is in a big gym, surrounded by people and dogs - a very high energy situation for her. But, once she got wind of the game and figured out she needed to be on that rug, it was amazing to watch her reason things out. She figured it out after about 8 kibbles! Then, when the rules changed (have to sit on the rug, not just stand), it was amazing to watch her face as she offered the trainer other things....it was like she was saying "Hey lady, I am standing on the rug, give me a kibble. Ok, that isn't working, what if I spin in a circle? What if I jump? What if I sit? Oh, if I sit I get a kibble!". Each time Honeydew would do a little dance of different positions or tricks on the rug, but eventually she figured out the magical formula was to sit on the rug...and then she did the same thought process (offering various tricks and positions) when the rules changed to laying down on the rug. At one point Honeydew forgot the rug part and just sat in front of the trainer. She had a look on her face like "Hey, I'm sitting, where is my kibble?"...but again, she reasoned it out and you could see a little light go on "Oh yeah, I have to be sitting on that rug thing"...so, she literally stayed sitting, but bunny hopped (butt bumped?) the 4-feet across the floor to the rug. It was hysterical.

Only after the dogs fully understand that going to the rug, laying down, and staying there is the right behavior that gets the kibble, do you start naming the command. So now, at home, Honeydew understands that if she does those three things she gets a kibble, and now I am starting to tell her to "go to bed" and she is understanding that the command is the name of that series of actions I want her to do. The amazing thing is that at no point during the training do I touch her, position her, correct her or give her a verbal or visual command (sit, down, stay). It is all about her ability to figure out what I want her to do based on when she gets a reward (the word "nice", followed by a kibble). It is the same technique used for "clicker training", but instead of the click they hear the word "nice". Of all of the training we have done, this has been the most fun because you can see her actually using her brain and thinking/reasoning things out. She is so interested in the activity and gives me her complete attention (which is rare!). At this point, the only commands she gets kibble for are this one and "come" - which has proven to be a good approach because you can bet that she is always going to want to do those commands, even when there is an exciting distraction (like someone coming to the door).

At last night's class, I had to do everything blind-folded. It was SOOO HARD! It was really fascinating though. For example, we have always been told that when doing the recall ("come"), that the dog needs to come all the way up to your legs and you have to grab their collar before giving them their kibble reward. Well, after a while you forget some of those details -- they get close enough, you reach out to them to grab their collar, etc. Well, when you do it blind-folded you realize that if you reach down and the dog isn't there because they stopped a foot or two away, that you can't find them. Honeydew stopped short, so I just ended up feeling through the air at my knees, never feeling or finding her. I am sure I looked like a complete idiot. She did what I asked her to do (she "came"), but I hadn't been doing a good job of making her she came right up to my legs. I never realized how important that last foot of space was because I could always see her and bend over to grab her and pull her closer. It was also really difficult to figure out what she was doing on the end of the leash -- was she eating something off the floor? messing with one of the other dogs? smelling the hands or legs of the person next to me? etc. At one point she got tangled up with the puppy behind us and it was so hard to figure out what had happened and to get them untangled. It was hard to figure out if she was doing something wrong, and if she was, it was hard to figure out how to correct her, etc. We spent the entire two hours blind-folded, going through our exercises, etc. Glenn was there. He somehow got out of having to wear the blindfold! He did a good job of helping to make sure that I didn't run into anything (which we all know, I am prone to do, even when my eyes are open!).

Lastly, Cole, the guide puppy we watched a month ago (Honeydew went to live with Cole's family, Cole came to live with us) was recently career changed. That makes two of the four puppies that Honeydew came in with that haven't made it so far. Ughh! The pressure. Cole was a super sweet dog, and I think the raising family might adopt her as a pet. In the end, she just wasn't that excited about working for a living - and as she got older she was less responsive to commands, etc. She will make a wonderful and sweet pet. So, who knows what the future holds for Honeydew. They say you can never predict if a dog is going to make it or not. There was one dog in our club that was completely out of control, a total spaz. That dog has just made it to the final training phase and will likely get paired with a blind person soon. Who knew! We continue to believe that Honeydew is destined for great things. :)

Halloween Honeydew

2008-10-22T20:25:00.000-07:00

Well, tonight at puppy class everyone had to come in costume. At first I thought it was a silly thing to do - but they explained that it was good for the dogs. They have to tolerate what you do to them, they have to understand that sometimes other dogs don't look like dogs (e.g. encountering people that have their dogs wearing clothes in public) and that sometimes people don't look like people.

Photo 1) Honeydew was a Fairie (or, maybe a bug?) - she was adorable! Grandma (background) got to come to puppy class this week as she was in town critter sitting while Glenn and I went to Bishop (CA) for his 20-year reunion.

Photo 2) Grandy the pirate. Arg!

Photo 3) Raisers had to be in costume too, so I had matching wings.

Photo 4) Honeydew greeting Dorena, the smallest puppy in our class.

Photo 5) It didn't take long for Honeydew to be quite bored with the whole costume thing!

Photo 6) Another "bug", Clea. She was as thrilled as Honeydew about the whole experience.

Photo 7) All of the pups in a costume contest. Fortune, dressed as a hotdog in a bun, was the winner.

Puppy Club Pictures

2008-10-08T20:12:00.000-07:00

Time again for a Honeydew update, it has been a while. She has had a lot of fun experiences recently. We took our first bus ride to work - which was quite the fun trip, especially since there was another service dog on the bus - Honeydew wanted to play with her really badly! She also had her first night away from home when she went to stay with a "puppy-sitter" so Glenn and I could attend a day-long event. "Puppy-sitters" are folks that are approved and have the 'handling training' from Guide Dogs for the Blind (along with the various home inspections, liability paperwork, etc.). She had a blast with that experience - she even got to go bowling with the puppy-sitter! Geesh! I have no idea what Honeydew's score was, but she has been dropping hints about wanting a personalized bowling ball for Christmas this year.

We are trading puppies with another puppy raiser this weekend - we are going to be watching "Cole", a female black lab that is the same age as Honeydew. Cole is very shy and timid - scared of a lot of things - pretty much the opposite of Honeydew. It will be interesting to see how Cole manages dealing with new people, new situations (like coming to work with me). Cole has never lived around other dogs or cats, so our house ought to really open her eyes.

The past couple of weeks Honeydew has really mellowed out a bit, which is nice. She still has her crazy puppy moments, but she is becoming more mature right before our eyes. She is now able to roam around the house with just a drag-line (trailing leash we can grab to correct her) -- something we haven't been able to allow her to do up until now because she constantly wanted to chase the cats or pounce on the dogs.

One last funny story to relay before the pictures....we were coming out of Barnes & Noble this week and before I knew it we were surrounded by little kids wanting to pet the puppy. Their mother was trying to explain that Honeydew was a special working puppy, etc. They were asking questions about why she was special and why she had that jacket on, etc. I explained that she was a special puppy because when she grew up she was going to help a blind person get around. One little boy (maybe 5 years old or so, I am horrible with ages) looked at me with a straight face and said "Can she talk?". I bit my lip to keep from laughing out loud and said "No" -- to which he made a very indignant face and said "Well, why not?" Clearly, she wasn't that special of a dog if she couldn't even talk for crying out loud! It was one of the funniest things I have ever heard! I giggled all the way home - his face was so priceless when he learned she couldn't talk.

Photo 1) This is one of the new babies, her name is Dorena. She is sooooo cute. She is only 9 weeks old and she already knows "sit", "stay" and "come". I just love that puppies have such fat little bellies that they can't sit up straight!

Photo 2) I thought this was a cute picture...the "down stay" is so boring! Most of the dogs end up in one of these "are we done yet mom" poses.

Photo 3) A view of the puppy club - 15 dogs in total, ranging from 9 weeks to about 1.5 years. We spend about 30 minutes doing "boot camp" drills in circles and lines (walk, stop, sit, down, stand, walk fast, walk slow, stay -- over and over and over). The girl bouncing the yellow ball wandered around trying to get the dogs to be distracted by toys, etc. Honeydew was ok with that until she came out with a squeaky toy (one of those dang stuffed hedgehogs that all dogs love). The Dew was beside herself to get that toy. The two ladies in the middle are a couple of the trainers. Honeydew and I are toward the back of the photo, you can see that she is almost as big as the other adult dogs now.

Puppy Sitting

2008-09-28T18:56:00.000-07:00

We had a great day yesterday, and Honeydew did too! Glenn and I went on a tour of the Bull Run Watershed.

As a result of being gone all day, we had to find a "puppy-sitter" for Honeydew...and of course Guide Dogs for the Blind has a lot of restrictions on who can watch her, etc. -- has to be someone that has had the proper "guide dog handling" training, home inspection and waiver paperwork on file!! Luckily, one of the puppy club members was "between puppies" yesterday (she has raised over 7 guide dog puppies, and her brand-new puppy was set to arrive today!). Her husband loves Honeydew (calls her his "toasted marshmallow") - so we felt really confident leaving her with them. She got to go on long walks, to dinner, the mall, the coffee shop - she even got to go bowling with one of the other guide dog puppies (his name is Cruz - like "cruise")! We speculated on what type of bowling ball Honeydew would pick - I think a swirly purple one. I am sure she loved all of the old smelly rental shoes! Apparently she wasn't scared at all - which many of the puppies are (with all of the loud crashing noises, etc.).

Of course, Cruz's raiser is also the leader of our puppy club - the main trainer we have - so it was stressful, sort of like Honeydew was going for a final exam or something. We were a bit stressed about that (would she be out of control and the main leader would think we weren't doing a good job??) - but we were also looking forward to feedback from folks that have a lot more experience at this than we do. Apparently Honeydew did really really really well - she didn't have any accidents, she didn't get into stuff in their house, she played nicely, etc. They really wore her out - she could hardly keep her eyes open when we went to pick her up and she was sitting in their living room. This was the first time she has ever been away from us - and she did pretty good. The lady said that sometimes it takes a puppy a good day or more to get comfortable - but that Honeydew settled in within 2 hours and was responding to their commands and companionship like a pro. She pulls on the leash while walking - she has always done that. That was the only "bad" thing she mentioned in the full page write-up she did - the rest of the comments were glowing. Whew! They said she was a 'dream' - yeah Honeydew!!

Photo) Honeydew going to town on a plastic bottle. Guide Dogs says it is OK for them to play with the thick plastic bottles (like OJ jugs or laundry jugs) until they break them down to the point where they can get plastic parts off, then they get recycled. Honeydew LOVES these toys. I have folks at work bringing them in from home for me - she has built up quite the collection.

Lucky Lab Bike Ride

2008-09-07T19:43:00.000-07:00

Glenn and I went on another big bike ride today - it was the "Tour de Lab" - a bike tour to each of the "Lucky Lab Brew Pubs" here in Portland. It is one of our favorite pubs because you can bring your dogs. At each pub you got pieces of a dog costume (first bar the tail, second bar the ears, third bar the nose). Once you got to the last pub with all of your dog bits, you got a free pint of beer (in my case, rootbeer) in a Tour de Lab pint glass that you got to keep. We also got a couple of cool ride t-shirts - with a lab's head wearing a bike helmet.

All total (including the ride from and back to our house) it was about 35 miles - so it was easier than the 50-miler we did a few weekends ago, but still challenging. MUCH of it was uphill....up big hills! Never-ending, winding up and up big hills. Ughh. I was slow up the hills, but I made it - there were many people that had to get off and walk. Coming back down was great fun though! There were over 1,200 riders - quite a site. I took some photos - below....

Photo 1) The finish line...this is what about 1,000 bikes looks like. It just went on and on and on.

Photo 2) Glenn, with his "ears" - and with his Lucky Lab...Honeydew is getting so big we can hardly pick her up anymore (she is fixated on the cat standing below her)!

Photo 3) A picture of The Dew...just because she is so darn cute! She didn't get to go with us (lots of folks had dogs in trailers or baskets), but she was with us in spirit! Toward the end of this month she is going to be in a parade, so that will make up for missing today (I asked if I could bike commute with her in a trailer - but Guidedogs said no, which is understandable...they don't want to risk something happening while she is back there that would make her afraid of traffic or bikes. Oh well).

Fun Day

2008-08-09T18:38:00.000-07:00

Time for another (long) Honeydew update. Today we went to quite the event at the Guide Dogs for the Blind campus (in Boring, Oregon). It was "Fun Day", which is a full day of events, training, entertainment, etc. -- it is an appreciation event for all of the puppy raisers. There were over 300 puppies in training there!! It was a sea of dogs...and their raisers. The only working guide dogs that were there were with their blind partners. All of the dogs in guide training were in the kennels.

So, for Honeydew, this was a crazy day. She is very dog and people distracted...and we were surrounded by hundreds of them! There were a few times when she lost control and went bonkers - but generally she did much better than we were expecting. We often just had to sit at the side and let her just watch everything...then she would settle...at least until we got up to walk somewhere, then she was totally geeked up again. Compared to a normal dog her age, she is very calm....but compared to the other guide dog puppies her age, she is a complete spaz! We took some photos of our day (see below and/or attached).

Photo 1: Some of the booths. Many of the guide dog puppy clubs have booths and sell everything from t-shirts to toys, etc.

Photo 2: Adorable little black puppy - calmly taking in the sights. Wish he could teach Honeydew how to maintain control. There were tons of little baby puppies there - and in the afternoon they were presenting new puppies (8-weeks) to their new puppy raisers. Two of the members of our puppy club had to leave their dogs there today - including Petunia, the puppy we puppy-sat before we got Honeydew.

Photo 3: Michele and The Dew watching the people walk by. Honeydew was pretty sure that all of these people just came out to tell her how cute she is -- it's all about her ya know. What a nut.

Photo 4: Glenn and The Dew, with some of our puppy club members and their pups. Honeydew has to hang out on the edge, because she can't control herself with the other puppies.

Photo 5: They had an area set up where people could get together to meet the other litter mates of their puppy, and sometimes you even get to meet the parents of the puppy. Honeydew and Glenn were talking with the crazy lady in the pink skirt (she never shut up the whole time we were near her!). She is raising "Hubert", one of Honeydew's brothers - up in Washington. She had her other guide dog puppy with her, so we could only see pictures of Hubert - he looks just like Honeydew, but has a white "Z" on his chest. She has raised 8 puppies so far...and she said Hubert is challenging....and she proceeded to describe all of Honeydew's bad behavior (intense, distracted, lunging, mouthing, jumping, etc.). She watched Honeydew and said that she and Hubert were very similar with respect to the issues they need to work on -- lots of spunk. When we told her Honeydew was our first guide puppy, she made a shocked face and said "I can't believe they would give you such a challenging dog for your first one". You can see some of the other people in the background, meeting their litter mates. We were in a field the size of a baseball diamond full of people and dogs meeting each other, it was crazy! Dogs, dogs, everywhere! (and the strange thing....all of them were under control and none of them barked!).

Photo 6: The younger girl in the blue sweatshirt was the raiser of Honeydew's mother, "Marikay". They are from Elko, Nevada. They came up for the event -- it was fun for her to see the puppies that her dog mothered. She has raised 7 dogs, and was dropping off one (that was going into formal training) and taking home a new puppy to raise today. Pretty impressive for a girl her age!

Photo 7: This big black boy is "Hector", one of Honeydew's brothers. Look at how big he is - never would have imagined they were from the same litter! He was very sweet. Apparently, Honeydew's father ("Eric") is quite a handful. We went to the breeding area and they had books with pictures of all of the breeding dogs. When we said that "Eric" was Honeydew's father, they all shook their heads...apparently, Eric is quite a challenging dog. One of the girls even said "I don't care for Eric, I don't know why they ever made him a breeder". "Heath", one of Honeydew's other brothers (who was in our Puppy Club) has already been "career changed" because they couldn't get him under control and he was getting aggressive. I don't know what will happen with him - likely become a pet, or he might go into some other sort of training. I guess Honeydew comes by her crazy behavior naturally. :) Hector (this photo) seems to have gotten the "calm and controlled" genes from his mother's side of the family.

Photo 8: This is a picture of one of the play areas for the dogs in the kennel. The dog at the top of the slide was cracking me up...he would let the bone he was playing with slide down the slide - he would then slide after it - and then get it and run back up the slide and do it again.

The Dew in the News, kinda.

2008-08-09T18:32:00.000-07:00

So, before we were able to get Honeydew, they took her to an event called "Pinot and Pups" - a fund raising event. I just checked the Guide Dogs for the Blind newsletter, and there is a picture of Honeydew!

http://www.guidedogs.com/site/DocServer/GDN_082.pdf -- see page 5, with "Deena and Mike Bragg" -- Honeydew, working the rich folks for some money!

Official Jacket!

2008-07-23T18:20:00.000-07:00

YAY! Honeydew is now officially a guide dog puppy in training - she got her jacket tonight at our puppy meeting.

The meeting was actually a "social" - once a month the club does an outing in public...ride the train or bus, go to the mall, etc. This was our first such social (as the new pups have been too young to go until now). Tonight it was an outdoor art show with artists who made garden art from recycled materials....it was a sea of people, totally overwhelming! We drove around for about 20-minutes just trying to find a place to park, and ended up in a dirt lot a ways away.

Honeydew did pretty good - but at one point she had a bit of a meltdown. I think the new jacket (she isn't sure she wants it on), combined with all of the people and the other dogs, was more than she could handle. She was like a little kid throwing a temper tantrum in the grocery store. I finally had to drag her behind some bushes where she proceeded to buck like a wild bull and flop around on the ground like a fish. She has never acted that way before. After a bit of private time she calmed down and we went back out to join the crowds of people and the other puppy raisers. She is still just a little pup - so I can imagine it was all just more than she could handle, especially because she is so much more intense about distractions than most of the other pups (who are just chill, sort of with a surfer's attitude or something).

I (Michele) have been out of town for about 5 days -- Glenn did a great job of taking care of the little dear (along with the other Crim Critter Menagerie). I can't believe how much bigger she got while I was away...she is starting to look like a little dog instead of a puppy! :( Tomorrow she gets to wear her jacket to work with me - everyone will be so proud!

Anyhow - attached are some updated pics of our big night.

Photo 1) Honeydew in her new jacket. She is all color coordinated now...people always think she is a boy because of the green halter. She doesn't seem to care.

Photo 2) Just a few of the pups hanging out at one of the art exhibits (there were a total of 13 guide dogs there). There are 5 pups in the picture...kinda like "Where's Waldo". The little one on the left, facing the camera, is Fortune - the pup that is so huge for his age (he is the same as Honeydew). He has the biggest puppy belly and always seems to be straining under his own weight just to keep his head up.

Photo 3) Another picture of The Dew looking proud in her jacket. You can see the intelligence in her eyes...that, or she is saying "seriously, if you don't get this thing off of me I am going to pitch another royal fit!"

Puppy Class

2008-07-16T18:12:00.000-07:00

Tonight I took some pictures at Honeydew's puppy class. Next week we get to go on a social with the club - an outdoor art-show. The best news is that Honeydew should (knock on wood) get her official "puppy in training" jacket! She did very good at class tonight. She taught Glenn everything she knows. :)

1) First photo is of some of the puppy club members. As you can see, there is a blind lady (Liz) and her guide partner (Azisis, not sure of spelling) that join us. It is great to get her perspective on what it is like to rely on a guide dog - and why we are teaching the things we are teaching (e.g like, in photo 3, why they need to ignore pine cones and not pick them up). The puppy to her left (with the gray pony-tail guy) is Louise...she has always been our favorite of the puppies (until The Dew came along, of course!).

2) Glenn doing the rounds with Honeydew. I think she was giving me the stink-eye. You can't see all of the dogs in the background because of the in-shade in-full-sun lighting (of course, Glenn's bro, photographer extraordinaire, would know how to correct for that, but I am clueless). Honeydew used to run and try to grab the tail of the dog in front of her, but she is much better about that now.

3) "Ahh, Dad. What do you mean I can't have the pine cone!" Such torture for little Honeydew. They kept tossing the pine cones in their path as they were walking, or while they were on a down/stay. So tempting...but thats a no-no! So instead, many of them - like miss Honeydew here, just made sure they looked really pathetic about the whole thing.

4) Glenn and Honeydew in line with a bunch of the other pups. She sure is getting big!

More Pictures

2008-07-13T17:54:00.000-07:00

Photo 1: Honeydew in puppy jail. She doesn't like this thing - she prefers her darker, plastic, kennel. But it works well for the times when she isn't in the mood to sleep, but you need her secured. The other animals wander past and taunt her. Pretty much pure hell in her book. She is so abused.

Photo 2: Bath time! She does pretty good in the bath, even though she looks pathetic. I imagine it won't be long before she will be so big that we won't believe she could once fit in the kitchen sink!

Photo 3: We had some folks come in and do some testing of our house for a study on moisture levels (to help set some national standards...I think our home will likely be the "don't build it like this drafty old thing"). Anyhow, Ruben was determined to escape to the outside world, even if that meant going through the blower fan itself - he would stand in front of it...his hair all blown back and lips flapping in the breeze. Our house leaks pretty bad - but it isn't the worst they have seen (apparently some guy in Syracuse has that honor). They put sensors in our home for a year, then come back and get them - and give us free recommendations on how to improve our home (that ought to be quite the tome). They are currently in the attic measuring insulation levels, etc. The fun part was when they had to turn the heat on to test leaks in the duct work....ahh, already almost 90 degrees out and the heater on full blast. Wonderful!!

Photo 4: Bodine decided to help them with their study. He actually climbed onto the laptop (one of his favorite things to do) and started one of the blower fan tests for them! Apparently, once it is started, they can't stop it - it just has to run the full test. All of the testers started running around the house trying to get things in order for the test because Bodine pre-maturely started it. They said he has potential and they might hire him to help them test some houses up in Seattle. About time he earned his kibble!

More Puppy Pics

2008-06-25T22:51:00.000-07:00

I thought you would enjoy these pictures as well. An action shot of her doing battle with Ruben -- I think he won, he always kicks my butt. And, who can ever get enough sleeping puppy pictures?

More Honeydew!

2008-06-25T22:39:00.000-07:00

A couple recent photos of Honeydew - hard to believe how big she has gotten!! My how time flies! We have already out-grown two crates, and I just had to order even bigger ones today. Geesh.

We just got home from our weekly class with the other new Guide Dogs for the Blind puppies - the big boy, Fortune, already weighs over 35 pounds...he is only 12-weeks old! Honeydew is doing really well - better than the other pups in some instances -- like coming when she is called, pooping on command - it's the little things in life!

But she is REALLY distracted and intense -- wanting to lunge and jump at the other puppies, balls, kids, garbage cans, pine cones, you name it. She is generally pretty good at home and at work with us, but being in that puppy class is too much stimulus I think. She loves to chase and try to bite the tails of the dogs walking in front of her in class -- ughh. We have a lot of work to do in order to break her of this "distraction" thing. So hard being a puppy - everything is new and exciting.

She still appears to be on track to get her official green "Guide Dog Puppy in Training" jacket in about 4-weeks. She has to demonstrate various obedience skills before she gets it, and this distraction thing won't be acceptable. Once she has the jacket she will be able to start going into public places with us (store, bank, coffee shop, bus). Until then, she will keep going to work with Glenn and I when she can (just depends on our schedules - as we can't take her to off-site meetings yet, and we both tend to do that a lot during any given day).

Photo 1: Relaxing in the sun after some playtime.

Photo 2: First roadie - a trip up the Gorge to Hood River to meet her Uncle Matt, Aunt Michelle and Cousin Tyler (who is spending the summer kiteboarding there -- ahhh, to be 16 again).

Puppy Club Pictures

2008-05-31T22:28:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-28T22:21:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-28T22:18:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-05-18T21:58:00.000-07:00

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

2008-05-11T21:33:00.000-07:00

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.

Our Due Date...

2008-04-07T22:00:00.000-07:00

....for our new puppy is May 14!!

Best we can tell (from cryptic emails - Guide Dogs love their acronyms), it will be a female, black lab, with a name that starts with a "C".  Any guesses??  They never name two dogs the same name (until the first dog with that name retires, which can be ~8 or more years).  So, sometimes the names are pretty crazy as they scrape the bottom of the name barrel.

She was born on March 12 - somewhere in near Guide Dogs for the Blind campus in California.  The "puppy truck" comes up on the 14th, and then we go out to the campus in Boring to pick her up.  The "puppy truck" is a specially designed truck that tries to keep the puppies safe, even in an accident.  The leaders were telling us about one accident it had up in a snow storm in Tahoe many years ago, very serious, driver was critically injured - but all of the puppies were safe.  I can't imagine what this thing must look like.

We are VERY excited!  What a new adventure. Gonna be lots of black female dogs running around the Crim household, to say the least.