Today

"I'd be happy with you getting a puppy in March..."

Those were Graham's exact words! To say that I'm a little excited would be a bit of an understatement. I'm so happy that I finally asked about getting a puppy of my own. He asked if I had any questions and I said no because I couldn't think of any. But of course as soon as I got home I thought of a thousand and one! Haha! They're just things that I automatically assumed would be the same here as they are at home and realised that they may not be. So, I'm writing out and email to send to him with the various questions.

Besides getting that good piece of news today I also finished up the boarder's agreement which means that Vale can come of an extended visit now. We've got one set up for about a week in the near future. *grin*

I don't know exactly when I'll be getting or what breed, but I know that near the end of March I'll be getting a new puppy to raise and mold into a good Guide.

I also thought I'd share this link. Reann's first litter is up on the Guide Dog Blog! The sire was "Alonzo" who was actually raised by the other group in town! Enjoy looking at Rocco's neices and nephews!

Tomorrow

I keep thinking about tomorrow and the puppy meeting. What I'm going to say, what they're going to say, what's going to happen, etc. I'm just...nervous.

I guess you never really know if getting a puppy is the right thing to do until you're holding it in your arms. Yep, nervous is the right word for it. But, I'm really hoping they'll be able to find an older puppy for me. While I really want a baby puppy, I know that an older puppy would be ten times easier for March. If I end up getting a puppy in June it'll definitely be a baby. But a March puppy really depends on what they have available for me.

Hope that everything goes well tomorrow. Fingers crossed. If nothing else, I'm definitely going to finish up the paperwork for being a boarder.

Phase Report

Halette     45Y4     LAB     F     8

I know this is a few days late, but I've been quite busy these past few days. Just running around enjoying the last few days of freedom before classes start again on Monday.

I thought I would also give you an up date on puppies in our group. If you look over the right side of the blog you'll see the phase tracker. There you'll see that our little Lance is now in phase 7 of training! Go Sir Lance-a-lot! He's only got one more phase to go before we all start thinking of class dates for him. Then our Danvers travelled all the way to Boring, Oregon to begin his training and is now in phase 1 which means he has passed his medicals! He's one of those puppies that we knew he'd make it if he passed his medicals so we just have to sit back and wait now! Good job LANCE and DANVERS!!!!

Now on to the "T Sisters", Teesha and Tippin. They had an eval on Wednesday and the all mighty Jim proclaimed that they were doing wonderfully and would be ready to go back for training whenever they were recalled. Hooray for Teesha and Tippin!!!! They are both on Breeder watch so we're hoping to get our first breeder out of one of the girls! (Still a little sad that it wasn't Freya, Rocco, or Hilly but I love that my first two babies are guiding and that my last one decided to be a mooch for the rest of her life. *smile*)

That's kind of it for the puppy group back home. I miss all the puppies and all the people a whole lot. I think my missing of them will lessen if Graham decides to let me have a puppy in March.

Waiting Sucks

Waiting has never been so hard! Ok, I lie. Waiting for Freya was torture as well. But this waiting is just as bad. At least  with Freya I knew I was getting a puppy and it was just a matter of...well waiting four or five months.

At this stage, I don't really know what's going to happen. That's the worst I think. I did get an email back from Graham asking if I would be at the workshop next Tuesday and if I was we could talk about it then. I am going to be at the workshop on Tuesday. Which means just a couple more days of waiting before we discuss everything and see what we can do. But, I don't know what he's going to say. He could ask me to wait until June or say that there's an older puppy that'll be ready in February. I've never liked the feeling of uncertainty and it's even less fun when you have to wait for something like this!

I'll just have to wait until Tuesday I guess to really see what's going on. Fingers crossed that I can get a puppy in March.

My Descent into Insanity

Well, today happens to be my birthday and I decided to do something special for it. Most girls would buy themselves some new clothes or shoes or make-up or something along those lines. What did I do for my birthday? I sent an email to Graham about a puppy.

Hence the post title about descending into insanity. There's a part of me that is thinking, "Why in the world did you send that!?" but then there the other part (the larger part) that is glad that I did. It's time for me to have a puppy again and I'm ready to jump into it head first. In the end, the pros definitely outweighed the cons. Being a puppy raiser (or puppy walker as I should get use to calling myself) is who I am. I was hooked from the first puppy meeting in June 2008 and I've been very good for the past year and a half in waiting.

So...how many of you guessed that I would put in for a puppy before I even had a chance to puppy sit? Haha! To be fair to me, I was a puppy sitter back in October so I waited a good long while.

Anyway, I'm not making any promises as to when I can expect to be holding a new little puppy in my arms. It really is up to Graham as to when that happens. I put in my preferred dates to receive one and we'll just have to see what happens. But it's nice to know that something is finally starting to happen.

Happy 2nd Rocco!

Baby 13 Week old Rocco

Rocco helped me vote for the first time.



Rocco in his cowboy outfit.

Rocco at my dad and stepmom's wedding.

Rocco wearing a goofy grin at Desconso Gardens.



Anoter goofy grin, only at a baseball game this time.



My handsome boy with his handsome smile.



<>

Rocco in Arizona over Christmas in 2010.



Rocco at just a few weeks under a year old.

 

<>

Rocco on stage in harness at Graduation.

Well, my handsome, little boy. I guess you're not little anymore, but you still are the most handsome! Happy second bithday Boy! I hope you're being spoiled rotten today.

Estee's First Litter and Pros&Cons

Estee's "G" puppies are finally home with their BKs. *big grin* Here are pictures of all of them. There's one black pup amongst the five yellow pups. There appears to be 3 males and 3 females though one of the names isn't really gender specific so I'm not too entirely sure. With that said, yes, I do know all of the names. But, I'm not going to post them up as I don't want to ruin the surprise for any raiser who might be getting an Ozzie/Estee puppy. None of my names were used *sad face* but they're all great names. There's one little girl's name that I absolutely LOVE!



The little black puppy of her litter. This is the one that isn't gender specific, but I think he's male. 

A little yellow female. She's got a wonderful name.

A little yellow male. He looks like the biggest to me.

Another yellow male. He's got my favourite out of the male names.

A yellow female. She's darker than the rest.

A little, yellow female. She's the one with my favourite name.

 Aren't they so cute! And they're so little. I think they're either just under a month or just over a month. If I didn't have puppy fever before I definitely have it now. Speaking of puppy fever...

Yesterday I couldn't focus on studying. I have an exam today and an exam tomorrow and studying much more seems a little pointless. I'm going to do as well as I'm going to. That doesn't mean that I'm not doing a last minute cram session tonight with a friend for the Psychology exam, but last night was really hard for me. So, I got to thinking about what I should do about a puppy of my own. Since I couldn't make a final decision I did what I always do when I just can't decide. I made a Pros&Cons list to clearly understand where I stand at this moment. Here's a photo of my pros and cons list.

My pros and cons list.

 My pros are "German Shepherd possiblity, A healthy distraction, puppy breath, expercise again, stress reliever, get it off my mind, it's who I am, and lif is boring without a puppy. My cons are "Needing to balance between school and puppy, 4 hour roleplaying games, little space in the flat, social life, the costs, the heart ache, and I would have to do more cleaning." As you can see, the pros outweigh the cons by number if only by one. At this moment I'm trying to decide if the cons outweigh the pros in gravity though. I've raised 3 puppies and I know how much time it takes...especially a baby puppy. But I know I'm up to the task. What did I decide? Well, it really is a tie so I decided to email Graham after my exams are finished and say something like, "I would really like a puppy of my own and I think I'm ready for one. I've been thinking about it and the best time for me to get a puppy would be at the beginning of my spring break which starts March 23. But I would like to puppysit once before fully committing. Would it be possible to put me on a list for a puppy for the end of March but take me off if, after I puppysit, I realise that it's not the right time for a puppy full time? Then the next best time would be beginning of June since it's the start of summer break and I'll be here for all but 3 weeks of the summer." I'm also going to say, as much as it kills me, that I would prefer an older puppy. One that is done with shots and can go everywhere...but I also want anything but a Lab. Haha! So, I could to a baby puppy if that's necessary for a not Lab. But know that the longest I'll have to wait for a puppy is five months is really exciting!

Also, I'm having trouble with my comments on this blog. I can view them, but I can't reply to them. Someone (can't quite remember the name right now) asked me to send them my email address so they could invite me to their blog. I'm just gonna post it up here for you since I can't find you on my followers and I can't reply to the comment. dramaqueenEEA92@gmail.com

At Last...I Think

Right, so I emailed Graham again about whether or not I needed to sign one more thing. This was the second or third time I had emailed him about it, but I'm assuming the other emails got lost and are now floating aimlessly about the interweb. Anyway, he said that yes I did have one more thing to sign and that he needed his colleague to draw up the agreement. At least I was remembering correctly.

I have no idea when I'm going to sign this agreement. I hope it's soon because I really want to be able to say, "Hey Graham, I know I signed up to be a boarder but the best time for me to get a puppy of my own would be end of March. Think you can make it happen?" But I really don't know how. I would, of course, take the time between now and the beginning of my spring break to puppy sit as many times as possible, but I just can't take being puppyless much longer. I've waited a year and half (not including the summer with Hilly) to have my own puppy again and I'm so ready for that to happen. I went over to Erin's blog and she said something that really rang true. Not having a puppy is really BORING! Haha! I guess no one understands the puppy raising addiction quite like other puppy raisers.

Perhaps I should just say that? I'm ready for a puppy. I'll throw in a pretty please too just in case. I don't know though. I want my saying it to be perfect and I just haven't found the perfect way of saying it. I'd also like it to be in person if possible...but the next time I see him will be at the meeting on the 31st of January. Maybe I should just send him an email.

Happy Birthday!!!

I totally forgot to post this on the day because my brother came in for his visit and then other posts have been piling up so I haven't gotten around to it. But still, I feel like a horrible dog owner.  

Arwen, Hilly, and Rosie. Arwen is such a good sport.



Arwen in her Santa hat.

 

Arwen in front of the tree in our backyard.

A closeup of Arwen's wonky nose.

On January 2, 2012 my gorgeous golden girl turned 10!!!! I love her very, very much and couldn't imagine my life without her. We bred our golden Brandy and Arwen was puppy number 5 born. When we would have people over to look at the puppies we would have to shove Arwen in the back room so that no one would want her. Haha! She really is my absolute heart dog and, while my parents say she doesn't seem like she misses me when I go, I do think I see a difference in her when I get back for vacations. She was basically my dog from the time she was a year and a half and if I could she would be here with me right now. I love this girl!

Phase Report

Halette     45Y4     LAB     F     8

The next graduation date for the San Rafael campus is January 21, 2012. I have a feeling that Halette is probably not going to make it into that one as the students, retrain and newbies, have all received their dogs already. It's a possibility, but not a big one. So, the one after this next one is February 4, 2012. Keeping my fingers crossed for you Halette! *grin* There's a complete list of graduation dates online. If any of you haven't been to a graduation I suggest you go. Even if you didn't raise a puppy it's completely moving.

I've been wanting to post some pictures of Estee's litter, but she and pups haven't gone home to the breeder keepers yet. Yes, they raise the pups at home instead of keeping them and their breeder in the kennels. I have to say...Freya was better at being crated that Rocco was right from the word go. I like to think it was because of all they do with the pups when they're at their home. We also get lots of pictures of puppies. Freya's welcome pack (which includes a small bag of puppy food, a nylon leash, all of the paperwork needed for vets and such, report templates, her big girl collar, and a few other things) also came with a little envelope with a CD of pictures and how to contact Belle's breeder keepers. Inside was a little note telling me how to ID my pup. And thus started the friendship. They even sent me a picture CD of the "E" litter since I had been hoping to snag Epic and my 2nd puppy. Though I wouldn't change my big, handsome boy for anything. *smile* Oh, anyway, I've been wanting to put up some pictures of the cuties, but they don't have them home yet. Skin rashes or something that GDB wanted to keep them at the kennels for. Which is totally understandable, but I'm waiting on pins and needles to see them! I can't imagine how the BKs feel. Haha! Oh, yes, forgot to say. The letter is "G". I believe all the puppies have been named, but I got to throw in a few suggestions! That was a lot of fun and I really hope they used one of my names. I won't be posting the names until all of them have left for their raiser homes. Don't want to ruin the surprise for anyone!

Wordless Wednesday

Freya in her harness, boots, and new winter coat

A frontal view of Freya in all of her winter garb

Frey and Mr.L outside in the cold

A Puppy Sit

Well, before anyone gets excited, I didn't puppy sit a GDB puppy. My friend asked me a few days before the 4th if I would be able to watch his puppy Qualia for the afternoon. It was his first day back at work and no one was going to be in the house so she'd have to be in the crate from nine to five. We couldn't have that, so I said I definitely could. It helps a lot that I adore Qualia. *grin*

Qualia is an eleven month old husky mix puppy. I can't remember her other half, but she's definitely as hyper as any husky puppy I've ever met. But she did very well considering that it was her first time at my flat. She knows me though, so that might have had something to do with how well she did.

We walked from my friend's house to my flat which is about fifteen minutes. That didn't tire her out though! Haha! She spent a good half an hour sniffing around the whole place until she decided that the nylabone I have was good enough to chew on. She also really like playing tug. My brother was visiting at the time so she'd pick up the rope and "bludgeon" my brother with it. That's his word, not mine. But it is a very accurate word. She flung it at him. It was adorable...or it would have been if we weren't  both trying to study. Haha! I finally figured out how to keep her entertained for more than a few minutes. I opened the window and let her stare out at the world. She thought it was great!

Then she finally let it be known that she needed a walk. How did she do this you ask? Well, she decided to run around my flat (which isn't so big at all) leap onto the couch then leap onto the chair then back to the couch then back to the chair. Now, my brother was laying on the couch and I was sitting on the chair. So that meant when she jumped onto the couch and ran her body along it she was really pouncing on my brother and digging her way between his body and the couch. And when she was jumping on the chair she was really hopping on my lap. So, I took her for a very long walk in the park near my flat. After that she was pretty calm.

Then it was time to say good-bye. We walked her back to her place for, what my friend calls, "her evening feed." *smile* It was so nice to have a dog about the house, even if it was an over hyper one. I think my brother enjoyed it too seeing as he really wants a dog, but knows he can't have one at the moment.

Hoping for a GDB puppy soon! I'll keep you posted. Below are pictures of Qualia. By the way, Qualia! Wouldn't that be a GREAT name for a Guide Dog Puppy!? Qualia is a term used in philosophy to describe raw feelings about conscious experiences. Such a great name.

Qualia wearing the tie down...well she was pouncing on my brother.

Qualia smiling

Qualia looking out of the window



Qualia's goofy grin.

Phase Report

Halette     45Y4     LAB     F     8

Still hanging out in the last phase of training. I can't wait until we hear that she's all ready to graduate.

Also, my brother in visiting so I forgot to post up a wordless Wednesday yesterday. So, here's a picture for all of you guys. *smile* It's definitely something I miss about my Hilly-Bean; her very goofy grin.



Hilly wearing her goofy grin.

Estee's a Mommy

Well, Momma Belle has got some grandpuppies out there! I've just seen pictures of Estee's first litter! They look so cute, but what puppy doesn't? There are five yellow puppies and one black puppy. I find it quite interesting that there is only one black puppy, but she was bred to a yellow boy. And, hey! I knew that the Breeder Keepers were hoping for some more yellow puppies. They sure got them!

I can't wait until I see pictures of little puppies in the play yard!

Happy New Year!

I know this is a tad late, but I hope you all had a very happy new year! I had a very enjoyable evening with friends. I've been thinking a lot about what I'm looking forward to in the new year. Most notably in my thoughts is a new puppy.

Before anyone asks, I haven't put in an application for one just yet. I still really want to puppy sit just once before I make any commitments, but I think I might put in an application ASAP. Then if it turns out I can't do it then I can just say I'm not ready...right? Right, of course I can. So, I think that's what I'm going to do. I need a healthy distraction from school and, at the moment life, and I think a cute, little puppy is just what I need. But, of course, if I'm not ready for a puppy in my current situation then I won't get one as it wouldn't be fair to the little thing.

Speaking of a new puppy, does anyone else start thinking about what letter they're going to get next? Perhaps it's not such a big thing for schools who give out the puppy's name before the puppy is in the raiser home, but for me it's always on my mind. It's like when I was waiting to get my first puppy assignment I thought about names I liked and didn't like and chose the letter I wanted most and least based on that. I can't remember which letter I really wanted, but I remember which I didn't want. I really did want "F" (didn't want a Francesca) and started really worrying when that's what I was assigned (turns out I didn't need to).

Anyway, I've been thinking again which letter I would like (I've been thinking about "G") until I realised that here I'm assigned a puppy and when I'm assigned that puppy I'm told its name. I guess it's something I'm going to have to get use to.