Vale's Visit cont.

As promised, here are some pictures of Vale from his visit. Vale is a yellow lab and is fairly small for a male. He is a lighter yellow with a white chest. He has a nice, square head. Oh, his name is pronounced like the word "valley". It's short for "Valentino". He's a sponsored puppy (by his raisers) and they wanted to name him "Valentino" but Guide Dogs wouldn't allow this because it at the word "no" at the end. So, they shortened it to Vale.

Vale standing in the park with his serious face. This is before I told him to "go free".

Vale with his goofy grin.

Vale doing a sit and wait. We saw a real Guide Dog doing some some run yesterday afternoon so I was testing his obedience by calling him to me and having him wait until I told him it was ok to run again.

Vale sleeping on the big bed. He was really tired after our run yesterday.

Vale was such a good boy and, in the end, he did come to like the flat and wandered into different rooms on a whim. Last night he mostly slept in the living room as we watched TV with a couple of friends. However, I did wake up at three in the morning feeling uncomfortably warm and constricted. Why? Because Vale had decided that I needed a cuddle. Now, before I went to sleep he had tried to get on the bed, but I kicked him off right away and, while looking rejected, did go and sleep in his bed. I guess at some point during the night he realised I was asleep and took full advantage of it. I'm definitely going to miss him when I go to next month's puppy class and he's not there. I wish him all the luck in training.

Also promised, here are some pictures of Frankie from today's puppy class. Frankie is also a yellow lab. He's really little at 8 weeks old but was so good today. He sat when he was suppose to and slept in my lap when it was our turn to sit out. He was just a gem and I hope to spend a lot more time with him. Yep, this cute face is what I got to spend all morning with. Jealous?

Frankie standing in the all purpose room. He's really little.

Frankie running toward the camera. Too bad it's in shadow or it would have been a really nice picture.

Me holding Frankie. He's such a sweetheart.

A super close up of Frankie.

Vale's Visit

Well, Vale is here for a visit. He's only here for tonight and then will be going back with his raisers tomorrow when they pick me up for puppy class tomorrow. I know that it isn't a very long stay, but we've been planning this visit for a while and it hasn't happened yet. I'm pretty excited that it's finally happening because he leaves for training in 10 days! It's still weird for me because he just turned a year old and they're already pulling him back in for training.

I've known Vale since he was a tiny thing. It's really hard for me to realise that I have in fact been in Scotland long enough for that to happen. His raisers like to overlap a little and just got a new puppy named Frankie. I hope I get to meet him tomorrow and he and I become best friends like Vale and me.

Vale is definitely not as comfortable with coming to a new house as Quiz was. She saw the toys and the bed and dog bowls and started playing and jumping and having fun. Vale doesn't really want to venture past my room. Odd, but hopefully he'll get a little more comfortable by tonight. He's also about ten times as mellow as Quiz. Haha! Right now he's taking a nap after walking to the grocery store and doing the shopping. Hopefully, he'll perk up a little when he realises that he gets food here.

I'll post some pictures of him tomorrow.

Happy Birthday Hilly

Happy Birthday to the sweetest, bestest, cutest, greatest pet I could have ever asked for. Hilly is two years old today! I'm missing her something awful right now. In fact, I've been missing her since I had to turn down Indie. All I want to do is lay on the couch and watch some TV with my little girl. Alas, two more years apart, two more birthdays spent sending my love long distance. I can deal with it as long as she's waiting for me when I'm done with Uni.

I love you my darling, little girl. Make sure the "grandparents" spoil you rotten today. They have my permission.

Postponed

Well, the title says it all. I've had to postpone getting my Little I. *sad face*

It's not because of the doubts I was having involving my social life. In fact, there wasn't much I could do to stop it. You see, I was due for minor surgery back at the end of February. Unfortunately, there was a bit of miscommunication between my GP and the dermatology clinic. When I got there they said that it would take five to six months for them to get me the surgery. I agreed to this because I was thinking that in five or six months the puppy would be between seven and eight months old and I wouldn't have to carry him/her (this was before I knew about Little I) outside to go potty or to the vet or bend down to clean up accidents on the floor or pick up accidents on walks. Well, I got a letter on Saturday telling me that my surgery date had been moved up.

I was happy, but the surgery date was just five days after Little I was suppose to get here. I thought about it for four days and finally decided to do what's best for my Little I. I would get him and then immediately have to ship him off to a sitter for a month. Then when I got him back it would only be a week until the week of finals. That's when I was going to ask for a sitter for the week anyway. So, in the two months that I would have Little I, the pup would only be with me for two weeks.

I really wish it didn't have to be this way. But I know that it's what is best for my Little I.

I do know why GDB back home doesn't give up the name of our puppy before they get here though. It was so much harder for me to make this decision because I knew who I was getting. I'm so attached to this puppy already and it hasn't even come home to me yet. I was getting Little I all of these toys and a new bed and some new blankets. I'm so sad that I can't have him anymore.

Now, with me telling you his gender, I can tell you who would have won the Name Game out of the people who have put in guesses. I was going to receive a Male Yellow Golden/Lab cross (1/4 lab and 3/4 golden) named:

INDIE

So far Ashley would have won with 2 points.

Well, that's all for now. I should know in another month and a half what my new puppy assignment is and as soon as I know you will all know. I'm missing my Indie already, but I know he'll be happier with a raiser who doesn't have to send him to the sitters right away. And, now, I'm for sure able to have a baby because it'll be summer when I get one.

The Name Game Begins

I know, I know. It's been a while since I've spoken about the new puppy. I guess it's because there's still a part of me that wants to say no. I guess most puppy raisers go through a series of doubts. It's what I'm going through right now and I don't think these doubts will go away until the puppy is here. I've tried very hard to make them go away and I've been wondering if it means that I'm not ready for another puppy. I've decided that these are natural concerns (whether or not the puppy will mesh with my lifestyle, whether my social life will be ruined, etc.) and I've decided if anything life changing happens before the puppy comes then I can still say "not right now" and if some of my fears happen to be true then I can talk them over with Graham then. But, that's no reason to leave the name game until the last second. These are concerns and doubts that everyone has...right?

Anyway, on to the rules of the Name Game! First, before I give you the rules, let me tell you that there are three things that you can guess about my new puppy; gender, breed, and name.

The Rules:

1. To give a guess just leave a comment on this post (or any posts about the Name Game)
2. You have until the puppy arrives to get your guesses in (really, until I post about the pup)
3. You may guess only ONE breed and ONE gender over the whole game (if you end up guessing more than one each I'll only take your first guesses)
4. You may guess 5 names per comment (I'll only count the first 5 names in your comment if you leave more names)
5. You may only leave a comment once per week (that's one every 7 days and if there is more than one I'll only count the first one)
6. Each feature (name, gender, breed) is worth 1 point and whoever has the most points at the end is the winner
7. For an extra 1/2 point you can guess the colour
8. I will think of a suitable prize for the winner...

Now, since Guide Dogs uses quite a few more breeds than Guide Dogs for the Blind back home I'll make it easier for you. Here are the four breeds you have to choose from:

1. German Shepherd/Lab Cross (sable or black)
2. Golden/Lab Cross (black or yellow)
3. Flat Coated Retriever (black or liver coloured)
4. Lab (black or yellow)

And obviously you can guess either male or female.

Let's see...is that it? Oh no! There's one more thing that I have to tell you before this game goes live. The letter the pup's name starts with is "I".

Good Luck! The pup comes on April 11, 2012.

Having a Blast...

Thinking of names for Hestia's first litter! Letter is "F"...which, personally, I think is one of the best letters. Haha! Thought of quite a few so far and I'm sure I'll think of a few more before tomorrow. I'm trying to find a Goddess name to fit with Hestia (who is the Greek goddess of home and hearth). So far my search has been fruitless, but I'm sure I'll find one in the end. Too bad Freya (who is a goddess of love and fertility) is taken. Haha!

Anyway, they were born on Saturday. 4 males and 4 females; 4 yellow labs and 4 black labs. I'm really excited to get to meet some of them at Fun Day this year!

Phase Report

Halette     45Y4     LAB     F     8

Well, if you've been following my phase tracker over to the right of my blog you'll notice that TIPPIN has been dropped from breeding. I was super sad when I heard that she had been dropped because I was hoping there would be little Tips running around the GDB kennels. TEESHA has also been dropped from breeding and will enter training once she has healed from her spay. I was so hoping that both girls would become breeders and we would have PWAP's first two breeders. Ah well, both are going to be wonderful Guides!

Still Here

Hey guys! I'm still here and I'm still waiting. Graham is on leave until tomorrow morning, so everything should be official soon enough. Waiting to be absolutely sure definitely sucks, but I figure that it's worth the wait. Hopefully, by the end of the week I'll have more news for you all. Until then, I am here; alive and mostly well.

In other news for those of you who aren't on my facebook; I found an extremely cheap dog bed at the co-op yesterday! It was five pounds which is just about eight dollars. And it's the perfect size for next to my bed. And all I went in there for the half off Ben and Jerry's. Little did I know that I would find such a great deal. Haha! I'm pretty happy about the new dog bed.