Lance and A New Puppy

Well, he did it. Sir Lance-a-lot is now a working Guide! I'm sorry, but I don't have any pictures for you of him in harness as I wasn't there. But stop by my group's facebook fan page in the next couple of days and hopefully there will be a few loaded. I have to say, not being able to be there killed me just a little. Lance wasn't my puppy, but I saw him a lot when he was a baby because Mary, Brenna, and I were still co-raising Rocco. And he seemed to not mind me walking him at puppy meetings. Sure, he still looked for Mary, but he wasn't hard to walk while he did it. It was more like he'd turn his head every thirty seconds or so but he would never stop walking and he never turned around. I do miss the goofy boy. But, I hear his new handler is an absolutely WONDERFUL guy. That's all anyone can ever hope for. So, good luck with you new job and your new life Lance! Your Erin is so very proud of you.

With every graduation comes a new puppy. Well, really, I guess that isn't true. I guess it's not ever true to say that with every recall comes another puppy. But, I'm sticking with it. A new family just finished their week long puppy sit and it went fantastically! They've been assigned a Female Black Lab born to Simon/Salina on February 25, 2012. The litter letter is "A". I'm a little bummed because next weekend is about the time Hestia's babies would be old enough to leave the kennels, but I guess, from the birth date, that there are still a lot of older puppies in kennels that they want to get out. But, at least this is a black lab female. You all know how I love the black lab females. Haha! Can't wait to see the newest member of PWAP!

Some Good News

Well, we got the house. That in itself is some good news since we all now have somewhere to live next year. The house is small, but it's a nice kind of small. It has three large bedrooms and one medium sized bedroom and a bathroom with no bath tub. The no tub thing is actually the only part of the house I'm not fond of. I really like taking my books and taking a long, bubble bath. Oh well. The house is also right next door to some of friends and a short two to five minute walk from campus depending on where you need to be on campus.

I like the house and I'm super glad that the lease is being drawn up as I type. Hopefully, this will be my home for the next two years.

Now for the really good news. I asked the landlord about puppy raising again. And, before anyone gets too excited, no I didn't ask whether I could raise a puppy full time. I asked if I could keep my status as Boarder. He said that he would be fine with me watching a dog from time to time! Which means that I won't have to be completely puppyless for the next two years!

Not only is this good news because I will be able to get a puppy fix from time to time, but because it means that he might be open to the possibility of me having a full time puppy in the future. I might bring it up with him before the Winter Holiday. I think that if we prove to be clean tenants he might open up to the idea.

I have a theory that him finally meeting us helped him see the kind of tenants we would be. We were discussing the state of the house at the moment (let's just say that it had been cleaned and was still what I would call a complete mess) and I said, "If they would just vacuum it would look so much better. I mean, it's not hard to take twenty minutes out of your day every two or three days to pick up all the fur." I think the landlord picked up on my exasperated tone. In all honesty, I wasn't even trying to make a good impression or try and persuade him to allow a puppy. It's who I am. I let things get a little the few days before a deadline, but that's about it. I just like things clean...

Anyway, that's my good news for the day.

Oh! And I can start planning my summer travels! Who knows where they'll take me? *grin*

New Puppy for PWAP

First off let me introduce you to the newest member of PWAP:

A little yellow lab/golden puppy in the smallest puppy jacket smiling at the camera. She looks more lab. 

TORI!!!!

Tori is a female yellow lab/golden cross (she's 1/4 golden and 3/4 lab). She was born to Medford and Belize on February 21, 2012. There were a lot of older puppies in the kennels so Emily and Meghan (who are raising PIT Shep right now) agreed to start one. I'm not sure, but my best guess is that Little Miss Tori might not end up transferring. Haha! I think Emily and Meghan are enjoying having a puppy small enough to hold and one that actually wants to be held.

Also, LANCE in in class! He's due to graduate on April 28, 2012! That's just 6 days from today! He'll be living in Michigan which is good for Lance because he never liked the heat of California. I'm sad that I don't get to go to his graduation and say good bye, but I'm so happy that he's found his forever person. We're all so proud of Lance. He's just more proof that Goldens can be great Guides as well.

That's all for now. 

No Puppy for Erin

Well, it looks pretty official now. I don't think a puppy is in my near future. The landlord we are looking to rent with seems to be sticking with his decision of not allowing pets of any kind. I know. I could argue that a Guide Dog Puppy is not a pet and I could argue that with new "dog" technology it is possible to keep a dog and keep the house smelling relatively nice. Really, with the weekly cleaning of our house back home with 3 dogs and 2 cats my friends have said that they can tell that animals live there, but that it isn't overpowering and it definitely doesn't smell.

I know, I could argue all of these things but we want to make sure that we get the house first. If we prove to be good tenants and keep the house really clean...maybe he'll change his mind. I guess I could bring it up winter break of 2012-2013.

I am trying to work out starting a puppy here. It all depends on when we'd be moving in to the new place and when I want to be home over the summer. I guess I could apply for the GDB internship and that could decide when I'm home and if I could have a puppy over the summer.

We shall see...guess I'll just have to spend my time here puppy sitting as many puppies as possible.

Gotcha Day

Tomorrow is going to be a hard day for me. Just knowing that Indie would have been with me in less than 24 hours is a little very hard. I know I've never met him, but that just makes me imagine the perfect pup with the perfect mixture of loveably lab and goofy golden. Of course, he was fluffy like a golden.

At least I have a fully packed day tomorrow. My mind will be distracted all day which is a good thing. If I think about it too hard and too long...well, I won't be a happy Erin.

Happy Gotcha Day Indie. I'm missing you.

A Much Needed Update

Sorry for being a little absent over the past week. I've been enjoying my spring break by sitting around playing computer games and watching TV all day. OK, I've actually been spending and hour or two a day on school work, but you all get the idea. It's been nothing but relaxation. In fact, I've been so relaxed that I forgot to renew three books online from the library on the day I was suppose to pick up my mother from the airport. *sigh* I guess that was one thing on my "to do" list that didn't get done. Oh, well. Nothing to be done now except pay the fine and get on with it since I have no one to blame but myself.

Anyway, I thought I would share a few updates. Some of them are good and some of them aren't so good.

First, Danvers from my puppy group is graduating today with his blind partner from the Oregon campus! Congrats to him and his two family raisers. I knew from the start that he was one of those puppies who, if he passed the medicals, would go on to be a Guide. He's just such a wonderful boy and his partner is super lucky to have him. I also hear that he is super lucky to have his partner. Apparently, his new partner is a wonderful guy. He'll be following Pauli and Rocco to Canada. That makes him our third puppy in a row to be placed in Canada. *grin*

Next, little Teesha was Career Changed about a week ago before going into harness training. She was apparently have some inappropriate people reactions in the kennel and she started baulking when going into the vet's office (which is pretty funny because her raising family owns a vet clinic). We like to say that she knew that's where she was spayed and definitely didn't want to go back there. Haha! Her raisers adopted her and will be taking a break for a while since they now have two Career Changes and a few pet dogs and cats. Hopefully, this summer Hilly and I will be able to get together with both Rockford and Teesha. The two "T" sisters loved Hilly.

Thirdly, there's our puppies still in training. Lance *finally* made it back into phase 8 after being dropped back to phase 7 for six weeks! Hooray! We're hoping that Mary will get the call in the next few weeks about him being in class. Hey, they obviously saw something special in him to work so hard with him. Then there is Stuart and Tippin. They are both in phase 4. That's half way there for both of them! Go pups!

Finally I'll update you on my situation.

As April 11 draws nearer I am finding myself regretting not keeping Indie. I know it was the right thing for him, but I'm missing him. Isn't that funny. I'm missing the puppy I never got to meet. I'm thinking about asking to borrow Frankie for a day so I can have a baby around even if it is just for a little while. There is another reason I am regretting not taking Indie besides me missing him. You see, we're looking to move next year. Not because we don't love this place, but because we know of a four bedroom house that is super close to campus and is about 100 pounds cheaper a month in rent that what we're paying now. We are friends with the people who will be moving out of "#11" so we know what the house's problems are and what benefits it provides. Now, we also know that the current tenants have a pet dog. You guys might remember Qualia, well she lives in this house. Because of this, we all assumed that my condition of "the new house must allow me to keep my puppy" would be met. I figured I would have to pay a deposit or something, which I was fine with. Well, the landlord is now saying "no pets of any kind." I'm more than a little bummed. Rented places in Aberdeen are hard to come by and this one is perfect in every other way. Plus, I would save over 200 pounds a month in rent and bills. It's really an opportunity that I can't pass up. Not only because of the savings but because it's the only other 4 bedroom house on the market that is within everyone's budget and if I backed out now two of my friends wouldn't have a place to live next year.

I think what bothers me most about it is this. The landlord is worried about the smell. That's fair enough. Any house with a dog has a distinct odour. I'm very aware of this and I'm very aware that I am renting. So, when there's a dog over here I sweep everyday and vacuum as often as it needs. I also bathe my dogs at least every month not only to keep them clean but because part of their job is going into public. I want my dogs to offend as little as possible. Which means good and frequent grooming. So, while I can't erase the smell I can certainly lessen it. But, here's my real issue, one of the current tenants has not cleaned his room since moving in last summer and whenever the door is opened a sickly smell wafts through the house. I swear, it smells worse in that room than a house with a dog has ever smelt. Especially if the house is cleaned on a weekly basis. I've never had someone cringe when I opened the door to my house. Lisa and myself almost threw up when his room door was opened. If the landlord is so worried about smell, he should have kicked this guy out a long time ago. At least we would keep things cleaned.

Anyway, I've asked the landlord if it would be possible to keep my boarder status because having one dog for less than a week every other month probably would not make the house smell. It would give enough time between sittings to air the whole place out. But, as it stand right now, I will not be getting Guide Dog Puppy #4 in the near future. We'll see if this new landlord turns around and says "yes" but it's looking unlikely.