First Puppy Class

You guys might be looking at the title of this post and think, "Erin, you've been a puppy raiser for 3 years now. How is this your FIRST puppy class?" To answer your question, today was my first puppy class in Scotland.

Now, I've mentioned on here that I finally found a place to live and that my landlady was so nice and was letting me raise a puppy while leasing with her. I figured that since it was now a "for sure" thing that I should see about going to a puppy class or two. Luckily for me I met someone in a shopping centre, then again at the fundraising meeting who is really nice and very willing to give me rides to puppy classes and other events.

So, today I went with James and...I believe her name is Alice (?) to their local puppy class. Their puppy classes are held once a month (so a little different than the once a week I am use to). James turned in his last dog, Denzel, about two months ago and picked up his new little guy, Vale (pronounced like "Val-ay"), about two weeks ago. Vale is a special puppy because James sponsored him which means he got to name Vale. Vale is a cute little guy. I got to have some puppy lovin' today as he kissed my nose and played with me (I'll let you know later on the other puppy lovin' I got). Alice's(?) puppy is Bailey. She's an adorable yellow lab with such a spirit.

I got to handle Bailey all through the class. She's really a wonderful puppy and is just so eager to please. She reminds me a little of Freya...only not quite as dog distracted. It was a little different than I was used to, but Bailey was such a good girl.

Now, after the first class was over there was coffee and biscuits served. I took this advantage to go over to the baby, 8 week old German Shepherd puppy who came in near the end of the first class (he's in the second class). I can't remember the pup's name, but OH. MY. GOODNESS. He was just adorable. It confirmed my feelings of wanting to request a German Shepherd for the fall. That is until I saw the Golden Retriever/Black Flat Coated Retriever mix. Oh Gosh! He was adorable. So, now I know what two breeds to request. They were both so cute and I can't do either in the states so those are the two I'm aiming for. :-)

There was also an adorable 7 week old golden puppy named Woody. Goodness, he was a doll.

Anyway, I had so much fun and I really felt like I was in my element. I was told I behaved myself (I didn't piddle on the floor, I wasn't too dog distracted, I did was I was told...) so I was welcome back. I also received a little praise about how well I handled Bailey and that she was considered a handful. To be honest, I didn't think she was all that much of a handful.

I'm so excited about going back after my summer holiday is over and I've definitely decided to try this raising thing here. How could I miss an opportunity to raise a Shepherd. And I realised this is what I've been missing and why I haven't felt completely at home. I need a puppy.

First Anniversary

I've been meaning to post this for a while, but things have been a bit crazy around here lately with exams and my parents visiting. So, whenever I sit down to write this I always realised that I was meeting my parents in a few minutes or that I should be studying for an exam. But, I finally have the time.

So, Sunday was Mr.L and Freya's Graduation Anniversary. It's hard to believe that my first puppy has been an official Guide for a whole year now. Especially considering that no one was sure if Freya would actually graduate. I mean, we all knew she loved to work and loved to please, but sometimes her love for bids, squirrels, and other dogs was a bit more potent. But she did it and I couldn't be more happy.

She continues to amaze me in her goofy moments. She's a very fun-lovin' girl, but when it's harness time she's all work. But I hear these stories about her having a goofy moment and it just amazes me. I'm so glad she's out there working and doing what she loves to do (that's one thing that always made me laugh. Some people come up to you and tell you you're abusing the animal. I always tell them that if they see a working dog you can tell that they're enjoying doing their job and that sitting at home alone all day would make them horribly depressed).

So, a little late, but happy anniversary to my first pup and her person. Hope they have many more.

Freya in front of the Korean War Memorial
Freya on the bus
Also on the bus, but in a considerably more comfy spot

A nice shot of her new Korean sign

Freya watches Mr.L "put". Look at that girl who use to have a thing for balls.

I almost (almost) sent them a paper gift for their first anniversary. ;-)

First Phase Report

Rocco 4Y13 LAB M 0

Rocky 4Y14 LAB M 0

How great are these boys!? They're just in Medical evals right now, but I'm sure that they'll both be fine.

Mostly Wordless Wednesday

Pictures of Recall Day...

Rocky, Regis, and Rocco
They stopped Fresno on their way up so Rocco could say "Hey" to his Fresno brothers.
Lance, Colorado, Lunar, and Rocco

Can't tomorrow get here already? :D

Bait Bag Contest/House

Alright, first on the list of "back log". Do you guys remember, way back when, when Mimi and CC Cabana told us about homemade bait bags and within that post was a possibility of winning a homemade bait bag? I know, it was a while ago, but try very hard to remember. You do remember? Well good, cause guess who won the homemade bait bag? That's right! Yours truly here did.

I'm pretty excited about this for various reasons. The first of which is because when I went home over Winter holiday and had Rocco for that month I, of course, had to use my old bait bag. Now, I seem to have bad luck with the bait bags given to me by my club. My first one the clip that allows you to attach it to your body snapped off and the adjustable belt went missing. So, for a while I had to use a very old bait bag that had no external pockets or anything. It was just a bag for kibble. The second one I got (and the one I used for Rocco throughout his time with me), one of the butterfly joints broke almost immediately when I tried to open it. It's not like I wrenched it open or anything. The clips but just have been brittle or something. It didn't really cause a problem so long as I didn't flip the bag completely upside down. If I did, there would be kibble everywhere so I ended having to be real careful where I set it down in the car otherwise I would spent the first 10 minutes of an outing trying to collect all of the kibble that fell from the bag.

The second reason I'm pretty excited about this actually has to do with the second on my list of "back log" posts. I finally found a place to live next year. *FINALLY* I'll be moving in with my friend Lisa. Unfortunately, we couldn't find a four bedroom house in Aberdeen so we did have to split into two groups of two. So, besides the fact that Lisa and I have a really nice flat for next year in a really nice neighbourhood for relatively cheap there's more icing to the cake. The landlady is very, very nice so I told her that I was hoping to raise for Guide Dogs here. Guess what she said! If you guessed that she said that I was crazy for wanting to do that and that she wouldn't allow it in her flat you'd be DEAD WRONG. :D She basically said the opposite. She said that she's very excited that I wanted to do this and that she'd give me full permission to have a puppy (so long as it was a Guide Dog Puppy in Training) while I was leasing from her. Pretty cool huh!? So, this means that I'll be able to use the bait bag for more than just the three months I'm home with my new transfer puppy. I won't have to pack it away for 3 years while I'm here in Scotland. I can bring it with me and use it with the puppy I get here.

To be completely honest, I'm not sure if I will be raising a puppy right away. I know that I'm going to wait until at least mid-October to get the puppy so that Lisa and I have time to settle down in the flat. I want the puppy to be at least 4 months of age by my exams in January so that I don't have to be taking him/her out every 15 minutes to go potty. If I get the puppy in October that solves the exam problem and it also means that I'll have my schedule for next year and I'll have gone through a month or so of classes so I'll know when I can come home to feed the puppy and relieve it because the puppy probably won't be ready to sit through hours of lectures. Of course, puppies do have a wonderful way of surprising us, but still...a 6 week old puppy (yes, puppy walkers get the puppies at 6 weeks here. Whereas back home GDB doesn't usually start sending out puppies until they're 8 weeks of age) in a lecture could be a bad thing. If by October I don't think I'm ready for a puppy I'll wait until the first of December to get one so that I have a month to spend with the puppy while I'm not in classes. The puppy would just have to deal with being in the crate for 2 hours while I took an exam in January. But, it really is up in the air. I want to get a job as well so that I can pay for frivolous things like DVDs and clothes and that means I'd have to look for a job that would allow me to bring a puppy into work. So, lots of stuff to consider, but I'll probably try it. Or, I'll get a job from September to December then get a puppy. Yeah...still up in the air but I'm sure I'll work something out that'll allow me to use this cool homemade bait bag for years to come.

Soooo...

Thanks Mimi and Cabana! I can't wait to see the Bait Bag!

The End of the Beginning

Well, he's up there alright. Lynn drove him up yesterday with his brother Rocky. It's a bittersweet feeling and I won't say that I wasn't sad yesterday, but I spent my few hours sad and crying and now I'm all ready for him to just get through that training. I'm not sad about him being gone anymore (though I am still a little apprehensive since I don't know what's going to happen). But I know that he'll do fantastic once he passes his medicals and that he'll make all of us proud. Gone is the sadness, in comes the impatience.

I don't have pictures of the day yet, but I'm sure I'll get some soon. For now though...I'm going to catch up telling you guys a few things that I've left until after Rocco's recall.

Oh man! Now it's going to seem like Thursday never comes (for those of you who don't know, Thursday is the day that the phase report of every puppy up at formal training comes out).

Last Day

Today is Rocco's last day as a puppy in training. And I for one am glad that the rapture held off for the time being. Not only would the rapture mean no formal training for Rocco, it would also mean no new puppy for me. Yep. Pretty happy the world is still going.

So, I don't have any pictures for today nor do I have much left to say on the subject of Rocco and his recall. What I can say for today is this. I hope he's having a wonderful last day as a puppy in training and that he hasn't chosen today to exhibit a new and strange behaviour.

I can tell you all now that tomorrow is going to be really hard for me. Thankfully, I'll be out most of the day. But in those few moments when I'm home and have my thoughts to myself...well, I'm going to cry.