Holiday Update

It's been a long time since I last updated. I've been so busy with class work and even now I should be studying for my upcoming exams (yes we have them after the winter holiday). I just haven't been able to bring myself to start though. Maybe it's because I'm still recovering from having to wake up super early everyday for just one class. Or it might be that little black lab sleeping in the corner. Either or really! 

First off I'll start you off with an update from my puppy group back home. Both TITUS and HANK went off for formal training two weeks ago. They are both still in phase 0 which means that they still have to finish up their preliminary health exams. I'm guessing that Christmas may have slowed down all the specialized vets that come in to check their whole body over. My guess though is that they are both free from any dysplasias and the GDB vets check that out themselves.

Titus (black lab) in his kennel run at GDB when he raiser dropped him off.

Hank (black lab) in his kennel run at GDB when his raiser dropped him off.

Also, ELI his phase 8 this week! Good boy! Now he's just waiting for that perfect someone to come along.

Eli (black lab) in his kennel run the day that Hank and Titus were dropped off.

DARRELL was transferred back in October. I know he stayed in California but I just don't remember where. Hope he's doing well in his new raiser home.

We welcomed a female yellow lab named TINA to the group about two weeks ago. She went to a first time raiser. Her parents are Peidmont/Cognac, so if you have littermates we'd love to hear from you! Also, on the 22nd Nita welcomed her second puppy. Another male black lab named CAMINO. His parents are Bosworth/Lucille and we'd also like to hear about his littermates if you know of any. Manda will be getting her 2nd puppy in four days. A female black lab, litter letter "S" born to Sid/Maeve.

Tina (yellow lab) at her first puppy meeting.

Camino (black lab) wearing his itty, bitty puppy vest.

Now on to an update from here. Do you guys remember Vale (pronounced like valley)? Well we found out a few weeks ago that he qualified as a Guide Dog! Hooray! Now, they don't have graduations here. The person who your pup is paired with is given your contact information and if they want to contact you they can. Otherwise, you just have to be content in the fact that your pup is making a difference to someone out there. You do find out where your puppy is guiding though. I think Vale is somewhere in England but I can't really remember.

Frankie is getting bigger every time I see him. I had him for a weekend before the holiday and he came over on Boxing Day to get his present. A new nylabone that he really, really loved. He'll be a year old next month which means turn in day is just around the corner. He's pretty much ready which I can tell by the fact that I don't have anything to talk about in regards to improvement. He really is such a nice dog and is solid as a rock, but also a sweet, sensitive guy. I can't wait to see him again! Probably not until after exams though.

Frankie (yellow lab/golden cross) lying with our little holiday shrubbery.

Finally, I've been puppy sitting a little black named named Major. He's super mellow, super cute, and super sweet. Best part is, he lets me sleep. I mean, as soon I took Freya, Rocco, or Hilly out in the morning it was time to eat and play. Major likes to take a long after breakfast nap in the mornings which means I usually go back to sleep. When he isn't sleeping though, he's a pretty bad garbage mouth. He'll be going back to his raiser today or tomorrow (I honestly can't remember) but I think we'll work on not picking up dropped food, slippers, and my stuffed animals today.

Major (black lab) amoungst his toys.

Major (black lab) sitting patiently in the kitchen for food.

Major (black lab) sitting on his mat in the living room.

Oh, I said finally but I have one last picture to share. Freya got to go on a cruise to Hawaii this December as a GDB alumni cruise. Do you think she enjoyed it?

Freya lying on a deck chair on her back on the cruise ship.

 

Also, while I have no recent picture of her, Hilly is doing really well. We skyped over the holiday and she's loving having all the people coming in and out of the house. She still goes to the church with Marion once or twice a week and is a real help there. She become such a lovely dog and I can't wait to see her again.

A Week at Auntie Erin's

*written by Frankie*

Hi guys! It's Frankie here over at my Auntie Erin's house. I've been here since last Sunday afternoon and I'll be leaving soon, but I didn't want to leave without saying hi to all of the blogging people out there.

On Monday I became a University student and attended my very first University class. I have to say, I don't see what the point is. I tried to pay attention to what was going on, but I just ended up falling asleep. Erin said that I was a good boy though, so I guess that's what normal students do in class too. So for the rest of the day and the rest of the week I just decided to sleep during the lectures and computer classes. Monday was the busiest day with four whole hours of class, but Erin said that I was such a good boy ALL day long. And I have a whole fan club of girls that like to "ooo" and "awww" at me. I decided to strut my stuff a little for the ladies. My overall thought on University is that I really, really like it and I can't wait to go back hopefully sometime in December. Though, I wasn't too big on having to wake up and get going early. But some mornings I would have to poke Erin to wake up because she would sleep through her alarm.

We haven't done much else this week. Erin has two papers to write so she's been working a lot, but school is just SO tiring that while she's working at home I usually take a nap until it's time to take Erin for her afternoon walk.

A couple of times we went on a free run in the park and we had so much fun! But, apparently it's not good to find a giant puddle created by the rain, jump in it, and gulp a bunch of murky puddle water. Erin threatened to give me a bath if I got any dirtier so I stayed away from the mud after that because I didn't want a bath.

Erin also said that she was really impressed with my lefts, rights, and finds. I can lead her home everytime and even without her asking I lead her to the correct classroom for our Thursday lecture. Once she even said left when I knew she meant right so I gave her a funny look and took us the right way.

We had a lazy Saturday, though we did have to go to the store in morning to get some food. It was a little boring, but there was this one guy who petted me without asking and Erin turned around to politely say that she preferred if people asked first since I was working and needed to focus on her when he got all...what Erin calls "lippy" with her. That was a little exciting. And then last night I got to go to my first rolpelying session. I wanted to play a dwarf, but there was already one in the party so I decided just to have a nice four hour nap.

Me asleep in the lecture hall during my first class on Monday

Me sleeping in our two hour workshop on Monday

Me with both paws on Erin's bed because I've just had to poke her with my nose to wake her up

Me running and leaping through the leaves during a free run

Me sitting by a tree next to the river

Me being a good boy at the roleplaying session

Puppy Club Update

It's time once again to update on how PWAP is doing back home. I still miss the people and the pups a whole lot, but at least I still get to run the facebook page. Which, by the way, if you haven't "liked" it yet you should head over there and do that. We're so close to 300 fans and would love to reach that goal by the end of the year. But enough of advertising and on to the update.

SHEP was Career Changed about a month ago. Meghan has adopted him so at least I'll get to see him again when I'm home over the summer. He's also started fly ball classes. If you don't know what that is, I would suggest looking it up on youtube. It's pretty cool. Glad Sheppy gets to stay with group!

Shep in his Pet Ambassador Scarf

ELI headed off for formal training about two weeks ago. He's now in phase 1! For those of you who don't know what that means, it means that he's passed all of his preliminary health exams! Which means that there is a good chance that this boy will go on to be a Guide. He was always just one of the those puppies. Good luck Eli! We're all rooting for you.

Eli looking regal next to a lake before heading off for training

A day or two before Eli was taken up to GDB for training, Jen and her family got a new puppy off the puppy trukc. Please welcome yellow lab male KENO! His parents are David and Stacy and I think he's such a cutie. It's hard to think that the first time I see him will be when he's about a year old.

Keno the day he got off the puppy truck

We also got one more puppy. In fact, he only arrived yesterday. Emily and Meghan will be starting this little guy and then when Marley heads off for formal training he'll be transferring to Mary and Brenna. Welcome male golden retriever SAM! He's a super cutie and I'm, as always, terribly jealous of all the new puppies. I think it's safe to say that I want one.

Sam the day he arrived

That's all from my group back home. Frankie is coming to visit tomorrow for a whole week since I finally got permission to bring him to lectures with me. I'm so happy that I'll he's coming for a visit!

Guide Dog Week

I was so happy on Thursday for a number of reasons. For one, it was Freya's birthday and I always love having another year go by where all I hear is good things. And the second was that I was volunteering at the booth for Guide Dog Week here in Scotland. That meant I would get to see "my boy" Frankie.

I got to the mall a little early so I decided to sit down, have some coffee, and work on a paper for my psychological assessment class. When I was packing up to head to the upper level I noticed Frankie and his raiser talking with someone a little down the way. Now, the past few times Frankie has seen me he's gone a little nuts so I wanted to see what would happen if I fell in stride with them while they were walking. Now, it had been about a month since I had seen Frankie, so I did expect a little excitement. I definitely did not expect the greeting I received. I swear, he threw a little conniption fit. As soon as he saw me he lunged towards me and just would not settle. When I stepped a ways back to ignore him so he realised I wouldn't say hi until he calmed down, he started barking and scrambling towards me. While I know he was being really naughty I kinda felt a little loved and like I had been missed.

Anywho, he settled a tiny bit so I got to take his leash and say hi to the goof ball and then we headed upstairs. We were joined by a woman and her Guide Dog Yoosif (I think that's how it's spelled). He was such a handsome boy and they had just become a team in September. They seemed like a really good match. We all sat there and took donations and handed out fliers and let people say hi to both Frankie and Yoosif. At one point I went off to use the restroom and when I was leaving Yoosif's handler asked if she could get a picture with both Frankie and Yoosif with her. So, I handed the leash over and trotted off to the bathroom. When I got back they were still trying to take the picture and they had a perfect pose, but when Frankie saw me coming he went nuts and all I could think was, "Frankie you bad boy. You're with someone who's actually blind right now!" So I quickly walked the other direction and hid behind a pillar...all the time Frankie looking for me. They got the picture though after I was hidden.

Yoosif, the beautiful, black lab

For those of you who have been asking me about what harnesses look like here, I finally got a nice picture of one courtesy of Yoosif. The body bit is made out of white leather with the blue GDBA logo and a nice big yellow reflector in the front. The harness is removable and is make of yellow and black plastic. Yoosif had a handle sign telling people to back off...but nicer.

Tired Yoosif.

My Frankie boy. He's grown so much since the last time I saw him.

Why is Frankie making that ridiculous smile. Because he was actually telling me what he thought of me getting onto one knee when I wasn't going to be playing with him. Silly boy.

I think my favourite part of the day though is when a small child...definitely older than one but couldn't have been two came over and sat down right next to Frankie. He looked up and totally ignored this baby. In fact he continued to ignore him while the baby played with his legs, tail, and ears. Such a good boy.

After our shift was over we headed to the other mall. I wasn't signed up for a shift there but I wanted to be a little social since I missed the last meeting and see the new puppies in the area and see the "big" Guide Dog week set up. When we got there we saw training giving out blindfolded walks with dogs that were in training. I've done Juno walks back home and I've been wanting to do one here for such a long time to feel the difference in harnesses and what not. So, I got in line and got to do a walk with a beautiful border collie/golden retriever mix named Quaker. It was so much fun and he was such a good boy. He could guide me any time.

Me and Quaker. It's a little dark, but you sort of see him.

After that I was dying of hunger so I headed home. All in all, a good day. I don't quite understand why Frankie reacts the way he does with me. I don't have him for very long when I do have him and it's only been three or four times. But he apparently loves me. Not that I don't adore him, because I do. I love his little golden needy side that climbs into my lap when I'm on the floor and I love his confident lab side that can handle anything you throw at him. I guess I should just feel loved and not wonder why. I do have to say, if he was mine and was dropped I would have a hard time not keeping him. And I do miss him when I don't have him.

Happy Birthday Freya!

Happy Birthday to You!
Happy Birthday to You!
Happy Birthday dear Freya!!!
Happy Birthday to you!



A birthday collage for Freya featuring pictures of her on her first, second, and third birthdays.

As you may be able to tell, today is Freya's birthday. She turns 4 today! Thank you Freya for being...well not the perfect first puppy but my first puppy. You got me hooked. Happy birthday Freya! I know your fam has spoiled you today.

New Photos of Freya

I love getting photos from Freya and her family. Absolutely LOVE it! I especially loved these as they show how far Freya has really come since she was a puppy. Freya was my love and she took a piece of my heart with her. But I wouldn't trade getting these pictures for anything in the world.

 

Freya taking a rest with her doggie friends. That's right. A REST.

Freya playing with her doggie friends.

Freya laying down with her doggie friend. That's right. LAYING DOWN.

One of my absolute favourites. Freya on her back being held by Mr.L.

Also, speaking of my pups. I had a Skype call with my father and even though I got my webcam and microphone fixed, Skype still wasn't letting me turn on my video (I'm a little annoyed). So my dad propped the tablet on the floor next to Hilly and Arwen while we talked. They came up to the tablet and sniffed and Hilly started wagging her tail a few times. I think it's fair to say my dad knows me well.

Nostalgia, Scared, and other Feelings

I'm just so...I guess the word is tired. I'm tired of my position with Guide Dogs right now. And I'm tired of really not being able to do anything about it.

I know that not raising a puppy full time is good for me. Really I do. And if I didn't I could find a way around it. So, let's not confuse my tiredness with angry or frustrated or even unhappiness. I'm enjoying my break from raising full time and I'm happy with being a boarder. And I more than love my Frankie-boy! If I were raising full time I wouldn't be able to spend time with my Frankie! But, there are times when I want a puppy of my own around to motivate me to do better or to make me feel like I'm worth something or just to have anything life form around in the house that can't talk or make me feel bad about myself. I know that sounds like I'm unhappy, but these instances are far and few between. I guess I'm not really tired of position with Guide Dogs. What I'm really tired of is feeling these momentary lapses of judgement where I think, "Raising a full time puppy! Now there's a good idea!" For those of you out there who are one a break right now, do you feel them too sometimes? I have to admit, if my landlord hadn't said specifically no full time puppies I probably would have broken down by now. Haha! It's funny to think that all of my strength is coming from a piece of paper I signed.

As for my puppy group, I love being in charge of the facebook page. Publicity is as big a part of puppy raising groups as anything else. How else would we get people to come to our fund raising events? I really feel like I've helped a little when I work on the facebook page. So that's not the problem. The problem is that this summer I came home and someone from the group asked me, "So, have you raised a puppy before." *shocked face* It totally took me for a loop and I almost wanted to shout, "Has no one been talking about me?!" Haha! I suppose that's my own vanity, but still...I was slightly taken aback by the question. And there lies the problem. I feel almost like a stranger when I get back. Everything and everyone is new. This summer really wasn't too bad because Alicia was there and we went to school together so there was more to talk about than just puppy raising and she knew all of my pups.

And it's not like I don't like meeting new people and bragging about my past puppies to them. I really, really do. But I kinda feel like an old lady. *In old lady voice* "When I started puppy raising you had to have special permission from your CFR to use the food protocol. And not every puppy had to wear the gentle leader." In some cases I'm also confused. *continues in voice* "What is the new fangeled idea?" Haha! I don't think I'm allowed to feel old at this age.

I do think that being involved with GDBA here has caused some of the confusion. I'll be standing there telling the pups, "Busy busy!" before I realise that that's NOT their command to go to the bathroom. Or I'll say "left!" and wonder why a puppy who's older than a year doesn't know their directions yet...and then I realise we don't teach them that in the states. *face palm* I did feel pretty bad for Crescent a few times those first few hours together when I got a little agitated before I realised it was me and not her.

I guess what I'm feeling is scared. In two years I have to make the decision to stay here or go back to the states. At the moment, the states is winning just based on the fact that there is nothing keeping me here (which I'm really hoping some people out there are happy about). Now you might be thinking that two years is a long time away. But let me remind you that I've been in Scotland for two years and they've gone by at light year speed. And if I go back to the states and start raising again...will I have to start from scratch? Will we have stopped using the word 'sit'?! What if we start training ponies!? So much can happen and I don't want to be the little, old lady who uses techniques from the past.

I kinda want this feeling of scared to go away. I don't think it will. But I'd at least like it to stop manifesting itself in my feelings towards Guide Dogs. I know what I'm feeling when I sit down and think about it, but when the feelings are fleeting it's hard to tell the difference between "scared of the real world" and "I just want a puppy". I suppose I'm tired of feeling scared.

Grown ups out there...did you guys feel scared when you were nearing entering the real world and did you try to stay a child by hanging onto something that you had done when you were younger?

I hope that this wasn't a downer for anyone. I've just suddenly realised that I am graduating in less than two years and then I'll be a real live grown up. I guess...at least Hilly will be there for me. *smiles*