A Belated Birthday for Rocco

I didn't get a chance to post this up yesterday since I was pretty busy. But yesterday was the boy's 3rd birthday! I can't believe he's already three and has been working for almost a year and a half. It feels like only yesterday that Mary and I drove up to Guide Dogs to pick up our Mr.R, his brother, and a Mr. V.

I remember the sleepless nights of the first few months as Rocco adjusted to his crate and had his vomiting problem. I remember stumbling out of bed in the morning after only an hour of sleep with every intention of roasting him on a spit in the front yard. Then I would open the kennel and that sweet boy would bound out, give me a kiss, and go sit by his leash by the door and all I could think was, "Ok, boy...you may live another day." And that is how his nickname of "boy" was born. He grew to be an amazing dog!

Happy Birthday Rocco!!!

Upon Reflection

So, when my landlord gave me my answer he was over in person to look at some mold that was appearing in my flatmate's room. I was also in the middle of washing the dishes in between studying for two exams this week. So, I guess I was in sort of numb shock. I was so hoping he would say yes. And foolishly I had visions of my birthday gift to me being an email to my supervisor putting in for a puppy as soon as he could get me one. Guess I will settle for some material possession.

Even though I have two more exams in this next week, today was my second one for this week and I finally had time to really think about it. And, I'm confused and sad. Obviously I am sad because I will have no puppy. But also because German Shepherd. *sad face* Now I'm just hoping that GDB back home starts using them again. Haha! We'll see. What confuses me the most is his answer to why he didn't want me to raise. He said, "We just don't think a dog belongs in student residence."

Now, that's fair enough. Really and truly I understand that. You don't know if someone will move in in a few years time that is allergic to dogs or they could ruin the carpet and the students can do that already. But, it makes no sense to use that argument when he's allowing me to board. I've had a puppy here every month. Usually it is just Frankie, but with the prospect of different puppies with different relieving habit coming in and out of the house I just don't see the logical grounds for the argument.

I mean, he came to fix the boiler when I was out and I had left Major home because he would relieve and you always avoid situations where there will definitely be an accident and he didn't even realise that I was on a puppy sit because we keep the house so clean.

I'm not going to bring this up to him because that would be like looking a gift horse in the mouth and I might just get it taken away from me. And obviously, it's his decision as it's his house so I'm not going to push it or anything. So, I'm not complaining. I'm just very confused.

Got My Answer

He said no. What are you gonna do right? All I really wanted was an answer and I got one. Oh well...I guess it was worth a try. He definitely wouldn't have said yes if I never asked. Am I disappointed? Yeah. A lot. It would have been nice to have a puppy around again. Guess I'll just have to wait until I'm done with University. Only a year and a half left. I can do that.

At least I still get to puppy sit. That'll keep me tied over until I can raise again full time.

Fingers Crossed

I approached my landlord again about raising a puppy full time. We'll see what he says. It would be so nice to have a dog around full time again. If he does say no at least I'll still be able to be a sitter. It's not ideal, but at least I'll still have a pup when I need one.

I sent the email about 4 days ago and I haven't heard back as of yet. I hope that means he is thinking it over instead of just saying no immediately. It's hard to be patient sometimes.

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!