A Quick Hilly Update

Before I begin to tell the woes of Hilly, let me just say that Dulcie is super cute and she knows it! She thinks she is hot stuff...until she hears a dog bark or sees a trash can. Then she remembers that she's just a wee thing. Otherwise, she's a bold puppy. Right now she's at a puppy sitters while Mary is in San Rafael for Marley's graduation tomorrow (YAY!!!). We decided it would be easier for her to transfer to me on Sunday when Mary gets back since she's too young and shotless to attend graduation and there was no one in town her could watch her while I attended as well. So, Sunday is the day. Looking forward to it.

Now, on to Hilly.

I don't really know where to start. Ah, of course. This poor, poor dog. Seriously, my heart breaks for her. She's definitely had a rough time of things lately and is handling it like the little trooper she is.

For those of you who are new to the blog, Hilly was my third guide dog puppy. She was transferred to me at about 15 months old in the summer between first and second year of University (seems so long ago now...) for severe dog distractions. She came so close, but really never got over them and was career changed that August. In those short couple of months I had fallen head over heels for her and my parents agreed to watch her for me while I was still attending University. Of course, when I adopted her and convinced my parents to watch her I had no idea that she was going to break.

Hilly had always had food issues. I heard that the reason she hadn't been spayed before coming to me was that they were waiting for her to have solid stools...or at least not have diarrhea. When I had her she didn't have a great tummy, but she rarely had an upset tummy. But still, we had to be careful what we fed her. So, when she started having reoccurring ear infections, I suppose it was safe to assume that it was some kind of food allergy.

Let me explain. A couple months ago, when I was talking to my parents on Skype, I noticed that Hilly was shaking her head a lot and that Rosie was very, very interested in cleaning her ears. I told them to get her checked out by the vet since it seemed like she may have something in her ears. Turns out, she had an infection. The vet put some of this goopy, waxy medicine in her ears and they were on their way. Well, a few weeks later they were back at the vet because the ear infection hadn't gone away. Once again they put that goopy stuff in her ears. A couple of weeks later they were back because it had come back and once again they just filled her ears with the goop and put her on prescription food. That was probably a good idea as it really seemed like that goopy ear medicine wasn't working. The fourth time she went in they put more goopy stuff in her ears and gave her some antibiotics.

So, here I am, helping her finish off her antibiotics whilst feeling indignant that they tried this stuff not once, but four times. They even tried it twice before they thought of something else. She is doing better now on the prescription food and the antibiotics, but my only concern is that I'm pulling a whole bunch of gunk out of her ears and that when she's done with the antibiotics there's a good possibility that the ear infection will come back. I have a follow up visit on Wednesday where I am going to discuss the possibilities of putting her on an antihistamine and possibly getting some allergy tests run. I know they are fairy pricey things to get done, but I don't want her to go her whole life on this icky prescription food if she doesn't need it. I'd like to know what food she is allergic to so that I can get her on the raw food diet.

Why don't I want her on this prescription food you ask? It's helping her feel better you say? Yes, it has helped a little. The problem with it is that there is no oil to it so Hilly's skin is dry and her coat is brittle and a little dull. We use to give her salmon oil with her food to help with coarse fur (the only downside to the black lab), but we don't know if she's allergic to that. You begin to understand why I want allergy tests performed yes? Well, not only does it make her skin dry, but she's got hot spots. I mean, sure why not? She's already got icky ears, why not throw in a couple of hot spots too right?

So, she's on antibiotics, prescription food, and she's got some spray for each of her little hot spots.

Like I said, she's handling this all in stride. She gets a little annoyed when I try to go and spray her but she lets me eventually if there is a treat (prescription mind you) involved. But she's a pretty happy dog despite all of the head shaking and hot spots and icky prescription food. Hopefully there will be answers when we go to the vet on Wednesday.

Confessions of a Puppy Raiser: One Year Ago

A year ago today Hilly had her last evaluation with my CFR, Jim. I don't think I've ever really posted about what happened that sealed Hilly's fate as a Career Change. When I last posted about Hilly's last eval I sort of fudged the truth a little. I didn't lie...I just didn't tell the whole truth.

Note: This is a long post. If you get half way through it and think "This is long!" it's because it is. So,

you've been warned.

We had just gotten back into town after being in Ashland, Oregon for a little over a week for the Shakespeare Festival. When driving to the eval I thought that my part in Hilly's training was over. That no matter what, I could not influence her future in the Guide Dog program. Mostly because, I knew what the outcome of the eval would be.

As always, I arrived early. This time though, I didn't just allow and extra ten to twenty minutes to allow me time to find a parking space (sometimes the parking is REALLY bad). Instead, I got to the mall about half an hour early. It only took me ten minutes to find parking, but after that, I just sat in the car with Hilly. I knew I would need this time. At some point I started to cry. Not the deep shaking sobs that would come later that day, just silent tears. Mostly, they were of frustration and anger at myself. Like I said, I knew what Jim would say...even if he didn't know it yet. As I was sitting there starring at a tree, I felt Hilly stirring next to me (the back seat of my little Mini Cooper was a little messy so Hilly was on the floorboard in the front seat). I looked over and saw her resting her head between the gear sift and the emergency break like she always did. But this time, instead of sleeping, she was looking up at me. She was bored. Bored of being a Puppy in Training and ready to move on. And she was tired. Tired of me trying to make her into something she wasn't. I invited her up on the seat which she cautiously took; always prepared to for the set up she was. When she was eye level with me I told her how proud I was of her and held her for just a little while.

It took me about fifteen minutes to compose myself so that I could walk in through the mall doors with confidence. (It just wasn't time for everyone else to know.) So, even though I arrived half an hour early, I was pushing time a little when I finally found Mary and Jim. Before Jim started asking about Hilly, we all took a walk. Now, some people get really nervous around Jim, but I don't. I hadn't been nervous at an eval since my very first one. But I was on that day. It's ture that Jim is kinda a grumpy gus sometimes and he is pretty "strict", but he's a really good CFR. He doesn't make snap decisions and trusts the puppy raiser's judgement on their own puppy. Anyway, we finished the walk and went back to the food court.

That's when Jim started grilling me on Hilly. I told him all of her wonderful qualities and about the HUGE progress she had made since she came off the puppy truck. Then he took her from me and checked how she was with handling and how she walked on a flat leash. She did great during both. Then Jim brought her back to me and I put her back in a down under our table. That's when Jim surprised me and said something like, "She seems all ready so I'll just put her on the next recall in two weeks." He started scribbling her recall date on his sheet of paper as I sat there momentarily in shock.

What happened next was kind of like an out of body experience. Remember, I was pretty sure my part in this little show was over; that I wouldn't have to say anything. My spirit...or the part of me that wanted nothing more for Hilly to go back in for training floated out of my body and was forced to watch in horror. Forced to watch as the words came spilling out of my mouth. Those words that I never thought I would have to say.
"I can't let you do that Jim..."

Jim and Mary both looked a little surprised...I guess I probably did too. I had to tell him about how Hilly was unreliable, how she talks to you when she sees a dog, and how she was great with GDB pups but not with strange dogs. I spoke fast and didn't meet his eyes. I didn't want to have tell him what had happened in Ashland. Luckily, I didn't have to. He agreed with me that dogs that were exhibiting her kind of behaviour couldn't usually make it to being a Guide Dog. And with that it was done. My spirit watched as Jim changed "Recall" to "Career Change" and it sort of whithered. He told me how he never thought she would ever get to the point she was at now and said that if she had one more month he thought I could get her further. I'm pretty sure he meant it too. Jim doesn't just throw around compliments. Even still, my confidence had vanished.

Then we left. I cried. I cried hard. We sat in the car for five minutes before I thought I was safe enough to drive. I think Mary knew something happened in Ashland because a week and a half later she asked, "What happened in Ashland?" I guess she knows me and how I wouldn't have ever taken her off of a recall for anything less than something horrible happening.

So, here's how I knew what would happen at that meeting. I didn't want to be the one to say it, but I knew that she wouldn't be going back in for training. In Ashland, there is something called "the Green." It's a square patch of grass in between the three theaters where there are free shows before the ticketed shows begin. Since it's outside, people are allowed to bring their pets and are always quite a few dogs out there enjoying the sun and being able to get out of the house. We found a nice place on the grass away from dogs which Hilly had maneuvered around without too much fuss which made me pretty proud. We'd been watching for about half an hour when it happened. Hilly had been doing so good all day and she was just lying on my left dead asleep, so I let my guard down just a little and enjoyed the show. All of a sudden I felt a pull to my left and I was suddenly lying on the ground. Hilly had apparently lost her little labby mind and was going nuts, but I couldn't see why right away. Hey! I suddenly found myself starring up at the sky instead of at the musical performance. I quickly pulled her back to me and put her in a restrained calming sit. This means that her body was in my lap, one hand was under her resisting chin, and the other was holding her body so that she had my body and my hand pressing on their side of her. I somehow managed to breathe calmly until Hilly was under control...which took a good five minutes. At that point I asked my mom what had happened and she pointed to the left. A new dog had come and sat about five feet away from us. My heart kinda broke right then and there, but there was still a little hope left that it was a one time deal and I could just overlook it. I set her on my right and didn't have an issue the rest of the night. Unfortunately, that incident made her take ten steps back. She was whining harder and louder than ever when she saw another dog and she had started to lunge again. She had given up and, to be honest, somewhere in that week and a half I did too.

Ignoring dogs just isn't who Hilly is and she made her choice. I would have been a bad raiser to have ignored it.

I'm still hurting from it a little. My confidence hasn't completely come back as a puppy raiser and I second guess myself more often than I should. That will come back with time and possibly another full time puppy. There are even still times when I wonder if I made the right choice to stop Jim. Of course these times usually come right before Hilly does something incredibly stupid that reminds me why she should never ever be in charge for someone else's safety.

Hilly still talks to you when she sees a dog she wants to say hi to. She still thinks that stalling cars are the coolest thing ever and will jump up and down and all around to see if they'll play with her. She is still stubborn about sniffing something until SHE is done sniffing it. Now, I'm still upset that she didn't make it, but I'm more happy that she's mine.

Puppy Group Updated

I know I've been a little M.I.A. recently, but I suppose that's what happens when you're busy. I got home (as in USA home) last Monday and I have some great pictures of Hilly and Fienna when Fienna came over for a play day. But, I'll have to post those up tomorrow or Thursday because today's post is all about Terrence.

Terrence was a male black lab who was a part of my puppy group until mid May when he was transferred to Lynn (Lynn you might all remember was who finished Rocco). Not long after his transfer he was Career Changed. He's just one of those dogs who just wasn't ever really meant to be a Guide Dog and he made that very clear. It's definitely always better that that happens before they go back for training. Anyway. his raiser here decided to put him up for community placement in hopes that he could become a different kind of service animal.

Now, have you ever met one of those dogs who are obsessed with nearly everything they can play with (and some things they can't) and are semi impossible to handle? Well, that was Terrence. A wild child. What Freya could have been had she not decided she liked Guiding (hooray for super duper hard puppies as first puppies!). Of course, you may wonder, what kind of service animal could he be as he is so hyper and so obsessive? A Search and Rescue dog of course!

We got word about a week ago that Terrence had passed GDB's search and rescue dog evals and that he would be heading for his official test. About a week after that we heard that he passed his official search and rescue dog test and would start training immediately! So, Terrence is now in training as a Search and Rescue Dog with the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation (NDSDF)! It's a huge achievement because the NDSDF only have about 20 working dogs at one time so they're super picky. Terrence is also the first PWAP puppy who has been chosen as a Search and Rescue Dog!

I think it just goes to show you that every dog has their calling. Good Job Terrence!

Please Help Bring a Puppy Home for Thanksgiving

I could lie and say that blogger was in a poopy mood last night and wouldn't let me publish, but I just didn't get home in time to write a post last night. Ah, well. I had one all lined up so, I'll post the one I had set up for yesterday and the phase report for today.

Yesterday I saw a disturbing status update from Guide Dogs for the Blind. So, I'm posting this up to get the word around to help get a Career Change home for Thanksgiving.

If you live near the Portland, Oregon please be on the look out for JAMAICA. She is a career change Black Lab puppy from GDB and she got lose and is now missing. She was last seen on November 19. Her ID tage number is 47V0. She weighs about 50 lbs and has some white hairs on her stomach. If you come across a puppy of this discription please call Andy Fitzgerald at 510-418-9863.

Thanks guys! Let's hope we can get her home in time for the Turkey.

Good Byes

Good byes are never easy even for people like me who say good bye often. I've been asked a few times if saying good bye gets easier. I think it gets harder with each puppy to be honest.

This summer, when I left, I knew that it was going to be my last good bye to Lance, Luther, and possibly Danvers. It was hard to do, but I did it. Now, Luther was CC'd about a month ago and is still at GDB waiting to be placed (or so we think; they go into a black hole when they're back at GDB for placement and we don't hear anything until a month after they're placed). I didn't devote a whole post to Luther because...not because I didn't know him well or didn't like him or anything. But, I guess, because it's what was fair to him. He was stressed when working and so it didn't seem so much of a shame but more a relief. A relief that he's out there now. finding his people who he will make very happy as he was one special boy.This feels a little more sad.  

I didn't know when I left that I would be saying good bye for the last time to Snyder. I hope you all remember Snyder. He was this cutie patootie...



Snyder at 8 weeks old in my backyard. He was such a good puppy to puppy sit.

  Who turned into this handsome young man...

Snyder in August at Rocco's graduation. He's so handsome.

Snyder had many nicknames; Little Piggy, Mini Rocco, and Mr. Turtle are the most well known. He was called Mr. Turtle because he was so slow. He was so slow because he limped. He was diagnosed with really bad Pano and went on anti-inflammatory pills. Unfortunately, it didn't get any better he was sent up to Guide Dogs to get everything checked out.

We found out that Snyder was Career Changed due to severe bilateral elbow dyplasia in his front legs. This means that both of his front legs have it. He also has arthritis and will have to have one of his elbows operated on. He will be ten months old tomorrow. Just ten months! I was a little shattered when i heard the news. Snyder is one of those male dogs that I could have and be perfectly happy with. I enjoyed sitting him every chance I got. I'm beyond sad that I don't get to say a proper good bye to Snyder.

At least he's in good hands up at Guide Dogs. I'll let you know when we hear anything about him.

I'll be seeing ya Mr. Turtle.

Hilly's an Official Ambassador

Hilly at PWAP's fundraiser. She's laying down with her Pet Ambassador scarf on and being a very, very good girl.

Guess who is GDB's newest Pet Ambassador? That's right! HILLY!!!!!! I'm pretty excited that her pet ambassador scarf finally came. I'm also a little disappointed that I won't be there to take her to any fun Pet Ambassador gigs for a while. I'll be back over the summer but the jury is still out as to whether or not I'll be back over Winter Break. We'll see. At least I know that she's happy and healthy back home. I've been told she and Rosie play day and night, nonstop!

I don't have much to report about GDB over here. There hasn't been any more fundraising events since the last one and I'm still trying to stay strong and not put in a puppy app until January. I won't lie, it's getting harder by the day. Not only did little "Eli" arrive in the group two weeks ago but Meghan and Emily are getting another puppy in just three and a half weeks! Puppies, puppies everywhere but not a ball of fur to cuddle.

Hilly's Last Meeting

This was a very special meeting for Hilly. We have a tradition that we celebrate when a puppy in our group moves on into the next phase of their lives. This is a tradition that I started over a year ago. I'm pretty proud of myself for starting the tradition of cookies or other such treats to celebrate our dogs. Today's meeting was Hilly's special celebration. I even made her a nice cake and everything. Check it out!

Hilly's cake. It says, "Proud to be a Career Change"

"But wait Erin," you say, "I thought you said that Jim was really proud of Hilly's progress?" Indeed Jim was. He was very impressed with how far Hilly came. He even went as far as to compliment me...TWICE (if you know Jim you know he can be a little negative at times, but all for the right reasons). The problem is that Hilly just couldn't get to the end. She overcame so, so much in the short time that I had her and I think she could have gotten to a recall if I had her for a little longer.

I'll tell you what happened. Jim was all set to put her ont he September 5 recall. He even had "recall Sept. 5" written on his paper. Then he just had to ask how she was with dogs she didn't know well. I wasn't about to lie to him, so I told him the honest truth. The truth apparently wasn't good enough to keep her on that recall. So...oh well. She was officially CC'd for being "unreliable." That just means that she would sometime react around dogs and sometimes wouldn't. She chose specific dogs to act crazy around too. Mostly little dogs or dogs with pointy ears. She would whine. You can't have a dog in harness whining because they're not aloud to play with the other dog.

In truth, by the end of the week he gave me to see if I could work some miracle, I didn't think it was the right choice. She was showing little improvements every day. I won't lie and say that I think she definitely would have graduated, but I would have liked to see what would have happened once she got into formal training. But, I'll never get that chance so there's no use in dwelling on it right?

What I know now is that Hilly is my first Career Change and is my forever girl. Check out her blog to keep up with her.

Rockford Update :-(

This is the title of an email I got from my leader about a week ago now. I always know what this mean when a puppy is Rockford's age.

So you've all probably guessed it too (or if you're really astute you will have noticed over in my phase tracker). Rockford has been Career Changed. It's a hard thing to accept because I saw such wonderful improvements in him from itty bitty puppy to a puppy ready for training. But we all knew that he would have fun in formal training for a while, but then he would start to get stressed when the trainers started to push him. He is just scared of...well, the whole world really. Me and his raiser used to joke that the world was a big, scary place for a puppy. They've decided to keep him as their pet and I think that's it's the perfect job for Rockford. I hear he's already enjoying being a pet dog. It also means that me and his raiser will get to take walks with Rockford and Arwen over the summer. Rockford loves Arwen. Then again, he loves every girl he meets. We've tried to tell him he's not suppose to roll that way anymore, but boys will be boys.

His family is going to get the female black lab on February 9th. So, if you haven't guessed already, go to the Name Game post and guess the little girl's name. :-)

Royalty is Home

Royalty came home on the puppy truck on the 29. She was so very happy to be home and probably more happy to get off that bus! Haha! :D

Here's Royalty in her cage on the Truck.
Royalty says "Hello" to Mary and her raiser.
Still as prim and proper as always.

Look at that tail!

Our group is back down to no female puppies. It's sad to think about, but that's because I prefer the females. Not that I don't love Rocco to death, but I definitely prefer female puppies. Anyway, we're all glad she's home with her raisers. :)

Holiday Giveaway, New Year's Puppy Swap, Sad News, and a Not so Worldless Wednesday

Gosh! I was going to take a break from blogging for a while, but so many things came up at once. Where were you guys in November I ask you? Anyway, let's start off with...

Holiday Giveaway!!!! done by Mr. Rudy who is a Guide Dog in training, but not with GDB. He's with Southeastern Guide Dogs (correct me if I'm wrong Rudy). Rudy is a handsome guy who just a bit younger than my Rocco. So go check out his blog with instructions on how to win his Holiday Giveaway! And, why not become a follower as well? He is pretty darn cute. It closes on the 15th so you better hurry!

Next let's go with the New Year's Puppy Swap. This is a very cool and wonderful idea thought up by (well, I don't know if she's the first person ever to think of this but it's the first I've heard about it) Brittany on Through Labs' Eyes. Basically, you get paired up with another blogger and you two send each other gifts for the humans and the people. I think it's a wonderful idea to get to know a blogging friend better. So, if you're interesting in making a new friend (both human and dog wise) then head over to her blog to check it out. :)

And now, I have to get on with the bad news. So, my leader has this great way of telling us of the dog's progress once they are in formal training. If they're going strong she'll send us the phase report and nothing will be beside the name. But, if something has happened she'll put a sad face next to the names. So, when I got an email yesterday that said "Royalty Update :-(" I knew something was wrong. In my naivety I thought, aw, she's been cut from breeding so there won't be any Royalty puppies. So, I was already a little down. Then I read through the whole message and got not only a little down, but very sad. Royalty was a puppy who came ready to be a Guide...or a Breeder. She's the perfect puppy and always has been. I can't ever think of a more well mannered puppy. It only seems right that Royalty, the dog who never had any real issues, would be CC'd for hip dysplasia. That's right, Royalty was Career Changed. This is the second dog in a row for my group to be dropped for some sort of dysplasia. Now, you might be thinking, "Erin, you weren't this sad when Collie was CC'd." Not true. I was, but in a different way. Collie was a dog you had to work with as most goldens are. Royalty came ready to work. There's a bit of a difference. But I'm just as sad because both of them liked to work and liked to be around their people and won't have the chance to work because of a medical reason. It's all very sad. But she'll make someone a wonderful pet!

And now, a break from blogging I think.

Another Colorado Update

Hey guys! I received word from Mary yesterday that D4D is coming down to have a look at Collie. We're not sure when they'll get around to doing this but when Mary asked Jim if he thought that Colorado would make a good candidate he said that they wouldn't even be wasting their time if they didn't think that Colorado was the kind of dog they were looking for. So, big hopes for the Fluff Ball!

A Colorado Update

Mary spoke with the head vet up at GDB and passed along the information to all of us so I thought I would pass it along to all of you.

Colorado has a very, very small case of elbow dysplasia in his front right leg. This, while it shouldn't really bother him later in life, rules him out as a Guide because pulling on the harness would irritate his leg and eventually cause him pain. He said that they rate dysplasia from 1 to 3 and Collie is a 1. So, that's quite a relief. He said that he should be fine and happy the rest of his life as long as he stays lean (no extra treats for Colorado) and doesn't fetch or jump for things like frisbees.

All in all, not really a bad case. This might mean that he is still eligible for the D4D programme or any other community placement. I'm glad there's a chance he might still be out there making some one's life all that much easier. But if he comes home as a pet that's wonderful too!

I Hate Bad News

Sometimes when you're a puppy raiser you sometimes have to hear or deliver bad news. This is one of those times for both me and you.

Mary, you all know Mary, she's my leader and "co-raised" (I really took him once summer started but she was a giant help during the school year) Rocco with me. Well, he Puppy who just left for formal training has been Career Changed. Any of you guess what puppy it is? Yep, Colorado...it's a sad day. Mary got the call from Jim telling her he had been cc'd for medical issues. My Fluff has elbow displasia. She's waiting to see if he can be offered for Community Placement and if he can he would go to the D4D programme though she hopes that he might be able to be a K9 Buddy. If he can't be Placed then he's coming home and she's placing him with a family near by.

That's the sad bit of news for the day. Collie would have definitely been a wonderful Guide! I was really looking forward to his graduation. But, I suppose that's the joy of medical CC's right? You can always say that your puppy definitely would have made it if it hadn't been for his/her health. Sometimes though, when the puppy is as good as Colorado, they're the hardest.

Townsend

It occurs to me that I rarely talk about my puppy meetings and my puppy group. So instead of telling you all about my hiking trip with Rocco today, I'm going to talk about my group.

Today was a very special puppy meeting. At least, it was special for me.

My group is comprised of 8 wonderful puppies and their raiser. There's Winston, a yellow lab male Jenkins/Bubbles puppy who is one of my personal favourites. Probably because his raiser and I shared a room during Fun Day last year and Winston and I got really close. Then there's Tomales, a black lab male Bingham/Raven puppy. He's a great puppy but he can be a little naughty. Then there's Colorado a male golden retriever CCI Zorba/Garcelle puppy. I love him! But I love Goldens. Royalty is a female Atrus/Indiana puppy. She's a black lab so of course I love her. Then there's Rockford. He's a yellow lab male Samuel/Sarita puppy and he and Rocco could be twins. Next up is Amici. He's a black lab male Cabby/Robin puppy. He's so mellow and sweet and I really like him. Then is Kendrick who is just about 2 weeks younger than Amici. He's a yellow lab male Dutch/Gracie puppy. He's quite the sweetheart. Then there's my puppy Rocco.

You might have noticed that this blog post is titled "Townsend" and yet you did not hear me mention a Townsend yet.

Last June we received three new puppies. This was a joy for me because our consisted of Freya and Harvard for the longest time until finally we got Winston. Then these three puppies, Tomales and Townsend (yes they're brothers) and Colorado. I immediately fell in love with the little one named Townsend. Now this is not something that I have ever said to anyone, but I figure it is right to mention it now. Townsend was my favourite of the three new pups. That's really impressive for Townsend seeing as Colorado came with him and I'm a big Golden Retriever person. But no, I fell head over heals for the little black lab. And I say little because it wasn't until recently that he started to fill out. He's always been lanky and thin.

Well, the reason that could not mention Townsend in the list of puppies is because he was just Career Changed. He never went off to "doggie college" but it was determined that he wasn't happy working and that it was no longer fair for us to ask him to do something that made him stressed and nervous. I was very sad when I heard the news so I can't even imagine what his raisers were going through. I even started to cry...and when someone asked me about my group I said, "Well, my group has 9...8 puppies." I again started to cry.

So that is why today was a special puppy meeting. It was Townsend's first meeting as a pet. Yes, his raisers decided to keep him on as a pet. He was so happy and so relaxed. It was great to see him so happy and carefree. So I make him up a goodie bag. He got some of my homemade treats because he's a pet now and can have biscuits. And I made some cupcakes for the group.

If you can't read what these say it's, "PROUD TO BE A CAREER CHANGE"

This one (or should I say these?) says "WE <3>

Here are some pictures of Townsend from tonight and from earlier. I wish I could find this one picture I was sure I had of him. I had him one weekend and he wound up on the bog bed in my room on top of one pillow and the other one over his head. He was so cute and yes, while Freya was with me she had her bed, her two pillows, and a blanket.

A birthday celebration for dogs in the Visalia group and our group. We had about 6 turn one about the same time. (Townsend is on the left. He's the smiling pup)

The two brothers turning away from each other.

Here is one from tonight. Right after the meeting so he was panting because it was so hot.

He looks so happy.

He really is a cute boy. I really, really like him.

So, even though Townsend is no longer a puppy in training I still feel he's a part of this group. I'm sure everyone does. And now, it's time for my dirty little secret. Besides Winston (because he and I have spent quality time together) Townsend was my favourite puppy in training. That's including Royalty and Colorado. I love, love, love Royalty but there was something about Townsend. Anyway, that's my dirty little secret. I don't really have "favourites" but Townsend come uber close. :)