What's in a Name: Dulcie Edition

Another edition of "What's in a Name" only this time, for Dulcie. Dulcie's litter has a bunch of great names. I think it's one of the only litters I've seen that has a mix of great names and "eh" names. They are all pretty cute, but some of them don't really attract your attention. One thing is for sure, Dulcie's name is the best name out of all of the females in the litter. And that's not just because she's my puppy and I'm biased. She really does have the best name out of all of the females. 

DULCIE

Name: DULCIE

Pronunciation: "dul-see" or "dool-see" 

Meaning: Sweet 

Nicknames: Dulcie Doodle Doo, Doodle Bug, Doodle 

Fun Fact: Dulcie is the second of my own puppies whose name I guessed correctly before she arrived. The first, was my first puppy Freya. (I guess technically I guessed that I was getting Hilly before I was told, but I didn't really guess her name...I already knew it). Dulcie fits her name perfectly. She's an absolute sweet heart and has the sweetest demeanor. 

What's in a Name: Frankie Edition

Ah, can't believe that I never did this for Frankie!

I love finding out more about my puppy's name. Normally when you get a dog you get to name it and that name means something to you. You don't get to choose your puppy's name when get a Guide Dog Puppy. And there are some pretty terrible names out there which means that not only to you not get to name your puppy, but you are stuck with a horrible name that you have to deal with and get used to. I've been lucky with my names so far. (Even though you may remember that I thought Hilly's name was the worse in the litter I really, really LOVE it.)

So, without further ado:

FRANKIE

Name: FRANKIE
Meaning: "free one" or "free man"
Nicknames: Frankie-boy, Frankenstein,

Fun Fact: Frankie was sponsored by Total Oil here in the UK. I can't remember exactly who he was named after, but whoever he was named after has a brilliant name. Right before his turn in date in March, Frankie visited Total Oil and the employees who helped name him.

Nomenclature Issues

I guess I'm just too excited not to blog about something. It gives me something to do and a way to express my feelings. Guess this means you guys will have a lot of posts from me until I get the puppy. *smiles*

Yesterday I received an email from a reader that just made me smile. I had no idea that I had a puppy walker from the UK reading my blog for any period of time let alone since before I left for University! She sent me an email congradulating me on finally deciding to get my own puppy and welcomed me to the world of puppy walking. It was such a lovely email to recieve. I really can't say how much little things like that mean to me. (It's actually what people don't understand when buying presents for me. A thoughtful card with a bunch of flowers is all I really need to know that you've been thinking of me.) Anyway, I asked her a question on names that I had not been able to have answered yet.

Just like back home each litter is given a letter and each puppy in that litter has a name beginning with that letter (fun sentence huh?). But there are also sponsored puppies here. I've thought a lot about sponsoring a puppy because you get to name it. And you don't have to stick with the litter letter. That means that there are some puppies out there who have names like Bob even though the rest of the litter has names beginning with "H". It's pretty cool. I only know of one puppy back in the states that has a different letter than her siblings.

Unlike how it works in the states I will get to know the puppy's name well in advance before I actually get her (I say her because we all know my preference for the females). For me, this is pretty strange. I knew Hilly's name before I got her because her name couldn't switch and the puppy couldn't be switched. But with Freya I was told, "black lab female, litter letter F". And with Rocco it was, "yellow lab male, litter letter R". The reason we do this back in the states is because we don't want the raisers getting attached to the name or the puppy before they receive it. Let's say that you're originally assigned a "Joanne" from a "J" litter here and Joanne gets sick before getting on the puppy truck to come to you. Waht GDB will do is put another "J" female from that litter on the truck for you because you have no idea which "J" puppy you're suppose to be getting. This way when you're handed a "Jillian" instead of a "Joanne" you don't miss Joanne because for all you know you were suppose to get Jillian the whole time. Another reason that we don't get to know the names ahead of time is because there could be last minute name switches.

I hear that doesn't really happen in the UK. You see, back home, every puppy's name is unique. When puppies are born at GDB in San Rafael they cannot be named names that are used for Working Guides, Active Breeders, or current puppies in training. So there won't be another Freya until my Freya retires, there won't be another Rocco until my Rocco retires, but Hilly's name is up for grabs. That isn't true in the UK. You can have puppies in training with the same name as working Guides or breeders. It's strange for me really. I've gotten use to the fact that my puppy has a name that no other dog in the GDB system can have and it made me feel like they were special. Haha! It should be interesting to see if I get a name already in use.

With all of that said, I've decided that I'm still going to have a Name Game. When I find out the name of the puppy I'll just tell you guys the letter the name starts with. 

I had a dream last night that I was assigned a female yellow lab named "Soldier". While I like the name, I'm really hoping for a not lab. Haha!

New Puppies!

Yesterday we welcomed 3 new puppies to PWAP! I'm beyond excited to get to go and meet all of the new puppies who came while I was away.

Anyway, we welcomed HANK, NEVADA, and MARLY yesterday at the holiday luncheon! You might remember me saying that we were going to be welcoming a Miss N and a Miss M and that Marly is a fairly masculine name. Well, sometimes puppies need to be swapped before going to their raiser home. The most common reason for this is usually the puppy has really soft stools and they don't want to send the puppy home with a bad tummy. This happens a lot really and is one of the main reasons we aren't told the names ahead of time. Our group is lucky and has had pretty good names for the last three years (we keep saying we're due for a weird one) but some of the names GDB thinks of are really weird. The puppy raising department doesn't want to tell the raiser a "good" name only for that puppy to get sick and them end up with a "bad" name. Or vice versa. They just don't want us to get use to the name before we get the puppy because everything can change. Right...where was I? Ah, yes.

Well, Candie's Miss M had some loose stools so she wasn't ready to go home on the 7th and, I guess because all the other Miss Ms were spoken for, Candie got reassigned to a Mr. M. But Candie really wanted a female puppy and since this is her 30th puppy Mary thought that it would be good to give her something special. *smile* So, Mary's Miss N (Nevada) went to Candie and Candie's Mr. M (Marly) went to Mary. Yes, I've known about this for a couple of days but I was told not to ruin the surprise. Don't worry though, Nancy has her originaly puppy so that won't be confusing to explain.

So, a little sad that I won't get to meet two golden girls when I get home, but I LOVE the name Marly so I approve of this puppy swap. Haha!

I don't have pictures of the the little ones just yet. Hopefully I'll have some soon, but even if I don't I'm home in 10 days anyway so I should get some great pictures of them then. *grin* So, welcome HANK, MARLY, and NEVADA!!!!

Puppies I get to meet when home:
Eli
Shep
Terrence
Titus
Hank
Marly
Nevada

Bringing in the Holiday Cheer with Puppies

You all know that tomorrow my Leader Mary and retired leader Candie are going up to the holiday luncheon to receive their new puppies. Both are getting female golden retrievers, one Miss N and one Miss M. I won't lie, I know most of the names for the "M" litter, but I'm not telling. Mostly because I don't know all of them, I don't want to ruin the names for other raisers, and because I'm not sure which one Candie is getting. I do have a personal favourite out of the ones I know of, but who ever knows.

But, the two golden girls are not the only puppies that will be welcomed tomorrow afternoon. GDB apparently had a lot of older puppies ready to go to raiser homes, but not enough raisers. So my other leader Nancy said that should would take on a starter puppy to get him out of the kennels!

She's been assigned a male black lab born on September 28, 2011 to Hurley/Genevieve; Litter Letter "H"! So, now we have name guesses for Miss N, Miss M, and Mr. H!!!! Mary said that she would bring little "H" home with Miss N tomorrow so that he could be a part of the Christmas photo.

I really can't wait to get home!

Another New Puppy?

I've been waiting to post this for a while, but I had to wait until everything was finalized. I am now very, very excited to be going home for those ten days over my winter break. Why you ask? Well, just think about it!

When I get home look at all the new puppies I get to meet. I get to meet THREE new black labs, ONE new black lab/golden cross, and TWO golden retrievers!

You all know that I love goldens above the rest. don't get me wrong, I've grown to love the labbies! Besides my girl Arwen, Hilly is the perfect puppy dog for me. But, I shall always be a golden girl at heart. In fact, I've often been told that if I were a dog then I would probably be a Golden Retriever. What can I say? I'm a little ditsy sometimes. *smile* Besides goldens, I like black labs over the yellow. It's a personal preference and I do still love the yellow labs. But black is just so slimming. Haha!

Anyway, with this knowledge of my puppy preferences, you can imagine when I heard that my group would not only be welcoming one female golden but TWO on December 7, 2011!

I hope you guys can remember my good bye post to my buddy boy Snyder the other day. Well, Snyder was raised by Candie who you all might remember was one of my group's leaders until she retired from Guide Dogs back at the end of the summer of 2010. You can see how long that lasted. Haha! Anyway, she has been assigned her new puppy. This puppy will be puppy #30 for her!

She has been assigned a female golden retriever born on October 5, 2011 to Macallan and Kyliee! Her letter is "M"!

I can't wait to get home and be burried underneath a pile of puppy breath!

The Decision is Made

Again, things are just sort of popping up that I can post about. This is great!

I made the decision yesterday that I would go home for a little bit of winter break. I'll be home for 10 days which should be enough time to give some lovin' to all of my girls. I'm pretty excited to see Hilly again. I hear she's been a...not a bad puppy, but a rowdy one. I, as all puppy raisers, like to think that it's because she misses me soooo much that she's acting out. More likely that she's just an 18 month old lab who does naughty things from time to time because it's the labby nature. haha!

Anyway, that's my big news for today. I chose my own puppy to a puppy I don't know. I'm still going to see if I can puppy sit for a little over the winter break because I'll be home for about 2 weeks and most of it I'm thinking my flatmate will be away. So, it would be nice to have a puppy for some of that time.

Tomorrow the second set of "T" brothers arrive! Can't wait to hear what names he get! I'm really liking Trystan, Tibbs, and Toby right now, but I have a whole list in my notebook.

New Puppies!!!

Again, thanks to everyone who participated in the discussion. All the comments were enjoyable to read and it was nice to know that I'm not the only one who thinks that service dogs in training should be allowed to attend school.

Anyway, I can't believe I haven't said anything about the new puppies on here yet but I guess it just slipped my mind. I don't know how it did as it involves puppies, but you know how it goes sometimes.

My group back home (PWAP - we're trying to get 200 fans by January 1, 2012 so if you haven't liked it yep please do) will be adding three new puppies to it in the next month! Isn't that exciting? We have two first time raising getting their very first puppies. *smile* I love it when new raisers get their first puppy. The third is going to my leader Mary. This, unfortunately (well fortunately really but you all know what I'm getting at), means that her last puppy is ready for formal training. Lance will be going in for his formal training on November 28, 2011. That's the official recall date so it's most likely that they will drive him up a few days before. Good Luck Lance!

Now on to litter announcements! The two first time raisers are both getting male black lab "T" brothers from the Flamenco/Athenia litter born on September 16, 2011. We'll have another set of littermates in the club. At the moment that makes for three sets of siblings (Teesha and Tippin, Schroeder and Snyder, and the two Misters T). They'll be arriving on the puppy truck this Saturday! Can't wait to hear their great names (though I hope we don't get another Townsend and Tomales. That would be too deja vu). Mary is getting a female golden retriever from the Preston/Devine litter born on October 8, 2011. Her letter is "N". I love the letter "N". I've come up with so many names for this little girl already. I can only hope that one of them is right. Oh! Guess when Mary is getting Miss N! At the holiday luncheon on December 7, 2011! They always post pictures of the puppies they hand out on their Flickr site and usually their blog. It's be soo cool to see that!

Cracking and yet holding strong. I don't think I want a puppy before at least spring break this year. It's good that I'm able to get my puppy fix through meetings and puppy sitting (though I haven't been able to puppy sit any puppy as of yet). Hopefully soon though.

Phase Report

Regina     4Y16     LAB     F     4

Hermes     46Y1     LAB     M    7

Halette      45Y4     LAB     F     1

Belle puppy EPIC is in phase 4 this week! He's the last Belle puppy left in training and will be the last Belle puppy ever to be there. It's sad really to think about, but this litter was pretty successful and there will be Belle grandpuppies in training at some point (thank goodness for Estee). I'm still not sure about Hestia, but I'm going to try and find out. I know Hestia's raiser recently got a new puppy (facebook, what would I do without you?), but I haven't heard of anything regarding Hestia.

Speaking of "E" puppies. Mr. E arrives to join PWAP today! My favourites so far are Ezra, Eames, Elwood, Escort, and Edinburgh. But I wouldn't mind if it were Eli either. *smile*

What's in a Name (Hilly Addition)

Hilly was just laying next to me on the couch while I was finishing up some packing, but she decided that it would be more fun to go off and play in the backyard and eat things she's not suppose to. But as she was sitting here with me so cuddly and asleep, I was thinking about the past three months.

Before I knew I was getting Hilly I knew I was getting a puppy from the Dylan/Aqua litter born on March 23, 2010. My leader made the mistake of telling me the about age and that she thought it was another Dylan puppy. I was really excited because I was following Halette and her raiser since they picked Halette up, but I was also really nervous. I didn't want to get either Halette or Havasu because I thought it would be too awkward with the whole blogging thing. So, I went to the littermate list and looked up the "H" litter. I looked at all the names. I pretty much liked all the names, but there was one that stood out to me.

Hilly

I thought, "Gosh! I don't want to get HILLY! That's an awful name." Sure enough, the next day when it was made official, Mary emailed me and said, "You're getting HILLY." Haha! I couldn't believe that I had gotten the worst name in the litter!

Over the two months before I went to the puppy truck to pick her up, I got use to the name Hilly. I didn't like it, but I got use to it. I did grow to like it more and more. Now, I'm sort of fond her name. It's cute and it fits her small stature. But, now that she's Career Changed I've been battling with whether or not to change her name. I knew that if I did I would have to change it to something similar to make the transition easier and I really liked the names "TILLY" and "MILLIE". But then I started thinking about her name and what it really means. Here's what I found;

Name: Hilly
Origin: a variant of the name Halleli (which is Hebrew)
Meaning: Greatly Praised
Popularity: None at all. It hasn't been in the top 100 baby names in...well, ever.

I love unique names that mean something beautiful. I say Hilly's name is a perfect fit for me. Plus, she's got all these great nicknames!

Nicknames: Silly Hilly, Hills, Hilly Billy, Sweet Hilly Bean, Little Hill Pill

Puppy Guess #1

Alright Gang! Are you guys ready for another "Good Old Fashioned GDB Name Game"?! Well, I hops so because PWAP is going to be welcoming a new member in just weeks time. Seeing as there hasn't been another new case of Parvo (if you haven't heard about what's going on in the GDB kennels please check out their website to get the latest news on the sudden outbreak) in weeks and those puppies who were not infected went off to Oregon and the ones who were infected and are healthy again are back in California and the kennels and trucks are all disinfected daily and the pups are no longer contagious it looks like we'll definitely be welcoming a new member to the club.

The new puppy will be going to Nancy, Jim, and Alyssa. They are currently raising Danvers, but on the 18th he will be transferred to the new family in our group and they will take on a new starter puppy.

So let's begin this guessing game.

RULES:

1. This Game will be working in TWO posts. This is the first one.
2. On the FIRST post (this one), you are allowed to guess the BREED of the pup and the LITTER LETTER if you so choose.
3. You can only guess ONE breed and FIVE letters.
4. The breeds you may choose from are those used by GDB (aka: Yellow Lab, Black Lab, Golden Retriever, Lab/Golden Cross)
5. On the SECOND post (which will come when we recieve the puppy information) I will tell you the litter letter and then you will be able to guess NAMES.
6. You can guess up to FIVE names.

Does everyone understand the rules? Alright then. :D Get guessing! There WILL be a prize at the end of this when I count up all the points.

November 14: What's in a Name-Rocco

Another installment of "What's in a Name" (again stolen by Maddie with PIT Jorinda and CC Betsy). In today's informative and exciting post we will be looking in depth at the name "Rocco."

Now, I have found a number of interesting explanations of the name "Rocco." All of them made me laugh a little because none of them really describe Rocco at all. But, that doesn't matter, there was hope when he was named. :) Without further adieu...

Rocco

(I don't think I ever posted this picture, but over Fun Day Rocco dicided to get into the shower with me and got water Freckles for his troubles)

Full Name: Rocco de Angelo

Meaning: from the Italian meaning "rock" or from the Germanic meaning "roar" or "battle cry" or the hrok meaning of "rest and repose"

Nicknames: Roc, the Boy (this is another nickname that is individual to my Rocco. It is not a valid nickname of the name) There aren't a lot of Nicknames so I generally call him Roc, Rocco, or Rocco de Angelo

Fun Fact: When I first heard that I was getting an "R" name I immediately thought of the name "RED" because of my favourite superhero the Red Panda. I was listening to an episode (it's a Canadian radio show) of Decoder Ring Theatre's other show Black Jack Justice and the name Rocco de Angelo popped up. It didn't even register at the time that Rocco was an "R" name, but as soon as we were told Rocco up at GDB I knew what his future career was. He was going to be a famous mobster. :)

November 12: What's In a Name-Freya

I stole this idea from Maddie. I really like the idea because, as most of you know, GDB takes a lot of liberties in what they name their puppies. I have been fortunate enough to get two great names, but there are some real weird names out there. (before I really get into this I encourage you all to head over to my College Blog for a good laugh)

For those of you who don't know how the naming system at GDB works here is a crash course. Each litter that is born recieves a "Litter Letter" (try saying that 10 times fast) and each puppy's name begins with this letter. For Freya her litter was an "F" litter and Rocco was an "R" litter. You get the idea? GDB also does NOT reuse names that are "active". An "active" name is, basically, one that is in use. This means that it is the name of a Working Guide or a Puppy in Training. Once a dog is Retired or Career Changed from the program the name goes back into cirrculation. For those of you who read Mimi and Cabana's blog you know that Cabana was CC'd. That names is currently being used again for a PIT but it would not had happened if Cabana was a Guide or still a PIT. Understand? Good! Let's get on with it then!

Freya

(so for I have only found one other GDB dog with the name of Freya. She was a black lab female as well and was CC'd quite a while back)

Full Name: Freya Louise (yes I gave her the middle name Louise because they sound good together so whenever she did something naughty I called her "Freya Louise")
Meaning: 1)From Norse mythology "Freyja". Freyja is the Norse Goddess of Love, Beauty, Fetility, Gold, Witchcraft, Love, and Death. She rules over the heavenly afterlife field Folkvangr and recieves half of the souls of people lost in battle.

2)Also from Scandinavian meaning "Nobelwoman"
Nicknames: Frey, Frey-Frey, Rey, Missy (but this is unique for my Freya, it's not a nickname for the name Freya)

Fun Fact: I guessed the name Freya. I was going through some awful names you could get with the letter "F" and then thought "Freya, it has to be Freya." and Freya is what I got. You see I thought Freya was a cute name for a little girl and was thinking at the time "If I ever have a daughter I'm gonna name her Freya." So...I love the name.