Vale's Visit cont.

As promised, here are some pictures of Vale from his visit. Vale is a yellow lab and is fairly small for a male. He is a lighter yellow with a white chest. He has a nice, square head. Oh, his name is pronounced like the word "valley". It's short for "Valentino". He's a sponsored puppy (by his raisers) and they wanted to name him "Valentino" but Guide Dogs wouldn't allow this because it at the word "no" at the end. So, they shortened it to Vale.

Vale standing in the park with his serious face. This is before I told him to "go free".

Vale with his goofy grin.

Vale doing a sit and wait. We saw a real Guide Dog doing some some run yesterday afternoon so I was testing his obedience by calling him to me and having him wait until I told him it was ok to run again.

Vale sleeping on the big bed. He was really tired after our run yesterday.

Vale was such a good boy and, in the end, he did come to like the flat and wandered into different rooms on a whim. Last night he mostly slept in the living room as we watched TV with a couple of friends. However, I did wake up at three in the morning feeling uncomfortably warm and constricted. Why? Because Vale had decided that I needed a cuddle. Now, before I went to sleep he had tried to get on the bed, but I kicked him off right away and, while looking rejected, did go and sleep in his bed. I guess at some point during the night he realised I was asleep and took full advantage of it. I'm definitely going to miss him when I go to next month's puppy class and he's not there. I wish him all the luck in training.

Also promised, here are some pictures of Frankie from today's puppy class. Frankie is also a yellow lab. He's really little at 8 weeks old but was so good today. He sat when he was suppose to and slept in my lap when it was our turn to sit out. He was just a gem and I hope to spend a lot more time with him. Yep, this cute face is what I got to spend all morning with. Jealous?

Frankie standing in the all purpose room. He's really little.

Frankie running toward the camera. Too bad it's in shadow or it would have been a really nice picture.

Me holding Frankie. He's such a sweetheart.

A super close up of Frankie.

Puppy Class and the Date is Set

Puppy class was really, really fun today. I got to work with Vale again. Last time I was at a puppy class he was fresh off...well, I'm going to call it the puppy truck even though that's not really what it is. He's older now and was very good for me when we started out on obedience. Because I had Vale for the first few minutes I had a relaxing time. Then we were told to switch dogs and when I was handed the leash of a small, black lab female I didn't complain.

The puppy in question is Quiz. At first I was reminded a lot of Freya. She didn't walk; she ran. They do things a lot differently here I've realised and while I was doing everything I was taught to control a puppy who wouldn't walk your pace (i.e. stopping and pulling the puppy back and waiting until (s)he is under control so the puppy wouldn't think that all they had to do was pull to get their way), I'm thinking that it made me look inexperienced and clumsy. It seems to me that their approach to a rowdy puppy is to just let it happen and hopefully the puppy will grow out of it. I'm not sure of course as I haven't been briefed on commands and what not. Hopefully, that'll happen soon. I guess I've just been taught to tolerate no nonsense when they're little and then when they're older they won't be able to pull your arm out of your socket. Anyway, besides pulling and walking everywhere (including ramming herself into my leg) Quiz was also not the kind of girl who let her feelings go unknown. She barked almost the entire time I had her. I think the "leader" (I really don't know what to call him so from now on he's just Graham) felt a little sorry for me because I was doing everything possible to keep her quite. I gave her verbal corrections, then collar corrections, and on the rare occasion that she was quiet I gushed praise in her direction. I also did puppy handling when she wasn't barking to calm her down and to teach her that when she barks she gets corrections and when she's quiet she gets pets. Nothing worked. At least she continued to bark and whine when her raiser took her back (I was so afraid it was me). She was definitely a spitfire. Needless to say, I fell in love with her. Haha!

Really though, I really enjoyed myself. I do think that it will take a lot of time for me to get use to using the commands they use here and our differences in training techniques. I guess it's a good thing that I'm puppy sitting first.

Soon I will be an official puppy sitter here and can start sitting. In one week (that's November 2nd) I have my home interview. Graham is such a nice guy that I'm not terribly worried (plus, I'm told I'll get a manual which means I can start learning up on how to raiser puppy UK style). I am going to start puppy proofing the house a little. I'll be the first to admit that it's not the most puppy proof place in the world, but to be fair to Lisa and myself, we don't have a puppy. I know he'll probably catch a few things that I need to change, but I don't need anyone to tell me that a puppy couldn't easily mistake an empty soda bottle for a chew toy. We really need to get a recycling bin for the kitchen.

Gosh! It's been over three years since I had my last home interview! Alright, now I'm nervous.

The Adventure Begins (Again)

I'm pretty excited this morning. Guess where I'm off to in about an hour (I shouldn't shower and get ready huh?). Go on, just take a wild guess. No guesses then? Well, I'll tell you anyway because I'm so excited. I'm going to puppy class!

Now, I know what you're thinking. "Erin, I thought Tuesday mornings you had class. Are you being a bad student?" You are all probably using your disappointed voices as well, but that doesn't matter. Yes, I'm skipping an English lecture to go to puppy class today and I might very well be late for my Psychology lecture. But I haven't been in the best of moods lately and I'm thinking that (besides my new laptop battery finally getting in which doesn't appear likely) what I needed was a good puppy fix. Also, I need to talk to the leader about when they're going to get my house visit done and about becoming an actual raiser when a litter of German Shepherds becomes available. It should be a lot of fun and I'm totally stoked. I haven't been around puppies in far too long.

I've also got a volunteer's meeting planned for Friday afternoon (I forgot the fact that I was going to plan on meeting my Psychology group to get our poster started but it isn't due for another four weeks so that can wait a little). Basically what's going to happen on Friday is I'm going to get out of class at 1pm and then run all the way and run all the way to the meeting. Thankfully it's only a thirty minute walk from my flat. I'm still debating on whether or not to call a taxi to get me there. The night before will have been our Halloween party and whilst I'm not one who drinks all that much or often...I will still probably drink a little and stay out late. But, I'm going and starting my job as a puppy sitter so I'm totally willing to make a sacrifice like afternoon naps or ten quid for a taxi.

I'm off to shower now so I can be clean for puppy kisses.

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.