Bike Trail Socialization Meeting

Last Friday our meeting was located at one of the bike trails near us! 

It was a beautiful day and perfect for a walk!

We also got a chance to meet our club's newest member: Omar.

I'll admit I stole him for a bit...

So cute! I think I'm getting Puppy Fever! I'm already excited for puppy #6!

For the first half of the walk, I gave Partner to a new member to handle. 

He seemed to really do great with her. He was on a head collar so she really didn't have to worry about him pulling or being distracted by dogs at all.

It was pretty impressive seeing him working so well with someone else- especially someone with less experience. He is just now starting to get to a point in his training where I feel comfortable letting other people handle him.

The second half of the walk, I took him back, removed his head collar and just enjoyed the nice walk with him. We didn't see many other dogs that weren't from our group on this half so I didn't  have much of an opportunity to work on his dog distractions.

Even though I didn't get a chance to work with him around other dogs, it was still really great to go on such a nice, relaxing walk with the group.

All About Equine Animal Rescue

This week's Guide Dog meeting was an especially exciting one! 

Our group was able to tour a large animal rescue called All About Equine!

Partner got a chance to go nose to nose with some horses, alpacas, goats, sheep and a turkey!

Partner's First Week of College

I was one proud Mamma last week! 

Partner made it through his first week of college classes!

He did incredibly well! 

He slept through all of my classes and had no trouble hopping up and going to the next one with a simple "Partner, let's go"

There were a few incidents where he was a little... errr... gassy 

Haha.

I have to choose my seating with that in mind-which I haven't had to do for a puppy before.  I have never noticed this about Partner previously so I am hoping that it was just the changes that caused it and it goes away for next week.

Other than that he was so super good! He likes school and trots around campus smiling at everyone we pass.  

I must say, I am pleasantly surprised by the difference in maturity level of the college students.  In High School I was used to getting several inappropriate jokes directed at the dogs on a daily basis but haven't received any so far.

 I got several compliments on how well-behaved he is and my teachers all like him

I can't wait to take him back next week!  

Good Boy Buddy!

**Carrie Update**

Carrie is still in phase 7 this week.  Again, I'm not sure if this is her trainer failing to update Carrie's paperwork (for the zillionth time) or if it is something that Carrie needs to work on that is keeping her in the phases.

Hopefully if it is something she needs to work on she can get through it! 

So hard not hearing about them...

Love you girly.

Ventana and Ruby Graduate!

Today, two of our group's puppies graduated as working guides at Guide Dogs' San Rafael campus!

Ventana and Ruby are both now official guides and will both be staying in California.

Graduates lined up

Ventana's head in the front right corner

It was a great day for a graduation- not too hot which is always nice.  Unfortunately, GDB is redoing their dorms and graduation stage so this graduation was set up in a relatively tight area.  It was very hard to see and I was unable to get any pictures during the actual ceremony (Except a few of Partner).

Handsome Partner

After the ceremony, it was totally chaotic with so many people in such a tight space so I was only able to catch one quick (and not very good) picture of Ventana. 

Ventana in her GDB harness

I couldn't even find Ruby!

But Partner did get some pets and loves in by a whole bunch of people. It always surprises me how calm he is when people greet him.

A group of people surrounding Partner 

Rough Pets

Good luck in your new homes girls! And congratulations to your new handlers!

Top 2 pictures borrowed from Stanislaus County puppy raisers :)

Pool Party!

Yesterday, our group had our annual pool party/ice cream social! 

I took like a million pictures

Partner after getting in to pool!

Ashland

Ashland

Fiddler wants to get back in!

Loomis was afraid of the water

Lipton 

CC'd Shawnee

Wes

Liton

Party!

Wes

Shawnee on the diving board

Wes

Fiddler in the pool

Spruce

Retired Guide Ricardo

CC'd Douglas

Loomis

Ashland

Ashland

Future raisers with Lipton!

Wordless Wednesday

Partner and I are back from the beach! We have internet again! Yay!

Beach Bound!

Partner and I are on our way to the Beach! 

Gone.

This morning, we dropped Carrie off at the Guide Dog's campus in San Rafael, CA.

This past week has been nothing less than perfect- Carrie has been behaving wonderfully and we have spent these last few days doing a few really great outings and taking several long walks a day.  It was the perfect last week.

On Friday, our Guide Dog group had it's annual picnic- but this time, it was more like a party!  We got Carrie a cake:

And everyone brought enormous amounts of food! Everyone had a great time and I am so happy that Carrie's last puppy meeting was such a fun one!

That night Partner went home with one of our club's puppy-sitters so that we could give Carrie some one on one time.

We drove to San Rafael Saturday morning and checked into a hotel. We spent the day taking her on an amazing walk along the ocean and giving her some time to just be a dog before her formal training.

I bent the rules a little Saturday night by dragging the hotel mattress onto the ground and letting her sleep with me "on the bed"-Ssshhh!

This morning- after yet another walk by the ocean, we took Carrie back to the Guide Dogs campus. It wasn't as hard as I always expect it to be. I'm sad that my time with her is over and that she is leaving me but I also know that she is as ready as she is going to get to begin the next step in her life.  

I don't know how she will do in training- I never know- but I do know that she is probably having the time of her life right now! And I am so happy that it was her that they handed to me last summer.

I think that doing the internship at Guide Dogs last year has really opened my eyes to what goes on after we drop them off at the kennels. I know for sure now that each member of the kennel cares about the dogs and each decision is made with the dog's well-being in mind. 

I am so thankful to everyone involved in Guide Dogs and the other Service dog organizations. I am so proud to be able to call myself a Puppy Raiser.

Final Evaluation

Last night, Carrie had an evaluation with our CFR, Celeste.  Since Carrie is over 14 months old, this was considered her final evaluation.  This is the time when our CFR evaluates her maturity level and overall behavior and decides when or if she will be on the recall.

Carrie did SO well!! 

I got there a little early and another puppy's eval. was still going on.  Celeste was able to see that Carrie can walk calmly into a room with other dogs and immediately settle under a table while we waited for the other dog to be done.  

After that, Celeste took Carrie outside and walked her around a little bit. She took her up to the road to see how she would do around the traffic.  Carrie wasn't phased by it and she walked well on her leash! 

When we got back inside, Celeste told me that she had been watching Carrie during the leader's meeting on Saturday and had really liked her temperament. She mentioned that she loved how Carrie is able to just kind of relax and go with the flow when she is somewhere where she needs to be calm but then has the get-up-and-go and the drive needed when it is time to go do something. 

She said that Carrie is ready and told me to be prepared for her to get called back soon after she turns 15 months. She also said that she would be recommending her for breeder! Unfortunately, I had to break the news to her that Carrie is already spayed due to her cross-bite :(. 

I am so incredibly proud of Carrie! She did so well and, even though I am sad that she will be leaving me soon, I do know that she's ready! It will break my heart to say goodbye but I know that no matter what she decides to do, she will always be my silly, happy-go-lucky girl!

I love her sooo much! 

Leader's Meeting

Today Carrie spent the day with my mom at a leader's meeting!

A random Carrie picture :)

For those that don't know, GDB puppy raising clubs have a head leader and co-leaders and my mom is one of the co-leaders.  Once a year, leader's meetings are offered so that leaders get the opportunity to go and learn the new happenings of Guide Dogs.  Each leader brings a dog and they learn more about fixing problems etc.

My mom took Carrie which had me both excited and nervous! I was happy that she was getting to experience a new environment with so many other dogs but I was a little bit nervous because the CFRs all attend the meetings as well. (It is the CFR's job to evaluate each individual dog and decide whether or not they will go on to their formal training).  

It turns out, I had no reason to worry.  My mom said that Carrie was a really good girl, our CFR handled her a little and didn't bring up any issues.  My mom did bring up Carrie's tendency to rub a little bit with her head collar when it first gets put on.  She didn't seem too concerned about it but did give us some helpful tips that I will be using from now on.

I guess she was also used as a demo dog for "go to bed". Which I hear she did well at once she understood what was happening! I think my mom forgot that there was a lot going on and Carrie decided to take a  few seconds to sniff around haha.  After that though she brought her A-game and did exactly what she was supposed to.

I'm really glad Carrie got to go and experience this! I think it was really good for her and it was nice to hear that she did so well.  

While she was there, my mom also learned that they are really trying not to call dogs back before 15 months which means I will probably get a little more time with my girl! Yay!

P.S> Stay tuned for some interesting news tomorrow!

San Francisco!

Yesterday was a really big day for Carrie!

My friend, Emily (You can see her blog HERE), invited us to her group's annual San Francisco trip!

Emily's puppy, Keith

So we got up early and drove down to the Pleasanton BART station with a fellow group member and her puppy Bev:

Bev on the SF trip

This was actually Bev's last outing as she is going back to Guide Dogs for her Formal Training today! Good luck Bev!

When we got to pleasanton we were met by Emily and several members from her club as well as some members from the Fresno puppy club.

When everyone was there we all took BART to San Francisco! (There may have been a small hiccup where a few people got stuck on the train- but everybody got back safely! Lol.)

Carrie on her first BART ride

Once we were in the city we walked the mile it takes from the BART station to get to Pier 29.  It was great for the dogs to be able to be exposed to all the sights and sounds of San Francisco.  We got a lot of traffic work in and Carrie showed no reaction to any of it which was great!

A shot of the group

 When we got to Peir 29 we all split up to walk around and go out to lunch. Emily and I traded dogs so Carrie got to experience being handled by someone else...

Carrie looking up at Emily

And I got to work with Keith! (Who, by the way, is the happiest, sweetest guy!).

I think Keith and Carrie liked eachother!

We took them to see the Sea Lions as well! They were making funny noises and the dogs wanted to get as close as possible so they crammed their noses into the chain-link fence. Haha.

Keith and Carrie were great at lunch too! At one point the waitor dropped a fork that almost landed on Keith! The silly puppy didn't even open his eyes!

After that, Emily and her sister stayed in San Fran while we left with the rest of the group. 

On the way back, we got a chance to meet and talk to a Guide Dog and Handler team!

Tessa

Tessa was a 9 year old golden retriever. We learned that Tessa is an official French Citizen (She has been issued a French Passport!) and has traveled the world with her handler!

This was an amazing trip and I really hope that we will be able to do it again sometime! Emily and I are hoping to go again in June!

p.s. I hope it was okay that I used some of your pictures Emily!