It's OFFICIAL!

He did it!!

Partner is officially a breeder for Guide Dogs for the Blind!

We can't be Partner's Breeder Custodians because Guide Dogs will call and need him down at the campus to be bred to an in-season female at a moment's notice and we are simply too far away for it to work.

Right now GDB is looking for the perfect, loving family for him where he will live as a pet (A well behaved pet). It is his new family's job to take him to his "dates". 

Once they find him a new family he will get a graduation date! At his graduation instead of presenting him to his visually impaired handler, I will be presenting him to his new family.

I have had a few people ask me if I was disappointed that Partner is going to be a breeder and not a Guide Dog.

The answer? 

I am THRILLED!

Although Partner won't go on to help a blind person directly, he is capable of producing hundreds of offspring! His puppies will go on to become guide dogs or even breeders. Indirectly, he will be helping countless people!

Very few male breeders are chosen each year and it is not only a huge honor that he was chosen but also a testament for what a rock-solid dog he is!

So what now?

Now I wait... 

Partner will hopefully be bred sooner rather than later and 4 months after he is bred I will be picking up my very first grandpuppy!

Until then...

Meet Kingston:

I have this guy 3 days a week to try and get him through some issues. So far so good! He's doing great and I'm having a blast! 

Recall, Breeder Evals and Waiting...

So, 3 weeks ago, I sent Partner back to San Rafael.

Since then... 

I have heard that he has been pulled for breeding pending his final medical exams!

This is great and hopefully means that he has passed all of his behavior tests and they are just waiting on the more extreme physical tests before passing him as a breeder.

Unfortunately... 

It will most likely be weeks before we hear anything more.

Oh well, no news is good news for now and I am crossing my fingers that he passes these last few tests because I am dying to raise one of his puppies!

Until then...

Puppy sitting!

Lots and lots of puppy sitting! So far, since Partner's recall I have gone only about 2 full days without a dog! It has been awesome working with some of the other dogs in our group and it's great to have something to keep me busy while I am waiting to hear about Partner.

Taos

Krista

Kingston

Recalled

The other day I received the news that Partner will be leaving me on July 21st.

I am going to miss him so much but I am really excited to see where he ends up! He is still unaltered and will go down as a potential breeder.  Because of this, I am waiting on getting my next puppy until I know for sure what he will be doing. If he does make it as breeder I am going to wait for one of his puppies! 

No matter what he ends up doing with his life, I know that someone is going to love him to pieces! He is SUCH a lovebug. 

Catching up

So, it has been a few months since I have updated you on Mr. Partner.

I need to fix that!

Basically, he is amazing!

He has been coming to college with me since the beginning of the semester and has recently started coming with me to my work- I work at a dog kennel and he is learning to stay calmly in a dog run.

He is still as confident as any of the Labs I have raised- something I have heard is rare with the Goldens.

We are working on loose leash walking still- he doesn't drag me but I would appreciate a "J" in the leash.

If I am focused on him 100%, he walks like a perfect angel, but if I am busy with something else he likes to pull. 

Just another fun part of puppy raising! 

I really can't believe this kid is already 8 months old! How did that happen?

At his 6 month evaluation, our CFR said that she loved his mellow and easygoing personality. She took him off on a walk and came back with tons of praise! She was actually so impressed with him that she took some pictures to send to the breeding department haha!

I would say that for an 8 month old puppy he is extremely well behaved! I can already leave him alone in the house for an hour or two and he has spent several nights loose in my room without any damage- so far! 

He hasn't really hit puberty yet so I suppose I should hold my praise!

Wordless Wednesday

Partner...

Come!

Good Boy

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.

Wordless Wednesday:

 Smile :)

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 :)

Bad, Bad Blogger!

I want to take a moment to apologize for the lack of updates to my poor blog! 

I really have no excuse other than laziness but with school starting on Monday, I am hoping that I will be able to get back into a routine.

I'm not really going to try to play catch up- Partner and I have been SO extremely busy that there would be endless posts!

All I will say is that Partner has been dragged with me everywhere and has handled everything extremely well! 

He is over 5 months old now and I am beginning to expect more from him. He will begin college classes with me soon (I don't think I will take him the first few days just so I can give my teachers a heads-up  that a dog will be coming to class) and has already been to a high school class with my sister! I was told that he did very well and slept the whole time (2 hrs) so hopefully he will behave himself in my classes!

Miss Carrie has been moving through her phases at an awkward and frustrating pace!

Generally, the dogs are in each phase for a week. 

My silly girl, decided that she would stay in phase 2 for 3 weeks and then jump all the way to phase 5! Now she has been stuck in 5 for 3 weeks! Ugh! Haha. 

Hopefully this Thursday, there will be a higher number on her report and whatever is keeping her in phase 5 is something she can work through!

Thanks for reading! 

Crossing my fingers hoping I will remember to blog more often!

Updates!

Wow, I have fallen soo behind on my blog! 

A quick update on what we have been doing:
Partner is getting big!

At his vet appointment on Friday he weighed 30lbs! He has officially had all of his shots!

On Saturday we attended the Jelly Belly Fun Day hosted by the Solano County puppy raisers! Partner did amazingly well considering he was the youngest puppy there! (Pups under 20 weeks needed CFR approval- Partner is 16 weeks but we were able to get approved just before the outing).

Partner at Jelly Belly

I am really impressed with this puppy! So far, he seems to have the ability to relax on outings while still being able to get up and go when its time. 

He has already been to the movies, monster mini golf, regular mini golf, and bowling (Along with less stressful outings such as the grocery store etc.) I usually try to wait when it comes to such exciting socializations but Partner has handled everything that comes at him in stride so far! He hasn't appeared at all stressed out by what we are doing. I always make sure that we will be able to leave an outing if it becomes too much for him but so far I haven't had to.

I have heard that Goldens are often the opposite of labs- They start off super easy and can develop issues later on. I am trying to expose Partner to as much as possible in a positive way in the hopes that these issues don't come up later on. I guess only time will tell if this is the right approach or not.

The one thing we are really working on right now is separation. Partner does not like to be left alone for very long! He is fine on a tie-down, in a crate or in an X-Pen while you are in his line of sight but the moment you leave the little brat comes out! He starts barking and crying and he has a long attention span!

It is so hard to put him in a cage and then listen to him cry forever! 

Oh well. Just one of the many things puppy raisers have to do in order to raise a well behaved doggy!

Now for a Carrie update...

Carrie is officially in phase 1 of her training! 

They learn a ton in phase one!

She is learning:

Clicker training

Formal obedience

Body handling acceptance

How to wear a harness

How to use a treadmill

How to focus around distractions

Pattern training

How to stop at curbs

Food refusal

How to back up

How to load in and out of the van for socialization

Wow! She must be a busy girl! I know that she is having the time of her life right now! 

Carrie has always loved to learn and I felt a little bad because, as puppy raisers we aren't supposed to teach any tricks. Carrie had to watch the Diabetic Alert Dogs learning new and exciting things and you could just see her thinking that she wanted to learn too. Now she gets to and I'm so happy for her! Hopefully she is behaving!

I also got an update from Emily telling me that she knows someone who saw her a while ago! They said that she had a roommate (Something I was thrilled to hear because I know they don't all get one) and that she looked super happy!

Group's puppies:

Brayden is in phase 8

Bev is in phase 8

Ventana is in phase 4

Ruby is in phase 4

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! 

3 Things at 3 Months

A few days late but I wanted to wait until after Carrie was at Guide Dogs to post Partner's monthly post.  Partner is now the main focus of this blog and I am hoping that I will be able to keep up with posting now that I no longer feel like I am favoring one or the other- I always start to feel a little badly about certain things when I double up with puppies.

Anyways...

Here are a few things I have learned about Partner since I have had him:

1.  Partner is a Smart Cookie! In less than a few weeks, he had already learned his name, sit, wait, okay, come and is currently working on learning to ring a set of bells when he needs to go out. He had also learned how to open the dog food  containers- We will be replacing those ASAP!

2. Partner is a People Dog! Despite living in a house with 3 other pet dogs and a few Diabetic Alert Dogs who come in and out, Partner is not super interested in playing with them.  He likes to run around with them but his face doesn't light up when he sees the other dogs- as it does when he sees us. So far, he has much preferred to  play with his "mamma" than his "siblings". It will be interesting to see if he grows out of this or not.

3. Partner is Special. I feel so honored to have been asked to take Partner. My leader guesses that they chose the name Partner for him because he was the result of the partnership between the 3 schools. Due to the fact that he is from another school, Guide Dogs will be looking at him closely for breeding in order to expand their Golden Retriever breeding colony. I am hopeful that I can turn this little fluff-ball into a breeder- or at least guide!- worthy dog!

Pupdates and a Recall Date

Oh my goodness I have been soo super busy! I am going to go ahead and put everything we have been doing into one long post so that I can get it out of the way and move onto new things!

Last time I posted, I introduced you to Partner!

Since then I have gotten to know him a little better and boy oh boy is he an easy puppy! 

The first night, I put him in the kennel all prepared to have to listen to him scream for at least a few minutes- but he didn't make a single peep! He just went to sleep! 

So I went to sleep too- fully expecting to be woken up a few times in the night to relieve his tiny bladder. But again- not a peep! I kept waking up in the middle of the night to make sure he was okay. I woke up at 2, 4, and 6AM and each time he would wake up and smile at me but he didn't cry so I let him stay in there.

Finally at 6:30, I got him up just because he was so cute.

The next day, I drove a few hours stay with Emily for a few days with both Carrie and Partner. We took Carrie and her puppy, Keith to Bass Pro Shop, the mall, and hiking. 

Carrie did really well everywhere we took her! At Bass Pro Shop, she met some taxidermied animals and saw some fish! She was interested in the animals but not fearful at all! It was great to be able to expose her to so many things there! 

She also had fun on the hike with Emily's dogs! They got to go to a river and splash around some which Carrie loved!

While we were there, my leader called. "Are you sitting down?" she asked.  Right then, I knew what she was going to say. Carrie got the June 9th recall date. I was pretty surprised. My leader had said before that they weren't going to call dogs back before they turned 15 months old so I wasn't expecting this. My leader told me that Celeste felt that even though she is younger than 15 months, Carrie is more mature than the dogs older than her right now which means that she is going back.

I'm really proud of her and I hope she does well in formal training but I am going to miss her so much! 

Welcome Partner!!

This morning I drove down to San Rafael to welcome my 5th Guide Dog puppy, Partner!!

He was born March 9th, which makes him 11 weeks old. He weighs 18lbs and is a little fluff-ball! He has a white spot on his head and white splotches on one of his back feet and the chubbiest tummy!!

Turns out, he is actually from both Guiding Eyes for the Blind (GEB) and Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind (GDF)! His father is GEB's Onslo and his mother is GDF's Sue.

Cuteness overload!!

Partner

Because everybody loves a puppy butt ;)

"What's that?"

So far (A few hours lol) He has been super good! He slept the whole way home and has pottied every time I have asked him to! 

I can't wait to spend a year with this little guy!!

Another Change of Plans...

Okay, so I knew it silly to post a 1 thing at 1 month for the "A" puppy!  I recently found out that I will actually  be receiving (again: could change!) a MALE Golden Retriever puppy on Saturday, May 26th!
He is flying in from Guiding Eyes for the Blind in New York.

I will be picking him up a week from today on May 27th! 

I have very little info on him other than that he is a golden who's name starts with the letter "P". My CFR told me it is a very good name and it took some major willpower not to just blurt it out! 

She said that she thinks he will be about 11 weeks old at the time of his arrival so definitely an older puppy. Hopefully this will make potty training easier!

If you want to start a name game feel free to post a comment!

A size comparison between Carrie's vest and "P's" vest. You forget how tiny they are!

1 Thing at 1 Month!

So... I probably shouldn't be doing monthly posts yet for this puppy because goodness knows things change all the time... 

But I thought I would anyways!

One thing I know about you...

... At 4 weeks old you are starting to display your personality and beginning to move around more!
(Kinda 2 but oh well haha)

Happy 1 month "A" pups!

Change of Plans

So, just yesterday I told you all that I had been assigned a puppy from a 7/8ths cross litter.

Well, today, I got home from school and had an email.  Apparently there has been a change of plans guys. 

I have now been assigned to a female full golden retriever from the Franklin x Pearl litter!  They were born 4-9-12 and the litter letter is "A".

I am not really sure how but I guess there was a miscommunication between my leader and our CFR. So now I am planning on picking this little girl up right on her 8-week-day on June 5th!

Here is a picture I found of daddy, Franklin:

Puppy #5 News!

I decided that I wanted to keep you guys updated on the next puppy with as much as I know soo...

Today I recieved some news on my next puppy! 

My leader told me that our CFR checked to see if any goldens would be available for me for my May 25th pick-up date.  She said there weren't any purebred golden retrievers born but there is a litter of 7/8 golden, 1/8 lab crosses!

So I have been (tentatively) assigned to an unknown gender (I asked to keep it a surprise) 7/8th golden puppy! They won't be ready for an extra week so, if all goes well, I will be picking him/her up beginning of June.

A lot can happen between now and June so lets all hope that this litter stays healthy and that one will be ready to come home with me in a couple months!