Homecoming Goodness

Be prepared to be inundated with tons of adorable puppy pictures! Picking up Rio and introducing him to his new home was a blast!

(Someone must have told Rio that the way to win my heart is by snuggling his head on my shoulder.)

In case you haven't figured it out yet, Rio is a transfer puppy. About eight weeks ago, my club leader told me about three lab puppies that were coming to Utah that weekend. Two had homes, but the third was a starter puppy. She asked if I would be interested in finishing the pup. My intention had been to start my own puppy, but on a whim I said yes and cannot be happier with my decision.

(Rio cuddling on my lap outside my friend's condo.)

I thought all three pups coming were female black labs. That was almost right because two were. I laughed out loud when I found out that the starter puppy was a male yellow lab. All four of my puppies have been MYLs. If I ever raise anything different, I won't know what to do.

The day Rio came to Utah, we had evaluations with our CFR. It was at that meeting that I found out that Rio was officially mine. My CFR also let our club guess his name. It only took about 30 seconds to guess Rio. I love Rio's name! It's my favorite puppy name and the only one I would have chosen for a pet dog. (Sorry Turk, Mesa, and Kyle.)

Rio was started by the leader of the club to the north of us. I never got to meet Rio in person before yesterday, but I did get to see pictures of him via a text, a blog, and facebook. I couldn't wait to see the boy in person.

 (Holding Rio out so that I could see his adorable face.)

Ever since my first puppy club had two gorgeous red colored yellow labs, I've longed for a red puppy of my own. Rio fulfilled my wish! I'm seriously so excited about his darker color.

(Red Rio showing off his fun speckled nose.)

I wasn't the only person eagerly anticipating Rio's arrival. My neighbors, friends, club members, family, and students we're all excited to meet him as well.

(Rio meeting my neighbor. She loves my puppies and is super excited that Rio plays gently.)

Of course, the most important meeting was when I introduced Kyle and Rio. Things couldn't have gone better!

 (The first sniffs as I let Kyle free from his kennel.)

Kyle and Rio are adorable when they play together. Kyle is great at matching his play style to other dogs' styles, so the boys hit it off well from the start.

 (Kyle and Rio sniffed each other for about two seconds before they began roughhousing.)

To wrap up the massive amounts of pictures, I took the boys into the backyard for some shots in their puppy vests.

 (Kyle whispering secrets into Rio's ears. Hopefully he was giving Rio tips for being the best guide pup possible.)

Rio needed a head shot for our club website. He is about the easiest puppy to photograph. I just love this adorable face!

(Rio with an charming head tilt and wrinkly eyebrows.)

After all the camera happiness, it was time to just snuggle Kyle and Rio. My friend Katie was with me to pick up Rio, and she acted as our photographer. Since both boys wanted attention, Katie stuck around, and we took turns cuddling both puppies.

 (Rio enjoying Katie's lap.)

There are tons more pictures and stories, and Rio hasn't even been home for 24 hours. The next year with Rio is going to be a great one!

Adventurous "Shortcut"

Saturday Kyle, three friends, and I went on the biggest adventure of Kyle's life so far. We decided to brave the winter weather and enjoy a hike.

 (The trailhead. Kyle is hiding behind my back. He was too interested in sniffing all the interesting smells.)

For this hike, I decided to walk Kyle on his flexi-leash. He needed exercise more than he needed to follow GDB protocol. I also figured this walking method would be better if we encountered ice.

(Taking off...you can see that Kyle is happy to have freedom to walk in front of me.)

For the entirety of the trip, Kyle was uncooperative about pictures. There were too many fun things to do to focus on smiling on the count of three.

(Kyle closing his eyes for one of a million outakes.)

Here are the falls that were our original destination. Kyle and I hiked here two or three times a week last summer until I broke my foot. This is our first time to see them with ice and snow.

(Aren't these falls gorgeous?)

This is the point where the planned hike started going off course. We decided to hike "just a little farther."

(Katie, Jenny, Kyle and me at just past the top of the falls.)

Kyle loves the snow, but he's never had a snowball thrown at him. He would attack them and watch them crumble. He'd also jump when he got pelted with one. Poor boy...it was entertaining for the humans though.

(Kyle intently staring at the next snowball with which Andrew was going to pelt him.)

After we'd gone half an hour past the falls, Andrew got the brilliant idea to take a shortcut. Note: never trust unplanned "shortcuts." The goal was to go about 20 minutes over the ridge and head down a dry trail. Andrew forgot to mention that the trails we would be following were game trails covered in 2-3 feet of snow.

(Katie and I just before the true adventure began.)

From this point on, I was so busy trying to keep myself upright and on top of the snow that Andrew walked Kyle. It's a good thing that Kyle thinks Andrew is his is best friend. It must be a male bonding thing.

(Kyle and Andrew right before we covered a vast expanse of fresh, deep snow.)

Here's Katie showing off the depth of what we trekked through. At times the snow even came above human knees.

(Katie among some scrub oak.)

Here's the dogie perspective of the snow. Kyle was light enough to stay on top of the snow even when the humans were sinking and falling with every step. The times Kyle did fall through didn't amuse him. Kyle was an amazing trooper. On one super steep downhill that required sliding, and on one super steep uphill with snow taller than Kyle, he needed extra coaxing. The rest of the time, Kyle pranced along. His excessive running on the flexi-leash ceased, but he never gave up. This just proves Kyle's endless energy.

(Kyle standing in snow up to his chin.)

All in all, we ended up hiking for just over five hours. Four of those were on game trails or blazing our own paths. If Kyle doesn't make it as a guide dog, he proved that he can handle the outdoors enough to consider a career in search and rescue work.

 (Blazing a trail through scrub oak.)

Kyle passed out the moment we got in the car, and I indulged in a bubble bath after we got home, but every moment of the crazy, adventurous "shortcut" was worth it. Let's just not talk about today's sore muscles, okay?

Museum of Ancient Life

Today the local Museum of Ancient Life was only $2, so my friend Katie called and asked if Kyle and I wanted to go. I love that Katie included Kyle in the invitation! Of course, we said yes.

The first exhibit in the museum is a room where you can watch people working with actual fossils. Today only one man was working far away from the window, but it was fun to see all of the dinosaur heads lined up near the front of the room.

(Kyle in front of several dinosaur skulls. In the back right corner, there is a man hard at work, but I cannot tell what he is doing.)

One of the first exhibits we visited was a representation of dinosaur remains buried in the ground. A fake stream with real fish in it ran alongside the exhibit. Kyle spotted the fish and they held his attention for several minutes before I pulled him away. He was hilarious. I wish I had a fish tank.

(It was impossible to capture the fake stream and Kyle in a picture, but you can see how intently he is watching this exhibit.)

Besides the stream, not much of the museum was interesting to Kyle. The place was packed and absolutely chaotic. After all, it really inexpensive and the perfect last summer outing before school starts tomorrow. Despite that, Kyle successfully navigated all of the crowds. He even managed to ignore the myriads of children that tried to pet him. Considering kids are one of his favorite things, that was wonderful.

(Kyle looking annoyed because Katie was snapping his picture while he was in a down.)

I've wanted to know Kyle's weight for quite a while. According to the DinoScale at the museum, Kyle weighs 50 pounds. That makes him slightly lighter than a Ingenia. The golden question is, what is an Ingenia?

(Kyle on the DinoScale. He really didn't want his picture taken and refused to look at the camera.)

(A closeup of the scale showing that and Ingenia weighed approximately 55 pounds.)

Near the end of the museum Kyle and I encountered a shark. It had pretty scary looking teeth and a red rimmed mouth. Are they really this color in nature? If so, their coloring just adds to their frightening appearance. (Cue Jaws music.)

(I held Kyle as I donned a terrified looking face. I cannot tell if Kyle's closed eyes are a sign of a willingness to play along or annoyance that I was picking him up once again.)

The final skeleton as we were leaving was of a baby mammoth. The exhibit said that it was less than a year old. It only had the tinniest of tusks that were starting to grow. I bet in real life the mammoth was actually kind of cute.

(I held Kyle up to show that he and the mammoth were about the same age and size. However, the mammoth baby would have towered over him in adulthood.)

My favorite exhibit is one that couldn't be captured on camera. It is a dark tunnel of a room with a suspended bridge and lights that look like stars surrounding you. (I love stars!) I think the room was to represent space. I loved it and so did Kyle. Turk and Mesa would not have liked walking over a grate-like bridge in a dark room that enveloped them. Kyle didn't think a thing of it. He never ceases to amaze me!

Colorful Colorado

In Colorado there is a popular bumper sticker that states "Not a native, but I got here as fast as I could." My family moved to Colorado when I was almost 12-years-old and immediately agreed with that sentiment. They stayed there for over nine years. For a family that moves about every two years, that is a really long time.

Kyle's first puppy home was in Colorado. Thus, while we both ended up in Utah, the "Welcome to Colorful Colorado" sign sure brought a huge smile to my face. Kyle was asleep, but we stopped a bit down the road so that we could both enjoy a break on Colorado soil.

(Kyle in a great down-stay near the top of Monarch Pass.)

The first stop on our trip was my hometown where my best friend from high school, Sarah, and her dog, Sam, live.

When we got to Sarah's house, she surprised me with an early birthday celebration. This was Kyle's first opportunity to watch someone open gifts. He got excited about the process and decided to help me.

(Kyle was really interested in seeing what was in my box. He was disappointed to find out that there weren't any puppy toys. However, I loved all of my gifts!)

Both Sarah and I were fairly nervous about how Sam and Kyle would get along. They have such different sizes, temperaments, and ages that we could have had problems. However, all our worries were for naught. They got along just fine.

(Sam, a 5-year-old Scottie, relaxed on the couch while Kyle sat next to him on the floor.)

Kyle and I spent our first full day in Colorado playing in my hometown. Kyle's favorite spot was Sarah's parents' backyard. He and Sam had a blast running around. The yard is huge, so it was a great place to practice off leash recalls.

(Kyle was "in the doghouse" for part of the time while we played in the back yard.)

The main purpose of our trip to Colorado was four days of camping in Marble. That meant Sarah and I loaded up both dogs and drove for five hours. Kyle started out on the floor and Sam had the back seat, but they both ended up sharing the seat in the end.

(Kyle and Sam curled up together on the seat.)

About halfway through the drive, we stopped at Independence Pass on the Continental Divide. The pictures show just how breathtaking this spot of earth is.

(Kyle and I in front of mountains in the distance. Kyle may be getting heavy, but I still can pick him up like a baby.)

When we sat down for a rest on a bench, we ended up meeting a puppy sitter from a Colorado club. I was suprised that she recognized Kyle as a dog in training since he wasn't wearing his puppy jacket. Sarah pointed out that I was wearing a "Born to Lead" tee-shirt. Silly me!

We had a great visit about Kyle, and the puppy sitter offered to take our picture. However, after being stuck in a car for the second day in a week, Kyle was a bit of a goof ball.Sam definitely put on a better show of his obedience training at that point.

(Kyle tried to squirm every-which-way in my arms while Sam sat calmly in Sarah's lap.)

A few minutes later, we headed down the trail and Kyle decided to sit wonderfully for a picture in front of the Independence Pass sign. I guess he just needed to get his wiggles out. Truth be told, I did too.

(Kyle sat like a human in my lap with his front paws hanging over my arm. The silly boy enjoys sitting like this whenever I let him.)

Kyle and I also had to get a picture with Sarah and Sam. If you look at our feet, Sarah and I are sitting in the exact same pose. That makes me laugh.

(Our group of four in front of the sign and a pond. I love the little ponds that dot this area.)

After we got to our campsite and pitched our tents, we headed to an old marble quarry to see the antiquated equipment. I was amazed by the shear quantity of marble. The marble used in the Lincoln Memorial and Tomb of the Unknown Soldier came from this area.

 (Kyle and Sam posed on a marble table that reminded me of Aslan's table in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe.)

On another day of our camping trip, we headed to some natural hot springs. At first Kyle was really hesitant of getting in the water. However, after he saw Sam playing, Kyle decided that the water wasn't that bad. He especially liked trying to catch the water we squirted up with our hands.

(Kyle and Sarah sitting in a hot spring with the river in the background.)

(At one point I enjoyed a hot spring while Kyle dried out on the beach behind us.)

Usually our camping trips include a lot of hiking. Sarah and I have been known to hike two trails a day for a few days in a row. However, this year my broken foot limited our hiking abilities, so we stayed to flat trails and the main streets of tiny towns. Kyle and Sam loved all of the walking and stayed alert and active all day. At night, the two of them crashed in the tent. I loved having Kyle right next to me as we slept. He is my cuddle bug after all.

By the last full day of camping, Kyle finally got tired enough to take a nap. After a long walk, he crashed under a tree. Since he previously spent his time trying to eat the pine needles and twigs under the tree, this was major progress.

(Kyle is collapsed on his side in the shade of a giant pine tree.)

While we loved camping, it was nice to get back to Sarah's house. On our last day in town, Kyle and I visited the church were I grew up. That, more than anything else on the trip, felt like coming home. The congregation was full of people who shaped the person I am today. I loved giving them hugs and catching up on our years apart. I wish I could still see them every Sunday.

Since I come from a large family with several sisters who look alike, some people in the congregation questioned which sister I was when they spotted me in the pew. However, they saw Kyle and figured out that I was Amanda before having to ask. After all, they remembered me with Turk and Mesa in times past. Kyle was a saint (insert cheesy laugh here) at church and won over the hearts of all of my friends. He sure can be a charmer!

Kyle and I love Utah, but Colorado also has a piece of my heart. I know that Kyle loved going to his home state as well. I don't know if Kyle will make it back again before his recall next spring, but I look forward to many more adventures showing puppies-in-training where Turk, Mesa, and I grew up.

Farm Living is the Life for Me

The first stop on my road trip with Kyle was to my friend's farm. She, her husband, and their three little girls live in the middle of their working farm. Honestly, their back yard is barley fields. I love the peacefulness of visiting their home!

Kyle's favorite thing about my visits with this friend is her three adorable daughters. They've met on multiple occasions, and the girls love to play with Kyle. He got all kinds of attention from them on the trip. They played with him during the day, and every night before bed, the girls gave him kisses and hugs.

(The three cute girls are pulling on the rope of Kyle's jollyball while he pulls on the opposite end. The ball in the middle made this a safe game of tug for little hands.)

During the trip, my friend, the girls, and I picked and canned 40 pounds of pie cherries. I got to bring home seven of them for my food storage. While this blog is about my puppy raising adventures, gardening and canning are two of my other favorite hobbies.

 (These five buckets of cherries turned into 14 canned quarts, 4 frozen quarts, and one wonderful cherry crisp.)

Unfortunately for Kyle, dealing with cherry pits and sticky syrup meant that he had to stay on tie down by the piano for the good part of an afternoon. This was not his favorite activity.

(Kyle is tied to the piano and ignoring two bones at his side. His droopy eyes tell the story of his boredom.)

Thankfully, Kyle never stayed bored for too long. The girls left their other play activities to make frequent visits to Kyle.

(E, 4-years-old, took this picture of H, 6-years-old, playing with Kyle. H patiently held Kyle's bones while he chewed them on multiple occasions.)

While we primarily stayed around the house, Kyle did get to go on a walk to see some nearby cows and horses. He also helped me babysit the girls at the park while my friend went to a doctor's appointment.

(I love this shot of Kyle lying in the grass at the park and looking straight up at the camera. He is turning into such a handsome dog!)

After three days at my friend's farm, the verdict is that I could live on a farm forever. I tend to be a natural homebody, so my friend's lifestyle suits me. However, I think Kyle would turn down the chance to move to a farm. Without permission to kill gophers and run free like the farm dog, Kyle would get bored. He loves to be out and about too much. Thus, we'll stick to living in our wonderful community that feels like a small town for my sake but has plenty of places for Kyle to visit.

Team Mascot

Right before getting Kyle, I moved into a home where I would be able to puppy raise. Because of the move, I also began attending a new church congregation (known as a branch). I love the people we get to associate with in our branch, and they have opened their arms wide to embrace Kyle and me.

Today one woman at church talked about the need for everyone in the congregation to act as a team and support one another through life's ups and downs. Then she said something that made me smile and made most of the congregation chuckle. She said, "We even have a team mascot, and his name is Kyle."

So there you have it. Kyle has a temporary career as my branch's mascot. Go Kyle!

Too Long

Today I was talking on the phone to one of my good friends. In the middle of our conversation, I mentioned my guide dog.

After a brief pause, she asked, "So are you blind now?"

I think I need to be better about keeping in contact with this friend. What do you think?

Visitors Galore

While Kyle has almost impeccable manners in public, his behavior at home still leaves something to be desired. He doesn’t have any destructive habits (thank goodness), but he does like to jump on people, mouth people, and bark when he is being ignored. Since I live alone, these are hard habits to work on. My friends and neighbors are stepping in to help though.

A few days ago, Katie came over for a visit before we headed out to lunch. Kyle is getting much better at not bouncing everywhere when I answer the door, so Katie’s visit was the first time I let Kyle off leash with another person here. Kyle knew that Katie needed some puppy love and laid his head in her lap. Really, who doesn’t need puppy love every now and then?

(Kyle with his head in Katie’s lap while she looks down at him.)

After a while, Kyle did something that amazed me. He wandered off to the side of the living room and entertained himself before falling asleep. That is a first! Kyle always wants human affection and never settles if not contained by a leash, tiedown, or kennel. Yea for major progress!

(Kyle and his red Kong lying off to the side of the room.)

The next day two other friends, Liz and Luke, stopped by to show off their new pet. Never fear, Kyle was back to his old antics. For some reason he is always on his worst behavior around Liz and Luke. Sigh! Thankfully they have seen him work in public and know that he can be wonderful.

Liz has a Russian tortoise, Clyde, for a classroom pet. While we were roommates, I loved to play with Clyde, but Clyde never loved to play with me. He preferred to hide in his shell and pee on me. Now that Clyde is home again for another summer, it was time to get him a female friend…Bonnie. Is it possible to call a Russian tortoise friendly? If so, Bonnie is. She is the opposite of Clyde. Bonnie climbed up to my shoulder to have a look at the world and stuck her neck out farther when I petted her head. The best part is that Bonnie never even considered peeing on me.

Kyle’s reaction to Bonnie was hilarious. At first he pulled to the end of his tiedown to get a look at her.

(Kyle straining on his tiedown with Bonnie a few feet away.)

When Bonnie started to head toward Kyle, he turned into a chicken and hid around the corner of the couch. Liz, Luke, and I had a great laugh over that one. Silly Kyle!

 

(Kyle is hidden around the couch corner while Bonnie crawls toward him.)

After a bit Kyle decided that maybe Bonnie wasn’t dangerous after all. His curiosity nudged him out of his hiding place, but he still didn’t want to get too close. Instead, he chose to just stare at Bonnie.

 

(Kyle has his ears perked up and is intently looking at Bonnie while she continues creeping his way.)

Finally, I picked Bonnie up so that Kyle could give her a good sniff. They touched noses and became friends. I was impressed that Kyle didn’t even try to lick his new friend. He earned a few brownie points for that.

(I’m sitting on the couch holding Bonnie while she and Kyle touch nose-to-nose.)

Yesterday, a seven-year-old neighbor girl and her five-year-old friend asked to play with Kyle while I visited with the older sister. Kyle’s favorite people are kids, so he was in his glory. Eventually I taught them how to play tug and Kyle got a good amount of play time in. When it was time for them to leave, I told my little neighbor that she is welcome back to play any time she can see me and Kyle through the front window.

She took me up on my offer and came back twice last night. My young friend even helped me carry in my groceries so that I could hurry up and get Kyle out to play. I love my new neighbors and neighborhood! Kyle is going to get plenty of attention here.

To add to Kyle’s socialization, two of my college friends, and their three daughters (ages 6, 4, and 2) got here at 11:00 last night. They are on a trip to visit grandpa and made a half day stop to visit me and meet Kyle. They don’t have a dog, so at first the girls were scared of Kyle. However, before they went to bed the two oldest, H and E, were cuddling Kyle on his dog bed.

Kyle had breakfast before any of the kids came downstairs. When he saw them, he was ready to play for the day. However, his barks sent them running with hands over their ears. H, the six-year-old told, me that I really need to teach him to be quiet. You’ve got to love children’s wisdom. Anybody out there have any ideas how to teach a dog not to bark for attention when he is on a tiedown?

After I reassured the girls that Kyle was just saying good morning, the girls clamored for his attention. He was one well loved puppy today. They gave him all his toys, played tug, petted him nonstop, helped me measure his lunch, and fed him. They even enthusiastically took him out to do his business and proudly announced that he was peeing.

Kyle was the center of all the day’s activities. The girls wanted to walk Kyle before they headed down the road for their grandpa’s house, so we decided to take a quick hike to a local waterfall. The girls’ energy didn’t hold for the duration of the hike, and with three adults, three kids, and a puppy, there weren’t enough big people arms to carry all the little people. We might not have made it to the waterfall, but we had a great time playing alongside the stream.

 

(H, Kyle, me, E, my friend, and M standing in front of the stream. If you look closely, you can see sister number four who is due to arrive in September. I love her name—Amanda.)

I am a firm believer that kids and dogs belong together. H proved that once again. She asked to walk Kyle, and since he had his gentle leader on, I decided it would be fine. Boy was it ever! Kyle trotted alongside H like she was the one who always walked him. He even kept a loose leash. I have to admit that I was astounded to watch a six-year-old girl who has rarely been around dogs and a six-month-old puppy work as a team. I adore that girl and my boy!

 

(H walking Kyle down the trail with a loose leash. I love her red pigtails paired with Kyle’s wagging tail! This is a picture of pure happiness.)

When we stopped for a break, I had to get a front shot of the happy duo. If you look closely, you can see that H is missing some of her baby teeth. We had a great conversation about how she and Kyle are both working on getting adult teeth right now.

 

(H smiling at the camera while Kyle smiles with his tongue hanging out of his mouth.)

In the entire time my friends and their girls were here, Kyle didn’t try to mouth a single one of them or jump on anyone. I was so proud of him because I really wanted the girls to have a great dog experience. They sure did! In fact, Kyle was such a hit that we are going to visit them on their farm in Idaho in a few weeks.

Never fear, this isn’t the end of the chain of company. Why was I worried about getting Kyle help with house manners again? Next weekend I will be hosting one of my sisters and possibly my mom and grandma. I love visitors, and so does Kyle!

On a side note, I took Kyle to the vet yesterday. He now weighs 42.2 pounds. That means he gained 5.1 pounds in 19 days. The Tylan powder and change in dog food along with adolescence are definitely working to make him a big boy!