An Award!

I love the blogging world! While raising Turk and Mesa, my connection to GDB was pretty much limited to my club. This time through the puppy raising journey, I've got a wonderful puppy club, but I've also met several service dog raisers and partners out in cyberspace.

Erin is raising Rob for Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind. I loved reading about Erin's last puppy, Pompei, and this first week with Rob has been just as much fun. They were sweet enough to nominated Kyle and I for our first blog award.

One of the rules of this award is to name seven things about ourselves. I just did a post listing 15 things about Kyle, but I'll try to come up with seven things about us together.

1. When the weather is nice, Kyle and I love to go for walks that can last hours.
2. Kyle gets me up and going in the morning. He's a morning dog, and I'm not a morning person, so he's good for me.
3. Most of my friends weren't sure of taking a dog everywhere when I first started raising again. Now I get invitations for Kyle and I together. In fact, last week Kyle got an invitation to a basketball game. The only reason I went was to be his chauffeur.
4. Kyle and I both love to be outside. Why be cooped up inside when the world outside is so beautiful?
5. Kyle is great for my dating life. He's recently helped me get to know a few guys who are dog people, and he warded off one who hates dogs.
6. Kyle and I both love cuddling, so we get along swell.
7. We are both game for a road trip at the drop of a hat. We've traveled together more than I ever have with any dog in the past.

Because I love following blogs that detail various parts of the service dog journey, I'll list my nominations that way.

• I love hearing about other puppy raisers and get many training ideas from them: Megan and Snickers.
• I've learned there really isn't anything more exciting than getting your first service dog: Sirena.
• The bond between dogs and their partners never ceases to amaze me: Becky and Cricket.
• Even when dogs are career changed, they still make a difference in the world: Mimi and Cabana.
• Finally, I just have to throw in a former puppy raiser turned pet spoiler: Becky, Blue, and Max.

As a teacher, I always hear that it takes a village to raise a child. The same is true of service dogs, and I love being part of the village.

Why I Blog

I looked through my sparsely kept high school journal for entries about Turk and Mesa. Here is the sum total of my recorded puppy raising adventures from back then.

8-2-98
Turk passed his final obedience test and will probably be put in class soon. He will graduate August 15 or September 12. I miss him but hope he will be a successful guide.

4-28-99
Turk graduated September 12th and now works with a woman named Janet ... in Ohio. Becky and I are now raising Mesa, a dog who is nothing like Turk.

Yikes! That’s pathetic. I’ve found a few high school papers where I discussed puppy raising in more general terms, and I might post those later. However, I regret not having written more memories with my first boys.

This blog is a place to do better this time around by recording adventures for me and Kyle’s future partner. With that said, why do you blog?

Blog Stalking

I love reading all of the service dog blogs out on the web. Reading about other people's adventures training dogs for all types of careers inspires me in my work with Kyle. Sometimes I read wonderful training tips, and sometimes I realize my dog isn't the only one to invent new forms of naughtiness. When I raised Turk and Mesa, I had a small (but strong) support network. With Kyle, I feel like I have a vast group of friends to help me along and that makes a huge difference.

With that said, sometimes I find incredibly fun things on other guide dog blogs. Tonight a friend pointed me in the direction of a blog with pictures of Kermit, Kyle's brother. Now I have at least found the names of all Kyle's siblings. Kermit is the first one of which I have seen a picture (except GDB's littermate photos). Kermit is an adorable dog that looks a lot like Kyle except a tad darker. He also seems to have Kyle's affinity for being a cuddle bug!

The best part of finding Kermit's picture is that it led me to a picture of Kyle while he was still in his first puppy club. It appears that Kyle has always loved sitting in people's laps. I swear that my little guy thinks he is a human baby at times. He makes me laugh!

I love the connections I have with the raisers in my puppy club, and I also love branching out to raisers across the country!