A Week with Paris and Julimae

While Kyle was having the time of his life in California with Megan, I got to spoil Paris and play with Julimae.

Paris and Julimae may come from different homes, but they already know each other, so they got along wonderfully. A lot of the time Julimae was on a leash next to me, and Paris was allowed to be free in the house. Since the girls wanted to play, Paris would carry her toys over to Julimae so that they could play tug. Although she growled loudly, Paris was incredibly gentle with Julimae. Julimae in turn loved all the interaction.

(Paris and Julimae playing tug in the yard.)

Every now and then I wanted a turn to play with Julimae. I loved playing with this little girl. She has a lot of spunk!

(Julimae playing tug with me. I love how enthusiastically she played.)

Baby puppies' facial expressions are so different than that of older puppies. Julimae still tilts her head to the side when she is trying to figure out the world. Every time she did it, Julimae made me break out in a huge grin.

(Julimae with her head tilted to the side and her tongue hanging out.)

As Julimae was headed home, I asked her family to snap a picture of me with their little girl. I really enjoyed playing with her. She is incredibly trained for her age and has an adorable personality. I hope to spend more time with her as she gets older.

(Me holding Julimae right before she headed home. Julimae has a huge puppy grin on her face.)

While I already knew Paris is an incredible dog from observing her with Megan, that fact hit home this past week. Paris is practically perfectly trained and has a fun loving personality. She and I got along fabiously and it was really hard to return her to Megan at the end of the week.

One of my favorite things about spending time with Paris was the ability to spoil her in non-guide dog ways. She got to sleep on my bed, eat fun treats, and play with all kinds of fun toys. I didn't realize how much I miss having a pet dog around my home.

(Paris slept on my bed and even cuddled with me at times.)

(Paris loves her stuffed animals and carried them around everywhere. I have no idea why she didn't get cottonmouth.)

Last week my grandma broke her wrist on the way to visit me. Thus, she ended up spending two days on my couch. My grandma loves dogs, so Paris got practice as a therapy dog.

(Paris comforting my grandma who is laying on the couch.)

Paris and Julimae won more than my heart. Almost every day the neighborhood kids came over to play with both girls. They even helped me work on Paris' new tricks. Both girls are pretty special dogs.

(Paris with three neighbor girls.)

Any time either of these wonderful dogs wants to visit, I'd love to have them back in my home!

Picking Up Kyle

Sunday was quite the adventure. When we got to the puppy truck, all the dogs were being relieved and Kyle was out of the truck. I waited until they put him back (without even peeking). Then  my mom and I helped walk the recalled dogs so that they could relieve themselves.

(I'm walking a black lab and neither of us are paying any attention to the camera.)

When all the dogs had been walked, Kyle came off the truck. He was a wiggling ball of energy. I didn't account for the fact that he had been on the truck all day, so I thought that was his everyday personality. Thankfully he later calmed down a bit. :)

(Our first picture together. Kyle was jumping all over me giving me kisses while I laughed my head off.)

Eventually I picked him up and we got a few pictures of me hugging him while we both looked at the camera.

(I'm giving Kyle a giant hug. I love that this shot shows off his eraser pink nose and light spots on his lips.)

(Kyle resting against me while I look off in the distance with a huge smile on my face.)

I let Kyle run off some energy, then we were on for round two of pictures--this time in front of the puppy truck. That was the moment Kyle won my heart forever. When I picked Turk up thirteen years ago, he put his head on my shoulder and fell asleep. To this day, that is one of my favorite memories of Turk. Kyle must have known that action was the fast track to my heart because he gave me a repeat performance and I melted.

(Kyle is resting his head on my shoulder while I stand with my back to the camera looking at the puppy truck.)

I wasn't the only person to get a transfer puppy off the truck. My friend and fellow club member Megan got a sweet nine-month-old female yellow lab named Picassa. She has the pinkest nose I've ever seen on a lab and a beautiful bushy tail. Kyle and Picassa weren't too cooperative for a group picture in front of the puppy truck, but we tried.

(Megan holding Picassa, and me holding Kyle. I feel bad because it looks like I'm about to drop Kyle in this picture, but I promise that I didn't drop him.)

While the puppy truck is known for delivering bundles of fun, it is also the place for dropping off recalled dogs (dogs ready for formal harness training). Megan just finished raising Paris. Paris is perhaps the best trained pup I've ever seen in one of my clubs (except Turk of course). While Megan got the fun of picking up a new pup Sunday, she also had to drop off a incredible dog. I have no doubt that Paris will go on to do great things.

(Megan kneeling next to Paris for one of their last pictures together.)

Since it was mother's day, my mom and grandma went with me to pick up my new little guy. My mom helped my sister and me raise Turk and Mesa, so she is supper excited to have another guide dog in the family.

(Here my mom is smiling while she holds the leash of her new grandpuppy.)

After the puppy truck, Grandma, Mom, Kyle, and I headed to my uncle's house for a mother's day dinner. My uncle's family was very receptive of Kyle, and they loved playing with him. When we took family pictures, they even offered to have Kyle in them. I have a wonderfully supportive family, and I am so thankful for them!

(Kyle and I are sitting on the lawn in between family photos.)

Kyle's first raisers wrote me a great letter telling me about everything they've done with him. One thing they mentioned was that Kyle loves to sit in their laps. I love cuddly dogs, so I hoped that habit would carry over to me. When I sat on the floor to watch a movie after dinner, Kyle curled right up in my lap and fell asleep.

(Kyle is curled in a tiny ball on my lap.)

I'm looking forward to many adventures with Kyle. He's a sweet little boy with a lot of spunk. :)