Good Luck Picassa

Three weeks ago Picassa and Kyle traded places for a few days. I got the privilege of hosting Picassa for her last puppy trade. Let me tell you, I already liked the girl, but Picassa completely won my heart that week. Picassa also managed to charm my neighbors and convince my coworker to beg to keep her as a pet.

(Picassa posing with my neighbor. The two played wonderfully together.)

Picassa was a pro on all our outings. I cannot remember having to give her a single correction. After a couple days with Picassa, the girl managed to teach me a few things I can do better in training Kyle. She is ready for formal training!

(Picassa under the table at my favorite sushi restaurant.)

Six months ago, Picassa and Kyle arrived on the same puppy truck as transfer pups from Colorado. Today Picassa got back on that truck and headed to California to begin her formal training. I cannot believe how time has flown. Picassa is being evaluated for breeding, and I think she would make a sweet mama dog. If not, I have a mental image of just the person she could be partnered with as a guide. Everything's up to Picassa though, and if service work isn't her thing, she'll be the best pet anyone can ask for.

Picassa isn't traveling alone. Christina, a black lab from our club, is also returning to campus for breeder evaluations and training. I don't know Christina as well Picassa, but I'm cheering for her too!

Today I had a hard realization. Now that Picassa and Christina are recalled, the next dogs in our club to leave will be Sugar and Kyle. Noooooooooo! That is still four months away, but I don't like the idea that my boy is the next to head to campus. I'll just repress that thought and live in denial for the time being.

Azúcar

Last week Kyle and Sugar traded places for a few days. Kyle spent a few days with my club leader and her daughter while Sugar got to attend school with me.

It took all of .2 seconds for my students to fall in love with Sugar. My favorite reaction from students came from my ESL class. Without hesitation, they decided to call her Azúcar...her name in Spanish. That class only has eight students, so I let Azúcar wander free for the first few minutes getting to know the students. They decided that Azúcar needed to study alongside them, so they eagerly set her up with the necessary supplies.

(Sugar sitting next to one of her new amigos in ESL class.)

While Sugar was busy learning how to interact appropriately, my students were displaying strong signs of dog distraction, so Sugar ended up back on tie-down at the front of the class. That way she could still watch everything that was going on.

(Sugar sitting near a book case in the front of the room. She is displaying one of the best doggy smiles I have ever seen.)

One night Sugar, a friend, and I headed to the mall and out to dinner. That's when I decided Sugar is a girl after my own heart. Neither of us took much interest in most stores, but we both had a blast in the game store. Sugar probably would have been content to sit and watch the roller coaster in that store all night if I let her.

(Sugar intently watching the roller coaster.)

I love working with Sugar. Whether she is over for a play date with Kyle, for puppysitting, or for a puppy trade, we always have a good time. Hopefully we'll have more adventures together in the months to come.

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!

Playing with Picassa

Last week Kyle enjoyed a play date with Picassa and Sugar. Tuesday Picassa came over to play with Kyle. Kyle loved the interaction with other dogs on both occasions.

Kyle and Picassa spent a lot of time tumbling all over each other. While they played, I worked on my thesis, which means I was silly and didn't get any pictures of the fun they had together.

One thing that both dogs enjoyed was dinner time. Kyle gets slightly possessive of his food when other dogs are around, so this was a great training opportunity for him. He did a great job of waiting to eat even though another puppy was in the room. Of course, when Kyle finished first, I had to distract him so that Picassa could finish eating in peace.

(Kyle and Picassa intently stared at me while I prepared their meals. Picassa was so hungry, she even licked her lips.)

(Kyle did his nightly stare down of his food dish.)

(Picassa was also intently focused on her meal, but she was willing to look at the camera for a picture.)

Picassa has such a happy personality. Her tail is constantly wagging, and she seems really eager to please. I wanted the chance to play with her more, so I convinced Megan to trade puppies just for the night so that I could interact with her a little more.

My plans for Wednesday were mostly centered around working on my thesis. Picassa and I spent a lot of time in my thesis chair's office working on an important draft. We made the deadline, but Picassa spent a lot of time sleeping under my thesis chair's table.

(Picassa slept curled up like a little puppy under the table.)

Neither Picassa nor I could spend all day sitting and working, so we did fit in a few walks around the interior and exterior of the building to stretch our legs. We even stepped into a class for a couple minutes. Picassa handled the new environment wonderfully.

Picassa ended up being great moral support. When I was dragging and didn't want to type another word, she would pop up and put her head on my leg. Picassa didn't expect to be petted or try to get attention in any way, but she was just checking in. Honestly, if this girl doesn't make it as a guide, she displayed perfect therapy dog behavior. She would be great in that career!

(Picassa resting her head on my leg. She has sweet eyes in this picture.)

My thesis chair is not a dog fan. (I appreciate her because she is so supportive of my work with Kyle even though she doesn't like dogs.) It's taken time, but Kyle learned to ignore my chair because she ignores him. Picassa hasn't learned that lesson though. Every time my chair came near, Picassa touched her cold, wet nose to my chair's toes. I corrected Picassa, but inwardly I laughed at my chair's reaction. Thank you Picassa for entertaining me when I would have been bored otherwise!

After I finished my thesis draft, Picassa and I ran errands. She did a great job! Every little kid, and some adults, wanted to pet her. She received several complements for being a cute dog and being well behaved.

(Picassa loved running errands. She smiled up at me when I wanted to take her picture.)

At puppy club Megan and I traded back puppies although other raisers actually worked with Kyle for the duration of the meeting. Our meeting's theme was actually a surprise birthday party for Megan and Picassa. Their birthdays are only one day apart. Happy birthday to Megan today and Picassa tomorrow!

(Megan and Picassa posed with the sheet of brownies. The top is decorated with a paw print and the words "Happy Birthday Megan and Picassa!")

Picassa, you are an incredibly happy girl! You are welcome to play with Kyle and me whenever you want to do so.

Puppy Class

Tonight was puppy class. We had a nice low key class where we watched a movie about how to properly use head collars. While the movie was really helpful, I was pretty bad and talked to the other raisers around me. Cringe. Sorry club! That said, I just love everyone in my club, and they are so much fun to talk to. Our group is amazing.

(Kyle is sitting calmly looking at the camera while we talked before the movie. I may be biased, but isn't he turning into a handsome dog?)

We had all nine dogs from our club plus one dog being puppy sat from another club all in one living room tonight. You would think 10 puppies and about 20 raisers in that environment would be mayhem, but it wasn't. All of the pups were incredibly well behaved and settled really well. It was actually pretty impressive.

(Lest you doubt where Kyle sat during the movie, he curled up on my lap. Even though he is getting huge, he still prefers my lap to anywhere else.)

After the movie, we headed outside to get a new club photo. Several of the puppies from the last group shot are in formal harness training, and we have two new additions to the club. With each new puppy truck, we have to retake the group photo.

(Here are all nine dogs in our club with their raisers. From left to right: Jacinda (FBL), Julimae (FYL), Kyle (MYL), Spike (MYL), Christina (FBL), Picassa (FYL), Keiko (MBL), Breeze (FYL), and Sugar (FGLD))

When I first decided to puppy raise again, my plan was to get a puppy off the June puppy truck so that it would be house broken before I had to go back to teaching in the fall. However, in April my club leader briefly mentioned an 18-week-old male yellow lab that needed to be transferred from a club in Colorado. Without a pause, I told her that I wanted him. A week later I found out that Kyle was mine.

While I wouldn't trade raising Kyle for anything, I do miss the fun of getting to play with a baby puppy. When Julimae and Keiko arrived last week, I couldn't help thinking that my baby puppy would have been on that truck. Things turned out perfectly for me and Kyle, but I did have to trade Kyle for a few minutes so that I could cuddle little Julimae. She is such a doll baby!

(Here's me holding little Julimae. She is tiny, adorable, and completely cuddle-able. During the movie, I also played with Keiko. He had the best puppy breath! Yes, I'm weird.)

After club meeting, Kyle headed off to a puppysitter's home until Monday. Saturday I have a cousin's wedding in the morning and tickets for a fireworks show in the evening. The wedding was doable with a puppy, but puppies in training cannot attend fireworks shows. Thus, I needed someone to watch Kyle Saturday.

(Kyle, Picassa, and Sugar in the hatchback of a car before Kyle headed off to the puppysitter's home.)

The puppysitter that is watching Kyle loves him. As we talked, she managed to convince me that Kyle needed to stay with her for five days instead of the one I intended. Honestly, I will miss him a ton, but I think he will have a blast with her. After all, Kyle is going to get to play with three other dogs and two kittens. Plus, he will get all kinds of new experiences like riding public transportation and working a night shift. Kyle's puppysitter promised pictures in exchange for his extended stay, so I will write about his adventures when I get him back.

(The last view of Kyle's cute face until Monday. He looks so happy with his goofy grin and his tongue hanging out.)

Have fun and be a good boy Kyle!

Weekend with Sugar and Kassie

Almost a week and a half ago, Sugar and Kassie both visited Kyle and me. I finally found a few minutes to post pictures of our adventure.

I know that Kyle's first raisers had a pet dog. Since he has lived with me, Kyle hasn't had many opportunities to play with other dogs. Sugar is only two weeks older than Kyle, so she and Kyle made great playmates. However, when I first let Sugar and Kyle play together they were pretty rough on each other.

(Kyle is pouncing on Sugar while she bares her teeth at him. They both look pretty vicious.)

After a few corrections for overly rough play, I put them both in down stays with bones to entertain themselves. They did a great job with this one even though neither was on tie down.

(Sugar and Kyle are both in great down stays. Both happily chewed on their bones and ignored the other dog just three feet away.)

The next day my sister Kassie came into town for less than 24 hours. This was Kyle's first chance to meet one of his human aunts. He took to Kassie immediately. She sat on the floor and he pulled one of his typical maneuvers. He curled up in her lap and made her hold his bone while he chewed on it. Anyone who will let him do this is okay in Kyle's book.

(Kassie is sitting with Kyle in her lap while he gnaws away at the bone in her hand.)

My family is full of dog lovers. I have five younger sisters and three younger brothers so we make quite the clan. All six sisters are adults and four of us have homes of our own. That means that four of us have dogs. My brothers also have dog fun with dad's two pet dogs. Needless to say, Kyle was a happy addition to the whole mix.

Kassie wanted to bring Kyle a present when she met him. Boo, Kassie's black lab/chow mix, didn't like her nylabone, so she brought it for Kyle. He loved it and already has it pretty worn out. In return, Kyle and I sent a Kong wobbler back for Boo. She now eats a large portion of her meals in it. Yes, my family spoils our K9 members.

 (Kyle curled up against Kassie's leg chewing on his new Nylabone.)

During all the introductions, Sugar also got plenty of attention. With two humans, the dogs got plenty of love. Of course, they both liked to vie for the same human's attention at the same time.

 (Kyle on my lap with Sugar on the floor in front of us.)

Kassie is 5 1/2 years younger than me, so when I raised Turk she was too young to help much. When Becky and I co-raised Mesa, Kassie didn't help much either. Thus, with two dogs Kassie got a new adventure. We took both dogs to the bank and grocery store, so Kassie got to walk a guide puppy in public for the first time. She loved it! Kyle and Sugar made it easy since they are both so wonderfully behaved in public.

Later in the evening, Kassie and I headed to our favorite hangout spot...a local arcade. Since we weren't sure how the dogs would handle all the noises, strange lighting situations, and other odd goings on, we only took Kyle. He did so well, we really could have taken Sugar too. Kyle didn't even blink at all the fun. He simply curled up at the skee-ball, video games, and basketball hoops. The only event that caught his attention was the air hockey. Kyle put his front paws on the table, but I think that was basically because he wanted to see what was going on

(Kyle and I playing air hockey. I had to get a picture before correcting him and making him stay down. He was too cute!)

When we got home, we let Kyle and Sugar play in my spare room while Kassie and I visited. Sugar got tired and stretched out on Kyle's dog bed. After a while, Kyle noticed that there was enough space for him too, so he joined Sugar on his bed. I was impressed that they wanted to cuddle each other without play fighting.

(Kyle is on the bed while Sugar is half on/half off the bed. Sugar chose her position first.)

Early the next morning, we took Kassie to the airport, and I was left with two dogs and one human again. The day before, my club leader had Kyle, Sugar, and Mara. She walked the three of them for two miles. I'd never walked two dogs at once, but Kris inspired me. I figured that if she could walk three dogs for two miles, I could walk two dogs for three miles.

(Kyle and Sugar both walking on loose leash. Although they are almost the same age, this picture shows that Sugar is a lot bigger.)

My neighborhood is great because it is still zoned for livestock. On our walk, Sugar, Kyle, and I got to see horses, cows, and goats. Even though Kyle sees these animals all the time, Sugar actually did better around them. She didn't even blink at any of the animals, while Kyle backed away from the horses a bit.

(A beautiful white and brown paint horse with the mountains in the background. I love the scenery in our community!)

(Kyle and Sugar in perfect sits while watching the horses. Notice that Kyle is behind Sugar. He didn't want to get as close.)

Kyle and I loved puppysitting Sugar, and she is welcome back any time she wants to visit. Kassie already knows that she has an open invitation to visit whenever she wants. :)

On a final note, here are a couple adorable pictures of the two pups. Their personalities and looks couldn't be much more different, but they are both incredible dogs!

(This shot of Kyle looking at the camera shows off what my mom dubbed the "skid mark" on his lips.)

(Beautiful Sugar! As the only golden retriever in our club, she is adored by all. Since she is on breeder watch, maybe some of us will be lucky enough to raise a Sugar puppy someday.)

Becky's Wedding Festivities

This week Kyle and I got to attend all sorts of celebrations for one of my good friend's wedding. Becky and I were grad school classmates for two years and roommates for over half of that time. While we were roommates, Becky, Rachel, and I made Porter's Place our hangout. They are an old Western themed restaurant named after Orrin Porter Rockwell. They are known for church history named dishes and great virgin drinks. Any momentous occasion, be it good or bad, called for a trip to Porter's Place. For Becky's last girls' night out, we couldn't go anywhere but there.

(Becky, Me, Trisha, and Rachael slurping our virgin drinks at Porter's Place.)

Even though were were on a girls' night, one boy did get to come along. Kyle behaved like a perfect gentlemanly escort. Most of the time he slept under the table. Truth be told, Kyle is wonderfully behaved in restaurants and sees them as a great napping spot.

(Kyle lying on his side and sleeping under the table at Porter's Place.)

Before we moved on, Kyle had to sneak in a little time with the bride-to-be. The first time Becky and Kyle met, he decided she was alright, curled up in her lap, and went to sleep. They've been friends ever since.

(Becky kneeling down with Kyle next to her just before we left the restaurant.)

After the drinks, we headed to Rachael's parent's house so that we could have a large backyard to grill dinner and watch and outdoor movie. Instead of the movie, we ended up watching the dogs. Kyle rarely gets to play with other dogs or be off leash, so he had a blast. He and Jasmine, a seven-year-old Australian Shepard/Lab mix played for two and a half hours almost nonstop.We are definitely going to have to set up more play dates for these two.

(Jasmine nipping at Kyle's neck while he jumps in the air.)

Since Kyle and Jasmine wouldn't hold still together, I had to get one of Jasmine alone when she took a break to watch the young buck run laps.

(A pretty shot of Jasmine looking off in the distance.)

Rachael's parents have a trampoline sunk in the ground. At first Kyle didn't know what to make of the bouncy surface and avoided it.

(Jeremiah bouncing on the trampoline while Becky lies on it. Jasmine and Kyle are looking on.)

It didn't take long for him to decide he liked to bounce. Kyle spent a good amount of time jumping on and off with Becky and Jeremiah.

(Jeremiah is lying on the trampoline while Becky sits next to him. Kyle is jumping on the trampoline with his ears flying in the air.)

Wednesday was wedding event free, but we sure made up for it today. In our church, weddings are performed in temples. This is the only place I don't take Kyle because everything inside is pale colored or white. As a result, while I went to Becky and Jeremiah's sealing, Kyle got to go to our club leader's house and play with her two puppies, Sugar and Mara. Mara, her female black lab, is headed to Oregon tomorrow for harness training, so this was a great opportunity for Kyle to say goodbye. Good luck Mara!

With Kyle at the puppy sitter's, I had a stress free day. It was weird to have an empty left hand and not worry about what my dog was doing every second. I managed though, and had a blast with friends. Becky was a gorgeous bride, and Jeremiah looked stunning in his chocolate tux.

(The single girls and the bride had to pose for a picture. Me, Becky, Rachael, and Jenny right after Becky got married!)

When all the morning festivities were over and I'd taken a trip to campus to meet with my thesis chair, I headed to get Kyle. It warmed my heart to see how happily he wagged my tale when I walked in the front door. He had just eaten dinner and gotten back from a long walk. My brave club leader is amazing. She walked Kyle, Sugar, and Mara for two miles at the same time! I know Kyle had a great day.

In return for puppysitting Kyle, I agreed to take Sugar for a couple days while my leader drops off Mara and attends a family reunion. Sugar is a beautiful white golden retriever who is only two weeks older than Kyle. She is a sweetie through and through.

I thought Kyle would be excited to have a friend along for a few days, but I think he got jealous of sharing my attention after leaving him all day. When we took off, Kyle did something he has never done before. He curled in a tight ball with his back to me. Kyle wouldn't even look at me when I said his name and patted his head.

(Kyle curled in a ball on the front passenger floorboard looking away from me.)

Of course, while Kyle pouted, Sugar looked unfazed in the backseat. So far, she has proved to be a really easygoing girl.

(Sugar sitting in the backseat with her tongue licking her nose.)

Back to the wedding celebrations... I got home with the puppies, relieved both of them, kenneled Sugar, and raced out the door with Kyle. He shouldn't have pouted because I had already chosen him to attend the reception with me. Since Becky knows him, Kyle was the obvious choice for the outing.

Becky and Jeremiah have tons of nieces and nephews, so there were adorable children running everywhere at the reception. About halfway through the evening, one little five-year-old, Louisa, came and introduced her self and asked to pet Kyle. She was my shadow the remainder of the night.

(Louisa kneeling in the grass next to Kyle and petting him.)

Louisa was an incredibly intelligent little girl who wanted to know all about Kyle's training. I told here the commands he knows, and she had a blast telling Kyle sit and down. However, she was disappointed that he doesn't know shake or roll over. I explained that he is only half trained so far, and that we have to teach the most important commands first. Louise proceeded to explain that concept to all her cousins for the remainder the evening.

After several rounds of puppy push-ups (successive sits and downs), Louisa wanted to try something new. I taught her lets go and let her walk Kyle along the edge of the yard. Kyle did pretty well until he found the wood chips and tried to eat them. After that, we avoided that section of the yard.

(Louisa walking Kyle around the edge of the yard on a loose leash.)

After a while several cousins noticed that Louisa was having all the fun, and they wanted a turn with Kyle. At one point he had four or five kids trying to walk him at once. That didn't last long because it was too overwhelming for Kyle. As a result, all the kids ran away except Louisa. She stayed at Kyle's side until Becky and Jeremiah drove off. Once again she proved that kids and puppies belong together. I also think she is convinced to raise a puppy in ten years or so.

(Two flower girls walking Kyle into the tall grasses at the edge of the back yard.)

Becky and Jeremiah were pretty busy all night, but Kyle and I snagged a few minutes of their time. I'm so happy for the two of them. They make an incredible couple who had a beautiful wedding.

(Me giving Becky a hug while Jeremiah looks on. Kyle is sitting patiently in the foreground.)

Weeks like this one make you believe that happily ever after does exist!