Calliope

Puppy # 2 was Calliope a female black lab born 1/30/05. I received Calliope as a transfer in Dec. 2005. She had been at another raiser's home while in heat and I got her on one of the first days she was allowed out of the house. Our first outing together ended up being a walk though SLC's temple square during the Christmas light's rush. She handled it beautifully and I new I had a good puppy.

Calliope was a joy and a major challenge all that the same time. Her behavior in public was outstanding, but her house behavior was something completely different. I first realised there was a "being left alone problem" at work one day. Calliope was supposed to be in the break room in a kennel, but at the end of my shift I walked in to find every speck of trash and paper shredded into tiny pieces and a happy puppy in the middle of it. After that Calliope went on to shred around $300 worth of my things, totally destroy my dad's work cell phone, and cost me $100 having the inside of my car professionally cleaned.

Calliope did have a few good quirks that I knew pointed to her being a great service dog; guide or otherwise. She caught on very quickly that my alarm meant I was supposed to get out of bed. One day I didn't need to get up but forgot to turn off the alarm, so when it went off I turned it off and went back to sleep. The next thing I knew Calliope had put her feet up on the bed, grabbed my blanket in her mouth and proceeded to drag it off my bed. She then fully jumped on my bed and pawed at me until I got mad and yelled at her. She also knew that my phone was to be answered and if it rang or vibrated she would trot from it to me and back and forth until I got it. I also believe she saved me from being attacked one evening on the way home from work. A man started to approach us in the dark and totally out of character Calliope stopped, turned toward him, her hackles went up, she growled, and I am sure if he had continued towards us she would have protected me; violently if needed.

I returned Calliope for formal training at the CA fun day in 2006. It was hard to let her go, but at the same time I couldn't wait to see how she would do. I got the news in Dec. 2006 that she was to graduate later that month. I went to graduation and met her wonderful partner. She was obviously a blessing in this lady's life and I was so proud of her.

About a week after she graduated I was in Hawaii with my family and I got the news that my little calliope was on the Fresno CA news. She had saved some one's life and I was blown away by what a special dog she had proved herself to be.

Things I learned from Calliope:

• Things are just things
• Laughter can keep you from screaming
• Car detailing is NOT guaranteed to remove pet urine smells
• Dogs know when there is a problem
• Being silly makes life better
• These dogs bless the lives of people every day

Maria

Ok, I really never was officially this puppy's raiser but I had her for about 3 weeks and couldn't have loved her more if I had had her for ever!






Maria came to me as a transfer in 2005. I was told she had multiple issues and needed a lot of work. Confident that I could "fix" her I agreed to take her. She was such a sweet girl. For the first few days she never left my side. If I even got close to sitting on the floor she was in my lap. This actually frustrated me sooo much because Patriot was so aloof and rarely cuddled at all.

After about a week with Maria I realised things were much more serious than I had imagined. She was terrified of everything. She would slink past big rocks, flags, Halloween decorations, bikes, motorcycles, sprinklers, and would growl at men. I couldn't take her to work because she couldn't handle being in public, and school was out of the question. Although she improved in the short time I had her our CFR eventually decided it would be best to have her under closer supervision and she was transferred again to CO. It was surprisingly painful to put her on the puppy truck! I think I cried for the rest of the day over her being gone. I was angry that I wasn't able to help this poor little girl improve. The next summer I saw her at Fun Day and she had improved, but was later CC'd in phase 4.




Things I learned from Maria:

• Not everything can be "fixed"
• Its ok to stay inside
• Cuddling is not all bad
• Guide dogs can not be afraid of the world

Patriot

Lindsey's recent blogs have inspired me to post about my past puppies....even though there are only two besides Hobbs. So here it goes:





Puppy #1 was Patriot, a male yellow lab born May 1, 2002. Some wonderful raisers brough a truck load of "P" puppies back from CA and met Megan and me at a hotel in SLC to give us our puppies. Patriot was a handful right from the beginning, and I can honestly say I hated him for about the first three months I had him. As it turned out what I though was dominance and rebelion (note: patriot was neutered at 7 1/2 weeks so no hormones), turned out to be me expecting way too much from a baby puppy and not praising him enough. Once we worked that out he became the sweetest most "willing to please" dog ever.
I returned him to GDB at the 2003 OR fun day. I actually requested him be recalled then because I was leaving for college and didn't want him to be transfered, and didn't want him dumped on my mom to finish. He flew through the first 4 phases of "college" and then I got an email from my leader saying he had been CC"d for cronic ear infections (he had had one almost the whole time I had him) and allergies. I cried for about a minute and then couldn't sit still for the 3 weeks I waited for him to come home. He has been living with my parents in Utah ever since, but is preparing to move to SLC with me early next year.



Things I learned from Patriot:

• Reward the little things
• Praise even when you are upset about something else
• PATIENCE is a virtue
• Not every dog likes to cuddle
• Puppy raising is HARD work
• Don't wear a black....anything to church with a yellow dog

Lazy Blog

Ok, I have been really bad updating this blog and today is no better....I am basically copying this from my puppy blog. Bear with me...........I have been meaning to type up my list of thankful for's and finally have a few minutes to do so. Plus I have some Thanksgiving photos. This one is on all the food for my thanksgiving dinner. I went up to Pocatello ID to visit my mom's family and we had such amazing food. My new favorite thanksgiving food is Cheesy spinach! Now for my list!
50 things I am thankful for:
Family
Grandparents
Cousins, Aunts, and Uncles
A wonderful husband
Weddings
Finally living close to family
Religion
God
The warmth that was Bakersfield
My puppy (Hobbs)
My dogs (Patriot, Calliope)
Cody (my parent's dog)
Mountains
Water
Food
Clothing
In-Laws
A house of my own (you don't appreciate this until you are borrowing someone elses)
Cars
Movies
TV shows (ER, House, Heroes, Bones, Criminal Minds, Real World, & Journeyman)
Friends
The Internet
Guide dogs
People who respect service dog's right to privacy
The government (look at it this way...we aren't communist)
Freedom
The Military (especially the Marines)
The founding fathers
School
Education
Airplanes
Wild animals
Not being a parent....yet
Books
The ability to read
San Fransisco (I really love that city)
Foreign places
Time
Oh! My kitty
Music
Oxygen
Working
My body
The Earth
Stars
The sun and moon
Laughter
Camera
People who still smile and wave at complete strangers

Brag about my boy

Patriot went in to get his shots updated and he did very well. He was a little out of control trying to say hi to all the dogs in the waiting area, but he eventually calmed down. My brag is that the vet was really impressed at how healthy he is. She was impressed with how I am handling his allergies and that his ears were so healthy for an allergy dog. The best part was when she looked at his teeth and asked if he had had a professional cleaning recently, to which I told her he hadn't had one in his whole life. I just realised that he may have had one at GDB when he was IFT, but oh well. The vet was totally shocked at how clean his teeth were without ever being professionally cleaned and Patriot is going to be six! All along I was afraid that he is super over weight but the vet said that his heart sounded great and that he was probably better with a little chub where he is out in the weather most of the day (don't worry he does sleep inside). I am so proud that I have done such a good job keeping my baby healthy.....I guess my parents have done most of it until now, but I have kept after them to keep him healthy.

My baby is visiting!

Well my 100 lb baby anyways lol. Patriot is here visiting for the next few days and it has been interesting to say the least. He has "forgotten" a lot of his manners and that commands are supposed to be followed, but we are working on it. He has also picked up the bad habit of eating so fast he chokes on his kibble. I saw a dog bowl once that I want to find for him, it had these round things sticking up from the bottom of the bowl so that the dog would have to eat around them. I just don't remember where I saw it.....Haha I found it!! Here is the link to the site: http://www.brake-fast.net/ I just wish it was metal instead of plastic. I am going to get one so I will let you know how well it works.

Hobbs is very jealous because "mommy" is paying attention to this other dog, and he is stunned that he can't take down this dog. Hobbs used to be able to take down Dodge all the time, but Patriot is another story. I have to control their play though because Hobbs plays dirty and bites Patriot's ears until he yelps! Once again I have pictures of them, but no way to get them on the computer.....moving is such a joy!

Other exciting news is that I think I am going to be offered a job at this Doggy DayCare! It looks like a really fun place and Patriot would be able to play there all day every day while I am working! I applied at another one that I like more but they are not hiring for a while so I am going to accept this if it is offered. Hobbs unfortunately would have to be in a kennel there, but I have a huge one so I don't think it will be a problem. It will do him some good to have some kennel time.....he defiantly doesn't get enough of that.

Hobbs and I had our first puppy meeting in the new club tonight and I am very excited about it. There are only three puppies (including Hobbs) so it will be different from my last clubs. The puppies are Herbie a nine month MYLB and Pecos a 5 month MBLB (his dad is Louie). After only one meeting I can already tell this club is going to be much better than the last one! All puppies are doing wonderfully and the raisers (even the first timers) are doing wonderfully and are very confident in how to handle the puppies. I am so relieved to be in a dedicated club again! I realised though at the meeting that Hobbs has never been handled by anyone else except at a puppy sitters house! He didn't know what to do with himself! He kept looking at me after a command to see if it was alright! So cute, but my comment that the club didn't do things like this before worried my new leader.

Hobbs and Patriot are both curled up on a blanket on the floor sleeping right next to each other and it is soooo adorable! I took a picture and will post it when I can.

Thanksgiving Post....even if it is late

Well I have been meaning to type up my list of thankful for's and finally have a few minutes to do so. Plus I have some Thanksgiving photos. This one is on all the food for my thanksgiving dinner. I went up to Pocatello ID to visit my mom's family and we had such amazing food. My new favorite thanksgiving food is Cheesy spinach! Now for my list!











50 things I am thankful for:

1. Family
2. Grandparents
3. Cousins, Aunts, and Uncles
4. A wonderful husband
5. Weddings
6. Finally living close to family
7. Religion
8. God
9. The warmth that was Bakersfield
10. My puppy (Hobbs)
11. My dogs (Patriot, Calliope)
12. Cody (my parent's dog)
13. Mountains
14. Water
15. Food
16. Clothing
17. In-Laws
18. A house of my own (you don't appreciate this until you are borrowing someone elses)
19. Cars
20. Movies
21. TV shows (ER, House, Heroes, Bones, Criminal Minds, Real World, & Journeyman)
22. Friends
23. The Internet
24. Guide dogs
25. People who respect service dog's right to privacy
26. The government (look at it this way...we aren't communist)
27. Freedom
28. The Military (especially the Marines)
29. The founding fathers
30. School
31. Education
32. Airplanes
33. Wild animals
34. Not being a parent....yet
35. Books
36. The ability to read
37. San Fransisco (I really love that city)
38. Foreign places
39. Time
40. Oh! My kitty
41. Music
42. Oxygen
43. Working
44. My body
45. The Earth
46. Stars
47. The sun and moon
48. Laughter
49. Camera
50. People who still smile and wave at complete strangers

Pictures at last!!

I finally got my pictures onto a computer so I could post them. Enjoy!

Our last afternoon at our house, just before our friends came to help move

Hobbs in the front of the moving truck

This is literally how crowded it was before I got in the truck!! Then I moved a bunch of that stuff under the seat so Hobbs could sit in the middle....I know not safe for him, but there was literally no other way for him to get to Utah!

Hobbs in our temporary home in West Jordan

I took this right after we got home from moving....hobbs was, and still is, very stressed so we took pictures to get his mind off everything else.

Hobbs at my Grandma's house in Pocatello ID. He was such an angel and my grandma asked if she could keep him if he failed.....sadly I had to tell her he is already spoken for by us!

Hobbs climbing the "mountain" in back of my grandma's house. It is great because there is a fence all the way around the property so hobbs got to just run

This is the same day but we were in the shade so it looks like night

Hobbs on top of the hill looking so handsome!


I love this shot of him

We are here in Utah!

I am so happy to announce that Robert, Hobbs, Dodge, our kitty, and I are safetly here in SLC Utah! The drive was pretty rough, especially for Hobbs. We had a big U-haul truck and pulled our jeep behind. There is just enough floor space in the truck for the passenger's feet. so hobbs had to ride up on the seat where he had to be curled into a tight ball to fit. Anyways 10 hours later we arived in Utah and are living in Robert's parent's empty house for the next two weeks. Then we will finally be able to move into our apartment and hopefully stay there for quite a while! Dodge and the kitty rode in Kennels in the back of the moving truck....we were going to put them in the jeep but the u-haul guy said that the exaust from the truck would get trapped inside the jeep and could kill them! They rode ok, the kitty is pretty stressed but is getting more relaxed by the day.

Hobbs is really really stressed. He just doesn't know what to do with himself and is very confused because his normal schedule has been thrown out the window. I am trying to make everything easier for him but it isn't that simple. I have some pictures of the move but can't post them because our multi-card reader for the camera is packed somewhere and we don't know where! So expect a huge picture post one of these days.

I know where all the siblings are now!

UPDATED: I added some pictures while I get my camera unpacked and my computer set up to download pictures again!

I finally know where all of Hobb's littermates are being raised! So here is the information:

Hal M Black - Started in Kern County, CA, transfered to Stockton, CA

Hansel M Black - Phoenix, AZ

Higgins M Black - Stockton, CA

Hope F Black - Phoenix, AZ

Howell M Yellow - Tucson AZ

Hydra F Yellow - Contra Costa, CA

I love know where they are, even if I haven't heard anything from any of the raisers. I met Howell's raiser at Fun Day, and I just contacted Hal's new raiser. The others I have found on club sites and through word of mouth. I hope to have some updated pictures of Hydra and Higgins soon and I will post them.

New apartment

Robert and I finally found and agreed on an apartment in Midvale Utah for us to move into. They luckily don't have a weight limit for dogs! This means I may have Patriot finally come live with us! Here are a couple pictures:

We are seriously considering giving Dodge up for adoption because he has become increasingly neurotic and has started using his kennel as a potty spot. This is with plenty of exercise and play time. Frustrating to say the least! If you know of anyone who is looking for a very high energy but very affectionate dog please let me know and I can email them pictures and more information about him. I feel like a horrible dog owner just saying that we are getting rid of him but he just is causing so much tension in our home!

Hobbs continues to impress us with his maturity and good behavior every day. I don't know how I can root for him to do well IFT! I want him to fail and come back home!

Morning walks with the dogs

I don't know how many people walk their dogs all at the same time but it is such an enjoyable thing for me. Granted I only have two dogs and they are both well behaved on walks, but I think it makes them more confident and it bonds them and me together. I do still walk Hobbs by himself about half the time, but the joined walks are so great!

Hobbs had a major scare today on our walk, and he handled himself so well the I stopped and practiced "come" just so I could justify giving him a treat. I know I am a goober. What happened is that Hobbs was walking right next to the road and a huge semi came flying by (going well over the 35 mph speed limit), inches away from the curb, and its air breaks realised right at Hobbs head! The semi was close enough that I felt the air from the breaks blow past my legs! Well like any dog Hobbs just about jumped out of his skin, but then instantly recovered and kept walking as if nothing had happened!

Dodge on the other hand about died from fear, ripped the leash out of my hand, ran as far away from the road as he could, and lay there shaking. I of course went and got him and had to drag him back onto the sidewalk were he finally got over it and started walking. Hobbs knew he had done something good because he walk walking all happy and proud (I think maybe he was just happy he didn't die lol).
Here are some pictures of my boys:


Kind of a bad picture of them but you can see the packing Chaos we are living in for the next two weeks.

These next ones are all better if you click on them to enlarge them

Resting in the grass after the monster aka "Semi" tried to eat us

Hobbs looks so handsome in this one! And it looks soooo much better enlarged



The boys on our stair case after their walk. Lol, Hobbs didn't fit on just one step and I couldn't figure out how get them both sitting. Hobbs finally just sat on the step above his front feet. Moving is going well even though both dogs are convinced we are leaving them here and they stress every time we get into packing mode. I will be so happy to be into our new place in SLC.

Puppy Meeting

Tonight was Hobbs' last meeting here in Bakersfield, and it was great because there were a ton of dogs there, cc'd dog included plus all the dogs in the club came to the same meeting at the same time! Hobbs did great greeting the other dogs, and was actually a little too excited to meet some of them! He is still having a very hard time on walks when dogs are around and especially when they bark at him. We are working on it though.

Some news from the club is that Hobbs' brother Hal is getting transfered! I guess his family is having some issues to where they can't have a dog, so he is in limbo waiting to be placed with a new raiser. I think this is a good thing for him as he needs quite an assertive raiser which it didn't seem like he was getting. The new baby puppy, Barron, is getting huge! He is quite the spitfire too! Although I will not miss this club at all I will miss seeing Hobbs' brother, Hopefully I will get to meet some more of his siblings before they go on to be guides and pets.

Hobbs is starting to fill out a little bit and is starting to look like an adult instead of a gangly puppy :-( I know they have to grow up and he is only almost 8 months old, but soon the countdown to recall will begin. The time seems to be going soo much faster than when I had Patriot....it seems like I just got him where as by the time Patriot was 8 months I felt like I had had him forever!!

I have pictures but can't get them to post so maybe tomorrow.

Here is my little tribute to Halloween. Robert and I didn't do a whole ton because he was sick and didn't feel like going to the Trunk or Treat we were planning on. So we just put our our pumpkins and gave out like 10 pieces of candy. There is a great place here in Bakersfield to get pumpkins and we finally did the night before Halloween. I was, as usual, pretty picky about my pumpkin but finally found the one I wanted. We had a book of carving paterns and had a great time gutting and carving our pumpkins. Mine for some reason was increadably easy to gut!! The inside litterally just scraped off with a layer of the wall and came out almost in one piece!! That cut down on the mess that is almost enough to detur me from carving every year. I am so glad that we did at least one of the things we had planned for our Halloween Celebration. Next year will be even better!!

Now to other news:

Our Momma Kitty (the name kinda stuck) is most likely pregnant!! She went into heat on monday or tuesday and escaped out the front door and just returned today and is not in heat anymore. I looked it up and if she did get pregnant we will be expecting kittens around new years day! So anyone who lives in Utah or knows someone in Utah let me know if you want a kitten. The daddy is a big Black and White short hair tom and here are some pictures of Momma Kitty:

Momma Kitty

Here is just a quick note....that has nothing to do with Hobbs or Guide dogs....but I mentioned her before and decided to update a little.

So our Momma Kitty (the name kinda stuck) is most likely pregnant!! She went into heat on monday or tuesday and escaped out the front door and just returned today and is not in heat anymore. I looked it up and if she did get pregnant we will be expecting kittens around new years day! So anyone who lives in Utah or knows someone in Utah let me know if you want a kitten. Here are some pictures of momma Kitty: