Petpalooza 2011

Last weekend we attended Petpalooza which has become our clubs May outing the past couple of years. Here is a link to last years post which talks all about it: http://gdbpuppysitter.blogspot.com/2010/05/petpalooza.html

This year since our club is down to Trinka (who happened to be in season) we had to borrow some dogs from other clubs! We took Calico who just turned a year. I was pretty busy talking to people and selling toys that I didn't get very many pictures this year. Plus the dogs were ALL over the place because there were HUNDREDS of dogs there. Nothing like extreme dog distractions! :) I also got to meet Simba who is a brother to the VERY popular chocolate lab Snickers! Below are some pictures of the day.

Calico:


Calico:


Vincent:


Career Change Lomita:


Career Change Jessa:


Simba:


Simba:

Update/Questions to the Readers

Jessa is finally back home! :) She came home last Saturday and is adjusting well. I am hoping to see her soon and get some pictures. Her knee is still healing so she has been having to take it pretty easy.

And the questions to my readers. Do I even have any readers? hehe
1) Where do you get your dog toys from? (Petco, Petsmart, Online, Feed Supply Store, Etc....)
2) What is your dogs FAVORITE toy? (GDB approved)

Those two questions came about because our club sells toys as a fundraiser. I was able to get a pretty good deal on toys (cheaper than Petco/Petsmart). The place I got the best deal on sterilized bones, are on back order from the manufacture with no estimated delivery date. I would like to order more (because they were so cheap and went SUPER fast at Fun Days) but am having a hard time finding them online for the same price I bought them last time. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance for any advice! :)

I've been back about 2-1/2 weeks from Europe and am looking to get back into the swing of things around here. There is a lot of updating to be had so grab some hot chocolate, your favorite chair, and here goes nothing.

Jessa:
As of my last update, everything was kind of up in the air with Jessa. She will be adopted back by the grandmother of the girl who raised her (that way the family can all see her). I believe they are going to be getting her back sometime this month.

Also, congrats to Joyful (one of Jessa's sisters) who is now a working guide in Louisiana!

Marlin:
It looks like this guy will be heading back sometime before the end of the year. I'm hoping to have him a few more times before he heads back for formal training.

NEW PUPPY:
Miss "T" arrived while I was gone. :( I was able to meet her at our club Pumpkin Patch Outing (more on that later). She is a sweet little thing and I'm hoping to get to spend some time with her also. Without further ado, let me introduce to you the newest member of our club:

TRINKA!!

Pumpkin Patch/Corn Maze:
For the past couple of years, we have going to the corn maze/pumpkin patch with another club in our area. We are friends with the leader's of the other club so it's always fun to see them. I really didn't get a lot of pictures (even though we were puppy-sitting Marlin for the day). The only good one I got was of Guinness. He was such a cute little puppy! He has grown to be quite the handsome fellow now:

That is all the updating I have for now! I hope you all have a wonderful week. :)

Jessa Update

:( <-That sums up this post.

I got a message today from Jessa's raisers. It is just easier for me to copy/paste:

"Last night we received the very sad news that Jessa, the black lab Guide Dog puppy that we raised, injured her knee at the Guide Dog campus. She was playing with the other dogs and jumped up to get some water from a hose. When she came down, she blew her knee out. They don't yet know the extent of her injuries, but she will probably require surgery. So, Jessa will not be able to be a breeder or a Guide Dog."

:(

Jessa Update (7/24/10)

Two weekends ago we puppy-sat Jessa. If you remember the last time we had her, she was totally all over the place and didn't do so stellar on her evaluation. She went into heat a second time and wow, what a totally different dog. She has really matured, calmed down, and really relaxed. I kept thinking I had maybe picked up the wrong dog or something!

My husband and I love to go mini-golfing so of course, Jessa came with us. She did great though seemed a little bored with it. :) Afterwords, we went and saw Toy Story 3 which she liked because she got to lay on the cool cement floor. Sunday we went to a Street Fair and walked around.

She had another evaluation last weekend and they decided to pull her for breeding because of the amount of times she has been heat. If not, she will head into formal training. I got the email on Friday that her recall date is the Fun Days in Oregon. I haven't talked to her raisers to see if they are going to be getting a new puppy, a transfer, or taking a little break.

With out futher ado, here are some pictures!
Jessa waiting her turn to play miniature golf:


Miniature golf is pretty fun!


Her look of, "I'm getting bored, can you speed it up please?" :)


Jessa in front of a water fountain. She wanted to drink it but it smelt like bleach. :/


In front of a police car:


The firefighters got a good laugh out of her posing for this picture:

Puppy Updates!

Marlin: He apparently got neutered this week. Poor Guy. :( They weren't at our last meeting so I haven't seen the guy in awhile.

Jessa: She is being picked up today after being in heat for the past couple of weeks. Before our CFR left, she wanted to see if going into heat a second time for her would maybe help with some of her distractions. She doesn't have a re-call date yet but will probably be sometime in the fall/late summer.

Loyola: She is graduating (again) this Saturday down in California! I'm so happy that her raiser and her mom are able to make it down there to see her graduate again. It is the first dog ever from our club to 1) Graduate twice and 2) Have a graduation down at the California campus (as all of our dogs go back to Oregon). Though someone asked, if she graduates twice, does that mean she got her Masters? :) I'm hoping she doesn't got back for her PhD! She is being placed with a 30 year old guy who is attending college in the fall. He is completely blind and Loyola will be his first guide dog. I'll be sure to post more when I get pictures and the full story.

Valentino & Joanne: They are getting bigger! :)

And I can't forget the siblings of Topeka and Donata:
Topeka's Siblings:
Tallulah-Graduated (Working in Toronto, Canada)
Tara-Phase 10
Toledo-Was in Phase 10...Not sure if career changed?
Trevor-Career Changed
Trishna-Phase 10
Tropic-Phase 8
Tulsa-Graduated (Working in Battle Ground, WA)
Topeka-Graduated (Working in Little Rock, Arkansas)

Donata's Siblings:
Damara-Graduating this weekend in Oregon! :)
Dexter-Graduated
Dotty-Phase 10
Digby-Career Changed
Derica-Phase 5
Dot-Phase 8
Dubai-Phase 8
Donata-Graduated (Working in McMinnville, OR)

Loyola & Jessa Update

It is Loyola!! :) I emailed her raising family (who are some of the nicest people you would meet in your life) and asked if they had heard anything. If you remember, the nice lady Loyola was placed with is 89 years old. Loyola's Graduation

Apparently, she is unable to care for Loyola anymore and returned her to GDB. :( She had hip replacement surgery and then she ended up falling and has a cast covering her stomach/hip. Since it's been under a year, they are able to re-train Loyola and hopefully get her a new partner. I do hope her old partner is doing okay. :(

As far as Jessa is concerned (this is the same family who also raised Loyola), since she has gone into heat twice, they are going to hold of spaying her for now. Our CFR is going do re-evaluate her when she comes out of heat to see if anything changed. So as of now, she's still a "potential breeder".

The Heat is On

Jessa decided last night it would be a good time to go into heat. Yes, this is her second time and she's only 13 months old. I think she secretly wants to become a breeder...

Petpalooza

For the past couple of years, we have had a booth at Petpalooza at a local park. Here is a description of what it is all about:
"An event for pet lovers and a special day for your four-legged family member or other furry friend. The event kicks off with a Dog Trot 3K/5K Fun Run. The event also includes an animal-related entertainment stage, Skyhoundz Disc Dog Championships, the nationally renown K9 Kings High Flying Dog Show, a petting zoo and pony rides, an agility area, pet adoptions, exams, vaccinations and other services, fly dog demos, the ‘Unleashed’ pet contests, a noon pet parade, over 140 vendor booths, give-a-ways and lots of activities to keep both humans and pets entertained."

It's a great way to get the word out about Guide Dogs for the Blind and hopefully get people interested in raising. There were A LOT of dogs there and I don't mean to be rude, but there were some really ugly dogs! As part of our booth, I offered to make a poster of pictures to help people understand a little bit more and the "process" of raising a puppy. I think it turned out pretty good and it really seemed to draw people in and got them asking questions. There was an 18 year old blind girl that stopped by with her mom. We had a blind lady at our booth who uses a Guide Dog (from GDB) that got to talk to her about using a dog. I almost started getting emotional over their conversation! She talked about how much independence a dog provides versus using a cane and how much more she has done since getting her dog. Hopefully we were able to plant a seed and who knows, maybe one day we will see her with a working guide!

I didn't take too many pictures as it was kind of boring but here are a few.

This is the poster I made:


Jessa:


Joanne:


Cranberry-Working Guide Dog in Harness:


Close-up of Cranberry's Harness:


Cranberry (L) & Joanne on (R):


Cranberry (L) & Joanne (R) :) Joanne loved Cranberry!

Jessa

Have you ever raised or puppy-sat a dog that you just can't pin-point what issue they are having? :) Jessa really is a sweet dog but there is just something about her. I took her to work the beginning of May and the same thing happened as last time. It took her about 15-20 minutes to calm down and when I took her on a walk at lunch, she was all over the place.

Last weekend she had her one year evaluation which didn't go horrible but not great either. At this point, it looks like she will be spayed before she heads back for formal training. She was really odor distracted and was really interested in everything besides walking and paying attention.

This past week I took her to work again (2 weeks later) and within 5 minutes, she was over in her corner chewing quietly on her Y-Bone and proceeded to sleep the whole morning. When we went on a walk at lunch, nothing like a little food to get her to pay attention (plus I had her on a correction collar instead of just the flat). She seems to be making progress (which is good). She still has a couple of months before being recalled so hopefully I will be able to work with her a little more. I promise no miracles though! :)

Here she is at 13 months hanging out with me at work:

Valentino :)

We had Valentino for the first time the other night. He's a Kentucky/Deanne puppy and I have to say he's VERY mellow (and cute) :) for only being 4-1/2 months old. He was actually easier to puppy-sit him than some of the older dogs. He looks a lot like his mommy I think. Here is a link to her picture here. Here are some pictures of his liter from the Guide Dogs for the Blind Flickr account here. He was born on New Years Day which I think makes him kind of cool. :)

He has such a cute face. The first few pictures are at home.




Shhhh...He's sleeping...


This is his "You've had me out and about for way too long and I'm exhausted, please just take me home" look. :)


I'll be taking Jessa again tomorrow after our meeting for a day at work (I did this two weeks ago). She is the sister of Janda. Next up will probably be a small update on her as she had her evaluation this past Sunday. Stay tuned for a post later this week about her...

Donata is Going to College!

I got the "official" word that Donata will be heading back for her formal training on the 7th of February. :( Thankfully we will have her one last time before she leaves. She has such a funny personality being 1/2 golden, 1/2 lab. That will leave our club with only two puppies (Marlin and Jessa) until March when our leader is getting a new puppy. She would be getting one in February, but broke her ankle and had to have surgery. We also have another family who is very interested in raising so they might be getting a new puppy also. Jessa went into heat a couple of weeks ago and is still on the breeder watch list. I will miss Donata, but if she doesn't make it for some reason, our leader will be adopting her! :)