Dune and the Dog Door

Posted on February 9, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

Dune

We have a dog door from our entry into our garage. It was put in there many years ago when we had a pet dog. Shadow was a tall dog and so we installed it pretty high in the door. When we started raising puppies, our leader told us to make sure the puppies didn’t use the dog door. At first we were very watchful to see if they would figure out how to use it. Our cat uses it regularly to get in and out of the house. I’m sure they all would have learned with just a little instruction. But none of them did, until Dune, puppy #7.

You see, Dune likes to push on things. Plus she is very inquisitive. A couple of days ago, I stepped out into the garage and while I was out there, she pushed on the dog door a bit so it flapped. Last night when Zodiac and Dune hear the sound of the garage door opening, the signal that Bill was coming home from work, they both ran down the stair to wait for him to come in. I love to see this nightly ritual so I was watching from the top of the stairs.

Dune got tired of waiting so she went up to the door and pushed. It just happened to be on the dog door. Her little head went out and the next thing I know her back feet are off the ground and she is half in and half out of the dog door, high centered. I’m too far away to do anything but watch. It only takes another moment for Dune to get her control of her body and her tail end disappears through the dog door. I was talking on the cell phone with Bill so I alert him to the problem. He was right on top of it. When he heard the sound of the dog door flapping, he turned around and caught our little girl. Thank goodness Bill is right there ready to plop her back inside the house.

Our cat uses the dog door but it looks like we are going to have to lock it so that no one can go out the dog door but the cat can still get in. In his old age, our cat likes us to open the door for him to go out anyway, so it shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Hopefully with a few weeks of the door being locked to exits Dune will stop pushing on it.

Pupdate – Yakira

Posted on February 8, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

Diane & Yakira – getting their official portrait on graduation day

We got an email from Diane and Yakira this week. Their flights home went pretty good. Yakira needed a little reassurance during take off. But that’s not bad for her first time flying. Here is some of what she said.

Both Yakira and my other animals are getting along well. (Actually she and the cats have a mutual agreement to ignore each other but it’s not necessarily a bad plan.)

We have been taking two trips into the community daily to expose her to all the new sights and guide work issues. She is a remarkably quick learner and we will shortly be enjoying ourselves more than adapting.

Besides the two cats (Sleepy and Aurora), Diane has her retired guide, Bettyjo (also a black lab but much larger than Yakira). It is so much fun to get a quick update from Yakira!

Graduation Day – Yakira

Posted on February 5, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

Yakira at Diane’s feet

We left Friday morning for Yakira’s graduation, after dropping Dune off at my friend’s for puppy sitting. The roads were great but the trip was long. I’m always ready to be there after about an hour or two of driving. It really is a pretty drive but 12 hours is a long time in the car. Zodiac is an excellent traveler and was very patient and willing to get back in the car even when we could tell he was tired of it. We finally got to Gresham and settled into our hotel for the night.

Mount Hood

On Saturday, we woke up to blue skies. I was so excited. I’ve been to Oregon for 3 other graduations and never had a glimpse of Mount Hood. But this time it was perfectly clear. We drove around the area a bit before graduations trying to get a photo. We got to Guide Dogs for the Blind’s Boring, Oregon campus a little early so we could take Zodiac on the “Oregon Trail” that goes through the natural vegetation on the back edge of campus, before he had to go in a kennel in the kennel kitchen. You can’t have a puppy in training with you while you are presenting the dog you raised during graduation. He loved the walk but wasn’t so happy about going into the kennel.

video of seeing Yakira for the first time since October

Finally the time came for us to see Yakira and meet her new partner. It was kind of funny because Yakira was a little slow in figuring out who we were. But once she realized she was a happy girl. Bill was holding her leash and she started doing some crazy labby loops and got away from him and looped off to say hi to one of the other pups in class. Yakira looked great and very happy. Her handler, Diane, is a great match and we enjoyed getting to know her. She still has her retired guide, Betty Jo so Yakira has a buddy to hang out with at home. It was so nice to just hang out with Yakira and her partner and get lots of puppy loves. I was hoping that Yakira would move somewhere warm and her new home is in southern California so that is perfect for her.

Yakira giving Bill a kiss

We got a chance to meet Yakira’s sister Yumi’s raisers at graduation. She said that Yakira is just like Yumi except she is black instead of yellow. I also got to meet another of the graduates who I know from a guide dog user/puppy raiser email group I’m on. Her partner, Tyra is Yakira’s half-sister.

Yakira looking up at Diane

After graduation I got Zodiac from the kennel kitchen and we took him and Yakira out to the paddock behind the dorms and let them romp for a few minutes to get reacquainted and then went out to eat afterwards with Diane and Yakira. GDB has made another great match for our girl. She is going to love her new home in southern California and her new life as a guide dog. Yakira was not Diane’s original match on dog day. But it soon became clear that this first dog just wasn’t going to be a good match for Diane’s career. She recently got her masters and will be working with disable college students to make sure they have the accommodation they need for their disability. This first dog will make someone a wonderful partner but she just didn’t settle quickly enough after interruptions for Diane’s job situation. The trainers brought Diane two new dogs to try and she choose Yakira.

Yakira & Zodiac under the table at dinner

The hardest part was decided it was time to take Yakira and Diane back to the dorms. There is this moment after you drop them off when the puppy you raised realizes that you aren’t staying. You can see them processing it in their minds. It isn’t that they don’t want to go with their handler. They are happy to do that. I think they would like it if we could be around too. Even more than the formal graduation ceremony, that is the moment, for me, when they truly move on to their new life. It was a great day but very exhausting.

On Sunday morning we went back to campus to pick up a career change dog named Pauletta. Pauletta has arthritis in her lower back and so her puppy raisers are adopting her. She was recalled a few weeks ago for breeder evals but the arthritis changes everything. They were trying to figure out how to get her to Denver. She wasn’t cleared for air travel after her spay but it was fine for her to travel by car. So we brought her home with us and they got up super early Monday morning to pick her up and then headed right back home. It was fun to watch that reunion. Pauletta will be certified as a Therapy Dog and do great things with her life even though she won’t be a guide dog. GDB is so full of wonderful people. It was nice to be able to do something to help Pauletta get home to her family faster. Below is the video I shot of Pauletta seeing one of her puppy raisers for the first time since she went back to Guide Dogs for the Blind. You can hear Zodiac barking in the background, unhappy not to be part of the reunion.

Pauletta watching out our front door

Road Trip

Posted on February 1, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

Yakira and Zodiac – photo by Lisa Thomposn

We are off to see Yakira and her partner this weekend. Graduations are so much fun and this one promises to be a great one. Zodiac is going with us and Dune is gets to go to my friend Lisa’s to be puppy sat. I hope she doesn’t get too noisy in her kennel. We will be bringing a career changed dog named Pauletta back with us. She is going back to her raisers who live in Colorado. The will be driving to Utah on Monday to pick her up. She has arthritis in her lower back so she can’t become a guide dog. I’ll catch up on my posts when we get back. I hope everyone has a good weekend.

Charm Necklace – Yakira

Posted on January 31, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

my Yakira charm necklace

In Gift Idea #35 I mentioned the charm necklaces I’ve made for each of my puppies in training. With Yakira’s graduation this weekend I thought it would be a good time for a post focusing on her charm necklace. Each charm is symbolic of something about Yakira.

The main charm on her necklace is a tiny treasure box. This was inspired by her name has Hebrew origins and means precious, dear or costly. We keep precious things in treasure boxes so I thought it was a good representation of her name.

I also have a letter “Y” charm to go along with her name and because I’m hoping to have just one puppy in training for each letter of the alphabet. Each of my puppy’s charm necklaces has something for their first initial.

Each necklace also has a heart because of course we love each puppy dearly.

Another common feature of all the puppy charm necklaces is a spot to put an additional charm while they are in training. Yakira’s now has a star representing that she is in class with her new partner. During the training stage, I have a charm with a number on it to represent the phase of training they are in.

I also put a charm on each necklace to represent their birthstone. Yakira was born in August so I have a green bead for Peridot.

Yakira has two more charms. One is a hand mirror to represent her beauty and the other is a horse. When she was still quite young we took her with us to the mountains to cut down our Christmas tree. Compared to her size the snow was rather deep. But Yakira was determined to make her own way. She got cold once and after warmer her on my lap she was ready to go again. From that early experience I knew that she was a hard worker. The horse charm reminds me of what a little work horse she is.

I have found that these necklaces really help me when it is time to send each puppy back to Guide Dogs for the Blind for their formal training. I think the same would be true for family members who are far away for school or work etc. or they have passed on from this life. I enjoy the process of finding the charms and assembling the necklace and then wearing it until their graduation. Saturday after graduation I will take off this necklace. Then the cluster of charms will be added to a larger necklace with the charm clusters from all the previous puppies. This necklace I where when we go to pick-up a new puppy from the puppy truck or the airport. I hang this necklace by my desk so I can see it any time I want to during the day.

all my other puppy charm clusters

Do you have someone you want to make a charm necklace for? Or do you have a similar tradition that helps you when loved ones are no longer near?

Pupdate – Yakira in Class

Posted on January 25, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

Yakira – photo by Lisa Thompson

We got the call this week that as puppy raisers we work for. Late Wednesday morning we got the news that Yakira is in class and scheduled to graduate on February 2nd. Since Yakira was still in phase 7 last week on the phase report I didn’t think about her being matched up this week. I was just focused on the next phase report that comes out on Thursdays. So when our club leader called on Wednesday before lunch I thought it would be something about Dune. But she asked if we could be in Oregon for a graduation next Saturday! Dog day is on Monday but one of the students dog didn’t work out for some reason and Yakira was matched with that student. We are waiting for the official letter to get a name and address for Yakira’s handler. Maybe it will come tomorrow. It took me about a day to get over my shock at the news. I’m so excited to see Yakira again and meet her partner!

On a side note, Dune is doing great. She is an amazing little girl. More about her and Zodiac in a future pupdate.

Pupdate

Posted on January 18, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

(video of Dune sharing her opinion of the x-pen)

As if you haven’t heard enough about my puppies this week. But it is Friday, my traditional day to give update on my puppies. Forefront this week has been Dune’s arrival. We have had our trying moments since Wednesday but each day gets better. She finally pooped outside last night for the first time. And she learned to go down more than one step today and then surged ahead and took the flight of stairs all the way to the bottom. She is starting to really catch on to relieving outside. Tonight she went to the door but I didn’t clue in what she was telling me until she had a pee accident right there. Hopefully last night’s two-hour scream-fest will be the last. I think we have a tactic that helps her settle down and go back to sleep after she goes outside to relieve in the middle of the night. Tonight will be the test.

Zodiac went to work with Bill again today. Dune had her first “outing” she went to my sister’s house and got to meet her Career Change black lab Clifford. They got along very well. When Zodiac got home from work tonight they were both very happy to see each other and they played together for a few minutes. I’m very proud of the good big brother Zodiac is being.

The phase report came out yesterday as usual but Yakira was still in phase 7. The good part is that the rest of her string was in phase 7 too. So it can’t be that Yakira is having a challenge with the training. Maybe her trainer got sick or something like that. I’ll be very surprised if she isn’t in phase 8 next week.

Dune is here!

Posted on January 16, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

Dune in her x-pen

Our sweet little Dune girl arrived today via Delta airlines. It has been an eventful day full of joy and excitement. She finally fell asleep in her x-pen a little while ago. Dune is confident and knows her mind, she is sweet and seems so tiny. I forget how little they are when they come. I love her color she is on the dark side for a yellow lab but not so far that she is red. She is more of a dark honey color. I think she is the perfect color for her name.

It was fun to experience having a puppy come by plane. The photos below shows much of what it was like. I’m so tired that I’m not going to post much more today. These first few days are hard on the puppy and on the raiser too. We want to much to help them understand what we want them to do, especially when it comes to relieving. But so much has changed so fast in their young lives and they have no clue what you are asking them to do. Dune has a cute temperament to match her face and I’m certain that she will be a joy to raise, though it will surely be challenging at times.

Delta employees bring the crate with Dune and Eagle

Dune ready to get out of the crate

Dune taking a second thought about getting out of the crate. Eagle is in the back of the crate. He is sure he doesn’t want to come out.

Dune in my arms looking extra cute

And her name is . . .

Posted on January 16, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

The door bell rang a few minutes ago and it was UPS with a box from GDB. Inside was the puppy packet and her name is Dune!!! I love it. She will be our little sand Dune. Her flight leaves in about an hour. I can’t wait to meet her.

This is so different from getting a puppy from the puppy truck. But it is fun too. I’ll post pictures as soon as I can get both of us under control when we get home from the airport.

D Names

Posted on January 14, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

I’m sorry to be posting off topic again. But with a new puppy coming I just can’t seem to stay focused on anything else. So I’m going to embrace it, instead of fighting it and getting nothing done anyway.

If you are not familiar with how Guide Dogs for the Blind names their puppies, each litter is assigned a letter and all the puppies in that litter’s names start with that letter. We have been told that our puppy is from a litter assigned the letter D. Also they can only use names that are not in use by another puppy in training for Guide Dogs for the Blind, or one of their current breeder dogs or a working guide dog from Guide Dogs for the Blind. At any time they have about 3,000 dogs that have unique names. One of the traditions when waiting for a new puppy is to try to guess what name your puppy will have.

So I’ve compiled “D” name suggestions from friends and other puppy raisers and guide dog users I know, for our little yellow pup who is coming on Wednesday. I have a small prize for whoever guesses the right name. To enter, make new suggestions or vote for some of those already suggested. I’ll add new suggestions to the list as I get them.