Category Archives: Guide Dogs for the Blind

15.6 lbs. of Black Lab

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Yakira on puppy truck day

Yakira has had a cough since we got her last week and it seemed to be getting worse and then she added a snotty nose to the mix. So today I took her to the vet to make sure that she was alright. Everything is fine. She just has a bit of a puppy cold. It might be a reaction to the Bortatella vaccine she got a couple of weeks ago. She was a very good girl at the vet and asked if she was always this calm. Our pups get such a good start with the puppy socializers that it really shows up. How many 2 month old puppies can be examined so easily by a vet they have never seen before. Our little miniature  girl was 15.6 lbs. Yakira also got lots of comments on how cute she was, of course.

Thanks to Karen and her connections with breeding we were able to confirm today that Yakira really is a foreign girl. Besides her mom, Anjou, coming from Holland, her dad Pike is actually on loan from Queensland, Australia for 6 months. Now we know why she has such a unique barking style. She just has an accent.

Good-bye Casey

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Yakira and Casey snuggled together in the back of the car

We got up super early this morning to take Casey to Ogden to put her on the truck. We could have dropped her off last night but I just didn’t see how spending another night on the truck was going to be of any benefit for her. We got there on time (7:00 a.m.) despite the fact that the alarm clock didn’t go off (it was set for p.m. instead of a.m.) and we had to hustle out the door as fast as we could. We had a bit of a wait once we got there because the drivers where still having breakfast. We could hear one of the pups on the truck making a bit of racket as we were waiting. We had Yakira with us in her kennel and I took her out and she relieved like a pro. So then she got to be loose in the back of the car with Casey. They were very cute together and Yakira snuggled up with Casey. Today is Yakira 2 month birthday so I put the birthday bandana on her and I put the celebration bandana on Casey for recall day.

Eventually the drivers came and I took Casey for one last walk. The hotel they stay in has a really nice walking path with a pond and lots of grass. When I was done I was going to put Casey back in the car so we could put her on the truck later after we helped walk dogs but she didn’t want anything to do with getting back in the car. So I was going to wait until Bill got back from walking the first dog he took out. But one of the drivers said it was fine to put Casey on and then we could come back after walking the dogs and say our final good-byes. She was on the upper level of kennels so I let the driver lift her up there.

Panera enjoying her walk

Then it was time for me to help walk dogs. The first dog I noticed was Panera. Her raiser is on a Yahoo list for guide dog users and puppy raisers and others who are associated with Guide Dogs for the Blind. I had told her that I’d try to walk Panera and get photos of her if I could. Panera got on the truck in Colorado on Friday. She is a big black lab at 73 pounds and not fat. And boy was she ready for a walk. I wasn’t completely prepared for her energy and I got a good shoulder yank the first time she ran to the end of the retractable. I kept a close eye on her after that and we did much better. We completed the circuit and did another half circuit to try to burn off a bit more of her energy.

Bill and Casey in her kennel with a wish bone toy

By the time I got back all the dogs were being taken care of so when Bill got back we gave some last loves to Casey. There was a wish bone shaped nylabone in Casey’s kennel, which is her favorite chew toy. Then all the puppies got two bone shaped doggy treats. And they were happily chewing away. I said by to Kasha who was right across the isle from Casey and Radison who was on the same side as Kasha but closer to the front. I gave Yakira another potty break which she did great on. She said high to one of the truck drivers before we got back in the car. He said the Yakira’s sister Yuma was given to a young, first time raiser in Colorado. By the time we were pulling out of the parking lot is was 8:30 a.m. So much for being on time for church this morning. Oh well, I wouldn’t change anything. It was a good morning even though we don’t know when we will see Casey again. There is always the possibility that we won’t get the chance to see her again. Not very likely but it is possible. Tonight she should be sleeping somewhere in the western part of Oregon and will arrive on campus in Boring tomorrow. We probably won’t hear anything about her for about a month.

Welcome Yakira

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Yakira being handed to Raelyn off the puppy truck

We got puppy #5 off the puppy truck today. He name is Yakira, which I think is very cute. She is also very cute. Yakira is tiny at just 8 weeks and two days. But she isn’t at all skinny she is rather sturdy and boxy in her build. She is full of spunk and bouncy. She likes to bite my ankles. The really funny part is that we were told she was going to be a yellow lab and she is actually black. What makes this even more funny is the exact same thing happened when we got Casey a little over a year ago. Boy are we going to have fun over the next few days.

Cute little Yakira fresh off the truck

Y Littermates

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Anjou/Pike “Y” Litter – two black and three yellow labs

The littermate photos for our new puppy where posted on GDB’s Flickr site today. I was so excited to get to see my new little girl. Even though I don’t know which ones she is I still love to look at the photos and watch the little video clips. Some of the shots are so cute. I also found out that her mom and dad are Anjou and Pike. Anjou is from a guide dog school in Holland and Pike is a brand new breeder with his first three litters in the puppy kennels now. There are two black puppies and three yellow pups. One of them is male and the other four are females. Our little girl was born on August 16th so she will just be a few days over 8 weeks. So she will be on the young side. Not much chance of her sleeping through the night at that age. Here is a link to all the photos and videos for the Anjou/Pike Litter

Last Puppy Class

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Casey in her Halloween costume

Today was Casey’s last puppy class! We went on our annual trip to the corn maze. This year we were joined by the Park City club so we had lots of puppies. Casey’s brother Crosby was there he will be going back on the same truck as Casey. It threatened to rain but mostly held off until after we made it through the maze and we were eating chocolate cake. The cake was to celebrate all the puppies that are going back to GDB this week. From our club Kasha and Radison are also going back. Karen is getting a new puppy this week just like we are but Gael and Laurene are done with puppy raising for awhile.

Salt Lake and Park City puppy clubs

Good-bye Waffle

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Salt Lake Tech Guide Dog Class

This morning we handed-off Waffle to Claraliz, a student in the Salt Lake Tech Guide Dog class. At 9:00 this morning there was a meeting for the students and their parents to get their new puppies in training. We learned that the program started just five years ago and that the program is also associated with FFA (Future Farmers of America). The state chapter president came and gave a short speech. There were five puppies given out today; Waffle, Tartan, Shiva, Silver and Rosco. Two more students got their puppies in the spring. So there are 7 puppies in this years school program.

Claraliz and Waffle

After the ceremony the students and their dogs went outside for photos. Then we had a chance to talk to Claraliz. We gave her Waffle’s “Go To Bed” blanket and a cd of Waffle’s book. Waffle was such a good girl. While we were chatting she laid down on Claraliz’s mom’s feet. We are going to miss that sweet little girl. I’m sure she will adapt quickly to her new home, but she has left an empty spot in ours.

Good News!

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Apex using his blanket as a pillow while hanging out at the hospital with Sue’s Dad

Sue called to day with great news. The pathology came back today and the results were good. They got clean margins. That means that they got all the cancer! They will be watching him closely but everything looks good. They super glued his incision shut now that they know that they don’t have to go back in. The staples will come out on the 30th. I found out that when Apex went in for surgery they had decided that if when they got in there the cancer was into the bone they would take his leg and if it had progress further they would go ahead and put him down. Oh that must have been such a difficult decision to make. I’m sure that it was the right thing to do but it must have been so hard to send me to surgery knowing that she might not see him again.

I’m so grateful and feel so blessed that Apex has made it through this challenge in such a good way. It turned out that his having an ear infection was such a great blessing. If he hadn’t gone into the vet when he did the outcome of this would probably have been much different. Yeah Apex! Heal quickly you strong handsome boy.

FrontRunner Ride

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Waiting on the platform for the return trip – Bill & Casey

For puppy class this week we road the FrontRunner commuter train from Salt Lake City to Layton and back. One of the puppy raiser’s husband works for UTA and made arrangements for free passes. Casey has been on the train before when we did they same thing for puppy class last winter. Waffle did good too. I thought she might have trouble with getting on the train and going over the gap but she handled everything just fine. I did quite a bit of food rewards as we walked around by the trains and buses just to make sure she kept moving along and didn’t get into her “I don’t want to move” mode. All the dogs seemed to handle things very well.

This was Waffle’s last puppy class as part of our club. Friday she will be transferred to a high school student. It was also Cobb’s last class. He is going to Colorado for our CFR to evaluate him. Lindsey thinks he doesn’t have what it takes to be a guide dog and so Barb will be decided whether to career change him or send him back for training on the October 15th puppy truck. Just one more puppy meeting for Casey, Radison and Kasha. Boy lots of big changes are coming to our club in the next few weeks.

Casey & Waffle Farewell Party

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Invite for Waffle’s & Casey’s Farewell Party

We have the tradition to have a Farewell Party the Sunday before each of our puppies gets on the truck. Since Waffle is transferring to the high school program on Saturday and Casey gets on the truck a couple of weeks after that we decided to combine the two parties together. It is just a relaxed fun time where friends, family and especially kids from the neighborhood and play with the pups and see them in their home environment. We had a card to sign for each of the girls. Usually we have a guess the puppy name contest but since we don’t know what letter of puppy we are getting yet we had a vote for your favorite photo contest. We have an official puppy portrait wall and I had narrowed Waffle’s photo down to four and thought it would be fun for people to vote on which one they liked best. We had an obvious winner. So I uploaded it here because I didn’t get any photos take at the party.

winning Waffle portrait – taken by Lisa Thompson

Now I need to get this photo prepared to take to Pixels and have a canvas made for our wall. I don’t think I can get it back before she leaves but hopefully it won’t take too long to get done. Waffle is finally big enough to wear her big girl collar. The other pups have been able to wear it at 6 months but Waffle has such a skinny head that it could easily slip off. Our little girl is getting all grown-up and ready to leave the nest. Friday is going to come really fast I’m afraid. I wonder if it will be harder to had a puppy off to another raiser than it is to put them on the puppy truck back to Guide Dogs for the Blind.

Two Years Ago Today

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Beautiful Banta on the fresh green grass
It was two years ago today that we first met Banta. She came off the puppy truck with lots of attitude, ready to go out and explore the whole world. Though she was a challenge at times, there was a moment in those first couple of weeks that I saw a glimpse of the dog she could grow up to be. We so enjoyed her wonderful spirit and we know that you do to. Just wanted to let you know that we are thinking about the two of you especially on this day. I sent an email to her handler in honor of this day and here is some of what he said about Banta:
She still has the attitude that she probably had coming of the puppy truck. Boy, I am finding out how stubborn she can be. Now most of our challenges have to do with her stubbornness, and what I call retaliation for going where she may not want to go. For example, if she does not want to walk to the grocery store, she will make it a long, slow, and miserable walk. When she wants to work she is a star.  She is very destination oriented, which is good and bad. If we are somewhere new she targets every door she sees. She still makes me laugh when she is happy and jumps off the curb and I can feel her bouncing up and down as she walks. She is a lot of fun to play with, but again only how and when she wants.
It is fun to get news of how she is doing. He really understands that sweet and spicy girl. I’m so glad for the good match they are for each other. They have been working together for about four months now. Time sure goes by fast these days.