Category Archives: Waffle

Lots of Puppy News

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Life has been crazy the last couple of weeks with everything going on, especially Wood Badge. That finished up yesterday, so now I’m trying to get caught up on the rest of my life. In the meantime lots of fun stuff has happened on the puppy front.

Apex and Sue are off to the Northeast for a family matter this week and Apex turned 4 years old on Thursday. I want to send him a present but it hasn’t happened yet.

I shared news about Banta last week.

The biggest news is that Casey is in class and will be graduating on June 2nd. We have been waiting since January for this news so it is extra sweet. Casey will be living with her handler in Victoria, British Columbia. This is extra neat because in about a year we are going on a cruise to Alaska with Apex and Sue and we will be with in a couple of hours of Victoria. So we will have to figure out a way to visit Casey either before or after the cruise. Casey also had a birthday this last week. On Wednesday she turned 2 years old. I’m so happy that she was partnered by her birthday.

I got a call from our club leader recently about Waffle. There was some concern about her from her last eval with our CFR (Community Field Representative) and she wanted Waffle to go to someone else for a few days to see how she is doing. So we got to pick up Waffle on Wednesday and take her to Wood Badge with us. Then Claraliz’s family and a big gathering today so she will be here until tomorrow. It was fun to take her to church today. Lots of the kids remember Waffle and enjoyed saying hi to her. When she was younger she hated when someone tried to pet the top of her head. She has grown-up and was very tolerant of all the head pats she got today. Waffle also turned 15 months old today. She will to return to Guide Dogs for the Blind on June 10th.

On the evaluation side of Waffle’s visit, she is doing good. She lacks some confidence but she handled the intensity and newness of Wood Badge very well. We didn’t see any reason she should be career changed at this point.

Next on our puppy list is Yakira. She went to Wood Badge with us the week of my birthday and she did really great. It is a noisy and busy environment with not much of a chance for the pups to really let loose. Well on Saturday afternoon an hour or two before we finished for the week Yakira went into season. So she is now on “house arrest” until 16th. This meant that Yakira couldn’t come back up to Wood Badge with us and we had to find a puppy sitter for her. There are only a few households in the club that are cleared to have an in season pup. One was going out-of-town and another is just a new puppy raiser. The last one was already puppy sitting another puppy, Pierre, so we made arrangements to swap Yakira and Pierre around. Pierre is intact so we were careful while dropping off and picking up Yakira. I made all these arrangements before I new that we were going to take Waffle with us to Wood Badge so we ended up with two dogs at Wood Badge, Waffle and Pierre.

Finally we get to Zodiac. He is really doing great. He has caught on to the relieving thing and Yakira has been a great mentor to him and teaching him how to behave. But our club leader said he was too young to go to Wood Badge. And after we got up there last week I was glad that he wasn’t there. It would have been really hard for a puppy that young. Zodiac was a one puppy sitter last week. A new raiser who is getter her first puppy on June 7th. Then for this week’s Wood Badge he went to another raiser who is also getter her first pup on the next puppy truck. When we made arrangements originally they were for Zodiac to be there until the end of Wood Badge Saturday but then we realized that it would be best for Waffle to stay with us for a couple more days. Three puppies in training is too much for one household so it worked out for Zodiac to extend his stay until Monday. We plan to pick him up late morning and get some photos of our “W”, “Y” and “Z” pups all together. It isn’t often that a raiser can have three of their pups together at one time.

Because we have Casey’s graduation this next weekend both Yakira and Zodiac will be going to puppy sitters again. Yakira will be returning to the same place as this past week but I don’t know where Zodiac will be. I’m guessing that our club leader has a spot picked out for him. Yakira’s timing on being in season was not helpful for our club leader. She was planning on Yakira being puppy sat by many of the new raisers in our club. It looks like Zodiac is getting that privilege instead. What an eventful last week or so in the puppy side of our life.

50 for 50 #10 – Izze Soda

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We have developed a tradition over the last several years with Izze natural soda. On special days we drink a bottle of Izze to mark the occasion. I was first attracted to Izze when a was faithfully avoiding all refined sugar. Izze is fruit juice and sparkling water, no added sugar. Today we each enjoyed a bottle of Izze Sparkling Clementine to celebrate Waffle’s 1st birthday. We got to see her and Claraliz on Saturday but we wanted to do something extra today to mark her birthday. I love Izze’s fruit flavors and I enjoy their colorful bottles and I save the bottle caps with their fun design.

Waffle and Claraliz

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Waffle

Today we got to visit Waffle and Claraliz. On Monday Waffle will be a year old and I really wanted to see our little girl. We hadn’t seen Waffle since she transferred  to Claraliz the end of September. We didn’t want to do anything that would disrupt her training but I checked with our club leader and she said it would be fine. So we made arrangements to meet up with Waffle and Claraliz at her house. It was so fun to see our little Waffletta. She jumped on me after I got in the front door. I was glad that she was happy to see me. Sometimes when we were raising her it seemed that she was always happy to see everyone else but since I was there most of the time she didn’t seem to miss me.

Waffle

Yakira and Waffle got to play together and I made Waffle a tug rope that she really seemed to like. We also had a zip lock bag full of adult food left over from Casey that we passed on to Waffle. Yakira is still many months away from switching to the adult food. It will be kind of old by then. Claraliz made some yummy red cake for us and we got to meet her pet dogs and her dad and a brother. Waffle is doing really well. She is very grown-up and her nose is very pink. Waffle also still has her underbite. Didn’t really think that was going away. She is very happy and content in her new household. She has now been with Claraliz as long as she lived with us.

We probably won’t get to see her again until recall day when she gets on the truck to return to Guide Dogs for the Blind. Claraliz is thinking about getting a new puppy this summer to raise. I hope she does. She is doing a good job with Waffle.

Waffle is 10 months old

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Waffle and her “go to bed” blanket – photo by Lisa Thompson

Today our little Waffle girl is 10 months old. It is hard to believe that it has been almost three months since she was transferred. I’m sure that she is starting to look really grown-up. It would be so much fun to get to see her in the next couple of months. Maybe we can set something up to see her around her one year birthday in February.
We are back to a one dog household tonight. Lindsey picked up Sinclair on her way home from spending Christmas at her parents house. His family will be back from vacation in a couple more days.

Waffle Update

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Waffle in pink sunglasses

I was so excited today to see an email from Waffle’s new raiser. I not only got one email but Claraliz replied to all the emails I have sent her and she also send me three photos of Waffle! Yeah!!! She is doing good and seems very well adjusted to her new life. She is still having some fear issues but is making progress. Within just one week we have gotten photos of Apex, Banta and Waffle. What more could a raiser want? Well maybe a webcam that would follow Casey around so I could check on her anytime I wanted.

Beautiful Waffle in her Halloween Costume
Waffle sleeping on her back with her new siblings

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.

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.

Waffle Gets Fixed

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Waffle getting snuggles from Bill at the vet

Today was the day that Waffle was scheduled to get spayed. Last night she got home from the puppy swap and seemed extra thirsty. She went into the bathroom and drank out of the toilet which she has never done before. So we gave her some extra water. She wasn’t suppose to eat or drink after midnight. I meant to make sure the toilet lid was down if this was a new trend she wouldn’t have access to it this morning. But somehow I forgot. And she went straight to the toilet this morning and snuck in about 3 laps. I was sure we would have to reschedule her surgery but they said it would be fine. When I was unpacking her bag from the puppy swap we figured out why she was so intent on getting water. It appears that she didn’t get fed before she was return last night from the puppy swap and we didn’t realize it. Because there was a baggie with one of her meals in it. Poor Waffle. Her tummy was so empty and she wanted to fill it with something so she went after water. I felt so bad because we couldn’t feed her breakfast because of the surgery.

Bill took her to Cottonwood Animal Hospital on his way to work. It took awhile because there were so many other dogs waiting to check in too. This afternoon Dr. Porter called and said that everything went well. I was glad to hear that. Then this evening the three of us (me, Bill and Casey) went to visit Waffle. She was a little groggy but she was happy to see us and went spent about a half an hour or so give her loves and cuddles. The labradoddle in the next kennel wanted some attention too but I couldn’t do much for him through the door of the kennel. Casey didn’t like it if I gave Waffle too much attention so Bill did most of the real cuddling with Waffle. Finally we put Waffle back in the kennel and headed home. Waffle was not happy about being left behind and made her feelings known. We get to pick her up anytime after 10 a.m. tomorrow and she will hang out with Bill at work because I need to go to Provo tomorrow and have other errands to run.

Week Long Puppy Swap

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Waffle and Casey in the kitchen

Today was the start of a week long puppy swap involving all the puppies in the club. Casey went to spend the week with Lindsey for evaluation since she will be returning to guide dogs soon. And Waffle went to the Allegra’s to be handled by the youngest member of our club Ceely. We are going to miss our two sweet girls. A week is a long time to be away from them. Waffle is as tall as Casey now and she will probably be taller when she gets back. He neck and head are so small still that the adult dog collar still slides off her head.

Radison and Hallie sharing the same doggy bed

We brought home Radison who is about 10 days older than Casey. We have puppy sat Radison a couple of times before so it was fun to have her back. Lauren, Radison’s raiser made sure that I knew that Radison needs cuddle time every night before she goes to bed. Radison has a cute little white patch on her chest. Our second pup is Hallie who is one of the younger puppies in the club. Interestingly Hallie is Banta’s half sister having the same dad. They seem to be good pups and are getting along better with each other than I thought they might.

Casey

Also I took Casey into the vet to day to get her Rabies booster and her other annual vaccinations. We are suppose to go ahead and do these if they are due more than a month before recall. Casey’s are due 2 days more than a month so I went ahead and took care of them. When I weighed her she was just 48.8 lbs. I knew that she had lost weight (which she needed to do) but I hadn’t realized that she was below 50 lbs. now. She really isn’t a very big girl.