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| Casey on 12 August 2010 |
It was one year ago today that we first met our sweet Casey. It is hard to believe that it has been that long and that in just a fifteen days we will be putting her on the truck to return to Guide Dogs for the Blind. She has grown-up into such a good dog with way more confidence than we thought possible those first few weeks.
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| Casey on 11 August 2011 |
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| Invite for Casey’s Farewell Party |
You are invited to attend an open house in honor of Casey and her upcoming return to Guide Dogs for the Blind
on Sunday, August 21st from 3:oo to 6:00 p.m in the Webster home.
Upon her arrival in San Rafael, Casey will first be evaluated to become a breeder for Guide Dogs for the Blind. If she is not chosen as a breeder she will start her formal harness training to become a guide dog for a blind or visually impaired person.
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| Clifford and Waffle near the bottom of the falls at Battle Creek |
Today we all went to Cub Scout Day Camp. I’m the Cub Committee Chair for our local pack and as part of that I end up in charge of our annual day camp. As part of camp we drove to Utah county and a beautiful little canyon called Battle Creek. It has a water fall a short hike up the trail that makes a great hike for the boys. Casey had to stay home, of course being in season. But Clifford is staying with us for a few days while the Johnson’s are out of town so he kind of went in her place. The boys loved Clifford especially because they could take turns holding his leash on the hike. When we got to the falls the water flow was much higher than I’ve ever seen it due to the snow pack and the wet spring so we didn’t get to play at the bottom of the falls that we usually do. But we had fun anyway. After the hike both Waffle and Clifford were exhausted and conked out when we got back down the trail.
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| Waffle and Clifford after the hike |
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| Apex in August of 2008 |
Today is Banta’s 2nd birthday. I sent her a figure 8 tug toy because it was her favorite tug toy of all the ones we had and it held up pretty good. I got it sent off early and then waited a few days to send an email to Mark to let him know it was coming. Well I waited too long and the package got there before my email. Because he has no vision I didn’t send a note or anything with it. I just figure my email would take care of that. This is what he said:
Mark and Banta
The other mile stone was Casey went into season today. I knew it was coming so it was a relief in someways that it finally got here. She has had some behavior changes the last couple of weeks with destructive chewing and peeing on walks etc. She even started to swell up a bit the last day or two. Lisa wanted to get a chance to have her over for a couple of days before she goes back but she had to cut it short when Casey came into season. So 28 days and counting of house arrest for Casey. The bad part is she will only have a few days a freedom before she goes on the truck back to GDB. It reminds me so much of the timing that Banta had too.
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| Casey |
Today we got the following email forwarded by our club leader:
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| Waffle “playing dead” on her favorite dog bed |
Waffle is such a silly girl. She loves to sleep on her back with her legs spread way out wide. She is totally relaxed but she looks more like a dead dog than one that is actually asleep. She does this all the time. She even did it the first Sunday that she went to all of church. I’ve heard that dogs only sleep this way when they are feeling very secure in their environment. I guess this means that she is well adapted to being part of our family.
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| Clifford and Waffle at the ATV Rodeo |
This morning we went to the park for the annual Chuckwagon breakfast put on the city. The lines weren’t too long and we sat across from some policemen who were taking a break from working security for the festivities. Then we met my sister and her family on the other side of the park for the ATV Rodeo. Waffle drove me a bit nuts on the way over there because she kept messing with her head collar trying to rub it off on me or the ground. Silly girl! Clifford came with my sister too so it was fun to get to see him again. Jacob just loves Waffle. Of course he loves Clifford too. My nephews enjoyed seeing how the ATV Rodeo worked as their family recently purchased a couple of ATV’s and they boys are learning how do drive them.
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| Casey and Waffle happily enjoying a rest on the cool grass |
Today Lisa and I took the girls for a relaxing walk in the park. It was pretty hot so we stuck to the shade as much as possible. We all enjoyed ourselves especially when we just hung out in the cool shade for awhile. Casey and Waffle are so cute together. I can’t help but remember when Banta was the grown-up dog and Casey was the little one.
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| Bill testing out his new tie |
Apex sent Bill a doggy Father’s Day gift. It didn’t make it in time for Father’s Day but we got it today. His handler is so thoughtful. I tried to take a video of Bill opening his gift but I didn’t operate the camera right and missed the whole thing. Can’t wait for Bill to wear his Apex tie to church on Sunday. Everyone will get to see it because we “get” to speak too.
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| Bill actually wearing his Apex tie with Casey and Waffle |
telling family tales 