Dune: delivery

Posted on March 27, 2014 by tellingfamilytales

This week’s phase report came out this morning and Dune is still in phase 2. Not sure if this is a sign that she is struggling with the training, if her trainer didn’t report or if something else came up and she didn’t do much training this past week. The 4 other dogs who were in phase 2 last week all jumped to phase 4. So while I hold my breath for more news on Dune (no news until next Thursday is a good thing), here is another page from Dune’s puppyhood book.

“All the rest of our puppies have come on the puppy truck but Dune came via Delta airlines. It was January and winter driving makes puppy deliveries by puppy truck too unpredictable. There were an unusually large number of puppies born so Guide Dogs need to send puppies by air so they could get them to homes in the wintry states of Utah and Colorado. Dune traveled with another young puppy, a black lab male named Eagle.”

Dune: Phase 2 & “D” Puppy

Posted on March 20, 2014 by tellingfamilytales

Dune is in phase 2, yeah! It is so good to see her moving right along. So glad that the wait is over and she is on the weekly phase report. If you want to know more about what she is learning in phase 2 go here. Looks like I haven’t done a detailed post on phase 2 so there is another thing for my to do list.

The Story of Our “D” Puppy

This is the story of our long-awaited “D” puppy. We got our first puppy to raise from Guide Dogs for the Blind on August 2nd 2008. His name was Apex. I thought it was cool that our first puppy’s name started with the first letter of the alphabet.

When we were awaiting news of our second puppy in training, I was secretly hoping for a pup whose name started with a “B” but I didn’t tell anyone. When our second puppy was named Banta I was super excited.

I took it as a sign that I should try to raise a puppy from each letter of the alphabet. So when it was time for our third puppy we requested a puppy with a “C” name and we got Casey.

Then we ran into a snag with “D”. GDB requested that we start a puppy for a high school student. I said fine as along as it started with a “D”. There were no “D” litters. I said, OK, how about a name with a “D” in it. We got Waffle. No “D” but it did start with a ‘double U’. (As a side note Waffle has a sister named Wednesday that went to Colorado. I don’t know why we didn’t get Wednesday.)

I thought all right, we will only have Waffle for her first five months, I can get my “D” puppy next. But we didn’t quite make it. The “D” litter when it was time for puppy number five was a couple of days too young. But they had a “Y” litter so we got Yakira. After Yakira we got Zodiac to finish off the end of the alphabet.

So for puppy number seven we tried again for a “D” puppy and finally we succeeded. Our club leader sent a pink balloon in the mail with ‘Female “D” Yellow Lab’ written on it to give us the long-awaited good news.

Dune: book & phase 1

Posted on March 14, 2014 by tellingfamilytales

Title page of Dune’s book

Dune finally showed up on the weekly phase report yesterday in phase 1. Having been in breeder evals is the equivalent of phase 0, so it is what I expected. She is actually learning what to do to be a guide dog! Yeah. If you want to know more about what she is learning I have a post here about phase 1. For more details there is another post here.

the pre-story of Dune

I’ve been working hard on Dune’s book. Remember the plan I had to get a page done every week or so. Well I totally failed on that. I wanted to have it mostly done so I could send a pdf of it with her along with photos from her puppyhood on a DVD. But I just didn’t get it done so I just sent photos. When the dogs are in class with their new partner they will give them some information from their dogs puppy raiser include photos or CD’s etc. This give the new handler a chance to know something more about their new dog. Dune’s future handler will have to wait to get her book until graduation.

But I’ve got it done now except the couple of page that will be about her new career and graduation day. So I’m going to share Dune’s book over the next several weeks. I’ve done a book for each puppy we have raised. Here are links to their books (except I haven’t put Apex’s on-line yet, I should do that soon!):

I think Yakira’s book needs updating with some additional pages after she had a change of careers and location last fall. (Another thing for my to do list.)

I find making these books really helps me with the process of sending the pups off after having them for a year. People ask all the time “how we give them up and don’t you get attached?” I tell them we miss them but it is worth it. But doing things like the books for them helps me celebrate the time we have had with them and honors the impact they have on our lives even though they are only in our home for about a year.

I’m working on a slide show/video for Dune that should be done soon. I can’t wait to share it with you!

50 Jar Gifts: idea #16 “Children” Story Prompts

Posted on February 18, 2014 by tellingfamilytales

Children’s Story Prompt Jar

This is the fourth in a series of story prompt jar gifts with questions geared for kids. The idea is a set of questions in a jar that you can pull out to help a child to remember and record some of the events from their lives. I printed it on chipboard but they could be printed on cardstock. There is a different color on each end of the question so that once you have answered it you can turn it over in the jar and keep track of which questions you haven’t answered yet. The questions are intended you spark kids memory and lead them to other thoughts and memories. Let their ideas flow and see where they take you.

back of story prompts sheet

The first sheet in the file is the back of the story prompt. This sheet is optional but it helps in keeping track of which set of story prompts the question comes from and adds more color to the jar. I start by printing four copies of the first page (full bleed if your printer has that option) and then feed these pages back into the printer to print the question pages. (You should refer to your printer manual to know the right way to feed these into your printer.)

story prompts question sheets

The next four sheets are the questions. After printing these pages need to be cut apart by cutting the sheet in half (the long way) at 5.5″ and then every 1 1/16″ to finish cutting the questions apart. I also like to use a corner rounder on each question but that is optional. Though it looks nice and will help the questions not get so dog-eared with use.

story prompts question sheets

story prompts question sheet

The last page has an insert for the canning jar lid (wide mouth quart or pint and a half work great) and a set of tags to tie on to the jar with simple instructions. There is a journal cover so that you can also give them a place to record the memories for sharing and future reference. Cut another piece of chipboard or heavy cardstock for the back along with some blank or lined paper for the inside. Then bind them together by your chosen method. I’m lucky enough to have a wire binding machine but you can get the journal bound at your local copy center. This sheet isn’t strictly necessary but it helps pull the gift together into a nice package.

jar lid, tags and journal cover sheet

I am putting the jar and journal in a gift bag along with some treats to munch on while answering the questions to help get them started on recording their memories.

Feel free to use these files for personal use and gifts. You can download pdfs here.

Questions come from those at StoryCorps.org.

50 Jar Gifts: idea #8 “Remembering” Story Prompts (tellingfamilytales.com)

50 Jar Gifts: idea #12 “Parents” Story Prompts

Posted on January 20, 2014 by tellingfamilytales

Parents Story Prompts

The third in the series of story prompt jar gifts with questions geared for parents. The idea is a set of questions in a jar that you can pull out to help parents to remember and record some of the events from their lives. I printed it on chipboard but they could be printed on cardstock. There is a different color on each end of the question so that once you have answered it you can turn it over in the jar and keep track of which questions you haven’t answered yet. The questions are intended you spark your memory and lead you to other thoughts and memories. Let your them flow and see where they take you.

back of story prompt sheets

The first sheet in the file is the back of the story prompt. This sheet is optional but it helps in keeping track of which set of story prompts the question comes from and adds more color to the jar. I start by printing six copies of the first page (full bleed if your printer has that option) and then feed these pages back into the printer to print the question pages. (You should refer to your printer manual to know the right way to feed these into your printer.)

Story Prompt Question Sheet

The next six sheets are the questions. After printing these pages need to be cut apart by cutting the sheet in half (the long way) at 5.5″ and then every 1 1/16″ to finish cutting the questions apart. I also like to use a corner rounder on each question but that is optional. But it looks nice and will help the questions not get so dog-eared with use.

Story Prompt Question Sheet

Jar Lid, Tags and Journal Cover Sheet

I put the jar in a gift bag along with some treats to munch on while answering the questions to help get them started on recording their memories.

Feel free to use these files for personal use and gifts. You can download pdfs here.

Questions come from those at StoryCorps.org.

50 Jar Gifts: idea #8 “Remembering” Story Prompts (tellingfamilytales.com)

50 Jar Gifts: idea #10 “Grandparents” Story Prompts

Posted on December 31, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

Grandparents Story Prompts

This is the second in a series of story prompt jar gifts with questions geared for grandparents. At first I called it Old Age prompts but decided that might be offensive to some of the grandparents on my gift list. The idea is a set of questions in a jar that you can pull out to help a grandparent to remember and record some of the events from their lives. I printed it on chipboard but they could be printed on cardstock. There is a different color on each end of the question so that once you have answered it you can turn it over in the jar and keep track of which questions you haven’t answered yet. The questions are intended you spark your memory and lead you to other thoughts and memories. Let your them flow and see where they take you.

Grandparents Story Prompts back side

The first sheet in the file is the back of the story prompt. This sheet is optional but it helps in keeping track of which set of story prompts the question comes from and adds more color to the jar. I start by printing six copies of the first page (full bleed if your printer has that option) and then feed these pages back into the printer to print the question pages. (You should refer to your printer manual to know the right way to feed these into your printer.)

Grandparents Story Prompts

Grandparents Story Prompts Journal cover and Jar labels

I am putting the jar and journal in a gift bag along with some treats to munch on while answering the questions to help get them started on recording their memories.

Feel free to use these files for personal use and gifts. You can download pdfs here.

Questions come from those at StoryCorps.org.

50 Jar Gifts: idea #8 “Remembering” Story Prompts (tellingfamilytales.com)

50 Jar Gifts: idea #8 “Remembering” Story Prompts

Posted on December 14, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

Remembering Story Prompts Kit

Here is the first in a series of story prompt jar gifts. The idea is a set of questions in a jar that you can pull out to help you remember and record someone in your life who has died. I printed it on chipboard but they could be printed on cardstock. There is a different color on each end of the question so that once you have answered it you can turn it over in the jar and keep track of which questions you haven’t answered yet. The questions are intended you spark your memory and lead you to other thoughts and memories. Let your them flow and see where they take you.

printed Remembering Story Prompts kit

Story Prompts back

The first sheet in the file is the back of the story prompt. This sheet is optional but it helps in keeping track of which set of story prompts the question comes from and adds more color to the jar. I start by printing two copies of the first page (full bleed if your printer has that option) and then feed these pages back into the printer to print the question pages. (You should refer to your printer manual to know the right way to feed these into your printer.)

Story Prompt Questions

The next two sheets are the questions. After printing these pages need to be cut apart by cutting the sheet in half (the long way) at 5.5″ and then every 1 1/16″ to finish cutting the questions apart. I also like to use a corner rounder on each question but that is optional. But it looks nice and will help the questions not get so dog-eared with use.

Story Prompt Packaging and Journal Cover

I am putting the jar and journal in a gift bag along with some treats to munch on while answering the questions to help get them started on recording their memories of a loved one.

Feel free to use these files for personal use and gifts. You can download pdfs here.

Questions come from those at StoryCorps.org.

Horizon Passenger Lists

Posted on September 19, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

image of the Horizon passenger list

I recently created a Facebook page for the Martin Handcart Company, since there wasn’t one and since my great-great-grandmother was part of that company. I’ve started to gather information about the Martin Company and today I discovered that Mormon Migration website not only has a list of the passengers on the Horizon (the ship that the Martin Handcart Company took from Liverpool, England to Boston, Massachusetts) but they have images of the pages from the ship’s book where all the names where originally record. I’m really excited to take some time and find Mary Taylor and her family.

I love the power of the internet to share images of documents like these. Have you found something similar through the internet in your family history?

Zodiac Book – final page

Posted on August 23, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

We have loved having Zodiac as part of our family for just over a year. He will always have a special place in our hearts. While we miss his happy outlook on life, we are excited that he has chosen to be a guide dog. With his exuberance we know he has a great life ahead of him. He has a good heart and Zodiac will effect all who come into his life in positive ways. At under 18 months at the start of his career, maturing is bound to bring out the best in this sweet boy. We look forward to hearing about all the new adventures.

Zodiac Book – Zero Hour (the second time)

Posted on August 22, 2013 by tellingfamilytales

On August 5th I got the call telling us that Zodiac had been chosen for in-home training and would be leaving on the weekend. A few days later we made a quick trip to Oregon to see Zodiac before he left for Missouri. We didn’t recognize him at first with all his new chest muscles but he recognized us. Zodiac had continued to mature in the almost three months since he left. It was so much fun to see Zodiac for a couple of hours. We walked around campus and on the Oregon Trail and he got to romp with Dune. My favorite time was the four of us just hanging out together in the paddock. The day was very different than a graduation day. It was strange to be sending him off to be a guide without having met his new partner.