Tag Archives: guide dog for the blind

Dune: delivery

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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

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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.

All Pups Pupdate

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I’m finally getting around to writing an up date on all my pups. We had contact with all of them near the holidays. Boy time flies by. Is it really all ready a week into March?

Yakira and Apex

Puppy #1 Apex will be six years old in May. He is doing great and still has lots of energy. He and Sue have a busy schedule so his high energy is perfect. When they have long days at the office she gives him dog puzzles to keep him occupied. We got a delicious case of citrus a few weeks ago from Florida. That was awesome. The tangerines were especially amazing. We just had the last grapefruit for breakfast yesterday.

Banta and Mark

Puppy #2 Banta is doing great too. We got a professional portrait of her and her handler and they look so good together. Mark has had some health problems and had to be in the hospital recently. A local puppy raiser took care of Banta and even took her to the hospital for visits but she was super excited when he got home. Mark loves her dearly and they are so well matched for each other. She will be 5 years old in July.

Carrie and Casey

Puppy #3 Casey has matured into a very confident guide dog. Carrie graduated from law school last year and they moved to Vancouver. They now commute to downtown and Casey does great except when the weather is bad. She is a fair weather guide. I don’t hear from her Carrie very often but when she write she shares great stories and pictures. Casey’s birthday is in May and she will be 4.

Tucker, Shelley & Waffle

Puppy #4 Waffle has a good life. Carole added a new sister to the household recently. On a trip to Costa Rica she brought home a feral dog she named Shelley. Shelly looks like a black lab and her and Waffle get along great. Waffle spends almost every moment of the day at Carole’s side. Waffle turned 3 the end of February.

Yakira – aka Princess Yaya

Puppy #5 Yakira is a lucky girl living it up in Florida. She gets to see Apex all the time and enjoys romping with him and wintertime house guest Ruby (another black lab). But we got really exciting news earlier this week on her. Sue noticed that Yakira was alerting Sharan when the phone or the doorbell rang. (I didn’t realize that Sharan’s hearing had gotten so bad.) So Sue wondered if Yakira could be trained as a hearing alert dog for Sharan.  She checked into it and via GDB found a trainer. Since Yakira has already been a service dog the training should go pretty quickly and with some luck Yakira will be certified as a hearing alert dog by Easter. It is amazing the path that has brought Yakira to this place. She will be 3 years old in August.

Zodiac

Puppy #6 Zodiac has the perfect family and partner for him. They love him with all his quirks and everything. He celebrated his second birthday on Monday. Toni sends me photos and update regularly via email and Facebook. Zodiac looks so handsome and happy. He is really starting to bond with his David and give him is whole heart.

Bill, Dune, Raelyn and Emma

Puppy #7 Dune is still officially in the limbo land between being dropped from breeder evals (her patellas weren’t up to par to be a breeder) and showing up on the phase report. I’ve heard from sources that she has started her harness training so hopefully this next week we will see her name on the phase report. I hope she loves training. I think she has the potential to be a super great guide dog, if she likes it. If not she will be career changed in no time at all. She is an opinionated girl so she will let them know right away if she doesn’t like it. Dune will be 16 months old on Tuesday.

Emma

Puppy #8 Emma has adjusted to life without her Dune. Things are so much calmer and easier around the house that I said yes to having an in heat puppy in training from another club stay with us for two weeks starting on Monday. Emma will love having Verbena for a playmate. Emma turned 8 months old about a week ago and is showing some signs of teenager boundary pushing. But she really is an easy-going pup most of the time. Yesterday, I let her out on the deck for some fresh air and then forgot about her. More than an hour later I’m looking around trying to figure out where she is. Then I saw that the kitchen door was open but not the screen door and I remembered where she was. She got soaked from the rain storm that had come through while she was out there, but seems to have no lasting trauma from the experience. The good part is she was due for a bath and the rain did such a good job that now she smells and feels clean again.

So there is my novel on how all my pups are doing. It is great being part of such a wonderful organization as Guide Dogs for the Blind, that makes a positive impact on so many lives during the process of what they do. Being a puppy raiser makes my life better.

Pupdate: Yakira at our house

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Dune, Emma and Yakira by Karen Fuller

I know dog posts are supposed to be on Fridays but you will have to indulge me this week. We got Yakira here safe and sound late last night. I guess it was actually early this morning. It has been so much fun to have the three girls (Yakira, Dune and Emma) here today. They have been great together. Emma is especially smitten. Dune no so much but they are getting along great. Sometimes Dune is a bit jealous and sometime Yakira wants to exert her own brand of dominance.

Yakira got to see three of her favorite people. My friend from college, Lisa and a fellow puppy raiser, Karen stopped by. Yakira also visited our neighbor Virginia. All our pups have had a special place in their hearts for Virginia but Yakira even more so.

Karen who is between dogs took Dune home with her for a puppy visit for the next few days. I miss Dune already and boy the house is quiet without her, even though we still have two dogs here. I didn’t realize how much energy Dune brings to our household. She is kind of like Banta in that.

We will be up very early in the morning to get Yakira to the airport and checked in at least two hours before her flight. It has been a treat to have her here. I can’t wait for her to get to Florida and start her new life there. She has a bright future ahead.

Pupdate: Yakira, Dune & Emma

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Yakira’s first Halloween

The biggest thing this week on the puppy front is having the plans in place to get Yakira to her new home in Florida. Her journey starts tomorrow when a generous puppy raiser will pick Yakira up from Guide Dogs for the Blind.

Sunday morning they will drive her to Ontario, Oregon where we will meet them. It will be a super exciting moment to see Yakira again. We will head home as soon as we can get back on the road. Dune and Emma are joining us on the trip so it will be fun to have these three girls all together in the car.

Monday, we get to spend the whole day with Yakira just hanging out at home, having fun and taking lots of pictures. I’m sure a few of Yakira’s friends will stop by to see her too.

Tuesday morning we take Yakira to the airport for the last leg of her journey to Florida. She will arrive late afternoon to a very excited and loving new owner and an amazing extended family. I can’t wait to hear about her new like and see photos of Yakira and Apex together.

This week Dune had her first official eval. It went pretty well. She had some trouble with not wanting to lay down for our CFR (Community Field Representative) and her toe nails need trimming.

Emma is a fast growing, happy little puppy. She got all her shots last Friday and so now has lots more option socializing. Emma is a wonderful combination of calmness and confidence.

 

Pupdate: Yakira

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Yakira at six months

It was kind of strange today, realizing that it has been a week since we got the news that Yakira had been career changed. The first few days after that were kind of crazy. We had decisions to make about her future. Since Yakira was a guide for less than a year it was our responsibility to decide what should happen. Saturday morning the perfect placement for Yakira came to light. Yakira is going to live in Florida and join Apex’s extended family. Apex’s handler, Sue was chatting with her mother about Yakira and the inspiration hit that Yakira would be the perfect companion for Sue’s mom. Sue called us to find out if it was possible and we said yes and agreed that it was a great idea.

We have spent the last week trying to figure out the logistics of getting Yakira from Oregon to Florida. Not an easy task because there are no direct flights making it too long for Yakira to go by cargo. 18 hours in a crate is just not a good idea. So the current plan is to get Yakira to us in the next week or so and then send her by direct flight to Florida. There are a few possibilities and if those don’t work out we will drive to Oregon to pick her up. I’m excited to have Yakira stay with us for a day or two between the legs of her cross-country trip. I’m just as excited for her to get to Florida and get adjusted to her new family!

 

Yakira Update

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Yakira

We got news today on Yakira. She will not be reissued as a guide dog. I’m sad about that. We wanted to have them look for another service organization for her but her official paper works says she was dropped for scavenging instead of the puddle issue she was returned for. They are doubtful that another organization will take a risk with the scavenging history. I don’t understand the scavenging because she has great house manners, so it might be stress at being back in the kennels. We will probably never know. We could bring her home and keep her or place her with someone. Guide Dogs for the Blind will also place her with someone on the long waiting list for career changed dogs. I never dreamed that of all the puppies we raised this would be Yakira’s path in life. This is the downside of being a puppy raiser.

Yakira Update

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Yakira – photo by Lisa Thompson

We got some not so good news on Yakira recently. Her handler has decided to return Yakira to Guide Dogs for the Blind. They ended up not being a very good match. Diane loves to talk long walks and hike in the mountains and along the beach. While Yakira did great guiding in stores and malls and her house behaviors were great, she just didn’t do well with the long walks on the bike trail. Plus she didn’t deal well with puddles and mud and ddebris from trees so she never dared take her on trails for to the beach.

We have been concerned for their partnership for several months but hoped that we were just not reading between the lines correctly. We are very grateful that Diane made this decision soon enough that there is a chance that Yakira might be reissued to another handler. She will be evaluated when she gets back to campus and they will decided if she will be career changed or partnered with a new blind person.

Yakira gets on a puppy truck headed to San Rafael tomorrow. When she gets there, someone from their Oregon campus will meet her and take her back to where she was originally trained. While we hope and pray that Yakira still wants to be a guide dog, we realize that may not be the case. Whatever her future brings, I’m sure that she will do something wonderful with it. If not as a guide dog than maybe as another kind of service dog. We hope to have an update on Yakira in a couple of weeks.

Zodiac Book – final page

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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)

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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.