Tag Archives: Guide Dog User

Pupdate

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Zodiac & Dune

Dune and Zodiac are both so cute. Well maybe Zodiac is more on the handsome side these days. He is a year old now and no longer looks like a puppy. They really enjoy each other’s company. It is amazing how many times the two of them will be laying down near each other and Dune looks like an exact copy of Zodiac, except she is smaller and yellow (of course).

We found out at puppy class this week that Zodiac is scheduled to go back to Guide Dogs for the Blind on the next puppy truck. That truck is expected to come on May 18th. I’ve had it in my head that he would be returning sometime in June but it isn’t looking that way. I figured out how to put a count down widget here on my blog so I can count down to his departure. I was so proud of him on Sunday. I got up to teach a lesson at church and left him by my chair. I forgot about him because I was so focused on teaching. But he was very good, even with a little toddler distraction right by him.

Dune has had some challenges this past week or so. Our snow all melted and she didn’t like not having snow to pee on. She had 4 accidents in one day! It had been about 3 weeks or more since she had a single accident let alone 4 in one day. She is doing better now but we are having to pay a lot more attention to her relieving. Since she was very young she would let us know when she needed an extra potty break by sitting by the door. Dune isn’t doing that much any more.

Dune is making some progress on her kennel stress. While she still isn’t quiet while we are gone she isn’t stressing out so much about it. Before she would get so stressed that not only her jaw was wet with drool, but the whole front, down to her legs would be soaked. Now even her jaw is dry. She also got the last of her puppy shots this week, so now she can go on walks and to parks and places like that.

We also got an email for Banta and Mark this week. It is always so exciting when I see that I’ve received an email from one of our puppies. Here is some of what Mark had to say:

Banta is doing very well.  For the most part she is working perfectly.  She has her stubborn moments.  We finally had a big snow a week ago.  Banta likes about 6 inches of snow.  We got about 10 inches and she seemed annoyed that all of her favorite places to play had too much snow.  Eventually she got in there and played like a crazy little girl.  She is so much fun, I love her to death.

All in all it has been a good week on the puppy raising front.

Pupdate – Yakira

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Diane & Yakira – getting their official portrait on graduation day

We got an email from Diane and Yakira this week. Their flights home went pretty good. Yakira needed a little reassurance during take off. But that’s not bad for her first time flying. Here is some of what she said.

Both Yakira and my other animals are getting along well.  (Actually she and the cats have a mutual agreement to ignore each other but it’s not necessarily a bad plan.)

We have been taking two trips into the community daily to expose her to all the new sights and guide work issues.  She is a remarkably quick learner and we will shortly be enjoying ourselves more than adapting.

Besides the two cats (Sleepy and Aurora), Diane has her retired guide, Bettyjo (also a black lab but much larger than Yakira). It is so much fun to get a quick update from Yakira!

Graduation Day – Yakira

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Yakira at Diane’s feet

We left Friday morning for Yakira’s graduation, after dropping Dune off at my friend’s for puppy sitting. The roads were great but the trip was long. I’m always ready to be there after about an hour or two of driving. It really is a pretty drive but 12 hours is a long time in the car. Zodiac is an excellent traveler and was very patient and willing to get back in the car even when we could tell he was tired of it. We finally got to Gresham and settled into our hotel for the night.

Mount Hood

On Saturday, we woke up to blue skies. I was so excited. I’ve been to Oregon for 3 other graduations and never had a glimpse of Mount Hood. But this time it was perfectly clear. We drove around the area a bit before graduations trying to get a photo. We got to Guide Dogs for the Blind’s Boring, Oregon campus a little early so we could take Zodiac on the “Oregon Trail” that goes through the natural vegetation on the back edge of campus, before he had to go in a kennel in the kennel kitchen. You can’t have a puppy in training with you while you are presenting the dog you raised during graduation. He loved the walk but wasn’t so happy about going into the kennel.

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video of seeing Yakira for the first time since October

Finally the time came for us to see Yakira and meet her new partner. It was kind of funny because Yakira was a little slow in figuring out who we were. But once she realized she was a happy girl. Bill was holding her leash and she started doing some crazy labby loops and got away from him and looped off to say hi to one of the other pups in class. Yakira looked great and very happy. Her handler, Diane, is a great match and we enjoyed getting to know her. She still has her retired guide, Betty Jo so Yakira has a buddy to hang out with at home. It was so nice to just hang out with Yakira and her partner and get lots of puppy loves. I was hoping that Yakira would move somewhere warm and her new home is in southern California so that is perfect for her.

Yakira giving Bill a kiss

We got a chance to meet Yakira’s sister Yumi’s raisers at graduation. She said that Yakira is just like Yumi except she is black instead of yellow. I also got to meet another of the graduates who I know from a guide dog user/puppy raiser email group I’m on. Her partner, Tyra is Yakira’s half-sister.

Yakira looking up at Diane

After graduation I got Zodiac from the kennel kitchen and we took him and Yakira out to the paddock behind the dorms and let them romp for a few minutes to get reacquainted and then went out to eat afterwards with Diane and Yakira. GDB has made another great match for our girl. She is going to love her new home in southern California and her new life as a guide dog. Yakira was not Diane’s original match on dog day. But it soon became clear that this first dog just wasn’t going to be a good match for Diane’s career. She recently got her masters and will be working with disable college students to make sure they have the accommodation they need for their disability. This first dog will make someone a wonderful partner but she just didn’t settle quickly enough after interruptions for Diane’s job situation. The trainers brought Diane two new dogs to try and she choose Yakira.

Yakira & Zodiac under the table at dinner

The hardest part was decided it was time to take Yakira and Diane back to the dorms. There is this moment after you drop them off when the puppy you raised realizes that you aren’t staying. You can see them processing it in their minds. It isn’t that they don’t want to go with their handler. They are happy to do that. I think they would like it if we could be around too. Even more than the formal graduation ceremony, that is the moment, for me, when they truly move on to their new life. It was a great day but very exhausting.

On Sunday morning we went back to campus to pick up a career change dog named Pauletta. Pauletta has arthritis in her lower back and so her puppy raisers are adopting her. She was recalled a few weeks ago for breeder evals but the arthritis changes everything. They were trying to figure out how to get her to Denver. She wasn’t cleared for air travel after her spay but it was fine for her to travel by car. So we brought her home with us and they got up super early Monday morning to pick her up and then headed right back home. It was fun to watch that reunion. Pauletta will be certified as a Therapy Dog and do great things with her life even though she won’t be a guide dog. GDB is so full of wonderful people. It was nice to be able to do something to help Pauletta get home to her family faster. Below is the video I shot of Pauletta seeing one of her puppy raisers for the first time since she went back to Guide Dogs for the Blind. You can hear Zodiac barking in the background, unhappy not to be part of the reunion.

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Pauletta watching out our front door

Road Trip

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Yakira and Zodiac – photo by Lisa Thomposn

We are off to see Yakira and her partner this weekend. Graduations are so much fun and this one promises to be a great one. Zodiac is going with us and Dune is gets to go to my friend Lisa’s to be puppy sat. I hope she doesn’t get too noisy in her kennel. We will be bringing a career changed dog named Pauletta back with us. She is going back to her raisers who live in Colorado. The will be driving to Utah on Monday to pick her up. She has arthritis in her lower back so she can’t become a guide dog. I’ll catch up on my posts when we get back. I hope everyone has a good weekend.

 

Lots of Pupdates

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It has been a fun week in getting news on our pups. When I think about it I’ve heard something from all of our pups in one way or another so lets take them in order.

Apex: you may remember that we are planning a cruise to Alaska with Apex & Sue. Sue is a super organized planner and she is keeping us on track in make plans for this exciting trip. This week she sent us an update some of the little details of our trip.

Banta: She is in perfect health. Banta recently had her annual trip to the vet for shots etc.

Carrie and Casey

Casey: We got a wonderful update from Carrie and Casey about their holiday travels including photos from Invermere. Plus some stories about a “couple of typical lab incidents.” She had some trouble eating a fleece blanket and the stuffing out of her dog bed while in her crate. Thankfully she didn’t develop a blockage and all is fine there. The other one had me laughing because she pulled something similar when she was being puppy sat when she was young. Here it is in Carrie’s words:

One night, I was up extremely late preparing for two important presentations the next day. I had 3 hours of sleep in total. Sometime in those 3 hours of sleep, Casey got up and consumed half of the cat’s litter in his litter box! Gross! I was in my business suit and high heels, cleaning up large amounts of upchucked litter, wondering if I could take her with me to the courtroom and if she was going to throw up cat litter all over the place while I made my submissions! She looked a little green but I called the vet to make sure she didn’t need to go in again and they said she should be okay. That was a really rough day. Since then, Casey is now happily on tie down on her bed, and I’ve installed a door thing to prevent her from gaining access to the litter box. She is so sneaky and mischievous sometimes but it is hard not to resist her beautiful brown eyes.

Casey running in the snow

Waffle: Bill was going through some mail and found a card stuck between two other pieces of mail from Waffle’s new partner! This was our first direct contact with Carole! We didn’t even have her name. I’d sent a couple of things to her via Guide Dogs for the Blind. But with career change situations if is up to the new owner to decide if they will have any kind of contact at all. Carole offered to send photos, so I popped her an email and we got a few photos of Waffle in her new life. Here is a little of what Carole said:

Waffle has a busy life.  She travels with me for work.  She’s been to Boston, Arizona, Costa Rica, New York so far. When we’re home she’s with our elderly boxer, Tucker, and her best friend, Evie – a 2 year old black lab.  She still doesn’t swim in the pool but I’m planning to teach her this summer.

Waffle

Now I can do the last version of Waffle’s puppyhood book, including or career and a little about her home and family.

Yakira: Puppy #5 is continuing to move along through training. This weeks phase report has her in phase #7! She will most likely be class ready next week and a new class is starting in Oregon on the 21st so it is possible that Yakira could be graduating as soon as February 2nd. Of course it will probably take longer than that for her to be partnered but who knows.

I need to get moving on Yakira’s book too. I’ve worked on it a bit but I’d like to have it pretty much done by the time we go to her graduation. Coming up with words that start with “Y” for her book isn’t the easiest thing to do but I think I’m close.

Zodiac: Our current puppy is doing well. He is really starting to mature and he kept things lively around here and he probably makes me laugh every day. He is such a fun-loving boy.

Puppy #7: Our club leader said to keep next Wednesday open for a new puppy to come. It isn’t 100% for sure yet but it is the first hard info we have had on our new puppy. Thinking of a new cute little puppy always brings a smile to my face.

It is amazing to me that with seven different dogs involved that we could have some kind of contact or information on each dog within a week span. That makes this week extra special to me.

Pupdate – Yakira, Casey, Puppy Club and #7

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Yakira – photo by Lisa Thompson

Yakira is continuing her stead pace through training. She is in phase 4 this week. Keep it up sweet girl, we are cheering for you.

Guide Dog News, a quarterly publication of Guide Dogs for the Blind, in its News of Our Graduates section listed Casey’s handler, Carrie as this years recipient of Reach for the Stars Scholarship. Congrats to Carrie on this accomplishment.

Our local puppy club has gotten too big and this week was our last meeting together. We meet at the Cold Stone in South Jordan to see Frosty and the other candy windows along with enjoying a tasty ice cream treat. It was a wet evening but lots of fun.A new club is being formed and we will be part of it. It is going to be fun to see what it takes to organize a new puppy raising club. We need to pick a name for our club. Any suggestions?

Right now the new club only has 5 puppies but more our expected soon. It seems that GDB has too many puppies in the kennels and they are looking for raisers. So we decided yesterday to apply for our next puppy, #7! He/she may be a co-raise with my friend Lisa, but we decided it was a good time to add another puppy to the household even if she decides now is not the best time to co-raise a puppy. So puppy #7 could arrive, by plane, in just a few weeks.

Pupdate – Yakira, Zodiac and Apex

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Yakira – photo by Lisa Thompson

First off, Yakira is in phase 3! Way to keep it up girl. I think she is going to make someone an amazing guide dog. More on what she is learning in phase 3 here.

sunset from Apex’s cruise

Next up, Apex and Sue just got back from a cruise! He is such a lucky pup. Here are a few photos from their trip.

Apex enjoying his cruise

Apex’s litterbox on the cruise

Last up is Zodiac. We went to the Eye Institute of Utah this week. They were so generous and donated a generous amount to our puppy club. Plus the pups each got a fleece blanket and a dog toy. It was so much fun to stop by so that the employees could get a little puppy love.

Nairobi, Zodiac, Sony, Yanni and Savoy at the Eye Institute of Utah – photo by Karen Fuller

Zodiac and Sony – photo by Karen Fuller

pups with their toys and blankets from the Eye Institute

Yakira – phase 1

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Yakira - photo by Lisa Thompson

Yakira – photo by Lisa Thompson

This weeks phase report finally had Yakira’s name on it. She is official in phase 1! It seems like it she has been gone for such a long time. Actually it has been almost 7 weeks. Some of the other dogs that went back on the truck with her are in phase 5. I’m guessing that the Thanksgiving holiday slowed down her start into training. I know I shouldn’t get impatient about it all but I still do. I really do know that it will all work out and that the best life for her is ahead, no matter what road that is.

For more details on what Yakira is learning in phase 1 see this post on Casey in phase 1.

On news on some of the other puppies in our life:

  • Zodiac is doing great. I’ve seen some maturing in the last week or two. He is being much less of a rebellious teenager. Sometime I see him crouch to jump on me and he stops himself. He turns 9 months on Monday.
  • Apex is off on a cruise to the southern Caribbean for more than I week. Sue has promised pictures. I can’t wait to see them. He has such a great life with Sue.

Update from Casey

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Casey

This week marked one year since we put Casey on the truck back to Guide Dogs for the Blind. So I took that as an excuse to send a quick email to Casey and her partner. I was so excited when I got an email including photos back! Here are some excerpts:

Casey and I are doing really well. Casey has settled into the school routine nicely and has been well received at the law building. She provides comic relief in lectures because she tends to groan, snore and grunt her way through class! We have some long days – I have night classes on Tues. and Thurs. but she manages to get me home safely which I very much appreciate.

I just ordered her a raincoat because she HATES the rain! We have had nothing but sun all summer and fall – very unusual. It just started raining really hard a couple of days ago. She does not like puddles – avoids them like the plague, and slows down to a crawl when it rains. Did you guys notice this? I am hoping the raincoat will make her happier – rainboots might be next!

She’s also doing well at the swimming pool where I swim (she stays on deck with a tie down). She keeps a watchful eye on me when I get into the pool but eventually has a nap.

She happily chews on her nylabone and rolls around on her back, chasing her tail a few times a day. Our cat, Sammy, is still quite cranky about her but she steers clear of him. We have many, many different routes that we do around the neighbourhood and she knows them all – loves the chip trails at a nearby park and walking near the ocean. I love being able to go out for pleasure walks now – was not able to do that before, and now I walk a ton with her which is amazing. We get our fresh air and exercise every day.

Casey

Casey and her “cousin” Jasper

Nothing makes my day better than an email from one of pups unless it is an email from one of our pups including photos and I got both! We hadn’t heard any thing since just after they got home from class and I was concerned that we were going to have any ongoing contest with Casey. So this email was even more cherished. I sure hope that we can have some contact with the puppies we raise as they move on to the main purpose of their lives.

 

Retiring a Guide Dog

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I think the hardest thing about having a guide dog is probably their retirement. The average guide dog works for about seven years, so most handlers have to go through this process several times in their lives. There are three basic reasons that a guide dog retires. The most common is age. Just like with people, dogs eventually get too old to do the work of a guide dog. For most dogs this is about 9 or 10 years old. Another reason for retiring a guide dog is health. Some dog develop health problems that make it difficult or impossible to work. The last reason is some dogs just decide they don’t want guide anymore and are ready for the more relaxed life of being a pet. This is sometime brought on by stress or a traumatic incident while working as a guide dog.

Whatever the reason for retiring a guide it is a difficult and painful process for the handler. Guide Dogs for the Blind has a blog set up for “remembering the people and dogs of Guide Dogs for the Blind.” Some of the most resent post include:

Marly: Gone But Not Forgotten (a tribute by Juliet Cody to her first guide dog)

One of the Greatest Guide Dog Retirement Jobs Ever! (the story of guide dog Leslie and the second career her family found for her when she had difficulty with retirement)

Mathew: The Dog with a Heart of Gold (this dog was retired early due to sever allergies)

Remembering Havarti (tender story of a very short career)

Thank You, Firestone (short poem)

I encourage you to take some time and read about the impact these amazing dogs have on the lives of those they come in contact with.