Tag Archives: puppy raisers

Pupdate – Zodiac

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Jumping is probably my least favorite thing about Zodiac. Sometimes it comes so unexpectedly when I’m sitting at my desk working on my computer and “zap” his paws land abruptly on my arm and shoulder. I sure hope that his future handler loves this trait because I think it is just part of who he is. We have been able to moderate it but not stop it all together.

Zodiac was still in phase 0 this week. Of the 40+ pups that were recalled the middle of May, nine of them moved to phase 1 on the report. It looks like they started two new strings, one in San Rafael and one in Boring, Oregon. I don’t understand why nine dogs, eight would make more sense. A trainer usually starts with four dogs. Zodiac’s brother Zenith was one of the dogs that moved on to phase 1. Hopefully next week Zodiac will start the actual harness training.

Pupdate – Zodiac

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Zodiac was on the phase 0 report this week! Yeah! I know it may seem silly to be so excited to see his name but it seems like a little text message from our boy saying, “I’m here and doing fine.” The harness training at Guide Dogs for the Blind is broken into 8 phases plus they have what they call phase zero for when they dogs first get to campus, get physicals, adjust etc.

Here is the second spread in Zodiac’s puppyhood book.

“One day when he was young the back door wasn’t latched and Zodiac had a digging adventure out in the back yard. It took me a while to figure out how he got such a dirty nose in his “just earned my puppy coat” pictures.One of the zaniest things that Zodiac loves to do is dig in his empty dog dish. I usually take it to mean that he would like some ice cubes. Zodiac loves ice cubes! He will grab an ice-cube or two and dash into the living room to munch down on them or chase them around the kitchen.”

Pupdate – Zodiac

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from Zodiac’s puppyhood book

No news on Zodiac this week. He hasn’t made it to the phase report yet but I didn’t see any of the pups that were on the truck with him either. He should show up next week, unless the holiday weekend disrupts things. But in many ways no news is good news at this point. A phone call would be a really bad thing. It could only mean that he was career changed.

At this point I would expect that he is getting adjusted to the routines on Guide Dogs for the Blind’s campus. They usually have a kennel mate and Zodiac will have a canine welfare technician to make sure he is healthy and happy. The will also be doing medical exams and he will have walks and playtime.

Above is the first spread in Zodiac’s puppyhood book. I’ll post one spread each week along with an update on how he is doing in training. Here is the text for that page:

Most puppy raisers think their dog is the cutest, but of course they are wrong, Zodiac is really the cutest puppy ever! He was a very solidly built. At 13 months he was 65 lbs. even though he isn’t a very tall dog. I expect he will put on a few more pounds as his muscles continue to develop. Zodiac has matured into a very handsome nicely put together dog.

Pupdate – Good Luck to Zodiac

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Bill, Dune, Zodiac & Raelyn on recall morning

It has been a busy weekend with puppy stuff. On Friday we had a farewell party for Zodiac. Nothing fancy, just some cookies, snack mix and lemonade. It is a tradition with each of our puppies, a chance to celebrate them and give family, friends and neighbors and chance to say good-bye. I think it is also for me. It helps me process the pups departure and come to terms with not having them around. Zodiac had lots of fun. His favorite people from church came and some of his puppy friends. At one point we had five labs at our house. That was crazy.

Saturday we had a big Guide Dogs for the Blind puppy training meeting. Lots of puppies there. With dogs ready to leave for harness training, like Zodiac, to very young puppies who just got off the puppy truck on Thursday. I learned lots of things from the visiting Community Field Representative from Oregon. It was a great opportunity to learn from someone new.

After the meeting Zodiac has his final evaluation. I’ve been a bit paranoid all week that they would decide that he wasn’t ready to go back or they would career change him on the spot. It is crazy the kinds of thoughts that can get into my head sometimes. We took Zodiac and Dune to the movies on Saturday night as one last outing for all of us together.

Sunday morning we got up very early so that we could get Zodiac to Ogden by 7:00 a.m. It was raining pretty hard when we left home but as we traveled north the skies cleared and the sun came up on a beautiful day. The hotel where the puppy truck stops for the night has a lovely walking path with trees and a pond and waterfall. I took both Zodiac and Dune for walks before the puppy truck drivers came out to the truck. Then we helped walk the puppies that had been picked up previously. I really enjoy doing this and meeting new pups and thinking about their puppy raisers. I walked an in-season female named Moxy. She was a happy and good girl. Bill got to walk Zodiac’s brother Zenith. Their temperaments are amazingly similar. Zenith reminded me a bit of Apex (our first puppy in training) which isn’t too surprising since Apex’s dad is Zodiac and Zenith’s grandfather.

We took Dune and Zodiac for one last walk together. Then it was time for Zodiac to get on the truck. That is the hardest part. He didn’t love getting into one of the kennels in the puppy truck but Zodiac did it anyway. We know he is in good hands. They stopped in Boise for a break Sunday afternoon and spent the night in Pendelton, Oregon. Zodiac would have arrived on the Guide Dogs for the Blind campus in Boring, Oregon on Monday afternoon.

Another puppy raiser that I know from a Yahoo group dropped her puppy off on campus yesterday. She saw Zodiac’s name on the wall in the kennel kitchen along with the other puppies that are expected to arrive on this recall. I like knowing that Zodiac has been on campus twice before, so he is sure to recognize it on his arrival. There is a whole team of experienced and caring people who are now taking care of him. They will help him adjust to life on campus. The next step for him is a thorough physical to make sure his eyes and heart and joints etc. are all working right. Now we play the waiting game. Waiting each week for the phase report to see how he is doing.

My Guide Dog Song

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I made up a song this week about the stages of life of a guide dog. It was inspired by and is sung to the tune of the “Gilwell Song”. We learned it this year while we were at Wood Badge, a leadership training put on by the Boy Scouts of America. We had a Wood Badge reunion this week and it got the song stuck in my head again. So I think this was an attempt by my brain to move on to something else. Here is a link to the tune. Gilwell Song. You can sing along if you are brave enough to try.

My Guide Dog Song

I’m just a little puppy, but a good old puppy too.

And when I’m finished growing, I wonder what I’ll do.

I love my puppy raisers, but there is so much more,

So I’m going to be a guide dog if I can.

Back for training, happy land, I’m going to be a guide dog if I can.

———

I used to be a puppy, and a good old puppy too.

But now I’ve finished growing, I wonder what I’ll do.

I love my puppy raisers, but there is so much more,

So I’m going to be a guide dog if I can.

Back for training, happy land, I’m going to be a guide dog if I can.

———

At last I am a guide dog, and a good old guide dog too,

But now that I am guiding, I have so much to do.

I am not old or feeble, so I can guide some more.

And I’m going to help my handler if I can.

I am guiding, happy land, I’m going to help my handler if I can.

———

I used to be a guide dog, and a good old guide dog too,

But now I’m finished guiding, I don’t know what to do.

I’m growing old and feeble, and I can guide no more.

So I’m going to take a nap if I can.

Back to sleeping, happy land, I’m going to take a nap if I can.

———

Zodiac is so funny. When I start singing this song he gets all excited. He runs up to me and usually jumps on me too. I just can’t help but feel happy when I sing about my pups and he is very attracted to happiness and anything that might be fun.

Do you ever make up new words to songs or with your own tune and lyrics? I did one once while I was walking Casey when she was young. But I didn’t write it down and most of it has been forgotten.

Casey’s Graduation

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Carrie and Casey outside Boccelli’s

Today Casey officially became a guide dog for her new partner Carrie. Guide Dogs for the Blind has an official graduation where the puppy raisers symbolically hands off the puppy they raised to their new handler. Before the ceremony we have an hour or so where we get to meet our puppy’s handler and see our pup that we haven’t seen since they got on the truck to return to GDB for formal harness training.

We arrived at GDB Boring, Oregon campus at 11:45 a.m. The rest of the puppy raisers where already there. Then the group went over to the dorm building. There we were taken to different areas around the building to wait for our puppy and their partner to be brought to us. Bill went off to find a bathroom and missed Casey and Carrie when they first come out. I saw them coming down the long hallway. It was so much fun to see her again. She didn’t seem much changed and was so happy to see me. She was just getting settled down when Bill came up and she practically jumped into his arms. We spent the next hour or so chatting and cuddling and petting Casey. Casey did the typical thing of rotating around between the three of us while keeping track of her training, Amy.

Me and Casey

We gave Carrie, Casey’s “Go to Bed Blanket” that I made her while she was a puppy and a couple of basic nylabones for Casey’s birthday which was last week. He handler gave us a delicious box of chocolates from Victoria. Carrie just finished her 2nd year of law school. She is thinking of becoming a law professor but hasn’t decided for sure. She lives in a small apartment in Victoria, BC with her husband and a cat. Casey is her first guide and she said there are 20 other GDB graduates on Vancouver Island. Her and Casey and a very good match, of course. Guide Dogs for the Blind is amazing at that.

Casey and Bill

We went out to eat after graduation to an Italian place in Gresham called Boccelli’s. It was a nice place to relax and get to know Carrie better. Casey and Carrie had an early trip to the airport in the morning so we took them back to campus after dinner. It was so much fun to see Casey again. She was her normal wiggly waggly self we she saw us and we enjoyed giving her lots of loves while we got to know Carrie. I’m sure that the two of them will quickly develop into an incredible team.

Casey by Carrie’s feet at dinner

Late-breaking Puppy News

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Last night I got a call from our puppy club leader telling me they had a puppy for us if we wanted it. The plan was to wait until August but this black lab male became available at the last-minute. We had until this morning to decide and the answer is yes, we will take a puppy now!

The puppy truck comes on Friday! I thought she said a “V” puppy and this morning I found out he is actually a “Z” puppy. I’m so excited. I was hoping for a “Z” puppy to continue the pattern: A (Apex), B (Banta), C (Casey) – then we skip to the end – W (Waffle), no X – GDB has never had an X litter, Y (Yakira) and now Z! I know that it is silly but it makes me giddy with delight.

Here is a short video from a couple of years ago of the puppy truck getting loaded up in San Rafael, California. I think tomorrow they will be loading up our little Z-boy. One thing that has changed is that they pups are micro-chipped now instead of having tattoos in their ears. So as they load them on the truck tomorrow they will us a hand-held scanner to see which pup is which instead of checking the tatoo.

Any guesses about what his name will be? For those who are new to this, each litter has a letter for all the names to begin with. The other complication is that the name can’t duplicate any working dog from GDB or current puppy in training or breeder dog. That group is about 3,000 dogs. That means the names sometimes get very creative.

Here is a list of Z names for babies.

Some of the guesses so far are:

  • Zee
  • Zachary
  • Zach
  • Zane
  • Zebra
  • Zaire
  • Zorro
  • Zale
  • Zesty
  • Zip
  • Zoomer
  • Zeke
  • Zanto