Was it Berkeley?

Photo by Melisa: thanks

I got to see our new Berkeley yesterday in the puppy kennel at Southeastern Guide Dogs. And I may have even held her for a minute. About 20 of us puppy raisers were in the room, all sitting on the floor, while 30 more people stood in the oppressive heat outside, including Mikey's puppy raiser, who generously offered to hold Bingo while I went in to catch a glimpse of our new six-week old black lab female. Cheryl was busy meeting with some students yesterday, so she missed out.

I discovered that grown adults, when asked to sit on the floor and play with puppies, will quickly transform themselves into giggling six-year-olds (myself included), each one cooing and clicking and whistling to attract some attention. As luck would have it, Berkeley was in the group of puppies. I was at the far end of the room and, reminiscent of my first dance in the seventh grade, I couldn't attract a female to save my life.

Finally I picked up up a squeaky toy and gave it a squeeze and two of the puppies came running: a male and a female. The puppies aren't officially named yet, but this litter has only two females, so despite my past experience with luck, I'm pretty sure I got to meet and hold little Berkeley. And she seemed happy to see me.

Back outside, poor Bingo was hot and panting to excess. He gets so unusually hot even when, like yesterday, he's just sitting in the shade. Part of this is self-induced, I'm sure, since he is so exuberant all the time, like a car engine running at full speed. Before I went into the puppy kennel he had a quick poop, and like the poop at the beach a few weeks ago, it was a small poop that just popped out unannounced. I'm wondering if this pooping thing is heat related--he's only done it twice.

From there we all walked to the training kennels, a place I really wanted to visit, but by this time I was getting concerned about Bingo's panting, so we went home. He'll be back in three weeks as a incoming freshman. And of course we'll be back in two weeks to pick up Berkeley.

I continue to be impressed with the people at SEGD and with the facility itself. What a clean and beautiful place, all due to donations and to people who like dogs.