Dewey Goes In For Training

Dewey went in for training on Saturday.  Strangely, the house is even more quiet with him gone.  Why strangely? Because Dewey was one of the quietest dogs ever.  He never barked. He didn't whine.

Although, he did occasionally make a small bird peeping noise at the door when he wanted to go out.  We miss that.

A lot.

Fred standing in front of the Guide Dog U sign with Dewey.

Dewey was ready for Guide Dog U.  He is smart, able and very capable of being a guide dog.

Dewey's poster.

We had time to fill out his paperwork and time to think about our year with him during the 6 weeks before we brought him in to Guide Dog U.  We thought about whether he really know that find the elevator command and if his sit and stay commands were strong enough.

Fred and Cheryl with Dewey at his poster.

Dewey is so calm.  He's a very low energy kind of dog.  We like to call him, surfer chill.  We thought, he would be really good for a CEO who needs a dog who likes sleeping through meetings, or a teacher who wants a dog to sleep through class.

Dewey finally met his brothers Hairy-cane and Bowser.
Hairy is next to him on the right and Bowser is on the far right.

Even in finding and greeting his long lost brothers, Dewey's response was still pretty low key. (Of course, we use Jam as our comparison.  So, perhaps we have the most extreme dogs ever.  Jam on the far left and Dewey on the far right!)

We filled up his treat bone and took it in to his kennel.

 Dewey has always been a very good sharer and play partner.  He does play dates with Duke and is one of his favorite friends.

Dewey's roommate is our neighbor Barpal.

Dewey and Barpal had a playdate when they were little puppies.  Of course, Dewey and Jam play all the time and they play HARD!  Every now and then, Willow will try and join in, but the boys run past her and ignore her.  No girls in our play.

Dewey in his new home.

 After Dewey went back in to the kennel, we were taken over to do some puppy hugging. It was very much needed.

Fred got some puppy kisses.

They had some very cute puppies.

This little yellow lab has all the toys around him.

After puppy hugging though, we were so worn out.  Dewey was our fifth puppy to give back.  The new assessment kennel was so nice and the ceremony was incredibly well done.  I think it was amazing how far the puppy raising services has come in making such an incredibly heartbreaking event not so traumatic.  They really did a super job.  

We want to take this moment to thank all the people who took the time to give up their Saturday (the puppy raising staff, trainers, volunteers, kennel staff, employees, and anyone I missed).  You made that Saturday into a momentous day for us.  You gave it weight, significance and meaning.  All of your hard work and effort is deeply appreciated.

A Lavender Blurrr

By Fred
Ever since Cheryl learned about the therapeutic effect of lavender, our home smells like an Victorian English whorehouse, and for the past several days I've been wandering around in a lavender daze, as if I weren't calm enough before. We now have a variety of lavender power dispensers, misters and sprays, and there's a giant vat of lavender oil in the garage. The air is so thick with it that I sometimes can't see across the room.

A blurry picture of Coach with a sweet smile.
He looks a little drunk on lavender.

Little Coach is a sweet guy, a really cool dude, and I get the feeling that lavender is the last thing he needs.

But who's complaining. Not us.

Jam Goes In For Training

Photo of the welcome sign: Welcome to Freshman Orientation @ Guide Dog U

Saturday was Jam's day to go in for training, or Guide Dog U as it is known.  This day is something that is not necessarily looked forward to by puppy raisers but is acknowledged as one of those sad, sad days that you have to go through in order to experience the joy of puppy raising.  It can't all be puppy breath and kisses.

Fred and I are kneeling to the left of Jam's sign with his portrait on it.  There is some sun glare off  to the left so you can't really see our expressions.

Southeastern Guide Dog's puppy department has a sign for each dog entering the dorms that has his name and 6 week puppy portrait.  Here we are sitting with Jam by the sign.  At first I was a little annoyed that the volunteer didn't get closer so that you could actually see the sign and our faces, but now, I realize, that you also can't see that we have just completely lost it.  I, didn't make it past driving through the gates.

We are standing at the Southeastern rock sign.  I'm on the left and Fred and Jam are on the right.  Jam is sitting.  Fred and I are standing.

It does help that you are surrounded by some of your good friends and we happened to have some very good friends with us that day, which is why you see some smiles on this photo by the Southeastern sign.

Fred is sitting on a bench at the very back with Jam lying at his feet waiting for Jam's name to be called.

Jam was the second dog of the second set to be called in to go.  It was a little upsetting for me, because Fred started down the aisle to the right and I went with him.  Then I realized that I had forgotten the little sheet of paper with instructions for the trainers on Jam (of course, I just thought it was for serious things and put down his poop and eating habits, which are weird and I was a bit worried about them.  But after I filled it out Leslie told us they also wanted to know about what kind of pats and rubs he liked and I didn't get to put that down, which is making me cry now.  So, I'm going to tell you: he likes to be scratched under his chin and he likes his butt scratched at the base of his tail.  He is not a cuddler, per se.  He's more cat like and will twine about your legs. There.  Now you know.). So, I ran back up the aisle to get it, but Fred kept walking and took Jam to trainer Karen.  I came down the other aisle.

Trainer Karen is hooking Jam up to the leash, but Jam is looking away from her off to the right. He is looking at me walking up to him. Photo by Durga Garcia.

I guess Jam didn't know where I was, so he was looking for me, which I didn't know until I saw these photos taken by fellow puppy raiser Durga Garcia, who is also a professional photographer.

Photo of me looking down at Jam for the last time. Photo by Durga Garcia.

So, I tried to give him a hug, but I think as soon as he saw me, he figured things were ok and he wanted to go off with trainer Karen.  He was ready to go.  So they walked off and like all the puppies before him, he went off happy and excited and he never looked back.

And we wouldn't have wanted it any other way.