Corky Helps a Friend

A friend of mine at school will be going to meet a career changed Southeastern guide dog on Thursday afternoon.  They have been waiting a long time to get their forever dog and are extremely excited about it. (All the photos here were taken by Christina Arcuri, many, many thanks!)

Everyone arrives to greet Corky

Since their last dog was a Jack Russell, I offered to have their boys come over and meet Corky so that they could really get to know a big lab before meeting their dog on Thursday.  That way, they could practice petting a big dog, how to interact in a calm way, and ask questions.

The two boys are a bit tentative about petting Corky.

Corky is a really good test big dog because he is so friendly and has such a waggy tail.  Everyone likes him right away and he likes everyone back.

Mom watches as I talk about Corky and how old he is.

I had Corky do a down stay because he is a big lab (74 pounds, their dog they will meet tomorrow is only 55 pounds) and they are still pretty small.

The boys are sitting by Corky and asking questions. Corky is lying down.

I also had them pet Corky on the body.  I had told their mom to try and avoid having them pet their dog on the head as that can lead to jumping and mouthing.  

The boys are both petting Corky.

We also talked about having very calm voices and moving slowly, not running around and getting the puppy excited. I loved their questions.  The first one was about stuffed animals.  Was she going to like stuffed animals.  "Yes, she was," I said.  "So it is important that you keep your toys in a safe place out of her way. If she does get one of your stuffed animals, just go and get one of her toys and trade her so that she knows which toy is her toy."  

I told him it was probably going to be a good idea to keep his socks off the floor and his bedroom door shut too!

Mom and son are listening as I explain about stuffed animals.

We decided his younger brother had the stinkiest socks and had the most to worry about.

Mission accomplished: a happy boy with Corky.

Mission accomplished: Another comfortable boy with a big dog.

All in all, I think they ended up being very comfortable with Corky and will have a very successful visit with their (hopefully!!) new forever dog tomorrow!!

Coach Is a Love Machine

 Yes, Coach, our soon to be 14-month old Southeastern Guide Dog puppy in training, is a love machine.  As evidenced by the photo below.

Coach is nearly invisible as five freshmen pet him.  He is rolled over on his back so they can give him belly rubs.

 We were doing the annual research project in Health class, which involved several days of research and then several days of a crossfire like debate where two opponents met to debate various health topics like steroids in sports, creatine, and risky behavior like texting and driving, etc.If we had a couple of minutes left at the end of the debates, which were generally very stressful for the kids debating, I would take the coat off of Coach and let a few kids at a time come and pet him.

He had his regulars (seen above) who LOVE HIM!  He really seems to love them back and tended to just roll over for them and let them give him belly rubs.

Kathleen shares her office with lots of stuffed animals like Fozzy bear and some weird rat-like thing that Coach really wanted to take a bite out of.  They are shown sitting in a rocking chair with a sign that says "We love Coach!"  

On Friday, I visited our lower division librarian to get a schedule to bring Coach in to read to lower division and I was hoping for a very productive meeting, but was thwarted by her office mates (shown above!).  While Kathleen wouldn't admit it, I think Fozzy bear was doing a little dance trying to distract Coach.  Coach said as much on the way back to the office.  I really don't think it was an excuse!  And the little pack rat thing kept staring at him with his shiny eyes.  I guess he couldn't help his shiny eyes, but still.  It is rude to stare.

So, we did have to leave the meeting early.  On our way out, before I could get the coat on him, we were accosted by two lovely little lower division girls who asked to pet Coach.  I looked up and said, "Well, he has to sit first. And he hasn't been the best boy, so if he is bad, we'll have to stop."

Coach sat and then the one little girl said, "Oh! Coach is ADORABLE!"

Maybe that is why the pack rat was staring.