A Bag of Poo and a Bad Decision

A Time to Poo

I had to get some dinner.  My idea was to go to Whole Foods and pick up something from the buffet.  My only hesitation was Corky.

Corky is relaxing in the wheelwell on the drive home.

Corky generally doesn't poo at school.  He saves it for 5 pm at home.  It was nearing 5 pm and we were not at home.  We were pulling up to Whole Foods.

It was the Pooing Hour.

Corky and I got out of the car and I walked him over to a grassy median where I tried to get him to busy.  He wandered around sniffing.  He finally peed halfheartedly and sniffed a bit more.  I knew there was more in there. I stood my ground.

Corky turned in a half circle and then back again.  Aha! Got him. He did a half squat and then shift and started to poo.  Success! I was so stoked.  I got out my poo bags. They were electric yellow and could be seen from the moon.

"Good boy, Corky!" Corky wagged his tail.  He looked at the yellow bag and looked away.  It may have hurt his eyes.  They were bright.  I tied the bag into a knot to prevent any stink from escaping and began to walk toward Whole Foods to throw it away in one of their trash cans.

Now, here is where it gets a bit tricky.  As you approach Whole Foods, there is an eating area off to the right.  I certainly didn't want to walk up to that area and wave my big bag of poo around with diners: "Hey! Got some poo here! Look!  Does this make you want to eat your food?!"

Fortunately, I had parked to the left and my approach was away from the diners.  I was hiding the bright yellow bag (haha, as if you could hide that bag) by my side.  I started to look for trash cans.

Nothing. Not one trash can.

Really, Whole Foods? No trash cans?

A shot of a Whole Foods shopping bag.

I'm standing by a planter with a big bright yellow bag of poo.  What now?  Take it into the store? Certainly not! I can't even take it close to the door.  IT'S POO! LOTS OF POO.

What store doesn't have trash cans?

OK.  I set my bag of dog poo down on the ground and say to anyone listening, "I will be back for this bag of poo," and I walk away.

I leave the yellow bag of poo and Corky and I walk into the store.  I did turn to look and it glowed back at me accusingly. POO, POO.

There was nothing to be done.

A Bad Decision

And that wasn't my bad decision.  My bad decision was settling for a basket and not a cart.  I thought the basket would be easier to maneuver.

I walked Corky into the buffet area and got a wet wipe out of his coat and wiped my hands off. I didn't want to touch anything without cleaning my hands.  That done, I went over to the plates.

I grabbed two plates and pulled them apart.  I dropped them into the basket.  I didn't notice that the plates didn't sit flat.  I grabbed two tops and spent three minutes trying to get them apart while Corky tried to sniff at them and at the basket.

Then we walked over to the buffet area.  Corky was very good.  He didn't lunge or jerk around.  He was very calm and sweet.  I quickly realized that when I filled a plate that it wouldn't sit flat in the basket.

Really, Whole Foods? What good are your baskets?

So now I am staring at Corky, my useless basket, my filled plate and my unfilled plate.  How will I fill the unfilled plate and how will I get both plates to the checkout counter?

Close-up of Corky looking sweet.

Finally, I got Corky to stay and put the basket in an out of the way spot and put the filled plate in an out of the way spot and filled up my second plate.  Then I stacked the two plates on top of each other and Corky and I ran very fast to the checkout area.

Not an elegant solution, but it worked.

Everything was put in a paper bag and now I had a handle.  I left and picked up my yellow bag of poo  (which was still there!!) on the way out, which I carried home to throw away in my trash can.  

Corky 1

Poo 1

Cheryl 1

Whole Foods -3

Bring to Me Your Sorrows

Today was a revelatory day.

It started very ordinary.  I brought in a peanut butter pie for a co-worker. I talked with students and worked on administrivia.  When all at once I thought that Corky and I should go for a walk about.  

I loaded up with treats, because my boy doesn't work if there isn't a treat involved.  We started out with some stair work and went up two flights and down some hallways.  He was very good.  When the treats are around, there is no one better.

We started down the stairs and out into the open air.  Corky was ignoring the acorns and focusing on me.  He was so awesome.  We were headed  towards the vending the machines and I saw there were some middle division girls there getting some food.  One girl in particular had spotted us and her whole expression brightened and she began to step toward us.

But then, she realized that Corky had his coat on and she dropped her head and turned back to the vending machines.

I started to walk on by.

But there was something that made me stop. 

I looked at her.  I crooked my finger.  She ran over to me.

"I was wondering if you could help me with something," I asked. 

She was looking at Corky. I continued, "Corky is having a problem jumping up, so I was wondering if I get him to lay down, if you would pet him for me.  Can you do that?"

She nearly jumped straight up. "Oh, Yes!"

"Great!" I unhooked Corky's coat and with the treat I got him to down.  Then she begin to gently pet his neck and head.  Corky was in heaven.  

"I miss my dog," she said.

"Where is your dog?" She didn't answer.  She continued to pet Corky and her eyes filled with tears.

"Oh. Did he pass away?" She nodded.  "I'm so sorry." 

She continued to pet Corky and I gave her a treat to give him. 

"Corky is a really sweet boy, isn't he?" She nodded.

Close-up of Corky's sweet face.

We left soon after, but I think we took a bit of her sorrow with us and left a bit of Corky's sweetness in its place.

Corky at School: Library Duties and All School Convos

Library Dog

Corky has been having a great time at Berkeley.  He is learning all about the library and what he needs to do to be a good library dog.  We recently had a big promotion for Valentine's day called Blind Date with a Book where all of our outstanding books were covered in paper and you had to check them out without knowing what book you were getting.  It only indicated the genre (it was wildly successful!).  Corky was very instrumental in this promotion by not eating the paper hearts off the circulation counter and not knocking the books off the display counter.

Mrs. Fletcher, Mrs. McLean and Corky standing in front of the very colorful Blind Date with a Book display area in the Jean Ann Cone Library at Berkeley.

All School Convo Dog

We also had an all school convo to welcome us back to school in January.  Corky attended and did very well.  We tried a seat near the top so the sound wouldn't be too loud for him.

Mrs. McLean and Corky sitting in the stands near the top of the bleachers.

The all school convo is a bit of an extravaganza.  And we are all crammed in together in the bleachers.  My thought was, sit up high so that the noise wouldn't be so loud.

Good idea, right?

No.

Corky doesn't have a good settle.  He likes to wander and walk and ponder the world.  He is a curious dog and where Dewey would be bored in 30 seconds and fall asleep, Corky is fascinated by life.

"What was that sound? Did someone move their arm? Is that a bagpipe I hear?"

So there was no settling for Corky.  There was lots of moving back and forth.  There was periodic settling and some poking of Dr. Leonardo in the back, which he kindly said wasn't a problem.  (Thankfully, Corky also gave him lots of loving.  So, I suppose that made up for it.  Corky really seems to love Dr. Leonardo.)

In the end, he did finally finally settle down.  

Close up of Corky's face.

But seconds after he did, we were dismissed.  Sigh.  Isn't that the way it goes?  A small victory is still a victory.

Corky's First Bath

There are some big events in a boy's life.  Events when you just need to man up and get clean. One of those events is going to school.  Corky will be going to school tomorrow and he needs to be smelling nice for the ladies.  That means, he needs a bath.

Fred takes Corky outside and starts lathering him up.

Corky was a real trooper.  

Fred is running the hose down Corky's back.  Corky's head hangs down.

He got a bath like a real outdoorsman.  

Corky looks in despair for some help, but doesn't see any.

No yelling or screaming or whining.  Just standing firm and getting wet.  Good boy.

After the bath, the toweling process begins.

Then the toweling.  Oddly, there were no puppy crazies here either.

Corky is toweled vigorously with a brightly colored towel and he looks off to the side for help.

He was very calm and cool.  

Close-up of a smushed face Corky wrapped in a brightly colored towel.

A little tired and subdued perhaps, but calm.

Tired of the toweling, Corky just closes his eyes.

All in all, a good bath time was had.  And a clean smelling Corky is now in the house!

New Assessment Kennel!

It was a long drive to Southeastern Guide Dogs for a puppy meeting, but the reason was quite a special one: the opening of the new assessment kennel!!! And we were going to get to see it for the first time! WOOT!!  How exciting is that?!

South and Central Pinellas Puppy Raiser Groups had obedience before the opening ceremony. John Bauer was leading the meeting.

 It was a lovely day for a building ribbon cutting ceremony.  Perfect weather for it.  And there was a nice big crowd.

Puppy raisers were doing obedience.

Fred and Dewey were in the sun for a tiny bit.

Dewey quickly migrated to a down stay in the shade.

Westen was looking very handsome.

A south puppy raiser and her cute yellow puppy.

Brian and Marcia are trying the sit and pay attention to me command. 

Bill walks up to try and distract Marcia, but fails. 

Julie was puppy sitting Java.

Cesar, a yellow lab puppy, was just so darn photogenic.

Cesar, smiling.

Chris pointed out this guide dog with a curly tail.  We think he must have Jack as a dad.  Jam has Jack as a dad.  Curly tails are his speciality.

Titus welcoming us to the ribbon cutting.

Cesar, being cute again.

Mr. Hirst talking about the center, named after him and his generous donation.

Marcia remembers me.  Can you see her foot on my foot?

Outside of the Hirst Assessment Kennel.

 

Inside of the female kennel wing.

female kennels.

Self-watering drinking fountains for the dogs in the kennels! How cool is that?

One of the pups was already learning how to drink out of the fountain!

Hurricane proof in-out doors on the kennels.  

Grates for waste, easy clean up, drains are flushed every 20 minutes (I hope I have that right!).

They have their own vet clinic. See photos below.

Place for exams.

Scales to get weighed! She was 38 pounds. 

Privacy Wing.

For the ladies in the red tent.

For training in inclement weather and all other testing, etc. Those big glass windows at the back house the observation room.  Turn off the lights and the dogs don't know you are there!

Spa grooming center!

 It was such a fabulous center.  So nice and clean and state of the art.  What a joy for our puppies going in for training.  Thank you Mr. Hirst and to all the donors who made every inch of that training facility possible.  It is an amazing place. Dewey will love it.

Dewey Skypes: Thank You Galloway School!!

On Friday, during my lunch hour, Dewey and I had an amazing experience.  We got to skype with 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th graders from the Galloway School in Atlanta. It was pretty awesome.

Actually, everyone was more interested in Dewey than in me, but that was ok. I didn't take it personally. My friend Amy, the lower division librarian at Galloway, who set it all up, was very clever and told the students that they were going to have a unit on Dewey. Boy were they surprised! 8-)

For three days they studied the Mclean Puppy blog and learned about guide dogs and what they do in different situations (or what not to do!).  Of course, they read supplemental material as well.  They learned all about Southeastern Guide Dogs program for raising puppies.  And then on fourth day, they skyped with me and Dewey!

I think the best question was what was Dewey going to be for Halloween?  I don't know!!  They are going to send me suggestions!  I can't wait. 8-)

Some of there other questions were:

• What does Dewey eat?
• Where does he sleep?
• What is his day like?
• What happened to Bingo?
• How is Coach doing? (They were very concerned about Coach!)

All in all it was very fun.  Dewey was very tired because it was during his nap time and I had to keep waking him up and making him pose in front of the skype camera, but the kids seemed to love it.  

I wish I had some photos for you!  

We did get an amazing thank you present from the students at Galloway!!  A very generous donation to Dewey's walkathon fund for Southeastern.  We were so surprised and stunned!  Dewey says thank you, I say thank you and we both give a big Woof, Woof to Galloway School and the students there for having us talk about guide dogs!! 

If you would like to help Dewey reach his walkathon goal, please donate at http://guidedogswalkathon.org/dewey. I also have raffle tickets.  You will have to purchase those directly from me ($5 for one, or 5 for $20).

Bringing Dewey Home

Friday we went to pick up Dewey:

Closeup of Dewey.

I was a little sad because we had planned for a big party to pick him up from school.  We had thought we would get a small 9 week old puppy, but there was a surplus of older puppies that needed to be moved to homes.  We had planned a vacation, for next week, which would have precluded our getting a puppy, but because I would be in a crochet class for most of the day, Fred had wisely backed out of joining me when it came time to buy tickets.  So he would be at home next week.

Dewey is 15 weeks old now.  He would have been 17 weeks old when we picked him up if we had stuck to the original schedule.  So, when we needed to make the decision of do we take Dewey early, we were able to say yes even though it meant no party, because we didn't want to leave him in the kennels when he could be at home with us.

Fred is kissing Dewey on the top of his head.

Of course it was love it first sight.

Cheryl is holding Dewey in her arms.

 Dewey is a quiet, gentle dog.  He seems to have more in common with Willow than Jam.  However, that may just be the honeymoon phase and the true Dewey will peek his head out in a two weeks.

Tara, Cheryl and Fred smile for the camera. Cheryl is holding Dewey.

Tara matched us up with a good one (of course, they are all good ones! 8-).

The kennel staff surround Melisa as she holds Dewey.

 The kennel staff gave us our last bit of instructions about Dewey.  They were super nice.

Even though Dewey yawns before his big car ride, he didn't sleep on the way home!

 Then it was time for his first car ride. We got him to busy first, which he did right away. Then we got some kibble and tempted him to the car.  It is a little harder with the older pups (at least in our experience with Coach), they don't know about cars and are nervous about them.  Dewey was nervous as well.

Dewey is hanging back from the car.

Fred tempts him with some kibble.

Dewey is tempted and walks up to the car.

Dewey puts his front paws in the car.

Dewey gets most of his upper body into the car.

 At the point where most of his upper body was into the car, we popped the back end into the car and shut the door!  Mission accomplished.

Fred, Cheryl and Dewey at the Southeastern Guide Dogs sign.

Then we took our photo by the Southeastern sign and were on our way home!!