He's Got Huge....Tracts of Land

Sorry for the obscure Monty Python and the Holy Grail reference, but it does seem to fit the subject of this post. 

Willow and Coach lying down next to each other.  Willow is on the left and Coach is on the right.

The other day, I was looking at Willow, who is 11 years old, and I noticed that when she and Coach sat near each other that there was something strange.

Close-up of Willow's front paw and Coach's front paw.  They seem pretty similar in size.

Coach is only 18 weeks old, almost 5 months old.  Yet, his paws are just as big as Willows.  Coach just got back from his first vet visit where he weighed in at 31.2 pounds.  Willow is almost 80 pounds. Yet Coach's feet are just as big as hers.

Coach is going to be a very big boy.

Breakfast at Lenny's: A Casual Sunday Visit

Fred and Coach walking past the Lenny's sign.

Sunday we made a breakfast date with friends so they could meet Coach. We arrived and entered Lenny's in Clearwater (an amazing breakfast restaurant!) with a much more confident feeling because this time when we took him to busy, he did his business. Seems he likes us to say "Busy! Busy!" with a much more definite and commanding tone of voice. 

Michele, Erik and Kelland had gotten us a big booth and were waiting for us.  Since we have take our Southeastern Guide Dog puppies to Lenny's before, they know all about them and have never had a problem with them. So, we had a tasty breakfast while Coach got to sleep on Michele's feet.  Overall, Coach stayed asleep or on a down stay in the booth with no napkin stealing!

Erik and Willow watch from the deck as Coach and Fred look into the Koi pond. Coach is leaning over the pond.

After breakfast, we went back to house so they could love on Coach.  In the above photo, Coach is looking for the Koi fish in the pond.  He spotted them on Saturday night and has been very interested in them ever since.  I'm thinking it is only a short time before we have a full fledged dunking.

Kelland and Coach in a moment of calm. Coach is chewing a nylabone and Kelland is scratching his back.

Kelland and Coach had  great time playing fetch.  Coach does a weird little pounce right before he lands on the item he is fetching and brings it back.  Quite cute.

Michele is scratching Willow, who is deeply appreciative!

Willow has been ignoring Coach for the most part, but this morning she decided that perhaps she needed to start getting involved.  So, she inserted herself for petting and, when Kelland was playing fetch with Coach, she strategically blocked off the throwing route by standing in the way.  She still won't play with Coach, but they are at least touching each other and being friendly.

Coach made sure to make the rounds to everyone's lap.  Here he is with Michele.

Of course all of this playing and fetching had a deep affect on Coach for the rest of the day.

Hound down! Coach is asleep, on his back and falling off his bed.

Same pose, a little closer. 8-)

Coach Visits the Coast Guard

Thursday was Coach's first puppy meeting and it took place at the US Coast Guard's Air Station Clearwater.  

We were shown two planes and a helicopter.  The first plane, shown below, had four VERY LOUD engines that were on.

Stephanie and yellow lab Coastie with the large plane with four engines in the background. Coastie is sitting, Stephanie and a member of the Coast Guard is petting Coastie. Photo by Roger Reese.

Even though the hanger that we went to was significantly far away from the plane, the noise from the engines was still really loud.  Tabina and Coach were the only pups who were visibly annoyed with the noise, so we took the little guys out the back of the hanger to a quieter spot where the second airplane was.  It didn't have any engines going.

The second plane was really quite neat as the back of the airplane came down and we got to walk the dogs up the ramp and then through the plane.  When we got to the front of the plane, we had them sit and then proceeded down some steps.

The back end of the plane is down and five Coast Guardsmen wait while Stephanie talks Coastie into stepping up onto the ramp. Photo by Roger Reese.

As you can see the flooring was metallic and there were all sorts of different smells and machinery in the airplane.  The dogs had a blast walking through it.  Coach followed Babe, which was a good thing.  Babe was very confident which built up Coach's confidence so he pranced all through the plane like he owned it.

And then there was the helicopter!

Brian and black lab Liz are checking out the inside of the helicopter.

I ended up picking Coach up and placing him in the bed of the helicopter.  There was a lady Coast Guardsman inside and Coach went over to her and said hello.  He was impressed with the helicopter.

Tabina, a yellow lab, and Coach, a black goldadore, are  the babies of the group.  They are both four months old.  Here they are waiting patiently in the parking lot for the helicopter to taxi away. Photo by Carolyn Hersh.

Afterwards, we all went behind the fence to watch them taxi away to test out their new equipment.  Oh, did I mention the film crew?  The entire meeting was filmed by a reality TV film crew.  There was a video guy, a sound guy, another gal who just seemed in charge of things, and another guy who had a smaller video/digital camera. 

Shot of the film crew shooting the puppy raisers and pups watching the helicopter. Photo by Carolyn Hersh.

They were filming Coast Guard: Florida (evidently, Coast Guard: Alaska was a big hit!) and our meeting seemed interesting enough to be part of the show.  We'll see if we make it to the small screen. 8-)

Shot of the sound guy shooting the puppy raisers and pups watching the helicopter. Photo by Carolyn Hersh. 

Because Coach and Tabina were the smallest puppies there, they did get a lot of video time. So, perhaps, they will get on the show.  They were looking mighty cute.

Photo of Coach lying on the asphalt, chilling.

In the end, though, Coach didn't seem fazed by the film crew or the photographers.  He didn't seem too freaked out by the planes or the helicopters.  He didn't go crazy with all the other dogs nearby.  He was his calm, serene, self.

This is going to be a change.

Ooops! Did We Just Poop on Your Floor?

They say that sometimes when bad things happen, time slows down or your life flashes before your eyes.  What happened to me is that all sound ceased.  It was as if I existed in a perfectly silent bubble.

We had walked into the restaurant, with Coach and a former student who was visiting us and we were being shown to a table right in the middle of the dining room.  A table right in the middle of the dining room is usually never a good thing and why I didn't stop the girl right there and say, "This won't work, we need a booth." I don't know.  But I let her show us to the table.

She walked off and Allison walked over to her chair.  I pulled out my chair and Fred was about to pull out his chair when all of a sudden he said those word you never want to hear inside of a building, "Coach pooped."

And all the sound went away.  I turned and grabbed what was nearest: a cloth napkin.

I know! A cloth napkin! What was I thinking?  I had a big bag in my purse filled with shamwows and towels and ziploc bags and antibacterial wipes, but I was thinking THERE ARE PEOPLE EATING FOOD IN HERE AND I CAN'T LET THEM SMELL POO!

So I swoop down on the three sticks of poo and in my no sound world, the white napkin drifts down over the poo mountain like a little cloud.  There.  All. Gone.  I scoop it up and race away to the rest room.

I am shaking all over.  I zoom into a stall and start to empty the poo into the toilet.  Am I nuts?  What then? Am I going to rinse it out in the toilet?  Am I going to stick my hands in the toilet?  Holy crap, I'm still holding this poo napkin!  I look around in a panic and spot the sanitary napkin waste dispenser.  I shove the poo napkin in there.

I power walk back to the table.  Sound has returned.  Allison looks at me and says, "There's a little more poo under Fred's chair."

Crap on toast.  More poo?  I get out the anti-bacterial wipes and look around the room.  Everyone is eating and chatting and seemingly unaware that a mere three feet away from them there had been poo.  Thank the Gods above! I wipe and wipe and wipe the tile with anti-bacterial goodness.  I get the extra poo and wipe with more anti-bacterial goodness.  There is no poo smell, but my hands are filled with poo stained wipes.

Maybe a minute has gone by. Fred and Coach have disappeared and not returned.

By now, all the diners in our dining room must think I have a bathroom problem.  Some weird sort of intestinal disease that makes me run off several times during a meal or that I'm OCD and feel the need to fling my napkin on the floor, throw it away and then scrub the floor clean with anti-bacterial wipes before eating.  Whatever, as long as they don't realize that it was poo, I'm OK with being the crazy, nut job lady they tell their friends about over drinks at the bar later in the evening.

I race back to the restroom.  There is a woman in my stall.  MY STALL.  Rather, the stall with the poo napkin in it.  I go to another stall.  I toss out my nasty wipes and madly wash my hands over and over and over.  Then I look around for towels.  They have one of those Dysen Air Blades.  Oh Man!  We would have been screwed if we didn't have our own supplies!!!

The lady in my poo napkin stall comes out.  I sneak out of my stall and then go into the poo napkin stall.  It occurred to me that the poo napkin might start to become, well, odorous.  I started having visions of people coming in and sniffing and saying, "Something has died in here!"  And then going and getting management.  And then management wandering around the bathroom trying to figure out where the horrible smell was coming from until finally, they opened the sanitary napkin container and saw: poo napkin! Then it would be just a short step to wondering, "How did this get here?  Who pooped in our napkin?" And then they would think about the only missing napkin that night.

And it would be mine.

Therefore, I had to keep the poo napkin.  Fortunately, I carry ziploc baggies with me and so I just grabbed the poo napkin and shoved it into a ziploc and then into my supply bag.  I went back to the table where Fred and Allison wanted to know what we should do.

We decided that retreat was the better part of valor.  So we left and Fred called the restaurant and explained to management what had happened and apologized.  They were more concerned that Coach was ok.

They didn't want their napkin back.

Coach Goes to Yoga

By Fred
Yesterday Cheryl brought Coach down to the yoga class and introduced him to Martha, our instructor who has a soft spot for dogs.

My original plan--years ago, before I knew better--was to take our sweet, well-behaved, quiet and Zen-like Southeastern Guide dog puppies to yoga class once or twice a week. I actually believed this would be possible. I believed these puppies would magically sit still in a room full of strangers while we all twisted and turned and otherwise acted silly. And so far I've given each of the dogs a chance. One chance each.

A picture of our tiny, smiling
yoga instructor, Martha, struggling to hold Coach in
the air and giving him a hug.

If the puppy is bad in yoga class, I can only whisper "no", a soft "no" with a complete lack of authority in my voice. (There's no loud talking in yoga.) And it is much too easy for a little puppy to get attention.

So I'm pretty sure this will be Coach's only visit to yoga. Maybe.

Coach Does Some Shopping

A Wordless Wednesday photographic essay from yesterday's outing to the Coach Store at International mall.

Coach is sitting by the glass railing looking down.  He is very calm.

The Coach logo over the Coach store.

Coach and I standing in the doorway of the coach store. 

Coach and I consider some purses to buy.  He doesn't seem to have an opinion and looks fairly bored.

Coach meets the Coach dog, who doesn't have any eyes or fur, which makes my Coach sniff.

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.

Naughty Children at Frenchy's Rockaway Turn Deck into Vermin Picnic Area

Yes, I thought I had seen everything.  After all, I have caught poop in my hands.  I have had a stranger come up to my table look me in the eye and calmly say, "Now I will put my hands under the table and pet your dog." Oh no you will not, crazy lady.

But today, really took the cake.

Fred and I had decided that Coach needed a lunch exposure and we thought that the deck of Frenchy's Rockaway and the sand of Clearwater Beach would be a good break for our gentle giant.  So, off we toddled to the beach for some grouper tacos.

Fred and Coach, a black goldadore in front of Frenchy's

We sat down at a table next to the wall of the building, which I liked, because it gave us a place for Coach to be out of the way.  Plus, Frenchy's, like every other restaurant near the beach, has a problem with sea birds: gulls and pigeons and sparrows are always darting in to snarf up some stray crumb.  There are signs telling you not to feed them as they become aggressive.

We sit down next to a table with a mom and dad and their three boys and little girl.  The parents are in their forties.  Old enough, certainly to know what proper restaurant behavior is.  Here is a photo of them.  You can see them just past Fred.  Rather, you can see two of the boys and the girl.

Fred, holding his menu up, three of the urchins are visible in the background.

Fred and I order our food and get Coach settled when all of a sudden a half of a french fly comes flying in under our table.  Coach leaps up and goes for it.

"Where did that fry come from?" I said as Fred snatches the fry off the deck.  Fred rolls his eyes back to the table behind him.  "Are they throwing french fries?" My voice is not especially low nor is my tone especially friendly.  I narrow my gaze at what I now consider urchins and discover that they are indeed throwing entire french fries all over the deck in hopes of attracting pigeons (vermin!! Literally, flying rats!) to their table.  The only problem is that vermin walk.  And vermin like pigeons are especially attractive to dogs like Coach.

A pigeon walks along the deck under the tables and chairs.

Coach meanwhile is under the table trying desperately to figure out if another fry is going to be flung his way or if a pigeon is going to walk by with a fry sticking out of his mouth and if maybe he might be able to pounce and get a two for one deal.  We are trying to get him to settle.  I am shooting daggers at the mom who is watching her sons throw fries all over the floor of this restaurant and not saying a word.

Coach looks out from under the chair for a pigeon.

"I can't BELIEVE this!" I say to Fred. I'm looking around for a waitress to call over so I can point them in the rabble's direction and say, "Look at what these people are doing!  Surely you don't allow customers to throw food on your floor so pigeons will gather and poop on your deck?  You must stop them."

Coach looks up at the camera.

But I think all the waitstaff was conflict phobic.  Finally, the mom had enough and said, "Stop it.  Go outside and throw them." And she gave all the fries to the oldest and the children left.

Coach gets ready for a nap under the table.

Coach went to sleep.  He was so worn out.  I was worn out and disappointed with people in general.

Naptime has been achieved.

As we were walking out of Frenchy's another woman approached me.

Coach gets to experience his first beach. Here he is standing beside Cheryl on the sand.

"Am I allowed to pet him?"

"No, I'm sorry, not when he has his coat on. He's working. But thank you very much for asking."

"No. Thank you! Thank you for all that you do."

How nice. I guess we did have a lovely lunch out.

Lavender Can Ease a Puppy's Stress

When we took Jam back in for training on Saturday, we heard from David Brady, Training Kennel Manager at Southeastern Guide Dogs (you can also follow David's dog Fozzy who is on facebook), who told us that they were filling the kennels and massage rooms (yes, Southeastern Guide Dogs do get massages!) with the scent of lavender in order to ease the kennel stress of the pups as part of kennel enrichment.  He told us there were studies that indicated that lavender decreased stress, and in fact, I found an article by Narda G. Robinson, DO, DVM, MS, from Colorado State University that talked about a recent study indicating lavender oil "diffused into the atmosphere, produced significant effects on dogs’ behavior." Evidently lavender and chamomile essential oils (and this is from a 2005 article, Robinson states) when used in the shelters had the pleasing results of dogs exposed to those oils moving around less and barking less.  The opposite was true when peppermint and rosemary oils were used.  (This study sounded a lot like the one David told us about.)

Photo of lavender and blue bottle from Istockphoto.

Now, before you go thinking that Southeastern Guide Dog are stressed, the CEO of Southeastern told us at IFT also that they did a baseline study of the dogs and the average dog has an cortisol level of 3, while the average for a Southeastern dog was 2. Pretty darn stress free! In spite of the low scores, Southeastern will with kennel enrichment programs to maintain that low score and seek ways to constantly better the life of dogs while they stay in the kennels.

Robinson's article stated that "the second study, published in the September 15, 2006 issue of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association reported that ambient odor of  lavender may be beneficial in calming dogs susceptible to travel-induced  excitement. That is, dogs who would otherwise bark and exhibit restlessness during car rides calmed significantly after exposure to 5 milliliters of lavender oil  sprayed onto a flannel cloth."  I find this very interesting as Coach does seem to exhibit a bit of restlessness in the car.  I will be switching out my car fragrance to lavender.

In fact, Colorado State University Veterinarians even go so far as to give the recommendation of giving lavender scented tissues to a stressed dog as part of their Tips for Helping Pets Through Trauma and Disaster: "Lavender aromatherapy, provided as  easily as applying a few drops of pure essential oil to a tissue near the animal, calms both pets and people."  (I would note, that you want to make sure that the tissue is somewhere that your dog isn't going to eat it.  Jam and HRH Berkeley were very into paper napkins and tissues.)

Coach just arrived.  Jam just left for IFT.  Willow doesn't know who is coming or going.  So, I went out immediately and bought two lavender diffusers: one for upstairs and one for downstairs.

I like to think things are much calmer around here. If nothing else, it smells nice.  It is a little thing I can do to make it less stressful here.

[Note: The diffusers that David Brady at Southeastern uses are FanFuser Diffusers.  The lavender oil he uses is from Jedwards International. FYI.]

Introducing Coach!

Photo of Coach's dog tag saying Coach.

Friday at 2 pm, I drove down to Southeastern Guide Dogs with Coach's sponsor (Austin) and Austin's cousin Connor.  We were going to pick up Coach.

Coach, a black goldadore, is being readied for pickup.

The puppy kennel staff is getting Coach ready for us after his bath.  Coach weighs 32 pounds!!!  Turns out he is actually 17 weeks old, and was born on March 24, 2012 not April 11th like we first thought.  The 4-1-1 idea was a cool thought though. 8-)

Connor watches as Austin holds Coach for the first time.

Here are Austin and Connor with the first holding of Coach.

Coach looks over Austin's knee from the floorboard of the car.

Coach turned out to be in need of some tough love on the way home.  He kept trying to get up on the seat and Austin had to be firm and put him back on the floorboard.  It was very tough on Austin.  He has a sensitive heart and really didn't want to hold the line on this, but he did.  Coach stayed on the floorboards.

Austin and Connor are seated on the porch and Coach is seated in front of Austin.  

As you can see, Coach is really a big guy.  He's already almost at Austin's knees.

Austin holds Coach as Coach's legs dangle down like an octopus's.

He and Austin bonded.  Austin asked me on the way back if I thought Coach would remember him.  I think that is a given.  They spent some quality time together in the car. 8-)

Connor, Austin (with Coach in his arms) and Allie.

 Here are Austin, Connor and Austin's sister Allie with Coach.

Coach is sitting, staring up into the camera.  The sun is filtered onto the floor behind him.

Finally here is a photo of sweet baby Coach, with the sun in his eyes.  He is going to be a big boy we think.  He is a month younger than his neighbor Coastie and Coastie weighs only 6 pounds more.  And Fred said a paw camparison revealed Coach has some pretty massive paws.  But, when you are named after the Head Football Coach (Coach Dominick Ciao), being a big guy isn't a problem.  It's an asset!

That's our story and we're sticking to it.

Good Luck, Jam

By Fred
Cheryl is off to get the new puppy, and I'm here in my office with Jam, just back from our typical afternoon walk, except that this will likely be our last chance to spend some quality time together. Tomorrow morning he will be off to a new life, training to be a guide dog.

To those who know Jam and have wished him well, thank you very much.

To those random strangers who have come up and asked us, over the past year, how can we "possibly give up our dog," my answer (at this moment) is "I don't know."

Good luck, Jam. Instead of writing anymore in this post, I'm just going to sit on the floor with you for a while.

New Puppy!

"Life changes fast.
Life changes in the instant."

Year of Magical Thinking  by Joan Didion

Yesterday morning we were getting a puppy on August 6th. Yesterday afternoon we were getting a puppy today at 2.

Life changes in the instant.

Today I will go and get our sponsor, who is also a student at the school where I work as a librarian. He and his cousin will go with me to pick up the fourth McLean pup for us to puppy raise at Southeastern Guide Dogs.  Here is what we know about our new puppy:

1. He was born on April 11, 2012 (as someone pointed out, being born on 4-1-1 and being a helper dog is a good sign!8-).
2. He is a black, goldadore (or goldadorable as some call them).
3. His name is Coach (after Coach Dominick Ciao, our football coach).
4. He will be attending home football games.

Life changes in the instant.  No break from raising puppies for us! I guess Fred will be refinishing those stairs in 2014. 8-)  

Wordless Wednesday

Willow and Jam sitting in front of the koi pond.

For our first wordless Wednesday for the Blogpaws community, I wanted to get a shot of Willow, our chocolate lab and Jam, our guide dog puppy in training, who goes back in for training on Saturday.  They are great friends and I think Willow will be very sad to see Jam leave.  Jam is the only puppy that Willow actually asks to play with her.

 This is part of the Wordless Wednesday blog hop at Blogpaws: