Happy Holidays: Snoopy Gets a Close Shave

 Sometimes you just can't win.  It's those times when you put little antlers on your dog and the fall to the floor in disgust and embarrassment and won't sit up, like Willow did on Saturday.  Try as I would, she just wouldn't sit.  She would barely look at me.

Coach is on the left wearing a red velvet bone hat with a pom pom on top and Willow is on the right with a red antler headband.

Coach was no better.  He was barely able to contain himself.  If he wasn't trying to rip the hat off, he was giving me THE LOOK, which essentially meant I had ruined his life.

Close up of Willow's face and some of the antlers.  She is not pleased.

Above is a photo of Willow giving me her version of THE LOOK.  She is tell me how horrified she is to be in antlers and what was I thinking?  So, I moved on.  I admitted defeat.  There was to be no cute holiday photo.  We would just go get the tree and move on.

Coach is sitting pensively in front of a bare Christmas tree.

Coach was very chill at the tree lot.  He didn't mark one tree.  Not even the tree we picked out (yea!).  

Willow is on the left and Coach on the right.  They are in front of a decorated and lit Christmas tree.  Coach has his paw on Willow's arm.  They are both in down stays and looking up at the camera.

Later, when the tree was decorated, I decided to try again, only without the demeaning hats.  They must have forgiven me for I couldn't have asked for a better holiday photo.  They were even holding paws.  It was so cute.  And for all you Southeastern Guide Dog people, do you see the pinecones, as decoration, in the background?! Check that one off the list of exposures!

The only thing left for Coach to experience was Snoopy and the Snoopy song, which is technically called the Linus and Lucy song.  Those are student library proctors dancing in the background.  Wait for Coach's surprise ending.  It's a hoot, maybe not for Snoopy, though!

 

Happy Holidays!!

Thanksgiving Puppies!

Thanksgiving is that time when friends and family gather to break bread and eat together in peace and harmony.  Thanksgiving is also the time when some who might harken back to old slights and fights of family members should truly forgive over the calming influence of tryptophan and pie.  

Melisa, another puppy raiser, had invited Fred and me, Willow and Coach, over for Thanksgiving.  We were extremely grateful and I had made a 5 layer chocolate pie and a Jack Daniels Pumpkin Cheesecake as desserts.  

Coach panting by the side of the house.  He is looking off the right at Bo, who is not in the photo.

Willow is pleased as punch and looking up at me with a big smile on her face.

When we arrived, Dave and Petey, St. Pete's first puppy, were already there.  Duke and Lil Bo Peep live there, so they were there too.  Melisa's parents, Judy and Jerry and her partner Ed were also there.  Willow was wearing her pretty princess sparkly pink crystal collar, which she rarely gets to wear, so she was feeling fine.

Melisa is passing around the delicious baked olives. Her mom is on a swing chair to the right and Fred is making a grab for more olives.

Melisa had cooked up a feast: cheddar wrapped olives and stuffed artichoke hearts for appetizers, which were very tasty were just the start.  The weather outside was perfect.

The boys: Fred, Dave, Jerry and Ed sunning themselves on the patio outside.

The dogs seemed to get along, until Petey decided that being head of St. Pete meant that he was the boss of everyone.  When Coach realized that he and Petey weren't actually playing but were doing a dominance contest, Coach was desperate to get out of it.  Coach is a live-and-let-live kind of fella.  So we separated the two unnuetered boys and kept them out of each other's way the rest of the night.  Coach got his confidence back playing with Bo and Duke as you will see in the video.

Petey spent some time in Duke's crate and he got a peanut butter kong later in the evening.  Bo, Duke and Coach figured out someone was getting a kong and it might as well be them, so they tried to influence Dave into giving Petey's kong to one of them.

Dave is at the counter filling a kong with peanut butter.  He is watched by Coach, Bo and Duke.

They even followed him to the door in a last ditch effort.  But it didn't work.  They are nothing if not persistent.  

Bo, Coach and Duke followed Dave to the door and stand outside the door hoping he won't give the kong to Petey and will bring it out and give it to one of them.

In the end, they were able to coexist with each other and here they are at the end of the meal breaking bread, or rather staring at bread and thinking about eating it. 

All five pups in a semi circle around a bowl of rolls.  Of course they are being held back by Fred, Ed and Dave.  Petey is the only one on a loose leash.

It was a photo op, not an actual treat moment. We hope you all had such a lovely and tasty Thanksgiving Holiday!

Enjoy some puppy exuberance in the video. Coach and Bo are BFFs!

 

Puppy Crazies

Coach is a pretty calm puppy.  He rarely gets the puppy crazies.  So, yesterday, when he got them AND we had a camera at the ready, we were able to get some rare footage of our calm and sedate puppy being a wild man.

That is until he got a shoe...

Puppy on Ice!

Last night Coach and I went to see my advisee, Chad, play in one of the Berkeley hockey games.  We were playing a pretty good team and we still have a very young team.  So, it was going to be a lesson in determination, teamwork and enthusiasm against superior skills.  

Coach, Jamie, Merideth and another mom watch the game from the goalie's perspective.

The Clearwater rink has an interesting set up as far as seating goes.  There is more indoor seating, but there is also space behind the goal so that you can watch the whole game from that special perspective. That's where all the moms were, so that's where Coach and I went.

Coach was not particularly fond of this spot.  He didn't seem to be able to get comfortable on the floor. I think he is a real Florida dog.  We did have a couple of struggles with the down command as he wasn't fond of the cold floor.  Ultimately, he ended up sitting between my legs. And we took a walk at one of the breaks to warm him up.

He got to experience whistles, buzzers and crashes.  It seemed to me as if he did, in the end, enjoy the game, because when he was sitting his ears were perked and he was following every swoosh of the skates, every pass by of the skaters, every crash into the boards.  

At games end, we were down 20-2.  Our team was feeling quite legitimately down in the dumps, despite leaving it all on the ice.  Our goalie in particular was incredible.  Michael deflected so many shots on goal and was swarmed.  This year is his first as goalie and I was quite impressed with his fortitude in the face of an intense and nonstop barrage of shots.  Well done! 

After the game I had asked if there was a possibility of getting Coach on the ice with the boys and parents Bobby and Merideth made it happen.  It seemed to cheer the boys up a bit too, if their smiles in the photo below are any indication.

Photo of the whole team with Coach finally sitting his butt on the ice in front of them. 

But then, who wouldn't love to see a puppy get on the ice for the first time?  I let Dawson take him out on the ice as Dawson has an ambassador dog at home and knows all the rules.  It was only that very tail end of the skate that Coach goes a little puppy crazy, but you can see that in the video.  Coach really didn't want to sit down because it was so cold. So he was doing this weird hunching thing.  One of the boys asked about whether he had to poo.

I said he just didn't want to freeze his booty.  then I thought to myself, "Please Lord, don't let him poo on the ice!" He did sit for them, finally. And I walked with him back over the ice to the doorway thinking to myself, "Do NOT fall on your butt! Do NOT.  Walk VERY slowly!!"

We made it safely to dry land.  Please enjoy the video of Coach's first ice experience.

Nature Boy

We have a big puppy party coming up in December.  So we are busily trying to get our crazy yard to look ship shape.  This weekend that meant that we had to replant all of the beds under the windows of the garden room.  Since we have tried several different kinds of plants there (gingers, to name just one that comes to mind) and all of them have failed miserably, we thought we would go with a drought tolerant variety: succulents.

Coach is sitting by the left hand side of a large black rack of succulents.  There are three full shelves of plants.

We were rather pleased with our choice, but Coach wasn't.  As we approached the succulent stand, his tail drooped until it was practically tucked under.  He was not happy about succulents.  He didn't want to go near the stand or the plants.  

Of course, he doesn't get to make that choice.  As a Southeastern Guide Dog in training, he has to at least attempt to become acquainted with things he doesn't like.  I parked the cart and we did a right about and walked back to the succulents. 

"Look at those awesome plants, Coach. Aren't they great?"  I was talking in a cheery voice.  The man in the aisle next to me started to laugh.  I'm sure he thought I was crazy.  Coach looked at me like I was crazy.  His tail was still down, so I walked closer and he followed me willingly.  "These plants rock."

Coach was clearly doubtful.  He got close enough to sniff.  He sniffed a jade plant. His tail began a little wag.  I said nice things about his manhood and his tail wagged some more.  I think we were good here, so I began to load up the cart with succulents.

Coach is sitting on the left of the shopping cart and is looking up at the succulents in the cart.

Coach didn't mind them in the cart and sat rather close to them.  Perhaps it was the shelving instead that he didn't like.

Coach is in the side yard by the green wagon.  He is looking at the planting bed that has new succulents in it.

Just to make certain, Coach joined me for a gardening lesson and seemed very uninterested in the plants at all.  He certainly didn't fear them.

Coach is standing by the edge of the koi pond with his front feet a little splayed out.  A white water lily if in front of him in the water.

Later, we checked out the water lily that was blooming in the koi pond.

Coach leans into the lily to take a sniff.

He seemed able to stop and sniff the lilies, if you know what I mean.

Coach stands at the end of the pond looking into the camera.  The lily pads and flower are all in the foreground. He has his head tilted slightly to the left.

My little nature boy.  Not afraid of succulents after all.  Willing to lean out over ponds and sniff flowers.  Adventurous.  That's what he is!

A Brand New Coat

By Fred
Poor Coach has been wearing a hand-me-down coat for months now, with faded lettering and frayed edges, and I've wondered if his self-esteem has suffered, with him seeming to be the poor kid at all the guide dog meetings.

A picture of Coach in his new coat.
He has a big smile on his face.

I could tell he was overjoyed yesterday when his new coat arrived in the mail. And I couldn't wait to take him out into public and let him show off.

It wasn't long until someone came up to us in Publix. Coach did his best Sit ever and looked up at the woman with the sweetest face, knowing that his new coat would help get him the attention and affection he feels that he deserves.

The woman gave Coach a quick glance and then looked at me. "Do you know Coastie?" she asked.

Yes, of course I know Coastie, I replied. Coastie is another guide dog puppy in our group. But when I tried to change the subject and tell her about Coach, the woman interrupted me.

"I've read all about Coastie and seen him on TV," she said as though she were describing Brad Pitt instead of a puppy. "And I saw him here in the store, just a few days ago." And then she went on to tell me about her dog and her husband and her job and more about Coastie, not giving Coach another look.

I could tell that Coach had his feelings hurt. His tail was a little droopy on the way out of the store, that is until another woman and her little girl came up to us.

"Pretty dog, mama," the girl said. "Yes," her mom agreed. Obviously she admired the coat very much.

And Coach was back to his old self.

Doughnut: Get In My Belly!

We had a very successful breaksale last week, raising over $250 to name the next Southeastern Guide Dog puppy for me and Fred to raise (to donate go to Coach's walkathon page).  We added ice cream bars to our list of items for sale and they went like wildfire!  In addition we had tons of doughnuts.  Tons!  So many that in the crush of students clamoring for a doughnut, one tasty piece of fried dough hit the ground.

To say that Coach was on the doughnut like a duck on a junebug would not be an overstatement.  I was handing out ice cream bars and heard a cry:

"Coach has a doughnut!"

My first thought was "How?" and when I turned there were three student library proctors pointing in horror at Coach who was so happy he couldn't contain his joy.  He was trying to swallow the frosted, cream-filled doughnut whole, which is only thing that saved him, because otherwise, I think he would have successfully snarfed the whole thing down.  As it was, he was stymied.

I reached down to try and open up his jaw and pry the doughnut out and Coach decided that he was going to eat this doughnut no matter what!  It was a grand struggle.  He knew if he opened his jaw, the doughnut was gone, but he had to give a little in order to swallow.  I could also see gooey, cream-filled, slobbery doughnut oozing between his teeth.  His eyes were starting to bug a little because he hadn't taken a breath.  His mouth was filled with doughnut.

Before the breaksale madness, Coach hides under my skirt (it is a very long skirt and I am standing!).

Finally, breathing won out over doughnut and he opened up to take a quick breath.  I snatched out the nasty, slobbery goo-doughnut ball and proceed to throw it away.  About a third of the cream filling remained on my fingers.  

Coach licked his chops and stared at the trash can.  So close.  So close.

The Puppy Who Cried, "Stick!" and Then Was Redeemed

 There once was a puppy who would go off on long walking adventures with his two long suffering companions.  At first all was well and a smooth and steady pace was achieved, but soon, the puppy would begin to have doubts about the route.  Perhaps he should have eaten more breakfast.  Perhaps that acorn over there would be a tasty morsel to add to his morning repast.

And so he would lurch off the path, dragging his companion with him to nip over and lunge for an acorn only to be told to "drop it."  That was the worst.  To feel the acrid bite of the acorn on your tongue, that first crunch, and then, "Drop it."

But, it had to be done.  He dropped it.

So he looked for sticks.  And found them.  They were everywhere.  They littered the entire path as it was a forest path and was not swept with any regularity.  Over and over his companion had to bend down and pull bits of stick out of his mouth and he could see that she was not happy with this new turn of events.

I am standing holding some sticks, Coach is sitting in front of me and is looking off to the right.

And yet, he did not care.  For the lure of the stick was too great.  He could not pass it up. Even in the photo at the end of the journey when his companion held out some sticks to show what he had gathered and how he had slowed them down with his thoughtless chewing, he still yearned for them. Looked for them.

I am standing holding some sticks, Coach is sitting in front of me and is looking at the camera.  His eyes are glowing.

He was confused.  Should he walk fast? Or should he follow his instincts and eat sticks?  What should he do?  What did his conscience tell him to do?  What would he do when no one was looking?  That was the question.

Later when his companion was in the shower and he was in the dressing area, he snoozed lightly looking out from under the curtain and into the main shower room.  Two older Hispanic ladies approached from the pool area.

"Hola, perrito!" the one lady said to him, trying to engage him in conversation.  Coach looked at her.  This was it.  What would he do?  Then he got up and moved into the shower area and away from the two ladies.

Later the older lady saw his companion and apologized saying, "I tried to talk to your puppy when you were in the shower, but he was so good.  He wouldn't do anything.  He just got up and moved into the shower away from me.  He is much better behaved than I am!"  She laughed.

"He sure is!" Her friend added loudly.  Then they both laughed.  His companion patted Coach on the  and said sweet words to him.

Coach standing with a smile on his face with a smile. He is in coat.

He knew then he had made the right choice.  It was going to be a good day.

Mastering Your Fear!

Sometimes, it is the unexpected things that give us pause.  That make us say, OMG!  That frighten us or make us timid and shy.

Sometimes, it is only repeated exposure that make us comfortable with those things, with the OTHER that has frightened us.

And so it was with Coach.  We were shopping for some things to help with our Halloween outfits when we headed down an aisle that had a whole big wall of FAKE BIRDS.  Who knew that fake birds were so scary.  I didn't.  But to Coach, it was like meeting a zombie.

He reared back and wouldn't go near them.  If he had been human and knew karate, he would have kicked that stand down and stomped those fake birds into dust.  Or perhaps not.  He really didn't want to get close to them.  I think he was afraid they would leap onto him.  I swear we have not been watching Alfred Hitchcock movies at home!  He is not channeling Tippi Hedren.

So, when met with a object that your puppy finds scary, as a Southeastern Guide Dog puppy raiser, we are supposed to get our puppy to at least come back and try to go next to it or get closer to it.  And try again until they gradually lose their fear.

We were in a pretty empty Michael's, so I whipped out my iPhone and started to video tape the exercise.  I thought he was pretty good.  He would get close and then back away.  But ultimately, he grew annoyed with me and gave a huge big boy bark, just one, that the entire store heard.

"MOM! Enough already!!"

Ooops.  Sorry, buddy.  I'll stop filming now and take you away from the birds.  I did however, buy two of them and we continued to deal with this issue.  In the end, well, I'll let you see how Coach finally masters his fear of fake birds by watching the video I put together.

Jam's Report Card!!!

We just got a new report on Jam.  Seems like he is continuing to do really well, so everyone should keep crossing their fingers and saying their prayers!!  Don't slack off now.  He's working really hard and loving his training as his trainer's comments below show he is a happy worker, but we knew that!

Jam at the Bradenton Mall sitting in harness by a giant sandal.  He is inside a shoe store! Photo by Kathy Hysmith. 

COMMENTS:  Jam is always in a good mood and loving life.  I don’t think this dog ever has bad day in his head. J  He loves everyone and has a blast running around with his roommate.  His harness work is still improving and he absolutely loves it.  We are still working on his obedience including his jumping and sit/stay.  He is a very smart dog and just needs to keep busy.  Sometimes I think that I could do a 10 mile route and that would only be his warm up!

 Go Jam go!!!

Hugs Not Drugs!

A week ago, middle division had a drug free week where each day had a special theme.  On the Hugs, Not Drugs day, a group of middle school students came running into the library.

"Mrs. McLean!" They cried. Right away, I was a bit on edge.  It was a noisy entrance.  What did these crazy middle schoolers want?

"Can we take a photo with Coach?" I looked at them quizzically.

"Why?"

"It's HUGS NOT DRUGS DAY!!!!" was the shouted response.  Sigh.  They were so excited and evidently the assignment was to bring in photos of people they had hugged.  They had all come up with the brilliant plan to hug Coach.

"Of course."

Who wouldn't want to hug Coach?

Inside or Out

By Fred
Yesterday I had an extensive list of chores to perform, both inside and outside the house. And since Cheryl is not here to distract me and give me excuses to goof off, I knew that it would be a busy day. And I wondered how I could get Coach involved in my chores in some way.

I started with weeding. Our Turks Cap in the back yard gets full of vines--I pull them but they always come back. Normally when we are in the backyard with the dogs, the focus is on them, but yesterday my focus was on those vines, me on my hands and knees, crawling though the thick maze of plants, and Coach quickly lost interest.

When he walked away and became involved in mischief, I took him into the house and then returned to work so that he could see me through the French doors. A month or so ago Coach would have just found some mischief in the house, but now he was perplexed by his situation. So he just sat there and watched me. It seems that all the puppies go through this transformation at about 6 or 7 months old, when you can finally trust them a little.

Ten minutes later I let him out and returned to weeding while giving Coach a speech about the nature of vines and so on. The neighbors, I'm sure, have formed an opinion about me (good). He watched and listened again for about 10 minutes and then wandered off.

Coach standing by the Vines.
Notice the curly tail--just like Jam

So I took him back into the house for another 10 or 15 minutes. The next time he came out he sat close by until I finished my yard work.

Then later I was in the kitchen preparing food for the grill but I made the dogs stay on the porch, where Coach sat patiently staring inside. Then outside at the grill, when Coach got bored and wandered away, I put in back into the house to watch me from there. More confusion on his face.

Five minutes, ten minutes, and I let him out again. He did not wander away again.

More chores today.

Sigh

By Fred
We had a good dog meeting last night, with two interesting speakers and welcome news from trainer Jen that we can now use treats along with the Come command. Coach could learn to speak Chinese if treats are involved. For a kibble, he would probably ride a scooter on two legs while juggling tennis balls.

But last night Coach was not a good boy, and I was not surprised. We've seen this occasionally in restaurants lately, him acting very much like a spoiled and bored teenager. He sighs over and over. He chews on anything he can reach. And he does not mind being corrected.

Of course, he never really does this at home. Never. Like his half brother, Jam, Coach knows too much.

Part of this is due to hormones. I could list a dozen more excuses and none of them would find fault with me or Cheryl because we couldn't possibly be doing anything wrong, could we? No, it's just not possible...

Anyway, we are happy because Coach and Willow are getting to be such friends lately. They play and play and play--and that's another excuse for his behavior.

Yesterday they played together for hours, and I was sure that he would be tired (and good) during the meeting. But no, he was just bored because he missed Willow.

I know the feeling. Cheryl is out of town for a few days and already I miss her. (Audible sigh)