Dewey And the Ducks

At our school we have a pair of mallards who live on the campus.  Periodically we will get an update that they have laid eggs somewhere and that we need to be very quiet or careful so as not to disturb the nesting mother duck.

Often when we are walking in, we will pass the mom and dad mallard.  Sometimes Dewey notices them and sometimes he doesn't.  It depends on which way the wind is blowing and whether the ducks are in his direct line of sight.  They can be tricksy and hide in the bushes.

On Friday, a dark and rainy day, we were out walking.  We walked by the rain gutter that was making a loud waterfall onto some bricks.  It was a bit of a startling noise for Dewey so we stopped so he could get used to the sound.

Dewey staring at the waterfall.

It didn't take Dewey long to get used to the gushing of the water sound onto the bricks.  He lifted his head and looked up at the grass.

Dewey catching sight of the duck couple and pricking up his ears.

 He pricked up his ears.  I noticed this and looked down to where his gaze was fixed.  There were the mallards.

The mallards cavorting in the puddles.

Mr. and Mrs. Mallard.  They were happily cavorting in the puddles, which were quite deep.

Dewey staring at the mallards.

Dewey was lost in thought.  Easter had passed. The rain was coming down.  It was a peaceful, zen moment.

I wonder what was going through his mind?

Back at His Day Job: School Dog

I have been out of school for two weeks (my mom had open heart surgery (she came through it like a trooper and is doing great!)) and then I went straight to Baltimore for a library conference.  So it has been quite a hectic time for me.  Coach and Fred and Willow have been on their own with a very changed routine, which can be a little stressful.

But, last Monday, I was back and Coach started back to school.  He fell into his school routine quite well.  Monday I didn't have any research classes, but Tuesday we began the Health Cross Fire Debates!

Coach is in a down stay in front of students who are busy researching at the tables.

Our first couple of days, the students are doing research on the various topics they are assigned to debate.  On the third day, they will be watching a demo of the debate and will begin writing their speeches.

During free time, when Coach's coat is off, students can pet him and relieve some stress.

I think our students were glad to have him back as exams are approaching and he is a bit of a stress reliever for some kids.  After all, research has shown that that petting a dog (actually, just interaction with a dog!) will lower your cortisol levels and increase your endorphin levels.  So, goodbye stress and hello happiness (click on the link to read more!).  That's why school's like Emory, Harvard, Yale and our Berkeley Prep know the value of having a service dog on campus.

Coach gets comfortable at the all school congo.

I was really excited about Coach's stellar behavior at the all school convocation on Friday!  He slept through the concert band performance and several choral productions!  Woohoo!

Coach sleeps through the concert band performance.

Keep in mind how he acted at the ballet.  It wasn't good.  Now, we have a more mature Coach who can lie down and go to sleep and be comfortable through the whole performance.

Did we stay for the pipe and drum band's performance?  No.  I know he doesn't like the sound of the bagpipes and he wouldn't have been a good boy.  So, we left when they took the stage.  You have to know when to leave and make the event a success.

It was a good week for Southeastern Guide dog in training Coach!

Puppy Sitter Report Card

We got back from Santa Fe late Tuesday evening, and I went to pick up Coach from his pet sitter Kathy on Wed. morning.  Kathy is a retired nurse, who also was a Southeastern puppy raiser and who has a retired Visla breeder named Boo.  Boo is 13 years old.

Kathy and Coach in Kathy's family room.

Boo and Coach met me at the front door and Coach seemed happy to see me (which made me very happy) and Kathy said very nice things about the way he behaved (which made me very happy as well.   As we gathered up all of his things, I asked her how he did, really.

She said that out of all the dogs she has had, that Coach knows his commands the best.  That even when he was being crazy, if she told him to sit, he would sit.  That made me very proud, although after taking him to the last meeting on Thursday and having him act like a little jackass and having to sit out in the hallway WAY OUTSIDE the circle of obedience, I'm thinking that maybe she has only been puppysitting very young puppies who haven't had much chance to learn their commands.

She took Coach to church, where he behaved himself (woohoo!), and she took him to a Rotary meeting and did a presentation about guide dogs and afterwards took his coat off and let the members pet him and he was very good, she said.

She did say that Coach was a canine vacuum.  That he puts everything into his mouth.  The only good thing was that he was so sweet about it.  He never gobbled anything down or resisted having her open his mouth and take things out of his mouth.

So, we will be working on breaking his vacuuming skills. But we want to put a big shout out and thank you to Kathy for for keeping an eye on Coach, taking things out of his mouth, taking him out to church, etc., and in general keeping him safe while we were on vacation.

Team Coach

Saturday is the walkathon and we will be walking with some of our student library proctors who helped us raise the $3640 that will allow us to name our puppy next year.  We will be there at the beginning at 9:30.  The kickoff is at 9:45 and the walkathon starts at 10.

If you want to pick us out from the crowd, we will be in light blue t-shirts with Coach's face on the front.  Team Coach: Walkathon 2013! Woot! 

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?

Up On the Stage

Today was the Student Library Proctor Induction Ceremony.  It took place during convocation on the stage in the Lykes Theater.  It was Friday, so I had my Southeastern Guide Dog puppy Coach with me.  Now, there have been other inductions, other Fridays.  Bingo, well, let's just say, that would have been a nightmare.  HRH Berkeley on the other hand would have become bored well into the 5 minute mark and barked her displeasure at having to sit through the ENTIRE ceremony.  But, I did bring Jam to the induction ceremony last year. And he exposed himself to the audience.  The video is at the end of the post.  It wasn't a real relaxing induction ceremony for me, needless to say.  

Photo of Coach on the stage floor with the legs of our Head SLPs in the background.

Today, however, I had Coach.  Mr. Mellow.  I started the ceremony and he was lying down at the podium on my left side.  Since he seemed really comfortable there, when I went to sit down, I just left him there.

Photo of our Head SLP Elizabeth speaking at the podium while Hugh, Christina, Keebler and I are sitting in the background.

So in the photo above when Elizabeth is speaking, Coach is in front of me, sleeping and on her left side.

Photo of the long line of waiting SLPs to be inducted.

Now, I show you this photo of all the 20 new SLPs, just to give you an idea of how many people needed to walk up, get a pin and shake our hands and then go back to their seats.  It took about 6 minutes.  I had to step over to the right hand side of the podium and leave Coach and shake everyone's hand.  Coach never moved.  Not one muscle.  

I checked on him, leaning back and peering over to see if he was still in the same position as kids were sitting and walking in between handshakes and "Welcome!" But little Coach didn't even dream and wiggle in his sleep.  He stayed still and calm.  For the whole ceremony.

It wasn't until it was all over, when I finally came up to the podium and indicated that all 560 people could clap for the new SLPs that Coach reared his head.  I then slipped my foot out and stepped casually on the leash.  He was just getting into a sitting position.  After all, who wants to move fast when you just had a lovely nap?

Not Coach.  He sighed and slipped back into a down stay.  What a good boy!!

Buckets of Drool

Coach is not a fan of the car. I recall a story that my parents told about driving from Florida to Los Angeles with me in the car when I was a wee child.  You can imagine how long that trip took.  Every morning, getting into the car and driving and driving and driving.  Then getting out of the car, only to get back into the car the next morning. For a little one, it was excruciating.

At some point, I decided that I had had enough of the car.  I think we had finally made it to Los Angeles,  and were in our apartment and were just going out to dinner, but I had reached my car boiling point.  As we rounded the corner and the convertible came into my sight, I started screaming and crying, perhaps I even threw myself onto the sidewalk.  Yes, I threw a fit! However, I do believe we ate somewhere within walking distance.

Now, I am being punished for such histrionics.  Coach is not fond of the car. He has a tendency to puke.  We think we have the puking solved by not feeding him breakfast until I get him to work.  That has worked quite well.  However, the poor boy is quite a drool machine. It just kills me to see him so drooly.  Mostly, he just hunkers up near the air-conditioning and I keep it blasted on high for him.

Photo of Coach in the car with three strings of drool dripping off his muzzle.

After an errand, as we round a corner and the car comes into sight, he has a tendency to throw himself down on the floor in a rather dramatic fashion(only without the screaming and crying and kicking, for which I am grateful!). At this point, I usually just pick him up and put him in the car.  If I have time, I will work on cajoling him closer to the car.  Sunday at Frenchy's, he did this in front of three passers-by.  They all stared at me like I was taking Coach to his doom.

"He doesn't like the car.  We're working on it." They all smiled (thankfully). Two of them walked away.  One stayed to watch the show as I tried to get Coach closer to the car.

"He really doesn't like the car?"

"Nope. But he will."

I looked down at my drooling, calm and quiet little man. "He will." I said softly and patted him on the head.  Then I blasted the air-conditioning.

On Being a Good Citizen

By Fred
Cheryl is back at school, back to her normal busy routine, and today is Coach's first day here with me. On Tuesdays and Thursdays we will work on being a good citizen of the house.

A picture of Coach with big, round eyes. 

A good citizen of the house does not run up and down the stairs; he does not pee or poop on the floor; he does not seem too sad when I eat lunch in front of him, and he does not sniff my plate if I walk away for a second; he does not chew my shoelaces when I'm on the phone; he does not torture Willow; he knows (somehow) when I am busy with work and when I am bored with work; he licks my face but not the furniture; he pretends to understand what I'm saying.

So far, Coach is a very good citizen, but it's just his nature.

Coach's First Day at School

Today Coach went to school for a full day of work.  Because of his car sickness problem, we decided that a delayed breakfast was the best choice.

Coach is sitting at the far end of the kitchen by the pantry (magic) door.  He looks wistful and a bit hungry.

Coach didn't agree and sat most of the morning close by his dog food and the magic door where the dog food lives hoping that breakfast would be served.

Coach at the bottom of the passenger wheel well all curled up.  He's not asleep, but not looking at the camera either.

On the car ride in, I cranked the AC down to freezing and blew it just on Coach, because he is the most precious cargo.  He just sacked out and fell asleep.  But no puking!  So, that plan worked.

Coach is sitting on the floor beneath our bulletin board.  The board says, "What's Your Favorite Book?"

Here's Coach under our end of the year bulletin board where we asked everyone to write in their favorite book.  We got some great responses.  No one put in any dog books.

The Headmaster is seated and leaning over a bit to pat a sitting Coach on the head.

Later that morning we stopped in to say hello to the headmaster.  Coach was just as calm and sweet for Mr. Seivold as he is for everyone (sigh of relief!).  

I'm kneeling by Coach, who is seated and looking up at Coach Dom.  Dom has just opened his office door and is seeing his namesake for the first time.

That afternoon we drove over to the Straz and knocked on Coach Dominick Ciao's door to see if he wanted to meet his furry namesake. 

Coach is sitting in the locker room box with a #30 blue jersey behind him.  You can also see a blue helmet.

 We even got a tour of the locker rooms.  Coach got to sit in Austin's dressing area with his #30 jersey! Austin is Coach's sponsor.

Coach Dom and I are talking and I am holding Coach (the dog) in my arms.

Coach Dom asked some detailed questions about the puppy raising program at Southeastern Guide Dogs, like how long coach would be with me (until about May or June) and what do I teach him (basic obedience and socialization skills.  We also talked about what the trainers at Southeastern teach and what happens to Coach when he gets called in for training.

Coach Dom is holding Coach.  Coach (the dog) is staring into the camera.

I do think Coach Dom was pretty impressed with how laid back and calm Coach was. They seemed to get along very well.

Coach is sitting next to a sign that says Play Like a Champion Today!

Coach seemed ready for the start of the football season!  Go Bucs!

I Feel a Little Nauseous

Last night, I drove with Coach, our Southeastern guide dog puppy, over the Courtney Campbell to the Panera on Westshore and Kennedy to attend a librarian's meeting. It was raining, so I drove a bit below the speed limit. Not much passing either. Still, this was the face that I got as we started out on our trip.

A sad faced Coach peering up from the wheel well of the passenger seat.

About a 1/4 mile before we got to Panera, Coach popped up and looked at me.  He seemed to be drooling.  Oh.  Drooling.  That's a bad sign.  Drooling usually foretells puking.  Sure enough, Coach turned and started to heave and then deposited half his dinner in the corner of my car.

"Oh Coach! Poor baby."  I grabbed his collar, because of course his first instinct upon losing his dinner is to get it back again by eating it. Mind you, this isn't his first time barfing.  He puked on Saturday during our ride to lunch with a former student, but at the time, we thought it was the speed bumps that made him sick.  Now, I'm not so sure.  This trip was straight highway.

I'm nearing the restaurant.  I plant Coach firmly to the front by the seat and as we are at a stop light, I take one of my nifty ziploc bags and reach all the way down and grab the vomit and, through my ziploc glove, maneuver it into the bag.  Mission accomplished and before the green light too! Woot.

Coach gives me the evil eye, sort of.  He's still feeling a bit woozy, but still kind a wants that vomit. I toss the puke bag onto the carpet in the back seat and pat him on the head.

 

Coach is sitting a little closer to the passenger door, but still seems a bit nauseous.

 He's not happy about cars in general.  In fact, we have been working on getting him into cars by feeding him in the car.  So, breakfast and dinner take place in the car, which generally make him happy to jump in.  Otherwise, he is hesitant and unwilling to get near the door.  Sometimes he doesn't even want to walk by the car. It's something we are working on.

We arrived and we tried for another busy busy.  He was on empty.  But he didn't poo after dinner, so I knew he was filled with poo.  I would have to be hyper-vigilant.

All the librarians are sitting around a table at Panera and Coach is sitting in the middle of them on the floor. Left to right: Alyssa, Ramsay, Cyndi, Susan, and Kathleen with Coach down front.

About midway through our meeting, a sleeping Coach pops up and starts to move around.  Hmmm.  Could this be poo-time?  I took him outside and sure enough, it was.  Yea!!!  Success.  We came back in and he went back to sleep.  He was so good during the whole meeting.  Everyone said they didn't even know he was there.  Afterwards, several of the librarians stayed to pet him when he didn't have his coat on.  He was very good.

He made it all the way home without an incident.  Who knew we would have such a delicate flower for a football coach?

Coach and the Lawnmower

Coach is sitting to the right of a red gas powered lawn mower. He is  staring into the camera.

Over the weekend, Fred decided to mow the lawn and we took the opportunity to give Coach an exposure to lawn equipment (noisy machines: the leaf blower is next)

Coach can be a bit timid on some things so we were prepared to have him back off and have to get used to the lawn mower. However, that didn't prove to be the case here.  Our Southeastern Guide Dog Puppy  did not back down and seemed at ease with the noise.  He walked right up to the lawn mower and followed it around without any problems, hesitations, or signs of timidity.

Go Coach!

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.

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.