Dodger's in the House!

Dodger arrived yesterday for puppy camp. Puppy camp is where you trade puppies for a week so they can experience a different type of household than what they are normally used to having. Dodger's dad works at home and isn't around kids very much so he wanted Dodger to get to go to school for a week, so we agreed to swap.

Our first event came when we met up for lunch with the two dogs at Casa Tina's, a very guide dog friendly restaurant. After the initial few minutes of energetic stretching to see if they could touch (when they have their coats on they can't interact with each other), they calmed down and ignored each other. Then it was head home, meet Willow and pack up Her Royal Highness!

As you can see in the photo above, this was similar to the scene in the restaurant, very calm dogs ignoring each other. That's what we like! Outside, it was a different story. Dodger is much larger than HRH and had the idea that he would play with Willow. Willow turned and did a matron growl ("young fool, back off now!"), which to his credit he did. So he turned to HRH thinking, "Oh, she's small and female, I can dominate her in a flash."

Yeah, right. Have you met the Queen?

HRH was on him in a flash.

"What?! I've got 20 pounds on you?" It was actually pretty amusing to watch this poor boy get what he was giving out handed right back to plus some. With attitude! (And a little head toss. There might have been some foot stamping as well, I was laughing and might have missed it.)

Many of you may know that we have koi ponds in our backyard. Apparently Dodger didn't get the memo. He fell in. TWICE. I'm tempted to say something about blondes because he did it all within the span of half an hour and the first time he fell in it was while he was drinking out of the pond and staring at himself. I wouldn't want to stereotype him.

In the end, I think Dodger was happy to see her go. What evil plans she has cooked up for John, I hesitate to think about. Good Luck!I crochet. I love yarn. Consequently, some might say I am a yarn harlot and buy too much yarn. Those people will not be receiving lovely yarn creations for Christmas! We immediately discovered that it is very easy to forget that we have trained our dogs not to bother with the yarn when the first thing Dodger did was run over and grab a ball of yarn.

Bad Dodger!
See all the yarn Dodger. Run Dudger, run!

Grab the yarn Dodger!
There is so much to choose from. What color do I want?



There are some things that you can teach in a week and some things that you can't. Yarn no, isn't one of them. Hence, the yarn blockade. Working so far. As for Dodger, he moved on to practice his artful moves.

See Dodger on the stairs?

See the chairs at the bottom of the stairs?

Somehow, Dodger got through the chair blockade and up the stairs. Clever boy, making my earlier blonde comment so much stereotyping balderdash. I'm going to have to keep a close eye on this one.

Harry Potter Film Festival

Her Royal Highness (HRH) Berkeley is pictured above taking it easy at the Harry Potter Film Festival held last Friday in the Jean Ann Cone Library at my school. It went from 4 pm until 10 pm and we were able to watch HP 4, play some trivia, have a spell casting session, get sorted into our houses, and have a costume contest before ending with HP 6. We also had plenty of food! HRH had no problem with the costumes as you can see. Her main problem was not eating the food on the floor!

Other People's Poo

One of the things they don't mention in the guide dog puppy manual is that you have to pick up other people's dog poo. Why? Well, because MY DOG is the only dog anybody knows is on campus. So, if they find poo on campus, guess who's dog did it? My dog!

Friday at the Harry Potter film festival, I took Her Royal Highness out to poo and there was some poo waiting for us. How convenient. HRH didn't need to poo. So I got to pick up someone else's poo.

Thanks, person who doesn't pick up after your dog on a school campus. You're a peach! But I've got your back. That's why I carry around poo bags 24/7 on my lanyard. 8-)

Madama Butterfly

This year, I picked out a costume for Her Royal Highness (HRH) Berkeley. One that she could wear and that we all could coordinate with. She was Madama Butterfly and we were butterflies in waiting and our friend Karene, the chemistry teacher, was a crazy entomologist following us around with a magnifying glass! 8-)

Here is HRH's outfit. Pink and purple wings with a headband antennae (our wings coordinated, of course!).

HRH was pretty good about letting us put the outfit on her. The hard part was figuring out how the outfit went on. Here we obviously have it wrong. The front part goes in front of her front legs!



Then we had to figure out the back ties. They were made for a much bigger lab. We think HRH might be a pygmy lab. She is the runt of the litter and is only 42 pounds at 6 months.

I finally gave up and just tied the back in a bow. It worked.

She gave me a big lick in the face when we were all done with the wings. But there was one more part of the costume to go: the headband!

Would you believe she wore it for the Entire Day! Never once tried to take it off. I think she thought it was a crown or a tiara. 8-)


Here she is watching the little lower division kids parade by with their costumes. Their reactions were awesome. Every time they caught sight of her, they would say, "Look at BERKELEY!" And they pointed and smiled and laughed. It was SOOOOO worth it. All the middle division kids loved it, the upper division kids loved it and the faculty loved it. She made EVERYONE'S day. She was a happiness generator on Wednesday. It was so cool.

After the parade, I put her coat on and then put the wings on over her coat. She still looked cute.

And they didn't impede her napping.

Truly, she was a Monarch Butterfly!


Here we all are with Her Royal Highness.

Rock Hound

By Fred
A few years ago I put in a new stone patio in the back--fun, like doing a giant crossword puzzle, except that none of the pieces actually fit together so I often had to break them with a hammer. And at the end I was left with a collection of very small pieces that I put into a cute pile (in case, as I often explain to Cheryl, I need them some day).

These sedimentary stones come from the bottom of ancient sea beds. Over the years minerals and organic matter in the water drift down and settle and eventually become a nice, flat layer of rock. As you might expect, these stones vary greatly in color and composition. They also have some secret properties.

Lately Berkeley has taken an interest in these little rocks. More than a casual interest. She carries them in her mouth, preferring them to any of her toys. She sucks on them and even chews them a bit (which sends chills up my spine). She knows we disapprove but doesn't care.

At first Cheryl and I thought this was just a phase, a really nutty phase. Berkeley comes in from outside, wagging her tail like crazy and acting, well, just suspicious and way too happy. She runs into another room, and now we know that she's trying to hide the rock from us.

Surely, we thought, it can't be pleasant to roll a hard rock around in your mouth. There must be something more.

So I washed one of the rocks and popped it in my mouth. At first nothing, and then I noticed it. A faint saltiness, maybe with overtones of almond. Not bad. Hmmm, I can barely tell one wine from another, but maybe I've found something here that my taste buds can truly appreciate...



Shown above are six of the rocks that we've confiscated from Berkeley. Here's my review, from left to right:

- Sweet, with a hint of chocolate
- Fruity (pears and watermelons), a lingering aftertaste of sea salt
- Bright and tart. One of Berkeley's favorites (not mine)
- Didn't try. (Might be dried cat poop)
- Cardamom and tea, spices from India
- Fishy

Who knows, before long I may be selling these babies on eBay.

Long, Long Day

Saturday turned into a long, long day. It started out with a trip to Home Goods. We were looking for a baking stone and a wooden peel. Home Goods didn't have one. So, we continued on to our lunch date with Amy at the Red Mesa Cantina (best Mexican food!). We arrived early and went to the Publix to see about a baking stone (no luck, but they did have some odd pan that guaranteed browning that Fred wanted to try). On the way back, Fred went to drop off the pan and I took Her Royal Highness (HRH) in to the Cantina.

When we went inside the hostess took a look at us and said, "Inside or out?" and then answered her own question. "Outside?" She starts to walk us out to the patio (seen below in a photo from their website). I start to say something about being able to sit inside, but thinking that it is a nice day, go along for the ride.

Outside is PACKED. There are two tables open. She takes us to the table that is opposite a table with two standard poodles at it. Standard poodles being the big kind of poodle (60-70 pound range). These black hooligans were none too pleased when we walked up and immediately leaped to their feet and gave voice to their displeasure. I looked at the hostess and said, "This won't work."

I walked back toward the restaurant with the hostess bringing up the rear. I turned to her, "Since she has her coat and can be inside, I think it would be better for everyone if we got a table inside." She half heartedly waved to the empty high-top table as we passed it, but I was headed for the inside and she had really given up at this point.

After lunch we went to Lowe's where HRH was billed and cooed over. There was a couple who stopped us and commented on how lovely she was. They said that their sister was disabled and had a working dog and that HRH was doing a great job. They seemed really tickled by her.

After Lowe's it was on to the grocery store: Publix. We have now been out and about for 5 hours. HRH has been a dream dog. Lovely manners, walking like a sweetie. You name it, she is doing it.

I have the cart filled up with groceries and we have run into the Lowe's couple in the Publix and smiled and nodded at each other. HRH is holding her own until the avocado incident.

I had picked out some avocados for Fred to make some guacamole (he is the guacamole king!) for my tea party on Sunday, but he said my avocados were too soft and he wanted all new avocados.

"Fine. I'll wait over in the bakery." I took HRH with me and the full cart to wait in the bakery. HRH look up at me and then she did the flop.

FLOP.

Then she grabbed the leash in her mouth and started to chew it. I yanked it out and said, "No!"

She hopped up and tilted her head and then it came out. Like a clear, pure bell. A perfect note. A single bark. And like a roomfull of zombies who smell a fresh brain, all heads turned to look at me.

I turned to look at Fred. "Fred!" I shouted over to the produce department. "We are out of here!"

I think I saw the Lowe's couple laughing, but I was moving too fast to be sure.

Reading Dog

The lower division librarian invited Her Royal Highness (HRH) Berkeley to visit one of the 1st grade reading times on Friday. So a week ago we paid a surprise visit as did the Lower Division Director, who is reading the story. HRH started off the storytime with her coat on, but after the story was over the kids got to pet her (one at a time!).

Here you can see one child petting HRH as the others look on longingly. They were so well behaved (as was HRH, really!) In fact, I was tickled when at the end of the period, Trey came over to me and in a very serious voice said, "Berkeley has very pleasant manners." I said, "I think so too. Thank you for saying so."

Her she is with her royal face on. Behave, little ones!

It was a good day.