Everybody...and their dog

Alright Erin! I did write an excuse on Saturday as to why I wasn't writing then- but it was probably not a good one. LOL. Here you go:

Vinnie

I can't remember exactly when my first meeting was, I think it was Dec 1999- I remember begging my mom for a dog (several different breeds- at the time it was a Daucshund/Chiuahuah Mix) and a friend told me about how I could raise a Guide Dog. I told my mom- making sure to put in the line "it's only for a year- if you don't like it we can give it up and be done with it" (Pshaw- yeah right) Anyway- So we called the 4-H office and got in touch with Cheri- our leader at the time- and decided to go to a meeting. It was at the county sheriffs office and the dogs there were all yellow Labs- Justrie, Jim, Hattie, Fabrice, and Bertha. From then on I was pretty much hooked. We got our house check, I read the puppy manual front to back-- several times in fact, and finally, finally, finally- I got the "puppy patrol" that told me I was getting a Male Yellow Lab "V" on July 21, 2000. So that day I was sooo sooo excited and nervous. I watched Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory to get my mind off of things- but to no avail. I really ended up just sitting downstairs on the couch trying to think of names. FINALLY at 12:30 my mom dropped the other kids off at the babysitters and we left for Salt Lake. :) I love the drive to the puppy truck- it's always exciting (at least the ones to pick up a puppy LOL) When we arrived everyone was waiting for everyone to arrive so they could start handing out puppies. Finally (notice how many times I use the word FINALLY! LOL) I got a glimpse of a yellow lab puppy and my leader said "I think I saw your name on the outside of the bag they're carrying!" Sure enough out came a cute, squishy, yellow lab puppy- with lots of yellow lab puppy breath! (sigh- this is making me miss my puppy) "This is Vinnie- oh look how much skin he has" said Char (the lady who used to drive the truck) She then gave him a kiss for good luck (used to be a tradition) and handed him over! Born May 18th, 2000 to Drifter and Maddie. Do you think I can remember all the litters names? Vinnie, Velour, Vail, Venture, Varney, and Varona... Awww... Good times....good times...
So at the time I thought Vinnie was a special puppy- with "special education needs" if you know what I mean- an intact male puppy with a first time raiser doesn't always go well. He wasn't a terrible puppy like I thought he was- but he was in a training collar at 4 months and in a head collar at 8 months and back in a training collar at 12 months until recall. Vinnie was never allowed loose at all- but I don't know that I wasn't paranoid and didn't know any better. He went back on July 16th 2001. I had a surprise waiting for me right before I dropped him off- but I'll save them for next time...
We thought he'd be CC'ed right away for dog distraction- but apparently he did well. He made it all the way to Phase 8 before being Career Changed for stress related Relieving in Harness... yup- he did have that problem in puppy raising- that's why I am a little paranoid about relieving. He had 2 sisters pulled as breeders and the boys were all CC'ed in the same phase for the same reason.. the last girl I'm not sure what happened- maybe CC'ed too? I seem to remember her graduating as a Guide for some reason though...
So when I got the call- I called my Dad imediatly and begged him to let me keep Vinnie- even though Vinnie and I didn't "click" as much as my other dogs while in puppy raising- I'm glad I brought him home. He is the sweetest most mellow guy you'll ever meet! I'm sure he would make a great Guide Dog now- but he seems to like staying home. When he got off the plane after flying home- we wondered if they sent us the wrong dog becuase he was so mellow- but when he picked up his leash to go for a walk- we knew it was him :)