Thursday updates

Pilgrim was pulled out of class :( He still has hopes to graduate as a guide. Maybe he just felt bad leaving his siblings behind. He rejoined Placer and Primrose in phase 8, while Pryor was placed in class in San Rafael!

Keep going P dogs! You can do it!
Class starts next Monday. Crossing fingers and paws their new partners come along soon!

In other news, King is doing very well on getting over his body sensitivity issue. He doesn't fight so much and gets out of the car willingly now! Yay!

Here's hoping for another week of positive things happening with the pups!

Thursday again

Another Thursday and another report...

Placer is still hanging out in phase 8 along with Primrose.
And Pryor is in phase 7 still.
And..
Pilgrim is in class!! (Way to show your siblings how its done!) Congrats to him, his new handler, and his raisers :)

It's kind of funny, sometimes I feel so superstitious when I have a dog in training. I worry that looking at graduation dates too early or looking at the report too much will cause a CC or something. According to my superstition... I think I might have jinxed myself this week.

I have a friend that is moving to Portland and couldn't fit all her stuff in her car so I told her I was planning on going for a guide dog graduation up there soon and could probably take a few boxes. I told her I didn't know when, but she could pack 2 or 3 small boxes that she wouldn't need immediately and I would get it up to her in the next few months. Way to go, Mickelle... We will just cross our fingers, throw some salt over our shoulder, and say a little prayer for Placer ;)

Old school

Don't worry guys, I'm not rebelling. There is a reason we have an old puppy coat on little King.

At 8-months-old, King has decided that his life is scary. He would rather not wear his puppy coat or get out of the car when we go places. So, to remedy one of these issues, our CFR has recommended he an old style puppy coat around the house for body sensitivity. (If we go out he still has to wear his regular uniform.) He seems to really not mind it at all... In fact, I think he minds it less than his smaller, regular puppy coat. He will now put his head through both coats if I have food on the other side of the neck hole. Yay!

He also seems to be doing a little better at getting out of the car. We've been using some good suggestions from our CFR and it's definitely bend helping. It used to take about 15 min to get him out (without forcing) and when we went to puppy class the other day it only took about 7 or 8. Little victories... Little victories. Needless to say, we do socializations just for him instead of doing something we need to do and he just happens to come along.

Hopefully, this is just a temporary thing. King is a very sweet boy and I think will make a great guide dog for someone. We sure love him!

Today's the day...

Today's the day we tackle the backyard.

You know how all winter it's basically impossible to clean up the yard because of the ridiculous amounts of snow?

Yeah, worst day ever is when it comes time to clean all that up after the snow melts.

Wish us luck...

Go "P" Dogs

Now starts the weeks of waiting for class. I'm fine waiting for class... although every time I hear about a dog getting CC'ed from phase 8, I have a mini-freak out. I feel like there should be like phase 8.5 or a "Class Ready" next to a dogs name that shows the dog has passed all tests and is clear on health- just waiting for a match... and maybe I'm asking too much.

This week Palm has disappeared from the reports. Does anyone know what happened to her?

So... we have all in phase 8: Pilgrim, Placer, and Primrose
and in phase 7: Pryor.

If all 4 graduate, that's pretty good for a golden litter of 10. Cross your fingers for them!

Here's to at least another few weeks of waiting... next class starts the 18th.

Puppy swap

This is Lotus. He's a very large 11-month-old male yellow lab. Sweet little King went to Lotus' house for the weekend, while Lotus gets to play here.

Judith is not fond of this arrangement. Lotus is a *very* intact male and doesn't quite understand that Judi isn't that kind of girl...
We have made some progress with Lotus, but I think Judith will appreciative King much more now.

Puppy-in-training vs. Retired

This is a day in the life of King: 

Getting comfortable at the hockey game

Watching the game seemed like more fun...

Waiting by the dressing rooms while shopping

Shopping at Scheels

Riding the train home...

A day in the life of Judith:

Sleep

A walk around neighborhood with 5-year-old, Aunt Ali

Life is good...