One Quiet Weekend

It's kind of weird not having puppy for the weekend. But it's good. We get to sleep past 6 a.m. ;)

A lot of people ask how co-raising works for me and the answer is:

FANTASTIC!

We love it. My co-raiser is Marnie... and family. Her house includes a husband- Willie- who is equally involved and takes the puppies to work when they are old enough, 4 girls, 2 cats, and a working Guide Dog.

In the beginning I usually will take the puppy more because it's harder for Marnie and Willie to tell if puppy has an accident unless their girls are home. So they get puppy on the weekend (Friday-Monday) and I get him during the week. As puppy gets older, we start to trade every other week- switching on Sundays. We live pretty close to each other so it's not hard to trade.

We both have our strengths and fit together really well.

Marnie is really good at working on "Come" because that is really important for her to have a dog with a good recall that touches her so she knows he is there.

I'm in charge of teaching "Go to Bed" since Marnie can't see to treat him at the right time.

It's fun to show each other what puppy has learned in the days that we have him- and it's fun to see how much puppy has grown since we last saw him.

Also we both have such different home lives that puppy gets used to lots of different things.

Marnie lives in a house- we live in an apartment (not for long though! We're getting ready to close on a house soon! Yay!),
Marnie has lots of kids and dogs- We don't,
Marnie works in Voc Rehab and Willie owns a Cafe- I work at the University,
Marnie and Willie take the bus or a cab everywhere- We drive a small Toyota and a Suzuki with a hatchback.

Pretty much co-raising is great and if you ever get the chance to co-raise with someone great- I recommend it.

Greetings from Guide Dogs...

"We are writing to thank you for your puppy raising contribution and to inform you that Phoenix has been selected for evaluation as a breeder.

Breeding stock selection is based on the results of training evaluations, health screenings and the needs of the breeding colony in terms of pedigree and temperamental type. While the breeding department evaluates Phoenix potential as a breeder, Phoenix will undergo additional health examinations. These include orthopedic x-rays, cardiac ultrasound, and a pre-breeding physical. As we wait the approximate four to six weeks for the results of these examinations, Phoenix will remain at Guide Dogs’San Rafael or Oregon campus or in an approved foster care home.

Once these additional health examination results are finalized, a breeding department staff member will notify you of the results by telephone. If Phoenix meets Guide Dogs’ breeding criteria, Phoenix will then be placed in a qualified breeder keeper home within a 50 mile radius of Guide Dogs’ San Rafael campus...

By raising a dog that becomes a breeder, you have contributed to continuing Guide Dogs’ services and making it possible for future generations of working guides to assist the visually impaired. All puppy raisers of breeders are invited to present the dog at an upcoming graduation and we will work through scheduling details as the time comes.

Thank you for your hard work and dedication as a puppy raiser..."

YAY for Phoenix! Good Luck...

We always said that if we could clone Phoenix we totally would. Watch for more updates in the next few months...

Placetraz

Here's Placer and his (future) BFF Alcatraz. One day they'll learn to.be friends... For now they just ignore each other

He loves his bowl...

Not because it has food in it... But because of the water.

I have my water lover.

One Week Update

Pretty sure we have a pretty great puppy...
He's just a nice boy and we can't wait to raise him.

This week he's learned:

...How to walk up and down the stairs outside our apartment (5 open,grated steps)

...To crate himself when he's sleepy

...His raisers don't know what his name REALLY is- Place-er/Plass-er... we decided to go with
"Place-er" unofficially because too many people called him "Plaster"-- but we will make sure
he knows "Plass-er" too :)

...The basket of toys is the best thing in life

...Leaves are not good things to pick up

...Life as a guide dog puppy is going to be great!

I saw his brother, Pilgrim yesterday and he's just as nice as our boy. Hopefully they stay this good :)

Phoenix update? Nothing really- I do know they made a few cuts from Breeder eval and Phoenix wasn't one of them... So cross your fingers for him.

You know you all want cute, nice Phoenix babies. I know we do! (But he would be the best Guide Dog ever!)

Another pronounciation problem

It's fine...

We'll learn to say it right...

Meet Placer! (plass-er)





p.s. maybe I'm a little excited that he's Joaquin's nephew...aww..

Puppy Truck

Just thought I'd let you all know...

The truck is leaving San Rafael today with our new baby on it.

It's a good thing.

Just don't let me think about what happens next...

Picture Overload

I know this doesn't happen often but- here are more of the pictures I promised. I think one of his senior projects will be one that we send in for the calendar. He's such a handsome guy and we are so proud of him. Good Luck, Phee...

Next post-- Puppy Truck day and the new Mr. "P"!

Phoenix Senior Pictures...

More to come...

Leaving on a Puppy Truck...

I can't believe the cutest Yellow Lab puppy in the world is leaving in less than 2 weeks already! He's been such an easy and fun puppy to raise. If all puppies were like Phoenix, puppy raising would be the easiest thing in the world. So...

He's headed back to OR (I think) for Breeder Evals/Training... We thought we'd take a break.

Wait until Spring...

We'd have the whole summer to house break it...

No freezing in the snow...

Yeah...

That didn't last long.

We got our puppy assignment today.

I need more "P" names...

Another post?!

Needless to say... I really did completely forget to post about Fun Day and even Phee's birthday. Poor guy feels forgotten.

Not really, but here's a picture of him at the Giants game just so I don't feel completely terrible. (Maybe I figured out how to blog on my phone so I might do it more.... Might)

I'm a blog failure...

Phoenix is joining me this morning for my Photography class... we don't really want to be photographers, but it's the last one that's required for my major. Wish us luck!

Puppy Hungry

It's puppy season here in Utah...

I really want a puppy.

A lot.

Anything- as long as it's black... and home away from hom

This is our weekend in pictures:

This is the puppysittee dogs: Cosette (not a GDB dog) and Radisson (PIT)

Apparently Radisson likes riding in the car?



And while I had the black dogs....

Phoenix was playing with the cats at Marnie's house.
I got this picture on my phone yesterday- I guess Paisley, the cat, likes to cuddle just as much as Phoenix does.

We both had a good weekend... especially Phoenix:

Wish I could crash with a blanket in the middle of the living room too!

Evals

Phoenix has his evaluation today with our CFR, Barb. He did great.

Lacole and Kay- both Female Black Labs, joined us for our evals. We started out by sitting down and just answering some of the basic questions: How does he do in the house? Where does he sleep at night? Does he bark in the crate? Does he typically wear a Headcollar or a Flat collar?

After that we started on walking around the Gateway Mall. This has become our official evaluation spot. We typically have them here because of the variety of distractions there... Tons of people, things to look at, noises, and smells. Starting with the Food Court, of course. Phoenix started off on his headcollar working with Willie, Marnie's boyfriend who helps out a lot with the puppies. Then we headed on through to the arcade and practiced walking over the Dance, Dance Revolution game for some different surfaces. There was a game that looked like the cab of a truck so we had our puppies jump in a get comfortable for a second to test their "scrunching" skills.... Phoenix was awesome at that... mostly because he's not one of those monster huge labs.

Next, we walked across the bridge close to the edge to let them see down on our way to the grated stairs that are there. Barb asked us to take all the puppies' headcollars off to see how they handled it. Phoenix is pretty much a pro at open stairways because we live in apartments that have open stairs... No big deal.

The last thing we did was show off our layover skills. Pro. Phoenix's favorite thing in the world is to cuddle... and layover=Cuddle time. Example:

He flopped right over on his side and went right to sleep as soon as I reach over and grabbed his leg. Best way to end an eval.

Overall, Barb said he looks good. We're pretty proud of him.

Date night

Last Saturday Phoenix got to go with my husband and I on our date night. We went to eat at California Pizza Kitchen and got to see the new Pirates movie. It hasn't taken long for my husband to fall in love with this guy- He's always coming up with reasons why we have to keep him... too bad our apartments don't allow pets- only Service Dogs.

There was a little bit of a wait before we got into eat. I don't even know how he slept for 15 minutes on the hard cement- there were people, bikes, and skateboards going past him and he just slept.

We love this guy! Can't believe how big he's getting!

Short updates

I guess it's been a while since I've updated. There isn't a whole lot to update on. Phoenix is just a great puppy. He's probably one of the most well rounded puppies I've ever had. He goes pretty much anywhere and has no problems with anything- except church. He's not used to having so many kids at church :) Before I was married we went to a Singles congregation for church and now we have families everywhere. He's pretty sure the kids need to be petting him. He's only 9 months old but I'm kind of excited to see him go back- to see how he does... Good thing we still have a long time with him!

Dog movies

Secret: I can't watch movies with dogs...or really animals in general.

They make me sad.

The animal always either dies, gets lost, or gets hurt and I can't handle it.

I was watching Sue Thomas, F.B.Eye (Don't judge. It's a good show) and Levi- her hearing dog- gets lost. I wanted to cry... all I could think about was my dogs... Not cool. Then when they were reunited- I was practically bawling.

It's a problem

Joaquin (and) Phoenix

He's a Guide Dog... and yup... Still the same old Joaquin. They said this he earned the name frog dog while in training... Surprised?

And this guy:

Is getting bigger all the time. Last night we had a blindfold puppy class and we had to find our puppies. There were only two puppies there without a head collar on so I knew it was one of the two, but they both felt too big to be my little puppy. I forget how he's almost 8 months old!

He's doing really well... a VERY nice puppy and we love having him around. We are sooo lucky to have gotten such a nice puppy... Marnie (my co-raiser) and I decided that he can be a charter breeder so we can get one of his puppies, but he's too good not to be a Guide Dog- then he can come back here to retire. So we can have the best of all 3 worlds, right? The reality is, when I raise a puppy I want to keep this much, they graduate. Psh...

Phase 6

Is it okay that if he graduates March 12, I'm planning on going? Even if it is 3 days before my wedding??