A Chip Off the Old Block

I found a photo of Cabana's dad, Bosworth, on the Utah County Puppy Raising Group site. He's a handsome fellow, and I can see why he's the papa of so many GDB litters. Cabana must have gotten her coloring from her mom, Darlene--but I laughed when I saw Bosworth's knock-kneed sit. It's exactly the same as Cabana's!!

Previously, I had blogged about my concern for Cabana's sloppy sit. But if Bosworth made it as a prolific breeder with his knees turned in, I think it's safe to say Cabana's are healthy, too.

If anyone has a photo of Darlene or knows where I can find one, I'd love to see it!

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Score!! I Bought Four!

I'm an extremely practical person, some may say too practical. For my 40th birthday a few years ago, I asked for a new washing machine. Other years, for either birthday or Christmas, I have requested things like a vacuum cleaner and steam iron. My husband laments my wish lists, worried that others will put him in the same camp as those who buy their wives subscriptions to Sports Illustrated for their birthdays. But after 19 years of marriage, he finally understands and appreciates that I like things that will be useful on a day-to-day basis. Diamond rings and pearl necklaces sound good, but they don't meet my pragmatic criteria.

So, all the members of my family were more than a bit flabbergasted when I came home last week with FOUR new dog beds. Ummm, no, we don't have four dogs...just the one Cabana.

Let me explain! After dropping off our relatives at San Francisco Airport last week, I stopped in at SCRAP, which is an acrostic for Scroungers Center for Reusable Art Parts. Some folks may like to shop at Bloomies or Saks, or even pocketbook-friendlier Kohls or Target. But SCRAP is hands-down my favorite store.

Businesses and individuals donate their unneeded but still usable items, complete or just the parts and pieces, and instead of becoming landfill, it becomes whatever someone has the imagination to make it become. You NEVER know what you're going to find there.

Last week, I found dog beds. Nothing wrong with most of them, except that they were unstuffed. They had all kinds of shapes and sizes--and they were each only THREE dollars!! It was too good of a bargain to pass up. Using the stuffing from Cabana's old dog bed (an un-luxurious $15 purchase from Ross) and $20 in new stuffing (using a coupon from Joann's), Cabana has become a pampered pooch.

But I still qualify as practical, since now, I don't have to move Cabana's bed from room to room. She has one waiting for her in just about every room in our house.

The bed in the photo above is my favorite, big and round, made of cozy sherpa. And the bolstered back keeps Cabana from falling off the backside.

This one is in our bedroom. It has cute handstitched detailing and an appliqued bone. It was missing a corner, but using a scrap of fabric, I sewed a new one in.

Her family room bed. Love the mitered plaid border and piping!

And the pièce de résistance--a couch bed with double bolsters. Right now, it's hanging out in the garage, which is where Cabana spends quite a bit of time with me while I sew/work. Behind Cabana, you can see my 40th birthday present--my fabulous front-load washing machine!

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What Cabana Did on Her Summer Vacation

We had a whirlwind of a week! It was a lot of fun, but it's also nice to be back home and catch up on blogs!

My husband's brother came from out of state, along with his wife and 4-year-old son, Adam. Adam and Cabana took to each other in the first 2 minutes. I don't know what they're doing in this photo--peekaboo maybe?

The first part of our vacation was in Santa Cruz, where we stayed in a rental house just minutes from the beach. Cabana loved and adored every minute we spent at the beach, running like mad on her flexi leash. She dug holes in the sand, ogled other dogs, and dashed through the waves.

Those retractable leashes, though, do not retract as fast as they should--especially when they're a bit water-logged! A couple of times, we had a massive tangled mess, and it was all I could do to keep Cabana still enough to untangle her.


Here we are at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk--a great place for puppies in training, since "regular" dogs are not allowed! We did see one other service dog there, and both dogs were equally distracted by the other. Still working on that one, ad infinitum!!


Onto the Monterey Bay Aquarium! Cabana and I had front row seats for the penguin feeding, and Cabana, although interested, was very well-behaved, even while being completely surrounded by children who wanted to pet her.

Unfortunately, Cabana had an accident while we were at the aquarium, although I blame myself entirely. I forgot to relieve her as we were leaving the beach house, and when we got to the aquarium, I tried to get her to pee. But Cabana wouldn't go, and the rest of my family was waiting for us--so I gave up. After we entered the aquarium, the time slipped by quickly as we went from exhibit to exhibit. Then, just as I was thinking I should take Cabana out, she peed on the floor. :(

Cabana hasn't had an accident in at least 5-6 months, so I felt bad for making her break her almost-perfect record. But hey, pee happens!


I don't know if it was to appease me, but our relatives said they wanted to take a tour of Guide Dogs for the Blind! They really enjoyed Cabana and hoped to get a chance to pet some of the baby pups. So even though we missed Fun Day, we got to have our own mini fun day! This puppy caught my eye because he was such a chubby chunk--what a sweet baby!


Also on the tour with us was a working guide named Donna, along with her partner Amy and husband Dave (they gave me permission to include them in this post). Donna was so good at her job!! I confess that I found it a bit difficult to see Cabana doing that someday, unless she undergoes quite a change in the next few months. Our tour guide used a few inevitable adjectives for Cabana, like "high-energy", "high-spirited" and "live wire".


But I know that Cabana CAN be disciplined and self-controlled, because she was ALWAYS so sweet and gentle with 4-year-old Adam who is a bit high-energy himself! It was absolutely endearing to watch them together. Above, they are sitting together on Cabana's dog bed.


Tickets to the boardwalk and the aquarium can be expensive--but wouldn't you know, they had the time of their lives with a couple empty plastic bottles and a big bucket of water.


As they say, "Priceless!"

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Multi-Tasking Morning Walk

There's nothing I like better than multi-tasking, which is one of the reasons I love my morning walk with Cabana. It's much-needed exercise for me, but here are some of the other things we accomplished this morning.

The tennis courts near our house are a great first stop. No one is playing tennis at 7am, so we have the courts to ourselves. Cabana does a perfect down-stay, while I take a quick turn around the courts to make sure there's nothing dangerous or tempting for Cabana to put in her mouth.


In the video above, Cabana expends some of her surplus energy. She loves to run around with her Wubba in her mouth. After she's drained some of that boundless energy, Cabana is much more pleasant on leash for the rest of our walk. We also practice kibble-induced recall--Cabana's great at that.

Lately, Cabana has been getting me all discombobulated when we go through certain doors. Automatic opening doors are fine, but when it's a push-open kind, like here, she tends to go around behind me to my right and dart out in front of me, making the leash get tangled around the back of my legs. I've almost fallen down a couple times! Maybe Cabana is afraid of getting hit by the door? I don't know. Here as we leave the courts, we practice going through a few times, making sure that Cabana stays on my left.

We also practice sitting straight on our walks. Our CFR Celeste told me a few months ago that being near a wall or fence will help Cabana to face forward. Cabana is much better about sitting straight now, but I have found that if we don't keep practicing things, she doesn't always retain them. So even though Cabana gets it now, I still try to practice a few times a week.


Of course, there's nothing more challenging for Cabana than dog distraction. We pass this man and his dog almost every day. For some reason, Cabana is EXTREMELY distracted by this little dog. Maybe because the man doesn't make his dog heel, so his dog always comes RIGHT up to Cabana and WON'T leave. I do my best to keep Cabana in a sit until he can coax his dog away. Sigh.


The grocery store is a couple blocks from my house, and I know we need milk for our morning cereal. So I brought Cabana's jacket along so we could make a quick stop. This refrigerated section gave Cabana SOOOO much trouble back when she was 5 months old (blogged here). I'm so glad there's not even a hint of that fear left.


The grocery checkers all know Cabana now and love to see her. Today, we get in Donna's line. She says Cabana is the cutest customer she'll have all day. Ain't it the truth!

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Phew, Cabana's Okay

Yesterday, we went to my husband's company picnic. Cabana came with us, along with her tie-down stake. For the eating part of the picnic, I found a nice, shady, somewhat debris-free patch of grass, a short distance from the picnic tables where we were sitting, and secured Cabana there.

In the car ride on the way home, we noticed that Cabana was drooling. Not just a little, but big gobs of thick saliva. The whole underside of her face and neck was soaking wet. At first, I thought it was that she had just had a big drink of water--but even at home that evening, she was like a leaky faucet. I could see the drips of drool falling off her jowls as she sat.

I called my puppy group leader, and she told me to check Cabana's gums, teeth, throat, for anything that might be lodged there. I couldn't find anything. I didn't think she had swallowed much, other than a bit of grass, because I had been watching her fairly closely at the picnic.

When I looked it up online, there were tons of reasons why a dog might have excessive drooling--a cracked tooth, something lodged in the throat, poisoning, eating a frog (!). We decided to check back in with my puppy group leader in a hour. If things were worse, then we'd take Cabana to the emergency vet.

Thankfully, after Cabana ate dinner, she seemed much better. The drooling lessened, and Cabana acted perfectly normal. This morning, Cabana did have some very dark poops, so I guess she did eat something that upset her stomach. But other than that, she is fine.

I have always been so grateful that we haven't had any reason to take Cabana to the vet (and now that Guide Dogs has a bunch of new rules and regulations about vet visits, I've been doubly glad). I feared that our luck had run out last night--but phew, medical disaster was averted.


On another topic, here's a photo of my daughters, coming back from walking Cabana. Dogs are MUCH more willing subjects than daughters, as you can see how they did everything possible to NOT allow me to get a good photo of them. But I get the last word, since I posted the photo anyway!!

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10 Things at 10 Months!

Cabana is 10 months old! She weighs 51 pounds--she's sweet and petite! Here she is at the same spot on the pier at SB Lake, now and when she was just 4 months old. Same silly sit and expression!

If you're not a puppy raiser already and are considering it, here are 10 things that I think it takes to be a puppy raiser. Although I'm not an expert, having been raising for only 8 months--nevertheless, here's my list:

1. Time - It requires that you give the pup some time each day, to go on walks, to do puppy handling, to play games, to train, to snuggle. It doesn't have to be hours and hours, but it is a daily commitment.

2. Lifestyle - Puppy raisers can have a myriad of job or life situations, but it needs to be one that is conducive to having a puppy around. If the puppy will be going to work with you, you'll need to work in a place where that will be okay. Other household pets are allowed, but of course, they shouldn't be aggressive toward the new pup. Many students have been given permission to take their puppies to school with them. The more you can keep the puppy around you during the day, the better training and exposure you can provide.

3. Repetition - As with a toddler, you'll need to be willing to do the same things over and over and over. It can take a long time for the pup to "get it", whether it's potty training or walking nicely on leash. Cabana loves to play tug-of-war, which can get a bit old! But she loves it so much, and even though it might be boring or we may not always feel like it, between the 4 of us in our family, we try to play it with her a couple times a day.

4. Ability to multi-task - This one is important. With a puppy around, you have to be able to do and think about several things at once. For instance, on a grocery store outing, you'll need to be able to find the kind of cereal you want while keeping the puppy from licking or knocking things over on shelves, navigate around people and objects, watch for tempting items on the floor (gum, candy, sticks, trash), anticipate the behavior of your puppy, and make an appropriate correction or give praise as needed.

5. Thick skin - You and your pup will attract a lot of attention wherever you go--so get ready for lots of stares and comments. Your puppy may do embarrassing things, like pee in the middle of the shopping mall, or try to lick someone's ice cream cone, or have a conniption fit in the middle of the park. And people can say and do thoughtless things. You'll need to roll with the punches.

6. An open heart - It's a challenge to be able to open your heart 100% to a puppy while knowing you're going to have to let her go.

7. Confidence - Your puppy needs you to be the pack leader. If you don't take charge, your puppy will--and that will make life difficult for everyone. I didn't have any prior experience with dogs, so the way I gained confidence in the beginning was by taking in as much information as possible. I read books about dog training, watched The Dog Whisperer and any other dog-related shows I could find. I watched other puppy raisers at group meetings and asked TONS of questions.

8. Family support - Everyone in the household needs to be on the same page. Even though only one person in the house may be the actual puppy raiser, the others should have general knowledge about what is allowed/not allowed. Being "on duty" 24/7 can be exhausting, and I don't know how I'd do it if my family members weren't here to support and help me.

9. Creative problem solving - Sometimes, it takes a bit of creativity to make things work for you. The crate, baby gate, tie-down and ex-pen are great tools, which can give variety and options, depending on the amount of freedom the puppy can handle. For example, I get a lot of work done while using the ex-pen as a barrier in my garage.

10. A dog blog - While not a true requirement, I have found dog blogs indispensable on my puppy raising journey. The past 8 months would all be a big blur if I didn't have this blog to look back through, and the support I receive here has been invaluable.

Did I forget anything crucial? If so, feel free to comment and add on.

For more information on being a puppy raiser for Guide Dogs for the Blind, click here.

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Thumbs Up

Earlier this summer, my husband hit his thumb with a hammer, while building my wonderful vegetable planter boxes. A few choice words and a couple months later, it's still in the healing process. The nail is growing out, exposing the bottom of the dead nail.

This morning, Cabana kept sniffing and sniffing his nail, probably able to smell the dried blood between the nail layers. It reminded us of how some dogs have the ability to sniff out cancer and other unseen ailments. She even gave his thumb a few tender licks (Cabana isn't usually a big licker).


Then, she came over to check out my thumb nail! After finding nothing interesting with my thumbs, she went back over to my husband's and gave it some more attention. Wouldn't it be fascinating to know exactly what's going through her mind?!

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Cabana the Happy Camper

This past week, we went camping with a group of friends to Calaveras Big Trees State Park. It was a brand new experience for Cabana, as well as for us since we've never gone camping with a dog before.

I think camping might be Cabana's idea of heaven--loads of people to enjoy, squirrels and chipmunks bounding past, endless trees and shrubs to sniff. She could hardly contain her joy. Of course, we did keep her either on leash or in her ex-pen. (Our friends were amazed that Cabana never tries to escape from her ex-pen. She doesn't have a clue that she is quite capable of jumping over it--but sshhh, she never needs to know!) She didn't really mind the ex-pen because there was a lot of activity around to entertain her--but on leash, that's when she couldn't contain herself and pulled like the dickens no matter what.

Being a bit of a neat-nick, I TRIED to keep Cabana clean. I put a straw mat in her ex-pen to keep her from wallowing in dirt. My efforts were altogether futile.

Later, I gave up and just let her lay down in the dirt. After all, when you're already covered in dirt, what's a little bit more?

Running through the middle of the campground was a beautiful meadow. And how thoughtful--they had built a wooden path so we could easily walk through it. A wildfire was raging somewhere in the area--you can see the smokey haze in this photo.

But the best part for Cabana was when we hiked to a river. Because dogs are technically not allowed on the trails (silly rule, if you ask me), we had Cabana wear her jacket, just in case someone gave us a hard time. Now there's a perk for being a guide dog in training! But shortly after we got to the river, we took the jacket off since we weren't on the trail anymore and no one seemed to be monitoring us anyway.

Cabana had a blast, dashing about in the cold water. She couldn't decide whether to run, drink, or shake--so she often did all three at the same time. She even went into a deeper section and REALLY swam--but she only did that once. We tried to coax her out there a second time, but she wasn't buying it again. She definitely prefers being where she can stand as opposed to totally immersed.

But the best part of camping, at least in my book, is getting back home, where you can get CLEAN and sleep in a soft bed. Cabana spent quite a few hours napping on her own soft bed this afternoon--I think she appreciates those things, too!

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