Cruisin' with Becky and Cricket

It's always fun to meet a blogger friend in person. It's even more fun when the blogger friend has become an actual friend. Becky and I have gotten together a few times now when she's been in town for Guide Dogs' responsibilities. Becky is easygoing, inspirational, and incredibly thoughtful, and I feel so fortunate to know her. Here we are in front of the cafe where we had lunch in San Rafael. We're both laughing because we were blocking foot traffic on the sidewalk and having a hard time getting our dogs to face the camera.

Cabana and Cricket had met once before, a couple years ago when Cabana was still a puppy in training. Now, perhaps because Cabana has outgrown her puppy ways, they seemed to really enjoy each other and tried to play when Cricket was out of harness.

As we were eating lunch, a woman passing by our table commented that she could tell which dog was the actual guide dog and which was not. Cricket was laying nicely under the table, while Cabana was sitting upright, facing our table, quietly begging for a crusty piece of bread off my sandwich (I admit, I gave her a few little morsels). Yep, pretty accurate snapshot of reality!

Read more...

A Great Graduation

Today, Cabana and I went to Guide Dogs for the Blind's graduation. Eleven partners and their guides were presented, one of which was our puppy group pal, Hamlin. Also graduating were Gabrina (raised by Maddie) and Burgess (raised by Emily and Kelsey). Congratulations to all of them! They all seemed to have gotten the perfect partners, the speeches were touching and entertaining, and even the weather was cooperative!


After graduation, we met blogger friends Lauren and Don. Don is Cabana's half-sibling (both are Bosworth pups), and they share genetic good looks and exuberant temperaments! We tried to get a photo of them sitting together, but there was NO way that was going to happen! So we took them to the enclosed play area and let them get acquainted. It was muddy, but I don't think they minded much, do you?

Read more...

Wallpaper Patterns

I get tired of the same wallpaper on my computer screen, so I usually change it every month. Today, I came across a selection of guide dog wallpaper images!



They also have a section of Labrador images, although they only have yellow ones pictured, no black. Hmmpph!

Read more...

Off to the Vet

I dropped Cabana off at Guide Dogs' vet clinic this morning. One sniff when I opened the car door, and Cabana knew where we were. She was so excited I could barely get her head collar on her. You'd think we were at Disneyland! The vet did a quick examination of her and said she looked great. Then, he sent me over to kennel reception so I could "get her a room" for the next two nights.

When I went to kennel reception, the woman working there took one look at Cabana and said she was too fat!! She said Cabana didn't have enough of a waistline and asked how much we fed her. I said 2 cups morning, 2 cups evening. She said that was way too much and that we should even switch to a "light" food. She also asked dubiously if we ever exercise her, and I told her we walk her DAILY, 2-3 miles. I know she was trying to be helpful, but I felt like I had been slapped. I don't think I could have felt worse if she told ME I was too fat and ate too much!

But I know I don't need to take it so personally. I'll just cut back Cabana's food a bit--but I had always felt Cabana was on the thin side so it totally caught me off guard. It reminded me of Kate, saying the same thing about Faulkner--he was always thin and then all of a sudden, he chunked up!

Before I took Cabana in to the vet this morning, I got a nice email from Nicole, Chelsie's mom, wishing Cabana well for her surgery, and saying how much I would miss her and that the house would seem so empty. I thought, pah, no way! I'm going to do my Christmas shopping without worrying about getting back home, and it's going to be a great break for a couple days.

But darn it, Nicole was right! Now I'm worried about Cabana being fat, about the surgery, about her being lonely in the kennels. And the house does seem too quiet. I did manage to do some Christmas shopping on my way back from the vet, but it seems like a small consolation. :(

Read more...

Lazing and Breeding

Lately, Cabana has enjoyed laying around outside in the sun. Gone is the need to scurry madly about, checking out and trying to eat every stick, rock, or leaf. I never thought I'd see the day when Cabana would choose to laze around in our backyard. Although I'd still say Cabana has retained a lot of puppy-ish ways, she's done a lot of maturing as well. I finally feel comfortable letting Cabana hang out by herself outside for short periods (I still am a BIT worried that she'll get bored and dig up my flowers, which would NOT make me happy).

Last night at our puppy group, we had the privilege of having Marina, GDB's breeding director, come and speak to us. Her knowledge of the GDB breeding colony is so immense and fascinating, I could have asked her questions all night long.

I told Marina that my secret hope is for Cabana to become a breeder (so we can keep her AND help GDB at the same time). But in so many words, she told me there's no way in heck. Cabana was having trouble settling the whole evening (we had a visiting retired breeder male that was making lots of funny noises, which didn't help Cabana's ability to keep still), and Marina said Cabana seemed "too busy" in both body and mind to be selected to breed. Yes, that's pretty much Cabana to a "t"...drat!

Of course, that was just an informal evaluation from across the room--and I still have hopes that Cabana will get calmer and mature drastically after going into season. But the issue of collar cough/soft trachea still looms as well.

One very interesting thing that Marina told us is that black Labs, in general, tend to outdo their yellow counterparts. Wow, kind of goes against all political correctness about not judging by the color of someone's fur--but that's what she said! Maybe we should request a black puppy next time?

Read more...

Just a Happy Dog

For no reason in particular, Cabana is just a happy dog. She's happy to go for walks, happy to go to the store, happy to chew her toys, happy to lay around, happy to meet people. The only thing that does NOT make her happy is not getting to meet dogs that pass by.

But in the past few days, I've noticed that if I allow her to greet and sniff another dog early in our walk, then she's much better about passing the others without having a conniption. She doesn't actually IGNORE the rest of the dogs, but she pulls less and doesn't lunge and flail. Her recovery is much quicker, going back to paying attention to me and walking properly by my side. This gives me some hope regarding her dog distraction, since at the kennels, she'll get her fill of other dogs. And hopefully, her future partner will have a pet dog that she can pal around with when she's off-duty. I think that might make a huge difference.

Tomorrow, we are going to Sacramento Fun Day, hosted by Elk Grove Puppies with a Vision group. Since I missed the San Rafael Fun Day, I'm looking forward to getting to go to this one. Our puppy group will be selling t-shirts, pinback buttons and kibble pouches. And I'm hoping to get a little time with Celeste, our CFR. I hope to post photos of the event later this weekend.

Read more...

Meeting 40 Kids

Yesterday, I went to speak to about 40+ kids at our local elementary school's summer day care. This was my first time to talk about Guide Dogs for the Blind, and I wasn't sure how either Cabana or I would do.

I brought a mat with me, so if Cabana got too restless while I was speaking, I could give her the "go to bed" command, which she's very good about following. But Cabana was very well-behaved during my presentation.

At the end, I answered questions--question after question after question! The kids were extremely interested. And they asked me some doozies that I did NOT know the answers to. I'm going to need to do a bit of homework before I give another talk!

Then, it was time for the kids to line up and pet Cabana. I wasn't sure how Cabana was going to handle being petted by so many kids. I knew she'd love the kids, but sometimes, she just can't contain her enthusiasm! I started by giving some instructions, explaining that this was all very new to Cabana, and that they could help me train her by keeping their energy level down, their voices low, and if Cabana mouthed or nibbled their hands even slightly, that they should tell her "that's enough". Of course, I'd be right there, too, watching carefully and holding onto her leash.


Cabana did start out trying to mouth some little hands (I'm sure there were all kinds of yummy flavors on them, especially since it was right after lunch)--but after the first few kids, Cabana caught on. She sat very patiently while all 40 kids took turns petting her.

When we got home, Cabana was exhausted! Amazing how much energy it takes to try to contain your energy.

Way to go, Cabana!

Read more...

Tuesday Topics 14 - (Not) Sittin' Pretty

These photos show Cabana's growth progression--but they also show that Cabana sits funny. Her knees turn inward, like she's knock-kneed. I thought it was just a silly puppy thing. But at almost 8 months, Cabana continues to sit this way. In looking through old photos, I can see that she doesn't ALWAYS sit like this, but she does probably half the time or more.



In stores, I've had a fair share of people laugh at her for the way she sits. Poor little thing! Does she realize she's being ridiculed?! But I thought it was because the floors are usually slippery, and her paws were sliding out to the sides. But now I realize it's not just when the floors are slippery.





I've started to get concerned...should I be? Is it normal? Do your puppies/dogs sit like this? Or is it something I need to have checked out by a vet??

Read more...

Our Puppy Compadres

Last night, our puppy raising group met in the downtown area of my little hometown. We walked across bridges over water (not troubled water, unless troubled means dirty), up and down stairs, and through bustling sidewalks. I brought my camera and took photos of all the pups in training (except I forgot to take a photo of Cabana). We were missing Persia, but here's all the other pups in our group.

Handsome Hamlin--I think he might be the oldest in our group. He's a big fellow with gorgeous eyes. He'd be good to squish, don't you think, Poppy?


Newcomer Morrissey the Golden, in a folded up position.


Tara (left) and Cherish (right), checking each other out. Tara is just a week older than Cabana, and Cherish was our introduction to puppy raising (we got to puppy sit her during our application process).


Here's another of Cherish, all stretched out on the sidewalk.


And Cabana's buddy, Poppy, with her starry eyes and perpetual smile.

Read more...

Cal Academy and Graduation

Cabana had a busy weekend! On Saturday, we went to the Guide Dogs graduation ceremony. I had never even been to the campus before, and I was impressed at how beautiful it is. The graduation was very well attended, and because we were a few minutes late and couldn't find parking easily, we ended up sitting in the grass in back, which was fine with us.


Here's a photo of Cabana being petted by some very adoring fans. Yes, she does have the little boy's hand in her mouth, embarrassingly enough--but one look at his face and you can see that he's not in any distress. The little boy was actually quite delighted, but honestly, she doesn't mouth people very often anymore--but who's going to believe me when it's been documented on camera!?!
The thing I really love about this photo is how evident it is that Cabana just makes people smile. It's such a treat to get to see that every day.

Then, on Sunday, we went to the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. We hadn't been there since they remodeled, and it is really GORGEOUS. We spent the whole day there, going to the aquarium, having lunch in the cafe, and ending with a show in the Morrison Planetarium. Cabana was terrific, despite the large crowds and even the loud movie in the planetarium. She has such an outgoing personality that with her, the more people around, the merrier she is.

There were all kinds of exotic animals--sting rays, jellyfish, snakes, alligators and eels. But it often seemed that people were more interested in this ordinary little yellow puppy wearing a green jacket than in all the animals that they paid to see!

Read more...