Meeting the Graduates

Oct 23

We had a wonderful puppy raiser meeting today at the SEGD campus.  We met some graduates and the special people at the other end of their harnesses.  The people shared their stories with us and answered our questions about how they work with their dogs.  This meeting was particularly special for our family because one of those persons holding the harness of one of the graduates was Joey’s sponsor.  We got to spend some time with Jimmy and Stefanie, and their vizsla, Rusty.  It was weird to see that Joey is now a little taller, and outweighs Rusty by several pounds. 

Although we didn’t work our puppies at all at this meeting, they got some very important experience with “under, down”.   They stayed under the tables for three hours, a fantastic accomplishment for all, considering their very young age.  OK, so the collie was a little vocal for the first part of the meeting, but she quieted down very nicely after a while.   The discussions were very interesting and informative, but there were a few people anxiously watching the clock, wanting it to be over.  Who could blame them?  They were picking up their new puppies as soon as the meeting was over.  We now have two more goldadores in our group, one black, and one gold.  The rest of the group will be anxiously awaiting the next meeting to meet the little cuties.

Meanwhile, back at home, Joey is still growing larger by the hour.  We see him growing several different ways.  He lays on the floor in front of the couch.  When he stretches or rolls over, the couch gets pushed back against the wall.  I found one of the small nylabones we got him the first day.  I gave to him yesterday and in a few seconds, he bit it in half.  When he is getting a drink, it sounds like we now have a horse in the house.  He walks away from his dish leaving a big enough water trail to float a canoe across the kitchen.  OK, I admit, THAT one is a slight exaggeration.  But the others aren’t.  At the SEGD open house last month, one of the trainers commented that Joey had “quite the off-road package”.  (For those of you not familiar with that term, it means oversized tires.) 

Now, something that most puppy raisers and other people that just love dogs, can relate to. Joey loves ice cubes.  Did I say “loves”?  I mean he “LOVES”  ice cubes.  I think he could actually rip apart a cooler or tear a hole in his metal crate to get to an ice cube.  The sound of the ice dispenser in our freezer door would be able to wake him from a coma.  Now that Joey is big enough to easily reach the dispenser, I know it is only a matter of time before he figures out how to get his own ice.   We have the lock-out feature on it, but I want to see if he actually does start to get his own ice before we use that.