Oh Brother Where Art Thou?

Our youngest son was coming home from a Boy Scout campout today, but would get home too late for us to go to our puppy raiser meeting this afternoon.  So, this morning I drove out to the camp to pick him up a little early.  I took Barkley with me to let him experience a little bit of nature and more importantly, kids.  One of the reasons Barkley and I were paired up for puppy camp is that I have young boys at home and his raiser, Leslie, does not.  He gets limited exposure to kids.  I did not have him in coat while at the campground, so the boys got to pet him and Barkley got to play with them a little.  He was very fond of the kids and was trying to jump on them.  I let him have some fun, but insisted on him keeping all four paws on the ground. 
Our puppy raiser meeting today was at an Applebee’s Restaurant in Lakeland, which is a ways outside of our regular puppy raiser area.  The restaurant was hosting a “Dining to Donate”  with part of the proceeds going to Southeast Guide Dogs.  We did some obedience in the parking lot and were joined by a few puppies and raisers from the local group.  Before we started, I was talking with one of the ladies from the other group.  We were talking about the size of some of the pups.  She mentioned a goldadore that was in her group and how big he was, and not being a year old yet.  My ears perked up at that!  After a few questions back and forth, we both thought that Joey and this other dog might be brothers.  I think somebody made a phone call, because a little later, they were saying Joey and the dog in the other group, a big yellow boy named Albert, were indeed litter mates.  Too bad he wasn’t there today.  I made sure we got an email address of somebody in the group so they could forward my messages to Albert and we can establish direct contact.  I have pictures of the litter we took at puppy hugging two or three weeks before picking up our puppies.  I also have pictures of the litter the day we picked up Joey. 

One of these is Albert at 9 weeks

Albert did not have any other littermates in his group.  So there are still two other goldadores out there I haven’t found yet.  I hope that if they are in Florida, that I might meet them at the Walkathon next month.  I also hope to meet his parents. 

Meanwhile, back at the meeting, since we are puppy camping Barkley right now, and his raisers are camping Joey, we tried to avoid each other as much as possible to prevent our dogs from getting too distracted.  I don’t think Barkley ever realized that Mama was there. After obedience and the meeting, we headed inside to eat.  We were scattered around the restaurant and I don’t think that anybody that walked in after we did had any idea that there were about ten dogs in there, laying under the tables.  But there were probably some surprised looks when we started walking out, first one, then another, and another…….

Just About Barkley

Our youngest son is at a Boy Scout campout this weekend, and this morning the rest of us were sitting around the house discussing what we should do today with Barkley.  Cindy came up with the idea of going to St. Armand’s Circle, a nice little touristy shopping area in Sarasota, about an hour south of us.  I piggybacked on that idea, saying we could go to the SEGD Discovery Center, then have lunch at a place we saw on TV, then hit the shopping area, and finish with a piece of pie at another place we saw on TV. 

Barkley didn’t act like he was too interested in going.  That is one big difference between Joey and Barkley.  Joey is very excited about getting in the car.  He sits very impatiently while I open the car door, waiting for those golden words; “Joey, IN ”.   Then he jumps right in and lays down.  Barkley doesn’t really seem to care for the whole “get in the car” thing.  We say “ Barkley, IN “ and he walks over and put his front feet in, then just stops.  He looks back at me as if to say “You really want me to get in this car?”  He finally slowly climbs the rest of the way in.  By the time I get in, he is usually asleep.  We get to the Discovery Center and have to wake him from his beauty sleep.  He is a lot more anxious to get of the car than get in.  I try to get him to “busy” before going in, but there have been dozens of dogs here every week and their smells are just too heavenly for Barkley to think about relieving.  I give up trying and take him inside.  There just happened to be a couple other dogs from our raiser group inside, so they had a nice little reunion.   Barkley has doggie distraction issues, not as strong as Joey’s, but they are something to work on.  He did get to play with the other pups, but also had to spend some time sitting by me and not playing with them.  The place started to fill up with non-SEGD dogs coming in for an obedience class, so we decided it was time to go.  Soon, we were looking for our lunch spot, a little place we saw on the Food Network show, Man Vs Food.  We followed my GPS and couldn’t find it.  We did find an empty building.  We got out the smartphone to look up online where they may have moved to.  We finally found it and we had been in the wrong place to begin with.  The place is called Munchies 420 Café.  Guess what the 420 stands for.  The place doesn’t open till 4:20.  Barkley doesn’t care, he is still sleeping.  There is a shopping center nearby where we can kill the last hour before we can eat.  Barkley was a perfect angel while shopping.  Lots of kids were telling their parents that they can’t touch the working dog.  Anyway, we get back to the café for opening time.  I thought this place would be a lot bigger than it is.  Only four tables in the place.  The food is great as long as you aren’t a cardiologist.  One of the popular items on the menu is a sandwich they call the Fat Sandy.  This is two cheeseburger patties, chicken fingers, onion rings, mozzarella stix, and macaroni and cheese, all in a sandwich.  Yea, heart attack just waiting to happen.  But, boy is it good!  Barkley was perfect under the table.  We never did make it to St. Armand’s Circle, and never made it to Yoder’s Amish Restaurant for the pie we were looking forward to.  But Barkley got to see some friends, go shopping, and sleep under a table and in the car.  Life is good. 

Puppy Camp

Yes, puppy camp started today for Joey and his friend, Barkley.  Joey and I drove down to the SEGD campus, where Barkley’s raiser works part time.  We traded dogs and beds, exchanged info about medications, and I headed home with my little camper.  In the car, I was surprised at how much Barkley looked like Joey when looking straight into his face.  Joey is a goldadore and Barkley is a full lab.  Barkley’s profile shows the classic squared muzzle, while Joey’s is more pointed.  But looking straight into their faces, they look very alike, at least to me.   I will have to see if Barkley’s raiser, Leslie, notices the same thing. 

After getting home, Barkley checked out the house and yard, then starting acting exactly like Joey, staying right at my feet.  The kids came home from school and played with him a little bit, happily surprised that he is so much calmer than Joey.  When they went into their rooms to do homework and play on the computer, Joey, I mean Barkley, laid in the hallway, exactly where he, I mean Joey, always does. 

I hadn’t told the wife yet that we started puppy camp.  She came home this evening after a very long 13 hour day.  The kids were biting their tongues, just waiting to see when she would notice it was a different dog.  I, of course, knew she was barely keeping her eyes open as she ate dinner.  She wouldn’t notice anything until she sat down in the living room.  That’s when Joey would normally be right in front of her with a toy, moving back and forth, and whining for her to play with him.  To my surprise, Barkley came over to her with a toy in his mouth, wagging back and forth exactly like Joey, but not whining.  Cindy was too tired to notice the difference.  I could tell that the boys were busting at the seams, trying not to give it away, but dying to say something.  Before going to bed, Colby, our youngest, just had to tell her that it was Barkley, not Joey.  She was very surprised, and embarrassed that she hadn’t noticed.  She got down on the floor to play with him and found a big difference in the dogs immediately.  Joey loves to have his ears rubbed and Barkley definitely does not.   I hope Leslie reads this or Joey may have a difficult time, going at least two weeks without his ear rubs. 

Trainer's Workshop

Today I took Joey down to the SEGD Discovery Center in Sarasota for a “Trainer’s Workshop”.  This is a time when the general public (and puppy raisers of course) can talk to the guide dog trainers about dog training.   When we got to the center, we were greeted at the door by one of Joey’s old friends from our puppy raiser group, Jeannie.  I first met Jeannie last April when I attended my first raiser meeting.  She was a normal energetic puppy of about 10 months, one of the oldest in our group at the time.  I was surprised at almost every group meeting after that first one, by how mellow Jeannie was becoming (without pharmaceuticals).  She was very nicely maturing into the guide dog I am sure she will become.  Anyway, Jeannie was just laying on the floor at the center when we walked in.  Joey of course was dying to go play with the dogs, but he was in coat and I had to keep an air of professionalism around him.  I kept a very close eye on him as he strained to get closer to them.  Jeannie calmly got up and walked over to meet Joey, only to be stopped by the volunteer that was handling her.  I took Joey around the corner into the puppy hugging area with a three foot high wall so he couldn’t see Jeannie and the other dogs that were behaving very nicely.  I was hoping Joey would calm down enough that I could go out and join some of the other people in there.  Every once in a while, Jeannie would get up and just mosey on over to where I was keeping Joey in a down, stay.  She remembered her friend from the meetings and just wanted to come over and see what he had been up to the last few months since she went IFT. 

Anyway, I was the only person who was there for the workshop, so it was some real nice one-on-one time.  I was able to discuss with the trainer, Lynn, my concerns about Joey’s doggie distraction issues.  While we were talking, she was observing how Joey was reacting to the other dogs in there and probably even more important, how I reacted to the  situation.  I was pretty good on how I applied timely and consistent corrections, but Lynn wanted me to stop petting and soothing Joey as much as I was.  Apply correction, get Joey to sit or down, stay, praise him for that, then leave him alone.  This was hard for me.  At that first raiser meeting last April, they were discussing puppy stress.  It doesn’t just come from fear, any excitement can be stressful to the puppies.  Reaching down and stroking your puppy, letting him know you are there, can be very calming.  I do it without thinking.  Lynn let me know that he is not the little baby puppy he used to be, he doesn’t need that much comforting anymore.  And in those few moments of me not constantly comforting him, he seemed to be able to tolerate being close to those other dogs a little better.  Lynn did take his leash for a little bit when he did act up, applied correction and had him sit or down, and stay.  She observed how Joey tried to get to me.  She recommended that we set up a puppy camp to help break the bond between Joey and I.  Now, at our last group meeting just last weekend, we were taking about camping and were going to get something started, so that was already in the works.  As we were driving home from the center, I got a call from our area coordinator, about Joey starting his camp.  I just need to contact the person he will be going to and arrange a time for us to swap our puppies.  She will be getting Joey, and I will take her dog, Barkley.  They are the two largest dogs in our group.  Barkley is four days younger, and about 5 pounds lighter, so there is very little difference between them. 

So, Joey.  You are going to live with somebody else for a couple weeks.  Better be good. 

In For Training Poem

No, Joey is not IFT for a few more months.  I found this posted on another blog and just had to pass it along to other guide dog puppy raisers.  Please enjoy.

I Send You Like a Prayerby Emily Overcarsh

I send you like a prayer
To shine in a land without sun
Where scents and sounds bloom
Like thunder over the expanse
Of the impossible black horizon
Could you have known where you were headed?
That all along you were a hero?
You were never mine to keep
So I held you just long enough
For you to grow into a savior
For the lost
And now I let go

I send you like a prayer
Like a fulfilled promise
I hang on to your scent in your blanket
That you're too big for now
And as the tears every mother has wept fill my eyes
Know that you carry my heart with you
To the land without sun
So don't look back now
Instead, look ahead
To the impossible black horizon
And shine with the knowledge
That you were born for this moment
Where you set a blind man free


(taken from "Two Plus Four Equals One - Celebrating the Partnership of People with Disabilities and Their Assistance Dogs" by Kathy Nimmer ISBN: 978-160844-716-9)

Looking at Manatees

This weekend, the manatee viewing area at the TECO (Tampa Electric) power plant celebrated their 25^th anniversary.  It had been a few years since our family had been there, so we decided it would be a great outing for the whole family, as well as Joey.  We got there to find that the parking lot was closed and we were directed to another lot about a half mile down the road.  But, that next lot was full and we were directed to yet another one at an elementary school another mile down the road.  But, “Don’t worry, there is a shuttle bus to transport you” they said.  We parked at the school and I got Joey out expecting to let him “busy” before getting him into his coat and onto the bus that probably wouldn’t be there for at least 30 minutes.  WRONG!  The bus pulled up and people started hurrying to get in line for it.   Since it was only a mile and half back to the viewing center, Joey could wait.  Now, before I start getting comments about how Joey’s needs are more important than catching a shuttle bus, I must add that Joey had done his business about 15 minutes earlier, before we got in the car to come here.  We just make it a habit to give him the opportunity every time he gets out of the car, before we put his coat on.  He did a very nice “Sit, Forward Up” onto the bus like he had done it all his life.  Maybe he was just anxious to follow my wife and kids who got on in front of me.  We reversed the procedure for getting off the bus and went to find a place to pee.  After taking care of that business, we got some beads from a pirate that Joey determined did not require a second look, were handed some cookies that he likewise ignored, and we attempted to go look at some manatees.  This is a very nice place that the electric company built to allow people to come see the manatees, learn about them, buy manatee related products in the gift shop, enjoy butterfly gardens, and even experience a hurricane simulator.  But, it was built for the normal crowd of maybe a couple hundred on a single day.  With the few thousand that were there today, it was squeezing room only.  We made our way onto the main viewing deck over the water but there weren’t any manatees in the area.  We did see a lot of activity in the water a few hundred feet away.  There was another walkway heading out that direction, so we squeezed our way off the main deck to work our way down that way.  Joey did very well, only paying attention to the smallest kids, the ones about as tall as he is.  In this sea of bodies, everybody else was just legs and butts to him.  There was a small open space where people were taking pictures of their kids with somebody in a manatee costume.  I walked Joey thru that space in between pictures, allowing him a good look at the costume.  Joey gave that manatee the same attention he gave the pirate, none.  Out on the walkway to the other viewing area we were heading to, it was just as crowded.  A few manatees swam fairly close to us, but most were still on the far side of the channel.  We saw a bunch of fish and stingrays swimming, and even a couple sharks.  To be honest, it was probably the same shark, twice.  Joey either didn’t see, or didn’t care about what was in the water.  He was very interested in the pelican that flew very close in front of us.  The only other thing to merit any attention from Joey was the popcorn being dropped all over.  He didn’t seem to care how many people had stepped on it, he wanted it.  And I wouldn’t let him have it.  I’m sure he was able to snag a few pieces when I wasn’t looking, but I did my best. 

Maybe he should have been named Hoover.

IKEA, Big Distraction

We had been hearing about the Ikea store in Tampa and how it is a great exposure for puppies.  Whether we hear somebody talk about it at our puppy raiser group meetings, or we read it on somebody’s blog, everyone that has taken their guide dog puppy there has recommended it.  So we loaded up the boys and the dog and went on a new adventure.  When we got there, I noticed the large number of people walking in.  It was a pretty good crowd.  The first thing you see when you walk into the store is the escalator that takes you up to the showroom floor.  Since we can’t take guide dog puppies on escalators, we looked around for the elevator that we knew had to be there.  Right next to the elevator was the entrance into the marketplace.  We decided to check that first.  This was where they kept most of the smaller household products like kitchen products, bedding, etc.  When I heard people talking about this place, they mentioned the elevators, the crowds, and the smells.  What smells?  There isn’t anything here that has any smell.  And this place is so clean, it is almost sterile.  But, walking thru the bedding, Joey got a whiff of something that got his interest.  He found the down pillows.  There is his hunting dog heritage again.  Then, I found something that I just had to have.  They had coat hooks that look like the back half of a dog with his tail sticking up.  There were some black ones there, so I grabbed a couple to put in our boys’ rooms. 

We worked on “find the elevator” with Joey and went up to the showroom.  Working our way around there, we again found that a lot more kids than adults know about not petting the guide dogs.  After the first couple hundred people reach out to him, it is hard to stay polite.  Before I starting smacking people with the leash, we reached the end of the show room where they had the restaurant.  The kids were whining and it was getting close to lunchtime, so we went in to see what they had.  I took Joey to a table where he did his usual perfect “under, down”.  Cindy and the boys soon joined me with the food.  She was very impressed with the prices.  Lunch for 4 for $20.00!  But Joey was not impressed, he just laid there under the table sleeping. 

After going thru the checkouts at the end of the warehouse, we did encounter smells.  There is a small section there that sells foods from Sweden and has a small snack bar.

Joey did wonderful but I was completely distracted by the heavenly smell from those amazing cinnamon rolls.