"Not My Dog": Tales from Puppy Raising

Why I love Twitter

2009-06-06T07:52:00.003-04:00

You can't imagine how happy I was to read my email one morning and find out that Nettie is following me on Twitter.

I always said she was smart, and she's so smart, she can tweet. :-)

Rachel's pretty busy, but she tries to tweet now & then to let me know what's up. "Nettie" sent me Mother's Day wishes, for instance. I also hear about their doings via Facebook. Rachel went to China & Japan, but poor Nettie had to stay home -- too much red tape.

Isn't technology grand?

I'm baaack .. with a happy face this time!

2009-05-29T23:51:00.003-04:00

OK.

Wow. A lot's been going on. My livelihood has been up in the air for 14 months now, and forgive me, but it's starting to wear on me. However, if I get laid off, I'm on the phone ASAP to the GEB RM to get a pup to raise.

Anyway ...

In the "Gone, but not forgotten" category:

Bob took Andrew to the pediatric dentist on Thursday; as they cleaned Andrew's teeth, he admired the hygienist's photos of her Labs. They chatted, he mentioned we raise for GEB, and she asked if we go to Edgewood Animal Clinic. We do -- so does she -- and that's where she'd seen Murphy & Nettie's graduation pictures.

Murphy, she told Bob, was "the most handsome Lab I've ever seen."

And I can't disagree.

More to come later ... I'm resolved to keep this going even without a pup. And my big consolation is that if I become involuntarily unemployed, I'm going to raise a pup again.

Churlish, so very churlish

2009-02-17T23:59:00.006-05:00

"Blind faith."

I picked up my issue of O Magazine right before bed, and found an article headlined "Blind Faith". It's written by a longtime GEB volunteer, who fosters a brood. She interviewed four of the people who got pups from her dog's (her phrase, not mine) A-litter, about their lives, about the "blind faith" they put in the dog each day.

I should be elated, but I'm sorry to say, that was not my first reaction. I am feeling churlish, purely churlish, and here's why.

So you foster a brood. Well, good for you. Good for the four people who got the A puppies.

The article talks about the pups being born, then jumps to their lives with their partners. And in between, almost as an afterthought:

"At eight weeks, they go to puppy raisers, volunteers who train them at home before giving them up for the important work they will learn to do."

Sure, that's a fair summary, but it missed a few points.

Volunteers who housebreak those 8-week-old puppies, sacrificing sleep to be outside late at night and out again at crack of dawn.

Volunteers who agonize and fret over these pups, worrying about their progress, probably almost as much as we do over human children.

Volunteers for whom training that pup becomes their hobby, what they do with large chunks of their free time.

Volunteers who love that pup fiercely, who believe in it with all their hearts, who do this knowing that it is not their dog and, if they do their job right, never will be.

Volunteers who, more often than not now, are doing this for more than a year.

Volunteers who watch the dog graduate with smiles and tears, who know (or come to learn) that they almost always will never hear of it again, and who accept (or come to accept) that this is the way it's going to be.

Reading the article for a second time, I see that the author mentions having been a puppy raiser, so I'm somewhat surprised she seemingly glossed over that process.

I'm sincerely not downplaying the role of raising a brood. It is commitment. It is work. It is important.

But, it is easier. While technically the dog belongs to GEB, it lives with you. When it retires, it often stays with you. You don't have that mental countdown looming, that seeming endless procession of 'lasts' as IFT day draws near.

I didn't feel those 'lasts' as keenly with Murphy. With Nettie, I cried in the car after our last trip together to Target, the scene of our highs (the Saturday before Christmas! Flawless! Unruffled!) and lows (the only time she ever pooped inside, and it was totally my fault.)

So yes, raising a brood is important, and don't get me wrong: GEB couldn't function without the people who do this work.

But you want to know what "blind faith" is?

Blind faith is talking to your 7-year-old about why Mom wants to raise another GEB pup, instead of getting one of those yellow lab pups advertised for sale on the flier at the vet's office. Blind faith is hoping with all your heart that you're not hurting him, as he says wistfully, "but I'd kind of like a forever dog this time."

Blind faith is figuring out how -- or if -- I can train another GEB pup, and do the job right, with a toddler in the house and an increasingly precarious job situation.

Blind faith is believing that I can kickstart myself again and try to be a more accepting person and get over my bad self in this fit of churlishness. Blind faith is that the next time around, I'll believe in my own self, the way I can believe in a pup, and silence that inner voice that tells me that no one really wants to read what I'd write about raising a dog that isn't mine. Blind faith is that it's ok to pour our my emotions tonight, raw as they may be at the moment.

Blind faith is still wanting to find a way, when there are so many reasons it would be easy not to.

Puppy raising pop culture

2009-02-05T21:53:00.001-05:00

On "30 Rock" tonight, as Liz and Jenna discuss whether Liz's neighbor is too perfect for her. Liz thinks he might be: "He trains Seeing Eye dogs at home!"

My husband is preening as we speak.

A beautiful story

2009-01-08T22:50:00.001-05:00

I came across this beautiful article online about the experience of a reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram as she retired her first guide and got her second.

It resonated with me -- both as a fellow journalist, and because both Murphy and Nettie were the second guides for Lance and Rachel, and I know it was a bittersweet time for them.

Still alive here!

2009-01-04T15:19:00.004-05:00

It's really hard to blog about puppy raising when you aren't raising a puppy.

We did survive a key test: We puppy-sat for a weekend in December, and it went really well. Winston is a handsome 16-month-old boy who's going IFT in March. He is so calm and well-behaved, lovely house manners. He was wonderful with the kids, even though he's not normally around small ones. My husband was ready to steal him and not give him back to his raiser!

The weekend we had him, we even got snow -- about 18 inches over the course of the weekend. It was so much fun to be outside romping in the snow with a Lab again ... even if Winston managed to lose not one, but two toys in deep drifts! Ah, well, they'll turn up again.

Here's Winston and the kids.

So husband is now talking about next puppy around May .. we shall see. There's a lot up in the air right now, including my work situation. Hopefully we will have some answers by March.

I'm still staying involved in GEB; I do the Maine region website, and I may be mentoring a new raiser, if she decides to go ahead and get a pup.

Oh, my other thing to share: Cool Christmas present! My husband got me a red fleece vest with the GEB logo. Very warm and stylish, and very handy for working a pup!

My other plan for 2009 is to do a better job at keeping up with everyone else's blogs.

Happy New Year to all!

Maine GEB on TV here

2008-10-01T21:48:00.002-04:00

The local TV station did a feature on puppy raising, focusing quite a bit on one of our raisers whose son is with his second guide dog from GEB. Unfortunately they got my friend Nina's name wrong, and I would have liked to have had them talk more about the socialization aspect of training -- I think it would have been good to educate the public about why we're bringing the pups into places, and how they ought to behave when they encounter us! Oh, well - there's my media criticism. :-)

Careful what you teach them....

2008-09-02T21:02:00.003-04:00

When I go blueberry picking, I can be kind of annoying.

I don't know why, but I find it hard to leave a blueberry patch. Every bush, I see what might be the most perfect berry I've ever seen. And then another. And another. And so forth.

This is to the great consternation of my junior berry picking assistant. On Monday, he was READY to go HOME. (All caps to convey the eye-rolling.)

I insisted on stopping again, and then I hear my son making the cluck cluck noise my husband calls "the all-purpose animal call" and saying, "C'mon, mommy, c'mon!"

"What," I asked him, "are you doing?"

"I'm jollying you along, Mommy."

So I've been reduced to being compared to a pup that won't stop sniffing.

The boy may have a future in dog training.

Weird coincidence

2008-08-21T22:39:00.003-04:00

I forgot to mention this below... While we were waiting to have our portrait taken with Nettie and Rachel, my husband Bob noticed a photograph that looked strangely familiar in the display case... It's the Portland Press Herald building, where I work (for now, anyway!)

Many, many times I have walked Murphy and then Nettie right where the man and his guide are.... Too funny!

(I couldn't get a good shot without the glare and I didn't realize until we got home that I had captured Bob and human puppy's reflections as well. .. One other thought: I am so glad Bob came along -- I knew Rebecca would not get a good morning nap, and she did not, and I knew she'd screech during graduation and she did! ... Our RM, Bessie, told me that she would have taken Rebecca out for me so that I wouldn't have missed it, but I didn't know she'd be there. )

Wow ... Whew ... Better late than never?

2008-08-21T22:21:00.004-04:00

I feel like I'm almost all talked out about graduation, having sent lots of emails to friends about it and posted an account on our Maine GEB website, too.

For the first time in three years, we aren't preparing for a pup, we don't have a pup in the house and we don't have a pup at GEB in training.

It's different.

I am very happy about Nettie and her match. Rachel is a wonderful, really neat person and I wish her the very best. Nettie, I think, will thrive in a college setting. I was thrilled that she remembered us -- and equally thrilled that, as we sat and chatted in Rachel's room, that it was Rachel that Nettie would check in with as she took a break from playing with her toy or wandering around.

(Nettie, however, did keep staring at Rebecca, as if she was thinking "Just what is that, and when did you get it?")

I didn't cry. I did at Murphy's graduation -- tears of pride, of course. Tears that we had accomplished our goal, that he had made it.

I don't want anyone to misinterpret this, but Nettie's graduation was almost anti-climactic. Perhaps I had gotten arrogant, but I always believed in my heart that Nettie would be guiding. I was momentarily rattled when she was pulled in July*, but I always expected her to make it. Murphy is a wonderful dog, but there were times where I didn't know if guiding was his destiny, so his graduation was a little more emotional.

(* as for the pulling her from class in July ... Rachel had a very interesting observation. She said Nettie seemed a little sad when she got her, and very, very eager to show her that she knew how to do what she was supposed to do ... We both thought it sounded like it was a little rough for Nettie to get pulled, too.)

Anyway, here are a couple pictures.

Rachel and Nettie in the ceremony

Nettie greeting Andrew afterwards .. note, the four on the floor!

And we're off!

2008-08-15T07:56:00.002-04:00

No late pullback this time from GEB ... looks like the match is a go! It had better be -- we'll be on the road in a few hours.

Random thoughts:

-- Having not done a road trip with an infant in oh, nearly 7 years, I had forgotten how much stuff you have to pack for them. It's even worse than hauling along puppy gear! (Just make sure you're set with diapers or poop bags, depending on the species.)

-- I have the sweetest husband in the world for rearranging his schedule to come along, to save me from a solo road trip with infant and 6-year-old. A big MWAH to him. (Although part of me thinks he's just paranoid that Andrew and I might come home with a puppy from the CDC tour ... just kidding, honey.)

-- From the how not to behave file: Our RC sent an email reminding everyone to not grab the dog and take off with it for a walk. What?? Yes, sadly, apparently at least one raiser has done this at graduation. Yikes. I'm trying to be charitable here, but wow.

-- This time, the scrapbook for Nettie's owner has been done for several days. Longtime readers may remember that Murphy's got finished at 1 a.m. on the day of graduation, on the hotel room bathroom floor while my son slept in the room. :-) You do get wiser as you get older.

-- Mostly I'm just excited for Nettie and her owner. Nettie was such a pleasure to have in our lives -- well, almost all of the time, but that's true for any pup or kid.
What always stood out about Nettie was how much she liked to think and to work. We believed from the time we first babysat her that she was probably going to be a guide, and it's a thrill to be proven right and to see it happen.

I'm still taking the Kleenex, though.

Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention!

2008-08-10T11:22:00.003-04:00

Nettie is in class and may graduate on Aug. 16 if all goes well. She is currently paired with a woman from Lawrence, Kansas. I can picture Nettie working at a university setting, and I think that she would be very happy doing so! She was always happiest out working. I am excited and proud for her. Now, just have to hope that human puppy will cooperate and be good during graduation. Older human puppy is far more easily bribed -- a new book and Gummi bears will do the trick.

(Actually, we used to play a training game with Nettie in which Andrew would also do the commands -- down, stay, sit, bow -- along with her and his 'kibble' would be fruit snacks. Fortunately, I never goofed and fed the wrong kibble to the wrong one.)

Back to topic. Another of our Maine dogs, Fiera, also is in class, and hopefully will be making friends with Princess Coral really soon!

I really enjoyed puppy class last Saturday. I took Rebecca along and actually ended up getting a chance to work Genevieve, a wonderful 5-month-old pup. Yes, you can work a smaller pup with a baby strapped to you in a Baby Bjorn. .. not saying I would do it on a day-to-day basis, though! I also experimented with shooting some video for our Maine GEB website. I really like some of the new work with the dogs on a long line.. I used to do that with Murphy & Nettie and it was always fun and effective with them. I also love the new "get dressed" command for the collar!

The waiting game

2008-08-04T22:57:00.003-04:00

I went to puppy class on Saturday, and our RM said that I should know by Thursday whether Nettie will be in the August class. I have my fingers crossed!

Princess Coral, welcome to reading the blog... We have at least four dogs from Maine who are class-ready, so if Nettie doesn't wind up with your friend, maybe one of her buddies will!

Will write more on thoughts from Saturday's puppy class, doings, musings on graduation, etc, but human puppy has only decided to go back to sleeping through the night recently .. and my uncooperative time clock has still been waking up at 4 a.m. even when she doesn't!

Nettie pulled from class

2008-07-16T22:45:00.003-04:00

I got word today that Nettie has been pulled from class and won't be graduating on Sat. Our RM said that her pace didn't match with the person she'd been placed with.

I can't help but be nervous, though. I'm not sure why this decision was made so close to the graduation -- I would think this would have cropped up sooner? So I hope that it's not that they're thinking she may not make it.

The proper etiquette? Discuss

2008-07-13T20:07:00.003-04:00

The Pup Who Shall Remain Nameless had me thinking: How do you handle it if you sit for a pup and it displays bad behavior?

PWSRN's raisers seem to be very conscientious people who are trying hard, but seem to be having difficulty. When they arrived to collect PWSRN, they asked if she had barked much .. and it was obvious from the tone and semi-furtive glances, they knew already she probably had. Ditto on the jumping. I tried to be honest, while not dwelling on all the gory details. ("Yes, she did bark in the crate when no one was in the room" was what I said vs. "She finally quit barking after three hours when I came and slept on the couch in the room with her.")

Was I being too nice? Discuss.

Other question of the week: We get our picture taken with Nettie and her person. Clearly, Andrew will be in it. (I took him to get a haircut today so he would look presentable, and he told the Supercuts stylist all about going to graduation for a dog that isn't ours. She was very confused until I clarified.)

But the baby? I'm of two minds. She did not contribute to the raising. In fact, one could argue that she notched up the level of difficulty, by making me nauseated, very tired and top-heavy at varying stages. I'm tempted to hand her to a bystander if the opportunity is there. (Husband cannot come to NY.)

The polls are open.

Not all Labs are created equal

2008-07-12T03:14:00.002-04:00

I am babysitting tonight and tomorrow for Pup Who Shall Remain Nameless, in order to protect its reputation.

Nettie, it turns out, was an amateur when it came to barking.

It is now 3:15 and Pup Who Shall Remain Nameless has been at it since 1 a.m. I have come down to sleep on the family room couch, to see if having someone in the same room will make her be quiet. (Apparently at home she sleeps in crate in daughter's bedroom.)

Fortunately, husband and both children can sleep through pretty much anything, and have not stirred from this commotion. But tomorrow should be fun -- this pup is also a real bad jumper, and I'm not thinking I'm going to be able to trust her around the kids.

I think the next time, I may ask a few more questions before I agree to sit ... Pup Who Shall Remain Nameless is a year old and doesn't have jacket yet ... hmm. If I'd known that, I might have been busy tomorrow.

At least I didn't agree to keep her for a week.

Coincidences continue ...

2008-07-07T21:41:00.002-04:00

Our regional manager told me today that Nettie is going to a woman who lives in a town about 15 miles from Lexington, Ky., which is where we lived for nine years! I know that Nettie is her first guide dog and that's it at this point.

Still, I'm blown away by the coincidence. We still have lots of friends in Lexington, and my parents don't live that far away. I am trying not to get too hopeful, but I really am hoping that Nettie's owner might be open to keeping in touch after graduation.

It's a small world after all

2008-07-06T09:54:00.002-04:00

I now know Nettie's partner's name. She is going to a woman from Kentucky -- which is very cool because we lived in Lexington, Ky for nine years! I covered higher ed and politics when I was a reporter there, which means that I have visited practically every part of the state at one time or another. So I have a feeling I will be very familiar with wherever she goes.

Now to get cracking on the scrapbook that Carol started for Nettie. I intend to finish it well before I finished Murphy's -- which was at 12:30 a.m. the morning of graduation!

Nettie is in class!!

2008-07-02T20:16:00.002-04:00

I got word today that Nettie is in class and scheduled to graduate on July 19! I truly was not expecting this yet -- I honestly wasn't sure she'd make it after the last report. I don't know much more yet, but will write much more later.

How quickly time flies

2008-06-24T22:58:00.002-04:00

I realized this morning that yesterday was the one-year anniversary of Murphy's graduation from GEB.

Good boy, Murph-Murph. I hope that your year of working has gone by as fast as life this past year has for me.

And as I wrote in the first newspaper piece I did about raising, I hope your owner loves his dog at least half as much as I did.

Nettie's Phase 3 report

2008-06-07T16:08:00.002-04:00

Wow, I have been off the blog for a while, haven't I?

I have been doing GEB stuff -- we actually puppy-sat for 5 days while I was still on maternity leave, and I'm doing other stuff for the program. It's just been crazy since I went back to work! I will catch up retroactively, but here is Nettie's Phase 3 report. As you'll see, she's showing some stress, so I think the next few weeks will help determine what she's going to do with her life.

Here's Nettie's Phase 3 report:

GUIDING EYES FOR THE BLIND
TRAINING REPORT - PHASE THREE

Dog Name
Nettie
Report Dates
4/26/08-5/23/08
Trainer's Name
Michelle Tang

Some dogs progress right on to phase three, but most have some overlap with lessons from phase two or they may have already spent at least a month on phase three skills but are not yet ready to continue onto the next level. In the third training period the dogs continue, of course, to review and reinforce the basics and the lessons they have already begun to learn, but there is more responsibility placed on the dog. Phase three is the time when the dogs are asked to perform learned tasks on their own initiative. For instance, the instructor gives the left turn hand signal and voice command and begins to move her body into the correct position. The dog is expected to back up and swing around 90 degrees without the instructor helping the dog. Praise and repetition are the keys to a confident and reliable guide dog. Each lesson has to be repeated hundreds of times in different situations before the dog really understands what is expected and can respond reliably to the cues provided.

It may seem like a slow process to you as you wait eagerly for news, but think how difficult it must be for your dog to figure out that he must stop at the usual curb stops, handicap ramps, junctions of grass and pavement and concrete and pavement junctions as well. Some streets have a corner right across on the opposite side but others are offset, requiring the dog to locate the corner and head for it, even though it is not directly in front of them. All of this learning takes time!

Training

During the third phase the trainer works the dog in Peekskill and in White Plains, a larger city with all of the distractions found in Peekskill as well as large buildings, restaurants, revolving doors and shopping malls.

( P:Poor F:Fair G:Good F/G:Fair/Good, etc. ) Being worked on

G
Steady pace and pull.

G
Turns, down curbs and street crossings.

F/G
Remedial problems being worked on to build confidence or obtain proper response on situations such as stairs, under footings, control with distractions, concerns with noises, people or objects, over-friendliness, etc. (See Notes.)

G
Clearances - Guide dogs actually are introduced to the concept of swinging around obstacles in their path in phase two. The instructor sweeps a hand in the appropriate direction and guides the dog around the obstacle with the leash. It is in phase three, however, that formal instruction of this most important function of a guide dog is fine tuned. Specific routes where there are many parking meters, trees, signs, garbage cans and other obstacles are selected. The dog is instructed to go forward and when an obstacle presents itself, the instructor guides the dog around it with the leash. The dog can go in either direction if safe, but must take the width of a person into account so they will both clear the obstacle. After a short time, the instructor will bump into the obstacle, often slapping it with her hand. This , of course, creates a jerk on the harness handle since the dog was continuing to move forward but the instructor ran into something. It also provides an audible cue for running into an obstacle. The dog notices and is then heeled back a distance from the obstacle. He is then told forward so the situation can be reworked. When the team gets close to the obstacle, the dog usually swings away. If he does not, or if the movement is not sufficient to clear both handler and dog, the instructor guides the dog past with the leash and provides a hand command. Much praise follows and the situation may be reworked again. Over time, the dog learns to anticipate the upcoming obstacle and begins to use its own initiative to move around the obstacle ahead of time. Later, the dog must learn to clear not only stationary obstacles but moving obstacles, such as pedestrians, as well.

G
Walking up and down stairs is among the most frightening of things a blind person needs to be able to do with a guide dog. Initially, dogs-in-training are socialized to stairs while wearing a harness. If they show any concern, the harness handle is dropped and the dog is allowed to go up and down the stairs on a loose leash. Once the dog relaxes, the trainer teaches the dog to walk attentively at the handler's pace and to stop when asked. The dogs are introduced to solid steps first. When they are comfortable with solid stairs, the trainer will introduce open-backed stairs.

F
Platform work - Guide dogs must learn to pull the blind person away from a platform edge or other drop in elevation that could be dangerous. This is usually taught at a train station. The instructor tells the dog forward and the team moves right toward the platform edge. The dog will usually stop at the edge and is praised. The dog is again told to go forward but is praised only for turning away from the platform and moving the handler far enough away from the edge that they will not fall off. Platform work requires the use of "intelligent disobedience" where the dog is told to do one thing but must make a decision to disobey that command if it places the handler in danger. It takes a self-confident dog with a great deal of initiative to intelligently disobey commands.

G
Revolving doors -- This type of door is difficult for the dog to maneuver as the space is triangle-shaped and very tight. The door is also moving, often at a pre-set speed. Revolving doors can be nerve wracking for the dog especially since the dog is in the tight corner of the triangle and there is a glass wall directly in front and behind. The dogs are taught to work on the leash through revolving doors rather than with the harness handle being held. When the handle is dropped, the dog is not responsible for guiding and is only required to heel next to the handler. It takes repeated exposures for some dogs to gain the confidence to calmly enter and walk slowly through revolving doors.

G
Escalators - As a puppy, we hope you gave your pup the opportunity to observe escalators. Guide dogs begin their exposure to escalators by being helped on by the instructor. Most do not really want to get on because they are unsure. This uncertainty is overcome by the trust relationship that has developed between the dog and the trainer. After the dog is encouraged to step onto the escalator, the instructor supports the dog by holding the back strap of the harness. Most dogs are crouched and a bit nervous on their first ride but soon realize after many repetitions that it is not so bad after all. Just as with revolving doors, the dog does not have to be responsible for anything but heeling. Dismounting the escalator is taught in a specific way so the dog does not get its toes caught in the metal teeth.

G
Most raisers have exposed their pups to riding in elevators. The dog learns to help find the controls for the elevator and when the door opens, to guide the handler in quickly, finding an open space to stand. The dog turns the handler around so they are facing the door and ready to leave when the elevator stops. The handler has to know which floor they are on and where they want to get off.

F/G
Indoor malls and stores -- Working inside malls, food courts and tight narrow isles uses the concepts of straight-line, steady pace and pull, and obstacle clearances but it poses new challenges since there are so many paths to take. The dogs are taught destinations to instill the concept that they are going into the building for a purpose. Guide dogs are taught to find the door openings and bring the handler to a door knob or push bar which can be challenging in a mall with a glass front where only one or two panels are actually doors. Once inside, the dog is taught to "shore-line," which means to stay near the corridor wall. The instructor selects a store to enter and the dog is commanded to "find right" or "find left" in order to help find the door. Much praise follows. The blind person would either have to know the approximate distance the store is from the entry door or ask someone. Once in the store, the handler will stop and "shop" while the dog lays or sits quietly. The dog is then instructed to find the door and will lead the handler out of the store. Of course, in the beginning, the dog is helped by the handler but, just as with all training, repetition and praise eventually lead to understanding.

Notes on training and reaction to the environment:
Nettie has done well during this training period, working in Peekskill, White Plains, and at the Jefferson Valley Mall. She continues to hone her skills in all of the basics of guidework. In addition, she has learned some new skills. She has learned how to travel through a revolving door, and is comfortable doing so. Nettie completed her preliminary blindfold during this training cycle. Some stress/worry has begun to surface with the added pressure and responsibility of the work.

We also proceeded to extensive indoor training at the Jefferson Valley Mall. Nettie works well indoors and targets stairs and doors well. She did very well working on the stairs, and was comfortable in the elevator. She had her initial exposure to riding the escalator, and has become comfortable doing so. At this point, she needs some minor fine tuning on the escalator.

Nettie completed prephase and phase 1 traffic as well during this training cycle. These lessons can be very stressfull and Nettie initially showed some displacement behavior such as sniffing and whining. This was a way for her to deal with the stress of the lessons. Eventually she did demonstrate a good back up away from the moving car, but showed considerable stress and worry. Nettie also took a trip to a local train station for platform work. Again, this can be stressfull for a dog. Nettie did show some worry, but was able to show the handler a good backup from the edge and turn to the right to block her handler from the edge.

Nettie has also had initial exposure to wearing the Halti and booties, while out of harness. She is adapting well to these items. Soon she will proceed to wearing them while working in harness.

Nettie has developed a strong handler attachment over the past few months. It is not uncommon for a dog who lacks some confidence to build this attachment and turn to the handler for support as more pressure is put on. Nettie will benefit from being worked by other people in order for her to learn that guidework is her job and that she needs to perform for any handler. Nettie will now be worked by my partner Woody for the next 5 weeks. In addition, our class supervisor Miranda will be working with Nettie as well. I will miss working with her, but ultimately this is best for her.

Nettie is currently living with Annabelle BLF. She is super sweet and affectionate. She loves playing with her sister Nia YLF during community run.

That's my girl!

2008-04-30T16:57:00.001-04:00

We got Nettie's Phase 2 report today. I keep reminding myself that anything can happen during training, but I feel encouraged by this report. (And, my darling husband has shown me how to copy the form for posting. :-) )

So here goes:

Training

Phase two is a time to fine tune the previous lessons, to continue working on obedience, to work on any residual behavioral problems the dog may have such as scavenging for food, distraction with animals, over-friendliness with people, emptying on route or concerns with the environment. It is also a time to use the learned lessons in Peekskill, a moderate sized town with added distractions such as traffic, stores, pedestrians, other animals, and unusual under-footings like grates or metal plates in the sidewalk. These distractions add extra challenges for the dogs as they continue to work on reinforcing basic obedience, guide dog commands and the straight line concept that they learned in phase one. New lessons will begin to include making turns, crossing streets and stopping at down curbs.

(P:Poor F:Fair G:Good F/G:Fair/Good, etc. ) Being worked on

G
Application of guide-work basics: straight-line, forward, hup-up, wait, obedience.

G
Right and Left Turns - Using hand signals, verbal cues, specific foot movements by the handler and leash cues, the instructor teaches the dog to make 90 degree turns. The right turn is fairly easy but the left turn requires the dog to back up and then swing around 90 degrees to the left. At first turns are done in areas without obstacles such as poles but later the dog will have to adjust the turn to clear the handler from hitting objects or people standing nearby.

G
Stopping at Down Curbs - Dogs first learn to stop at the curb before stepping into the road or when reaching the end of the sidewalk or path. This is a crucial lesson since stopping will serve as a means of orientation for the blind person, providing a signal that the team has come to the end of the block. The blind person then decides to continue forward and crosses the street or to make a right or left turn or even an about turn. Much effort goes into training the dog to walk quickly up to the stopping point and to maintain a steady pace. The dog must stop with its toes right at the edge of the curb so the blind person can extend a foot and tap to determine that they have reached the end of the block. If the dog slows down before reaching the curb in anticipation of stopping, the blind person will interpret this as the dog indicating a narrow space or rough terrain.

G
Street Crossings -- The dogs are taught to cross quickly from one curb to the opposite curb and never to cross diagonally. Just as with every lesson, the dogs are first shown what to do with verbal cues and leash guidance while the harness handle is held.

Michelle's comments:
Nettie is progressing nicely with her training. She has been working mostly in the town of Peekskill working on her curbs, turns, and street crossings. She is a very willing dog and has proven to be very smart as well. She has relaxed considerably since my last report. She has settled into a comfortable moderate pace.

Nettie also took a trip to a local mall during this training cycle. Nettie works well indoors and on stairs. She is relaxed and settled.

Nettie is currently living with Annabelle, YLF. She loves to play with her sister Nia YLF. They are adorable.

The TV guide dog recap

2008-04-29T12:33:00.002-04:00

Well, if you suspended disbelief, it was a pretty funny episode. My observations:

1) Although there's a reference that Carlos went to "school" to learn to work with Roxy the guide dog, it appears to have been for a very quick period of time!

2) Roxy growls at Gaby whenever she yells at or is mean to Carlos. I'm pretty sure that, however admirable the loyalty, that personal protection is not part of the training regimen.

3) Neither is fetching the remote and the other tasks Gaby was so hoping for. Although I think she also mentioned licking up spills ... and I would say that the pups I've raised, Murphy especially, probably could tackle that job if asked.

4) The dog following Gaby home after being dumped back at the guide dog school? Um, yeah. Right.

The dog was definitely a golden, I'd say, and the harness looked pretty close to real.

But otherwise, as they say, that's entertainment.

Comedic relief

2008-04-23T09:32:00.002-04:00

Anyone out there a fan of "Desperate Housewives" ? That show is one of my guilty pleasures. Well, anyway, in next week's episode, Carlos is getting a guide dog. I can hardly wait to see how comedically inaccurate this is going to be ... One of the promos showed the dog in bed with him, with him saying that the trainers told him to do this to "bond" with the dog. The dog looks like a golden, from the brief glimpse I saw.

Nettie's Phase 1 report

2008-04-11T16:26:00.003-04:00

Well, I'm finally getting around to posting Nettie's Phase 1 report, which we got two weeks ago (on the day Rebecca was born, hence the delay.)

I'm having trouble copying the form, but the headline is that Nettie got a "Good" on every category she was evaluated on: Obedience, Introduction to Harness, Forward Command, Hup-Up Command, Wait Command and Straight Line Concept.

She also got "Good" in Community Run, Kennel Behavior, and Body Handling. (I was a little surprised on body handling because, for me at least, she was always a pill about having her nails clipped. But maybe I'm just not good at it!)

I was thrilled, to say the least!

Here is Michelle's comment portion:

Nettie has been very busy over the past month. She has learned to pull in her harness and passed her 'forward' test two weeks ago. We have been working on self control with Nettie, she is so eager to learn and please that she can sometimes lose focus. She has done very well when her handler is low key and clear with commands. Nettie has moved on to working in Peekskill, focusing on the straight line concept, curb work, and turns. She is a smart dog and has done well with her lessons.Nettie is currently living with Nate GLABYM, and Razzle YLF. She has a lot of energy and enjoys playing with the big boys during community. She is a very sweet dog and I enjoy working with her.

The long arm of the law

2008-04-04T21:38:00.002-04:00

In what may be a first in puppy raising, I found myself staring down the long arm of the law this afternoon, over a puppy that isn't even here anymore.

Gorham, Maine takes its dog licensing very seriously, people. And the cop on my doorstep was hot on the trail of the unlicensed Nettie Louise.

Fortunately it was a mixup, and I did not wind up being hauled away to the hoosegow.

The background: Dog licenses in our town expire on Dec. 31, and there is a theoretical "grace period" until Jan. 31.

Given that Nettie left for IFT on Feb. 2, I had called the town clerk in January to explain the situation and ask if I really needed to license Nettie for just a couple weeks. She had said that no, I didn't have to. (She was also awfully rude and snippy about it, and frankly, acted like I was trying to scam the town out of the money, but that's another story.)

Well, apparently, she never took me off the list for having the exemption .. and the town is now cracking down on dog license scofflaws, hence the officer's visit to my home today.

I invited the cop in, explained the GEB program and background to him, and invited him to feel free to search the house for Nettie if he liked. He wisely observed that if a Lab was in the house, he probably would have already seen or heard her.

He crossed my name off, and left, leaving me a free woman.

Just to be safe, though, I've called the Town Council chairman -- who happens to have recently retired as a vet at the practice that treated Murphy and Nettie both for free. I figure it can't hurt to make sure I really get off the list this time (and honestly, I intend to share my feelings about the clerk at this point, too!)

"Human puppy" is here!

2008-04-01T09:07:00.002-04:00

Meet Rebecca Jane, who was born on Friday, March 28. She weighed 8 lb 4 oz and was 20 3/4 inches long.

Things are going pretty well, other than being up most of the night every night... (Hmm, makes Miss Nettie's early barking seem a lot better in hindsight! Or maybe it was good practice.) I know we want to raise again and have a "forever dog" someday too .. but I know it's not any time soon!

Speaking of Nettie, I got her Phase 1 report -- nothing but "Good"s! I will post it later, but wanted to get this picture up.

Missing having a pup around...

2008-03-26T22:22:00.003-04:00

It has been just one of those months, and I have so keenly felt the edge of not having a pup around to distract me from some of it, even though I know it would be a big struggle right now to handle one and its training.

Some may know that I'm an editor at a newspaper, which is not exactly a great career position to be in right now! Actually, I oversee our website/online operations, which I am thankful for, because that's the way the media world is going. Anyway, this month has involved many cutbacks and some staff layoffs; it has been just an awful, agonizing process, having to be involved in making those kinds of decisions that have such impact on people's lives.

As soon as the dust settled from that, our paper's owners announced abruptly that they are putting it up for sale. Basically, it means we have no idea what might happen. Any new owner can come in and get rid of anyone they choose, or tell us that we're all making much less money and we can take it or leave it, etc. It's very unnerving about the future, that's for sure. I'm trying to stay positive, but can't help but worry.

Then, as if I wasn't having enough fun, I got slammed by the flu. The flu is especially not fun when you are 9 months pregnant, because for one thing, you can't take anything decent medicine-wise! I did really miss Nettie and her company while I was lying around in bed or on the couch (even though I knew intellectually that I would have been hating myself for not being able to take care of her properly!) However, my cat Squeegee did try to fill the role and essentially attached himself to me like Velcro for the duration -- although he may have just seen me as captive petter.

At any rate, all of this would have been more bearable, I think, with a Lab in the house.

But, literally any day now, there will be a human baby here, and I keep telling myself that we are going to raise another GEB pup someday. Something to look forward to no matter how everything else turns out, I guess.

They have her pegged ...

2008-03-09T23:20:00.002-04:00

Nettie's first training report came last week. It's pretty brief, as she only is beginning training. Most of it deals with her health and kennel behavior, which was all rated good. She is just starting out on Colonial Drive (the first area where they work), so instead of a "report card" on training phases, it's just her trainer's observation.

But, I must say, the trainer has Miss Nettie pegged.

Nettie and I met for the first time this week. We are working on basic obedience and proper collar response. Initially Nettie was very difficult to focus. She has shown a high energy level, but is able to come down a bit and focus with time. She can get extremeley distracted in new environments, but again, will settle and focus with repeated expsoure.

Nettie is a sweet, soft girl. She has a great energy about her once she can settle and relax in her environment.

Nettie will begin her 'forward' training next week on Colonial Street. She has demonstrated a lovely obedience routine.

Nettie is currently living with Razzle YLF and Nate GLABYM.

That's so typical of Nettie. In new places, she always had a hard time focusing at first, but I keep reminding myself that once she settled, she was calm and could work. So, we'll see if they can help her reduce that settling phase.

I'm sure I would be panicking if this were my first pup's report, but at least they like her obedience!

Dreaming of Murphy

2008-03-03T22:15:00.004-05:00

I had the oddest dream last night about Murphy. There was some kind of ceremony or event at Guiding Eyes, and we went there to see Murphy and his owner, who were attending. But when we got there, they kept telling us that this dog that looked very much like an English springer spaniel was Murphy. Even his owner was with this other dog. Meanwhile, we kept trying to explain to people that Murphy is a black Lab and this dog wasn't even a Lab! In my dream, my husband kept repeating, "I would remember if Murphy had spots!"

Weird, huh? Why I dreamed about Murphy last night, I don't know. Perhaps it was because we (Andrew and I) had gone to a puppy playdate at our regional coordinator's house that afternoon for a dog fix .. it is a fun sight to see eight Lab pups of varying ages and a 6-year-old boy racing around delightedly in the snow! It did make me miss having a dog around, although logically, one would think I should have dreamed about Nettie instead.

Maybe it was because, I have to admit, I have been feeling somewhat melancholy lately about Murphy. When we met his owner at graduation, he was very friendly and said repeatedly that he would keep in touch. We got a very long, nice letter in August, but since then, have not heard a word, even though he said in the letter, for instance, that he would send us the article his hometown paper did about them.

I don't expect him to keep up constant contact, but I had really been hoping for a Christmas card or some word just to assure us that Murphy is doing well. I know that I'd probably hear if he wasn't, and I feel somewhat selfish for even voicing this. We sent Murphy's owner a holiday card and I hope that he doesn't think we overstepped bounds. As I said, I feel somewhat selfish for even mentioning it. I know plenty of raisers who never have heard anything from the dog's owner again after graduation, and that is totally the owner's prerogative. We raisers know these dogs aren't ours, and we're doing this because we want to, not because we expect something at the end. (at least I hope that's why we are.)

But it's also hard when you did have a lot invested, and you do wonder how the dogs are. I think if his owner didn't wish to keep in touch, I just wish he wouldn't have said he wanted to. Every now and then, my son even asks when Murphy's family will write... Of course, I dont' know what's going on in his life, and he may have something going on that's just left him too busy or unable to drop a line. I was tempted to call his local newspaper and just order a reprint of the story myself, but he lives in a small town and I'm half afraid they'd tell him some crazy woman from Maine wanted to get the story about him!

Miscellaneous catch-ups

2008-02-11T22:53:00.000-05:00

The official word came from our GEB regional manager ... Nettie is officially not being looked at for breeding -- she'll be a worker. She may already be spayed at this point, and will get some recovery time before she starts up again.

In a way, I'm kind of happy. I know it would be an honor for her to be a brood, but I think it would be hard knowing she's hanging out with a family and it couldn't be mine. (We live too far from the breeding center to qualify to foster her as a brood.) And I still think working will be the best thing for her. She needs to be doing something.

We also got "her" postcard from GEB today assuring us that she is having fun and learning lots. It's a cute thing they do.

***

Not to be dog-less too long, we're babysitting a friend's black Lab for a week while they're on vacation. Ellie is 4, and is a released dog from Seeing Eyes. She got released for lack of confidence, and I can certainly see that. She is a sweet girl though and doesn't seem to mind that we keep calling her "Nettie" or "Nellie"! By tomorrow, we may have this right.

I also notice a big difference in energy and calmness between a 17-month-old Lab (even a medium energy one) and a 4-year-old! We played in the snow yesterday, and Ellie was done well before Nettie would have been tired out.

However, as sweet and well-behaved as Ellie is, there are some big differences between a pup in training and a pet:

1) Don't leave pizza on the coffee table. Nettie wouldn't have dreamed of looking at it; Ellie seems to enjoy pepperoni.

2) The ability to have a dog eliminate on command is very under-rated and something you don't appreciate until you're standing around outside in the cold waiting for a dog to go!

3) After training two of them, it's hard to not automatically do hand signals with commands.

***

I'm not sure how much updating I'll do from here on out ... probably very little until we hear something from training.

The IFT pictures

2008-02-06T21:09:00.000-05:00

For those who are coming new to this process, the In For Training test basically tries to gauge how the dogs react to unexpected situations, and lets the GEB officials get a look at them. Dogs are handled by people they don't know. The GEB folks also have a lot of info about the dogs. I was trying to explain this to one friend, and the sports analogy I came up with was that it's kind of like an NFL combine for dogs -- they're trying to predict what dogs will be stars, understanding that they still have lots of training to go.

Anyway, it's a short, but nerve-wracking, process. Nettie had me worried -- she came out and was clearly already pretty wound up. I found out later that she was next to her kennel mate, so they were very interested in each other. Plus, the dogs don't use gentle leaders during the test, and Nettie had been using one a lot with me in training, with my RM's encouragement/blessing, to make sure that she didn't yank me off my (increasingly top-heavy) feet.

But, she made it. I'm fascinated watching the Guiding Eyes people and the dogs and trying to figure out what they're looking for. It can be very, very subtle body language. For instance, to my amateur eye, Nettie's sister Nadine looked good -- she was quieter than Nettie. But she was released.

Nettie was quite exuberant when they brought her in to see me after the test, but that seemed to be par for the course.

I also got to see her in the kennels. As I went to leave, I turned to walk away and she barked at me. I looked back to see her sitting with her head cocked, doing her eyebrow scrunch, as if to say 'Wait, aren't you going to let me out?' I had to get out of there.

Here are the pictures and my mental play-by-play:

Oh, Nettie! Less sniffing, more focus!

OK, thank you. Yes, pay attention to your handler.

The dreaded umbrella, but she seems to be ok...

Reunited after the test, and we finally convinced her to sit still .. for a minute.

And here she is (center dog) in the kennel.

Nettie passes her IFT!

2008-02-05T18:18:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note to say that Nettie passed her IFT today. I drove down to NY from Maine last night after work, and then came back this afternoon. I'm beat, and will write more (and post pictures) later, but it was worth it to go. I wavered and really thought about not going, but I'm glad I did.

Our other two Maine dogs also passed, and two of Nettie's sisters were tested as well. Nia passed and Nadine was released. The three of them look alike -- same face shape, same coloring.

Much more later.

Random thoughts, random pictures

2008-01-31T21:28:00.000-05:00

One more day of Nettie being here ... I briefly considered taking her to Target tonight to work, but then realized: She knows what she's going to know. So we went outside and played ball instead, and now she's taking a nap.

****

I was listening to my iPod on shuffle last night while walking her, and it was kind of funny -- or maybe I'm just being sappy -- at how the songs seemed to be coming up with meaning.

-- "Instant Karma", John Lennon: Well, we all shine on ...

-- "I've Got You Under my Skin", Frank Sinatra: Well, clearly she did get there, or we'd have never come through that crate-barking phase....

-- "We're All Right", Mary-Chapin Carpenter: .. cross ourselves and hope to fly / No road maps, no signposts/ No North Star, no lifeboats / No cavalry coming in sight / But we're all right.

***

****

Finally, here are some recent random pictures from various outings.

This is from a recent playdate with Kessler, who's going IFT in March, and Sal, a release dog who belongs to our region coordinator.

****

This was taken last Saturday, when we went to meet Carol, who started Nettie, and Ginny, Nettie's half-sister. Ginny, who is 13 months old, is on the left. Aren't they sweet? They had many fans and many compliments working inside Barnes & Noble.

****

Finally, this is from recent practice at home. We were working on "bow" and Andrew decided to help demonstrate for Nettie!

If I knew then what I know now

2008-01-29T21:36:00.000-05:00

Rarely do we endorse products at "Not My Dog," but I was struck the other night by the thought that I don't know how I made it through 1 1/2 Labs before discovering this grooming tool: the Shed'N Blade.

Don't adopt a Lab without one.

I need a nap

2008-01-20T07:10:00.000-05:00

After months of no demand barking in crate, guess what I hear at 5:30 a.m.?

The plaintive whimper, the short investigatory bark and then finally a full-blown bark.

No way am I getting up to reward this, and happily, after about five minutes of barking, Nettie settles down again.

Of course, at 5:45, just as I am thinking I might get back to sleep, husband starts snoring loudly.

At 5:58, just as I am getting used to husband all over again, the baby decides now is a good time to begin practicing her soccer scoring skills.

At 6:13, I hear an imperious "Mama! I want to play Webkinz!" from Andrew's room.

I give up. I think it's a conspiracy. Luckily, they're all pretty cute. (* giving the baby advance benefit of doubt.)

To IFT, or not to be?

2008-01-15T21:19:00.000-05:00

It makes no sense that I would drive 5 hours after work on a Monday night to New York, stay in a hotel and spend a vacation day that I probably should be hoarding for maternity leave to watch Nettie take a test that takes all of about 15 minutes (and one that Guiding Eyes tapes and sends to the raisers).

If she passes the IFT test -- and I do think she probably will, though you never know -- it's no guarantee that she'll succeed as a guide dog.

If she doesn't pass the test, it's not like I can load her in the car and take her home that day to be our pet. (She'd have to get spayed and other assorted GEB processing stuff first.)

So it makes no sense at all, which is why it shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who knows me that I've booked a motel room and asked for the day off work. So I'll be exhausted at the end. I'll live.

I'd been dithering on this, and Bob settled the matter, saying that I would hate it if I didn't go, because going and seeing it, in a way, wraps everything up and means that I'm seeing Nettie all the way through our training together.

He's right way too often.

Carpe diem, etc

2008-01-06T22:41:00.000-05:00

Here's Nettie on Christmas morning, with the moose toy that "Santa" brought her...

And here we are later on Christmas morning, after Nettie had played very enthusiastically with the moose...

But if dogs can smile, I think she's smiling.

As of tomorrow, Nettie and I have 26 days left together, and that has me in a reflective mood, I suppose. I think this month will be one of making the most of the moments as they come.

One of the last quotes on my 2007 dog calendar was this: "My dog is usually pleased with what I do, because she is not infected with the concept of what I 'should' be doing."

Perhaps too often in the puppy-raising process -- or in life in general -- it's very easy to get the case of the 'shoulds.' I should be devoting more training time, or I should be more patient .. . I should be getting more done at work or being a better mom or a better wife ... I should have a cleaner house and a more organized approach to dinner.

I realized the other day that, while standards are great, and everyone needs some 'shoulds', that when I started mentally telling myself that I should be better about moisturizing, that maybe the thing I really 'should' do was cut myself a break a little bit. (Although as 40 looms, maybe I'll cut myself a break on the dust bunnies instead.)

I know I've been more relaxed about Nettie than I was with Murphy, and so far -- knock on wood -- it doesn't seem to have hurt her. We worked today in Gorham and went to the local coffee shop after an extended absence, and she walked in and behaved perfectly without missing a beat.

Just 26 more days to keep dancing the balance dance.

Tree tail tracker, quadrupled

2007-12-17T21:34:00.000-05:00

Jackpot! Four ornaments sent flying with one frantically joyous swipe of the tail.

Note to self: Don't let Nettie greet me anywhere in the vicinity of the tree when I return home from work.

Christmas merriment, etc.

2007-12-13T23:01:00.000-05:00

Nettie went with me to the mall on Tuesday, since I had a day off, for some practice. She is really on a roll lately -- I think she is so ready to go IFT and start learning more than what I can teach her.

She got to meet Santa, too. We were walking by and he had no kids waiting. He saw her and waved, and then motioned us in. Nettie greeted him very nicely, even though she usually doesn't see guys who look like him. Santa was impressed with Nettie; he told her, with a twinkle, that she had been very good and she wagged furiously. (I assured Santa that he's already gotten her a nice toy.)

The Tree Tail Tracker: One ornament on the living room floor BUT one of the cats was the culprit, as the incident occurred while we were out and Nettie was safely crated. A reminder why all the bottom ornaments have been non-breakable ones for a number of pre-pup years now.

Maine winters, and the Tree Tail Tracker

2007-12-10T22:36:00.000-05:00

As you can see, this is one mistreated dog.

Also, new for the holidays: The Tree Tail Tracker!

Tonight's count: One ornament askew, four wildly waving, but none on the floor. Yet.

Labrador brains

2007-12-09T22:49:00.000-05:00

"Maybe," Bob suggested the other day, "you can tell Guiding Eyes that she needs to work in Florida or somewhere like that."

We got our first 9 inches of the season, and it's a whole new ballgame. Nettie likes snow. Really likes snow. Wants to roll in it, burrow in it, chase toys in it and pronk around in it. Likes it so much that she has to be reminded sometimes that she must also work and mind her manners in it. (Lest anyone think she's mistreated, I would point out she gets to do all of the above in it at specified times.)

None of this is a revelation -- she came here in February, so I've had ample experience with her in snow -- but it's still funny to see how that Labrador brain can get so fixated on one thing.

At least she has her coat, so we can work inside places. And, aside from the snow, she's working pretty nicely. I took her to Target on a busy Saturday and she was doing great, sticking right with me as we dodged other shoppers. She stayed very focused even though the place was jammed with people.

Sometimes I feel this way myself ...

2007-11-21T16:19:00.000-05:00

Learning how to be good is hard work for a pup. This was taken in the car on the way home from the Pet Expo in Wilton a few weeks ago ...

Unfortunately, the pictures of Nettie and Ginny together didn't turn out. I could scream! It was in an old factory and my flash apparently wasn't enough. Hey, I'm a word person, not a photog! I'll have to see if Tiffany took any.

In the meantime, if anyone knows Santa, tell him I want a camera phone to replace my antique cell phone, which is circa 2003. I know. I'm surprised it even still works, especially since it somehow has dog hair inside it. :-)

Meeting and greeting

2007-11-20T11:09:00.000-05:00

Just a quick note .. Nettie went to the vet on Saturday for her rabies booster and did pretty well, even with several dogs there (and Andrew along too!). The vet seemed quite taken with her. She weighed 56.4 pounds.

We have houseguests all week and she's behaving well for them. I kept her crated when they first arrived and then brought her out on leash. She got very excited for about 5 minutes but now has settled in and just treats them like family. I taught them the commands and hand signals and she minds them, too. I think she's enjoying having four adults to dole out pats -- last night she just made the circuit from person to person to get petted!

Smart girl!

2007-11-17T09:45:00.000-05:00

Whenever I put Andrew to bed at night, Nettie goes into her kennel. The two bedrooms upstairs are off-limits to her, as the cat who hates her needs some "havens" ... and whenever Nettie has gone into those bedrooms, he expresses his displeasure by peeing. Yes, great fun. So it's easiest to let him win and Nettie just doesn't go there.

Anyway, a couple nights ago, I told Andrew, "Time to go put on your jammies."

Upon hearing this, Nettie rose, walked over to her crate, nudged the door open with her nose, and kenneled herself!

She now kennels herself as soon as she sees bedtime prep start ... I do believe she'd stay in the crate even if I didn't shut the door.

Things are almost going too well

2007-11-12T22:11:00.000-05:00

OK, I'll start off by saying that I know I have to get some good pictures up! Now, I did take a camera to the pet expo that I'll mention below, but given the atmosphere, I was scared to take my husband's good digital camera, so I grabbed a disposable. Wise move, as it turned out, when Nettie and her half-sis scattered my bag's contents! So anyway, they'll be coming. Soon.

Now, on to the Nettie updates. Three key things to report on: Evals, pet expo and Nettie's sleepover.

We had evals two weeks ago, and again, Nettie did really well. We did something really fun -- shut the doors to a large room and our coordinator had us walk around with the dog with us, but off-leash, which she called 'ghost-walking.' Surprise, surprise -- something I've been doing around the house is paying off! I started emphasizing to Nettie that she walk with me, even off leash, in self-defense to preserve the cat detente. It is not easy to maintain cat detente when an exuberant Lab might burst forth anytime you come walking out of a door. i've found the cats are much less jumpy if they know that Nettie is WITH me, so that's what we've been doing. For once, I had an eval where I wasn't nervous! Bessie also recommended that I start teaching Nettie to 'label' things -- which I'd been doing as a game... 'bring me the kong, bring me a bone.'

I think it really hit me how little time there really is left, when Bessie said that since the next evals are in late January, I really don't have to bring Nettie to that one. wow.

The following weekend, we were off to the Pet Expo, up in Wilton, Maine. I spent the day there with Carol, who started Nettie, and Ginny, who is Nettie's younger half-sister (their dad is Evan.) Another raiser, Tiffany, whose pup is IFT, also came over to keep us company.

Both of the girls were DARLING. Nettie was very excited, of course, to see Carol, but she kept her composure very well. Carol was very excited and proud of her. Nettie spent the entire day out, behaving nicely around everything from a chihuahua in ridiculous costume to a great Dane (she barely came up to his chest!) She also greeted scores of humans and not once did we even have an attempt at jumping.

I think I got some very nice pictures of Nettie and Ginny together -- if I did, I'll send one to GEB for the homepage (and put it up here, too!).

Finally, this weekend, we went up to Acadia for a last gasp of scenery/hiking, so Miss Nettie had a sleepover at the house of some raisers who are between pups. Their last pup was much like Murphy -- an energetic, huge boy, even bigger than Murphy was -- so I think they enjoyed my petite girl and her lovely house manners. I'm told the highlights of her weekend were going to the supermarket and working inside and in the lot, and in having a play date with one of their neighbors' dogs this morning. It must have been a rowdy playdate, because she's been zonked since we picked her up around 3:30.

That's all the good .. our current dilemma, though perhaps moot, is this: GEB recently changed its rules in how it handles pups that don't make it as a guide. Under the old rules, the raiser could say they wanted the dog back before it would be offered to another organization, like ATF or state police or another school. Now, GEB is making all efforts to match the dog for a career change and then only offers the pup back to the raiser if a suitable career can't be found.

Nettie is grandfathered in under the old rules. We had been thinking that we were content to follow the new rules; we actually had been frustrated by the old rule with Murphy, because we wanted him to have a shot at another career if he couldn't guide, but we wanted him if he couldn't, and if we passed on him initially, there was no guarantee we'd get him back.

I'd told our coordinator at evals that we were leaning to playing under the new rules with Nettie, but I think both Bob and I are feeling torn about that now. On one hand, I want her to have a career -- I've worked very hard to build her skills and train her for something.

On the other, she's one great, sweet, smart dog and we've fallen for her.

As I say, it's probably a moot point. I'm biased, but she's been doing great lately. I know anything can happen in training, but I think she's got a great shot at guiding.

Maybe I'm just hormonal, but giving her up is going to be really hard .. not that giving up Murphy wasn't hard, but that time, I knew (no matter what my husband said) that a new pup was going to come along pretty soon. This time, for obvious reasons, that's not in the cards for a while.

And this house is going to seem quite empty without her.

Excellent ideas in theory...

2007-10-30T23:12:00.001-04:00

A technique that GEB often recommends is having kibble in cups throughout your house, so you can reward quickly and work in quick training moments.

Having spent a good amount of time picking kibble out of the sofa bed and vacuuming deep within its bowels to make sure I got all the crumbs (lest Nettie develop a yen to climb on it), I still think it's an excellent idea -- but one that probably works better in houses that do not have 6-year-old boys.

Update on Murphy request

2007-10-23T19:07:00.000-04:00

Well, OK, I am a worrywart for no reason. I heard from our coordinator and she said that Murphy is fine, no problems at all, this is just part of GEB's ongoing research and tracking.

Whew! I guess we never quit totally worrying about them, right?

Worrywart alert!

2007-10-22T21:42:00.000-04:00

I got an email tonight from our regional coordinator saying that GEB is "relooking over some of our pups on program that have graduated" and would like to see any tapes/DVDs I have of Murphy. It was sent to me and the raisers of another pup.

So, has anyone had this happen to them or know what the deal is? I am hoping that this does not mean Murphy is having problems. I did get one letter from Murphy's owner, back in August, I think, and it sounded like everything was good then. But I am a worrywart!

Changes, changes

2007-10-19T20:40:00.000-04:00

Well, now I have an actual IFT date for Nettie (note, I'm not saying 'official', just a date).

Feb. 2. Which I believe is actually a Saturday, so maybe that's the pickup date. I don't know. Quite different from April or May, for sure. We'll see. Certainly this is more manageable, and if it holds, I may still raise Nettie more, with Nina giving me breaks now and then.

It's like that old saying about the weather .. if you don't like it, wait and it'll change. (GEB raisers will understand my mild snarkiness here.)

Anyway, we're just getting ready for evals -- oh, wait, I mean "Walk & Talks" (oh, more snark again!) -- next week. I took off work early today to make up for two very long days last week of commuting to Boston for a seminar, and met Nina and three other GEB pups and their raisers for a mini-session. Nettie ended up spending the day in the crate in my car while I was at work, and that actually went well. I went and got her at lunch and we went for a walk/work session the. At our "class," she was barky at first, so we slipped the gentle leader on for about five minutes, and then she settled in really well. She played very nicely with Ivanna, a 4-month old pup.

Nettie speaks

2007-10-12T21:14:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone,

Mom had to go to Boston for a seminar today, and she says she's too tired to write, so it's my turn, I guess. Geez .. she just sat around all day, what fun is that? Maybe it's this "baby" thing they keep talking about. I don't know. She's starting to look like she's been hitting the treats too much, if you ask me... but I'm cranky because she put me on a diet because she and Nina decided I'd put on a little weight myself!

Anyway, I'm back home. I had a great time last week with Nina and Sal .. we did lots of fun things and I had some puppy playdates with Nancy, another GEB puppy. But I was glad to be home, too, even though that prissy black & white cat poofed up and hissed when I came in. And I didn't even lunge at him! What's his issue? He acted like he thought the house belonged to him or something.

After my buddy Andrew went to bed, I hung out with Mom. I sat there with my head in her lap while she was on the computer, and then napped at her feet. I stayed right with her all evening and was really cute and loving.

Smart me!! That's because I woke up at 2:15 a.m. and barked for 10 minutes ... hey, I was awake and it doesn't hurt to try to see if anyone will come play, right? Luckily I didn't wake the guys up .. just Mom, and she'd been up at 1 a.m. with Andrew, too. So what's she complaining about? It's not like she came down to see me when I barked at 4 a.m. for 10 minutes either. Sheesh. Then the two cats got into a fight in her bedroom at 5 a.m.

Honestly. You wonder why she claims to be tired tonight. I really must start long-lining her and walking her more often to build up her strength.

A LOT to catch up on (Now we'll see who's really paying attention)

2007-10-04T15:09:00.001-04:00

Well, it has been very eventful around here, and that's why I haven't been posting so much.

Here's what's been happening. Nettie had some good working adventures when my parents visited for Andrew's birthday. We went up to Freeport and met Nina, our AC. We took Nettie and Kessler, who is about a month older than her, into the L.L. Bean flagship store for the first time. They were awesome! Both of them were so quiet and well-behaved. The biggest obstacle to working them was the number of employees and shoppers who kept coming up and complimenting them. We tried a Gentle Leader on Nettie and it made a huge difference for her. She still "takes notes" but I think it really helped her focus and not have to think about reacting to everything. She had begun to have some issues with pulling, so we wanted to nip that in the bud.

Nettie was, of course, very excited to meet my parents, but they couldn't believe how quickly she settled in and became calm in the house with them. Of course, they remembered Murphy's exuberance! We threw a birthday party for Andrew, with five 6-year-old friends visiting, so Nettie got to spend that Saturday with a sitter family in our area. She would NOT have liked to have been cooped up during the party, and she would not have been a good addition to the festivities. Why? This shot of playtime at my house gives a hint, I think.

I had several great outings planned for Miss Nettie last weekend, including a trip by ferry to Peaks Island, where we'd meet up with another raiser and her pup. Unfortunately, my girl had other ideas and went into her second heat last Friday. Argh! So instead we stuck close to home.

At least she can pose and look pretty in her jacket.....

Now, the other big thing that's been going on ... I alluded earlier to the fact that, much to our shock, Nettie won't go IFT until April or May.

The complication is that I'm pregnant, and the baby is due April 6! Which of course we are all thrilled about, even though it means that my puppy-raiser days are going to go on hiatus post-Nettie. What we're going to do is that Nina, our AC, and I will co-raise Nettie as of about December or so. We'll just see how much I can handle. The one big worry is that I probably won't want to be trying to handle Nettie in February, when it's icy and I'm 7 1/2 months along. I am not the world's most graceful human anyway, and that's asking to fall down. But we'll figure it all out. Nettie is actually over at Nina's house right now, as we're going to take a vacation for a few days. Nina has always adored Nettie, and Nettie loves going there. Nina has a release dog, Sal, who was released from GEB because he was going blind. (He's now totally blind.), and he and Nettie are great buds. I'm just so relieved Nina can help us out; I would have hated to just send MissNet off to NY and to someone I didn't know .. and we'll still have her a lot, too!

So .. did I live up to the headline?

Sarah and Josette are stars!

2007-09-19T06:25:00.000-04:00

Check out the story about Guiding Eyes' new program. Way to go, Sarah and Josette! But what, no picture?

http://www.recordonline.com:80/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070918/NEWS/70918026

Has it really been 2 years?

2007-09-15T07:42:00.001-04:00

Murphy is 2 today, so one more look at my all-time favorite puppy picture of him.

I'm sure that he is going to have a wonderful day with Lance, and that warms my heart.

Eek!

2007-09-14T20:09:00.000-04:00

Now we're hearing Nettie might not go IFT until April or May!

Two cool things to report...

2007-09-10T23:13:00.000-04:00

At puppy class on Saturday, I met some new raisers who will be getting their puppy next month. Later at the end of class, I mentioned for those who hadn't heard that I had gotten one letter from Lance and that Murphy was doing great. (We didn't have an August class, so a lot of folks didn't know yet I'd heard from him.)

Anyway, the woman then came up to me after class and said they'd decided to raise after reading the articles I wrote about raising Murphy! When I wrote the first one in December, their Lab was in poor health and she said she thought she'd like to do that after he died. The second article in July came out right after she had died and she remembered it when she saw it. So I was very happy! I had been kind of bummed, because I had hoped writing them might be a recruitment thing, and didn't think it had happened. They seem really nice and enthusiastic.

The other cool thing: I hate to even type this for jinxing my self, but Nettie has been quiet for two mornings in a row. I'm asking for trouble by even mentioning it, I know.

One other piece of news/adjustment: Apparently GEB is now keeping the pups out much later, and Nettie wouldn't go IFT before March at the earliest. We're kind of stunned because we were figuring she'd go in Nov/Dec, when she'd be 15-16 months old. For reasons I can't get into at the moment, this throws a big curveball our way, and we're going to have to figure out how to handle it. Stay tuned ...

Final tally for Wella/Farrell

2007-09-03T11:03:00.000-04:00

I just saw on the GEB web site that Meg, Murphy's last sibling in training, graduated and is now a guide. So it worked out that 4 of the 8 from the litter are guides. One was released as a puppy, one was released at IFT, and then Maddox and Morley got released from training.

Maddox's release was a little anticlimactic. He had been placed in the July class after not matching in June, and then pulled from it, too. At that point it was decided he didn't want to be a guide, so he was adopted out and is now a pet in NY. I know his raiser was very disappointed, after having had two months of buildup, of him being in class twice and then getting yanked. Oh well!

This was, I believe, Farrell's last litter, so yay for Farrell!

One way to hush the puppy

2007-08-20T06:59:00.000-04:00

It was a beautiful day yesterday, so Andrew, Nettie and I went for a hike. We hiked about 3 1/2 or 4 miles at Bradbury Mountain, which is a pretty easy climb.

It's a popular area for families and dogs, so Nettie got lots of dog exposure, including to some not-so-well-behaved members of her species. One family had two German shepherds, one of which was growling at us as it approached. I simply moved off the trail, put Nettie in a sit-stay and calmly told the owner to keep that dog away from my dog and boy. (And of course, they had it on one of those retractable (non) leashes.) "Oh, he's just a puppy and he likes to talk," the clueless woman babbled at me. Yeah, right, lady. That's a future dog-bite in progress. This "pup" was full-size already. We heard him growling at every dog he saw at the summit.

Nettie was gold through this encounter -- she was like a statue and didn't seem fazed. Andrew's also dog savvy enough to declare that that lady was going to have big problems because she didn't make that puppy mind when he was little!

Nettie also greeted beautifully and quietly when we encountered a little boy, maybe 10, who had Down's syndrome, who asked to pet her. I think dogs sense they need to be good around special needs kids, because Miss Nettie was so gentle with him.

Back to the headline -- no barking this morning! Now if only I could win the lottery and manage to spend every nice afternoon hiking in Maine's gorgeous scenery!

Murphy, Lance and us

2007-08-18T09:21:00.001-04:00

Here, at last is the formal portrait of Murphy, Lance, my son Andrew and me. I thought the photographer did a great job -- I really liked it!

There's a smudge in this version, which I downloaded from the GEB website for expediency.. I fear if I keep intending to scan the hard copy, you might be seeing it around the time Nettie graduates (knock on wood!).

For those lurkers who know Andrew (you know who you are!), can you believe how tall he's getting?

This one's going to be the death of me!

2007-08-17T16:10:00.000-04:00

Before our in-service two weeks ago, Nettie had actually pretty well quit barking in the crate in the morning. If we weren't up by 6:30 or so, we might get a little whine, but that was pretty much it.

I couldn't go to in-service -- we had too many people off at work and my boss wouldn't let me off -- so I dropped Nettie off and retrieved her at lunch. Nettie, alas, was apparently very overstimulated all morning. Lee, one of the GEB people, told me that she thought Nettie was not getting enough exercise and that I needed to walk her at least 2 miles a day. So, I have been walking her 2 miles every morning.

The catch is that since I've been doing that, Nettie has now begun barking in the crate every morning, usually starting around 5 a.m. She can easily bark for half an hour without stopping.
She barks if the crate is covered (and she's also started trying to pull the sheet into the crate to chew it. We have never been able to have bedding in the crate, she chews it.)

I always give her a kong or her favorite nylabone in the crate at bedtime. Doesn't matter. I've started feeding her later. No difference.

The big variable seems to be the walk. It's the only change in her routine here. She will shut up the minute she hears me get out of bed upstairs, and I never let her out of the crate immediately when I come down. Right now, she's lying there contentedly and quietly, looking at me.

Unfortunately, the morning is the only time I can really reliably squeeze in the long walk. My routine is something like this: I have to get up at 5:30 to proofread my paper's website and make any fixes to it. Usually what I do is leave Nettie in the crate if she's been barking, for at least 15 minutes. I do let her out once she's been quiet for a while. Then she hangs out while I do the site, which usually takes 45 min to an hour. After that, we go out, get busy, have breakfast and go for our walk, all before my son wakes up. I had been exercising her in the morning on a long line, but I quit doing that, thinking that that is "fun" to her and she was barking b/c she wanted to do it. For the walk, we just go up and down our cul-de-sac, a 1/4 mile round trip. We just do it eight times. (I figure that boring is probably better for an exercise walk, anyway.)

Nettie also gets a long-line play session of 20-30 minutes almost every night with Andrew and me as soon as I get home from work. After Andrew's in bed, I keep her out of the crate with me pretty much until I go to bed.

Before all this started, I tried to take Nettie out a couple evenings a week after Andrew was in bed, but right now, it's a vicious cycle. When I'm being woken up at 5, I'm a lot less likely to be raring to go to work her somewhere at 9 p.m. and that hasn't been happening as much. I don't know, maybe if I were working her at 9 pm , she'd sleep later.

I'm just frustrated at this point. Maybe I should have never taken her on, now that I'm working days. And no, they're not going to let me bring her to work, and many days, I'd be too busy at work to give her the proper training anyway.

Ideas from the puppy raisers reading this?

They say there are no dumb questions...

2007-08-13T06:18:00.001-04:00

but sometimes I'm not so sure.

From an onlooker at the mall: "Is she your guide dog?"

So many responses that could have been uttered to that one.

P.S. -- The headless mannequins? Not even an ear flick this time. That's my girl!

How smart is this girl?

2007-07-30T22:14:00.000-04:00

We've had an exciting weekend, with a fun training outing every day. I love having Nettie's jacket!

The funniest moment was in Nettie's first trip to the mall. We were doing great and she was trotting around like she'd been coming there all her life. We were walking past Express, and suddenly she shied to the side.

At first I couldn't figure out what had startled her. Then it hit me.

Headless mannequins. My puppy is smart enough to know that "people" should have heads, after all. And you know, the more I looked, they started to creep me out too. :-)

The good news is that Nettie is quite resilient. After her initial startle, she wanted to go investigate further (by wanting to jump on the glass.) We settled for doing a sit-stay and checking it out, and then she willingly walked by again.

The other funny incident was that we were providing the entertainment for a dad and his two kids, probably junior high age. I could see they were watching me work her, but I didn't really pay them much attention. Then I looked up after I'd moved to another area and they'd followed us to watch! They weren't interfering at all -- they were quite respectful and stayed back -- but it was still funny.

On Saturday, Nettie came with the whole family to the Gorham Days Parade. What didn't bother her: a huge rig blasting its air horn as it passed us, about 20 feet away; the Gorham fire trucks, with sirens and lights; the local dance school dancing by; a Model T's Kazoo-like horn; or the delegation of 3- to 5-year-olds from Andrew's preschool, many of whom were shrieking and waving at Andrew.
What we did have to work on: The black Lab puppy watching the parade a few families down.
(Sidenote: Not that I wasn't ready for dog distraction. I have often said that in Maine, they practically issue you a Lab when you cross the border.)

Sorry, no pictures! I have enough on my hands w/o photo, and Bob did forget the camera at the parade.

Peace and not so quiet

2007-07-24T21:43:00.000-04:00

We're back from a long weekend away, which was very relaxing and enjoyable. I had Friday off, and so that morning, I took Nettie to our town's library, where she can go now that she has her jacket. She was awfully good; she showed some signs of wanting to whine or bark, which she does sometimes when stressed, so we didn't stay long. (That's a great way to get asked back!) Then we went and met our area coordinator, who was keeping Nettie for the weekend, and another raiser, Janet, and her pup, Obie, who is 16 weeks. He is so adorable! I worked him and Janet worked Nettie.

Nina, our AC, always keeps the dogs hugely busy, so Miss Nettie is exhausted. She has barely been awake since I brought her home after work!

But my big excitement today, other than Nettie coming home, was that I got a letter from Murphy's owner. Even though he'd said at graduation that he wanted to keep in touch, I was still very relieved to actually hear from him!

He said that Murphy is doing great, and that their trip home went well, even though they were delayed 3 hours. His retired guide -- as befitting an older girl -- apparently ignores Murphy in the house but will play outside with him. She also did go through some issues of wanting to still be Lance's guide, but it sounds like all that is working out.

He said that his local paper is going to do an article on Murphy, which he'll send to me, so I will post it once I get it.

Gratuitous puppy pictures

2007-07-17T19:50:00.000-04:00

These were taken by Andrew, who's almost 6, on Sunday, the day after Nettie's 11-month birthday.

Yes, they're a tad impressionistic, but it captures the energy of the romp.

A great day!

2007-07-12T21:50:00.000-04:00

I'll post a picture soon, but Nettie had a great evaluation! She got her jacket, and our puppy evaluator was so pleased that she even hugged me!

(This is a new experience for me, after Murphy's evals, where usually we had some sighs and looks of concern. ... but he showed us all!)

I do think that this is the "second child" philosophy at work: all of my friends who have 2nd children (of the human ilk), are so much more mellow with #2. I am definitely much more relaxed with Nettie, and I think that translates at evals. I used to get so stressed with Murphy, and I'm sure, in hindsight, that it got passed on to him.

But Nettie was a doll. She walked nicely on loose leash and stayed in tune w/ me; she sprawled out calmly while we sat on a public bench. I was so proud of her!

Last Murphy story

2007-07-01T07:55:00.000-04:00

I wrote a follow-up story for my paper on Murphy, so here's a link to it, as well as to a multi-media photo gallery with narration.

http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=117689

An amazing day!

2007-06-26T22:56:00.000-04:00

Maybe it was a good omen, but I went out Friday morning before we left to look for an outfit. I found a sweater and skirt, and went to Chico's to look for jewelry.
I saw a necklace with colored beads that matched the sweater perfectly, and then I saw what the pendant said: "Love, peace, joy, patience" and other words. (Don't have it in front of me). Too perfect! (and on sale, too!)

The drive down was horrendous, but Saturday dawned gorgeous, just perfect. I popped in U2's "Beautiful Day" as we headed to GEB. It's one of the songs on the puppy-playlist I mixed on my iPod. I know, how geeky is that.

Anyway, even though I'd toured the Canine Development Center twice before, I signed up for the tour again because it was a good way to keep Andrew entertained that morning. And who ever wants to pass up the chance to ooh and aah over baby puppies, right?

In the weird happy coincidences continue mode, our tour guide was Lisa, who owns Farrell, Murphy's dad! It was so cool to hear about Farrell from her, even though Sarah has told me plenty too. She had a few minutes before the next tour, so I showed her Murphy's baby scrapbook. She agreed he looks like his daddy.

So then there we were at graduation.

I got worried when I saw all the boxes of Kleenex out! I have to admit, I had two worries. One, would I pick out Murphy out of all the black Labs? And two, would he remember us?

Murphy was the second black Lab in-- the first was Sarah's Diego, and I recognized him, from the pictures and from knowing he was with a young man. Then Murphy walked in and I knew him immediately. That's when I lost it. He looked so composed and mature.

Graduation was great -- they asked that only one person from each family come up to receive the certificate for puppy raisers, but I gleefully broke that rule. I was so proud of Andrew when he walked up with me and took it so proudly.

Afterwards, we got to meet Lance, Murphy's owner, in person. And yes, Murphy knew us. When Andrew greeted him -- after getting permission from Lance, of course! -- Murphy just lunged at him. We retreated to let Lance get him under control again, and then Woody, the class instructor and Murphy's trainer, suggested that we move to the back, where it was less crowded. That's when I got to greet Murph, and he knew me too -- he jumped all over the place again.

We talked to Lance, who lives in Wyoming, for about 90 minutes before we really had to get on the road -- it's a 6-hour drive back to Maine. I liked him so much -- he is a teachers' aide, so Murphy will be working in an elementary school, where he will probably be in hog heaven, being around kids all the time. Lance's first guide is retiring because of arthritis, but he is keeping her, so Murphy will have a friend to play with. He has a big fenced yard, he said, so I picture them having a grand old time. We bought Murphy a toy -- two tennis balls (his favorite thing ever) on a strong knotted rope, so that he can share with his new playmate. We also made a scrapbook of Murphy's puppy year for Lance, figuring that the kids at his school might like to see it. Andrew was so cute -- he insisted on explaining every page to Lance. He is so nice and so patient and generous with Andrew.

Anyway, enough yammering. On with the pictures:

Here's Lance with Murphy, just after the class came in.

This is Sarah, getting her certificate. Way to go, Sarah! My one regret from this is that things were so crazy that we didn't even get to talk, though we were sitting near each other during the ceremony.

Andrew got plenty of petting time with Murphy.

Here we are, all of us. Andrew felt very important, to have a camera and the job of taking pictures!

And finally, as the ceremony wound on, I caught Murphy (at left) and Diego comparing notes on "When do you think this will be over?"

I promised a Sunday update ...

2007-06-24T23:32:00.000-04:00

OK, so I lied.
I'm writing a follow-up story for my paper, and I'm on deadline for that. They pay me, so it comes first.

But to tide you over, here's a shot of Murphy the guide dog.

It was an amazing day .. I lost it when I saw Murphy walk in with Lance, his owner. He looked so professional and mature. I thought about that wiggly puppy, that exuberant adolescent, and there he was, looking like a pro.

Yes, he knew us when we finally got to meet and greet. He wiggled and wagged his whole body and even tried to jump on me.

I like Lance a lot and I am thrilled for them. I think it's a good match.

Let the countdown begin!

2007-06-21T23:44:00.000-04:00

This will be the last update until after graduation... We are leaving tomorrow afternoon. The drive from Maine to GEB is about 5 hours if nothing goes wrong, and I don't want to push it. So Andrew and I will drive down and spend the night nearby.

(Luckily, Andrew's musical taste seems to have improved since the last GEB road trip we did, in which we mostly listened to the soundtrack from SpongeBob Squarepants, and assorted Wiggles. Keep your fingers crossed for me.)

I still don't know what I'm going to wear, and I'll be finishing the scrapbook tomorrow night in the hotel. But it will be ready.

I have to 'fess up. I talked to Murphy's owner. I'm writing a follow-up story on Murphy for the paper, and I told my boss I wouldn't do it unless Murphy's owner was ok with it. So GEB asked him, and he was completely on board, and we talked on the phone for a bit. I will spill all on Sunday, but let's just say I am thrilled. I think Murphy could not be going to a better place had I scripted it myself, and I thought Murphy's owner is very nice and a great match. More to come later.

I went to LLBean tonight, and I bought a graduation present toy for Murphy. I teared up a tiny bit when the cashier said "Oh, you'll have a happy puppy when you get home!"

Much more to come on Sunday. Stay tuned.

Some new Nettie pictures

2007-06-18T23:04:00.000-04:00

Lest my little blond not get attention in the week of Murphy nostalgia .. I have some new pictures!

Nettie is OBSESSED with trying to cram more than one toy in her mouth at any given moment. I missed the shot of a very large Nylabone and a Kong, but as you can see, she has two balls in play at once. She loves the blue ball with a rope and quickly figured out how to use it to carry another toy simultaneously:

We have been practicing not chasing cats. Squeegee is somewhat cooperative.

But we're being very, very good at focusing on our Kong and ignoring Andrew's toys!

Just distracted ...

2007-06-16T07:27:00.003-04:00

Poor Nettie. At least twice yesterday, I called her "Murphy."

A visual refresher for myself:
This is Murphy....

This one is NOT Murphy!

Distracted by minutiae

2007-06-13T23:18:00.001-04:00

Well, I have an appointment to get a much-needed haircut, and have the hotel booked. I have Andrew's outfit picked out, and now, if I could just decide what to wear to graduation myself! (For non-raisers, this matters because GEB takes a portrait of the person, the guide dog and the raisers.)

Photographically, my black slacks probably won't be a good choice, since it seems like -- based on browsing past graduation portraits -- that the dog is usually sitting in front of the raiser, who is standing. Yes, I am over-analyzing this.

This really should be fun .. in addition to meeting fellow GEB blogger Sarah, whose Diego is graduating, I will also get to see the raiser for Murphy's mother, Wella. She is so nice; we met at the boys' IFT, and she said she is coming to graduation when I emailed to tell her the news. It looks like Murphy's sibling Mica also is on the grad list, and these are the first Wella pups to become guides.

I also still need to buy Murphy a farewell toy gift... one of the kind he can't destroy, of course! Just in case!

Maddox not graduating in June

2007-06-08T23:00:00.000-04:00

Maddox's raiser got word tonight that he won't be in the June class after all, as they decided his pace and pull weren't a good match for the woman he'd been paired with. Even though it's just a delay for him, I'm kind of bummed. Beth (his raiser) and I attended the same orientation interest session, did the GEB pup pre-placement classes together, got the boys on the same day, took them to the IFT dropoff together, and went together to watch their IFT. It would have been too perfect to see them graduate on the same day. But at least he's still graduating.

More thoughts & finally, maybe a "why"

2007-06-08T05:49:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was already shaping up as a pretty great day, even before I heard that Murphy was graduating. It was the first day since my fall last week that I actually felt like myself again, and it was nice to be getting things back to normal.

What really threw me off was how quickly the news unfolded. That afternoon, around 4, I'd gotten his final training report, which said: "Murphy's potential for placement as a guide is very good and he is a possibility for the June '07 class."

So I was already very thrilled and excited, and then around 6 pm, I got the email that he was officially in class.

It's important to note that this is not final -- something could still happen -- but that's fairly rare. As I understand the process, Murphy is already out of the kennel and living in the dorm room with his new person.

Andrew and I will definitely be going to graduation so we can see Murphy one last time and meet his owner. Bob is taking a pass; he likes the dog and he's happy for me and proud, but making him go would be like dragging me to a model-making convention. Which is fine with me, although he played a bigger role in Murphy's success than he realizes.

Some people (including Bob) have been somewhat amused and slightly puzzled at how into this process I've gotten. (Obsessed, Bob would probably call it.) Even I never expected how this would become a very big part of my life, not so much time-wise as emotionally.

Why? You know, I looked through my past postings last night, and I noticed that I was always saying I would explain why this has been such a big deal for me, and I never really did. That's probably because I didn't always know. It's easy to explain why your family is central to your heart. It's easy to explain why your profession is important to you, assuming you've chosen a path that's part of you and not just a paycheck, which is what journalism has always been for me. (Most of the time, anyway, but there's a whole other blog!)

But there's no easy niche to explain falling in love with a dog that you know won't be yours, and you hope won't be yours, even while you keep a small piece of your heart/brain ready to take him back with open arms, just in case.
There's no easy niche to explain why I put so much work and worry into it. I think you could in some respect say this is my hobby, and that sort of gets at it. I did enjoy it -- I love dogs (even though I don't think I'm a wacko dog person) and I like having one around.

But at least for me, it's been a little deeper than a hobby. Call it schmaltzy, call it corny if you will, but I think for me this has been my version of faith, or giving back, or karma. However you want to say it. Those who know me know that I'm not particularly religious in the traditional sense. I respect, and in some ways, envy a bit, those who do have a traditional faith.

I may lack belief in a deity, but I would describe myself as spiritual, if you define that as wanting to live a life that has value and live in a way that hopefully lives up to the values that I hold, of trying to do some good and live honorably.

This matters to me because it might be one of the things I've done in life that most affects another person -- Murphy's owner -- in a good way.

But raising Murphy, and now Nettie, has made me a better person. Patience, and trying to be zen, has been a consistent theme of this blog over the roughly 18 months since I started raising.

I am a work in process, but I think -- I hope -- I'm more patient.
I think -- I hope -- that I'm more accepting.
I think -- I hope -- that I'm more resilient about the long view.
I think -- I hope -- that my son, already a caring kid, has learned even more about helping others.

That's why it matters, and that's why I've done it, I guess.

Lots more to come, especially after graduation.

Breaking news!!

2007-06-07T19:44:00.000-04:00

Our puppy evaluator emailed us this evening with this news: Murphy and his brother Maddox are scheduled to graduate on Saturday June 23!!!!!

Murphy will be living with a man in Riverton, WY, and Maddox will be going to a woman in Tucson, AZ.

I'll write more later. I'm pretty blown away with excitement right now!

No dog, no blog, no noggin

2007-06-06T21:29:00.001-04:00

OK, maybe I'm pushing the title too hard here. But here's why it's been all quiet on the dog & blog front.

Nettie has been over at Nina's house for 8 days now. Nina is our area coordinator, a dog wizard extraordinaire. She has been involved in GEB for 20 years, and I think has now raised 13 pups. She really is a dog whisperer.

Anyway, how Nettie got there and why she's been foisted on dear Nina for so long: by last Tuesday, Nina and I collectively decided that we all needed a break from Miss Nettie, who had resumed the demand barking at 5:30 a.m. drill. Exhausting and a bit of a drain on sanity. So we thought Nettie would go to Nina's house Tuesday night, and I'd retrieve her Saturday at puppy class. A break for us, a break in the routine for Nettie.

The best-laid plans ...

Well, on Thursday night, in a fit of grace and elegance, I tumbled down a flight of stairs at work and landed more or less on my head, leaving a fist-sized knot. Other than some initial dizziness and a seriously banging headache, I felt like I was probably fine. Thanked my stars that it could have been worse -- that it didn't happen when Bob was out in Seattle, and carried on with my life that evening.

My head had other ideas Friday morning. I awoke and immediately felt like I was going to fall out of bed. I was so dizzy I could barely stand. A trip to the doctor ensued, and the verdict was a mild -- MILD, I said, no big deal here -- concussion.

Anyhoo. As you can imagine, vertigo and even the best-behaved Lab pup don't mix well. If Nettie hadn't been at a sitter's, she would have been going to one quickly!

By Saturday, I was feeling OK enough to sit in the stands at Andrew's T-ball game. Since it was my birthday, I insisted that Bob then drive us to class so I could see and pet Nettie. But I have to admit, after 15 or 20 minutes at class, I was ready to lie back down! I had wanted a margarita for my birthday, but I was feeling like I'd had a whole pitcher of them, minus the fun.

So, I'm finally feeling relatively normal. Nina and I decided that I'd phase in going back to work, and focus on that, and then take Nettie back when that felt ok. I think we'll get Nettie back tomorrow or Friday. The (pre-head banging) break was nice, but now I'm missing her.

On the philosophical side, it was another reminder that we can want and want things to be a certain way, but when it comes to puppies -- and life -- you just have to deal with what happens, and make the best of it.

I fear that Nettie is having such a good time w/ Nina and her two dogs, though, that she may not want to come back!

And Socks, the cat who hates her, is getting quite arrogant. He thinks he's won and she's gone for good... time for rude awakening!

GEB on TV

2007-05-31T07:55:00.000-04:00

Here's a link to a segment on GEB that aired on WCBS in New York. Aren't those pups dolls? Makes me want another baby pup again ... well, maybe not right away!

Cute puppies on TV!

The pup who started it all

2007-05-25T20:34:00.000-04:00

Chance was the first GEB pup we babysat .. and there we were. Not messing him up during our week gave us the confidence to be puppy raisers.

So I'm thrilled to report that Chance has now graduated from ATF! He will be going to Qatar to be an explosive sniffing dog. We are proud!

Where the wild things are...

2007-05-12T21:06:00.000-04:00

Early mornings in Maine during the spring and summer make you appreciate what you have. Our yard is awash with birds. The rose-breasted grosbeaks are back, and Bob has spied the Baltimore orioles, though I haven't had that luck yet. The goldfinches are back to their canary yellow hue, shrugging off the winter drab, and the feeder outside the kitchen window is the wildlife version of a line at the all-you-can eat buffet.

This morning, as we left for Andrew's t-ball game, we saw a large wild turkey sauntering across the road, right into our yard. This evening, as we came back from getting ice cream, we spotted a large doe pronking towards the woods as we rounded the corner towards our house.

The evenings still have a bit of a nip, though the days have warmed up. Last night, we watched the fog roll in and settle in the lulls between our small hills. Being at the top of the hill, we watched as our neighbor's lawn became encircled by fog within 20 minutes.

It's times like these when you appreciate that, if nothing else, having a dog gets you outside to look around.

Back in the saddle

2007-05-11T23:34:00.000-04:00

I think, cautiously, that Nettie is out of heat. I had the day off, so with Andrew in school for the afternoon, we went to our town's downtown to work.

I was worried about how the layoff would affect her, but so far, so good. There is a very busy intersection in town with a lot of truck traffic, and we walked and crossed the street there a lot. She didn't seem to mind. She was true to form -- started off totally "la, la, don't hear you, am not listening to you!!!" and then within 5 minutes, settled down and started working. Whatever. We ended up working for almost an hour. I even took her to the coffee shop because I felt pretty good at how she was doing. She did great there! When we were waiting for our drink (I decided to stay, b/c no one was there), she did want to sniff another person who came in, but she got refocused. Yes! She lay at my feet so prettily and nicely while we were there. She did get a doggie biscuit and a cup of ice cubes, as it was unseasonably warm here today, and she was pretty pooped out.

The only bad thing about today was that I'd figured I'd work Nettie and then go for a run before Andrew got home from school, but Nettie's work was going so well, I pushed it longer than I intended. So no time to run today. With husband out of town for 10 days, not going to be running any time soon! I am thinking, though, of seeing if our babysitter could come by some evening for just a couple hours so I could work Nettie in town and go for a run.

Oh well. I don't know why, but I registered to run the biggest 10K around here on the first Sat. in August. OH WAIT! I committed to doing it before we got Nettie!! THAT'S IT !! Anyway, I'm still trying to train and fit that in, too. I'm pretty confident I can handle it. I ran 5 miles a couple weeks ago, and I did run a 5K course Thursday night and finished it in about 27 minutes, roughly an 8:45 min/mile avg pace, according to my Nike+iPod, which I truly, truly love.

I think I love my iPod running thing so much because it's all about the hard data.

As we all know, puppies are pure speculation, work, luck, worry and hope.

Murphy goes to the big city

2007-05-07T23:09:00.000-04:00

I got Murphy's report today, and I am so relieved. It was good! All "good"s except for one "fair" in restaurants/social settings.

Here's what they said:

Murphy has continued to progress in his training. We have most recently been working on the final phases of traffic training and platform training and exposure. He was a little tight initially on the platform but with time to relax and in learning the appropriate response for the platform he was able to relax and display that he is safe and displays the appropriate response to both the platform and also traffic. Murphy is very comfortable and responsible while on the platform.

Murphy’s street work continues to be the same. He has a nice solid work pattern. His distraction continues to be average. He is learning that it is ok to work amongst distraction. He can be refocused through both voice and leash.

Last week Murphy ventured to NYC to train in the busy environment and also to ride the subways. The hustle and bustle of the city adds a significant amount of work pressure to the dogs. Murphy handled it well but along with it being busy the city also adds a significant amount of distraction too. There are many dogs of different breeds and sizes and also many new smells. Murphy’s work was nice he handled the city and all that is has to offer very well. Initially he was hanging a little left not uncommon for his left behavior to reappear in times that he feels stress or pressure but by the end of the first block he had settled himself in and had a very nice route. He was unfazed by the subway and had his usual reaction to distraction. I was able to address the distraction with him and then he was able to continue working. He passed several dogs with out giving them a second look; he prefers the small yappy ones. We will continue to work on this. Murphy has struggles a bit with pedestrian clearances. They can be the hardest to teach as most people move out of the dog’s way.

Murphy is a sweet boy who has a nice established work pattern. He shows good problem solving skills. Murphy will do well in any environment he handles environmental pressure well. He does need and finds support in is relationship with his handler. This is a good thing, in turning to the relationship foundation between handler and dog he has learned how to support himself. I look forward to continuing his training and completing final blindfold in the weeks to come.

I had to laugh because 'small, yappy ones' were always his biggest distraction when he was with me.
I am so proud of him. The report is a little bittersweet. I had begun to wonder, when I hadn't heard, whether there was a problem, and so I was thinking just a little about having him back.

But this is what we trained him to do. He's one heck of a dog.

A few (retroactive) pictures

2007-05-06T23:22:00.000-04:00

Here are few cool ones from when we were (digital) camera-less

This one was taken on the ferry to Peaks Island. Isn't it like a GEB recruitment poster?

Nettie loves her toys .. and she likes to keep them all nearby. When she plays, she likes to keep two toys in her mouth as much as she can.

Making the most of things!

2007-05-04T06:56:00.000-04:00

I am so ready for Nettie to get out of heat, if only for the chance to be able to take her out more widely again! I don't know about her, but I'm getting kind of tired of our rural road. It used to be that practicing obedience at the end of the cul-de-sac was a challenge for her -- so many wildlife smells! But now, I swear she's almost yawning at me... "You want me to do a down? Oh, fine. Yes, of course I see the chickadees in the tree, but I'm not falling for that distraction because I know you have kibble," she's thinking.

Today at least there was a cop doing a speed trap at the top of the hill where our road meets the main road, so that was a new distraction! She did well, although she was definitely paying attention to that car that isn't ever there.

I think she's ready now to go to the local town coffee shop and be ok. They allow any dog, so she doesn't have to have her jacket. It's just a little small and I didn't want to take her there til she's ready, because if she acts out, she can create an issue quickly and there's no real good place to pull her off and regroup. We'll see. (There's multi-tasking for you, if we start going there in the morning.. hmm, can I do a one-handed dog walk with a latte in the other? Is that a GEB-approved maneuver?)
(Just kidding. When I handled Murphy there, I'd order, run out and put him in the car and run back in for the caffeine.)

Sarah got her report on Diego yesterday, so I have fingers crossed that I'll hear about Murphy today.

Waiting ...

2007-05-01T22:48:00.000-04:00

"Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves. ... Live the questions."
-- Rainer Maria Wilke

I am hoping for a report on Murphy this week, and this quote, which I've always liked, is more apropos than ever. I haven't gotten a formal report on him since March 5, and I saw him in late March. I did finally ask our AC when I might hear, and she said she thought I'd hear something this week. I keep telling myself no news is good news.

I don't think it's much of an exaggeration to say that I probably think about Murphy daily, or nearly so. If I were to tell anyone outside GEB that, I'm sure they would think I was pining or obsessed or something. However, I think it's more a reflection of how much I have invested and how many hopes I have for him. I wonder a lot about who might be the best match. I wonder a lot about whether he/she will want to keep in contact with us. I love Murphy -- if it doesn't work out for him, he will come home. But I want to see him be a guide, plain and simple. What I think would hurt is if he becomes a guide and his person chooses not to stay in contact. And I know that has happened to some people in the Maine region, who now have no idea of how the dog is doing.

I think when you care for them that deeply, on some level, you just have to know that things are good for them.

What a week!

2007-04-28T20:14:00.000-04:00

I think this must be the heat (hers, not mine) talking .. I hope so, anyway. Miss Nettie awoke at 5:15 a.m. today and commenced to howl and whine and bark. Now, I KNEW that she did not have to go out. And she's not fed until 6:15-6:30.. I groaned .. Bob put a pillow on his head. Finally at 5:45 I got up, and figured I'd at least fold laundry, since I was NOT going back to bed. So I went in the living room and eyeballed her in the crate, and she becomes instantly angelic. I folded laundry, and she lay quietly in the crate. At 6:15 -- her normal time out -- I let her out.

then, we go to do morning exercise, and her long line finally snapped. Luckily, she never figured out she wasn't connected and came right back when I called! This long line dates to the Murphy days, and longtime blog readers may recall our ongoing battle over not seizing the long line for tug. The spot that snapped was the exact area Murph used to grab, so no surprise there.

Hopefully, Nettie will be wiped out tonight. I had to work today, but Bob and Andrew went out and bought a new long line -- a 50 (!) footer! Miss Nettie ran herself out.

Meanwhile, the other lovely thing about heat is the discussions one has with a 5-year-old about the birds and bees, so to speak. Andrew got very upset when he saw a drip because he thought Nettie hurt herself. We tried to explain.

Then came the panties, a source of great hilarity to the family. "Panties on the puppy!!" Andrew declared. Of course, now I have had to try to explain WHY the dog is wearing panties. "She's grown up now," I said. So THEN, of course, Andrew thinks she is going to have puppies. And boy, did we dance around the subject of why Nettie can't have a playdate with Keifer, and why she can't go out much for a while.

Ay. Did I mention that, just to keep things interesting, we think the house has developed a septic tank issue?

Much like most of this week, you really don't want to know the details.

Editing to update ... on the bright side, Bob is willing to raise again, though I think we'll take a little break after Nettie ...however, he's declared "only boys from here on out!"

She's all grown up!

2007-04-22T22:29:00.000-04:00

We got back in town tonight from a weekend at Acadia National Park, and found out that Nettie has gone into heat! She is at Nina's house, and apparently went into it yesterday. Hoo boy! Guess this explains some of the brattiness last week!

Am I a bad mom?

2007-04-18T07:36:00.000-04:00

Last night, at bedtime, Andrew asked, "Mama, is there any way that Nettie can live with us forever?"

Let me just wallow in some worry for a bit. (Heck, worrying is the semi-natural state for a mom and a puppy raiser, at least for me.)

This one is going to be harder than Murphy. Andrew liked Murphy, but at the same time, he was younger, and there was almost some sibling rivalry at times for my attention.

He is closer to Nettie, partly because she is, I think, smaller and lower-energy than Murph was and they can play together more easily. (Plus, she has never yet tried to eat his Legos, which Murphy considered to be a potentially fascinating dog treat he hadn't yet tried.)

He knows she's not our puppy. If you ask him, he'll say she's not. Then in the next breath, you're likely to get "I wish she was."

Obviously, if she doesn't make it, she's a slam-dunk forever dog. I would bring her back in an instant as a pet. (Of course, let's not even THINK about what happens if Murphy doesn't make it, because in my book, he's a slam-dunk forever dog, too!)

And Andrew is savvy enough now to have figured that out. We never told him that was an option with Murph, but he finally asked me point-blank if all the puppies go to blind people and what happened to a puppy if it can't help a blind person, and I try not to lie to my kid. (We made the mistake of telling him that Chance is going to be an ATF dog, which kicked open the door of not helping blind people.)

So, I'm rambling. I'm just feeling more worried than usual today on this one....

Am I a rotten mom for putting Andrew through this? I hate to say it, after Nettie, we might be on a hiatus. At the very least, I think we're going to need a "forever dog" at some point.

Springtime puppy raising in Maine

2007-04-15T17:42:00.000-04:00

Taken this afternoon, as we ready for a nor'easter. It's hard to see in this, but the snow was really coming down.

Now, I probably shouldn't show this next one .. this is NOT encouraged GEB behavior! This was taken as she raced toward me after retrieving a ball, and as you can see, she was excited. (The photo does not capture that I'm about to pull back and turn away from her.)

I couldn't resist showing off the athleticism, and my husband's good photography, though.

A must-read

2007-04-14T19:17:00.000-04:00

For several weeks,(in my spare time!) I've been reading "Bones Would Rain from the Sky" by Suzanne Clothier, and I really wish I had read it before I ever got the first pup! (She is working with GEB, in fact.) I recommend it to anyone with a dog. I think it ought to be required reading for puppy raisers.

She starts each chapter with very insightful quotes, and right now, this one, the very first, is my favorite:

"You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you'll discover will be wonderful. What you'll discover is yourself."
-- Alan Alda

Girls' weekend

2007-04-09T22:11:00.000-04:00

Well, Andrew and Bob are in New York, so Nettie and I have been getting some quality time!

We had evals on Friday, and I think she did pretty well. Since I'm working days now, she had to spend most of the day there. I dropped her and her crate off in the morning and came over at 11:30 for her eval. I think she did pretty well. I was pleased that she acted like herself, if that makes any sense, for Bessie, our puppy evaluator. She clearly knows what she's supposed to do, but she likes to test boundaries, and that's what she did for Bessie. So Bessie had some very helpful tips on what to do with that -- basically, we know Nettie CAN do things, so she HAS to do things to get what she wants, like a toy, her meal or play.

We tested this out Saturday afternoon with a playdate with Keifer, a GEB boy pup who's about 13 months old. They love to run with each other, and so Miss Nettie wanted to yank her way across the yard to get to him and I had to make it clear that we were going on my terms!

Fun and games at our house

2007-04-02T22:07:00.000-04:00

I am ashamed to even type this sentence, but as a guilty pleasure, I have gotten hooked on "Dancing with the Stars."
Even worse, Nettie seems to be hooked. She sits with me and I swear, watches the TV. Only for DWTS.
Don't worry, I'm limiting her TV time.

****

IN other fun and games, Nettie and Andrew enjoy a good romp in the evenings, usually involving tossing Nettie's toys around with much giggling.
Tonight, however, the game involved a "pretend" game in which Nettie was "Mrs. Cranium Pants" and Andrew was, I believe, "Capt. Cranium Head." (As I said, there was much giggling.)
I have no explanation and won't even try.
If this pup can survive our house, she'll be ready for any wackiness that the GEB trainers can throw at her.

****

On a serious note, lest anyone think we are only about wackiness, Nettie had a fun and busy weekend. We had a playdate with Keifer and his raisers on Saturday afternoon, and she and I worked that evening at a grocery store/strip mall that she'd never been to -- and she had quite possibly her finest work ever. Very tuned in and focused.
On Sunday, the whole family went first on an outing to the beach, where she was very good even with other dogs running around loose, seagulls, etc, and then we went to Freeport, home of LLBean and mega-outlets. There was traffic, lots of people and some other dogs, and I think she was a little overwhelmed at first, but we sat back, observed, and then she really started to focus. I think it was a confidence builder for her.

A visit to NY

2007-03-28T21:50:00.000-04:00

OK, it was a week ago, and I'm finally getting around to posting about the day I spent at Guiding Eyes last Thursday. I've been battling a bit of a bug, so it has been a matter of taking care of family, job, Nettie, etc. and the "blogger" role has been last in line!

Anyway, as people may have noted, I am a professional journalist. I got such a great response when I wrote about Murphy for my newspaper that I kept thinking that I would like to write even more. (The Murphy story started out about four times as long as what was published.)
So, I am hoping to pitch this experience to a longer forum. Hopefully it will work out. We will see.
I talked with some folks with Guiding Eyes, and they were gracious enough to let me come down for a research trip (the more research, the better the pitch.) even though there are no guarantees here.

I spent the morning following around Susan, a trainer, as she worked on Colonial Drive with some pups that are just starting out. It was such a great experience to get to watch how she is working the dogs, and what they're trying to accomplish at this stage. Susan is amazing -- she changed careers to come to GEB, and her passion for her work is so inspiring. I loved watching her patience with the dogs, and her eye for who they are and where they are at.

When I was getting ready to leave the training center and head up to the CDC, I couldn't help it -- I had to break my journalistic objectivity, and I broke down and asked Susan if I could see Murphy, if he happened to be in the kennel.
She called Woody, Murphy's trainer, to make sure it was ok with her -- sometimes, apparently, seeing the puppy raiser can upset the pup and confuse it. That was the last thing I wanted for Murphy, of course.
Well, Woody said immediately that it was ok for me to see him. I went out into community run, and Susan brought him out. He charged out straight toward me, and then he almost hesitated, like a doggie double-take and then got even more excited.

I like to think that he knew me. We played for about 5 or 10 minutes. I was blown
away -- he is even bigger. He's like a lanky kid who went off to college and hit the weight room. He's really filled out, but in a good way. Very barrel-chested and muscular. He resembles his dad, Farrell, even more, I would say, based on the photos I've seen of Farrell. I'm guessing he's at least 80 pounds now -- whew! His coat is as gorgeous and wavy as ever; he even sat on my feet to have a neck rub like I used to give him.

One last fierce hug, and Susan and I kenneled him. I also saw Maddox, who is in the next-door kennel and looks quite well, too.

Then I went to the CDC and spent the afternoon with Jane, who oversees the breeding. She walked me through how she decides to breed -- or not -- and we used Murphy's litter for a test case on why none of them bred. Then she and I went out on a brood/stud walk, where we went to Brewster and evaluated 10 dogs that were under consideration. It was fascinating to talk to her about the data and how she makes her choices, and then watch her evaluate. I ended up working a potential brood, Pandora, for Jane because she had three workers and four dogs in that group. (I was incredibly nervous that she would think I wasn't very good at working the dog! )

Luckily Pandora is an incredible dog. It looks like she will be bred, and in another "it's a small world" moment, she might go live with Farrell's family.

We finished off by Jane working out a mating and explaining to me how she chose the pairing. I will be watching eagerly to see how the Passion/Vernon puppies turn out!

everyone at GEB is so dedicated to what they do. The atmosphere is so dedicated. It seems like almost every staffer is raising/fostering, too. I got to meet Nia, Nettie's sister. I was introduced to Nia, and I immediately asked as soon as I heard "N" if she was the N306 litter, because she's about the exact same size as Nettie, and only slightly darker.

I have to think that there are a couple book chapters in the day... I think I first started thinking about a book pitch was when I read "Marley and Me" and it just made me so mad, that I wanted to tell people about how you can really work with a dog.

Anyway, the other "small world" moment was when I stayed in the guest house and my room had a photo of Diego, the pup that Sarah raised. It was nearly 10 p.m., I'd worked all day and then driven almost 5 hours, and I just laughed. It was such a perfect circle.

Go figure ...

2007-03-25T22:30:00.000-04:00

Someone tell me why it is that you can have a puppy who's exhausted from the day's activity, snoozing away ... and when you seize this opportunity to try to clip their nails, the puppy immediately gets a spectacular second wind!

Some things don't change

2007-03-25T18:45:00.000-04:00

The birdwatching is always good from the kitchen window, and little boys and puppies will always be friends.

I am admittedly biased, but how can you not go "awwwww" ?

And as a reminder, this shot from last summer:

From last weekend

2007-03-22T23:58:00.000-04:00

Diane emailed this picture of Nettie playing on the beach. Thanks, Diane!

Best analogy I've heard in a while

2007-03-22T23:25:00.000-04:00

Tonight, as we discussed the dogs:

Bob: "Murphy was a 'learning to drive stick-shift in New York City' kind of dog."

Despite never having learned to drive stick shift in NYC, I think I get what he means.

So far, so good

2007-03-19T22:18:00.000-04:00

In self-defense, I did cautiously let Nettie play yesterday afternoon. I kept her on the long line, but did not throw a ball or anything, just let her explore and race around at her own pace. She seemed to do well for 20 minutes, and I ended it then, figuring it's better to ease back in. So far, so good. I watched her like a hawk last night, and didn't see any hint of favoring the leg.

She had been getting somewhat obnoxious when she was restricted on exercise -- well, jumping more than usual -- so I'm glad to be past this.

She's quite a sweetie. She's lying on my feet and snoring as we speak. For a girl pup, she makes the most unladylike noises. You should hear her burp after she eats sometimes.

Who needs the rest cure?

2007-03-15T21:22:00.000-04:00

Let's just say that Nettie is READY, READY, READY to run, and we still have a few days before the vet says it's ok to let her.
Which one of us do you think needs more rest? She's being a handful, bless her heart!

Technical difficulties, but a really nice weekend...

2007-03-13T21:30:00.000-04:00

Yes, I know I've been text-heavy lately. The digital camera is broken. Hopefully we'll get it fixed soon, and hopefully there is not much wrong. It started acting up after I was taking pictures of Nettie playing in the snow, so Bob is suspicious that the problem is at our feet, although I don't remember it getting banged or anything. But I digress. I did get a cheap disposable and have been taking some pictures, so once that film is developed (remember that?), I'll scan them in.

Anyway, this weekend was great and I wish I had pictures. We went to our area coordinator's house on Saturday for a puppy playdate -- she has a fenced-in paddle court. It was Nettie; Europe, who is about 13 months; Kessler, who is 8 months; and Edward, a German Shepherd who is about 6 months. They all had a great time and played really nicely together. We let them romp for at least an hour. Nettie was exhausted at the end! I also had Andrew with me, as Bob was out of town, and he was pretty well-behaved too!

Nettie came along in the car and stayed in the crate while we did errands and grabbed lunch. The only glitch of the day was when she threw up in the crate -- probably just from all the running around, I think -- and of course I had only a few paper towels left. In a pinch, a poop bag will work.

Fortunately, the pet store was not far away, so we dashed over there. Andrew decided Nettie should get a small toy to make her feel better, and now that we had bought something, I had no qualms with smilingly requesting a large wad of paper towels to go, which they gladly gave.

Then, on Sunday, Nettie got a sleepover, so that we could go to NH for the night to see Bob. She went to a raiser who lives on Peaks Island, so we got a great socialization experience, of riding the ferry! I put Nettie's bandanna on, so people would not try to pet her. She jumped and pulled a lot when we first arrived at the terminal, but we were 20 minutes early, which gave us time for her to settle in.

It was relatively balmy here -- 40s -- so we rode on the upper deck outside. Nettie jumped a bit when they blew the horn, but otherwise settled in and by the end, looked like she'd been riding all her life. I was very proud of her. I think I got one excellent shot of her with the city in the distance. (Andrew was very cute -- he was very worried about her falling overboard, and constantly kept telling me to "keep her on a short leash, Mom!")

When we got to Diane's, we let her explore and check out the toys Diane had for her, then we walked down to the beach, where dogs are allowed to run off-leash. No one else was there, so it was perfect. I don't think Nettie has much water experience, and when she saw a seagull just offshore, she went flying into the water, covering about 20 feet in about six leaps. Then she came to an abrupt halt, with an amazed look on her face, in water up to her back. You could tell she was thinking, "WHAT!?! How did I get here?"

Diane said she was very good when she was there and on the ferry ride back, too.

She did give us a bit of a scare. Last weekend, when playing in the snow, she had slipped while chasing her ball and came up favoring a leg. I halted her play immediately and she seemed to walk it off in a couple minutes, and even wanted to go back and chase the ball more. I didn't think too much of it, but then on Saturday, during the play date, we thought she limped a bit toward the end. So we pulled her out of the yard and walked her around, and then it didn't seem like she was doing it any more. But Diane also thought she favored the leg a bit on Sunday night, after her beach outing.

Just to be safe, I talked to the GEB vets on Monday and got her in to our vet on Monday afternoon. (Again, a big plug for the Edgewood Animal Hospital in Gorham, ME for donating Nettie's care and Murphy's too.)

The good news is that the vet thinks that she hasn't torn anything. He does think she may have strained her leg last weekend when she fell, not badly enough that it showed up right away -- or that she doesn't want to play -- but enough that it's manifesting itself when she gets tired. She is taking an anti-inflammatory for 10 days, and we're not going to let her run off-leash or on a long line for several days. She already seems better, in that I haven't seen her favor it at all today. And actually, she already wants to run around, I can tell. This will be interesting by day 9!

Meanwhile, the stuffed squeaky pelican -- the "feel better" toy -- is getting a workout. She is at my feet honking it repeatedly. I do think it sounds more like a goose, though.

Nettie nicknames

2007-03-08T23:22:00.000-05:00

I posted this on Sarah's blog in comments, but she inspired me to share some of Nettie's nicknames so far:

Nettie Spaghetti (thanks to Andrew)
Nettie-kins
Nettie Lou ( the middle name that Carol gave her)
and....

the Netinator .. only when she's acting up!

Murphy's middle name, by the way, was Murphy O'Brien. He needed a good Irish middle name and this was an homage to my late mother-in-law, who truly would have believed that I had gone insane for embarking on this adventure. (It was her maiden name)
(Digression: Puppies, like children, need a middle name so that you can use the first name, middle name and last name all at once when you need to convey just how much /rapidly you need their attention.
I will never forget the time that Andrew, upon hearing me call the dog "Murphy O'Brien," solemnly inform him: "You'd better listen, mama's getting ticked off."

His other nicknames were pretty prosaic: MurphMurph was the most common.