Freckles

Did you know Bob had freckles? Apparently when it rains, Bob's freckles show up.. :)

lol I like Bob's rain-drop freckles ;) 

6 tests in 2 weeks - really?

Soooo sorry its been slow lately; obviously from the title I have/had a lot of stuff going on.. basically that means a lot of uninteresting things going on in Bob's working.. We still take him to our normal places and everything so he's still getting work in, I just haven't been able to actually go anywhere special with him lately. The weather doesn't really help this issue but as soon as my last 3 tests (finals actually) are done with this week I plan on going crazy in the Bob-walking department.

We need to get Bob a new crate soon - he's just too big and can't stretch out like he likes too...

I want to take Bob to the zoo one day, it's a very distracting place though so he might need some extra work in before he goes there... or maybe we'll go spend a day at the botanical gardens - those places usually have plenty of shade and the temperature isn't really terrible when its shady. I have heard mixed things about service dogs in zoos but its allowed so I'll definitely do it. One day, lol. I also think another mall trip is in order along with a movie - I haven't been to the movies in forever and Bob wants to see "Despicable Me" so gotta take care of that lol.

Saturday morning I helped out at a tour at GDTX - Bob wasn't able to come because we have to wait for results on his tummy bugs so he doesn't pass something through the kennels but I got some good pictures of speakers and guests. If any of you readers live around the San Antonio area that would like to take a tour of the Guide Dogs of Texas Facility, the host them every 1st and 3rd Thursday of the month. If you would like to attend one just make sure to RSVP with Annie at (210) 366-4081. There will also be one on Saturday Sept. 11th if you can't make a Thursday - Check them out, its pretty neat :)

There was a pretty good turn out - one person was a client of GDTX - goes to show that even if you have been there before you can still take the tour. That was technically my second time participating lol. 

The tour members got to take the same "Walk of Independence" that the clients get to take when they train with their guide dog. 

Kim tells a client story as we stand along the brick path at the end of the walk of independence. 

A client's picture gets passed around as his amazing story is told.

It was enjoyed by all. 

Sandy tells the guests her own story as well as a clients. She also talks about how there are only 2 GDMIs (Guide dog Mobility Instructors) in the state of Texas - with another hopefully graduating soon to become the 3rd. 

We make our way into the client living area to hear one last story before the tour is over. 

It was a fun and inspirational tour and I highly recommend going to anyone who can to try and make it to one of them.


Also, on a non-Bob related note Darrell and I attended a wedding that night I wanted to share a few pictures of him walking in Downtown San Antonio - Egypt did great with all the craziness of down town San Antonio - Hey there's another thing I can do with Bob - trip to the River Walk here we come! Maybe we'll go on a ferry ride too.. hmmm ;) Oh, here are the pics of Darrell and Egypt working.

I love this picture - one Darrell is cleaned up and there is not a baseball cap in sight lol. Two, look at the red wall! 

Egypt was doing so great with the traffic (not much when this was taken but I promise it was there). Anyways, she stopped to get some treats. 

Still munchin as they keep going. 

As we leave the hotel where the reception was - pretty background colors. 

Waiting to cross the street. 

All those lights in the background are the place where the reception was. We were all the way up on the 22nd floor - the elevator went super fast and we didn't like it at all lol. Next time I'll take the stairs in hopes of losing 8 pounds on the way up haha! 

Quiet Week

Its been a quiet week around here - Bob has a stomach bug we're trying to get rid of so not too much action while he readjusted his schedule (due to the meds and prescription diet). I didn't want to take him to class because thats just a long time to be hanging out and not knowing what his bathroom schedule looks like. However he did take a trip with me to J.C. Penney on Friday. I grabbed one of those funny cart things they have to work him around that, whenever I go grocery shopping I usually don't use one if it is just him and I; when my sister or Darrell are around though they use it so Bob hasn't really had good work behind one before. It was kind of interesting because he didn't want to walk behind it, he wanted to walk in front of it so I had the opportunity to work with him on his pulling and walking in the place where I want him to be. It was also good to work on his down-stays while I moved around all the racks of clothes that were nearby. Here are some pictures of our little shopping trip.

I told him where we were going beforehand - that was probably wasn't the smartest idea lol. 

He didn't care for me walking around and leaving him - this isn't a bark face - promise lol. 

He decided to help me look for some clothes - how nice. 

"Found some good ones over here!"

Practicing his down stay - he did good until I started walking back and he got up to greet me lol. We'll have to work on that. 

"Hey - there's already someone in here!"

 So after our little trip we went home and hung out the rest of the day - actually a friend came over and made us all some chicken spaghetti - nice little Friday night lol. After Bob's dinner though he went into his crate for a bit and after a while the little turd wanted out (like always) Its not that he doesn't like his crate but right now its in the living room to help with just these issues - he doesn't like it when he's not in the action. We moved him out there during his cone-period because of the noise and thats when we noticed his 'problem'. He has gotten so much better since then, I'll probably move him back into the bedroom soon. Friday night however he just didn't like that we were up and moving around without him.  So he started whining and making faces at us - how rude!

"Someone please let the poor puppy out.." 

"I'm gonna slobber all over when I get out of here!" 

Well after he stopped whining and making rude faces we let him out for a bit and he said thank you by sharing his bone with my leg ;)

Thanks for busting me out! 

Bob's weekend with Mason

I got an email last night from Bob's puppy sitters with pictures of him and Mason playing over the weekend. I got permission to post them here so I thought I would share them with you :)

Bob attempting to play tug with Mason.

Attempt was successful! 

Tired after their long play session

Best buddies :)

They do the same funny arm thing! 

"Hey! Why doesn't he have lie down!?"

They both seem like they had a lot of fun, Bob did go on a few outings and worked on walking nicely on his leash (no tugging).

Chillaxin

I mean - does any one actually realize how mellow this dog can be? Does any one realize that this dog is pretty much in love with Darrell - I guess Bob can't read Darrell's mind because its not reciprocated lol.. Oh well - he's happier not knowing :)

What a nice tummy/chest rub ;) 

Sweetness

Isn't he sweet? Darrell went down to the front office to get my birthday present for me! It was on backorder and got here yesterday but was locked in the front office because I didn't get back from class till late :)

I snapped a few pictures to remember the moment haha! 

He was walking very fast and I didn't have time to adjust the settings or anything so sorry if these look pretty bad..

Egypt saw me!!! This is where I ran back inside to open the box!

Darrell got me a Kelly Moore Camara bag it actually looks like a purse and doesn't shout "Hey, I have an expensive camera hanging off my shoulder - come and grab it! ". So far with the 2 seconds I spent putting my stuff in it I like it - I'm not really a big purse kind of girl but maybe this will convert me. I definitely don't have enough camera equipment to fill this up so there will be room for my wallet and some other stuff - bring on the next vacation!

P.S. Kelly Moore has two bag types for women and one for men, tons of colors! If there is actually a guy out there reading my blog who is into photography.. speak up if you're out there cause I have no idea! 

Home

So we're all home now! Bob got a very good report from his puppy sitter over the weekend. She said he was doing great and he did some of his "finds" really well - others not so well lol. I was really excited because she told me he found the elevator perfectly(He's only seen like 3 elevators), however was oblivious about the button - which is how he is with me so nothing new there haha. She said he had a lot of fun with Mason and didn't have one accident in the house (a problem he had with his last puppy sitter, which was only for a day). Bob is continuing to do good in class with me, we had off on Monday so haven't had to tackle the barking situation in the lab class yet but we'll see how it goes tomorrow. I have been trying my hardest to be "blind" while I have him do his finds... meaning I am trying not to give him any cues as to what I want him to find - Michelle says everyone does it and can't help it but a blind person won't be able to do it so thats how I'm trying to be. He found a trash can great the other day when I attempted this first, today however he just looked at me like "what?". I'll just have to keep working on it.. No new pictures of him (sorry) since we were away from each other all weekend but I did try my hand at photographing fireworks - it wasn't terrible, wasn't great - lets just say I have a lot more ideas for next time :) So, here are a few firework pictures that actually turned out all right. 

P.S. We have to go back out of town this weekend so Bob is heading off to a puppy sitter again :( hopefully Mason's raiser will be able to take him again because it sounds like he had a lot of fun there with them ;)

Bob's Summer Grades

Well, Bob just had his first week in class and I'm gonna have to give him a C in Chem Lab and an A in both Chemistry and Physics - for now lol. He did great in my Tuesday/Thursday classes which I was pretty surprised by honestly. I'm in class those days from 2 to 8 with short breaks in between. I fully expected him to be up/down/up/down after only about an hour into the class but by utilizing the short breaks for his potty time and short bouts of work I think it really helped with his boredom. If only he acted like that when we went to movies :/ lol. Now, the lab class is a different story - He actually wasn't as terrible as I thought he would be but he did start barking at me both days. This half way surprised me because he's not a big barker to begin with and he has only barked in public once (before this week). Its just because he's chained up in a corner and no one is paying him any attention - apparently he doesn't like this. Anyways - plan is to ignore him till the barking stops and praise him when he's quiet and good... wonder if I'll have the strength lol. Well if you haven't checked out the pics from the mobile uploads here are a few from this week - mainly lab class because that is the interesting one lol...

Sorry they aren't the best quality - took them with my phone.

First day of lab class - he actually fell asleep for like 2 seconds! He never falls asleep in class :) 

This is the next day with crazy people walking around in their crazy jackets and goggles - it doesn't even phase him. At least it didn't for another few minutes - every once in a while he'll pop up if someone gets too close but they could just be making eye contact or something without me knowing. Oh well - good practice for him either way. 

This was on the car ride over today - its not even that long of a drive but the car is like a lullaby for Bob - he's out so quick! 

This was today during a potty break - he didn't know what to make of the grates (they are the landings for the outside stair case) he didn't want to step on them at first but after a little coaxing he was fine - just really sniffy (?) It was hard to get his nose up and focused on me.. 

Bob is also leaving us for the weekend, we are headed over to Darrell's parents and there really isn't much to do for Bob over there so he's going to a puppy sitter for the weekend. He'll get to hang out with Mason, a CC'ed tall white labradoodle whom I have never met but I know of him so hopefully Bob will have fun! Plus this will be his first time away from for more than a few hours so we'll see how he does - 3 days is a long time! So - more stories once he gets back I guess ;)