No longer a Puppy Raiser

Bye Bubba :)

Yes, it's true. Bob's last day with me was Friday. He is not going into formal training though. He is being placed with another raiser. Why you ask? Because Tuesday I started my new job - My work informed me that it might be too much to do puppy raising and my job so they advised me to place him elsewhere. What awful place could I be working at that thinks it would be too much for me to handle work and Bob do you say? Well.... I am the new Kennel Manager at Guide Dogs of Texas!!! Yay me!!

Can't wait to see his happy face on training days! 

While yes, I am sad that Bob is no longer with me I will get to see him everyday once he comes into advanced training - which is currently set for January, so its more like a temporary absence other than me giving him up.

I am excited to be working more closely with GDTx, this job will hopefully transition into a GDMI apprenticeship some time down the road so that is my 'long term-ish' goal in taking it. My responsibilities will be taking care of the dogs that are in advanced training, basic grooming needs, getting ready to go out for training in the mornings and feedings at night, finding boarders for them on the weekends, lots of kennel maintenance and rehoming career changed and retired dogs. There are a lot more smaller details but those are the main aspects of the job. I spent all last week training and my first 'solo' day will be Monday when all the dogs in formal training come back from being boarded for the weekend.

My first "mini" project with GDTX, mulch the new Jasmine that lies on the sides of this lovely addition to our obstacle course, courtesy of the Eagle Scouts - the picture will be sent to them so they can show off their awesome work :) - Doesn't Buddy look cute?

Izzie alerting me of the obstacle on my right.

There was a full 24 hours job interview for the job which was very interesting. The reason for the full 24 hours is because they were looking for a good candidate who would be able to transition into the apprenticeship once the position opens up so they kind of combined the 2 interviews in one. The day consisted of getting assigned a dog, learning some handling skills and going out for a blindfolded walk all before lunch time. We then went over how to do sighted guide and went out and had lunch with a client. We got back, had a short break and learned more about obedience sessions and were watched by the Director of Training. We had Dinner with a volunteer client host (someone who comes and cooks for the clients while in class) and the next morning had a meeting with the CEO. About an hour later I sat on the porch in conversation with the Training Director and another GDMI where she "cruelly" informed me that while I had amazing attributes and had done so much for the organization they would, however, be dropping me from the Puppy Raising Program. It took me a few seconds to laugh at that lol. Thinking about giving up Bob stung a little but I just had to tell myself I would see him again and get to watch him advance in his formal training.

Us coming up to some broken side walk

Izzie alerting me of an overhead obstacle. 

Bob and the Bus

I had to go up to campus today to stop by an office so instead of driving Darrell and I took the shuttle bus that goes from out apartment to the school. This was Bob's first experience on a bus and I think he did pretty well. The first time we got on he had a tiny issue with wanting to meet/sniff everyone that was already sitting (we sit in the back where there is more room). but when we got back on to go home he did much better and only sniffed a foot that was out in the isle. His walk in between was pretty good, his pulling is much better but he has started walking a little wide so we gotta work on that. Well, thats about it, here is a picture of him sitting on the bus!

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 ;)

Weekend on the River

Ever seen a dog on a kayak?! Well, you're about too lol. We spent most of the weekend up at the Guadalupe River with my parents and little brother, while we were there Bob got to go on his first (and probably last because he's getting so big!) kayak ride with me. It was a very relaxing weekend, we didn't do much.. I started school today and that was my only summer week off so thats explains all of the traveling and stuff... So yeah, just a few pictures for you of our weekend ;)

Bob got excited at everything that floated by us - especially the ducks ;) He quickly learned that standing up wasn't much fun though (he fell out once lol) He stayed sitting the rest of the time and just watched things go by. 

Bob looking at Darrell (I think) I know the picture makes his head look huge and his body all boney and skinny but he doesn't really look like that - its just a weird angle. I think Bob enjoyed our little kayak trip.. I mean, as much as you can enjoy sitting in a kayak on a very still and calm river, there are no rapids in the area we were in... :( I love going down rapids - I'm trying to convince Darrell to go white water rafting (like a 3 day trip) for our honeymoon lol. 

This was the next day, Bob passed out after his few hours playing with Egypt in a shallow part of the river - we took our fold up chairs and just sat in the river and hung out - Bob tried to eat every stick that was out there... 

Oh - I just had to throw him in here... gotta have some people pics to balance out the blog don't ya?

I have such a crush on him... I must be crazy.. 

Bling Bling and a Baby

Bob got some new jewelry about a week ago. Jewelry you might ask.. how and why would a guide dog puppy want or need jewelry? Well this jewelry came in the form of a brand new collar! Not any collar however, this is a very special one lol. This one has a plate on it stamped with Guide Dogs of Texas' information. Now, GDTx didn't give me this collar, I ordered it all on my own.. You might ask your self why though.. why Natalie when GDTx gave you 2 perfectly good collars to use did you order one just because it has a plate on it? Well the answer is simple... well not really but with my logic it is. Well I'll get to the answer as soon as I give a little back ground info on our little Mr. Bob. I'll do it with a little story shall I?

I like stories :) 

So there we were sitting in class one day when Bob decides he wants to stand up and shake his head all about - apparently he had had enough of laying down.. Well, in the process of shaking his head his tags went jingle jangle jingle and made such a commotion I knew something must be done to stop this.. You see Bob has 3 tags, one plastic, 2 metal and they are just so noisy! So after getting him back in a down stay I turned google on and began researching tag silencers.. Well I found some that looked somewhat promising but after seeing that shipping and handling would bring this crafty little piece of Velcro-ed cloth to about 15-16 dollars.. I can make one for much less. So I got to looking to see if they had any at Petco or Petsmart, no luck. I wasn't too bummed however because I didn't like the idea silencing his noise completely, I just wanted to turn the volume down a bit. So I looked into those rubber tag silencers that just go around the perimeter of the tag and wouldn't you know it.. they don't make them in Oval or Texas shaped.. dang! So with some more research I happened upon a website www.gundogsupply.com. They make custom collars for not a bad price.. at least not a bad price compared to what I was almost willing to pay for a wrap around tag silencer.

Shiny

So, through their website I ordered a K9 comfort collar - 1 inch black leather. Which looks almost like the one I was given, just a stronger leather and it has the plate on it. My final price was $20.30. A little steep for a collar in my opinion (I could have gone with a cheaper one but wasn't sure about the quality of the leather..) But I can always turn around and recycle it on my next dog if I like or I can give it to the new owner whenever he/she will get Bob. I ordered a pretty generous sized one (Bob is currently in the first hole) so he has plenty of room to grow. Ok, so basically now Bob has a collar with one of his tags turned into a plate (the one with GDTx's info on it) and two hanging down (the plastic and the oval one) which make a subtle noise so Darrell and I (when he's behind the couch/in the dining area) know where he is without his tags screaming at us (or my class mates) at all times. I think it was a pretty good purchase all in all.. Plus its extra safety incase he ever gets lost and the others fall or get broken off. Darrell wants to order a Mahogany colored one to match Egypt's harness, she could stand with losing a tag or two lol :)

And now about the baby.

Here's a pretty ladybug - good transition huh?

Bob met a baby the other day and was a perfect little gentleman. Not much of a story here however, the baby is Darrell's brother's godson and is 1 year old. He is 'growing up' with dogs so wasn't afraid of Bob or Egypt. They both behaved very well around him. Bob wanted to sniff him of course but wasn't allowed to get up and chase after him.. just get some air wafts with the baby's million passings. So, here are some pictures, sorry they are hard to see.. they were taken with my phone... 

Here Bob is laying down stretching his neck 

out for his first real sniff of 'baby'. 

Here the little guy went walking past 

and Bob didn't even flinch..

Bob was over playing with the mommy while baby

held on to his leash lol.. then started chewing on it.. yeah

Both dogs behaving very nicely around 

stomping baby feet. 

Also, Bob did an amazing job ignoring (after being told of course) all the fun, noise making baby toys that were laying around. Yay!