Clyde's Journal: Life as a Guide Dog puppy

Cool news: Spike - phase 6

2010-11-17T09:25:00.002-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted in a while, I just simply haven't had the time.
Well, Spike is now in phase 6! And will possibly be in 7 by tomorrow. I am increasingly getting more and more excited!

And now for the totally awesome news-- Spike was the demo dog at the Oregon Fall Luncheon on November 5th. Kyle's raiser saw a post someone wrote on a yahoo list about the event, which mentioned Spike as the featured dog. He was demonstrating "Intelligent Disobedience" in front of the audience.

Since Kyle's raiser told me about it, I've been watching Guide Dogs' flickr like a hawk for the last couple weeks, and last night, they finally posted some pictures! So here is a picture of my handsome boy in his harness on stage at the Luncheon!

I promise I'll post part 2 of Kyle's visit soon!

A weekend friend

2010-10-30T20:52:00.014-06:00

Kyle joined us this weekend, and we had a blast! Clyde finally got someone to play with, and he thoroughly enjoyed having him over.

He came over on Thursday, and that evening, my family decided to go to Cornbelly's. We ended up taking both Kyle and Clyde. Kyle was a TOTAL angel. My 9-year-old brother was able to walk him around with no problem whatsoever. And Clyde actually did pretty well. Not nearly as good as Kyle, but pretty dang good.
At Cornbelly's, they have this giant rocking chair. So I hoisted the pups up and squeezed in between them. It was pretty cold outside, and being between the two of them, I was extremely warm, and didn't want to move!
We also went through a corn maze, which was pretty fun, except that it was so dark we could hardly see!
We also went on a hayride and a weird tractor-pull type ride. The pups seemed to enjoy themselves. Especially Clyde, who was trying to eat the straw!

I love this picture, because you can see
a piece of straw sticking out Clyde's nose!

That was our first day with Kyle. I've got some more to tell, but I am really tired! So keep an eye out for part 2. :)

5 things at 5 months

2010-10-23T15:43:00.005-06:00

YES! That is correct. Clyde is 5 months old today!
I CANNOT believe I've already had him for this long. I remember the day Spike turned 5 months.. I can't believe that was over a year ago. And now my 2nd puppy is 5 months.

1. I LOVE the wavy hair on his back. I just think it's so cute and adds personality.2. He STILL hasn't had any accidents while out in public, and hasn't had any accidents in the house for about a month and a half.
3. I love that he warns me when he needs to potty while we're out. When he needs to go, he'll usually walk in front of me to get me to stop walking, and look up at me. This is probably a big reason why he hasn't had any accidents yet.
4. He seems to love "holding hands" with my sister. The other day, he kept putting his paw on her hand. She kept trying to drop it, but he would immediately bring his paw back up and into her hand. I thought it was so stinkin' cute! I wish I had a video camera when he was doing it. My sister claims that she hasn't been trying to teach him "shake", but I'm starting to have my doubts..
5. He his now pro at "down" and does it about 99% of the time, even when in public! (Though, I haven't tried it in the presence of other dogs, aside from my own, yet.)

Spike: Phase 4

2010-10-21T20:35:00.003-06:00

Spike is in phase 4! So he is half-way done!

Go Spike!

My sister says Spike made a great chair. :)

In other news:
Clyde lost both of his top canine teeth today, one of which he lost as I was uploading the picture. I think he was determined to lose it. He had been chewing his nylabone non-stop for 10 minutes straight, and as soon as the tooth was out and on the ground, he laid on his back and fell asleep. (This is where his "weirdo" nickname comes into play)

Wordless Wednesday

2010-10-20T13:09:00.006-06:00

Where did my puppy go?

2010-10-19T22:32:00.003-06:00

How did this 23lbs baby

turn into this 40lbs monster in 2 1/2 months?

I got ripped off! I didn't get enough baby puppy time. ;)

Weigh in: 21 weeks

2010-10-17T14:22:00.003-06:00

I have been really terrible at keeping track of his weight. But this week, he weighed in at exactly 40lbs, which means he has gained 9lbs in about 5 weeks.

Since his growing has obviously slowed down, I'm just going to start weighing him bimonthly. I'll be weighing him on the 8th and the 23rd of each month (his month day[23rd] and half-month day[8th]) starting on Saturday.

Nothing terribly exciting.

2010-10-15T12:58:00.016-06:00

Clyde and I haven't really been up to anything out of the ordinary lately, and honestly, it's getting boring-- for the both of us. We will be puppy-sitting Kyle for a day next week, so hopefully he'll bring us some excitement!

About a week ago, Clyde and I walked to WalMart to get some cream cheese I needed for dinner. I thought he looked especially cute that day, so I took some pictures of him. :)

Here is Clyde in front of the pumpkin display in WalMart. I thought the little scare crow kids were cute.

Clyde sitting outside of WalMart.

Clyde walking back from WalMart

A couple days ago, I loaded up the pups and took them to the high school football field where I let them run around and burn off some energy. So here are a few pictures. The charger for my better camera has been misplaced.. so the pictures aren't as good as they could be.
It's kinda sad, because my two dogs only play with each other, and ignore Clyde. Clyde just chases them around while they play with each other, which is the same thing Spike used to do. Hopefully when we have Kyle, Clyde will actually have someone to play with.

The sprinklers had been on just before we got there, so the dogs were kicking up a lot of water, and were soaking when we were done! I also love this picture, because you can see Clyde hanging onto the leash my Boxer, Jake had on.

Clyde doing "Come"

Waiting for his treat. You can see how wet he is!

My sister had told me about a weird witchcraft store. Now, I don't believe in witchcraft in the least, but I had been wanting to check it out for some time, just to see what kind of ridiculous stuff they have. So yesterday my friend and I went to "Gypsy Wagon"

The store is in an old, small house. The whole store was only two connected rooms. They had all kinds of stuff.. Cauldrons, Spell kits, all kinds of herbs that you either burn or put in your bath... It was really weird, and it took all I had to keep from laughing. The whole store smelled like Sage, and it was really strong, I started to get a headache, and we left. They lady that owns the store gave us little witch's broom pens right before we left. I have to admit, they are pretty cute, and totally fit the Halloween theme. That alone, made the trip to the witch store worth it! :)

One more thing-- Clyde has been losing teeth like crazy. Over the course of 5 minutes, he lost (at least) 3 teeth. I wouldn't doubt that he lost more and swallowed them. I was able to save 3 from being eaten.

He has been bleeding a lot, I don't remember Spike bleeding this much when he lost his teeth. Most of his toys have a good amount of blood on them. I'm going to need to wash and sanitize them all when he's done losing teeth.

Phase 3!

2010-10-14T13:04:00.005-06:00

Spike is in phase 3! Only 5 more to go! This is getting exciting. :)

Spike almost never held his tail completely straight. It almost always had a little kink in it.

Puppy collar

2010-10-10T18:55:00.001-06:00

Clyde is on the last notch of his puppy collar! It's not fair how fast he's growing.

In other news, today is 10/10/10. How cool. :)

Spike: Phase 2!

2010-10-08T20:00:00.006-06:00

He's in Phase 2! I'm glad he's starting to move up the phases.

From now on, I'm going to say something about him every time he moves up a phase.

When he licks.. say.. your foot (He's a big foot licker). He doesn't just like.. stroke it. He'll lick, lick, lick, pause with his tongue still on your foot for like 5-10 seconds, then continue licking. It's not like his tongue wouldn't do anything though, he would.. I'm not sure how to describe it.. flex his tongue? My sister called it tongue humping, haha. Really random. :)
I unfortunately never got it on video.

No Phase Report..

2010-10-08T14:49:00.003-06:00

No. I have not yet received the phase report, and I'm a little upset.

If anyone would like to be my hero, please send the phase report to libertygirl_91@hotmail.com, and if possible, send it to me every week. My leader has been extremely slow at getting it out since her dog graduated (it can't be coincidence!)

Thank you in advance. :)

Wordless Wednesday

2010-10-06T13:54:00.002-06:00

Colorado group?

2010-10-02T13:33:00.002-06:00

My Grandparents have invited me to come visit them in Colorado for a week or two. I'm in the process of convincing them to allow me to bring Clyde. If I were to succeed.. are there any groups near Littleton/Centennial City? I think it would be fun to visit another puppy group. :)

Phase 1!

2010-09-30T16:15:00.004-06:00

Spike is finally in phase 1! I am now at ease, knowing that he is actually finally starting the training.

Apparently Spike wasn't technically in phase 0 until 9/10. So he was showing up as being in phase 0 on the 9/2 and the 9/9 phase reports, when he wasn't.. I guess he wasn't even at the Oregon campus at that time? Or he was recovering from his neuter? I didn't fully understand what my leader said. I pretty much stopped listening after she said the CFR said Spike would be in phase 1 this week. haha

Just because I am so happy right now, here are a few pictures of Spike.

Here he is at puppy meeting a few months before recall.

We were taking a walk along the canal. We had to get to the other side of it, but there were no bridges. So we crossed the big metal pipe thing. I didn't think we would have any problems, but I got so dizzy looking down at the stationary pipe with the water moving below it. I thought I would fall in haha. Spike did fine, though.

Spike at Antelope Island less than a week before recall. There is a bison in the background, but he was more interested in the people to his right.

Spike at Antelope island again. This was after we were done playing in the Great Salt Lake. If you look carefully, you can see the salt crusted on his fur. I'm curious to see what black Clyde would look like after a dip in the Salt Lake.

Mini Hike

2010-09-27T22:59:00.008-06:00

Today, my family went for a short little .6 mile hike round-trip to Grotto Falls in Payson Canyon. It was a lot of fun, and the perfect first hike for Clyde.
My cousins tagged along, and one of them took a bunch of pictures for us. :)

Here is me and Clyde at the beginning of the hike.

Clyde in the fall leaves

Clyde sitting on a tree stump.

Here is Clyde on a little mini bridge across a creek.

Clyde and I on the mini bridge. He wasn't a big fan of it.

So instead of trying to get him to walk forward on them, I let him walk in the creek below while I walked across.

Here he is navigating his way through some rocks.

And here he is in the water at the Grotto.

Here is me, my sister, my dad and Clyde leaning against a fence at the end of the hike.

Clyde by himself, putting his paws up on the fence. :)

And here he is, tied up to the fence while we took some pictures of just the humans.

It was a fun, short hike. My brothers and my little cousins had fun running up and down the trail, and Clyde thoroughly enjoyed exploring the mountains for the first time. He thinks he's a mountain dog now!

When we got home, I put Clyde in the tub to rinse off the dirt from his legs and tummy. When we were going down the stairs after his bath, he decided to try to randomly dash down the stairs, and as a result, I was pulled forward and down. I landed on my already-damaged ankle*, and I am now wearing a splint. yay!

*In March 2009, I was riding a green-broke horse. The horse spooked and threw me. I landed on my ankle and thought I had broken it. So my mom picked me up and took me to the emergency room, where I had an x-ray. There were no broken bones, so they called it a sprained ankle, gave me a splint, and sent me on my way. A week later, it was still hurting like crazy, still very swollen, and I had a VERY hard time walking on it. So I went to my regular doctor. He took an MRI and said that I had torn all the ligaments in my ankle (also called a 3rd degree sprain). He said that torn ligaments often hurt more and take longer to heal than broken bones. He also said that it can sometimes cause permanent instability. He gave me an ankle-foot boot and sent me home.
Ever since then, my ankle gets sore when I take long walks without breaks (about 3 miles+), it gets sore when I ride horses (which is why I don't do it nearly as often anymore). And also, as a result of this injury, my right ankle is slightly larger than my left (I'm assuming it's scar tissue?), and wearing closed-toed shoes is sometimes slightly uncomfortable. (Which is why I wear flip-flops all the time, weather and activity permitting)
A month and a half after all this, I went to my first puppy meeting. :)

School and puppy meeting

2010-09-25T20:57:00.006-06:00

On Wednesday morning (9/22/10) Clyde and I went with a fellow raiser to her daughter's Junior High for a little presentation about Guide Dogs and puppy raising. We only had Kyle (who was borrowed), Christina and Clyde there, and there were about 40 kids.
After we talked about all the general stuff about puppy raising, we spit into groups where we let the kids pet and ask questions about the puppies.
One girl asked if we could play fetch with the puppies. I said "No" and explained that when they are working guide dogs, they can't be tempted to chase a ball they might see while they are working. So I took out the tug toy from my bag, and showed them how to play. I ended up letting each kid play tug with Clyde for a few seconds, having them tell him "That's enough" when their turn was up (Clyde actually dropped it about 80% of the time, I was quite amazed).
Clyde did really well overall. He was really distracted when people were trying to pet him, but after I told the kids not to pet him, he did great. I'm tempted to print out and laminate a sign that says "PLEASE DON'T PET" and pin it onto Clyde's vest. It's annoying and rude when people pet him without asking (which is about 80% of the time, unfortunately).
I sadly did not get any pictures of Clyde in the school, but here is a picture of me and Clyde in front of the school after the presentation.

On the same day, a few hours later, we had puppy meeting at Home Depot. We started off by walking them around the parking lot, walking them over a few grates, etc. We traded puppies, I had Julimae, and went inside. We walked by and around various people, ladders, carts, power tools, lights, plants, etc. Home Depot is a great place for them to experience new sights and smells.
At the end of the meeting, we sat in a circle in Home Depot and chatted a bit about our puppies and what they have been up to.

Clyde enjoyed himself. :)

And finally, here is a picture of Clyde on the bed I made for him with some of his toys. He looks so spoiled in this photo.

4 weeks?

2010-09-24T08:22:00.002-06:00

4 weeks in phase 0? Are you serious?
If they were going to keep him in phase 0 this long, why not just let me keep him a bit longer?
This is getting to be a bit ridiculous.

4 things at 4 months

2010-09-23T22:53:00.002-06:00

Today is Clyde's 4 month day! I can't believe he is already 4 months old!

Here are 4 things about Clyde:
1. He LOVES going places. He gets upset if I go somewhere without him.
2. He hasn't had any accidents in public... yet.
3. His favorite command is "Let's go"
4. He used to bark just to hear himself.. now he only barks when he needs to potty or when I leave the room. Yay for improvement!

No pictures today. The drive my photos are saved to crashed. :(

On another note, it is 11:00pm and I still haven't gotten the phase report, and honestly, I'm quite upset because of this. And I have a feeling I won't be getting it until tomorrow at the earliest.
Maybe one of my fellow bloggers can send it to me?

Play day!

2010-09-20T19:12:00.015-06:00

Because Clyde has been so good this last week, I decided to take him on a relaxing outing up the canyon. We went on a short walk around a reservoir, waded in the water and watched the ducks.

Here is Clyde with the reservoir behind him.

Down closer to the water.

Wading in the water.

After our trip to the reservoir, I got a call from my friend, asking if I would like to bring Clyde over to her house to let our pups play.
I said" heck yes!" and immediately drove over.

She has a 6 month old Lab named Cooper, who is the same color as Spike, and every time I saw him from the corner of my eye, I thought he WAS Spike. It was weird. :)
She also has a 7 year old Jack Russell named Eddie, and a 6 month old Yorkie named Joey.

When we arrived, we did not get such a friendly greeting from her dogs. They were all growling and were not happy to see us. My friend was in shock, and said they had some other friends' dogs over earlier and they were just fine. So for the first half hour or so, I held Clyde in my lap while the other dogs investigated him.
Eventually my friend put her Yorkie and Jack Russell in the house, and held onto her Lab while we let Clyde run around on his own.

It seemed that since the two small dogs were in the house, Cooper warmed up to Clyde easier, and was friendly enough to let the two of them run around together. They had a blast!

After another 30 minutes, we decided to see if the two small dogs would accept him, now that Cooper had. And.. just like magic, they did. Joey the Yorkie really started to love Clyde, while Eddie the Jack Russell just tolerated him.

Here are a few pictures of them playing together.

Cooper stole Clyde's nylabone! Rude!

Clyde and Joey became best friends! The last hour or so I was there, they were inseparable, and I hated taking Clyde away from his new friend.

Here are Clyde, Eddie and Cooper.

They were beginning to tire out, and kept laying down together, then after a quick breather, one of them would pounce up and they would starting running around again. Clyde is about to jump up in this photo.

And here is Joey jumping up after a short break. I love how you can see the surprise on Clyde's face.

Joey wanting Clyde to keep playing. :)

It has been a really fun day, and Clyde is totally worn out, and has been sleeping since we got home.
I hope we can get our pups together again sometime soon!

Can't sleep.

2010-09-18T05:03:00.003-06:00

It is 5AM, and I have not been able to sleep.

It's strange.. the first few days Spike was gone, I felt very sad. Then I was feeling better (still missing him to the extreme, of course), and now I'm feeling empty again. I can't stop thinking about Spike. Maybe it's because it appears he hasn't made any progress since he got there.. I don't know.

I kinda wish GDB would do the same thing other schools do. Send out report cards with specifics on what the dog is doing, what the dog needs to work on, personal comments from the current handler, etc. (Is it CCI or maybe GDA that does that? I don't remember for sure)

Am I allowed to call and ask how Spike is doing? haha

Excuse me, but I'm gonna go give Clyde a squeeze now.

Still in phase 0?

2010-09-16T20:34:00.002-06:00

Spike is still in phase 0, and HAS been for 3 weeks now.. anyone know any reason it would take this long for him to move up to phase 1? Or is it like Stephanie guessed.. maybe the Oregon campus is delayed in updating the phase reports?
Either way, it's making me nervous, and slightly aggravated.

Wordless Wednesday

2010-09-15T14:31:00.001-06:00

Clyde is legal!

2010-09-10T20:53:00.014-06:00

Clyde got his 3rd set of shots this morning, and is now officially legal!

He did great in the vet's office. The vet tech commented on how calm he was, which made me happy. He wasn't a big fan of the thermometer in his rear end, but didn't put up a fuss. And he didn't even notice the shots.Here he is in the vet's office, waiting for the vet to bring his shots.

And here he is sitting on the table. At first, he didn't know what to do and was sliding all over the place. I had to hold him there for a few seconds for him to finally realize that if he sat still, he wouldn't slide off. As you can see in this picture, he is still unsure of what to think.

After he got his shots, we went to Macey's grocery store to get some ice cream. I remembered that Macey's was one of Spike's first outings, and he did really well.
Clyde was AMAZING in Macey's. Sure, he was distracted by the smells of the store and what not, but that is to be expected. He sat patiently while we stood in line, waiting to get some ice cream at the deli. And when I got my ice cream, we sat down at one of the tables, and he settled right down and laid on the floor. It's like he already knows what to do! (Or he was just really tired, which is a possibility)

I tried to take a picture of Clyde similar to one that I took of Spike at Macey's.

Here is Spike at Macey's Yes, he is freaking adorable.

And here is Clyde, who is also freaking adorable. Although.. I like Spike's picture better. It's a pain to get any decent pictures of Clyde. My camera doesn't want to auto-focus on him (especially indoors), and I'm guessing it's because he's a black dog. I would manual-focus, but the peek hole on my camera has a bunch of dust or something in it, so it's hard to tell if it's in focus or not, and there is no view on the digital screen. Does anyone else seem to have issues photoing black dogs?

And here is another picture of him laying down while I ate my ice cream. :)
He is in a medium vest. The small was too small for him!

After Macey's, we went to Walmart, where he was also good. I unfortunately forgot to take the camera with me.
He actually started squatting in Walmart, and was about to go #2. But I freaked out, and probably scared him a bit and he stopped. He was able to hold it in long enough for us to run outside for him to do his business. I didn't even have to carry him out. He was able to hold it on his own. :) Spike wasn't able to hold it in at this age. If it started coming out, there was no stopping it. haha sorry for that visual.

We went home after Walmart to take a little break. Clyde took a nap and I got myself lunch. After a few hours, I decided to let Clyde explore the backyard a bit, and he really seemed to enjoy it. He spent about the first 25 minutes sniffing everything, and the last 15 minutes or so running around.

Here are a few photos of him in the backyard. :)
Here he is with my dogs, Jake (Boxer) and Shelby (Aussie).

Here he is, all tired after the romp in the yard.

After another 3ish hour break, I took him to Heritage park by my house.

These last two pictures were also supposed to be similar to ones I took of Spike at this same park.
Clyde:
Spike:

Clyde:

Spike:

I'd say it's been a pretty successful day. He's been a really good boy, and I can't wait to take him to even more places. :)

Weekly weigh in: 15 weeks

2010-09-05T21:59:00.007-06:00

Last week, Clyde weighed 28lbs. This week, he hit a big growth spurt and now weighs 34lbs!! He gained 6lbs in one week! No wonder he's been so sleepy this week..

He's gotten so big, that he has moved up to the large crate already! Pictures of him in the small crate and large crate coming soon..

And because a post just isn't a post without pictures, here are a few picture of Clyde playing with water from the hose while I cleaned out the crates.

Spike wasn't a fan of water. It's kinda nice having a dog that actually enjoys it. :)

EDIT: Apparently my scale was malfunctioning. He actually weighs 31lbs, which means he gained 3lbs since last week. Though, he FEELS like he gained 6 extra pounds. :)

Ornery puppy

2010-09-03T23:20:00.005-06:00

Clyde has been extremely ornery since he lost those four teeth. I can't blame him; his gums are very red and look painful. I've been giving him a lot of ice and tried freezing his Kong. They seem to help while he's using them, but as soon as he's eaten all the ice, or the Kong is no longer cold, he becomes aggravated. I don't remember Spike acting like this when he was teething.
Does anyone have any special tricks for teething puppies? Anything that'll help ease the pain a bit?

And yes, I changed my title image. It just didn't feel right not having Spike in it. :)

Oh, And here is a picture of Clyde with his sister, Casey. This picture cracks me up because Clyde is trying to play and Casey does not look amused.
It was taken with my phone, so it's not great quality.

Teething

2010-09-02T01:11:00.009-06:00

Yesterday, Clyde lost all four of his front teeth. I woke up, and after I fed him, I noticed his two bottom were missing. A couple hours later, I was showing my friend his missing teeth, and his two top teeth were gone, also!He's been pretty ornery since then, so I filled a couple water bottles and froze them overnight and he seemed to really enjoy chewing on it.

On Monday, our group was invited to go to a free "Beatles" concert (although, only three pups showed up). It was pretty cool. They were a tribute band, and they looked and sounded very, very similar to the original Beatles. Though, it was kinda hard to enjoy it when Clyde was trying to go after Sugar and Christina the whole time! haha.
Here are some pictures of him with the Beatles impersonators in the background.

And here he is afterward; once again, only half way on the bed.Ignore the devil eyes. :(

Weigh in: 14 weeks

2010-08-29T10:04:00.002-06:00

I've decided to weigh Clyde every Sunday. I'm curious to see how much weight he gains a week.

Today he turned 14 weeks, and he weighed in at 28lbs. Which means he has gained 3lbs since the 20th. Jeez, he is a huge puppy.

16 Months!

2010-08-27T16:13:00.006-06:00

Today is Spike's 16 month day! As far as I know he's still in San Rafael and will be transported to Boring at the beginning of September.

Here is a 4 month old Spike at Antelope Island
And here he is a week before recall at Antelope IslandHe's turned into quite a handsome dog, if I do say so myself. ;)

16 things about Spike:
1. He's a major foot licker. If there's a bare foot near him, he will lick it.
2. He likes to lick/nibble his "thumb" (dew claw).
3. He watches the screen in movie theaters.
4. If you kneel down and talk to him, he'll wag his tail and try to sniff your breath while you talk.
5. He loves to give kisses.
6. Hearing someone say his name is his most favorite thing in the world! Whenever he hears it, his tail wags 100 miles a minute.
7. He is great with little kids.
8. He is always willing to go wherever, whenever.
9. He'll do anything for a piece of ice!
10. He didn't mind my brothers' "abuse". (Making him dance with them, grabbing his tail, etc)
11. Whenever I told him "that's enough" he would immediately drop whatever he had and walk to me with his tail wagging.
12. He'll wag his tail at just about anything. He is an overall happy dog.
13. He was the cutest puppy ever!
14. He is extremely gentle with smaller animals. He acts like my cat is fragile and he's afraid of breaking him.
15. He like to lay all twisted, so his back legs are facing one way and his front legs and head are facing another way. (and he's done it even before I got him)
16. He is a hard worker, he's confident and loves everyone he meets. He'll do whatever he is asked without second thought, and I know he'll make someone a great guide dog if that is what he chooses.

3 Month Day!

2010-08-24T16:06:00.006-06:00

Yesterday was Clyde's 3 month day! I only got him two weeks ago and he's already getting so big. It's not fair! He went to the vet on Friday for his 12 week shots, and he weighed in at 24.5 lbs. I wish I recorded Spike's weight at 12 weeks so I could compare, but I didn't.

He is doing really well. He knows what "sit" means, and he'll do it about 70% of the time (as long as the distractions are at a minimum) He has also mastered waiting for his food. It took him a little longer to get it than it took Spike. By the third meal at home, Spike had it down pat. It took Clyde about a week and a half. But regardless, he gets it now, and is amazing at it. :)
He is also great at "puppy handling". He doesn't ever put up a fuss, he just enjoys the pets and loves. Spike was really stubborn about puppy handling until he was about 4 1/2 months.

Clyde is a little stubborn about his crate, though. He'll bark and bark and bark, and it drives me crazy! But I have found a bedtime routine that prevents his barking. All I have to do is run him up and down the street a couple times, run him up and down the stairs a few million times, then play tug for 10ish minutes. By then, he is too tired to fuss in his crate. It amazes me how much energy this puppy has. When Spike was this age, he couldn't even walk up the street without passing out, and half the time, I ended up carrying him on the way back home. (And by up the street, I mean only like 6 houses up)
He is such a weirdo. He almost never completely lays on his bed when on tie down. He almost always has his head off the bed.
Exhibit A:
Exhibit B:

Here are some photos of him being a cutie on his 3 months day:

I am really enjoying having him, and I'm excited for our year together. :)

2010-08-20T23:49:00.010-06:00

I am easily the worst blogger ever. It's been.. since October? Yes. I'm terrible. But I've finally decided to try to get back into it.

I picked up puppy #2 from the truck last Thursday (8/12/10). His name is Clyde and he is a male black Lab. He was born May 23rd to Jay & Noleta.
He got to meet and play with Spike the for a couple days before he was recalled the following Saturday (8/14/10).

Me holding Clyde at the puppy truck.

A close up of Clyde's cute face.

Spike sitting in the grass with a large puppy jacket on.

And here is Clyde with Snickers! Clyde looks so huge next to Snickers, but then again, he IS 4 weeks older.

Here are a few pictures of Spike and Clyde together. :)

Clyde standing up, touching noses with Spike who is laying down in the grass.

Spike laying down in the driveway with Clyde sitting to the right of him. Both of them are smiling ;)

Both Spike and Clyde laying down in the grass. Spike looks like he's falling asleep and naughty Clyde is tasting the leather leash.

It was really hard putting Spike on the puppy truck. I was basically bawling the whole drive to the rendezvous point. But as soon as I actually saw the puppy truck.. I felt almost better. I knew from the moment I got him that I would have to give him back someday, and that day finally caught up with me. I know he's on to bigger and better things and I'm not so sad anymore. I miss him like crazy, but I know he'll do great no matter what. And if he decides he'd rather be a pet, then I'd be more than willing to take him back.

We stopped by WalMart on our way to meet the puppy truck. Here is a side view photo of Spike being a very good boy in WalMart with his GDB vest on.

My brother saying good bye to Spike. He was trying to get him to lick his face. You can tell Spike was thinking about it, because his tongue is sticking out. :)

Spike and I standing in front of the puppy truck. I was trying hold back tears, hence my awkward face.

Spike in his kennel on the puppy truck. Hopped right in, no problem. Such a good boy. I'll miss him greatly.

He was sent to the San Rafael Campus for breeder evaluations, but was removed a couple days later for a hip imperfection. I guess it's not something that would affect his ability to work. So he is getting the "snip-snip" and will be transported to Boring, Oregon for his harness training. He is supposed to start showing up on the phase reports in September.
Wish him luck!

Soon, I'll post some pictures of Spike from the months I have not been blogging. So be watching for those. ;)
I'll also be fixing my blog layout soon. It is so outdated!

Costume!

2009-10-28T21:10:00.006-06:00

For Halloween, I decided to make Spike an Indian war pony/puppy. I haven't actually drawn it on him yet, but I'm hoping this is what the finished product will look like. I am also getting a feather and some beads and I'm wanting to string the feather and tie it up to his collar.
I probably won't end up darkening his tail like I did in this photo, though.

Bridal Veil Falls

2009-10-17T22:23:00.004-06:00

Today after puppy meeting, Megan, Hannah, Forte's raiser and I all went to Bridal Veil Falls. It was really fun and I think the dogs enjoyed themselves. Spike just wanted to play with Mara the entire time.

Here is Fullerton and Paris

Mara

Mara, Fullerton, Paris and Spike up at the falls.
Spike loves kissing Paris..

Spike with the falls behind him.

Spike resting his head on Paris's back.

Spike and Mara playing, flinging mud everywhere.

Forte, Mara, Fullerton, Paris and Spike.
Spike refused to sit still. Little brat.

Spike kissing Paris again..

He really loves her, though she doesn't seem as enthusiastic.

Spike in the leaves. He tried eating one, and by the looks of it, he didn't like how it tasted.

Spike in the bath after we got home.

Day with the fishes.

2009-10-16T03:12:00.004-06:00

Today, my family and I went to the Aquarium! We went to the one in Sandy that just opened up this summer. It was pretty neat. It looked like it was built in an old grocery store building (and it probably was). Spike seemed to enjoy watching the fish swim around.

When you walk into the first room, there is this fake giant frog that Spike was really curious about. He kept pulling on me, wanting to check it out. I made him stand a good 15 ft away from it with me until he settled down. He was just standing there with his tail wagging out of control-- his whole back swaying. He eventually calmed down and I let him check it out. As soon as he realized the frog wasn't real, he found something else he was more interested in. (As you can see by this photo.)
I also TRIED to give Spike a chance to be there without his head collar... however, I put it back on him right after this picture was taken. There were just too many distractions. I'll probably try it again with him at puppy meeting this week. We'll see how he does.

These little fish HELD his attention. He didn't want to take his eyes off them. I eventually had to pull him away. I felt he was becoming a little too fixated. He probably would've sat and watched them for hours.

Here is Spike in a little Canoe display they had.

They have a Stingray petting tank at the Aquarium. The Stingrays seem to like being pet. They would come up and poke their heads and wings out of the water, wanting more loves. The stingrays were so incredibly soft! They felt like velvet underwater. It was amazing.
I had been to a Stingray petting tank before in Colorado, but I don't remember them being as soft as the ones we saw today.
Here is a photo of a Stingray poking it's wing out of the water, wanting more pets from my sister. (You can see me-- in the blue)

After the Aquarium, we went out to eat at Neil's which is some Seafood/fastfood restaurant. It looked pretty cool. I don't like seafood, but I still enjoyed the environment. They had plastic fishing hanging from the ceiling (which was painted like rippling water). It felt like we were under water.
On the bathroom doors, they had a big picture of Nemo from Finding Nemo. I wanted to take a decent picture of Spike by it, but he was rebelling. I placed him in front of the door, and he stared at the floor and wouldn't look up. No matter how many times I screamed or squealed his name, he refused to look at the camera. What a little turd. So here is what I got.

Here is Spike waiting patiently while we ate. I don't know why, but he reminds me of Meade in this photo...

And here is Spike with the Neil's rug.

Oh, and here's Spike and a rainbow.

Nursery Dog

2009-10-11T12:32:00.002-06:00

My mom was recently called to teach (coughbabysitcough) nursery at church. She needed help today, so Spike and I went to her class.
It took Spike a little bit to settle with the little kids squealing and playing around. But once he DID settle, he was amazing! When it was time for the kiddies to play with the toys, he just laid there and watched them. A lot of the toys made sounds, and I think that's what kept Spike interested.
At one point, one of the little boys discovered that Spike's nose was wet and cold. He kept poking it and touching it and continually shrieked "It's cold!". I was amazed that Spike just sat calmly while his nose was being prodded by little fingers. He usually gets all worked up and excited when little kids come near him.

Hotels (or Motels) for guide dogs?

2009-10-09T20:35:00.003-06:00

I am going to be visiting my friend at Fort Huachuca, Arizona at either the end of this month or the beginning of next month. I'm getting a ride with his parents and they said they don't mind if Spike tags along.
We will be staying in one or two different hotels/motels (not sure which one(s) yet) however, I don't know if the companies will allow him into their rooms.
Have any of you taken your PITs into hotel/motel rooms? Were there any issues?

The Invisible Dog

2009-10-04T00:47:00.004-06:00

Today, my dad, my sister and I had dinner at Winger's (and obviously Spike came along). The hostess seated us and Spike took his place under the table. The waitress came and we ordered our food. When we finished eating, we all got up from the table right as our waitress walked past, she then said "Was that dog there the whole time?! I didn't even notice."
That comment put a huge smile on my face. He was such a good boy. :)

Big Boy Collar

2009-10-02T18:40:00.003-06:00

Yesterday Spike upgraded to his Big Boy Collar. He's growing up!
The collar is actually still a little big, but the baby collar was getting too small. I could barely put two fingers under it.
And I guess Spike WILL NOT be getting neutered at 6 months. Still trying to decide if that is a good thing or not. :]

5 months!

2009-09-27T20:35:00.003-06:00

Today is Spike's 5 month day!
I can't believe I've already had him this long. I remember being so impatient, waiting for him to arrive. I couldn't even sleep the night before I got him.
It was a pretty day today, so we went out and took a bunch of pictures on the front lawn.

Walk to cure Diabetes

2009-09-26T11:49:00.004-06:00

Today, Spike and I attended "A Walk to Cure Diabetes" this morning, which was hosted by The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). I only found out about it yesterday and managed to get $165 in donations. Not bad for such late notice.
When we arrived at Scera Park, there were TONS of people, games, free drinks, doughnuts etc. We even saw Grizzbee the Grizzly (Mascot for Utah's Hockey Team; The Grizzlies)
David Osmond sang the National Anthem! It was pretty neat. I wanted to take a picture, but the camera I brought was spazzing out. I brought my cheap-o kodak digital camera because it is small and easier to carry. But the thing died after about 12 pictures ON A FULL CHARGE. Not happy-making.

They had a "warm-up" where they had everyone do the Chicken Dance, the Macarena, and the "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" Dance. I was going to do the dances with everyone, but the loud music and all the people dancing around seemed to confuse Spike. He was looking around wondering what was going on. So I sat on a chair, being his "Calm in a storm".

Grizzbee and a volunteer doing the Chicken Dance.

Spike wondering what is going on.

Spike did really well on the walk. We walked along State Street, which was a good experience for him. It was his first time walking on a busy street like that and he did wonderfully.

Here is Spike with the shirt I got!

Overall, we had a really good time. I would like to do it again next year!

Fun

2009-09-23T21:49:00.003-06:00

Yesterday Spike and I walked over to Heritage Park a couple blocks from my house. He had a good time sniffing around, and I had a good time taking pictures of him.

Here are more photos of Spike in my backyard I took a couple days ago.

Today at puppy meeting, Spike was a good little boy. We worked on dog distractions and then played an obedience game. Afterward Megan had us take a group photo. So I'm excited to see that.
Spike and Journey seem to really like french kissing and playing around with each other. Hannah took a few photos of the two of them together, so I'm excited to see those, also!

It's sad to think that today was probably the last time I will see Journey. He is leaving on Friday for the High School program. Hopefully he'll be a good boy for his new handler.

Long, long day.

2009-09-19T21:52:00.002-06:00

Today was a long, tiring day both for me and Spike. We went to both of my little brothers' football games. We sat through a good 5 hours of football altogether.

The first game was over in Alpine. The game itself was 1 1/2 hours long, but Justus, my brother had to be there an hour early to warm up. So we were there in the hot sun for about 2 1/2 hours.

The second game was at Juan Diego High School. Like Justus, my other brother Shea also had to be an hour early to warm up. Then the game was about another hour and a half. 5 hours total.
During the game, we were sitting on bleachers. It was so hot! We ended up bringing a towel for Spike to sit on so he didn't burn his little paws. The temperature outside wasn't too bad, but as soon as you got to the bleachers, you have all this sun reflecting onto you, and it was torture! I kept giving Spike water every ten minutes or so, and I drenched him in water a couple times to help cool him down. It was ridiculous.

On the upside, I got a little bit of a tan and I now have a flip-flop tan line.

After the games, we headed to The Pie Pizzeria for lunch/dinner. It was Spike's first sit-down restaurant outing and he did wonderful! He slept the whole time. Poor guy, he was so tired from all the heat.
We unfortunately forgot to bring the camera, so I ended up taking the above picture with my cell phone.

I actually just found these pictures of me and Liberty. I don't remember them at all. These were taken about a month before my parents sold her. This photo was taken just up the street from where I live. My horse was boarded in Lindon at the time, and I would make this 20ish mile round-trip from Lindon to my house a couple times a year. I would usually pack a lunch and some water bottles and eat while riding. It was just me and my horse (and occasionally my Aussie, Shelby). I would ride along the canal, and it was always my favorite ride. You can see my Aussie in the photos.

I miss those days.

Liberty

2009-09-15T14:53:00.007-06:00

A year ago today was the last day I saw my horse. Her registered name was Sweet Maybeline (Because it looked like she had eyeliner) but I called her Liberty. She was born 4/23/93, so that makes her currently 16yrs. My parents unfortunately had to sell her for financial reasons. (However, they never talked to me about it, and being clueless in the horse industry, sold her for 1.5k when she was worth at least 5k.)

When we bought her 8 years ago, she was a 7 year old green-broke retired broodmare. She had been used for nothing but breeding at U of U previously. They used her for breeding because of her rare set of markings: Ice caps, medicine hat, "eyeliner", and overo. These markings are hard to come by all on one horse. My parents bought her for me (And for that I will always be grateful) and I finished her training. (Yes, I was only ten and trained a horse.) She was a speed demon and wanted nothing to do with moving slow.
By the time I was 13 we were entering local horse shows and would frequently bring him the blues for speed events. And because of her flawless flying lead change, we would occasionally bring home he blues for reining.
I loved that horse so much, and I wish I could have her back. But I know that she is at a good home with good people somewhere in Southern Utah.

Me and Liberty. I was about 15 in this photo.

Waiting to do barrels. That is my sister on back. I was about 14.

Booking it to the end. I had lost a stirrup, which is why I'm not sitting correctly. :]

Good view of her "eyeliner".

Me when I was ten with a horse I learned to ride on. In the background you can see Liberty. This was taken a couple months before my parents bought her.

I had to show this one. haha. This is Chester, a Shetland pony cross I helped train. The owner wanted him broke enough to teach her little 7 year old daughter to ride on. I rode him about as often as I rode Liberty for a couple years. My feet almost skimmed the ground when I rode him. I always rode him bareback since any saddle that fit me wouldn't fit him. And most of the time I was too lazy to get a bridle out.
I was probably about 14 in this photo.

"Down" and other cute stuff.

2009-09-11T13:45:00.002-06:00

Spike was introduced to the "Down" command a couple weeks ago. Yesterday he did it without being manhandled and he has been doing so about 80% of the time (with little to no distractions) since then. He seems to like doing it.

Spike never liked his Nylabone until Meade broke it in for him. I was amazed to see him actually using it.

Spike loves to be under my bed. He will often crawl under there and fall asleep. He will usually take a couple of his toys with him and leave them there. This is Spike getting his toy out from under the bed. It's probably hard to see. Sorry!

Labor Day!

2009-09-07T22:00:00.004-06:00

Today my family and I went to Antelope Island. It was incredibly fun! For you Utah people that like hiking/biking, trail riding on horses, boating, etc, I suggest you visit Antelope Island. It was only my second time being there (My first being when I was about 12ish) and I had a blast. It's such a beautiful place, and I would love to make regular trips there.
Spike seemed to enjoy the hiking, but didn't like being in the water so much.

(Click photos for full view)
Here is Spike on our way over to the water. It was about 1/2 a mile walk. The first 300 yards or so was really soft, fine sand. So we all decided to walk over barefoot since our shoes and flip-flops kept slipping off in the sand. Huge mistake. With each step we took there were more and more rocks in the sand, and with each step we took, the rocks got sharper and sharper. At one point the ground was basically just dried up mud and it felt like walking on glass. My feet hurt just thinking about it. But the closer we got to the water, the soft sand returned, but there were still tons of rocks in it, and it still hurt to walk. Never doing that again.

Here is Spike in the water. Being the Great Salt Lake, I didn't let him lap it up. (Not that he'd want to!) He wasn't quite sure what he thought if it.
There is so much salt in there that when his collar dried, there was a layer of salt crusted onto it. I ended up putting it in the washer at home. There was no hope of getting all of it off by hand. I'm also probably going to have to condition my leather leash. It was kinda stupid of me, taking it into the water.

We forgot to bring Spike's bowl with us over to the water, so this is how I ended up giving him water.

Eating dinner after his "Fresh Water shower".
This was after we returned from swimming in the lake.

After his shower, the wind was blowing pretty good and Spike was shivering like a leaf. So I went to the car, grabbed a spare towel and wrapped him up in it while I ate. Cute, yes?

Here is my sister, Rian with wrapped up Spike.

She claims she doesn't really like Spike, but the fact that she held him to help warm him up says otherwise.
He is thanking her for the love. :]

Spike and my brother, Shea ("Shay" like Shea Stadium) on our way up to Buffalo Point.

Spike on our way up to Buffalo Point.

Another photo along the way to Buffalo Point.

At the top of Buffalo Point.

Me and Spike at the top of Buffalo Point. Ignore my face. By the time we got there, I had sweated off all my make up and my hair was so wind blown that it looked like I just got out of bed. :]

When we got up there, Spike was so tired. I set him on this rock, and he just slumped down. The next three pictures are his progression--

There were quite a few Sunflowers at the top of Buffalo Point.

I hiked that in FLIP FLOPS. Hiking wasn't on the agenda for today, so I obviously wasn't prepared, haha.
It's much steeper than it appears.

While we were there, we saw a couple Bison.

We also saw an Antelope!

We also saw a Coyote! But unfortunately it was too far away to try and get a photo.

Here is a photo I took on our way off the island. I took it from a moving car, to bear with me. This picture was the only one of my "in a moving car" collection that was worthy of showing.

When we got home, Spike got an extra conditioning bath. He passed out on the floor afterward.
Compared to today, tomorrow is going to be boring, and I am not looking forward to it.

Did anyone else do anything exciting for Labor Day?

2009-09-06T21:45:00.007-06:00

So, I lied. I got Spike back today. :]
Here are some pictures I took of him last week at Thanksgiving point:

After Sammy's comment on my previous post, I was curious to see what Spike would look like if I really did dye him black. So I manipulated a photo of him. It only took about 30 minutes. It has about 7 layers on it. Lots of dodging/burning, desaturating, erasing, painting, cutting, pasting, etc. I actually completely recolored Spike's eyes: they didn't look like a black dog's eyes. I got a little lazy towards the end if you can tell by his outline. I might go back and add more detail to his face later. If you click on the picture, I believe you can see the full view.
Doesn't look as real as I would've liked, but it works.

A weekend swap

2009-09-06T10:42:00.003-06:00

On Wednesday at our puppy meeting, Mitch and I decided to do a puppy trade over the weekend. So I have had Meade since Wednesday. He has been so fun! I love how he is capable of entertaining himself with a few toys. Spike would rather get attention from me than play with his toys. He really doesn't show much interest in toys that don't walk, talk or breathe.
I've taken Meade to quite a few places, but kept forgetting to bring a camera.
I DID take pictures of him at my little Brother's football game, though.
Here are some of the pictures I took of him. yay!

Look at the cute dead animals!

2009-08-26T22:14:00.003-06:00

Today Spike and I attended my dad's Toastmasters meeting. There were a bunch of people giving speeches, and while I was listening to them, Spike was dead asleep. At the end of the meeting I helped put the stuff away. I told Spike to "wait" while I helped. And amazingly he stayed in that one spot the whole time. There was even a woman that was sweet talking him and although he seemed interested in the attention, he stayed put. I was so incredibly impressed! I almost wanted to scream out in joy.
Now if only he would be this good at puppy meetings...

A few hours later I decided to take a pointless trip to Cabela's. Spike seemed unsure about the stuffed animals and didn't want to sit by himself for very long while I took pictures. Here are some of the photos I took. Some of the stuffed animals are kinda hard to see because the lighting in the store was terrible. Plus the flash was reflecting off the glass, which is incredibly annoying.

Spike also went on an elevator for the first time today. He wasn't scared in the least!

One more thing. Three days ago Spike lost four of his front teeth (he wouldn't hold stil, haha):

Here is what his teeth look like right now:

Day at the theater

2009-08-24T23:19:00.005-06:00

My friend, Kristen had to run some errands at Macey's this afternoon, so Spike and I decided to tag along. Spike was a perfect little angel. In fact, I'm pretty sure he was probably half asleep while we were out and about. He was easily keeping up with my fast-paced walk, but there seemed to be a laziness about the way he moved. Maybe that's just his way of behaving and being a good little boy, because when we got home, he transformed back into the crazy puppy he usually is. Whatever the reason for the way he was acting, I hope he keeps it up while we are on outings.
Picture of him sitting patiently while Kristen and I sat in the Deli:

Spike in the car while we were waiting for Kristen to come out of her house:

After we were finished at Macey's, we decided to go see a movie at the Cinemark in American Fork. I was kinda nervous about how Spike would do, but went regardless. I made sure he peed and pooped before entering the theater.
I had brought one of Spike's chew toys with us in hopes that he would stay some-what entertained for the duration of "G.I. Joe". When we sat in our seats, he watched the advertisements on the screen. When that got boring (after about 15 seconds) he sprawled out on the floor and passed out almost immediately. However, when the movie actually started, he woke up (probably due to the sound of explosions and gun fire). So I handed him his toy, he chewed on it for a few minutes and passed out again. This process was repeated a few times during the movie. Towards the end, he woke up and showed no interest in his toy. He ended up sitting with his head in my lap for the last 20 minutes of the movie. He was probably begging to go home. Poor boy. But he was being very good, and needless to say, I was very impressed.
(by the way, G.I. Joe wasn't that great of a movie. If I hadn't paid $8.00, I would've left mid-film.. it had great graphics and a potentially good storyline, but it wasn't executed in a way I [or anyone else in the theater, it seemed] would've enjoyed. )

Spike watching the advertisements at the movie theater. (His leash looks all funky because I tried to hook him up to the railing while I ate popcorn.)

I'll end this update with a few photos of Spike waiting for me to get off the computer.

Backyard madness

2009-08-23T22:45:00.003-06:00

I actually have another blog on a different website, but I discovered that this is the place to be if one is raising a Guide Dog pup. So I transferred my posts about my pup from my other blog to this one. Now I am wishing I posted more entries about him, haha! Oh well. I'll just have to make do with what I DID post.

I am working on creating a custom template. What I have right now is temporary, so hopefully I'll have my template up soon.

If you are raising/training a service dog or anything of the like, feel free to add me. I'd love to hear from you.

--

My friend is in Basic Training for the Army National Guard. He hasn't seen Spike for about a month and told me that he wanted me to send him some updated pictures of him. So I took Spike in the back yard with my other two dogs and let him run around. Here are a few of the pictures I took:

My three dogs. Spike, Jake (Boxer) and Shelby (Aussie)
I think Shelby kinda looks like lion..

Spike jumping.

The three of them running around.

Spike chasing his tail. :]

I thought this was cute.

2009-08-07T22:03:00.007-06:00

My friend Chris and I took Spike to the barn today. He was really interested in the horses, and they were interested in him. He got nice and dusty after hanging out in the arena and ended up needing a bath. Poor Boy, haha.

And here is a picture of Spikester with my brother, Shea.

And a picture of him with me. :]

Got his vest!

2009-08-04T14:52:00.005-06:00

Spike got his vest.
Isn't he cute?

Loafing around with Jake

Pictures and such.

2009-07-21T19:27:00.005-06:00

More Pictures of Spike.
He is now 12 weeks old. :]

By the way, he is doing so well! He has already learned "Sit" "Wait" and "Come". He is probably one of the smartest puppies I have ever worked with. (But then again, I've never worked with Labs before.)

He gets his 12 week shots tomorrow morning.

I love him to pieces!

First Bath. :]

Hanging out with my Boxer, Jake.

"Can I please come out?"

Spike!

2009-07-09T21:17:00.003-06:00

Okay, so Mr. S is Spike!
He's the cutest little thing!
He was born April 27, 2009 (at about 4:30am according to the truck driver!). His sire is Astro and his dam is Courtney.

Here he is:

Tomorrow

2009-07-08T19:18:00.001-06:00

So, I get my little Guide Dog puppy tomorrow!
This is all I know: He's a male, he's a yellow lab, and his name starts with an S.

I get to pick him up from the puppy truck at 1pm tomorrow. I am so excited!