Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Guess who turned 7 months old today?

It would be the Rock star! I can’t believe he is already turning 7 months!

So on his 7 month birthday 7 Reasons why I love raising for SEGDI

1) The people- I have made so many friends with wonderful people who I would have never met otherwise! If I ever have a problem they are always eager to help in any way! I love my puppy raiser family!

2) The puppies- SEGDI has the best puppies in the world and somehow I keep on getting the best of the best! They are all so smart; they love to work on top of having great personalities.

3) The Staff and Trainers- there are not words to describe how wonderful they are! They are fabulous about making the raising process so much fun and do a remarkable job keeping the puppy raisers informed once the puppies go back to college. The trainers are miracle workers!

4) The graduates- these amazing individuals make it a little easier saying good bye to your puppies. They love their guide dogs and it is remarkable how much they bond in such a short amount of time! I love to hear the stories from the graduates!

5) The people involved- from dedicated volunteers who play with the baby puppies and get them used to being touched and handled, to individuals who walk the dogs in for training, to the wonderful puppy sponsors who pick out some great names for these wonderful puppies, and everyone in between! There are some extremely dedicated volunteers at SEGDI!

6) The color and location- I have always loved the color blue and love that SEGDI’s coats are blue! I love that I can wear and accessorize my puppies with as much blue as I want! I love that SEGDI is in Florida; in February when I am sick of the cold weather I can go to walk a thon and it is nice and warm!

7) The impact on the raiser- before I started raising let’s just say I was a bit on the shy side. I hated talking to people whom I didn’t know, but then people came up to me and wanted to talk about the adorable puppy at the end of my leash. Over the past years, I have done so many presentations about guide dogs that I have lost count, which is something I never would have done before I started raising. I can now talk about my puppies and SEGDI for hours! I have also been able to help a lot of people with some of their doggy problems and since I never had a dog before I started raising that would have been something I never would have dreamed of doing 6 years ago. On top of everything that I have learned, my 5 sweet puppies that have been a part of my life the past years have each taught me a life lesson and have left a part of themselves behind.

Thank you Southeastern for having such an impact on my life!

Happy 7 month birthday Rocky!

Saturday, October 17, 2009

A fun filled Fall day

We started the day today bright and early; we first headed down to my old school for a fall festival. It was kind of a wet, cold day so there were not very many people to begin with, however that quickly changed. There was one little girl who was just beginning to walk who was fascinated with Rocky’s nose. Rocky was such a good boy and let this little girl poke him in the nose. There was a ton of temptations for the Rock: food, kids, balls and bean bags, and marshmallows everywhere thanks to marshmallow guns. If I had set up a booth with a sign saying “pet the adorable puppy for just 25 cents”, I would be rich! I got to teach a ton of kids that you always need to ask before you pet any dog especially a working dog.

One of my little first graders that I teach on Sunday mornings, was there and came running up and wanted to pet Rocky. We have not been able to be at our normal service for the past two weeks due to my rock climbing class. Let’s just say if all of the kids tomorrow are like this little boy, Rocky should feel very well loved!

We left the festival early to go to our puppy meeting. We stopped to check on Ely and to let him out. We found that Mr. Ely had not been such a good boy while we were gone. He got into some trash and made confetti of it. Ely had a small staph infection on his skin so he got a cortisone shot on Thursday which always makes him really thirsty and hungry. Hopefully this won’t last much longer, but at least he is feeling better.

We then headed to puppy meeting. We had a very special guest at our meeting; a fabulously renowned trainer from SEGDI led our class today. It was one of the best obedience classes I have participated in. I learned so much and got a lot of helpful hints on how the trainers teach and work with the dogs. It was a GREAT meeting!

On the way home Rocky crashed (curled into a ‘tiny’ ball) and he has been asleep ever since he ate his dinner.

(sorry for the lack of picture, I will do better next time!)

Saturday, October 10, 2009

A not so fun trip to the vet

I have had a crazy busy week, so this is coming a little late. Last week we got approved to have Rocky’s two baby teeth, which he was holding onto, pulled. We had been hoping they would fall out on their own, but then they started getting really irritated and he didn’t want anyone to look at his mouth. On Wednesday he was playing with one of his friends and somehow broke one of the teeth at the gum line. I had called the vet and had already scheduled his appointment for Thursday. He could not have any food after 6 pm on Wednesday night, so he enjoyed an ice cube for his good night treat.

On Thursday morning we got up early, since he had to be at the vet between 7 and 8. He was not too happy about not getting to eat breakfast. There were quite a few other dogs being dropped off and they were all not happy at all. Rocky was the happiest pup in there, he didn’t know what was coming.

super Rocky!

After filling out some paper work they came for the Rock. He happily went back with the nice lady.

The vet called my dad since I was in class, and said that everything went well and that we could pick him up after 3.

When I went to pick him up they put me in a room to go over discharge stuff and then they went and got Rocky. He was very happy to see me, and was very wiggly, until he went to check out. Rocky just sat there looking extremely pitiful. He had all the ladies working the front desk wrapped around his little paw. He got lots of love. He was a bit wobbly on our way out. After a quick potty break, he hopped in the car and didn’t move till we got home.

What Rocky's teeth looked like, but a lot worse, this was taken about a month before his teeth were pulled. His big boy teeth came in all the way and his baby teeth got stuck.

Ely was very happy to have him home and gave him a sniff down. Rocky slept the rest of the afternoon away. He was still a little out of it Friday, but by Saturday morning, he was back to his happy, somewhat more energized self. Unfortunately, I left the house Saturday morning at 6:30 am for my rock climbing class and was gone all day; Sunday was the same way so the boys didn’t get to see a lot of me last weekend.