A Very Special day!!!

Today Joe turned 1 year old! Hard to believe he is that old already! 

My birthday boy!

It seems like just yesterday I got an e-mail from one of my friends announcing that Tina was the proud mom of 9 little puppies, 7 boys and 2 girls. I am very happy that Tina listened to me on our trip to and from Walk-a-thon last year. I told her she needed to have lots of boys and she did! 

The first picture I saw of my little guy and his family. He was not even a day old in this picture!

Snuggle time!

Joe is certainly a special pup, not just because he is the nephew to Colt or the half nephew to Ely. He has the best personality and adores working and learning. I have loved every minute of our time together and look forward to our last few months together.

Joe has had a very busy first birthday. We did one of his favorite things today… we went shopping! That boy loves to shop!  We went to the bank, Marshalls, PetsMart, Home Depot, Super Target and the Dollar Store. Joe was awesome in every store as always!

Joe needs to be just a little bit taller!

He also got to pick out some birthday presents. He got a new bed, some treats, a new kong wubba, and 2 nylabones (one for Joe and one for Ely). Joe loves all his presents!

Poor Ely is not a big fan of the party hat

When I got home from work tonight, we went on a walk and then he got to play with one of his best friends, Cole. He is now passed out asleep beside me. 

Joe and his friend Cole!

Joe would like to thank everyone for all the birthday wishes that he has already gotten! 

Joe during one of his phone calls today. He thinks some people sound interesting on the phone

In honor of Joe’s first birthday!

12 things that I love about Joe

1) As a guide dog in training, Joe has to learn how to follow along either the edge of the grass or road. Joe sticks to that edge like a magnet, however when something gets in the way of his edge, he will go around it and back to the edge. It always makes me smile when he does that!

2) The general public is good about ignoring Joe most of the time, however recently a good portion of the people have been horrible about wanting to pet Joe. Joe, however, is really good about ignoring them. It is like he is thinking “if I come see you then I will get in trouble, I better let you get embarrassed for trying to pet a working dog.” Joe and I have been educating the public a lot lately. It is kind of sad when the kids correct their parents for trying to pet Joe.

3) Joe adores kids! He is so gentle with them and they all love him! I am so happy that he loves every size of kids!

Joe is the one coming towards whoever was taking the picture.

 4) Joe learned what the find commands were in about 2 weeks. When you tell him to find something, he kicks it up into 3^rd gear and is off. When I had my in home interview 8 years ago, one of the AC’s at the time told me how her puppies found elevators that she didn’t even know were in the building. Joe does this! All of my puppies have somewhat of an idea of the find commands by the time they go back, but none of them are as confident about finding what you ask them to find as Joe.

5) Joe has an awesome drop it, he will even drop food! He also has a great leave it!

Joe and his birthday balloons!

 6) In the morning (or when he has been in his crate during the day) he will pick up his collar on his way out of the crate and sit with it in his mouth. The only other puppy that has done that is Colt, Joe’s uncle. Must be a family thing. It always makes me laugh.

7) I love how excited Joe gets about his clothes! Whether it is his collar, leash or coat, Joe is always excited when he sees any of them. I guess he knows that it is time to go have fun.

8) I love how Joe’s brain works. It is amazing how he figures things out so quickly. He is one smart little guy!

Joe is the one trying to get out and see some people!

 9) Everyone who meets Joe falls in love with him. He has the biggest fan club! Employees at most of the regular stores that we go to know Joe by name. They love it when Joe comes in. I love that so many people love Joe as much as I do.

10)   I know I have said it before, but I LOVE Joe’s coloring! He has a lot more tan peaking through his black now. I have told him that if he changes too much more tan, he will be going back to school a tan lab instead of a black and tan lab.

11) Joe is a snuggler, he loves to snuggle up next to Ely or someone’s feet and go to sleep. Hopefully he will get some roomies when he goes back that like to snuggle.

Joe and his brother and sisters

12) Joe is always happy, he always has a smile on his face and you can’t help but be happy when you are around him. He truly is a special pup and I am so blessed to have him in my life.  

Happy first Birthday to Joe, Lexie, Charlie, CW, Snap and the other 4 boys in the L10 litter!