5 months already!!!

That’s right my little J is growing up way too quickly! Though at 45.6 lbs at 5 months I don’t think he will be little for much longer! I am a day late with this post, but I blame it on being sick and having homework that had to be done yesterday.

Joe had an extra special treat for his month day; he got to play with his sister Lexie! Well, actually they had gotten to play with each other all last week. They both certainly loved being with each other, Joe is sad that Lexie is no longer here to play with him.

In honor of Joe’s 5 month birthday

5 things I love about Joe, granted there are a lot, but I will pick my favorite 5.

1) Joe is one of the happiest most loving puppies I have ever met! He always has on his happy ears, a big smile and his tail never stops wagging. When he gets really happy to see you, he brings you a toy and gives you his happy grunt. He certainly knows how to make you smile when he is sitting there, looking up at you with his tail wagging a mile a minute.

2) The Joe man is defiantly a smart little cracker and is always trying his best to please. He has the best drop it around and when he comes, he comes flying full speed (or at least full speed for him, which is really not that fast). He picks up on commands quickly and will always look up at you to see if he is doing it right. I bell trained Joe to ring the bell hanging from the door when he needs to go out and he rings it every time he needs to go out.

3) His eagerness to work is huge! He is always ready to go on a new adventure and gives you his worst puppy dog eyes when he does not get to go. He does fabulously wherever I take him and he loves every second that he is working.

4) Joe is a mama’s boy. He will be out playing in the yard and comes up to me and want to get some rubbing. He loves to snuggle and sleep at my feet. I keep asking him if he sure he doesn’t have any golden in him, because he is very clingy compared to most labs.

5) Joe will be out in the yard and just sit and watch what is going around him. He could be a great statue he is so still. He loves to just be still and take in the world around him. Joe has a lot of patience for being so young.

Joe is a joy to raise and I am taking in and enjoy every minute of our time together.

Happy 5 month birthday day to Joe, Lexie, Charlie S., Snap, C.W. and the rest of the L10 pups!

What Joe has been up too (part 1)

Joe and I have had a busy September and start of October. He is growing faster than a weed and is super smart! I keep forgetting that he is not even 5 months old yet; he is so easy to take places and is wonderful about going in a new place and lying down and going to sleep, even when there is food all over the place.

So here is a little recap.

Joe went for his first swim at the beginning of September. My sister who is an aquatics manager at a local resort was the one who taught him how to swim. He was not overly excited about water, but at least knows how to swim if he ever needs to know it. It doesn’t surprise me; his uncles Colt and Ely missed the gene that labs are suppose to love water, so at least he likes it a little bit more than them. Thanks to my sister’s boyfriends’ parents for letting Joe use their pool.

Joe graduated from obedience class in mid-September. It was a lot of fun to see Joe and his brother Charlie S. and his sister Lexie grow up each week. I think it helped Joe being around all the puppies and realizing that he had to pay attention to me at meetings instead of the other puppies. I had fun going and catching up with our group each week. I found out that nothing fazed any of the pups in our group, which is a good thing.

A few weeks ago, for our puppy meeting, we hopped on the light rail and headed uptown. Joe thought the light rail was pretty fun and loved sitting by the door and watching everyone get on and off; he eventually got tired and went to sleep. We walked around uptown and got used to grates, fountains, marble floors and people out and about. We also went to one of my favorite places downtown, it is a really nice small park in the middle of all the skyscrapers. There are some cool big fish that shoot water, walls that make noises when you pass, and kids. It is also a great place to take pictures!

We did some obedience then headed back to catch the light rail home. Joe slept most of the way back. Part of our group went out to lunch afterwards. About halfway through our lunch a family set down two tables down from us. As we were leaving all 5 pups filed out from under the table from their nap and walked past this family. The dad got all excited as his son is blind. Joe and I were the last and it just happened that the people sitting across from this family worked at our local library so she had to tell everyone with her about my puppies and me. Mean while Joe got tired of waiting on me and laid down to finish his nap. The dad of the family asked if he could take a picture of Joe which I didn’t have a problem with. He then wanted to know what Joe name was, I told him and the boy perks up and says “my name is Joe too! I spell it J-O-E.” I told him that is how this Joe spelled his name too! His dad asked some questions one of which was how old you had to be to get a guide dog. I told him and he told his son that in 5 years he could get him a dog. After the boy Joe got done eating, he wanted to come meet the puppy Joe. They fell in love with each other the moment Joe (the puppy) kissed Joe (the boy). Joe (the puppy) knew that there was something different about this boy and curled up on his feet and went to sleep (which he has never done before). Joe (the boy) asked some really good questions about guide dogs, some questions I have never gotten before. What totally hit home as to why I raise puppies was when Joe(the boy) leaned over and hugged Joe ( the puppy) and told him that in 5 years he wanted him to be his guide dog. It was one of the sweetest moments in my puppy raiser career.

Joe is now a college student! He started going with me to class once he got his 16 weeks shots and is now one of the most popular students! It is amazing how one little puppy can change the atmosphere of a class so quickly! He definitely puts a smile on everyone’s face that sees him. Joe loves going to see all his friends in Student life and he knows exactly how to get there, in fact he know which buildings my classes are in, the doors I go in, the stairs I use and the chair I sit in. He even knows where my car is in a packed parking garage! He has picked up on the find commands on his own, that he is not even supposed to start learning till he is 10 months! I guess I should be scared that he is interested in driving! Is it sad that when you go to class by yourself that immediately you have 5 different people wanting to know where Joe is?

Some sad news

Just got a call from my AC, kind of knew what it was about when I saw who it was calling. Rocky’s match didn’t work out. He is back in training and will be looking for his new owner in the next class. I am kind of little sad, but I always knew there was a chance of it not working out. I know that the trainers did the right thing by dropping Rocky from this class. Just like you can’t fit a square peg into a round hole, you can’t force a dog to a certain person. I want Rocky to find the perfect match so that they can work in harmony with each other. I am fine with him staying in college a little bit longer to find that person.

I know that there is another puppy raiser out there who will be getting some news about their puppy being in this class and will be just as excited as I was, when I found out that Rocky was matched.

At least I have a little bit more time to work on Rocky’s scrapbook now.

If you happen to spot my Rock Star, be sure to give him some extra love from me!

Exciting News!!!!!

I found out yesterday . . . . . .

that Rocky is currently in class!!!!!!!! I am so beyond excited!!!! Fingers crossed that the match will keep!! Can’t wait to see my Rock Star again and meet his new owner!

It is a good thing I have been shopping for this day the past few months, now to start on his scrapbook!

If everything goes as planned I will be heading to Florida in just a few weeks!

4 months

Joe turned 4 months old yesterday! Hard to believe he is already that old, seems like just yesterday I picked him up. He is such a good puppy and I have had so much fun with him by my side. He takes every exposure in stride and is not afraid of anything. Joe is a blast to take out and I can’t wait for the months to come with the little Joe!

4 of Joe’s favorite things

1.) his food- Joe is certainly a lab who LOVES his food! He was starting to eat a little too fast, so he got a kong in his food bowl to slow him down. After just a few meals he slowed down enough to where he doesn’t need the kong in it anymore. He still does his happy dance when it is meal time, but has learned to sit and stay while I fix their food and until he gets the take a break command. He certainly is one smart little boy!

2) attention- I don’t think that Joe could ever get enough attention! He is so willing to please; since he knows he gets positive attention when he does something right. Joe certainly wants a lot more attention and is a bit clingier than Colt and Ely were at his age. I think that someone got spoiled in the puppy kennel :-), which of course I don’t mind one bit!

3) playing with his friends- Joe is getting quite popular in the puppy social world! He has puppy play dates quite regularly. Some of his favorite friends to play with are his sister Lexie, his friend Beamer (who looks just like him, except that he is white instead of tan. He is about a week younger then Joe), Rocky’s sister’s, Duchess, puppy raisers got a new personal dog when Duchess went IFT and she is a medium size dog who loves to run and play. Her name is Holly. Joe has also successfully gotten Ely to play with him, which is a very difficult feat.

[Joe and his friend Beamer]

4) going places- Joe already knows what his leash and coat mean! He gets SO excited to be going someplace. I felt so bad leaving him behind when I went to school, because he gave me those pitiful puppy dog eyes (I can normally resist them, but he has such sad eyes, when he wants to, it makes it a little bit harder to keep walking). However when he knows that he is going for a ride he runs to the passenger side door and sits. He is a great rider too, though it is not going to be too much longer till he gets to ride in the back as he is quickly outgrowing the front.

Happy 4 month birthday to Joe and the rest of the L10 litter!

[ Joe and his sister Lexie]

Rocky update!

So I go Rocky’s report card the first of the month and he is doing fabulously! I was super, super happy when I saw he was in Phase 3!!!! His brother Spike is also in phase 3 with him. Those two always loved being together, so I am glad they are studying hard together instead of partying!

Keep up the good work Rocky and don’t get senioritis! I am so proud of my rock star! His trainer said that he was staying on track for training and that they always enjoy taking him out on route!

So Rocky has been gone since April (hard to believe it has been that long!), last Sunday Ely went with me to teach in kids church to get in some of his therapy hours. One of the leaders was looking at Ely and said he looks different; his co-leader then says well that is Ely not Rocky. I guess he was not paying very good attention to who I bring with me. :-) I thought that was a little funny. I don’t know if it is just the fact that the kids at church had seen Rocky grow up or what, but every week I get at least one kid who wants to know where Rocky is. Though the kids love Joe too!

Speaking of Rocky, he has 6 new brothers and sisters (half siblings)! The little yellow ones look just like Rocky did as a baby! So my friend Meagan and I are finally related through our puppies! Rocky’s mom Bella, had puppies with Eve’s (Meagan’s pup) brother, Bentley (who is a very handsome yellow lab!). So Rocky and Eve are related, though it is a very interesting relation :-).

Eve played so nicely with Rocky when Meagan kept Rocky for me last year while I went to Sherman’s puppy raiser day. I am so excited I get to keep track of one of the yellow boys from this litter named Georgia! He goes to his new raiser on tomorrow!

Meagan also has a great blog for her current puppy Ellie, who is a gorgeous 9 month old golden retriever!

Have you ever been looking online or in a newsletter and go hey that looks just like (your dog )!

Well that happened to me the other day, I was going through Southeastern’s summer newsletter that I got in the mail and was reading all the articles. I flipped one of the pages, looked at the picture and go hey that looks just like Rocky! I mean how many pups could have a cute face like that! It is either Rocky or a dog that looks very similar to Rocky. I will let you decide!