Fun Day part 3

So this post is pretty late but you will have to forgive me as I was on a few trips so I didn't have my computer which meant no blog posting. Part 3 about Fun Day is actually not about Fun Day but rather the trip my Fresno group takes to pier 39 the day after Fun Day. Saturday July 13 we had a long day at Fun Day and were up late with some friends. At this point it was only my friend K, her pup Warren, Pinnacle, and I staying in the hotel room. Sunday we had to be up bright an early and eat quick in order to drive over to the ferry terminal. 

Once at the ferry terminal we bought our tickets to pier 39 and met up with raisers in my Fresno puppy raising group. I was a bit nervous about how Pinnacle would do. The reason I was nervous was because he hated walking on anything metal and we had to go up a metal ramp and metal stairs on the ferry. However, Pinnacle decided to shock me and went up the ramp and stairs with no issue. I was also nervous about him possibly drooling or throwing up since he had never been on a moving object without being in his crate. Again he shocked me by not drooling or getting sick but rather laying down and going to sleep. After what seemed like forever we reached the dock and got off the ferry. Again Pinnacle did great. Once off we took the pups to a parking lot and let them go potty before making the long walk to Pier 39. Pinnacle was a bit distracted and pulled quite a bit. It was a bit difficult to regain his focus since he decided not to want his food that day. However, after many corrections he finally got the hint and pulled a lot less and got himself focussed. We worked with him going over metal objects and he concurred his fear by the end he loved going over metal flooring.

Pinnacle and his friend Warren on the ferry

Pinnacle with the ferry in the background

Once at Pier 39 we all walked around for a bit before deciding to go eat some clam chowder. Pinnacle was worn out from the walk and fell asleep right away under my chair. After eating we walked around some more and even found some stairs that played music when you walked on them. Pinnacle could have cared less that the stairs were making noise which made me proud of him. The one thing about Pinnacle is he is a very confident puppy which can be a good thing. We checked to see if any sea lions were out but there were none. Then it was time to head back to the ferry. We managed to get a bus to take us all back to the ferry dock. We still had some time to kill once we were at the ferry dock so we all went across the street to where they had a fountain you can walk under. Now if you remember my post about the Jelly Belly factory you will know Pinnacle hates water so I wasn't sure if he would go near the fountain. At first I got him to walk up to the fountain water but he refused to walk under it. We decided to have another Guide Dog puppy go in front of him to see if he would follow. He did follow but his face said he wasn't thrilled about it. We got about half way and there was a sharp corner poor Pinnacle missed that stepping stone so his backend fell into the water. We all had to laugh at him cause he had the look of horror on his face that he was all wet. After letting the dogs dry off some we walked to a hotel that has a glass elevator and had the dogs ride up to the top and back down. Pinnacle enjoyed looking out at the view. After we rode the elevator it was time to head over to the ferry and head back to our cars. 

Pinnacle and I on pier 39

Pinnacle and I in front of some flowers on pier 39

Pinnacle and Wilton taking a break to get a drink

Pinnacle was disappointed there were no sea lions

Pinnacle in front of the fountain we walked under

Once back at my car K and I decided to go to dinner at BJ's. Both boys did great and slept while we ate our dinner. After that we went back to the hotel to watch movies and go to sleep. 

Fun Day part 2

This post is late due to me being very busy right now. So to catch up if you did not read my last post two other raisers, their puppies in training, Pinnacle, and I drove to San Rafael for Guide Dogs annual Fun Day. We arrived July 12 and the event was July 13.

So on Saturday July 13 all of us got up bright and early to get ready for Fun Day. Once we were all ready and the dogs were taken care of we headed down to eat breakfast at the hotel. It was so much fun seeing all these dogs walking around with their raisers and being very well behaved. Pinnacle and I grabbed a table for me and the other raisers I was with to sit at while they got food first then I got mine. After eating we loaded up into the car and drove the 2-3 minutes to the mall where we were to park the car. Once there we unloaded everything and gave the dogs a chance to go potty. Pinnacle was a good boy and went when I told him too. This year our theme was sports so I had a little steeler jersey for Pinnacle to wear. Needless to say he wasn't to thrilled but didn't throw a fit. Once we were ready we got into the Guide Dog van that took us to the campus where the event is held. After getting there I realized I had forgotten my phone in the car so I gave my stuff to my one friend K to watch while I made the long walk back to the car. By time I made it back the opening ceramonies was already done which was fine with me. Pinnacle and I met up again with K and we headed over to where the littermate meeting area was so we could see some of our pups littermates. We also both have raised breeder dogs so we enjoyed seeing some of their pups as well. After the littermate meeting we went and looked at some of the club booths that were selling things. We enjoyed catching up with all our puppy raising friends.

Pinnacle with brothers Presley(left) and Paul(right)

Some of Medford's L litter with the their mom Tessie

Medford was 1 of 6 dogs that were chosen to have a special sign up about them :)

Medford's B litter 

2 of Medford's S litter pups Shimmer and Siesta

After all the excitement K and I decided to sit down for a bit. Thats when I got a text from Medford's breeder family saying they were at Fun Day and wanted to meet up. So I took Pinnacle and went to go find them. K ended up spotting them and called me to come back. Soon as I walked up and called Medford's name he came running at me. Of corse I got all choked up seeing him again. He looked great and was still a very happy boy. I enjoyed getting to chat with his family for a while and show them around Fun Day. They enjoyed getting to love on Pinnacle while I loved on Medford. By this time Pinnacle was all worn out and falling asleep when we would stop walking. After a while it was time to say goodbye to Medford and his family. I hated saying goodbye but I know I will see him again.

Medford

Medford with his nephew Pinnacle

After goodbyes K and I met up with other raisers by the new dorms Guide Dog's has. We found a spot in the shade and waited for the guide dog graduation and puppy handout to begin. One of the dogs from Bakersfield was graduating that day so it was fun to see him be presented to his partner. Then came everyone's favorite part. The part where baby pups are presented to their raisers. It is so fun to see the excitement as raisers meet their new puppies. There were some good and some interesting names given to the pups.

Chase who was raised in Bakersfield being presented to his partner

all the baby pups being held as they wait to be presented to their raisers 

Poor Pinnacle all worn out

After all the puppies were handed out Fun Day was over and it was time to head back to the hotel. Once at the hotel we sat down and relaxed for a bit. Then we got up and got ready to meet my Fresno guide dog group for dinner. We ate at a place called Mary's. There were about 30 of us raisers (from my Fresno group and a few other groups too)and 15-20 pups all in a private room. The pups were worn out and behaved themselves. After dinner we all went out for Ice Cream. The other raiser who had been staying with K and I decided to go stay with another raiser since that raiser wasn't sharing a room with anyone else, so K and I went back to the room to relax. While relaxing in our room two other raisers we know from Facebook came over with there dogs and one of the new pups they were taking back to Utah for someone else. We enjoyed loving on the baby puppy Gabby and even took turns volunteering to take her down to go potty. About 1AM they went back to their room and K and I went to bed.

Fun Day part 1

Every year Guide Dogs for the Blind holds what is called Fun Day. It's a day where raisers gather on the campus and are able to meet each other in person, buy things from other clubs, and see what new is going on at Guide Dogs. This year the CA campus held theirs on July 13th. The trip there turns into a weekend of fun. We do so much while we are there that I'll divide this post into 3 parts. This one will describe our first day which consisted of mainly driving. 

So on July 12th my one friend (I'll call her K for this post since there are multiple people involved in this post) and her puppy in training Warren came over to my house and we loaded everything into my car. I had gotten up early that day to fill my car up with gas and went and got us bagels for breakfast. I managed to get all my stuff in the car as well before she arrived at 8AM. Once we loaded up it was time to hit the road. We drove to Fresno first because I realized I had forgotten some of my stuff at my apartment there. Plus we were picking up another raiser and her puppy Frank to go with us. Not sure how we managed but we were able to squish all of us into my car along with our stuff. The only one not squished was Pinnacle and thats because he still has to ride in his crate. Once in Fresno we took the time to stretch go to the bathroom and let the dogs potty too. Then it was back into the car. We drove about another 2 hours then decided to stop at a gas station for lunch (it had a McDonalds inside). It was quite funny seeing the faces of people as we walk in with three dogs. It felt good to be out of the car and to eat. After eating we went to the bathroom then headed back to the car. We let the dogs all go potty too before putting them into the car. Once I got Pinnacle into his crate I realized something was wrong. The door on it would not shut. Took us a while but finally we got the crate fixed and went over and refilled the car with gas. We then drove till we got to the hotel.

By time we made it to the hotel I was tired of being in the car and ready to get to our room. Well of course nothing is that simple when you want it to be. I went inside to check us in and pay for the room. My mom had called ahead to verify the price we would have to pay since my credit card has a limit on it. The price we had been told was in the range of my credit card use so I wasn't worried. Well when I get there the person checking us in tells us that oh there is also a $50 deposit per night that we will get back when we check out. Well that was going to be $150 more. I figured I still had enough on my credit card, but when they ran my credit card it came back declined. They ran it twice and still came back declined. By this time I was stressing out so I called my mom to figure out what was going on. Turned out that extra $150 put it over the limit on my car. In the end luckily I had cash on me from being paid back for the room by the one raiser so I used that and charged the rest to my card. After all that craziness we went to our room to unload our stuff. 

After unloading we met up with some of the raisers from my Bakersfield group as well as a raiser who is raising a brother to K's pup Warren. We all met up at Applebees since it was close to the hotels we were all staying at. They gave us a big table on the patio which was nice. The patio part actually is inside a mall so the dogs got to work on being good at dinner and ignoring people walking by. The food was good and we all enjoyed each others company. After we ate we all went outside to potty the dogs. I'm sure we all looked funny standing in a parking lot saying "do your business" and when they would go get all excited. We made it into a game to see whose dog would potty first. Of course Pinnacle being a pro at going potty whenever I tell him to won. After all that fun it was time to head back to the hotel and go to bed.

Jelly Belly

So Saturday was the day I was looking forward to and the whole reason for the trip we were headed to the Jelly Belly Factory for a guide dog event. Me and the two other raisers I was going with had planned to leave by 8 am since we had to drive 2 hours, but with the late night we had we didn't get on the road till 9:30am. We all loaded up into my car. Pinnacle was in his crate, Alba in front with her raiser, and Roberto and his raiser were in the seat next to Pinnacle.

After driving two hours we finally reached our destination. It was already really warm so we wanted to get inside quick. We took the pups to go potty on some grass and then checked in. After checking in we were directed to the side of the building where there was a course with different surfaces to walk over. Pinnacle did not want to do it at all. While rest of the dogs walked across with no issue Pinnacle dove for a shady area by the building, sat down and refused to go. I finally got him to go across by sitting down on each surface and hed run to me but he wasn't happy one bit (something for us to work on once weather cools down some). After the course it was time to go inside. We climbed a bunch of stairs and Pinnacle did fine with that. I had him sit outside the door for a bit and rewarded him for being calm. Once I knew he was calm enough to come inside we went in. We walked around some of the different booths they had. Their was one booth with vet students and they did a physical exam on him. He was a bit confused at first but once I started giving him food reward he relaxed and was ready for a belly rub at the end.

After looking at all the different activities the two raisers I came with decided to do the tour of the Jelly Belly factory. I decided to stay back since Pinnacle is still young and that many people and dogs crammed together would've been to much for him. While they were gone Pinnacle and I looked at the silent auction items and put bids down on some items. We then went downstairs to the surface course again to see if he would do better. He went on two of the surfaces but the rest he still refused. An experienced golden handler tried to work with him but even he couldn't get him to go on all the surfaces. By that time it was really warm out so we decided to call it quits. I then let Pinnacle go potty again then headed back upstairs to see if the other raisers were done with their tour. They weren't so I headed to the gift shop to buy some candy. Once I bought the candy and put it in my car I went back in. By that time the tour was over and I actually got to see people I knew. I saw 3 Shawn pups. If you remember Shawn was raised in my Bakersfield group and I puppy sat him couple times. I also got to finally meet fellow Blogger Lisa. It was great to finally meet her in person. After all the happy meeting up and loving on all the dogs we decided to go eat some lunch in their cafeteria. Pinnacle was worn out and fell asleep right away.

After lunch it was time for another potty break. Then we headed back up to socialize with other raisers. When I got back up there I found out I had won two of the silent auction items. I ended up winning a blanket with a black lab puppy on it and a dog dish filled with different things. We even ran into our CFR who agreed with me he was impressed with Pinnacle and how well he did the little bit he saw him. Now that is a huge statement since he doesn't give to many compliments to the goldens or the crosses. I have to say I was proud of him to. He is normally very distracted and gets excited around tons of people. I was prepared to sit in a corner if he acted up but he did perfect. He ignored all the dogs even the ones who came up to him and remained calm with no mouthing or jumping when people would reach out to pet him.

After a long day we drove back to Oakdale dropped off the two other raisers and continued on to Fresno. We were both ready for bed by time we made it to my apartment.

Pinnacle relaxing by the silent auction table

Roberto having his physical done

Pinnacle inside the Jelly Belly Factory

Pinnacle taking a break

Pinnacle is sitting in front of the Guide Dog information board

Maxwell a working guide who is Medford's brother and Pinnacle and Agent's uncle

Relaxing at the end of the Jelly Belly event

Best Friends from Left to Right: Pinnacle Wilton Alba and Roberto

fun weekend

Ashley: This past weekend Andrew and I had lots of fun. On Friday Andrew and I went to the mall where I had lunch and took Andrew to meet the Easter Bunny. Andrew was a bit scared when he saw the Easter Bunny and tried to hide behind me. Since there was no one else in line I was able to let him slowly get comfortable with the bunny. We had the bunny get to Andrew's level and put his "paw" out. From there whenever Andrew showed any positive interest in the bunny he got a food reward. After 20 min Andrew was comfortable enough to let the bunny pet him and get his picture taken. From there we went to target to get some stuff I needed, and then to petsmart where Andrew got two new toys. On Saturday we had another busy day. In the morning Andrew and I went to the baby puppy meeting where we got to see Fresno's new pups Graham and Atlanta. Graham is the halfbrother to Andrew both are Medford pups. At the meeting the pups walked around and did some commands. After the meeting Me, Andrew, my leader, and her puppy nikon went to Oso de oro park where we walked the pups and let them watch the ducks and kids fly kites. We then went to Subway for lunch where both pups were very well behaved. After lunch Andrew and Iwent back to my appartment to rest for a bit. After resting up we headed over to Fresno state baseball field. We were meeting my leader, her husband, her daughter, and her daughter's baby. We got there before them so we walked around the walk way and did some commands. While walking we ran into Derek and David Carr so we said hi to them quickly before meeting up with my leader and her family. We went to our seats and the dogs did great at laying down. Neither pup was phased by the noise during the game. During the game me, Andrew, and my leader's daughter went to walk around and ran into Bear Pasco. Of course being the cute pup Andrew is he charmed Bear Pasco into giving him a belly rub. On Monday Andrew and I helped one of my friends get around since her car wasn't working, so he was able to go to some new places.

Baby Graham

Andrew at the park
Andrew in front of the Fresno state baseball field
Andrew laying down in our seat

Andrew: Hey everyone! I had a fun weekend last weekend. To start I met this big furry thing that my raiser called an Easter Bunny. She said that the bunny was nice, but I was a bit unsure I mean that thing was big. After that mommy took me to target and then Petsmart where I got two new toys. On Saturday my raiser took me to see the new baby pups one is my halfbrother who is really cute. I then got to go to the park with my buddy Nikon and his raiser. After that we went to this game called Baseball where I got tons of attention, but also had to lay down and be good. After a crazy weekend I'm worn out. Next weekend my raiser said will be even crazier since shell be on spring break.

easter bunny

I took medford today to meet the easter bunny. He was a little unsure for few seconds, but then realized that there was nothing to be scared of and in the end really liked the bunny. Medford even gave the easter bunny a big sloppy kiss.

Here they are

Jannet with new pup Tippin

Trish with Arden and Kim with Shawn

Medford and Arten in the car

Trish with Arden and Me with Shawn and Medford
The short lighter color one is Arden the tall darker color one is Shawn
Guess Medford thinks he is being replaced by Shawn

Puppy truck

Well I just got back from the puppy truck where 7 puppies came off.
For Bakerfield the names were
1. Shawn a male yellow lab (funny part is my dad's name is also Shawn whats the odds of that. He went to my friend kim).
2. Tippin a female black lab
3. Ardin a male 3/8 golden 5/8 lab cross
4. Voyager a male yellow lab
For Fresno Farsighted we got
1. Tippit a female black lab
and for the other fresno group
1. Teesha a female black lab
2. Stewart a male yellow lab
I will post pictures later today

Meet Medford

Well this past Saturday I picked up my new puppy. His name is Medford. Medford is one of Fame's puppies. Fame is the breeder dog that Captain Sully and his family have. Medford weighs 20.5 ib at 9 weeks old. He was a good boy, and slept the whole way home from picking him up. He kept me up most of the night as expected. Medford has decided that even though he keeps getting into trouble for it he likes to lay on my mom's coffee table. He is a cuddly boy, and I can't wait to watch him grow up.