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.

Happy 16 month Birthday Malcolm!!!

Today Malcolm is 16 months old!!! I can't believe hes that old already. I have fallen in love with him and have great hopes that he'll make it as a guide dog. Malcolm should hopefully be recalled next month. He has been going to school with me every day and does great!!

Also a little side note on January 31 8 more Medford pups were born 3 girls 5 boys mom is Trumpet a female cross. That means medford is up to 53 pups now. I'm very proud of my boy!!

Medford

Medfords breeder keepers sent me a picture of Medford today. They say hes doing great and they love him to death. As much as I wish he couldve been my forever boy I am so happy hes with such a great family who keeps in touch with me. As I was looking at the picture of Medford I realized how much Agent looks like him just a bit lighter than medford.

Day 1 &2 of oregon fun day trip

So since our trip to oregon had lots of fun stuff i have decided to divide this post into to parts.

Day1: On day 1 of our trip my friend dropped her stuff and her pup tomales off at my house so that i could pack everything into my car and let the pups burn energy before a long drive. At about 10:30am i loaded the pups into the car and went to get my friend. We drove for about 4 hours before stopping in stockton to fill up on gas, get food to eat, and best of all get a dozen glazed doughnuts from Krispy Kreme. We continued on after that stoping for very short periods to get gas or use the bathroom. Once we reached oregon we made a special stop in Medford, Or. Ever since i raised medford I wanted to go there so i could say ive been to the place my puppy Medford was named after. After stoping in Medford we continued onto Roseburgh where we stopped for the night. It also happened to be where the puppy truck (truck that picks up and drops off pups) was stopping for the night. I decided I did not want to get Andrews crate out since we were only staying for one night, so for the first time Andrew got to sleep on a tie down. At first he wasn't sure what I expected of him, but soon as I turned the lights off he went to sleep. I woke up in the middle of the night and reached down to make sure he was being good. At first I couldnt feel him so i began to worry that he had chewed through his tie down. I then reached under the bed silly boy had decided to sleep under the bed.

Day2: The next day we got up bright and early. Once we got ready we went down into the hotel parking lot where we met some other raisers to play with pups that were on the puppy truck. They were so cute. Andrew wasnt sure what to make of these small things with sharp teeth so it was funny to watch him. We also had fun trying to guess which pup was the one my friend was getting. My friend had been starting tomales for another raiser while waiting for a pup from her pup shawn who had become a breeder. All we knew was he was a male black lab puppy name started with W. After playing with the pups we went back into our hotel room to pack our stuff. Since we had quite a bit of time till we could check into our hotel for funday we decided to go to multnomah falls. One of the puppy truck drivers had told us that it was a great place to take andrew and tomales to walk. We had a great time walking the boys there we even made it half way up the falls. Andrew did great at ignoring people and dogs, and walking slow on the way down since i didnt have the greatest shoe on. We did have some frustrating moments like people letting their dogs run up to andrew and tomales or petting them without asking first. I even had someone look at me and say, " i know im not allowed to pet him" and then proceeded to bend down and pet andrew luckily andrew was good and sat there. I was so stunned i didnt know what to say. After walking around multnomah falls we went to our hotel and checked in. After unpacking we rested for a bit and let the pups play some. We then went and met up with some other raisers who had invited us to dinner. Andrew did pretty good at dinner he got a little excited when a raiser gave their young pup a toy but once the pup was done with the toy andrew calmed down again. We enjoyed our dinner and getting to talk to other raisers. After dinner we went back to the hotel and crashed.

andrew ready for his walk

multnomah falls

a great view of multnomah falls

tomales and andrew by the sign for Multnomah falls

Tomales and Andrew on the bridge with multnomah falls in the back 

andrew with multnomah falls in the back

Andrew and I on our walk up multnomah falls

Andrew saying how much he loves the weather in Oregon

coming down from our hike Andrew had a blast

Andrew news

I am very excited to say that I received the news that my Bakersfield and fresno leaders as well as our cfr are in the final stages of making arrangements to allow Andrew to move up to Fresno with me. Originally we were going to have to wait till summer for him to move up, but after explaining that my schedule allowed me to work with Andrew a lot more than my mom can we were told that the issue needed to be discussed but saw no reason why he could not come to fresno. So far the deal is Andrew can move up towards the end of feb, but can not go to school yet. I agree Andrew would be to young to go to my classes, and that would be to much to expect him to adjust to a new location plus school. My plan is on the weekendswhen no one is there I will take him and walk the campus so he can see what the campus is like then as he gets older this semester allow him to walk a short bit on campus with kids there and start introducing him to classes by taking him once a week and work up from there. I am looking forward to having Andrew in fresno with me.

Also got news that Medford had a date today. That means more grandpups to come.

Medford will be a dad ....AGAIN

So when I had last talked to guide dogs breeding department Medford wasnt scheduled to be bred again any time soon. Well.... I got an email today saying that a female went into heat and they decided to use Medford as the daddy. He was bred to Damsel a female yellow lab. So now that there is another litter i have to decide do I get a pup from the first litter and hope it is a medford pup since two males were used, or i could wait few months and know for sure it is a medford pup. Its a hard choice. The thing is i prefer to have the more golden to it over the more lab. Ive always liked goldens more than labs, dont get me wrong i love labs but goldens have and always will be my favorite. If i take one from the first litter it would be 7/8 golden if it was a med but there is no promise it would be medfords. If i get one from second litter then it would be more lab but i would know its medfords. As of now im sticking to the first litter but who knows i still have some time to decide.

More info

So after much back and forth with the head of breeding department at guide dogs I finally got all the info I needed about the pups. As you know Medford and another male was bred with pilllar. Once I heard that news I began to panic about would i know if I had a medford pup, and if not would I be ok with the other males pup. With this being my last pup for at least a little while I was hoping to end with a grandpup and wasnt sure if I would be ok with the other males. So I sent an email expressing my concerns to the head of breeding department. She informed that a DNA test would be done on the pups once they were 6 weeks old but would not have results till they were 12-14 weeks old. That made me feel little better knowing I would at least know who the dad was even if it was after i had it for a month. However, I still worried would i be ok with the other males pup if I ended up with it. I thought about waiting for his second litter but was told it doesnt like hell be used anytime soon and with only a certain time frame I could get a puppy I have decided to go ahead and stick with the pillar litter. I was told that the other male used was ralph a male golden medium color, and that he had a good success rate. After hearing that my fears were put to ease. I would be happy with whatever I got, would I be little disapointed if the pup i got wasn't medfords yes but I'd be ok with it which is important. I also found out that I can schedule to see the pups once they are 6-7 weeks old I know i will be taking advantage of this opertunity. My thinking if something happens that i dont get a med pup at least i can say i saw them.

Medford as a puppy

puppy news

Well I just talked to guide dogs and Pillar who Medford was bred with had 8 puppies on saturday. There are 4 males and 4 females, and the litter letter is A. Since Pillar was also bred with frozen sperm from another male we do not know yet how many are medfords. We have been told different things but we should know when they are 6-12 weeks old. Yes that means we might not find out until we have the puppy. So fingers crossed they find out at 6 weeks so we can know we are raising a medford pup and not some other males pup.

Puppies, puppies, puppies

So I got a very exciting email today from the breeding department for guide dogs for the blind. It said that at the time of the email she had deliverd 4 pups with 2-3 more still to go. Thats all I know right now and should no more info in few days. Also since Pillar was bred with Medford AND another male we arent sure what pups belong to what dad yet. There will be a DNA test when they are about 6 weeks old to find out. Once I know more ill post.

Medford update

I received this picture from Medford's family. I am told he is doing well, and enjoying the rope toy we gave him at graduation. In the picture is Medford with Gail the family's female black lab who was their first breeeder and is now retired.

Medford and Gail

update

So now that my life has somewhat settled down again I figured I should update everyone on what is going on. First Medford's first litter is due oct 19. Unfortunally the female was bred with Medford and another male so until they are born and dna test are run I will not know how many of the pups are his. Secondly I have received the news that my appartment has changed their minds and will not allow me to have guide dogs stay with me luckly I had signed a month to month lease since I was nervous if they would keep their word to allow the dog. So now I will be moving again at the end of the semester, so I can continue to raise. This means three months without a dog. This will be weird since it has been a while since I went this long without a dog. So since I will not have much to update about my blog will be slow for a bit. I will however keep everyone updated about medford's pups.

graduation pictures

Medford and I with his breeder keepers children
Medford and I in front of the congratulations sign
Medford giving me kisses
Medford and I before graduation

Family photo(my dad, me , medford, my sister, and my mom)
group photo (hilton, medford, heloise,and hobbs) with raisers and hilton and hobbs partners
Medford and I being called onto the stage
Making Medford sit before giving my speech

Tearing up during my speech
Medford sitting in my lap after graduation
Giving Medford one last hug

Medford graduates

Yesterday Medford graduated as a breeder. It started out with my family, my sister's boyfriend and I driving to San Rafael on Friday. We arrived to the Embassy suits at about 8pm, and checked in. I then let Palau run around our suit to burn her energy while I worked on my speech for Medford's graduation. Then it was off to bed. At 8am I woke up took care of Palau, and got ready for the graduation. At 10:40 am we headed over to the Guide Dog campus to meet Medford's breeder keeper family. We enjoyed sharing stories about Medford for a while, and then Medford's family had to leave. Once they left I enjoyed loving on Medford and showed my sister's boyfriend the campus. While walking through the kennels I happened to run into some of the trainers I had worked with during my internship few years back. It was great to catch up with them. I then headed back to the student dorms to have Medford and I picture taken. Then I met up with some memebers from my group for more pictures. We were having Medford and three other dogs from our group graduate that day, so we wanted pictures of all the dogs together. Then it was time for graduation to start. I was the second one to go on stage, and was allowed to say a few words about Medford. I had the worst time giving the speech, since I kept breaking down into tears. After my turn I was able to go sit in the audience and watch the students receive their guides. Once graduation was over there was a small reception where we had cookies to eat. Then it was time to say goodbye. We walked Medford to the kennels and checked him in. We then took him to his kennel and gave him the last few kisses. Then we had to walk away in tears. On our way home we stopped in Merced to drop Palau (who did great at graduation) off with her raisers. Yesterday was very emotional but I couldnt be more proud of Medford. I will post pictures from graduation once my mom emails me them.