Polaris

So back in February I said that Polaris had been career changed due to many issues he had, and that I sadly could not adopt him because the school was worried that his issues could have a negative impact on Andrew's training. So we decided to let the school place him which was a har choice to make since all my career changes live in Bakersfield where I can see them. Well it has been a month now and we finally got a letter saying Polaris has found a forever home. They wait a month to inform us of a placement to make sure that the placement works out. All we know is he will be living with a retired couple in Redwood city. We are sending the school our contact info in hopes of staying in contact with his new family. I hope they enjoy him as much as I did.

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.

Happy 5 months Andrew

Today Andrew is 5 months old. I cant believe it has been about three months since i brought him home. So in honor of him being 5 months ill list 5 things i love about andrew.

1. his happy personality. he is always happy to see me even if im gone for only 5 min.

2. his cute face. I love his face. I think he has the cutest face ever.

3. his confidence. hes a pretty confident puppy, which is good cause it makes it easier to take him on outings.

4. his love to snuggle. even though there are times it annoys me I love that he is becoming more lovey dovey.

5. his love to play. he is always up for some play time. I enjoy watching him chase his jolly ball rope toy.


Also Happy 17 month birthday to Shawn (yes shawn and andrew have same birthday). He is in breeder evaluations so we hopefully will hear something soon about him.

Fun past 2 weekends

Ashley: so andrew and i have been busy the past two weekends. Last weekend on saturday Andrew went to his first guide dog meeting as a member of the fresno group. Andrew and i went to another raisers house before the meeting to let andrew run. After that andrew the other raiser and i headed over to manchester mall to meet up with the fresno group to catch a bus there to take to fresno state. Andrew did really good on the bus. Once at fresno state we all walked around and worked on commands then headed into fresno states library. Fresno state library has some really weird stairs made of mesh metal that some dogs dont like. Andrew had no issue with the stairs. After time in the library it was time to head back to the mall on the bus. After the meeting we joined some raisers for lunch. Andrew did pretty good hes not a huge fan of having to lay still. After lunch we went back to the other raiser's we were with in the morning house to let andrew run the rest of his energy off. Last Sunday was also a very busy but fun day. It started out with us going to breakfast at batter up. Andrew and i had to wait a bit to be seated so he got to work on ignoring people. Andrew got tons of compliments on how well behaved he was even the owner came up and said how impressed he was with andrew. After breakfast andrew and i went to a park to walk around and let him see ducks. He had lots of fun and crashed once we got back to my appartment. This weekend was just as fun. We traveled back to bakerfield for a weekend of fun. On saturday Andrew had a playdate with opal. She is a take charge kind of pup so poor andrew spent most of the time running from her. After they played we worked on some comands. Then opals raiser andrew and i went to dinner while my mom and dad watched opal. Today Andrew got to play in snow for the first time. My dad and i got up early and drove to the mountains in search of snow. There wasnt alot but we did find some snow. We put andrew on a flexleash, since guide dog puppies must be on leash umless in an inclosed area, so he could run and chase his rope toy. He had lots of fun running in the snow. His dad medford was the same way when i took him to the snow so it was fun to see how they had that in common. After playing in the snow Andrew needed a bath. He wasnt very happy about it.

Andrew: so i have had a fun past two weekends. I enjoyed meeting the fresno group and making new doggy friends. This weekend i got to enjoy playing with opal. She may be cute but dont let that fool you she likes to chew on me. Yuck! Today i enjoyed this thing my raiser called snow. All i know is its white cold and lots of fun. I enjoyed running in the snow even if there wasnt alot according to my raiser. We also found out that my daddy produced a third litter. They were born sometime at the end of feb and begining of march. And there are 7 of them. I cant wait to see some of my brothers sisters and half siblings at guide dogs fun days.

Andrews eval

Well today Andrew had his second eval his first as a member of fresno far sighted group. I got there early so i walked him around to let him burn energy before heading into panerra bread to meet with my leaders and our cfr. We went over andrews personality, health, and issues. I was able to get some tips on what to do to work on his issue of not settling. I will have to take him for long walks in different neighborhoods. This will allow him to exersise and use his brain in hopes to make him tierd. I also learned that to work on him staying down i will need to step on his head collar as close to to his head as possible for now and to reward him with food for being good. He can squirm as long as he stays down once he can stay down without my foot on the leash ill be able to worry about his positioning. In the meantime once hes down im to ignore him. After our talk we met up with puppy zorba and his raisers to walk them and work stairs so our cfr can see how they do. In the end our cfr said andrew is doing good and that once andrew can settle he can start going to one class a week.