Christmas shopping/ Christmas Day

One would think that after a week of finals plus a Christmas party I would want to just relax for a few days. Unfortunately since finals were so close to Christmas I had yet to buy my family or the dogs Christmas gifts. So on December 22 I invited one of my friends to tag along with Pinnacle and I to do last minute Christmas shopping at the mall. It took us forever to find parking and when we did it was pretty far back so we had to walk a bit to get into the mall. Pinnacle was a good boy and handled the crazy Christmas traffic perfectly. Once inside we made our way through some stores but soon realized it was just to crowded for us. We settled on one store and I quickly got my dad and my sister's boyfriend their gifts. After that one store we agreed we were better off just shopping at the Target in the mall. Pinnacle once again proved what an excellent worker he is. He ignored all the people who were trying to distract him and just focussed on me and looking ahead. Even in Target I put him on his flat collar and walked him while pushing the cart. I did put his gentle leader on at the end since there were lots of people so it was easier to control him with it on. After surviving the mall my friend, Pinnacle, and I all went to Baja Fresh for lunch. Pinnacle was so worn out from shopping he crashed and slept through the whole lunch. Then it was time to get the dogs their Christmas gifts, so I ran to Petco. While there I got Agent a new collar, Wilbur and Lobo each a new bone, and my sister's yorkie a stuffed toy. I ended up going the next day to petsmart and getting Pinnacle a dog bed for his gift. After all that running around we went back to my house wrapped gifts and just chilled.

Few days later it was Christmas eve. We didn't do much that day I just let Agent and Pinnacle play in the back yard, and then we went to dinner with my aunt and her fiancé. Next morning was Christmas Day. We got up about 8am took care of the dogs and started to open gifts. I pretty much got what I had asked for. Then the dogs got to "open" their gifts from Santa. They got a couple new bones and Agent got some new stuffed animals. After Santa's gifts then I gave them my gifts. They all loved their new toys. The rest of the day was pretty chilled my sister's boyfriend, my aunt, and her fiancé came over and we enjoyed a nice lunch/dinner. I then took Agent and Pinnacle out to play and burn energy. About 6pm me, Pinnacle, my mom, my aunt, and her fiancé went to see a movie (my sister had gone to spend some time with her boyfriend's family and my dad had a Christmas party to go to). We decided to see The Wolf of Wall Street. I do not recommend the movie it's way to long and has no point to it. The movie was 3 hours long and the entire theater was packed so we had to sit in the very back with little room and tons of popcorn spilled in front of us. I was worried how Pinnacle would do since he likes to spread out some, but he did great he curled up in a small ball and went to sleep the entire time (except for when I had to wake him up because he was barking in his sleep). In all we had a good Christmas and Pinnacle is loving me being done with school.

collar I got Agent

the dogs' gifts from Santa

Blanket from my mom and dad of all the pups I have raised

Pinnacle and Agent playing on Christmas

Pinnacle was one worn out puppy

last week of school/ Christmas party

This is a little late since I was busy with finals and getting ready for Christmas. On December 19 I finished my last final and my last day as a Fresno State student. I had left Agent home with my parents in Bakersfield since I had no time to worry about two dogs and studying for finals. Pinnacle was a good boy he enjoyed being the only dog and we worked on his house behavior a lot since we didn't have time for any outings really. The one outing we did was we went with our Guide Dog group to walk around and look at Christmas lights. My phone died during the walk so I have no pictures. Once finals were done I got to enjoy Pinnacle. That Friday we started out sleeping in some which was nice. Then we got up and met one of my friend's for lunch. Pinnacle has become a pro about his behavior when we go out to eat. After lunch we headed over to Fresno State for the last time to return my books and get a picture of him on campus for the last time. Once we were done with that we had to run to target to pick up a few things. Pinnacle is great about shopping and knows how to walk perfectly next to me while I push the cart. After a busy day we went home and crashed.

Pinnacle in front of the fountain at Fresno State for the last time

Pinnacle at our last bowling class 

December 21 marked my last guide dog meeting as an official member of Fresno Far-Sighted guide dog puppy raising group. It started with me running around trying to get things ready for the meeting and getting stuff loaded to take back to Bakersfield. Once I thought I had everything I headed out to the meeting. The meeting started at the bowling alley in Clovis. My parents drove up that day so they could support me while I said my goodbyes that day. Once I was at the meeting I realized I forgot the cake I made for the potluck we were having after bowling so my mom ran to my apartment and got it for me. We all enjoyed bowling and I enjoyed showing off the skills I learned in bowling class this semester. Pinnacle could careless about the bowling going on he was more into saying hi to his friends or laying there being cute. After bowling all of us raisers headed over to a business that was kind enough to let us use for our Christmas party. There was tons of food for us raisers to eat and all the dogs were well behaved. After all of us were done stuffing ourselves it was time for the white elephant exchange. That was the best part of the party. At one point I had a dog bed and Pinnacle was sleeping on it when someone decided they wanted to steal it. Poor Pinnacle as they went to reach for the bed he wrapped his paws around the bed and wouldn't let go. He was very determined not to let anyone take that bed. Everyone had to laugh at him as he sulked when I finally got him off the bed. In the end we got a new jolly ball and my parents ended up with a nice blanket. After all the fun it was time to load up and say my goodbyes to everyone. I made sure to promise to stay in touch and to visit when I can.

Pinnacle and Agent with the Jolly Ball we got in the gift exchange 

Pinnacle and I meeting Santa at our Guide Dog Christmas party

10 months

Pinnacle turned 10 months old today!! To honor him now being in the double digits I'll list 10 things I love about him.

1. I love his confidence. He is very confident which makes taking him places easier.

2. I love his head tilt. If you talk to him or make funny noises he will tilt his head to the side.

3. I love the the way he walks when he gets excited it is almost like he is prancing

4. I love that he does so great when we go to the movies. He is the perfect movie date since he will go in front of my seat and fall asleep.

5.I love how excited he gets when he knows its time to work. He prefers to be out working over being at home.

6. I love that he is able to sleep on a tie-down now. He still sleeps in his crate some nights but he is great when I put him to bed on a tie-down

7. I love how excited he gets when he knows I'm taking him outside to play with his jollyball.

8. I love his eagerness to please. He gets upset if he knows I am mad at him. He does his best to make me happy.

9. I love that he likes attention but is also ok playing alone

10. I love how far he has come. He is not perfect but he has come a long way and shows promise to continue doing better.

Changes

With a new year coming up soon there also comes some changes. This week ( if all goes well and I pass all my classes) will mark my last week at Fresno State. After lots of hard work I am scheduled to graduate. I will still continue to raise Pinnacle only we won't be attending classes anymore. I will have Pinnacle until end of May at which time he will either be recalled or transferred to my one friend who is a raiser. The reason I can only keep him till end of May is because I will be attending Bergin University of Canine Studies starting in June!!! Since it has their own service dogs they train there Pinnacle is unable to go with me. However, Agent will be going to live with me so I won't be dog less. Plus in August Bergin University will be assigning me a dog that I will be responsible for teaching advanced service dog commands. I will continue this blog even while I am attending Bergin University. I am excited and nervous about all these changes.

Please Leash Your Dog

So this post is a little late but I wanted to wait to see the outcome before posting about it. The week before Thanksgiving I was outside my apartment getting Pinnacle ready to go to school. He had just gone potty and I was headed to the dumpster to throw it away when I heard some barking. I didnt think much of it at first since my apartment is pet friendly so you hear dogs bark all the time. All of a sudden two pugs came charging out from behind a car at Pinnacle and me. They attempted to try to bit Pinnacle but I managed to get between them before any injury could happen. Pinnacle was excellent and just moved behind me and looked at them. I had to keep kicking them away so they couldnt get near Pinnacle. Finally one of the apartment employees saw what was going on and came to help me. The whole time the owner just stood there calling her dogs. In the end Pinnacle was physically and mentally fine. The apartment manager contacted the owner and told them that dogs must always be on leash and explained that the pugs went after a guide dog in training (pinnacle was in his vest when this happened) hopefully people learn to keep their dogs on leash and not to allow them to go up to service animals or service animals in training.

Retired

I know its been a while since I have posted on my blog. I have been busy with my last semester of school so I havent had much time to do anything big with Pinnacle. To update you some Pinnacle is 9 months old and coming along pretty good still have some things to work on but he will get there.

I did receive news today that the second pup I raised a male golden named Pascal has been retired from being a guide due to old age. He will be living his retirement in Texas with friends of his partner .