The Things She Ate

Ok- Waffle is actually quite tame in terms of garbage mouth behavior. Compared to our last pup Tacoma, she is actually and angel. Tacoma would take a bite out of anything just to see what it tasted like. She was the one who ate half of her bed and followed it with a paper clip chaser. All of which came to light at GDB's funday where she had to have emergency surgury to remove her bed and clip. Friends of mine were actually going through the vet clinic tour where they were telling visitors "our vet is normally here but he had to take a pup in for emergency surgury- look here are her films (flash to taco's x-rays) this is why you should pick up paper clips off the floor" One day I hope to get copies of the films.


Waffle on the other hand just likes to chew things to chew them, she really never swallows - just chews, we will find small piles of what ever she has chewed up. We caught her chewing on an envelope with a $100 bill in it. I can hear it now...she is a lab what do you expect.


Well as you know Waffle is fighting her hormones so of late the chewing behavior has been getting out of hand. This morning I found her outside chewing on something crunchy. Well this is what I found. It's really not that big, about the size of a 50 cent piece. Kind of grosssssss



And then today she is walking around chewing and bobbing her head so we knew she was eating something else. I guess the minty fresh breath should have been a dead give away but this is what I fished out of her mouth.











While we are on what she ate, this was the state of the Waffler's bed.






















And this summer the state of my comforter cover. So while my angel may have a sweet heart her breath stinks.

Waffle's Recital

Just like your child's 1st recital I had to video Waffle's morning warbling. It started as a way to teach her NOT to bark. To do that you have to teach your dog TO bark. So we made it part of our morning ritual. We often call Eggo so we can sing to her over the phone. So bare with me here it is.


Waffle dedicates this to her sister Eggo

Hormones

well, at 13 months Waffle is nearing that time in every girl's life that we as puppy raisers dred. Call it the curse, aunt flow, her season, heat what ever you call it our lives for the next month will be ruled by her hormones. The run up to the whole experience is worse than the experience itself. Our normally sweet mellooooow pup is now racing around the house, licking the table and nosing in the trash cans. She has been come much more needy (following me where ever I go) and has been presenting a very naughty 'tude lately. She does that stubborn sit down thing and refuses to move much like a donkey. The little poopy head has taken a shine to a male friend of mine, can't keep her away from him. I don't know how to explain to her that he is gay.

I figured out how to load video. It's one that a lot of us have seen before, you know what to expect when they tuck their tail and for about 30 seconds they lose their minds. Waffle was prone to this before she started PMSing but now we tend to see this 4 or 5 times a day. She actually leaps over our ottaman, haven't been able to get a good shot. This rant is tame, this morning she was throwing one of these tantrums, but for some reason she decided to keep it in a small confined area which is even more funny.


and of course after all that running around she turned and with rear end facing the camera decided that she had to do her business. Lucky I figured out how to edit that part out.

Busted!

As Guide Dogs in Training, we are not allowed on furniture. They keep saying 'four on the floor' what-ever! Well here I am just trying to get a tan. Do you ever have this problem? every time I lie down in a patch of sun it keeps moving, I was just trying to snuggle up some place warm and cozy and not only do they yell at me but then proceed to publish it to the world. sssssshhhhheeeshhhhhh.

When in doubt throw on the puppy eyes! it works all the time.

Waffle and Other Friends

Enough about Tacoma, you'd think they never take pictures of ME. The Waffler. I had a sleep over and this is my friend Gallica, she is just two weeks older than me, we hung out, played and fought over the pillow, but it was lots of fun.

We also hand to fight over lap time with my mom as well, I was being kind because she was a guest - but I wasn't happy. Toys, beds and pillows are one thing, but not MY mom.

More pictures

What can be more fun than a new dog picture? Two or more pictures for sure!

These are actually some of my favorite pictures of my big sis Tacoma. One I think is funny, is one where she just woke up. She looks very disgruntled here, yes?

This one we like, because she looks possessed. Really, she is just pissed because she is on one side of the fence and everything interesting is on the other side. We call this pic Evileen. Look at those eyes and claws! Scary!

This is kind of a before and after look for the Taco Bell herself. The one on the right is her about 4 months and the one on the right is just before her recall date about 16 months. While she may have gotten bigger, the attitude never went away. She was just holding it in for this photo.

The One Who Started It All

Everyone has one in their life.

The one who started it all.... it starts with a little wiggle and then the sloppy kiss and before you know it you're in love. Well for both of Waffles two-legged sisters that pup was Sandy, a sweet tempered cocker mix. Only about 17 lbs, she was the queen of the house. From her own corner of the sofa she ruled over the rest of her human pack, a patient friend who played tea party and dress up. She suffered through rounds of 'beauty salon' and rides in the baby carriage she had the unfortunate luck to be born before the digital age. So all we have to remember her with is bad kodak photos.

Sandy was just a warm up for Sumi, an impulse birthday gift from friends who wanted to steal her from the pet store where she was in the window. Our first lab, she took just under two years to have the entire family trained to her satisfaction. She was kind of like your first child - an easy dog who rarely caused trouble, the one who lulls you into thinking all labs are sweet abiding creatures. We had her for a wonderful 16 years.



Here is one of my favorite pictures of her. I woke her up to take photos with a borrowed Homecoming crown. As you can see she wasn't impressed as I was with the photo shoot.



Here is what she really wanted to do.

Smart dog!

I mentioned before that my sister (the four-legged one) is really smart. Look what she figured out! Yes. she has figured out that the tube leads to a nice container of cold water. That must have been quite refreshing after going on a 9-mile hike.

Self-realization

Ok, I am coming around to the fact that we (Waffle's sisters) did this blog just so we could show off photos of our pup. I thought it would be a journal about our experiences, but lets be real who cares. Yet cute pictures of puppies will always remain in vogue. So here they are.

Extreme nose shot

It takes talent to hold the leash, take a picture and turn on the fountain

And of course a nice sunset over the lake

My favorite toy and I are steps away from Freedom!!!

But of course, I'd never leave, because I love my family too much!

Enough about her, let's talk about me

For a dog, I am very well-traveled. This past summer, I went up north with the family to some dog thing (Carrie will write about that, someday), and on the way home, we made a very long detour and saw the Snoopy Museum. You've heard of Snoopy, right? He's famous! And boy, can he dance!



Snoopy apparently has the ability to hold food in his paws. That is so weird. And his friends also have stuff, too. Where's my share? Oh, I don't get any. Well that sucks.

More old pics...

My Christmas Card Photo

of me and my sis. This was in January, not at Christmas, taken while Tacoma was visiting our house before she left to be with her new family. Aren't you impressed that my human family managed to keep those poinsettias alive for so long?

I have to admit, Tacoma is a pretty, pretty dog. I hope I grow up to be as pretty as she is! Although, my big sis Pauline says that I am very beautiful. So there, Carrie!

Career Changed

The Girls finally settling down for a nap

Ok for those of you not familiar with what that means is that it is a nice way of saying your dog flunked out of training. They don't always funk out for poor performance, sometimes it is for health reasons or temperament. Not everyone is cut out to be a guide dog. Close the 60% fail. Thats what happened to Waffle's sister Tacoma. Now Taco -bell as we called her was very smart -- too smart to want to work for a living, we like to believe that she sized up the situation and figured out where she wanted to be. Which is as a Career Changed dog meant becoming a beloved family pet. Thats our Story and we are sticking to it, hey I mean her new family takes her cross country skiing, to the lake, Santa Barbara, play dates with her favorite friend Henry-- plus she has what she has wanted most in the world... a human child. Well she would have preferred a toddler (they tend to drop more food, and are at an ohhh so convent level for snatching toys from) but the 9 yr old with whom she now is devoted to works just as well. Here are a few shots of when Tacoma came home from GBD before we placed her with her new family.



Waffle is aout 5 months old here with 20 month Tacoma



The Sisters at home Jan '07

This is my sister, as a puppy!

Can you see the family resemblance? We share grandfather. However, Taco got more of the naughty girl gene than me.



She is to tiny here - small head, but big ears. she kind of has the "deer in the headlights" look, but that is because my big sister kept taking pictures of her with the flash on.


More pictures of my big sister, and what she looked like as a youngster.

She was and still is a very smart dog, and used all of her charm and good looks to get where she is today. Don't believe me? Ask me what Tacoma is doing these days. Ask me if Tacoma sleeps on people furniture. Ask me if Tacoma gets treats! She is living the high life let me tell you.

Here she is after having a bath. Mom and Carrie gave her a bath in the penguin pool. She has hair like John Sheppard from Stargate Atlantis. Here is a picture of Joe Flanigan, his dog Laslo, and Joe's hair, as yet unnamed. Compare Tacoma's hair to Joe's. Amazing.

Guest Blogger - Waffle's Sister!

Greetings everyone. This Eggo, Waffle's sister who currently resides in Minnesooooootah! I want my four-legged sister to come and visit, because then we would take long walks in Rosemount and look for an old friend, Domina (now pronounced Dominay.)

Maybe tomorrow we will post some puppy pictures. She was a cutie and such a small puppy. What happened? :-)

It's All About MEEEEEEEEE!!!

Welcome the the sometimes big and sometimes not so big adventures of raising a guide dog. This is Waffle she is a 12 month female black lab from Guide Dogs for the Blind in San Rafael California.


It's hard to get a good photo of a black dog so we were very pleased by this photo. It was taken at the Girl Scout camp where we spent the summer, me working as the head chef and Waffle as head of morale. A job that she took very seriously spending countless hours distributing kisses and cuddles to whom ever happened to be passing by (especially if they were wearing sunscreen.)







This is her favorite toy a jolly ball of which she owns three



Waffle has a lot of friends, we call them her cousins, she has quite a few. This picture is of one of them, his name is Martinez he is only 6 months old --but he is just as big as she is and guaranteed to get bigger.