Should we be worried?

Ok- I figured Waffle would be in phase 3 for a while, I was hoping for news that she had moved up to phase 4 this week, but I understand that she is still in phase 3. The move from 3 to 4 is a big jump. Kind of like moving from the baby swiming pool to the big kids pool. I mean you have to know to swim, and float the whole time so rotten kid is doing cannon balls in your face. It is a little un-nerving, A pup must know all her commands, clear an obsticle course, look for overhead obstructions and do all this in traffic!

So I shouldn't be worried execpt that Wallaby her sister (who is still on breeder eval- a sore point with my mother) has moved up to 4.

*sigh*

will I ever get a pup to graduate?

Talk about pot roast-y

Ok- I know labbies like to munch but this boy weighed in at 105 lbs. ( 1 stone = 14lbs) and he lost 21 lbs. He was soo big he legs couldn't hold him!

random photos

Taco Bell and Waffle
Gallica and Waffle

Yawn - not more photos

Waffle has always liked boys....she would go up to them, snuggle with them act all cute and coy. such the flirt. Here she is at Downtown Disney - she actually moved away from me to lay down next to her friend Krister. When he started scratching her, she 'played' being asleep before we knew it, she had climbed up into his lap loving all over him. And she NEVER did this with us. Hmmmphhhh !

Phase three

So new phase report, the Waffler is still in phase three not much new there, if she doesn't move up next week, we will start dusting out her kennel but until then hope spring eternal. Her sister Wallaby is now on Breeder Evaluation - where she is medically evaluated to see if she will join GDB's breeding colony one step closer to being a mommy. Better not tell mom, she really wanted a little eggo from the Waffler.

Waffle the goofy girl always hated her 'diaper' that she had to wear during her season. Here she is throwing a fit - I love the music in the background. Don't mind my mom in the background, trying to bribe her into submission.

The Taco Bell

The Taco bell and her new family


the birthday cake she didn't get to eat.



Hey take a look who made it into the GDB Community Connection newsletter! When we dropped off Waffle in Dec. I saw all the other pictures of what career changed pups where up to and I knew that I had to send in this photo.

that's my bratty-baby and her new family

Looking for sibs

Nothing new, still in Phase three but to tide you over here a few photos for the hundreds we seem to have. Wallaby her sister is still on breader watch so that is good news. If anyone has news of who raised Wallaby or Wally (who has yet to be recalled) I'd love to hear news of them.

OPD II

We've been dog sitting a friend's dog this past week. He is a rescue dog whose name was Patron, but the owners wanted to change it - but for some reason has never gotten around to finalizing it. We liked Shippo, b/c he looks a lot like a fox - but he seems to answer mostly to fluffy. It is soooo different from having a lab. He just LAYS there! A total lap dog. I don't know what kind of dog he is, I think he is the round and fluffy kind. He kind of waddles instead of walks--.

It is almost like having a stuffed animal

OPD

New phase report, Waffle has moved up to phase three Yeah!, I miss having her around so I am reduced to OPD - other people's dogs.

Ok- I admit it, I've been cheating on Waffle. We dropped her off a little over a month ago and have been dog-less ever since then. I have to admit I was wondering do I miss the Waffle pup or just the general fun of a dog. Well last night I found the truth.

An old friend of mine called, I had not seen him for at least 8 months since he took a job in Northern California. He was house sitting for his parents on his way to a new job in China. Tim is really nice, it is just that you need to block out about 6 hours of your day, because he is sooooo chatty. Really wasn't up to it last night and was going to put him off unitl the weekend, but then he said the magic word (and it wasn't chocolate but).......DOG. German Shepard Dog to be exact, his parents had a new dog. I said I'll be there and by the way would you like some left overs (he doesn't cook).

So I drove over to meet the new pup.... except he wasn't exactly a pup, more like a small shetland pony! Kid you not, over 6 feet when he stands on his hind legs, can eat off the kitchen table without even stretching and had paws the size of pancakes (ok...maybe not that big) King is his name, he was a rescue from the pound, about 5 years old and a goof. You can tell he wants to be loved on but its a new experience for him. I was giving him a good ear squdge and he was just in heaven.

Here is the goof with some dog food stuck on his nose, which was funny until he thought I wanted to play and wanted to head butt me.

Finally Tim helped him out and wiped his nose. Silly boy.

Well for all the canine fun, he was still someone else's dog. I still miss my Waffle.

Dog Haiku

Ok I spend way too much time surfing the net looking at guide dog stuff.

I lie belly up
In the sunshine- happier than
You will ever be

Today I sniffed
Many dog butts - I celebrate
By kissing your face

The Cat is not all
Bad- she fills the litter box
With Tootsie Rolls

All courtesy of Have Paws Will Travel the GDB club in Arapaho, Co.

An artsy shot of the Waffle and her sister Eggo

Update

E-Bark
E-Bark Recipient: Please share this information with members of your puppy raising groups who are unable to receive it.

As some of you may already know, last Friday afternoon one of our puppy trucks was involved in a serious automobile accident. This accident was the fault of another driver who lost control of his vehicle and hit the puppy truck. Denny Epperson, who was driving at the time, did an excellent job in keeping the puppy truck upright and minimizing the accident as much as possible.
Sadly, one of the five adult dogs traveling was killed during the accident. She was a retired guide who was returning to her puppy raisers for adoption. The four other adult dogs, including Denny's active puppy that he is currently raising, and the 18 puppies aboard were not seriously injured.

The driver's side of the truck took the direct impact, and Denny was taken to UC Davis for treatment. His injuries are serious, but not considered life-threatening. He is scheduled for surgery today, to mend his pelvis and leg. The doctors expect a full recovery.

Lee Shenk was the passenger and was not seriously injured. Lee remained calm and took care of the dogs until they were transported by staff back to campus Friday evening.

We are deeply saddened by the loss of the retired guide. And we are deeply grateful to Denny and Lee, who performed amazingly well in a frightening and emotional situation, and who are continuing to conduct themselves with strength and courage. We have spent the weekend ensuring that all of our constituents who had an adult dog on the truck were informed, and that Denny's family had the opportunity to travel to his location.

We also want to acknowledge all of the staff from many different departments who worked together on Friday and made sure that all of the necessary phone calls were made, the dogs and Lee were transported back to campus and taken care of and who supported them and each other.

Please send any cards or correspondence to:
Guide Dogs for the Blind Attn: Puppy Raising
PO Box 151200
San Rafael, CA 94915-1200

We Need Happy Thoughts

Just found out that the GDB puppy truck ran into trouble on the way back to San Rafael. We've been having some bad storms here up and down the state- lots of snow in the high mountains and driving rain. Well I am sorry to say that the truck was in an accident, the Driver Denny was hurt- air lifted to UC Davis medical center and one retired guide was killed. From what I hear all other pups and adult dogs were ok.

I am hoping that all is well, especially because I think I met Denny at Downtown Disney funday. Here is hoping that everyone is ok.

California Storms

Good News - Bad News

Waffle just testing out the bed at the Inn Marin to make sure it was ok

Good news is that Waffle is still in training. She is still in Phase 2, but you expect that with the holidays and what not. The average time per phase can be 2-4 weeks depending on the dog and other things ---which leads me to the

Bad News, Waffle has been taken off of breeder watch :( which really has bummed my mother out. She wanted me to call Guide Dogs and convince them Waffle should be a breeder. I told her it doesn't work that way. She is convinced Waffle would have been great mommy material....... OR I wonder if there is there a deeper longing for grandchildren (or grandpups in this case) that neither my sister nor myself have yet seen fit to fulfill. hmmmm.

anyway Waffle will be fixed fairly soon if not already, which means more down time from training while she heals. So it is good news and bad at the same time. Like I said before at least she has made it this far.

Happy New Year

Waffle would like to wish everyone.....

A Happy New Year!

20 days and Counting

Before she went back, my sister and I took Waffle into the mall for a photo shoot. We learned from our mistakes with Tacoma (our 1st FBL) and made sure we wore only light colors. (OK I thought it would be neat if we all matched-so we wore black.... I know what was I thinking?) But here is her big girl photo. She usually is not this focused, off camera the assistant is hold up a two foot rubber ducky. Which actually was pretty funny to watch.

She and her sister Wallaby have moved up to Phase 2! Yeah I did not think they would move her as she has just finished her season this week. We are still not sure if she will be deemed Mommy Material that will still be a couple of weeks away. In phase 2 they introduce her to the guide harness, work on basic commands, and learn about food distractions.

While this exciting news we really don't hold out much hope... Waffle is afraid of buses, cars, lawnmowers basically any thing with a gas engine. Call me silly , but I don't think you can be a guide dog and not like buses. I hope it is something the trainers can work out.

here is a link to GDB's site that lists exactly what she is doing in her training. Actually it is a relief that she made it to phase 2, it would be kind of embarrassing to say my dog failed phase 1 - grooming, walks on campus and group play are such demanding subjects. Don't laugh we know someone who failed phase 1 for non-medical reasons.

America's Vet Dogs

I was flipping channels waiting for the Simpsons to come on and I caught a news clip about two black labs going to war. What! I said no way, but I realized they were being sent over to Iraq as therapy dogs to work with soldiers. Apparently the program has been very successful here in the states and the Army wanted to see if they could replicate the same services overseas.
The Pups come from Guide Dog Foundation in New York, two beautiful Black Labs Boe and Budge. So a big shout out to Rei and Midnight and GDF for all their hard work. It sounds like they were trained to be guides but were shifted over to the Am Vets program. GDB has something like that with Dogs for Diabetics. It is nice to see that there is still work for them even if they don't make it as guides.

Here is the article
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2007-12-12-dogs-of-war_N.htm

here is the link to the web site.
http://www.vetdogs.org/

Making new friends

Afte struggling with blogger, finally was able to up load the video I took whe we dropped her off at San Rafae. Here she is meeting her new friends, She seems to really be excited about having doggy friends to play with. You can tell by her tail that she is happy.

So I remind my self that she will be ok.

Before and After

3 months Dec. 2006 / 15 months Dec 2007


2006 / 2007

Just a before and after look at Waffle, even the poinsettia has grown up too!

She has been at GDB for almost two weeks now, 1st report came in today, and, as expected, she is still in Phase 1 and on breeder watch.

Not much will change until January. 'Tis her season, you know.

Happy Holidays

It's begining to feel a lot like christmas

It's cold, at least for those of us in Los Angeles 44 is cold. How cold is my girl up in SR? We watch the storms roll in and wonder if she is on strike in her kennel refusing to leave the warmth of the heated floors. She never got around to reading the Labrador handbook- you know the one- it tells them they like water, snow, and are general all purpose outdoor pups. My little girl would pee on three legs - just so she could keep one out of the wet grass in the morning, she is more of an indoor spa type of gal. Malls are more her thing, here she is on our last trip to the mall.

Merry Christmas Waffle.

Kennel 5 Klub

Well here is where Waffle will be spending a good part of the next two weeks. As Katie our GDB tour guide told us, K-5 is for the 'girls'. I think they should re-christen it the nunnery. Still I would rather Waffle go here at least the boys won't be harassing my girl. When we were dropping her off, we tried to put her into a kennel but there were a few boys who were mean to her. They kept barking and one who was tied down outside in the hall snapped at her. The scene from Shawshank Redemption flashed in my head. The one where the new inmates are walking into their cells ,with the other inmates chanting 'fresh meat'.

I'm sure everyone there is nice, and after we got her in her cell...ummm I mean kennel, she seemed pleased that there was another fun dog next door to her. I hope she gets a nice roomie. blogger is acting up, and I am having trouble putting up the video - so until I figure it out. here is a picture of her in her new home.

Waffle has left the building

Yes Waffle has left the building. Mom and I left Thursday to drive Waffle up to San Rafael for the Dec. 1st recall. Now this is the only Waffle I have left.

We just got home and I am pooped, I have more pictures and videos, I'll post them soon.

Good luck Waffle - We miss you!