DARBY!!!!!!

It is official, he is named Darby after a small area in Labrador, Canada.  Here is a video I put together of Darby's first day of service dog training.

This is when I picked him up from the Sandi:

Jack and Serena meeting their new brother:

What a ham:

New Puppy

I am picking up puppy number 3 on Sunday!!  I am so excited that words can't even describe it.  I went yesterday to pick out a new service dog puppy for me and Alice to train for My Angel With Paws.  I had a very hard time choosing from 3 yellow lab boys.  I did a couple "tests" to help me narrow down my choices and of course all three passed with flying colors.  I dropped my keys and all of them picked them up and tried to carry them around.  This is good for a service dog because some dogs don't like the taste of metal.  I also payed really close attention when I first entered the room to see who was most interested in me.  All three came over right away and sat down by me wanting to be rubbed (we want a dog that is very people oriented).  Every one of them was calm, friendly and curious.  It made my choice very very hard.  I eventually picked the biggest fattest one because he likes to lay like this:

Now we are trying to come up with a name.  Since he is a donation (ie he wasn't rescued and MAWP didn't breed him) his name has to start with the letter D.  Alice and I have a huge list of names and now have to pick on we like.  This is almost as hard as picking out the puppy.  I can't wait to get Mr. No Name home and introduce him to Serena and Jack.  

Serena = spoiled rotten

Serena is a total princess (though she earns it).  I spoil her just a tad.

1. She has her own pool.

Since the weather is getting warmer I got Serena a baby pool.  She LOVES it!  She will go outside and just lie in it watching the world go by and it isn't even that hot out.   I think we might have a puppy pool party for her birthday in June.  Is that completely crazy? haha

 

2. She has her own chair

This is an old chair in my office that Serena has claimed has hers.  One day I was cleaning the office and put a bunch of papers and stuff on the chair.  The next thing I know she has gotten up onto the chair and is trying to sleep on the pillows.  She kept giving me pathetic looks until I moved the papers

After moving the papers she instantly got comfortable and was much happier.

3. Gets to ride with her head out the window

Also because the weather is getting warmer, I have my windows in my car down more.  Serena loves to stick her head out when we go anywhere between 10 and 40 mph.  Just enough to get a good breeze but it doesn't blow her away.  Some days I look back and her lips and ears are blowing every which way.

Lab Puppy

The search begins for a new lab puppy!  I would like to get one in June or July.  My Angel With Paws' lab breeder dogs are just turning 2 so they won't have their puppies until late this year or early next year.  I am hoping to find a breeder that is willing to donate a puppy or reduce their fee.  If you know of anyone that breeds labs let me know!

Jack's Future

Our main reason for going to Florida this past weekend was to see what Jack's future was.  We had concerns about his fearful dog aggression and I wanted Chris to see it before we decided what to do with him.  He exhibited his fearful aggression the minute we entered the property.  All of us had a discussion about him and decided he was meant to be a full-time Animal Assisted Therapy Dog with Tom at BodyFixx in Lake Forest.  He was already working there on weekends and loves going.  We all decided there was no point trying to make him something he didn't want to be when he already had a job.

As an Animal Assisted Therapy Dog, Jack will help thousands of people.  He is still just as important as a service dog.  He will be trained to work with a brace harness to help people walk.  He will play fetch with people so they can exercise their arms in a fun way.  He will be able to be groomed so that someone can use their fingers.

Chris will be flying up at some point to train Tom, Alice and me on all the things Animal Assisted Therapy dogs can do.  Jack currently is enjoying life with Tom and Alice.  He also was an absolute rock star on his first ever plane ride.  He has come very far from the completely clueless dog he was only 5 months ago!

Off to Florida we go!

Tomorrow Alice, Jack, Serena and I head off on a plane to Florida to visit everyone at MAWP!  I am super excited and can't wait.  This will be Jack's first plane ride and Serena's second.  I can't wait to see what people do when they see two black labs walking through the airport.  I will be sure to take a ton of pictures and let you know how everything goes!  I probably should get back to packing but before I go here are a couple pics from last weekend's horse show.  Dory came out to photograph Saturday and I asked if she would get some pics of me, Reggie and Serena:

We also dressed up Serena so that she could go horse show:  

Reggie's Birthday

Tuesday was Reggie's 9th birthday. Serena and Jack wished him a happy birthday: