A new beginning

It is official! I will be getting a new puppy at the end of April. They were born January 28, 2013.  8 puppies, 2 boys and 6 girls.  I will be taking one of the boys.  I don't know which one yet but I am sure whichever one I get he will be awesome!

Here are the parents:

Eagle, the father, and his new family

Cleo and 7 of the puppies (the 8th hadn't been born yet)

Fun fact!  Cleo is one of the puppies Sarah and I drove down to Florida a little over 2 years ago.  Amazing how things come around full circle.  Here she is as a puppy:

The one all the way on the right is Cleo

Far right again

Sarah and Cleo

One of these was her, don't remember which one!

I have a name in mind but will officially announce it when I hear which male is mine.  This litter is the "I" litter so all puppies will be named with names starting with I.  

A slow goodbye...

Thursday night we arrived in Florida.  We arrived late so I got to spend one more night with Darby.  We cuddled in the morning and then went to My Angel With Paws to drop him off.  I was most worried about Darby being overwhelmed by all the other dogs because as much as I have tried, he has not had as many dog exposures as I would like.  He was a little shy but did great! Eventually he went into the kennel with the other advanced dogs that we just called in.  Instantly they were all best friends.

Later that afternoon I showed what Darby could do.  Chris goes through a list of things that eventually a service dog should know and asks if your puppy can do them and then we show how he does them.  Darby did spectacularly!  There are a few gaps in his training but over all he was fantastic.  There were a few things I wasn't 100% that he could do and oh boy did he prove me wrong.  One was a "Stand-stay."  I don't think I have ever had him stand and stay.  He stands and he stays but don't think I have done them together.  I was able to leave the room and he was still in a stand in the same spot when I came back!!

Saturday morning I came to join puppy class.  When I got there all the dogs were running around.  Darby ran over to me to say hi then quickly ran back to play.  He was having a blast and my heart stopped hurting just a little.  I did some of the class with Serena then asked if I could do some with Darby.  We were working on working in a small area with all the dogs off leash.  Darby has never been to a formal puppy class and he has never been around that many dogs and asked to stay in a heel, heck he has never worked off leash around dogs except Serena.  He did it and he did it great!  We even switched dogs with people and he worked off leash with other trainers while I was making all sorts of happy noises for the dog I was currently working with.

Serena also needs a shout out.  I asked if anyone would like to work with Serena while I worked with Darby and a husband of a woman with a service dog said he would like to.  He doesn't have very much training experience and admittedly said he didn't know what he was doing.  He was able to work Serena off leash all over the place and have her do all her commands.  She was teaching him and it was awesome!!

After puppy class I put Darby back in the kennel (it really is a bunch of runs attached to a large field and they can go where ever they please.  They are only put in crates at night).  I was hesitant to put Darby back in the kennel because if he didn't want to go my heart would be crushed.  We walked over there, I open the kennel gate and Darby went right on through and was like "HEY FRIENDS!!!!"  Oh did I feel better.  I will see him for the next couple of days then Tuesday night I will have to say goodbye for good.  He is having a blast, he is doing awesome and I can't wait to hear about him with his future person whoever that might be.

Why I puppy raise

After 3 years of raising service dogs for My Angel With Paws, probably the number one question I get is “Isn’t it hard to let them go?”  I am never quite sure how to answer this.

I actually cried when I found out Serena was not going to be a service dog because her hips are bad.  But now am thankful everyday she is mine.  There was never a set time when I gave Jack up.  He just started going to Body Fixx more frequently until one day he just stayed with Tom.  Plus I see him all the time around town so that is great fun.  Darby is going to be the first puppy I raised since a baby.  Everything he knows and does is because of me.  

I have spent the past year and half watching this puppy grow.  From the first car ride home:

To spending the first week getting no sleep what so ever, while he slept in the most awkward positions:

To teaching him the basic commands and then cheering him on as he figures out the harder service dog skills.  

I watched him grow from barely filling his service dog vest to seeing him turn into a magnificent young adult dog:

As this puppy’s puppy raiser, I am the lucky person who gets to experience all his firsts; first Christmas, first trip to Disney World, first snow:

Sure there were moments when I wondered how many things can this puppy get into? Like when he thought he was a guinea pig and joined them in their cage:

Or when he proudly brought me my bra while we had friends over and having to say “bring it here, give, YES!”    

Or when he found the one mud patch in the yard and tried to become a black lab:

But then there were many more moments that make me want to dance for joy.  Like when I dropped my keys and before I could say anything there he was holding them up for me wagging his tail with sheer glee.  Or even the simple things like just having a cuddle buddy while watching Sunday football: 

Or when he finally figured out what “speak” meant after I spent months waiting for someone to walk by the window so I could run into the room going “Yes! Speak!” when he barked at them.  It is a miracle I didn’t get kicked out of my apartment doing that. 

After a year and a half you learn all your puppy’s little quirks and habits.  Like that he loves going down slides. 

Or that he snores very loudly while you are in class. Or sitting like a statue staring at you with laser beam eyes means “get me outside now because I am trying really hard not to move because if I do I will pee.”  I constantly am trying to remember all these things so I can tell his forever mom or dad everything but then I realize that whoever his mom or dad is will learn them too and oh so many more that I didn’t know. 

So “is it hard to let them go?” Yes.  Probably one of the hardest things I have done.  But that puppy that you raised turned into a dog that will change the world for one person.  I say that is pretty freaking awesome!

Getting back to blogging

Boy it has been awhile! I am hoping to get this blog up and going again.  Tons of things have happened with the dogs but posting them all right now from memory probably will take forever and would get super boring so not going to do that.

The biggest thing that is happening is Mr. Darby Doodle is going to final training in a week.  I can't believe it has been a year and half since that fat yellow ball came home.  Looking through old videos and found this from his first day of training.

I am going to be a blubbering mess when I say goodbye to him but I am freakishly excited to see who he is going to be paired with.  Whoever it is I know he will make them smile.  

I know this is super short but I will ramble about random things during the next couple of days.  

Going to Florida

Serena and I are currently at O'Hare airport waiting for our flight to Florida. I used my dads frequent flyer miles to get a free ticket to go get Serena temperament tested at the My Angle With Paws facility. They are hosting a temperament test and it sounds great! I don't really know what they will test but I will let you know. If Serena passes we get a certificate and she gets a title after her name. So far, today has been interesting. I made sure to get to the airport freakishly early. This was the first time that I didn't have to check in Serena beforehand. While booking my flight, American Airlines had an option for traveling with a service dog. They called me a week before my flight to confirm I would have a dog and then transferred my seat to bulkhead. All I had to do was print out my boarding pass! It was so weird being able to walk right into the airport and go to security. I am used to sitting in line for an hour then arguing with people until I get a seat. The line for security was super long so I was prepared to wait for awhile. Next thing I know, a lady pulls me aside into a special assistance line. I walked through security with Serena in a stay then called her to me through the scanner. Her collar always sets the scanner off so I always tell TSA that they can pat her down. Sometimes the TSA agents don't know what they can do to a dog so to save them the questioning I just tell them to pat her down. They sent me to a guy and instead of patting her down he swabbed my hands. I passed the swab and he sent me on my way. Then he realized he should have checked serena and her vest pockets. Whoops dude! I opened her pockets and showed that she wasn't carrying anything illegal. I was trying not to laugh at how I knew the procedure better than he did. Serena and I then walked to our gate and have been chilling for awhile. Our plane leaves in about 45 min!

Serena won!

A couple weeks ago I stumbled across a contest being held by Cesar Millan (the Dog Whisperer) to win a $100 American Express card sponsored by Heartgard.  You had to say why your dog deserves 12 months of heart worm protection.  I entered Serena for the hell of it, not expecting to get anything.  When the 24 finalist were chosen, I went to his website to see who beat out Serena.  While I was clicking through I found that Serena was a finalist!!!  She already had over 100 votes from complete strangers.  I shared her page on Facebook and her total "likes" took off.  The contest ended yesterday and this morning I go to Cesar's website and find this: 

Serena had won the contest with over 700 votes!!  This is a screenshot of the home page of Cesar's website.  I couldn't believe it.  Thank you to everyone who voted.  I am such a lucky person to have such an amazing dog.  

Here is the link to her page on his website with what I wrote and her command's video:

http://www.cesarsway.com/heartworm-awareness/Why-Your-Dog-Deserves-12-Doses-Gallery-Serena

Edited to add:

Serena is now on Cesar's Facebook Page.  WOO HOO!!

I sent this to Cesar in a message.  Corny?  Yes but I am really really thankful/ in complete shock that she won.  

Darby turns 1!

My little yellow ball of sunshine turned 1 on Monday! I, of course, threw him a mini birthday party.  Darby's birthday unfortunately was the day before taxes were due so he didn't get a huge party but he seemed happy with his quick celebration before I had to run off to work.  

First we had to take pictures with his birthday hat...

He thought I was a little silly doing this

He tolerates me oh so well

DID SOMEONE SAY CAKE?!?

Before cake we opened presents.  He was curious about the stuff inside the bag but really was more interested in the treats I was holding.

So after presents I pulled out his birthday cake...

Darby making a wish

Wondering why I am not letting him eat his cake

I allowed him to lick the frosting a little

Serena was then allowed to join the party.  She was not too happy that she had to wear a hat.

Then they each got to eat their slice!  (Though Darby snarfed his down and snarfed most of Serena's)

 I can't believe that Darby is already 1!  We are more than halfway done with his training.  My little man is growing up!