Truckee! Truckee!! Hey Truckee!! TRUCKEE!!! HERE TRUCKEEEE!!!! TRUCKEE!!

Yep, the stripe down my nose is pretty darn unusual for a Guide Dog.  So unusual I don't believe they have seen another pup with a stripe down the nose like I have.  Not to boast, or float my boat, or toot my own horn but...BEEP BEEP!!  I had folks comin' at me from all angles at Fun Day wantin' to take a picture of this beautiful mug!!  Fun Day is an event Guide Dogs for the Blind holds to thank the volunteers for the time and effort they give to the organization.  The Girl and I were asked to be in a photo with a few other raisers, a couple Guide Dog for the Blind employees and a representative from Umpqua Bank.

These are the goofballs I love!

Out at Fun day the family got to walk through the vet clinic.  Everyone walked through the doors in front of The Mom and I.  When The Mom and I stepped in, we were halted, stopped!  Yet again, this beautiful face was once again recognized.  You see I had this um, well this uh, um...let's just say I had a "procedure" done not so long ago.  So once we got done with all the "schmoozing" I walked into the clinic.  There I ran into this dumb little dog, who wouldn't move, definitely not as cute as me, and The Mom made me stand next to it until I relaxed.  So I relaxed.  Then we moved on to this Giant, obviously stuffed animal, and The Mom made me lay next to it.  Good Grief with the pictures.

Well wouldn't you know it!  It's my day, I'm makin' my rounds, waggin' my tail, lookin' cute, behaving awesome, drawin' crowds and then I sniff it and soon after spot it - smoke!  Dag-gum-it!
The Grandma went and got our CFR to get her involved.  Hearing all of them talk, it sounds like it was a perfect opportunity for them to work together to see how to work me through the fear.  They were very happy with the progress I made!!

A couple days earlier we celebrated The Boys Birthday!  We all got together and went to breakfast at a place called the Waffle Window!  The Boy's Aunts family also brought their new addition, Rosie.  Don't tell her I said this but she's a Mutt!  She's nice though!

I also went to pizza, look how cute The Girl and I are!

Long story short, I feel like I have the paparazzi following me around all the time.  It's always - Truckee, Truckee!!  TRUCKEE!!  Sometimes they even start making animal noises!!  I'm like what-the-wha!?!  Did she just quack like a duck? 

Until next time, wish me luck!

Truckee (7.5 months)

Humdrum

Things haven't been overly exciting these past couple weeks.  No major outings or activity BUT take a look at how handsome I'm getting!

I'm pretty fearless of most everything EXCEPT FOR SMOKE!!  I'm not sure what happened to me, it's like I turned back into a BIG BABY (a cute baby) but a BIG BABY!  My family(s) are working me through it though.  They have spoke with their club's leader and CFR (Community Field Rep) and have received feedback on how to work me through this.  Seems as though part of the process is to give me lot's of food reward so I'm pretty sure I'm going to get passed this fairly quickly!

When I'm with The Mom and The kids I have to go to work with the mom, which I'm sure I've mentioned is BORING.  She has all these 6am, 7am, 8am meetings.  Don't they realize that's my time to sleep.  UGH, when they talk in the meetings it's like they are speaking another language, I have no idea what they are talking about.  I'm in the meeting room, I'm being awesome and good and sweet and PROFESSIONAL  (I mean I'm practically wearing a suite jacket) and yet none of the conversation is about ME!  Boo!  So I just try to sleep through it.  The Mom has had to nudge me a couple times because I'm snoring too loud!  Ooops!

The mom tries to take me out for a quick "lunch break" if possible, to stretch my legs and do a little work.  She sometimes takes me to Target or Fred Meyer but yesterday she took me to PetSmart.  She made sure I noticed all the hamsters and rats and cats and fish and birds but really it wasn't that big of deal.  I liked seeing the other dog that was in the store but the mom worked with me to not focus on the itty-bitty-weiner dog.

Things are good, my evaluation went well and life as I know it is pretty Humdrum.  My family(s) love me dearly, most people at The Mom's work love me dearly and of course everyone at The Grandma's daycare loves me dearly.  I feel the love every day and I hope they can feel me sending my love right back to them!

Until next time, wish me luck!

Truckee (6 months old)

KEEP PORTLAND WEIRD...

Last weekend we headed downtown to see the Grand Floral Parade Floats and the ships.  This was a big test for me.  There were dogs and people and kids and smells all around.  I had to use all of my will power to focus on being a working dog.  I finally got into a groove and settled into my task of focusing on my handler and ignoring the distractions around me.

After we saw the floats we headed over to see the Navy ships!  They were awesome, we didn't go onboard but we saw them docked at the Portland Waterfront.  The Grandma had The Mom and I pose with a service man from the Navy.  He loved me and was more than happy to take a picture with us.  The Mom and Grandma thanked him for his service.  I got the feeling that this man has an important job as well.

After we saw the ships we ran into a man playing a clarinet.  He was playing a lovely tune but when he saw me he quickly switched the song to "How Much is the doggie in the Window".  Everyone thought it was pretty funny but I was VERY interested in the noise that was coming out of his instrument.  As it turned out the man's sister raised Guide Dog puppies and he knew quite a lot about how the program works.

We decided to end the day by going to Voodoo Doughnuts, none of us have ever been.  We were told the wait was about 10-15 minutes but it turned out the wait was more like 40 minutes!!  So we decided we didn't need doughnuts that bad!!

It was a fun morning in Portland!!

Last week we had our Guide Dog Club Meeting which was a mock "Theater".  We watched Frozen, which let me just say, I AM SO TIRED OF THAT MOVIE AND THE MUSIC!!!  I wanted to plug my ears.  The Girl listens to the CD when I'm at her house and The Grandma plays the music MULTIPLE times a day for the Daycare kids!!  Ugh!  Anyhow, we watched the movie and the raisers ate popcorn and drank water.  Of course The Grandma had to really test me and throw popcorn down right in front of me, but whatever, I don't fall for those tricks!

This week I have a Club meeting as well as my evaluation.

Wish me luck!

Truckee

THINGS JUST GOT REAL...

Now that I'm 8 days away from being 6 months old, things have started to get real!  I am now a full fledged-gettin'my-groove-on-must-pay-attention-goin'-everywhere-guide-dog-puppy-in-training!
I mean BIG-TIME!

I went to a very important doctor's appointment with the whole family.  See, The Girl is having some tummy issues and she needs to see a specialist up at Dornbecher's at OHSU.   In order to get to the hospital we have to ride this thing called a TRAM.  It's a metal, oval type contraption that takes us CRAZY HIGH up into the air.  It rocks back and forth, and there are ALOT of people on board.  I did pretty darn good if I do say so myself!  While in the waiting area I was mauled my lot's of children.  The Mom said I was Fabulous and so patient with all the little ones.  Also, while we were waiting, an actual Therapy Dog came into the waiting room.  He was super cool and did all sorts of tricks for the kids.  The Mom left me with The Girl so she could go chat with the Therapy Dogs handler.  The Therapy dog was cool but I was getting loved on so I really didn't pay much attention to the other dog.

 Every morning we take The Girl to school and walk her in.  She is in charge of me from the point of  getting me "geared up" at the house, to loading me into the car, unloading me and walking me into the school, signing in and then walking to her classroom.

Sunday, The Mom wanted to get me out of the house and do some work so we headed to the Mall.  There we worked on Loose Leash walking, distractions and surfaces.  They have these "fake" people that I guess you call "Manikins" The Mom finally got me to realize that they aren't real but it took me a little bit!!  Of course The Girl, The Dad and The Mom thought it was funny...so they made me sit with them!

Finally, we went to lunch and on the way there, we encountered all sorts of different surfaces I had to walk over.  Man holes, grates and decorative surfaces.  They didn't even bother me, I could of cared less!

Things are going pretty darn smooth so far.  I have one more week with The Mom, The Girl and The Boy.  Then I head back to The Grandma's for 2 weeks.  Every day we work on my walking, my sit, down, stay commands and "Go To Bed".  I'm getting it, slowly but surely.

Next week we get to have "Movie Night" with our Guide Dog Club.  They are going to set up a mock movie theater and watch a film while eating pop-corn.  But I've already been to the real deal movie theater so this should be a piece of cake!

Until next time, wish me luck!

Truckee (Almost 6 months)

HEIGH HO, HEIGH HO, IT'S OFF TO WORK WE GO!

It's hard to believe that it's been a little over a month since the last time I posted.  We have all been really busy.  This will be a long post since I have 5 weeks of catching up to do.

So what have I been up to, you ask?

Work/learning - That's what I've been up to!  I have been going out to lot's of places like the grocery store, restaurants, Guide Dog Graduations, clothing stores, pet stores, quick shops, school etc.  I've been a busy boy.

I'll start with the Guide Dog Graduation.  The Guide Dog the Grandma raised, before me, graduated about 4 weeks ago.  His name is Kuni, yes as in Kuni BMW!  Actually, Kuni BMW were the sponsors of "Kuni" and they are the ones that named him.  Anyhow, Kuni graduated and I was able to see the Grandma hand off Kuni to his handler.  It was pretty cool to see what it is I'm training for.

The Grandma gave a great speech, so I hear.  I was doing my "job" and behaving very well during the ceremony!

We are continuing to work on loose leash walking.  At our last meeting we got into groups and had to practice our walking.  The Mom is working with me in the below picture.  We also had to work on some of our commands which are sit & down.  4 weeks ago I wasn't doing so well with those commands.  But today, (5.5 months), I'm doing a lot better.  Though the Mom and The Grandma say I'm stubborn. 

I've started to lose my baby teeth, I've lost 4 at The Mom and kids house.  The kids wanted to keep the teeth and make jewelery with it but The Mom thought that sounded freaky and she tossed the teeth.

Here's me today at 5.5 months old!  Big, Right?!

Everyone loves my stripe down my nose but when I wear my gentle leader it turns my straight stripe into a parenthese.

 The picture above is also showing that I am not a fan of getting out of the "big" rigs.  The Mom and The Grandma both drive 4x4's.  They stand taller off the ground and it seems so far down when I have to get out.  The Grandma and The Mom spent some time working with me last night on getting in and out of the Monster Trucks!  I feel better about it now and I was happy to do it since I got rewarded greatly with the "Pocket" kibble!

I've been going to work with the mom now, when it's her turn to have me for a couple weeks.  It's WAY different than going to work with The Grandma.  The Grandma does In-Home daycare so we don't have to go anywhere different.  There is constant noise and smells and hands all around me.  BUT, going to work with The Mom is VERY quiet.  She works at a Corporate Office.  We have to take The Girl and The Boy to school in the morning and then we head off.  We get to work and she has a nice little bed for me.  It's so QUIET that people can hear me snoring.  They joked that it was The Mom asleep under her desk!  It's actually kind of boring compared to The Grandma's work.  The Mom has walls up around her but I could still hear voices.  I couldn't see the people but I could hear them, so I just kept staring at the wall.

Yesterday The Dad and The Mom were doing some house work.  Well, more specifically, Laundry.  Sounds like The Mom has an issue with Laundry because she kept talking about Mountains, never ending work, miss-match socks etc.  The Dad was trying to Match the miss-match socks.  I was having a hard time restraining myself from grabbing the socks.  I will admit, I did grab a couple but I never got far since The Dad and The Mom were right there.  You can see the bone in the picture but that bone has nothing on SOCKS!  I eventually gave up though and settled with my dumb bone!

Last night I got to have a sleep-over with The kids in The Parents bedroom.  For the first time I got to sleep out of my crate on tie-down.  I did great, it was The Boy and The Girl who had the issue.  Sometimes it's tough being so cute and wanted.  I don't mean to make people fight over me.  Finally they got it all figured out and all was well in the end.  The Mom said she didn't sleep very well because she was worried I would do something I wasn't supposed to do but I did GREAT!

I think today The Mom and The Girl and I are going to go see a movie.  I think we are going to see "Heaven Is For Real".  The Mom is worried because she knows she is going to cry a ton but she promised the girl she would take her to see it once she finished the book.  The Girl finished the book!

We have a couple weeks off from meetings but Evaluations are coming up in a couple of weeks.  

Until then, wish me luck!

Truckee (5.5 months)

The Places I Must Go!

Friday is usually uneventful when I go over to my other families house.  I usually get picked up in the evening and then we just go home and snuggle.  We had to go to bed early this last Friday because The Boy had a Wrestling Tournament.

I had a good nights sleep, got up and ate, did my business and then we hit the road.  We drove out to a town called Silverton.  The Boy had to get signed in and weighed and then I guess you sit around and wait forever until it's your turn to wrestle. 

So The Mom and I started taking "Selfies"!

I did an A-MAZING job!!  I was well behaved, I walked very well on the leash, I wasn't distracted and I did my "business" when I was allowed to do so.

I even got to go down to the mat and watch the boy wrestle. (That's The Mom and The Boy's coach)

The Boy did A-Mazing as well and took 1st place in his division! 

I was "dog" tired by the time we left and slept all the way home.

The next day The Mom and The Dad took me out to get some lunch.  As you can see I did pretty darn good!

Next week is probably my last puppy meeting and I will be old enough to start doing what all my older "peeps" get to do at the meetings.

Wish me luck!

Truckee (19 weeks old)

My First Trip Out Into The World!

Last night I had my first trip out into a public place!  IT WAS AWESOME!!  So many noises, so many smells, so many people!  The outing was with our Guide Dog Club "Pups With Vision."  So there were other dogs with me as well. 

The Mom, The Grandma, The Girl and The Boy were all there for the big event!  They said I behaved like a CHAMP! 

When the pizza came and The Mom started eating it was a little tough to remain cool, calm and collected.  But I held it together and decided to just put on my irresistible cute face.  The mom didn't fall for it but instead took a picture!

In the end I did fantastic, they tried to get a picture of me looking into the wacky mirror but instead I kept looking at The Mom!

There were 4 of my "Peeps" at the social from left to right - Thatcher (he goes back for his formal training on the 19th - wish him luck!), Walsh, Umpqua and Oliver and then there is ME!

I'm looking forward to exploring more of the "Outside" World! 

Wish me luck!

Truckee