Saturday, June 02, 2012

a soggy Saturday.....

It was with all good intentions that Kelli, Kathleen and I headed to the first NEADS walk a thon to do the walk route and make some money for the service puppies. But as we drove further and further south, the rain that had been predicted was really coming down. Still, there was a pretty good crowd when we arrived and we still planned on doing the walk.

Everyone dressed for the weather.. including Camille. Since I am "service dog puppy-less" I knew that Camille would be happy to step in.

After signing in, visiting with our NEADS friends, we headed out. Kelli had Moxie...

Kathleen had Monty.....

and the area for the walk was beautiful. Even in the rain. But we hadn't gotten very far, and the heaven's opened. It didn't take very long for us to become soaked. I took a look at my buds and said "sorry girls - this isn't for Camille and me"... and Kelli agreed. But Kathleen, ever full of adventure decided to continue.

A few hours later, she and Monty returned. They got a bit lost along the way, but managed to get a good part of the walk done. All in all, I think the walk was quite successful despite the weather. But truly my favorite part was being with good friends... enjoying the service dogs, and having a nice meal on the way home.
I started the woodstove, got into dry clothes and blogged the rest of the night. What a great day!!!!

bye bye Muppet Dog....


It's hard to believe that another turn in date is here again. On Thursday, it was Norton's turn to return to NEADS and go onto his advance training. He came to me as an "older pup, just needing some finish work", but he caught on so quickly, that he was ready to go back. The night before I used him as my demo dog at dog classes. He love obedience work, and if he wasn't headed for service work, he'd be a great obedience/agility dog.

 But I think he's really going to make it in the service dog world. "working" is his thing....I'm going to miss having him on the floor with me. And I know that Camille always appreciates not having to "do" all the work....

We had to get Norton down to NEADS early on Thursday. They had an opening for him to get his hip x-rays done, so I told Dave I would be happy to get him there. My good buddy, Kathleen, got up extra early and drove down with us. The rest of the group came and we all met at our usual time. A group was touring the academy and we found out that Kathleen's Monty was sponsored by them... so we had to get this photo.

We did all our usual check in "stuff" while waiting for Norton to return from the vets. And then it was off to the big city. Rick and Moxie look like city dwellers (NOT)

Norton was still a bit groggy from having his x-rays done, but the vet said he could come with us if we took it slow. Knowing that he was leaving me at the end of the day, I took advantage of this, and we just followed the group, taking pictures and watching them work. Enjoying the last bit of our time together.

The puppies did well in the train station. It's such a good place to work... shiny floors, stairs of all kinds.. people etc. We get a lot done here.
The Maine puppies, soon to change .... Monty will become the "old" dog of the bunch once Norton heads off.... and little Moxie won't be the baby for long....

The day flew by, as I knew it would.. and it was time to hand the leash over to Dave and kiss my muppet dog goodbye. I didn't have him as long as the others, but I certainly got attached to him... you can't help it.. get attached and give away a piece of your heart when they leave. But that's the joy of puppy raising.

So, Norton heads to "college" and I wait again for his progress reports and the call that another puppy is coming to the farm.... I'll let you know when...

Memorial Day....

Memorial Day this year was just beautiful... the weather couldn't have been more perfect. We had to meet up with Abbie's Dad since Mondays are "his" day, and after we dropped her off, went to the Memorial Day parade. I of course, took Norton along, parades are a great place to do "service dog" training.

 We met up with Kelli, Rick and Moxie.. and Kathleen, Bob and Monty -- and had a nice time watching the parade together and allowing the dogs to meet the people and see all the going on's. Norton thought the parade was quite neat....and watched if for a while.
 Then he got bored and "stole" the toy that Rick had brought to entertain Moxie. She didn't mind at all.....
After the parade we went over to "the" bridge. Rick has been talking about this footbridge that he discovered and thought it would be good place to try the dogs. The trouble is, the dogs don't have trouble crossing bridges... I do!!! This is a nice sturdy bridge, but I couldn't help but keep my hand on the railing.

And if you look carefully, you can really see what this bridge looks like. The dogs must certainly think this grate feels strange on their feet, I simply don't like how open it is. But, it is a good test for the dogs.

Rick took little Moxie over it several times and she just plodded along. I will certainly keep this in mind for any future puppies in training...

In the afternoon we went to my Mom and Dad's for a family cookout. My Mom is doing very well after her hip surgery a few weeks ago, and it was nice for us to all be together. We decided to pull out the old croquet set and give the game a try. We didn't finish because the food was ready part way threw, but we need to do this again.
Then after all that good food, it was time to get the doggies out for a little walk. Kas took her two, Becky too Amy and I had my four... we looked like a doggie parade.


Abbie's Dad dropped her off later in the day, and it was so cute to watch the little cousins playing together. My Mom has saved some of our old toys and the little girls love to play with them. I don't think they even make this Fisher Price garage anymore.

Abbie tried her hand at the croquet game....she got a couple of good hits on the ball.

And it seemed all to soon, the day was over and we were picking things up and heading for home. It was such a great day... family, friends, fun and food... we are truly blessed.