It looked like "lab ville" around the farm today... for someone who raises cocker spaniels.. seems the labs have taken over!!! Actually it was picnic day for the NEADS puppy raisers council. Last spring something was said about getting some of the raiser together to get to know each other, and I happily volunteered a day at the farm. We are one of the very few full time puppy raisers, most are weekender's .. so we don't totally understand what they do and they don't understand what we do.. and thus sometime together to see....
There were a few golden thrown into the bunch, but overall NEADS basically uses labs now... and my goodness, when they saw the dog yard and everyone was let loose to play.. it was a grand time...
But the day wasn't just about the puppies... I thought it would be fun to have a lobster bake... so we got some lobsters from our friend Gardner, and supplied those.. everyone else brought things to go with them.. and as you can imagine, there was enough to feed a small village....
The deck was put to good use... the day was so pretty, and there was plenty of room for everyone to sit and enjoy and talk.....
It was good training for the pups as well... who had to lay quietly while all the humans ate.... There were a total of 12 dogs that came to visit.. some service puppies in training, some "flunkies" and some pets.... everyone got along perfectly and had such fun together...
And look who has returned... this is Bella!!!!! She was with us two winters ago when we had Danny. Bella didn't make it threw as a service dog and was adopted out. But her family volunteers for NEADS so she is still around the service dogs. She is very happy to be someone's beloved pet and so, in fact, has found her perfect job. She wasn't here that long, just a few months, and she seemed happy to be here, but really loves her family so much that she was pretty happy to stick close to them......
After we ate, we took the puppies up to the barn... some used it for some training work, others just wanted to see the horses.. and then we went for a group photo.... the puppies handled this perfectly..
It was actually harder to get the humans to behave than the dogs..... typical I think.....
Bella with her Mom and Dad....
I had hoped to hitch Duke and take people for some carriage rides, but the day went by too fast. Some of the folks had traveled quite a distance, and needed to head for home. I'm thinking this would be a fun even to host each summer and I am planning on making that offer ....
These puppies will sleep well no the ride home for sure.
I do so enjoy puppy raising, you meet so many great people, travel to all sorts of places and just learn new things all the time. I'm so happy that this came into my life and plan on raising puppies for many years to come.
