Direct Quote from Eden's puppy raiser...

"Blitz is a sweetheart and I will trade with you anytime. He is the sweetest, mellowest and most loving dog I have been around in a long time. He is great."

Fuuuun Weekend

This has been a fun weekend! Be ready for a long post, with some pictures!

On Friday I went to an "Elk's" meeting, (Sort of like the Lion Club...Lots of, herm, old people...) to help make dinner and serve dinner. Blitz could have come, but my dad really didn't want him to. We had lots of fun. There were some interesting people! I was serving some Chicken and stuff called Ham Casserolle, and I had to repeat each name an average of three times per person. Especially with the Ham Casserolle. After dinner, they had music and dancing...It was so cute! Lots of seniors swing dancing...It was an all around fun night.

On Saturday morning Rachel and Joanna picked me up at eight thirty to go to the once a month saturday obedience class at GDA. The twelve month and older class starts at nine and goes 'til ten. We started out in the Off-Leash area to practice sit/stays, down/stays and heeling in grass. Blitz did really good! While we were heeling we all swapped dogs, and most of the pups did really well. (Including Blitz)

Sunday morning Joanna and Rachel picked me up again at nine, so we could make it to the graduation a half hour early and get a good seat. The graduation was great...Lots of dogs I knew, including Wissel, Watcher, W-Rose, (Or Wose, as a lot of people call her...) Millie, and Kaylee. Thought that was pretty good, because seven dogs were graduating and I knew five of them! Normally I know one or two. After the ceremony was over, I swapped Blitz for Eden, who I will have until Tuesday. She's soo sweet! Then I ran a crate to the admin building to drop it off. After that, Joanna and Camry, Rachel and Dallas, Casey Jane and Darcy and me and Eden all piled into Joanna's dads car and headed off to Disneyland. The ride was interesting...Camry is such a people dog! She first climbed into Casey Janes lap, and once she was kicked back into the back, climbed into my lap. She stayed there for a while!

Here are some pictures from the ride.

I THINK it's Camry on top, Eden on the bottom. They look a lot alike, but Eden is a little darker.

Darcy and Eden (Unless that's Camry...)

Then we got to Disneyland! We went on Pirates first, and it was really weird...They put two of the dogs in the first row, and then gave the other two (Casey Jane and I) each our own row. We could have easily gotten all four in two rows. (And we did later when we went on it again!) It was very crowded, and even the handicapped line for Pirates was long. (Not super long, but long for a handicapped line.) The dogs were all very good...Even Dallas! We were proud of him. Darcy and Camry were lagging a bit, it was cute. I was a bit nervous bringing a dog I had never met before to Disneyland, but Eden's really good! She's very mellow, but it's not like she got super tired from walking all day. I took off her training collar and put her on the flat while we were on Pirates the first time, and she did great all day.

When you have four dogs, you get about ten times the attention you do when you have one dog. We saw one blind man, a blind woman, and a little blind boy came and pet the dogs while Casey Jane and I were waiting for Joanna and Rachel on Indiana Jones. His mom was thanking us so much for puppy raising, and it really reminded me of what we're doing!

Later, we went on Jungle Cruise. Camry didn't come, because it was really scary getting on, and right as she put her foot out the whole boat moved and scared her. So, Joanna and her stayed behind. Our boat lady was really excited to have puppies! At the very beginning she was telling everyone on the boat that she had three puppies for co-captains and that if the boat should sink, that they could be used as floatation devices. At the part where they normally shoot the gun, (To scare away the hippos) she picked up the gun, and I was just covering Eden's ears when she started waving the gun and yelling at the hippos. She told us she didn't want to use it with the puppies. Thank you!!

We went on quite a few rides...Nemo, Snow White and Peter Pan are a few that the dogs could go on. The only ones we went on that the dogs couldn't go on was Indiana Jones and Thunder Mountain. In that case, one or two of us just stayed off with the dogs, and then we switched without having to wait in line again. On Indiana Jones we had to follow the handicapped line by going up and then down the elevator, even though we didn't even have the dogs anymore at that point and we are perfectly capable of walking up stairs! We left at around nine thirty because we were all exhausted. Here're pictures from throughout the day!

Waiting in line for the Nemo ride...

Eden lays just like Jaylie does!


By the Sword in the Stone.

Okay, I think this is the cutest picture in the world!! She is ADORABLE!! (With the aid of a cookie...)

As soon as Eden and I got home, I realized that her mellowness only lasts as long as her jacket is on! Which is a good thing I guess. I didn't want to deal with introducing her to the house that late after that long of a day, so after busying we went to bed.

Oh, speaking of busying...The reason Eden's puppy raisers wanted to swap is because Yvonne told them that she doesn't relieve on leash. Well, she busied (A big busy, if you know what I mean) for Joanna before we even left GDA, and then twice for me at Disneyland. Doesn't seem like she has any problem to me!

I hope you enjoyed the pictures!!

Mustard!!

This post is inspired by Kelsey and her little "accident!"

Mustard is pretty much the best thing in the world. A few months ago I went skiing, and was stupid enough to not put sunscreen on. (I know...VERY stupid.) I got a very very very bad burn, and my mom was telling me as a FACT that it would scar and never completely heal. We determined that it was a third degree burn. (ALL over my face. It was disgusting, all bubbly and everything...Ugh, I will ALWAYS put sunscreen on.) Well, I had always known that mustard was good for burns, but had never realized it also worked for sunburns. My dad (Pretty much a mustard worshipper) when he got home told me to put mustard on it as SOON as possible. I put it all over my face, and the bubbling completely went away from everywhere but my chin within an hour. Just a little pink. My chin, which I didn't put as much mustard on, was still bubbling, so I just put a fresh layer of mustard on it about every hour, and within a day and a half the bubbles were all gone. No, they did not pop, (You don't want to pop them because it has some sort of healing ooz inside) they just disappeared! My face is as good as new now! I was almost sure my whole face would forever be scarred, but it actually looks better now than it did before I got the sunburn. (No, I do not recommend anyone to go and get a sunburn like that...)

Oh, here's one of my dad's mustard stories...My grandma always told her kids that mustard was good for burns, but they never believed her, so one time when my dad got a burn he told her to put mustard on only half of it. Within two days, the half with mustard was completely healed, while the other side was bubbling. It took about two and a half weeks for that half to heal.

Use mustard! It's amazing. My dad says that it's the vinegar or something...

Fire Station outing!!

We had a blast at the firestation! The firemen made us lunch, (Steak sandwhiches!!) answered questions, and helped us socialize the puppies as smoothly as possible. They brought the fire engine around first without the siren or horn, and then brought it by again WITH the siren and horn. It was very loud, (Hurt my ears!) but most of the puppies didn't look concerned at all. Blitz started freaking out just a tad, but he didn't get up or anything. I'm not worried about it, because it's not a fear issue or anything. Here's a video to give you an idea of how he reacted.



Then one of the firemen put all the garb on, and let the puppies greet him. We just all acted like he was the best thing in the world, and the most of the puppies were either fine and didn't really think much of it, or joined us in thinking he was the best thing in the world. Blitz was one of the former.



Here's some pictures of during lunch!

"Are you eating?? Aw, me neither." (Darcy, Blitz and Tanner)



Nydia and Maui



Maui, Cleo and the back end of Camry. (Sorry Camry!!)



Maui and Aspen. (Maui's ready to go in-for-training, and Aspen just started.)



Sneaking a play session. (They played the whole way there in the car though!)



"No, we weren't playing!!"



Here's some pictures with the Fire Engine!!

Waiting for the Enginge



BIG tire.



On the back!!



The yellows were in the sun, while the blacks were trying to get into the shade. (This is Camry, Blitz and Gunnar)







Group Photo!! Here, I'll TRY to list all the dogs. From left to right is...Aspen, Maui, Nydia, Beacon, Tanner, I don't know, Tyson, Camry, Gunnar, Oceana, I don't know, Blitz, Roxy, (Breeder) Cleo, and Darcy.



Hope you enjoyed the pics!!

Fun Week!

This last week has been busy, but fun! I'm so happy to have Blitz back, and we've been able to go to a bunch of places with him. The first few days I had him I didn't take him many places, because he seemed very tired from all the events!

On Wednesday I took him to Logic, and he did very well. He slept the entire time...No, seriously, the entire time. He didn't even open his eyes when everyone got up to leave. (It's only a two hour class, but still...His first class in three weeks??) Later that night we went to a puppy meeting, which was A LOT of fun. It'd been a while since I had been to a Ventura puppy meeting, and boy I missed it! I'm so glad I'm able to get back to them. As Joanna said, the planned speaker cancelled at last minute, but the alternative was very successful. He was a graduate with a nine-year old guide dog who has opened A LOT of doors for him. I sat right next to his wife, and got to talk to her a lot...She was really nice! Afterwards, they had a raffle for a 40 pound bag of Canidae...Guess who won?? Ya, I only bought five tickets, not really expecting to win, but then I did! It's not exactly needed, since Blitz is sponsored, but it was a five dollar bag of dog food, so I was more than happy to take it! I was also planning to pick up a bag from GDA at the next class, so now I won't have to. They also had a raffle for various toys, and I discovered something...Sometime while I was gone in Germany Blitz developed a major toy distraction. He was behaving the whole time, not distracted by any of the dogs, but then those toys came out and he freaked. Guess we'll be working on that!! (Oh, and by the way, I won a toy, too! It was my lucky night!)

On Thursday we had our Trinity Park Day, but Blitz looked so peaceful in his crate, and even with coaxing wouldn't come out, so I decided to let him sleep. (The little guy has been through a lot!)

On Friday we had a Trinity event. It was called a "Road Rally" and we seperated into teams, each team went in a car and followed sets of instructions to get from point to point, and earn points by answering questions from each point. Instead of having street names, every instruction was a riddle. (For example, "Turn right at a commonly used girls middle name," which was translated "Turn right at Janns") At every spot we got out and had to run to the destination to take pictures or answer questions, and the first few I took Blitz out with me...But then I remembered that, no matter what, he will NOT run while on leash. Soo, he got to sleep in the car with the driver!! At the end, our team was in fourth place, (Out of six...) so we didn't do so good, but it was still fun! The end location was Maui's puppy raiser's house, so Blitz and Maui got to play a bit, until they got a little too rambunctious for a huge group of teens. After that, Maui went upstairs and Blitz stayed on leash with me.

Today not much has happened...I'm going to Bible Study later, and we're having people over, but not much that has to do with Blitz.

Tomorrow, (Sunday) I am going to the same fire station visit as Denise and Oceana and Joanna and Camry are going to. Update to come on that! And I promise I'll take pictures there, rather than this boring old post with no pictures. Anyway, I'll update then!!

Blitz is back!!

I picked up Blitz from GDA today!! I'm so happy to have him home, and he's happy to be home! The whole ride back he was sulking though, and I'm not sure if it's because they had just given him a bath or because I left him for so long. Angela asked me if I wanted them to give him a bath, and of course I said yes. The bath-giving place is right through the door, and I could hear him screaming bloody murder the entire time. I looked through the door, and he was holding perfectly still, but that didn't effect his vocal cords. He HATES baths. Anyway, I'm about to leave to go to a movie with him, my two little brothers, and my little sister. I went to a creek earlier today, and was considering bringing him, but GDA has a no off-leash rule and it would be really tough to keep him by me the entire time. (There were a bunch of boulders that we jumped off of. And dogs are allowed off leash there, but there weren't any dogs...) As soon as we got home, he perked up for a while, then went out to sunbathe. He LOOOOVES sunbathing...It's crazy! Angela told me that the puppy raisers didn't want to give him up, that he was "special." She said she told them they probably say that about all puppies, but they said that he was REALLY special, well behaved, and mellow. (I'm so proud!)THey puppy raise alot for GDA since they live so close, and he was one of the best they've ever puppy sat. (WOOOH!!!) Anyway, I'm SOO happy to have my "special" boy home.

BY the way...No, they didn't figure anything out about his snoring...It's still unexplainable. He's definately special...

Video I made because...I MISS BLITZ!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XT4LARtKq6A

I REALLY miss Blitz, and was going through old pictures. I decided to make this video! Sorry, I tried to make it in order of age, but there's a big jump from about five months to seven months, because my pictures from between that time are on my old computer, which my sister forgot the password of! (WOW that was a long run-on.) But, anyway, bear with me. All I did was slap some pictures to music, and I had a very limited choice of music. (iTunes are on my brothers computer, so I only had the sample music from on my computer.)

Germany Pictures

Hey! It's a hassle to upload pictures on blogger, so I just made some on Facebook and hopefully you can see them! Here's the link.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=46183&id=611085497

Whew, thanks alot, Erin!

You started a new trend!! Have to go along with the crowd, now don't I??

1.How many puppies have you raised? I'm on my second. Jaylie, then Blitz

2.Why did you start raising? A long time ago I saw a documentary on a puppy raiser, and I sort of put that in the back of my head. When I moved down to California I was really lonely, and finally decided I wanted to get a dog. I researched breeds for about a year, and decided on a lab. I started looking for a good breeder, and found one who donated puppies to a guide dog program, and had put a link on their website. After checking out the website, I decided I wanted to puppy raise. So I researched schools closer to here, and sent my application to GDA! About two months later, I got Jaylie, the Female Black Lab.

3.How Long have you been a puppy raiser? A little over a year and a half. Since Jaylie was dropped early, I haven't yet had a puppy the full year and a half.

4.What is one thing you have learned in raising? Keep trying, no matter what, and do not hesitate to ask for help!

5.What have your puppies taught you? Jaylie taught me to love life, and live it to the fullest, while Blitz is teaching me to take things slowly, enjoying the sun and flowers.

6.What is the strangest thing someone has asked/said to you about your puppy? Ya, I hear this alot, but it's still pretty strange..."Is that one of those blind dogs?" "Is that a guard dog?"

7.Do you give your puppies real name out in public? Of course!

8.What is the most embarrassing incident that you've had with your puppy? Well...I wasn't so good at potty training with Jaylie. (Actually, I was NO good.) So, we went to a museum when she was about five months old, and she had three accidents while we were there!!! I was new and completely unprepared, and it was most definately my fault.

9.What is the most proud moment you've had with your puppy? Hmm...I'm pretty proud every time I go out with Blitz...And towards the end of my time with Jaylie I was always proud of her...Pretty much every minute after alot of training is my proudest moments, because they are the product of my training...It feels SO good!

10.What advice do you have for newbie puppy raisers/owners? Do not let skeptics who think that JUST because your dog is a "guide dog" that they should be perfect get you down. Remember that it is IN TRAINING, and if it was perfect it wouldn't need to be in training. Keep trying. At the same time though, don't get a closed mind and think your dog is so perfect that they have nothing to work on.

Just a quick note to say...

I miss my puppy!! Ya, I haven't gotten him back yet. Yvonne told me that they are performing some tests to try and figure out what the whole snoring thing is about. To tell the truth, I'm a bit worried about this...Same thing happened with Jaylie. The staff told me that the eye was absolutely nothing to worry about, but then they started getting really interested and performing alot of tests. Pretty soon, she was dropped. I just hope they either find the solution or decide it's nothing to worry about.

I really miss Blitz! I went to the puppy meeting yesterday and got my fill of dogs, but that definately does not replace MY pup! I feel strange not having him around, and Casper, a dog we dogsit occasionally is even missing him, though he is usually pretty bugged by him.

I'm really busy now, and can't fill you in on Germany, but I hope to soon!! See ya!