We Now Interrupt Your Regular Alfie Programming

...to present to you:  Poppy's puppies! 

This is the very first GDTx-bred litter.  Pretty historic!  Poppy comes from excellent guide dog lines and was imported from the UK.  She had a bit of a rough start, as her plane was delayed by the Iceland volcano, then when she finally did arrive it took her a while to adjust to our way of talking here in Texas (not kidding about that -- even dogs notice the difference between a British accent and a Southern drawl, y'all!)  But she has settled in beautifully, has a lovely temperament, and is the picture of everything you could want her puppies to be.

I also love the fact that the puppies' dad, Fire, is a brother to our 1st GDTx pup, Willie!  Well, okay, so they're half brothers, but still it's pretty cool.  Willie's now a working guide and we are so proud of him...if these puppies inherit that same drive, intelligence and work ethic they'll be amazing. 

Gratuitous Willie picture below for your enjoyment!  That's me in the blindfold, probing forward with my foot to investigate the GIANT curb he's indicating for me.  Doesn't he look pleased with himself?  Yes I AM prejudiced, but you must agree, this guide dog is terrific!

The kids and I got to visit Poppy's brood this past Saturday, when they were 10 days old.  We got to snuggle them...

...help weigh them...

...and just enjoy them! 

The puppies are in a window of vulnerability to some doggie virus or other that Mama doesn't have immunity for.  So that's why we suited up like we were in an ICU: better safe than sorry.  Don't worry, they won't have to live in a bubble forever!

I saved the best pic for last:  right before we left we were sitting around a table cuddling puppies and chatting with Tracy (who really deserves a MEDAL for all her round the clock effort!!)  I looked over at Charissa's puppy and...

...its eye just opened!  So precious!

Good Thinking

I LOVE to work!

Had to laugh during today's walk when I noticed Alfie was paying better attention to our work than I was!  We were working at a new location (Sports Authority) and came to the section where they had row upon neatly arranged row of bikes for sale.  Great place to practice turns and "watch me."  So we were working our way through this rubber-tire-smelling maze and Alfie was doing great when I asked him to turn left into the next row.  He snorted loudly and refused, giving me one of his...well...looks.  I thought he was just being stubborn and repeated my command.  He refused again, this time sitting down rather decisively to emphasize his point.  That's when I actually took the trouble to look down that aisle...to see that way down the opposite end of that row, someone had pulled one of the bikes out into the aisle and it effectively blocked the path.  Since the aisles were so narrow (no room to turn around), I'd have either had to roll the bike out of the way, or we'd have both had to back out the way we came.  I had to laugh out loud at myself for missing that...and was pretty happy with Mr. Alf for avoiding the obstacle!

I can't say that all Alfie's mental activity is quite that commendable, though.  One of the things I worry about is his poor tolerance for boredom.  I was down with some type of virus for a couple of days and was treated to such attention-getting pranks as this...

Heh heh, look who's got your Chips Ahoy now!

He didn't actually try to chew the can of cookies open or anything, he just wanted to flaunt it at me so I'd notice and play with him.  Not exactly what you want when you're in bed snuffling and sniffing...sigh!  So for the next day or so Charissa gave him some extra backyard training sessions, and we made sure he was stocked with chew toys to keep him busy.  That seemed to work pretty well.

So yeah, ups and downs...but overall I think he's coming along!

In the GREAT NEWS category for GDTx...their 1st ever brood, yellow lab Poppy, gave birth this morning to a fantastic litter of 8 gorgeous puppies.  5 girls and 3 boys, the "A" litter is getting the GDTx breeding program off to a great start!