In Praise of Snow Boots

When it snowed last week, I thought Alfie would be cold and maybe even avoid going outside.  I know he's got long fur, but when the wind blows it can part it right to the skin -- brr!  But, basically, Alfie proved that he's a lot tougher than me when it comes to cold weather.  He loved the snow.

He snorfled in it and ate it until his whiskers were white...

...went exploring the whole yard as if it were new, digging up sticks and leaves to play with...

...even (gasp!) lay down in the snow for a little snooze!  

All day he was in and out, in and out...never wanting to stay inside too long.  Reminded me of a little kid!  Well...if any of you readers have experienced this, you'll know what it led to:  snowballs developing in between his toes.  I'd clean them off every time he came in, then he'd go out and get more. Ack! 

Time to get out the snow boots!  When we bought these, the weather was warmer and they were on sale.  They're nothing fancy or professional, just basic and functional.

One thing you must know about me:  I am not, repeat not, a person who enjoys dressing up my dog!  So this was all about keeping his feet snowball-free.  I'd gotten them remembering the blizzard we had here last winter...this winter has been much milder, but hey, a dog has to be prepared!  Here he is, all dressed up:

Snazzy or silly?  Time for some product testing...

We put them on inside first.  He pranced around high-stepping for a few minutes, then seemed to settle in all right.  Out he went into the snow, and it took only a few moments for him to realize, wow, he had really good grip with them on!  If he liked the snow before, he loved it now -- he zoomed around the yard faster and faster in giant circles, zigzagging and bounding through the snow.  It was hilarious!  They stayed on really well with their velcro closure and were clearly a big hit.  So -- yep -- these boots get a resounding 4 paws up from the Alf.

But wait, there's more!  Alfie loved the boots so much, in fact, that he didn't want us to take them off when he came back in.  The whole main level of our house has hardwood floor and he's never been able to run around without skidding.  With the boots, though, he was unstoppable -- he circled through the kitchen, careened past the dining room, raced through the living room--around and around again, with the greatest of ease.  Show-off!  When we finally did take them off and left them behind closed doors in the sunroom, he asked to go out -- only to run in to the sunroom, grab his boots, and bring them to us so we could put them back on again!  Finally, to stop him incessantly asking to go out, I brought the boots inside the kitchen to dry, putting them on the top of the fridge.  Charissa and I were watching tv a few minutes later when we heard a strange scrabbling sound accompanied by some rather pathetic vocalization...went in to the kitchen to investigate, and sure enough, there Alfie was on his hind legs, looking longingly up at the top of the fridge!

...And, nope, I'm not getting anything from EthicalPet for this endorsement, although I think I should!  

Think we'll get any more snow this winter?!

Kissin' Cousins

Yesterday, the girls got to have cousin Lauren over for the day -- much to Alfie's delight!  Lauren's super sweet and really enjoys dogs.  In fact, she shares an interest in dog training -- she's training her own dogs at home as part of a science project!  Charissa showed her the new commands she's been teaching Alfie, and Lauren enjoyed practicing them with him.  He did really well for her!  They spent most of the afternoon just hanging out in the spring sunshine, laughing and talking and playing with the dog.  What could be better?

It's All Happening So Quickly

So, as I announced yesterday, our family's moving to Missouri and since our school happens to be Guide Dogs of Texas...Alfie's going to leave us and stay with another raiser until advanced training.  I spoke with my supervisor, Larry, on the phone today and it looks like things are arranged for Alfie to be picked up Monday.  BIG SIGH...

But today, I don't really want to dwell on goodbyes.  I'm excited to hear that GDTx' first pick of raiser for Alfie said yes!  I don't believe I've met her, and don't even know her name.  What I do know is that she's not only raised puppies successfully for GDTx (before I started volunteering there), she's also an experienced animal trainer of another type:  she used to work with marine mammals at Sea World.  Sounds like a great place for Alfie, don't you think? 

From dolphins to doodles!

 Things have been incredibly hectic around the house.  One of the reasons I went ahead and arranged for Alfie to leave so soon is that he's been picking up on all the stress and upheaval as we pack, meet with realtors, etc...nothing severe, but he's been having some tummy issues.  Poor guy, he has no way to know or understand what's going on!  That tends to make me feel guilty, which he also is probably picking up on...a vicious cycle.  Also, although he's been going places with me, I obviously haven't had the time to devote to his obedience work and training like I normally would. 

I was clearing out a cupboard today and prepping it for refinishing (hence the dust on the floor)...came back and guess who was inside?

They'll have trouble selling this house:  Severe doodle infestation under the sink!

So many fun Alfie memories.  Two stand out today:

One of the most entertaining (and useful) things about this guy is how naturally good he is at finding things.  When we misplace something, he can often find it for us.  Wednesday night Charissa was getting him ready for our walk and noticed his leash wasn't hanging on its peg.  After asking Alfie where it was, she thought of looking in the garage and opened the garage door.  Alfie darted in, threaded his way through piles of boxes (you can definitely tell we're packing!)... then he turned around and pointed his nose up to the top of a particular stack...the leash was way at the top of a stack of 4 boxes.  There was no way for him to see it -- I'm guessing he either smelled it, or remembered its being left there earlier.  I'm sure it would've taken us forever to think of looking there if it hadn't been for Alfie's help! 

Alfie can also get very excited during play and will occasionally chase, and catch, his tail.  I used to worry that that meant he was too high strung...but as time went on I realized that he seems to be mainly doing it to make us laugh!  I imagine he'll outgrow that eventually.  I've always wanted to catch it on video but when I get the camera out he stops!  Go figure.

Fun Fun Fun!

Splash Day! Guide dog puppies sure work hard, but they know how to play too. Every year GDTx hosts a fun day for the raisers, their puppies, and any well behaved pet dogs that care to join the romp. The location is a training/boarding facility in Bulverde called K9 Country Club, and there's tons of fenced in room to roam...sandy play areas...and a giant pond for swimming and splashing! The humans enjoyed hamburgers and hot dogs, while the dogs just enjoyed goofing off.

We walked into the enclosure, I let Alfie off leash, and who was the first to greet me? DAKOTA!! Besides being our last puppy to raise for GDTx, he is now a diabetic alert dog and possibly one of the sweetest personalities in the world. After loving on me for a while he ran off to play, but came back to say hello again every few minutes. What a guy! He was soaked to the skin and covered with sand but I didn't care one little bit! I enjoyed catching up with Ben and the family...they all seem to be doing well. They had a JDRF gala to attend that night, so they didn't stay too long, because obviously Dakota would have to be groomed beforehand.

Here's a little video of Ben introducing Alfie to the water...you'll catch a glimpse of Dakota and some other dogs running around in the foreground. Please ignore my goofy laugh, I'm just excited to see "my" puppy again!

While several dogs swam nonstop, Alfie seemed to think it best to stay in the shallows. He enjoyed running in to grab toys, but then would run right out again.

C'mon, Twist, let's get our feet wet!

Catch me if you can!

Hi there tall guy! Alfie gets to know Russel.

So, is it worth swimming out to get that ball or not? (Verdict: Not!)

Fun in the sand...

Oooh, Bob found a stick!

...But Alfie won't let him keep it without a challenge...

Now for a game of tug!

Uh-oh, better get it back, Bob!

Trying to get the tennis ball without slipping in.

Alfie's not really known for playing fair...sorry, Piper!!

I think Celia's getting the short end of the stick.

Adorable Bob...he's all worn out and ready to go home!

Look at his tail! Cute...

When it was time to leave, Alfie was STILL very frisky and energetic. He's the energizer puppy! Anyway, as we headed to the car we had to cross this enclosure where a bunch of agility equipment was set up, so I thought I'd see how he liked it. He loved this thing where you run up a narrow ramp and cross a bridge that was about my shoulder height...any of you with agility experience know what that's called? The reason the he looks a bit put out is because I'm stopping his fun to take a picture!

I'm on top of the world!!

In other news, no puppy swap...yet! We were supposed to get one of the puppies from the Dominguez unit (Pawsitive Approach jail program), but sadly due to some sort of incident the jail had to go on lockdown. Let me clarify that this didn't have anything to do with our dogs or their handlers in the program! But security protocol must be observed for everyone's safety, so we're postponing the swap until things are back to normal.

And, speaking of the Pawsitive Approach program, Alfie and I had a bit of a surprise yesterday when we were called by the local news (KVUE) and asked to do an interview! They were doing a nice little piece on the Pawsitive Approach program here at the Travis County Jail, and also wanted to talk to a "traditional" puppy raiser. So Alfie and I got to be on the news for 5 seconds or so...he was ignoring the camera as usual so you couldn't see his face too well, alas! But he enjoyed meeting the reporter and cameraman, so we can add that to his list of training experiences I guess.

I'm a working dog, not a movie star!

A Fetching Personality

...that's what Alfie has!

Guide dog puppies must play a more controlled version of fetch than their pet dog counterparts. First, Alfie has to sit nicely. Then I throw the toy and he must wait until it completely stops moving. Finally, I ask him to "watch me" and only then can he, on my command, "fetch"!

I know, I know, it sounds like we puppy raisers are a bunch of control freaks! But really, by playing the game in this way, he learns to focus on me while at the same time strengthening his self-control. Not only that, he gets a lot of exercise...not bad for a game of fetch!

I read somewhere once that the innate desire to retrieve was a good indicator of a puppy's future success as a guide dog. While I'm not sure of the accuracy of that statement, I certainly hope that in Alfie's case it holds true! What do you think?

I think that after that, I need a drink.

Puppy Playday & Switcheroo

Saturday, Alfie was invited to a guide dog puppy playday at puppy raiser Tracy Schagan's.  Natalie, Darrell, and Bob came too, so there were three puppies:  black lab Celia, yellow lab Bob and chocolate doodle Alfie...so cute together!

Getting good pictures of these three live wires was pretty tough -- although Bob seemed to enjoy posing for the camera!

Bob's so adorable with his wrinkly puppy face!

We thought it'd be nice to get a group shot of the raisers and their puppies, but none of us had our leashes outside and the puppies didn't feel like cooperating.  That's Tracy on the left with Celia, who's in the middle of making an escape attempt; I'm in the middle with Alfie; he and Natalie are the only ones actually looking at the camera!  Bob's on the right there with Natalie, looking like maybe he'd rather go play with Darrell.  Oh well, we tried!

We all enjoyed the time to relax and the pups had fun wearing themselves out.  Meanwhile though, Tracy and I decided to try a mini-puppy swap, giving our pups a chance to expand their experiences with a new handler and new set of situations.  Alfie will go on an official (and longer!) swap later, but I thought staying with Tracy for a couple of days would be a great addition to his education.  She runs the Greenwood School, a learning center for children, and on any given day she's got about a couple dozen little preschool kids running around the place enjoying all kinds of activities.  What a great experience for Alfie, don't you think? 

Tracy's already raised several guide dog puppies, so don't worry, he's in good hands!  Meanwhile, we've got Celia for a couple of days. 

...Think anyone will notice the difference?!