Future Leader Dog Lazar

Lazar....9wks old
My 10th Future Leader Dog.

New Puppy

     Meet Future Leader Dog Breezy everyone.  I picked her up yesterday about a 1/2 hr. trip from me.  A friend gave her a ride from Leader Dogs For The Blind in Rochester Michigan (over by Detroit).  This "wild child" as we are calling her, was doing this within 5 minutes of stepping into the house :-)  She is a very happy and healthy puppy.

     Breezy is 7 weeks old, a black Labrador retriever, 11 1/2 lbs.....complete with puppy breath.  .....love puppy breath.

.....dr momi

Mr. Lazy

Billy's favorite "perch" in the house.....at the top of the loft steps.
If he looks sleepy, it's because he is :-)  I'm disturbing his nap.
(But see his tail in the back?...it's thumping)

.....dr momi

A Boone Story

     Boone was the 5th puppy I raised for Leader Dogs For The Blind.  He would always watch TV.  It did not surprise me when he was "career changed"  because he was "easily distracted".  Usually the puppies pay no attention at all to TV.

     Boone had a problem with knowing if he was seeing reality or not.  One day he was watching Martha Stewart.  That day she had a whole bunch of cats and dogs on the show -- all on a table.  Boone eyed up the terrier pup and watched him go back and forth on the table.  Pretty soon that terrier pup jumped off the table and out of sight on the left side of the screen.

     Boone started wagging his tail quickly, and ran up to the left side of the TV --- to go see that terrier pup.  He could not figure out where he went!  He was so ready to play.  We had a good laugh.

      Another time he was watching the news. They were showing a mountain lion treed in someones back yard.  I had never heard him growl at any time before, but when he saw that mountain lion, he knew instinctively it was not a good thing and growled viciously -- all the while backing up.    .....animal behavior is so interesting.




Boone 8 months old.
Now a family pet.  The career he decided on :-)

.....dr momi

Need A Funny Caption

What's you caption for this week?

                                                        Last Week:

For today's lesson in self awareness we will begin with releasing our inner wolf.

You are a mighty wolf...see the wolf...feel the wolf...you are the wolf...

Last week's caption by Melodie over at"

Laughing Duck Farm

Hop on over to her blog and check out her naturally

dyed yarn -- beautiful!

I truly laughed out loud when I read your caption Melodie!

This was a hard week to pick one -- they all made me laugh!

Other captions were:

From Gail over at: At The Farm

There's just something about bad dogs that made Yellow Dog swoon every time.

From Ronda over at: The Pauley Principle

                                              Now watch and try it again. GRRR-R-R, like you mean it!

From Leigh over at: 5 Acres & a Dream

"I've been so excited about watching this documentary, 'How to Release Your Inner Wolf.' "

From Kathy 

When the "God of all Dogs" speaks, I listen. "Hail CAESAR!"

This is a picture of Future Leader Dog Boone

watching the movie Snow Dogs on TV.

He watched TV all the time.  I'll post "A Boone Story" tomorrow. 

 It will make you smile.

I had lots of comments about the sticker on his "bum".  :-)

Pioneer Women does that on her blog -- I like it. 

 Better than throwing the pic out :-)

By the way, Boone never made it as a Leader Dog -- too distracted. 

He is now a very happy pet.

.....dr momi

A Blackjack Story

     No, not a blackjack story, a Blackjack story.  Blackjack was the 4th puppy I raised for Leader Dogs for The Blind.  He's a black lab, out in the field now, leading a blind person.  When Blackjack was about about 6 months old, his head stood about 2 1/2 feet off the ground.  When Blackjack was 6 months old; my grandson Ryan was about 2 years old, and his face was about 2 1/2 feet off the ground.

      One Sunday evening when the whole family -12 adults - were over for supper, Ryan sneezed.  I do believe both sinuses totally emptied -- both nostrils had snot hanging down 3 inches. (Sorry, it's gross I know :-)  In unison, every adult in the room said  "quick, get a tissue!"  As noted, Blackjack's head stood exactly the same height as Ryan's face.  Blackjack heard the sneeze, wandered over, and with one great big lick, took care of the situation!   ......in unison everyone said, "eehwww...never mind!"

     Did we all laugh big belly laughs......and NO puppy kisses for a while.



Blackjack
Sorry about the watermark.  Seems this Christmas,
black lab pictures were in high demand :-)

 .....dr momi

Dog Fights

      Sonnet, the retired Leader Dog we adopted, is a dominate female.  She has been asserting that dominance over our golden retriever Billy, since she got here.  If I were her kindergarten teacher, the "does not get along well with others" box would be checked on her report card.

     It's been a month and 1/2 of keeping alert to make sure we don't have out and out dog fights in the house.  Billy puts up with it so long, until he can't stand it anymore, and then he fights back.  The other day, both were outside playing while Rick was stacking wood.  He was throwing the ball when the big fight happened.  Billy won't let "anyone" get his ball, his retrieving is serious business.

     This was the out and out dog fight.  Rick almost got bit pulling them apart.  Billy had a cut under his eye, and Sonnet had a scrape across her chest.  That's when we knew this wasn't working out.  We could foresee a summer of making sure we didn't have both dogs outside at the same time and being on alert in the house all the time.

     After talking it over with Bob (Sonnet's legally blind partner for so many years), Sonnet has been returned to him for now.  She will be a "pet" until his new dog comes.  When Leader Dogs for the Blind comes to deliver his new dog, Sonnet will go back with them and will be adopted by someone on their waiting list for dogs.  Bob wishes he could keep her, but, the condo he lives in doesn't allow pet dogs over 45 pounds and he would end up in the same situation with his new dog and Sonnet.  Sonnet would be asserting her dominance constantly.

     We are all saddened by this.  It's something we didn't see coming.  I so wanted Sonnet to stay in the area so Bob could see her once in a while, but, she needs to be placed in a home with no other dogs.  If anyone locally is interested in her let me know.  She was so good with my grandchildren, we could hardly believe it.  Four feet were always on the ground and ever so gentle.  She is a great house dog -- without another dog around.

There were times of peace.
Love you Sonnet.

 .....dr momi
  

Flying Dog



No we don't have snow -- old pic :-)

     On the news tonight, I heard about the kid and dog that had to be rescued from the side of a cliff.  A bottle was thrown over the cliff, and the dog tried to retrieve it. Then the kid went to rescue the dog.  A happy ending, both were fine.

     It reminded me of when our golden retriever, Billy, did the same kind of thing.  It was when our house was being built.  Nothing but the shell was up.  Late afternoons after the builders were done for the day, I would take the dogs over and check out how things were coming.

      Billy is a retrieving machine.  I think if you kept throwing the ball, he would keep retrieving it until he died of heat exhaustion or a heart attack.  I was throwing the ball for him out the future doors, and, occasionally out the future windows.  If I threw it out the "window",  he would run out the "door" to go get it.  Until the time he decided to fly.

     I can still feel how my face froze in disbelief as he decided to follow the ball out the window this time.  He didn't casually jump out.  Oh no....he used the sill to jump high into the air as if he was a dock dog.  There was one problem.  The bottom of the sill was 6 1/2 feet off the ground.  When he arched into the air I bet he was almost 12 feet off the ground.   .....and he didn't land in a pool of water!

     I thought for sure he would break a leg or something.  No, ....we just kept on playing fetch.  To this day though, if he over exercises, he has a gimpy leg....his "medal of honor" I suppose.

Retrieving is in his blood,

.....dr momi  

Be A Good Boy Butsch

     Tomorrow Butsch and I take off for Leader Dogs For The Blind in Rochester Michigan (near Detroit).  If he checks out physically, he will begin his formal training in harness.  There is also a chance that he could be pulled for breeding.  None of the dogs are neutered or spayed until they return to the school for just that reason.  Leader Dog has their own breeding program, breeding dogs for many generations, with just the right qualities to be a dog guide.  If he did get pulled for breeding, he would be placed with a family near the school.  He would have a "family pet" job most of the time, and brought to the school only when needed.

     We've been making the rounds to the different stores and restaurants he's been a regular at saying good-bye, and I've been preparing myself for letting him go.  He's a super smart dog that thrives on learning new stuff.  The formal training should be right up his alley.  Do your mama proud Butsch!

Butsch 4 months old.








.....and at 8 months old.
He looks pretty much the same now, maybe a little wider in the chest.
I tried to get a new picture....it's like trying to photograph a 3 year old :-)


.....jean

Soon To Be Retired

    Everybody, I'd like you to meet Bob (it's his birthday today) and his Leader Dog Sonnet.  Bob has been slowly losing his sight.  He has had Sonnet for about 8 years now.  She is 9 1/2 yrs old now, and she quit leading.  It happens that somewhere around 8, 9, 10 years old, the Leader Dogs just decide they don't want to do this anymore.  It's like she isn't paying attention anymore.

     So, Bob is getting a new Leader Dog, and I am adopting Sonnet so she can just live the rest of her life as a dog that can run free.  Sonnet was adopted from a humane society and then trained by Leader Dogs For The Blind as a dog guide.  She is German Shepherd and Husky as far as anyone can tell.  She knows me quite well because I watched her two times for an extended amount of time.  Once while Bob had his knee operated on and once when he had a slight heart attack.
  
     In 2 weeks my Future Leader Dog For The Blind, Butsch, is going back to Leader Dogs For The Blind for his formal training.  Anytime after that, Sonnet will be coming to live with us.  I won't be raising any more puppies until Sonnet passes.  Two dogs in the house is all I can handle -- especially with all the "grandchildren traffic" we have here :-)

      Sonnet has been "eating good" the past few years.  (Probably a few too many dog biscuits)  I will try to get a bit of that weight off, so her old joints don't suffer too much. 

Sonnet
 Soon to be enjoying the retired life.

(She looks kinda mean in this pic...no...she's a gentle heart.)
I'm sure there will be lots more pictures of her coming down the road.

.....jean

A Booker Story

     Booker is the first Future Leader Dog For the Blind that I raised.  He is a yellow lab.  He's been a working dog (leading a blind person) for about 7 or 8 years already.  When we turn our puppies in after raising them for the year, Leader Dogs For the Blind asks us for a "story" about our puppy that they can share with the blind partner they get hooked up with.  Here is "Booker's Story".

Booker 3 months old.



     When Booker was about 5 months old, I met my sister Roxey, at a Red Lobster for lunch, of course Booker came with.  He was so good about going under the table and falling fast asleep.  The hostess seated us, and Booker was all settled in and quiet by the time the waitress came.  She never knew he was there.  The waitress took our order and Roxey and I were chatting away.  Our salads finally came and the waitress asked if we wanted fresh ground pepper on them.  "Yes, thank-you".

     What happened next left all of us with looks on our faces that you wish you could have taken a picture of.  With no warning, our table "exploded"!  It raised off the floor about 8 inches.  Booker who had been asleep must have gotten pepper in his nose and shot straight up!  He sneezed and sneezed and sneezed.  The poor waitress was beyond confused.  I bet she still tells this story as "the weirdest thing that ever happened to me waitressing".  We saved the salads....Roxey and I were "holding" things on the table.   After much laughing (and feeling sorry for Booker), we settled into a wonderful lunch.  Booker was just fine.  Roxey and I were fine.  Not sure about the waitress :-).





Booker 8 months old.

 .....jean

Future Leader Dog Butsch

FLD Butsch
Butsch turned 9 months old this week. 
He looks grown up,
but he's all about play, play, play. :-)

   

It's A Miracle

     .....that Billy didn't eat my fair entry.  He had plenty of time to do it!

     I left my wine entries and dehydrated food entries in a bag on the floor...so I'd remember to take them.  Ya right.  I was gone about 2 hrs. before I remembered I left them.  I was pretty sure the dehydrated jerky had been devoured by Billy already, after all, he is a hunting dog.  That nose does work.  When I knew Rick was home for lunch I called, "so, did he wreck everything?"  "No, not at all, he just brought me a bag of dried oregano for my gift, but it wasn't punctured or anything!"

     It must be in his Golden Retriever blood to "retrieve" something when someone walks into the house.  It's usually a shoe.  He never chews it, just brings it as a "gift".  Turns out the bag of jerky was on the bed, (a place he is not allowed) not punctured either!  I'm sure he was just about ready to dig in when Rick came home......

 

 Linked to:  Farmgirl Friday   

.....dr momi

A Brinkley Story

     Brinkley (yes...named after the dog in "You Got Mail") is a Golden Retriever that I raised for Leader Dogs For The Blind.  Brinks was pretty lazy.  He didn't make it.  Toward the end of his 5 months of professional training they "career changed" him for inconsistent work.  If I were blind, I sure wouldn't want a dog that decided to work one day but the next day was pretty sure he was tired. :-)

Bailey and Brinkley

       He is now one of the most pampered pets ever.  He lives at a garden center and is their "mascot".  Pretty much he positions himself at the door in order to receive the most pets.  (On hot days he sprawls on the cement floor and you must step over him :-).  His owner is partially disabled and would not be able to raise a puppy very easily.  A dog about 18 months old, socialized and obedience trained was perfect for her.  About a year after she had Brinkley she told me this story.

     She was talking to a customer about flowers.  The customers' little boy, about 3 years old, was playing with Brinkley.  When their discussion ended, they couldn't find the little boy or Brinkley.  Panic ensued as they frantically looked all over for him.  Not finding him in the greenhouse, the search went outside.  There was a pond out back.  Brinkley liked to go swimming in it.  To this day they don't know if it was Brinkley that led the little boy to the pond, or if the little boy just wondered toward the pond, but, what they saw brought tears to every one's eyes.

     Brinkley had positioned himself between the little boy and the pond and would not let him go near it.  We know that Brinkley was using his Leader Dog training.  A Leader Dog will not let his blind master walk into danger.  All that training....no one would have guessed that in his career changed life he would be a hero!

Hero Brinkley....Good Dog Brinks!

 .....dr momi

Linked to: Homestead Revival Barn Hop

Trixy Made It!

Billy and Trixy (3 months old)

   Future Leader Dog Trixy is now Leader Dog Trixy!  Yesterday she was given to her new owner.  I've seen video as to how this is done.  It's quite emotional.  The visually impaired have been at Leader Dogs for the Blind School in Rochester Michigan for 3 days before they get their dog.  In that time they have practiced holding the harness and giving their pretend dog (their instructor) commands.

      On dog issue day, the blind person is in their room and the instructor brings the dog to them.  For 3 days now the dog has not had much human contact at all.  Of course they are fed and let out, but at this point they are craving for someone to pet them.  The instructor will say, "you have a 65 # yellow lab named Trixy, call her name!"  Usually the tears start to flow as the person finally has their dog.

     No more kennel life for the dog.  She will now be with her new master constantly.  She stays in the room with him/her.  There are two doors in this "hotel" room.  One door opens to the hallway of the residence hall, and the other door opens to a fenced in area so the person can "park" (potty) the dog without worrying about loosing her.

     Together Trixy and her new master will have 3 more weeks of instruction, and the bond between them will become strong.  The blind person will learn to trust Trixy.....and Trixy will get all the pets she can handle.      ......I am a very proud mama :-)

Trixy, now a working dog.

Sunday in Pictures




Butsch and I and the rest of our "puppy raising group" took off Friday
for Leader Dogs For The Blind in Rochester Michigan to attend Leader Dog University.
We were able to listen to speakers, get training tips, and the Leader Dog people
were able to see the puppies they bred, --- about half grown up.
You should see the look on people's face when a bus pulls up to the
wayside and 15 of the cutest puppies ever hop out :-)

 







Duke was with us.  He is being raised in a work release correctional prison
by an inmate.  The inmate of course cannot cross over state lines, so,
someone in our group brought Duke along for the experience.
He has the biggest, blockiest, head of any lab I ever saw. :-)



Maisie was with us. (Golden Retriever)
(I think she looks like a lttle fox in this picture :-)



Jo was with us.  (Black Lab)



Micah was with us.   (Yellow Lab)
He is sporting a UW Badgers scarf -- we could
dress for the theme of the day.

.....and Scout was with us. (Yellow Lab)
He was one of the younger pups on the bus.

And last but not least, we had a working dog on the
bus with us.  Lilly is leading a visually impaired
person.  When I called Lilly's name to take her picture,
she turned her head away from me and ignored me.
Good Girl Lilly!
The last thing a blind person needs is a dog that
is distracted by someone on the street.

We had a lot more puppies on board, but it was very hard to take pictures while I was handling Butsch. :-)  (Butschy Boy was a tad overexcited most of the trip.)  He was the only German Shepherd on the bus.  I saw one of his siblings at Leader Dog.  She was 3 inches shorter than him and much smaller.







Guess who I saw in harness there?!
Trixy!
This is a picture of Trixy the first day we got her.

(For those who don't know, Trixy was the last puppy I raised
and she has been at Leader Dog getting her formal training in harness.)
We rarely get to see the dog we raised in it's formal training.
I got to say hello to her.  Did she wiggle!  Her trainer said she is "teacher's pet".
If all goes well, she will be eligible for issue to a blind person in August.

.....dr momi

Special Puppies

     I'm off to Leader Dogs For The Blind today in Rochester Michigan.  I'm going for training to be an IFT (in for training) assessor.  If I pass, I will be assessing Future Leader Dogs at around 10 mon. old, in different aspects of their training.  Leader Dog will use the information to help in their breeding program, etc. (i.e. "Is the whole litter fearful?  Is the whole litter easily distracted?"  Then maybe they would not use that breeding of the parents again.)  For those of you that don't know, Leader Dogs For The Blind has their own breeding program to produce  puppies with great characteristics for leading a blind person.  It's been going on for many, many generations already.


     I thought you might like to go down memory lane with me.  Here's the puppies I've raised so far.






Booker
Yellow Lab, leading a blind person.











Billy
Golden Retriever
Billy was "career changed" and is now our hunting dog.



Brinkley
Golden Retriever, "career changed".
He is now a pampered pet and the "mascot" at a garden
 center near Green Bay.  He gets all the pets he can take in.












Blackjack....leading a blind person.





 





Boone
Yellow lab, "career changed"
He is now a great house pet.



Smoke
Golden Retriever/German shepherd .
He is now a working dog leading a blind person.

 











Beatrix (Trixy)
Yellow Lab, leading a blind person





.......and Butsch
German Shepherd
He is 6 1/2 months old now,
I will have him until just after Thanksgiving.


.....dr momi

Puppyless

     Is puppyless a word?   Puppyless: adj. not in possession of a puppy.  There....I just made it a word.

    There has been a puppy in our house for pretty much 7 1/2 years now.  That's how long I have been raising Leader Dogs For The Blind.  German Shepherd Butsch was # 8 puppy.

     Butsch is back at the Leader Dogs For The Blind school in Rochester Michigan, for them to evaluate him.  He had been growling at certain people.  At only 5 1/2 months old, they wanted to determine if it was fear that was the basis of it or what. 

     Usually at about 1 yr. old, the dogs go back to the school for professional training.  I'm usually ready for that.  But, I wasn't ready for this.  It was a lot harder to part at this age.  If they decide he might outgrow it and could still be a Leader Dog, I will get him back to finish his socialization.  In the mean time I am puppyless.......a stange feeling in this house :-)

10 weeks

4 months




Butsch aka Butschy Boy :-)
5 1/2 months

 

.....dr momi

Sunday In Pictures





Trixy and Mitch packed up and ready to go.
They were excellent travelers.





Turning dogs in at Leader dogs For The Blind in Rochester Michigan
Maggie is holding Black Lab Kibble (Trixy's sister)
Cameron (Maggie's grandson) is holding Trixy



....and while we were at Leader Dog they just happened
to be taking Delta out for a walk.
Delta is Kibble and Trixy's sister too.

New puppy "Ray" was snuffling mud...lol.  Cameron was a great "puppy wrangler".
We also brought back another black lab puppy for Maggie named "Kimber".

Well doesn't the Mackinac Bridge look "like a bridge" from this far away.
When you are driving it --- well, I don't like it. Especially when the wind blows!
Sometimes I swear you can feel it moving...... it is a suspension bridge. :-)  The wind wasn't blowing this time.
All was good. --- I just don't look down.

Trixy Is Off To College / Baby Pics

     Future Leader Dog Beatrix (Trixy) is off to "doggy college" today.  Maggie, the leader of the Northeast Wisconsin Puppy Raisers Group, her grandson, and I, are leaving for Leader Dogs For The Blind, in Rochester Michigan today.  Maggie's puppy Kibble, (Trixy's sister) is going back too.  And.... Mitch, another puppy from our group, is hitching a ride.  We will be going up through Upper Michigan, across the Mackinac Bridge that connects Upper and Lower Michigan, and then all the way down Lower Michigan to Rochester which is near Detroit. 


     This is never fun for us.  You slowly get yourself ready for it over the last month you have them,  reminding yourself that this is not your dog.  The sting of parting with them will be eased some, as we are bringing home 2 new puppies.  One for Maggie and one for Mitch's raiser.  (Remember I already have my new puppy, Butsch, at home.)  If all goes well, after 5 months of professional training; Trixy,  Kibble, and Mitch, will get teamed up with a blind person.  This is the goal, this is why we do it.


                      Sending a "kid" to college makes you dig out the "baby pics" ..........

   


The very first day we had Trixy.

  




She so wanted Billy to be her "mommy".

  

  

And she fit into the "doggy toy box".

 


Sleeping by Dad's foot........if we watched we could see her growing :-)

  


She loved the chewing parties with Billy.

 



God's Blessings go with you Trixy.......love you.  Be a "good girl".