Three Years Later (almost)

Well, here it is May, 2010. Pilaf is still with us. (Sorry for abandoning the blog.) She was a great Guide Pup in Training and we KNEW she would go forward. We thought, "This is what real guide pups look like". But it was not to be. She went back to Boring Oregon for guide pup "college" at 14 months but during her exam, she was found to have elbows that were arthritic. Guide Dogs for the Blind take EXCELLENT care of their puppies and they did surgery on both legs. Pilaf was career changed and came home to us. The delight here is that she "career changed" to a therapy dog and now goes to work with me daily. She is Highland Terrace Elementary School's therapy dog. She sits in my health room just waiting for someone, students, parents, staff to come along and interact with her. She has beguiled our custodian, Pat, who takes her out daily and then treats her to a dog treat. What better life could she have? We just came back from a week at Camp Orkila on Orcas Island. It was hectic busy for me as the camp nurse and Pilaf had a great time. Collin and Christian both came daily to take her out to sniff (I think she could have been a bomb sniffing dog) and "do her business" and just go for a walk.

We've raised (really not "we" but Laura and Dave) two more puppies...Vera and our present guide pup in training, Dyna. They're both fantastic dogs. Vera career changed again for arthritis and has gone to live with a family from Highland Terrace. Dyna is prooving to be a fanstastic dog and we believe she will go forward. Our luck with this hasn't been great, though. But the experiences with these dogs are irreplaceable.

I'll try to write more often. I think that we'll have to change the name of this blog, though...to The adventures of Pilaf, a therapy dog.

New puppy meeting

On Sunday, both of Betsy's new puppy raisers gathered at Betsy's house for our first meeting. The role of a leader is a big one and Betsy needs to check in with the new puppies weekly to make sure all is going well. It was great to see the other puppies! There is Castillo, a beautiful black male lab puppy who is being raised by Hillary and her family. He is huge! And, oh so mellow. Abraham is Betsy's puppy and he is the oldest in the group. He is close to 16 weeks and is the leader of the pack. We all gathered with a few friends of Betsy's who wanted to see what the puppy raising thing was all about. We walked in the neighborhood and Pilaf did great! It was the longest walk she's taken so far. I thought that she might need food rewards to entice her to walk with me because at home she would stop in her tracks and just sit. But she was walking on the lead like a champ. No food rewards needed for this little pup. I could tell she was enjoying it too, because her tail was swishing back and forth. This is fun!

Afraid of the stairs

Pilaf is doing great. She has stopped her howling...the second day it was quieter. And she is learning "to do her business in the right places". We have these great stairs on the front of our home. I thought..."Oh this will be great. She will learn to climb the stairs like a pro." However, I did not take into consideration that Pilaf has a mind of her own. And she decided that going up and down those stairs was getting mighty tiring. So she just stopped in her tracks. No amount of coaxing would bring her down those stairs. And she decided to take advantage of the front deck and use that as her "do your business spot". I got on it right away. And called my trusty leader, Betsy. She knew what to do. A single piece of kibble going "ding" in her bowl was enough to entice this pup down the stairs at breakneck speed. No more problems with the stairs for this little pup! She's becoming the pro I knew she'd be!

Oh, the picture is so that you can see how much she's grown...from a "little peanut" to real guide dog puppy size. Oh so cute!

Pilaf arrives on the puppy truck

Our family has raised two previous guide dog puppies. Our first puppy, Arabelle, is a yellow lab who was raised by my daughter, Laura. Laura got us all started on this adventure when she visited her cousin, Jennifer, in California and talked to her about her experience of raising three guide dog puppies in a 4-H club. So when Laura's teacher, offered the kids a "Make a Difference Project" in 6th grade, Laura decided to raise a puppy. That was quite an adventure. Arabelle was with us for 14 months and didn't make it as a guide dog but went on to be adopted by a family who was doing search and rescue. Cora, our second guide dog puppy was raised by our son, Justin. She, too, proved to have too much energy and a love for barking which meant that she was also was not cut out for the guide dog role. We placed her with some family friends. Cora is proving to fit in just right with their family. Cora's new family loves her dearly and so Cora is living a life of bliss with them.

Our family decided to raise a third guide dog puppy. This time, I am the primary raiser. I have been so excited about this that I've found myself telling people two or three times a day, "We're getting a new puppy!" So on Thursday, June 14, we all drove down to Tacoma to meet the Guide Dog puppy truck to pick up our puppy. Usually, Guide Dogs for the Blind, the awesome organization that offers guide dogs to those who have failed sight, will give you the letter that all the puppies in a particular litter are named for prior to picking up the puppy. Guide dog raisers don't actually get the name of their puppy until they pick the pup up. With the "P" letter in hand, I made a list of all the "p" girl names I could think of. Justin's choice was Persephone (a greek godess from mythology). My choice was Petra, feminine for Peter. And when our puppy came off the truck, we learned her name is "Pilaf". As you can see from the picture, she is adorable. A tiny little 9 week old pup. So we fed her, took in the usual puppy class offered by our advisor, Michelle, and headed home in our car.

That was yesterday. Last evening after about 45 minutes of constant loud howling...how could this tiny pup make all those noises at once? and our staunch resolve to ignore the howling, Pilaf finally quieted down and went to sleep. By 7 a.m., I'd been up once more with her...to take her out to pee. But, I didn't act fast enough....you have to sprint, and I mean sprint from the puppy kennel to the door or else you face the obvious reality that your pup can't "hold it" that long. And she didnt' and I didn't go fast enough this morning. Oh well. A trip outside anyway and then back to the kennel without much fuss to face about 30 minutes...(it was shorter and quieter this time) of barking/whining. But I was good. I didn't bend my resolve and was even able to fall asleep despite the noise.

What I've learned today is that Pilaf is a great pup. She's already learned her name, walks on the lead, wants to follow me everywhere, and is not mouthy at all. She responds well to gentle correction and is learning to not be interested in those rocks on the pavement. She has been up and down many, many stairs already going in and out of our house and only seems to hesitate if I rush her right after she awakens from her nap. A great puppy, a great beginning. And all of us are in love. Life can't get any better!

Pilaf's first picture