Happy Halloween!

Don is enjoying his first Halloween! He is now 51/2 months and has had a very busy week. Two saturdays ago, we swapped Don for Peeka, a female black lab being raised in our club. Peeka was a very sweet dog, and such a people lover! Here is a picture of the pretty girl:

It's hard to tell in these photos, but she is a very petite girl. When we got Don back, he seemed even bigger than before. He's 48 lbs at 5.5 months! I know these are terrible pictures :) Just as I was rushing out the door to swap back dogs, I remembered that I'd taken no photos of Peeka. I just had to have something to remember this sweet girl by- even if it was two blurry photos with crazy eyes :D

Peeka was so much fun. She loved to please more than anything. Unlike Don, she loved interactive play. Her whole body would start wriggling when I got down on the floor with her. Don is more of an aloof sort of guy. I wouldn't exactly say that pleasing me is his top priority :) Does anyone know how to get a more "distant" dog to enjoy play? I know I can't change his personality, but want to make sure he realizes how positive human interaction is.

On Thursday, Don went to Guide Dogs for the Blind (CA campus) for the day. The community field representatives were making a film about the food induced recall and needed some pups from our group. I haven't seen the movie yet, but heard that the filming went really well. It will probably take a while for the video to get distributed to all the clubs. I'm really hoping that Don is the demo dog for "what to do if your dog doesn't come"! He hasn't been quite that stellar with his come as he used to be, but were working on it. Spending the day at GDB seemed to help. When we picked him up from the kennels, the staff told us that he seemed intimidated by the kennels/ noise/ other dogs. I was quite surprised as he's never had any confidence issues before (overconfidence- yes). Hopefully he'll be over this when he goes back for formal training.

Don had his evaluations Wednesday. Since Don is such a big puppy (and potentially dominant) a eval was needed just to spot any issues before they got bigger. It was very helpful and Don did REALLY well. In the end, we concluded that his main issue would be distractions and were put on a food protocol. Apparently, Don's father, Bosworth, was also a very distracted pup at Don's age. I am running off to carve pumpkins and decorate the house. I will talk more about the eval and post photos later. Happy Halloween!

5 Months and Blind Babies Foundation Picnic

Don is officially 5 months this weekend. I can't believe I've already had him for 3 months! Don's making progress each day and getting BIGGER and BIGGER (not to mention clumsier- he's doesn't really know where his body is at times). Last week, his "reign" of our house got expanded 1 more room and he's doing fine despite the occasional moment when chooses socks over his toys.

Today, our group (Mt. Tam Puppy Raisers) went to the Blind Babies Foundation 60th anniversary picnic at Guide Dogs for the Blind. It was a great experience for Don with lots of children, working CCI/ Guide dogs, puppies in training, music, and dancing. The event was a resource day for blind, visually impaired, or multi-disabled children and their families. We walked the puppies around and had them greet the children and introduced families to Guide Dogs. Don was really well behaved with the young kids and loved giving them kisses :). I enjoyed talking to puppy raisers from other local puppy clubs. I met Poppy from the "Poppy's Poop Scoop" blog. (I didn't actually realize that the Poppy I met was from the blog until later). I actually remembered my camera this time and took a ton of photos. I'm a pretty bad photographer, so don't get excited :) .

Don in the car on his way to Guide Dogs (I love living close by)

First, we watched the Aztec dancing with Alise (the black lab on the right). I had Alise (now 7 months) for two weeks while her transfer home was being decided. Don was very interested in the drums, but then decided to sniff the grass instead.

Another photo of the pretty girl.

After the Aztec dancer was over, Don and I went for a walk with a potential youth raiser new to our club. She got to walk Don and he did really well with her. The kennels were open, so we stopped in to look at all the adorable puppies.

Next, we met up with Maren, a 14 month old black lab, and Digby, a 10 month old black lab/golden retriver, both from our club. Don spent the last weekend with Maren and his raisers and loves playing with her. (Below Maren and Don pose for a shot together- Don's almost as big as her).

Don, Maren, and Digby got to play in one of the runs.

Sharing a kong.

I love this one :D

Time for some water. Don only wanted to drink out of the bowl Maren was drinking out of. If she'd change bowls, so would she- it was hilarious.

There was a table set up for the kid's handprints. Maren's raisers asked if they could get Maren's pawprint and they said yes- it turned out great. All three dogs were very tired after playtime and waited patiently for Maren to get her pawprints done.

Don used Digby for his pillow :)

We had to stop one more time at the kennels before leaving.

These two boys were adorable.

A dog named Indigo. I recognized the name from one of the blogs I follow, so I took a picture. (Not really sure whos dog it is, but... felt I should take a photo)

After the event was over, we went to do some shopping at eat at Pasta Pomodoro. They were very nice there and even offered Don a bowl of water. Don being a good boy and sleeping under the table :) .

Walking through the parking lot. Don's a pretty good walker since he was put on the food protocol. It's extremely helpful.

I took Don to Old Navy. I've never seen a store more crowded in my life. They were having their giant Anniversary Sale and the line stretched to the back of the store (my mom decided to come back another day to return the shirt)

Finally- home. Don was very tired and crashed soon after this photo was taken.

And, to conclude my long photo-filled post, a picture of Don modeling his new bandana.

Thats all for now,

Lauren and Don