San Francisco with Don- Go SF Giants!

The other weekend, my brother's chorus was performing at the SF Giants baseball game, so I decided to go with Don. It was a great experience for Don. I walked him on some busy city streets, and all over the Giants stadium. He loved it! Don always behaves so well in busy cities. For Don, the more distractions the better. He did great with the crowds.

Don in the car, going to SF. Riding in the car is one of Don's favorite pastimes. He loves watching people as they go by.

Don was a good boy walking past all the food stands, then up the stairs. When we got to our seats though, Don is so big that I had a hard time getting him to settle under my chair. He kept standing up and nearly wagged his tail in someone's face. oops. After a while, he sat down and got comfy- that is, until the person in back of us spilled his drink, which cascaded down the rows of chairs until it reached Don (much to his delight). Once that was cleaned up, Don settled and we watched the chorus.

There they are singing the national anthem. Don found the speakers very interesting at first.

We were sitting in the very top row, so when the wind picked up the flags made a lot of noise. This was a great exposure for Don, who enjoyed watching them (pictured above).

Don was getting a bit bored of the game, so I took him for a walk all around the park. We walked by the Coca Cola slide and lots of little kids, which Don was great with. While we were walking, someone hit a homerun, and these big fountains sprayed water in the air. Don enjoyed seeing that.

Then, we walked along the water. Don LOVES water, and I'm sure he wished he could of gone swimming. We practiced a couple down stays then went on to climb the stairs and practice some food avoidance by the concession stands.

Don crashed back at our seats, and slept for the last inning. He didn't even wake up when everyone started cheering because the Giants won.

The stadium was so crowded, it took half an hour to get out of the park, but Don didn't seem to mind. Here he is walking along the sidewalk.

We stopped to have Don do his business, then Don watched the fountains at this park. He wanted to go in the big fountain :)

Back in the car, Don attempted to sit on my lap. Don is not the cuddly type, but there wasn't anywhere else in the car to sit. A second after this photo was taken, Don got up, pushing my head into the window. Clumsy, clumsy Don. He bangs his head on everything in our house.

Don decided that the arm rest was more comfy than my lap.

Don and his sleeping positions :) Life is hard when you're so big!

Lots and Lots of Fun Outings for Don

So much has been going on lately, I haven't had time to blog! With the end of school coming in a couple of weeks, my life has suddenly gotten very busy. I am really looking forward to the summer and having more time to blog. Don is doing great; I've taken him SO many places recently. We are still working on dog distractions though. He celebrated his first birthday on May 7. His buddy Maya came over, who is a goldendoodle. They had a lot of fun together, chasing each other around. His friend Silky, a sweet black lab being raised in my club, also came over that week. Don and Silky were quite the energetic pair. At first, they wanted to chase and chew on each other, but then they decided to play tug. It was very cute :) Don is so giant; he just stood there with the tug toy in his mouth while Silky pulled and pulled with all her might to try and get it from him. Don went to a SF Giants baseball game two weekends ago. It was a great experience for him, though he had a little trouble fitting under the seat because of his enormous size. This past weekend, our puppy club went on an outing to San Francisco. Yesterday, I took Don with us on a hike along the beach. It was a very windy, 5 hour hike but Don did really well. I have lots of pictures, so I'll put them into another post. For now, here are some birthday pictures.

Don and Silky loved playing tug, though Don had a little bit of an advantage with his massive size.

All Don had to do was stand still while Silky did all the tugging.

Pool time! Don absolutely loves water. Yesterday, he had so much fun swimming at the beach.

I tried to get a birthday picture, but Don wasn't very willing to look at the camera.

Don eating his special birthday dinner.

Playing with Maya, my friend's goldendoodle.

I though this was quite how they both sat away from each other. The second I released Don from his stay, he went right back to playing.

Maya was very nice and brought Don a birthday present- a new kong!

I can't believe Don is 12 1/2 months old now, which means I've only got a couple more months left with him. I am working on his dog distractions every day, so hopefully we will get there. He's doing really well and is even maturing a bit. Only 2 more months until Fun Day! Can't wait!!

I'll be posting about all our other outings soon.

Is he really that old?

I can't believe how old my puppy has gotten! A year? Already? Don will be turning 1 year old tomorrow. I've only got a couple more months left with the big boy :( We will be very busy practicing our dog distractions until then!

Don is doing great. I'm short on time tonight, but I will be doing a big birthday post soon. Don is having a birthday celebration tomorrow with his friend Maya.

We've been very busy. Don continues to be a very good boy at school. The other day, Don had a playdate with his friend Silky, who I puppysat a little while ago. Today, Don spent the day at the GDB kennels because my mom was chaperoning my brother's field trip. He got a new collar while he was there- his old one had fallen apart. Its so nice and shiny now! When we went to pick him up, he was so happy to see us. He got all wiggly and his did his "happy ears", where his ears go back. He has been sleeping ever since he got home ( I think he missed his comfy bed).

I have lots of pictures to post, hopefully soon. School has gotten pretty busy lately, but I hope to find time to talk about what Don and I have been doing.

Costco with Don! Just one of the many places we've been lately!

Happy birthday, big boy!

Taking pictures of Don is hard... VERY hard

Last friday I went to the waterfront to get some pictures of Don with the Golden Gate in the background (for the GDB calendar submissions). The weather was perfect for photo-taking, the view was stunning, but... Don was not the most cooperative, to say the least ;) After I finally got him in the perfect position, he'd attempt to walk away- or refuse to look at the camera. My brother jumped up and down, my mom blew a whistle that I brought from home, but regardless, Don did NOT want to look at the camera. Now I laugh thinking about how funny we must've looked, jumping and yelling like crazy to get our dog's attention :)

Then, a man started walking his many dogs, which didn't help. Don was very distracted. I had him on his flat collar for picture taking, so it was hard to keep him from charging towards the dog. Thank God for gentle leaders!

As soon as I was about to take the picture, he'd try to run off. I even had to use the "come" command once- thank goodness he is so good at it.

To top things off, my camera fell on some rocks and scratched the screen pretty bad. sigh...

Anyways, I got a couple of photos that I liked. I spent all day trying to decide which photo to send in, and finally chose the second photo below, which I thought showed the most expression.

Turns out, I made the right choice. I was SO happy when I found out Don had been chosen for the month of December! I never thought I'd make it with 400 entries. GDB would like me to write a little something about Don- what makes him unique/special characteristics. Hmmm. I'll have to think about his one.

Don got a great report from the puppy sitters. He went to school again yesterday, and was really good. We've got a puppy meeting this Saturday at the skate park, so that'll be fun. Hopefully I'll get some more pictures.

If you haven't watched "Through a Dog's Eyes" on PBS, I highly recommend you do. It's a really heartwarming story about a service dog program and the special bond between the dogs and their partners. I watched it tonight and loved it!

Don wanted to show everyone his new jollyball, which he is happily destroying at the moment :)

Shopping With Silky

My mom and brother needed to run a few errands, so I decided to take Silky along. I figured the mall would be a good place for socializing and training. Silky did really well. I kept her on the flat collar the entire time because she wasn't pulling towards other people or distractions. She went for some things on the ground a couple times, but not much. I was amazed at how she completely ignored this dog we walked past, staying in the perfect heel position. We practiced some commands too, and when I asked her to DYB on the cement, she quickly complied. Good girl!

Resting in the car...

Hi, Silky. (A closeup of Silky's adorable black snout and nose)

Waiting to get in the elevator. She's a fearless dog- nothing has scared her, even this loud elevator.

Waiting patiently in Macy's.

Sigh. How long does it take for him to try clothes on?

Silky started to get tired. When I put some clothes down on the floor, she curled up and fell asleep :)

Then, we went to Kohl's and got some wrapping paper and looked around.

There are lots of interesting sights and sounds here, Silky!

Silky outside the mall. She did really well with all the people, sounds, and sights.

Closeup of her beautiful face.

After many hours of shopping, Silky is one TIRED dog. When we got back in the car, Silky curled up in a little ball and went to bed. We are swapping back today at GDB. I really hope the rain stops and it gets sunny, because we were planning on having Silky and Don play for a bit. The GDB dog runs can get pretty muddy.

It was so much fun getting to work with Silky. She is such a sweet dog- this morning she laid on my lap and chewed her bone for an hour. Can't wait to hear how Don did!

Silky for the Weekend

Guess who I've got for the weekend? Silky! She's adorable and SO sweet. She just LOVES people. You say her name, and she acts like it's the best thing ever, getting all wiggling then settling in my lap for a cuddle. She has really pretty light brown eyes and such a tiny face. Absolutely ADORABLE!!! She's only five months old, and she's really tiny compared to Don. Don is spending the weekend with Silky's raisers- we thought it was time for a puppy swap. Don was very excited, and I'm sure he's having a blast. He adores the puppy sitters!

We had a puppy meeting yesterday. I can't believe how big our club has gotten, we get new members and new pups every week. Maureen, a dog raised in our club, is in phase ten after only 2 months in formal training. Digby and Nerice are moving along and are in phase two. We talked about some common issues with the 11-16 month old dogs, and it was really helpful. We also discussed ways to make training more interesting for dogs who has mastered the basics (stays with hotdogs on the floor, teaching them the name of toys and to "go find" certain people.)

Due to the rain, Silky and I haven't done any interesting outings yet, but hopefully we will go shopping later today. We're mainly doing commands, walks around the neighborhood, practicing "come" (which she's really good at), and playing. I've never seen a dog so happy to play with her toys. I get such a kick out of watching her entertain herself. She has really enjoyed playing with Don's toys, especially his sterilized bones. She parades them around the house, then drops them and pounces on them. What a good girl!

Mmmmm. Nom, nom, nom. There's so many new toys to play with!

I will get you, sterilized bone!!! hahaha- There's no escaping now!

This morning, we went for a stroll around the neighborhood. She was perfect and so attentive. She kept looking back at me and making sure she was in the right place. We passed by a person, and she wasn't at all distracted. The best part? She didn't try to pick anything up- ever! And she's so young, too!

Time for some bone-chewing time after that exhausting walk!

Zzzzzz.....

She's a champ at relieving on command. She's so good- she whines if she needs to go potty, then goes as soon as I give her the command. She's been going on cement and dirt, and does great on both surfaces.

She does have her I-wanna-be-dominate moments, and can be vocal at times, but she is only 5 months old. I think she's going to make a really great dog and can't wait to see how she progresses.

More on Silky tomorrow- it's time to take her for an outing!

Ready, Silky?

(I just took her jacket out, and she came running)

First Day of School

That's right, yesterday Don went to school for the very first time. He was a STAR and was so well behaved.

On Tuesday, I talked to my Spanish class and told them I would be bringing Don. Everyone was really looking forward to having a dog in the classroom, even my teacher. They were a bit disappointed to hear they couldn't pet him, but seemed to understand.

All morning long, I was SO excited. I got to school early to do an announcement over the loudspeaker. Kinda weird hearing my voice all over the school, but I think I got the message across that Don was a guide dog in training and not to pet, feed, or call out to him. My mom brought Don at lunch. I put on his GL, vest, and bait bag and we were off! There were only a couple minutes until the bell, so I walked him through the halls and outside a bit to get used to the atmosphere. A lot of kids were surprised to see a dog at school, and about 5 kids asked me if my dog was blind :) A couple people tried petting Don, but I had established pretty strict rules and once I reminded them, they stopped. All the students were really respectful of Don and his training. There are a lot of kids at my school who have GDB career changes and breeder dogs and are familiar with the organization. Plus, one of the teacher's husband is a Guide Dogs Mobility Instructor.

I got to class early and had Don "kennel" under the table. He watched people come into the classroom. Soon, Don fell asleep- and stayed that way for the rest of the class! Every now and then, he'd open his eyes and look around for a bit, then go back to sleeping. Everyone wondered how he could stay asleep in all the noise and commotion. About 15 minutes till the end of class, one of my classmates looked over at me, his eyes got really big, and he suddenly said, "THERE'S A DOG IN HERE!!!" Everyone started laughing.

After class, I had a WEB meeting (a program at our school where we help the incoming 6th graders). Don was great and got to meet a couple of my other teachers afterwards. My science teacher really liked Don and wants him to come to her class. Hurray!

All ready for school! Don sitting next to the front door, next to my backpack.

My brother had to get to a baseball game after school, so I didn't have time to take many pictures, but I got a few. Here is Don sitting by the lockers in the World Languages area of school.

Don with some classmates in the background.

"Hola, me llamo Don!"

Don is excited about learning a new language :)