A Year Ago Today...

I picked up "Mr. D" from the GDB kennels. I remember walking into the kennel kitchen, seeing the bag with "Don" written on it, and being handed my first puppy. I could only hold him for a few minutes before I was overtaken by his weight. Today, Don is now 14 months (and 68 lbs!). I swear, this pup doesn't stop growing! At every puppy meeting, people see Don and say, "hey- I didn't think you could get any BIGGER!"

Looking back at the year we've spent together, Don has improved in so many ways. From the headstrong "Mr. Beasty" who'd mouth and mouth away- to the well traveled "big boy" who is so calm on outings, reliable anywhere we go, and a lot better with distractions, Don has definitely matured. But, he will always be Don. Yes, he still isn't that big on affection, and on the occasion decides stealing something would be great fun (but now he drops it when I saw "no")

Today, the official 1 year mark that I have had Don, we went on an outing downtown and Don's accomplishments were so evident. I love how he watches me so carefully, matching my pace exactly. And he's still as confident as ever! Little phases him, even the noisy train that zoomed past us today. We're definitely getting somewhere with all our dog distraction practice, I can tell Don is trying his hardest to look away from the dogs.

Below are some "baby" pictures:

He's begun to show affection in his own "Don" way: resting his head on my lap, giving me "kisses" and doing his "happy ears" when I come home.
In honor of today, a couple of things I love about Don:

1. The adorable little grunting noises he makes in his sleep

2. His size!

3. His sense of adventure- how he's always ready to get outside and GO!

4. His handsome face and coloring

5. How smart he is- I accidentally taught him the word breakfast and dinner; he's also learned to recognize the sounds of our prius beeping and looks around for my mom when he hears it, even if it's not our car :)

6. How fast he charges towards me when he hears the word "come"

7. How excited he gets when he finds someone is hide and go seek or when I bring out his jollyball

8. He is so NOT a morning pup- he wakes up at 11 a.m.- and even then he'd rather stay curled up on his bed. Also, he always stretches 3 times before walking upstairs.

9. His big smile!

Below is me holding Don one morning last year, getting ready to take him out to go potty.

Me: "good morning, Don." Don: grunt, grunt, grrroan (these noises are so cute) This is how Don looks every morning- eyes half closed and curled up into a really tight ball in the back of his cage. [below]: stretching 3 times is a must for Don in the morning!

Who knows where Don will go in the future- whether it be guide, pet, or some other career! Don has improved so greatly, and that's what matters most!

Love you, big boy!

Summer vacation and Fun for Don!

I've just returned from a long trip to Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone in Wyoming. It was beautiful- the mountains, wildlife, and lakes were AMAZING! Don couldn't come as puppies in training have to stay within the puppy raising states, so he went to the GDB kennels and the puppysitters. Don is always very happy to go to the puppy sitters- he loves it! He enjoys hanging out with his pal Silky and getting to play, play, play. The Saturday before I left, there was a puppy meeting. A member of the training department came to talk with us and tell us about the different phases. It was really helpful and she talked about everything- from what we can do to prepare our dogs best for training to how GDB matches the dogs. We decided Don would do best with someone who works in a busy city and travels- A LOT :)

Aren't the mountains beautiful? That's Jackson lake below it.

One of the days we went for a hike up Cascade Canyon. You can see Jenny lake and all this wildlife- I saw a moose, marmots, and pikas!

This picture was taken along the North Fork of Cascade Creek, looking back upon the snow-topped Grand Teton mountain range.

I went wading in Leigh Lake (above). Brrr... it was so cold!

We saw this young male moose . . . in the town of Moose! Pretty cool name for a city :) It was lying down right on the sandbar of the Snake River. It was really lazy and didn't want to get up, and kept stretching its neck, trying to eat. The guy next to me (who acted like he was an expert in moose) started telling everyone it was hurt and that a park ranger would come and shoot it (???) so it was pretty funny when it stood up and trotted off.

They are incredibly big! He had really adorable, fuzzy antlers. I've decided that Don looks a lot like a moose.

. . . or maybe even a bison :)

Don got a great report from the puppysitters. He got to go to the club meeting at a marina, and got to board a couple boats. Don and I are SO excited for this week as we will be attending GDB's Em-Bark-Adero event in San Francisco. Its a public event at Epic Roasthouse to raise awareness for Guide Dogs. I'm looking forward to meeting other puppies in training and working guide dogs. Is anyone going? Also, Don (Mr. December) and I are going to help sell GDB's 2011 calendars. I just got mine the other day- it looks great! It was really cool seeing all the puppies I know from blogs.

Below are the pictures from "puppy playtime" before the meeting.

Hey guys, can I join in the fun? Look at me- I'm in the middle!

[Don plays a game of 3-way tug with his pal yellow lab Stefano and BFF black lab Silky]

(pant, pant, pant) that was fun!!

sniff, sniff, sniff... so many doggie smells!

[black lab Desta and her golden friend join in the fun]

I leave you with this photo of extreme cuteness: two chipmunks I saw at Old Faithful in Yellowstone.

Aren't they adorable?

Only 20 more days till Fun Day!!!!

[My] graduation with Don, New Friends, and Hiking!

Don walked across the stage with me to graduate from middle school- after all, he was a student too. It was sort of a last minute idea, but I thought it would be a great experience with Don with all the people and noises, and he was a big part of the school year for me, and many others. Don was great- though he didn't want to go up on stage at first. (I later realized the steps were really hot- poor guy).

Here is Don and I walking up to the stage. I love how he trots when he walks :)

Don loves the principal- here he is up on stage, getting some love. He got a bit excited. After the graduation, Don said bye to all his friends. I'll probably have Don for the start of high school, and I'm hoping he'll get to go there with me. Don and I are really enjoying summer! I'll be blogging more often- and Don will be going LOTS of places. Don is doing well with his training, though we are still working on his stays and dog distractions. Some days I see great progress- he will walk right past a dog! hurray! but then other days, he will try to play with them.

We had a family reunion for my grandfather's birthday, and Don soaked up all the extra attention. He loved playing with my younger cousin, and enjoyed having a playmate his size. We all went hiking to a lighthouse with great views of the Golden Gate. My cousin was ecstatic when I let him walk Don a ways.

Here is Don at the start of the walk, full of energy and ready to go!

It was a short, downhill hike, but the views were spectacular. Above is Don with the Golden Gate and SF Bay in the background.

There were lots of harbor seals up on the rocks. They are so much fun to watch- but sort of hard to see without binoculars.

We had to cross a suspension bridge (which was so old that only 2 people could go at a time- kind of scary) but Don could not care less. He confidently crossed the swaying bridge, then explored the lighthouse with my family and I.

Then, my younger cousin walked Don for a bit. Don was quite confused and kept looking at me like "what am I supposed to do with such a small handler?" My cousin did a great job handling such a big dog. Both cousin and dog had a fun time. Above, my brother gives my cousin a hand in getting Don in the "let's go" position.

Here is the big, happy boy with my cousin.

On the way home, we stopped at the Marine Mammal Center where I volunteer. We looked at the elephant seals and california sea lions. I'm so glad I get to help care for these fascinating animals.

The busy weekend has made Don very tired. Every night, Don comes into my room and chews his Nylabone before going to bed in his crate. But the other night, he was SO tired. I found him like this- sound asleep on his back. I leave you with a picture of Don's "happy ears". His ears go back like this 1) before any meal 2) when he is meeting someone new, or 3) BELLY RUBS!

(above: Don sitting after his bath, which he was not too happy about) Don and I are looking forward to the puppy meeting this weekend- a GDB trainer is coming to speak!! For those of you who wanted a picture of Samuel, I will talk to his breeder keeper this weekend. I'm sure she'd be happy to give me a photo or two.

Hiking on the Beach with Don!

A couple weekends ago, Don joined us on a hike along Point Reyes National Seashore. It was a really long hike, but Don was a trooper. He loves long walks! I was slightly worried when we first set foot on the sand, because Don went crazy, spinning around and getting super excited wen his paws sunk into the sand. There were also lots of off leash dogs. The first 5 mins of the hike were quite chaotic, but with the food protocol and some puppy handling to calm him down, he eventually relaxed. He actually walked past dogs without getting too distracted!

Don walked a little ways with my brother, and he was well behaved. I decided to let Don swim a bit, and he had the time of his life! Unfortunately, I forgot the longline, so I had to run around in the water with Don. When it was time to continue our walk, Don was not very happy about getting out of the water- and kept trying to jump back in.

We hiked all the way out to the tidepools and back. The hike was about five hours— Don was getting a bit frustrated in this photo. He was tired of having to walk like a good boy when there was so much water to play in and sand to eat!

Don turned 13 months June 7th! He continues to be a great boy at school- there is nothing better than being in class with a dog resting his head on you!

As much as I enjoy taking Don to school, Don and I are really looking forward to summer. More walks, more outings, and more fun! Can't wait.

Don Rides the Ferry to SF!

Our puppy raising club went to San Francisco the other weekend and all the pups rode the ferry. I hadn't had the chance to take Don on the ferry, so this was a great experience for him. There were lots of new surfaces, stairs, and loud sounds. Don was so excited to see all his doggy friends, especially Silky (who I puppysat a while back). He also liked seeing her raisers, who usually puppysit him. His tail was wagging so hard! I love Don's "happy ears"- he ears go flat against his ears whenever he gets excited.

Don didn't seem to notice that the ferry was moving. He loved sniffing the air, and licking himself when he got sprayed with the salty water. The ground was really got though, so we had to find a nice shady spot as soon as I took this photo.

This handsome guy is Quebec. I just love his name and he is the sweetest boy. He is giant too; when he is older he might even be bigger than Don.

"Hi, I'm Don! What's your name?" Don meets Stefano (or maybe Quebec?) on the ferry.

Here is Stefano, who is Silky's brother. He is so cute, and a LOT smaller than Don.

Sherman! The only golden retriever in our puppy club, this guy is such an affectionate boy. Behind him is Honeydew, who is being raised by two families. One of her raisers is a nurse at Guide Dogs, which is pretty cool. Don went to work with her when he was 3 months old and had a big fan club- he was so cute at that age with all his puppy wrinkles. Honeydew is so tiny, but she was a champ at the stairs.

There was this one staircase that Don did not want to go down. It was right next to the water, and my leader said that from the angle Don might have thought he was going to fall into the bay. Sherman helped Don conquer the scary stairs, and they both walked down together. Yay for Sherman and Don! (above: Sherman and Don hang out together on the ferry deck)

In San Francisco, we were going to take Don on BART, but decided to eat the delicious food at the Embarcadero Ferry Building instead. We went to Taylors for some great burgers and shakes. Mmmm. Don hung out with Ditto under the table. Afterwards, we went to the plaza where Don explored a fountain, practiced jumping on and off of surfaces, and ignored the bird distractions. Good boy!

Getting ready to board the ferry, here is yellow lab Quebec, Ditto, and Alise.

I had Alise for two weeks when she was really little, before she went to her raisers. At only 3 months old, Alise was an amazing puppy. She was so calm and never pulled on her leash. She went to the perfect home. She goes to school each day (her raiser is a teacher), and she lives with Guide Dog breeder Samuel. She is still very relaxed, and slept the entire boat ride.

Alise and Don saying hi to each other. She is such a pretty girl!

Awww. Puppy kisses.

Poor Quebec was all alone while Don was giving Alise some kisses.

Then Quebec decided it was time to clean Alise's ears for her.

And Don decided to watch the water go by.

Don was so tired when we got home. I think he enjoyed this outing- can't wait to do it again!