The first of many Missy pictures

Samuel/Lani litter puppysittee!

I am no longer puppyless— for 3 weeks! As many of you know, Lani and Samuel had a litter. A raiser in our club is the breeder keeper for Samuel and just received her new pup. However, due to the Parvo outbreak at GDB (if you haven't heard about it, please view their website) their little girl has to be quarantined for 21 days... so, when her raiser goes to work during the week, I'm the lucky one who gets puppy breath :D :D I'll be writing a huge update about this little girl later tonight, but for now...

Welcome to Mt. Tam Guides MISSY!

(adorable pictures to come soon- this girl is so sweet and is just melting my heart... And at only 7 1/2 weeks she's doing DYB great. such a cuddle-bug I AM IN LOVE )

Happiness is Phase Report Thursdays

Don's in phase 6 this week! :) Go Don! gooood boy

I miss this big handsome guy but I couldn't be more proud of him. Don's brothers Diablo, Delaware, and Donner are doing awesome too!

More to come later about my recent puppysits. I hope everyone had a happy new year and holiday season.

Quick Don Update :D

Again, sorry I have been such a blogging slacker! Finals have eaten up all my spare time :) No puppy yet.. .though I am doing a lot of puppysitting and other fun things with the club. Just thought I'd update you on Don's progress- he's in Phase 4 this week and I couldn't be happier!! His brothers have all just arrived, too- the D litter boys must be having a fun time at GDB!

Mt. Tam Guide Dogs Website!

It's been three weeks since Don left now. I miss having a pup in the house! Recall wasn't easy, but I knew Don was ready for the next step. He was so excited when he got there, which helped. I think he's having a good time at GDB :) He's still in phase 0, as of last week. I was starting to get worried, but apparently how the timing worked out with the number of instructors, he just wasn't able to get assigned to a string. My leader said he should be assigned an instructor by this week- I guess I'll find out when we get the phase report today.

My school has Veterans day off today, so I got to spend the whole morning finishing the website I made for the Mt. Tam Guide Dogs Puppy Raising Club. I started in a long time ago, in summer, and I hadn't had the chance to work on it for awhile. I think it turned out pretty well. The address is http://mttamguidedogs.yolastie.com/ I'd love it if you would check it out and tell me what you think!

Sorry I haven't been getting around to any blogs lately! I'm looking forward to getting back to blogging. I'm going to be doing some puppysitting until I can get back to raising. Hope everyone is doing well!

Less than a week...

...until my big boy goes back for formal training. On Sunday we'll be driving Don to Guide Dogs and I will say my final goodbyes. I felt like these 1 1/4 years with Don went by so fast. I remember picking up Don and thinking how it would be a long, long, time away when he went back. Now, we're only 5 days from recall day. I know I'm going to miss his a ton- the way his ears go back and he gets all wiggly when I come home from high school, his adventurous spirit, his beautiful brown eyes and big black nose, his big puppy kisses, I could go on and on. Most importantly, I love how Don tries his very hardest and gaives being a puppy in training his all, even when it's hard. Maybe he doesn't ignore the dogs every single time, maybe he steals an object every now and then, but he has come SO far and every time I work with him, I can see his will and effort to do the best his big, confident self can.

Don, I hope you have a great time in formal training. I love you and my greatest hope is whether you are happy wherever you end up, and I know Guide Dogs will make sure of that. Don, thank you for the best year ever!

Above: Don at my volleyball game last week. He's a big fan :D

I hope to post everyday until Don's recall. A couple of questions- any tips for recall day? and for those of you who have raised GDB puppies, how do you do the "Fun Things About My Puppy" sheet? Can you attach other pages?

I have so much to write about; more will come later. I think Don is ready for formal training and really hope he makes it as a guide.

Go DON!

I'm Still Alive :)

No worries- I'm still blogging, I just haven't had much time lately with fall sports. I'm really sorry I haven't gotten around to commenting on any blogs- hopefully sometime soon. I really miss it! This weekend I am hoping to have a good chunk of time to write about all our MANY adventures this month- from Don going to a horse farm with the puppy club, helping out at a fundraiser, going to Tahoe (with Don!), and so much more! As for Don's recall date, my leader is guessing early October, so we still have some time together to work on a couple things and get those guide dog skills polished! Don's maturing into a nice boy, and he had an awesome time at Lake Tahoe.

more to come...