In a Funk or has Life Changed?

As I look at my "about Me" part of the blog, I find that the person described, in fact, no longer describes me.  How does that happen?  It is really an a-ha moment as to *why* I have been feeling such a lack of passion for my daily life, lately.  This blog was started when I had a lot of activities that I was passionate about, and able to pursue.  God gave me a passion for animals, an ability to work with them intuitively, and in turn, they make me feel at peace.  When I don't, I start to feel kind of irritable... (sorry, family!).  Same with the running, it makes me relaxed and gives me the time and space to think & pray.  The lack of running has left me exhausted & stressed.

So, why don't I keep up with my passions?  Priorities, I guess.  That's really what it always comes down to, right?  A family with children at the ages of mine leads to a very busy atmosphere, and trying to coordinate everyone's activities is a full time job.  No day has the same schedule, so finding a routine for exercise, and doing things with the dogs is hard!  Add to this the quickly diminishing amount of daylight and increasing cold, it seems to be harder to get these two things back into my day.

I have been wanting to regularly blog for awhile now.  Used to be "the thing" to do in the Guide Dogs world, but Facebook has taken over this much more thoughtful form of writing (OK, Facebook cannot even be considered writing) and sharing.  I did not want to write the dry diary of what I did with my dogs, per se.  I didn't really want to write only about the activities of my family.  My attitude has not been the sort of thing that one wants to share on a regular basis.  Maybe this realization of what I have lost, and my desire and NEED to get it back is the reason this blog was ever started...  God works in mysterious ways.  That I have no doubt, and have been witness to time and time again.

So, this blog has been reborn.  It is the pathway to balancing the family life while remembering and celebrating the woman that God made me to be.  It really does have a lot to do with the dogs, after all.

Wordless Wednesday

This may or not be a "normal" day at our house!

Birthday (and Recall ) Season has Begun!

Today marks the beginning of 5 months of busy holidays and birthday planning for our family.  I-man celebrated his special day today with a bowling bash complete with matching shirts for the guests.  They seemed to have a great time, though I think the bowling alley was happy to see us go.   The event was also L'il M's first time "bowling".   She was adorable, loved it and actually managed to knock down 9 pins with the most incredibly slow-moving ball that she rolled from the line.

I was plagued, not once, but twice today with not having a camera for significant moments in my kids lives.  Ugh- sometimes I wish I had a small snap n go type camera.  Maybe I would keep it more handy and accessible.  So no pictures to post about the day.

September and October make me feel so exhausted much of the time.  Back-to-school, many parent meetings, fall sports, play practices, trying to keep tabs on the kids grades, not to mention the usual home needs.  Then there is that daily requirement to feed your family dinner.  I think that one event is my nemesis.  We cannot manage to eat as a family but on rarity, and it really cheapens the value of time spent planning and cooking a meal.  I have work to do on my attitude in that area.  Eeeks!

Guide Dog puppy recall talk is surfacing.  There are only 2 trucks left that will empty my club of it's mostly mature puppies.  Raisers feeling saddened by the imminent departure of the amazing dogs those sassy little babies became.  Raising little puppies in the middle of a Rocky Mountain winter is not always fun, and many committed raisers are discouraged by the prospect (ahem, no one in particular) of having to go outside every hour in freezing weather.  In reality, I don't mind it that much, but L'il M is in such a phase right now, that I cannot get out of her sight in the house, let alone if I go outside without her, she freaks.  I think the secondary effects of a puppy could do me in.  What to do?  Ask for a transfer!  Unless, of course, there is a female black lab Simon puppy....  that I don't know if I could resist!   Only time will tell.

Been a while...

Ok, I admit it.  I kinda stink at the blogging thing.  I feel drawn back into it, although I think the posts will begin to take a different focus.  Much has happened, so I will update on the previous posts first.

• Janetta graduated from Guide Dogs for the Blind in January 2012.  She was the last puppy from retired breeder, Elsa, to graduate.  Janetta was placed with the most amazing woman who's lifestyle so closely mimics mine, it is kind of freaky.  Guide Dogs placement staff is truly amazing!  We are so happy with the life our special girl has!  There was a special article in the Gresham, Ore paper about the pair.  You can read it here www.theoutlookonline.com/news/story.php?story_id=132806364140184500.
• Keiko also graduated from Guide Dogs for the Blind in March 2012. 
• Rudy completed his Open agility titles in February 2012.  I am so nervous about competing at the "excellent" level.  That's where all the "big dogs" hang out!
• Baby M is now Toddler M, as the posts to come will show.

Corn Maze of Fun

For our guide dog meeting this week, we joined the SLC puppy raising club at a local corn maze for some fun chatting as we walked through the maze of corn.  I'm not sure anyone except the front couple were even paying attention to the maze!  We talked about future puppies, their possible names, and other guide dog stuff.  After 1-hour+ walk, we exited the maze to darkness, a light rain falling, big crowds, and the promised farewell cake for Crosby, Farley, Kasha, Radison, and Casey, who all leave Sunday morning for formal training in Oregon.  I think I enjoyed the cake a little extra knowing it was also my birthday-a big one to boot!

Little M accompanied me and did quite well considering the condition I realized her diaper was in about 15 minutes into the walk!  Keiko walked with a future raiser from our club.  He was a good boy, and I'm always happy to share.  Keiko is such a sweet boy.  I will forever remember him for his amazingly soft, velvety ears! 

Thursday, the Puppy Truck will deliver Miss O and Mr P to our club.  Looking forward to the "babies" again!

Service Dog Access Issues

Yesterday was a very frustrating day when it comes to public access for service dogs here in Utah.  It is frustrating to me because I know how much the partnership between service dog & handler creates independance and freedom that might not be possible without that relationship and the dog's task oriented training.  Obviously, in order to shape these amazing dogs, we must train them to appropriately handle different public settings.  Fortunately, for guide dog puppy raisers in Ut, we have state laws that provide us with the same access to public places the same as for a fully working service dog.  Unfortunately, some people don't get this!

First off, the secretary to the assistant to the superintendent of Wasatch County School District seems to be refusing to dialogue with us again about guide dog puppies-in-training attending public school with our puppy raisers,  While it is fully within our legal right, we desire to create a partnership with the school, and would like to address and ease any concerns about the dogs being in the classroom.  This woman does not return my phone calls, avoids meetings, and really is refusing to be educated on what a service dog is (she called them a "basically a pet" at last meeting).  With the evidence of all the puppies that do attend school in her hand, it is rediculous that she won't even entertain the idea that this is legit.  My CFR has a plan that I believe will at the least get her attention, if not gain the dogs "permission" to attend school.

My second incidence of the day happened at the Lindon Artic Circle, when my son who was handling Keiko, was asked to "stand to the side" of the counter before we ordered!  What?!!!!  There were a handful of children, standing with their parents, who quite naturally, were excited about "a dog in the restaurant".  The woman who said this appeared to be the manager, and even though she understood that Keiko was a service dog, and had the right to be there, she was giving him (and therefore my son) the second-hand treatment.  I think I would have been less upset were she ignorant to the service dog law, in general.  We ended up ordering food, with Keiko at my side at the counter, and then "ate in", in spite of my stomach churning.  My children were very upset.  How can you become manager of any place without understanding this law? 

I have been raising guide dog puppies for about 7 years.  I can recount only 3 incidences, in that time, of irrational people "in charge".  2 in 1 day just frosts my cupcake!

Guide Dog Puppy Update

There is a new member in our home- a big, black Lab named Keiko.  He is a 16-month-old guide dog puppy who needed just a little more time before his October recall.  Since our home is lonely quiet without a guide dog puppy, of course we could not deny him those extra 6-weeks.  Keiko has been fantastic.  He is so sweet, and absolutely incredible on leash, and outings.  He is overweight and grossly out of shape, so we will make sure those things improve before the rigors of being a guide dog.  Keiko has fit in so well and seamlessly into our household that I am more seriously contemplating another transfer before we raise a 10-week-old puppy with needle teeth on the same level as Baby M, who is just getting mobile.


Janetta has moved on to phase 2 of training where she has many difficult challenges including leading a blindfolded instructor through an obstacle course, learning up-curbs, and passing heavy distractions.  It has been such a relief to see her move along now that she has recovered from her entropian surgery.  We miss you, Janetta, but can't wait for you to do what you were born to do!  

Agility Trial-SUCCESS!

Friday's runs were fanatastic!  I was a bit worried about Open, but we had clean runs that were 10-20 seconds below SCT, thus earning a JWW leg and Std leg, as well.  Saturday was equally as good with a minor hiccup that was so sweet, who could really be disappointed.  During our JWW class, we were off to a fantastic start, on a course that had caught many dogs (or maybe it was the handlers) off-guard due to the skew of the jumps (leading to many dogs going around).  Rudy had stayed on course with great speed when we went over a jump into the corner pocket and who should be just outside the ring and coincidentally cry?  Little Miss M!!!!  Big brother was holding her and she fussed at that moment leading Rudy to stop dead in his tracks and find her among the people.  I was able to call him back (but that was considered a refusal), and then after we had finished the weaves, baby M protested again, causing Rudy to distract, and me to re-cue him (therefore another refusal and NQ).  But, we finished with great speed and no other faults.  Gotta love the GSD who loves his family so much that no other activity would have stopped him like that.  Many spectators commented later that they knew exactly who the baby belonged to after seeing his reaction.  Rudy seems to have a mini fan club!  Lesson learned- baby M must stay away from ring when we run unless she's asleep! 


Sunday, we went to the International Invitational Sheepdog trial at Soldier Hollow and did a small GDB Presentation.  Pretty uneventful, but I think there may be at least one more Puppy Raiser (not my county), as a result!  Woo Hoo!


Labor Day, back to agility, where I think we all suffered fatigue from so many days of being on the go, and I could not wake Rudy for his Std run.  We got a refusal going into the weaves, and then he missed the last jump and another refusal- NQ.  All throughout, we felt like we were struggling, and Rudy was s-l-o-w.  Turns out, had he not missed the last jump, we would have Q'd.  I thought it was over long before so I wonder if I quit "handling" and therefore he didn't take the jump.  Later, had a clean run in JWW and another leg.  So, we ended up with 2 JWW and 2 Std legs from the weekend.  Excellent, we are almost there!


Fun weekend, albeit very exhausting when you have an infant along, and "babysitter" children that require frequent deposits into their bottomless bellies, in return for their childcare services. ;)


Next trial- Oct 7-9!

Agility Trial Jitters

Now that Rudy has moved on to Open Jumpers and Standard, I am already feeling the jitters of 3 days of trialing, starting in only 2 days!  The sweltering 90 degree temps don't help a hairy dog who whithers in heat to the speed of a Basset Hound on a mission (no offense to any Bassets doing agility!).  Added to my worries is bringing my baby (without a sibling helper the first day), who is not known by her loved ones for being "easy".  Fortunately, the trial is in a beautiful outdoor location which baby M will love.  So, as long as she can get her naps, I hope this will be a fun getaway from our daily routine!

I have begun to work through Linda Mecklenburg's Handling Skills book.  So far, Rudy is reading my handling well.  The one exception would be rear crosses (which we've NEVER done).  It is fun to have a training "plan" when I head out to work with him.  I look forward to the more complex handling issues that will pop up in the next few lessons.  Unfortunately, I must take the next few days off of practice in order to increase Rudy's drive/desire to play agility.  He loves it, but absence definately makes his heart grow fonder!