Happy Halloween!!

From the cool biker dude. :)

Potato chips

Today at work I was counting down tills and had Sherman tied down to my desk. My co-worker came in and sat in a chair behind me and I let Sherman say hello to him. I wasn't really paying attention because I wanted to get the tills counted fast and go home. After a few minutes I heard the crunching of my puppy eating something he shouldn't. I spun around in my chair, opened Sherman's mouth and pulled out a potato chip. I looked at my co-worker and he was holding a bag of potato chips. I was a little more than upset. I have practiced food avoidance with Sherman and he always does so well, then the one time it isn't a set up he goes for it. I was also mad at my co-worker. I felt bad because I have been really stressed about things this week and sort of took it out on him. I don't remember everything that I said but some of the things I said were, "Why would you feed someone elses dog?!? What if in the future he is guiding someone and is offered food and now he thinks it is okay to take it and gets distracted by the food and gets himself and his blind person hurt?!?!?!?!
So I may not have handled that the best, and over-reacted to the situation, but WHAT THE HECK! Seriously, why would you feed someone elses dog!? I just don't get that. GRRRRR!! I am frustrated! I guess I am going to have to do more food avoidance exercises with Sherman. Apparently he needs it.
:(

Happy Birthday Adeline!

Today Adeline is two! I e-mailed her new mom a few days ago after I heard about the fires because they live in that area and was getting nervous because there was no response. Today I finally heard from them and everyone is doing fine. Whew!! I hope that Adeline is happy and has a very special day. :)

Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow. . .

Here are the pics I promised. :) In story format. . .

What is this stuff? It's over here. . .

And it's on this side too. . .

Mom? I don't get it.

All I know is it tastes GOOD!!!

This one I took at work the other day. This guy that I work with always brings this cup holder thing because his hands get cold when he holds his drink. It is cloth over two of those slap bracelet things. Well, it was sitting on the counter (unsnapped) and I accidentally knocked it off the counter. Sherman went to investigate and it snapped closed over his nose. We were laughing so hard and I had to get a picture. The look on Shermans face was priceless. :)

Our Friday and more

Me and Sherman had an interesting day on Friday. My mom called me at 11:30 to tell me that at 12:30 she wanted me to come and talk about guide dogs to her 1st grade class and then rotate to the other two first grade classes. She told the other teachers that she was going to read her class the book Rugby and Rosie and then have me come and talk about puppy raising. The other teachers thought that was a good idea and asked if I could talk to their classes too. So, with an hours notice I had to prepare to talk to three first grade classes. It went really well and I was just amazed at how smart these six and seven year old were. They asked really good questions. One of the classes a little girl raised her hand and I called on her and she asked, "does your dog have a nickname?" I said that I sometimes call him the Sherminator or squirmin' Sherman and the whole class burst out with laughter. What goofy kids. Then in another class a little girl raised her hand and asked, "what do blind people look like?" I have NEVER been asked that before so it caught me off guard. I answered, "well they look like everyone else, they just can't use their eyes so they use canes or dogs for transportation so they can travel safely." Like I said smart kids. :) I was very happy with how it went and I think the kids learned a lot. Later that day I was walking Sherman around the neighborhood and I got stopped by a photographer from The Daily Harold. (a newspaper in Utah) She was telling me how every Monday there is an article that gets written by a photographer and that she would love to interview me and hang out for a few hours with me to take a few pictures. So I gave her my contact info and she said that she would call me in the next few weeks to set up a time. That is exciting, but I am also nervous. I have never been in the newspaper before (except my name and picture because I spoke at my high school graduation) Actually I dunno if that is something that I have to run by my leader or not, huh? I will let you know how that goes. :)

Yesterday it snowed and I got some really cute pictures of Sherman but Blogger is being obstinate and not letting me load them so I will try again later. :) I remember the first time it snowed last year was on Adeline's b-day October 25th so that was significant and this year it was on Sherman's 9 month b-day, also significant. I don't know why but 9 months seems like a milestone. Sort of a so close but yet so far in regards to recall. I am now realizing how attached I am to this dog and how attached he is to me. I left him with my sis the other day for about five minutes while I ran out to my car to get something and when I came back he went berserk! I think some puppy trading is in order. I haven't left him with anyone since the beginning of summer.

Oh, and Sherman had his first meltdown today. I was at my gg's house (my grandma) and she lit her kitchen on fire, there was smoke all over the house and the fire alarms went off. Sherman freaked out and after we got the kitchen put out I went over to check on him. (I had him on tie down next to the couch) He was spinning circles with his tail tucked between his legs. You could see the whites of his eyes. He looked terrified. I felt so bad for him. I walked over and as soon as I was close enough he dove between my legs and went stiff. I couldn't get him to move to save my life. I finally sat on the floor and told him he was okay and he crawled on top of me (literally standing on my shoulders) I made him get off of me and then went into the kitchen and got some ice cubes. (there is nothing a few ice cubes won't cure) and he went totally back to normal. Silly puppy. Anyway, I better go, I have lots of homework to do. :)

Have a good night everyone!

New Website

Hey Everyone,
The last week or so I have been working really hard to create a website for my puppy raising group and think that now it is ready for viewing. To see it Click Here.

I hope you all like it, let me know what you think. It is my first website ever so I am pretty proud of it. I am hoping it looks okay. :)

I also have a long post about my day yesterday but I don't have time now, I will do it later. :)

Prudys daddy

Prudy's dad has finally been located. I have decided that she looks more like her dad and less like her mom. She has her moms color but definetly has her dads head, eyes and unimpressed face. :) What a cute family they are.

Flower + Klondike = Prudy

More on Bryce Canyon

Now that I have more time I wanted to give a better update about Bryce Canyon. :) We had so much fun and the views were amazing. Definitely a place that I would like to visit again. You can go on a lot of hikes and still not see it all! The first day we got there around noon so weren't going to go on any hikes, we were planning on driving around and looking. But we started looking and all wanted to stop and explore a bit. So we got out and walked around and my dad found this 1 1/2 mile hike that he wanted to go on. It took us down the side of the cliff and through the narrows beneath. I wasn't sure I wanted to take Sherman because the path was quite narrow with cliffs on the left. That made me nervous so I left him with my mom at the top while she sat on a bench with my grandma and we all went on the short hike. (also at the beginning of the trail was a no dogs allowed sign and there was a ranger standing there so I didn't want to push it. :) The hike was fun and really hard because it went down and around some narrows and then pretty much straight back up, my legs are still sore. Anyway, it took us about an hour to get through and we were all tired after so we went back to the hotel for a rest. My mom said she talked to the ranger while she was on the bench and he said that it would be fine for Sherm to go on the hikes with us because he was a service dog. WOOHOO! When we were ready we decided to go on a longer hike. This one was 5 1/2 miles and was still gorgeous. Sherman was fantastic, he was tired by the end but so were the rest of us. We ventured away from the trail and hiked up some of the hills for a better look at the surroundings. At the end of the trail I sat on a bench with Sherman while my family took a potty break before returning to the hotel. While I was sitting there a nice British woman (who had the coolest accent) came up to me and was asking me about Sherman (who I thought was sleeping) after a while she asked me what his name was. I said Sherman, and as soon as I said his name he popped his head up and he had a cigarette butt sticking straight out of his mouth. (ha ha what a goof) I told him to drop it which he did. The lady said, "you should teach him to stop that habit, it causes cancer in dogs too." We both just laughed. After that we all went back to the hotel watched The Office (best show EVER) and went to bed. The next morning we went on another hike, well first we drove around for a while because my dad got lost and he wouldn't ask anyone where the trail started. While we were driving around we saw a sign for helicopter tours around the canyon and my g-ma wanted to go. We stopped at the airport and got info and her and my mom got tickets for one. (jealous, I have never been in a helicopter before) Me, Sherman and my sisters and dad went on a hike while my mom and g-ma hung around the hotel getting ready for their ride. After our hike we drove a bit and found a sign for Mossy Cave so decided to go explore that. It was a 1 1/2 mile hike to the cave. It was so fun. There was water dripping from the ceiling so we were all pretty soaked after walking around in there for a while. There was also a waterfall by the cave and we played around over there too. We got back in time to see my mom and g-ma off on their ride and so we went into the shops and just played around in the little town there. Sherman really enjoyed himself and I think it was a great experience for him going on all those hikes, I was so proud of him. He behaved himself perfectly and I couldn't be happier with him.

Sherman passed out on the trail. It was funnier in person. We were walking and stopped to take a pic of my sister standing on this big rock and Sherman just collapsed, he was on an incline and so was sliding down but didn't move at all, just let himself slide down so his face was all squished. Me and my daddio were laughing so hard.

I have been going through and backing up all my picture files and came across this one. It was taken just days after picking up my first puppy Prudy. This is my all-time favorite picture of me and one of my puppies. (My hair could have been a little less fluffy!!! but oh, well. My sister insisted on doing it for me) Anywho, I postponed my senior pictures because I wanted to have my new guide dog puppy with me. And, I love how it turned out. I love her tongue hanging out, it is just priceless! She is the one that started everything and she taught me a lot. I sure do miss my girl!

Bryce Canyon

Bryce Canyon is absolutely gorgeous. We did A LOT of hiking! We hiked a total of 13 miles in two days, and the sites were amazing. I took a ton of pictures while I was there but I won't bore you with all of them. :) Here are a few of the good ones. :)

Of course I forgot to bring Shermans portable bowl so he learned quickly how to drink out of a water bottle. :)
The path was really narrow at some places and the walls shot straight up for 350 feet. It was amazing!
I love this shot, the background is breathtaking and Sherman looks like a goof. Of course the classic picture. :D
In Mossy Cave: "Momma I'm tired!"
Me and my sisters climbed into a little cavern thing.
Sherman sacked out on the way home. He has been sleeping ever since. He had a huge weekend and is a very tired pup.

Going Away

I am leaving on a trip tomorrow. My dad decided that the family should go on a a spur of the moment camping trip to Bryce Canyon. It fit into my school and work schedule just fine so I am leaving tomorrow morning. I am excited because I have never been to Bryce Canyon and I have never been camping with a dog before. I know Sherman will have a good time! Anyway, I should have loads of pictures and a good update when I get back. So Ta everyone, see you in a few days. :)

Why I shouldn't get bored. . .

Nuf-said. :)

100th Post!!!

Hey! This is my 100th Post. How cool! Anyway,
Yesterday for our puppy meeting we met at Cabela's (for those who don't know it is a HUGE outdoor store, hunting, fishing, camping, you name it) They have this Big Game area where there are a bunch of stuffed animals, another huge aquarium of fish (you walk through it like a tunnel) and other fun stuff. I got there a bit early so walked around by myself to kill time. So I took some pics of Sherm by some of the animals. At the meeting we had a few new raisers (one is getting thier pup next month. YAY!) and so most of the meeting we let them handle the dogs. Two of our older dogs are getting recalled next month (and that will make Montgomery, Sherman, Rondelle and Ontario the oldest pups in the group, and that is kinda weird) and then we are getting four new pups. So, that is exiting!

This is Sherman and the big Grizzly Bear (there is a ledge that Sherm is sitting on, he tends to back into things before he sits :)

Sherman and some Mule Deer.

The big Moose!

Sherman really didn't care about any of the animals and ignored them all except for this warthog. It definetly caught his attention, it was pretty funny watching him trying to get its attention throught the glass. But Mr. Warthog didn't want to play.

Scared half to death/strange event in the parking lot

Last night after work I stopped at the gas station to get oil for Lola (my car). I got Sherman in his jacket, went in, bought my oil, went out, loaded him in the car, and popped the hood. (When Sherman gets impatient with me he will hop into the drivers seat while he waits for me to get in, and when he gets REALLY impatient he will lean on the horn.) Well, I had my head under my hood pouring oil and checking on some other things and *HONK* scared me half to death. I had a total cartoon moment where I jumped three feet in the air and hit my head on the hood and then stumbled onto the ground all the while oil flying everywhere. Then I had to buy more oil and repeat the process. This time with more success. :)

I went in for an eye exam (ran out of contacts) this morning and on my way out I loaded Sherm into the car and then got in myself, turned on the car, put in in reverse and noticed this older gentleman running toward me motioning for me to roll down my window. I put the car back in park and rolled my window down. When the guy came up to the window he just wanted to ask questions about Sherman and guide dogs. Then told me all about his 7 yr old chocolate lab who he rescued from the humane society. I just thought that was interesting, and definitely a first. I have never been run down before. :)