Happy Thanksgiving!! (and my house guest)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!
I want to start by giving a small (very, very small) list of things I am thankful for:

1. My Family (who have supported me through everything and put up with my weirdness and only abandoned me a few times when I sing to loud in the department store and then get my hair caught in a hanger. . . (so I may have had too much caffeine.) :)

2. My Friends (for similar reasons but I won't list the weird things that I do in front of them. ;) and BTW if you read this I consider you a friend. Because I also am thankful for my blogging pals, it is so nice to know that there are so many of us out there working toward the same goal of helping the blind gain independence.

3. My Puppies (who have taught me an infinite amount and have enriched my life so much. I am blessed to have had so many wonderful dogs in my life and have been honored to be the one to raise them, that's Prudy, Tahoma, Glennie, Adeline, Sherman, Spanky, and now Fullerton)

4. My Education (I really do enjoy school and I love learning new things)

Those are the main things but I am thankful for so much more, my health, technology, to not live in an age where I would have to wear a dress all the time. (I hate dresses!! WITH A PASSION!!) Anywho, I will stop there.

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. Not only do we get to celebrate all the things we are thankful for but we also get to have an excuse for a few days off of work and a day to gorge ourselves to bloatation with nummy, delicious food. (especially mashed potato's and gravy, stuffing and pumpkin pie. . . mmm. . . salivating already) but it is also a holiday and people go out of town. And when certain people go out of town other certain people are there to watch their guide dog puppies. So, during this weekend I have Myra. She is a sweet girl. The last time I had her she was much smaller and especially when I am used to having Fullerton she seems really big. But she is a sweetheart. Here is Princess Myra. (she is 14 months old now)
Here is Myra and Fullerton. They are really great together and don't seem to be distracted by each other at all. In fact, they haven't really tried to play or anything. It is really nice, this is Fullertons first time with another dog since he left his siblings at GDB and he is doing wonderful with her.
This is just too cute not to share.
Myra and Fullerton. After Myra got here she claimed the bed and Fuller had to be on the floor. After a while he crept over and did a little army crawl over to Myra and eventually he was right next to her. She didn't seem to mind though.
I felt so bad for Myra because Fullerton is a pretty squirmy puppy, he doesn't hold still for very long so he would crawl all over her while she was trying to sleep. (I think she would make a good mommy, she is very patient with him.)
Then he finally fell asleep. WOOT!!!

"My what big teeth you have. . . and stinky breath!"

And Fullerton chewing a big boy bone. I think all Fullerton really needed was a mentor dog. He is finally sleeping with her around and he is actually chewing on a bone. It makes me happy. Hopefully he continues after she goes, I am really happy she came.
It is also fun to have a big dog around. My family has a tradition of going to the movies every Thanksgiving morning and Myra is going to join us. It will be the first time I take a dog out in a long time. Hopefully she enjoys the movie. Apparently it is about a dog but I don't remember what it is called. And it is in 3-D. It should be fun. Too bad Fuller has to stay home. I think he would enjoy it. :) Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!

~~Megan, Myra, Fullerton & Spanky (in spirit, I really hope he finds his forever home before Christmas so he can spend the holidays out of the kennels.)

Can't think of an interesting title. . .

Fullerton had his first visit with the vet a few days ago. He got his 12 week shots and some meds for his diarrhea. He is finally back on kibble (YAY!!) and is actually gaining a little weight now that he is eating dog food. His diarrhea is gone, but we will see what happens when he is done with his meds. Hopefully it is gone for good. I have heard of raisers having diarrhea issues for months at a time. ICK!! He was a little squirmier than I had hoped while he was getting his exam (we will have to throw in an extra puppy handling session each day and work on that) but other than that he was great. (except getting his temperature where he screamed like a little girl) He will get his next round of shots next month and then he will be legal. Yippy! But, unfortunately he will be going to the puppy sitters the next day as I am going out of town for Christmas. *tear* this will be my first Christmas without a puppy since I started raising. But, he will have a great time at the sitters and they are so excited to have him. :)

Here is Fuller in the car headed to the vet.

And on the exam table.

Then my nephew came over and spent the night. He had a grand old time playing with Fullerton. (That is the remote to my i-home he is using as a phone. He is so funny, anything that is flattish and has buttons can be used as a phone)
And, Fullerton got some new head gear. He grew out of the Gentle Leader really fast. (I am glad his head grew he was looking a little unporportioned with his big body and tiny head. His legs have grown too, he is quite tall now) I swear it fit him one day and I woke up the next and I could not fit his nose in it anymore. So he now has a Halti. (I like Haltis better anyway, don't know why I have never like the GL) So here is Fullers new equipment. The strap that goes from the nose and clips on the collar is a little long though, when he walks he gets his foot caught in it. It is pretty funny, but sad at the same time.
Well, thats about it from here. :)

Puppy Class #2

Yesterday Fullerton had his second puppy class. It was at the library and our CFR was there. Fullerton was really distracted at the beginning. He would not settle down and I kept having to correct him. So. . . he landed himself in a gentle leader and man did he turn into a different dog. He immediately settled and then layed himself down for most of the meeting. He didn't seem to mind having it on. I don't think he really noticed it was there. I walked him around in it and he relieved in it and didn't bother it once. After the meeting he even walked all the way out to my car and didn't try to rub it or paw at it or anything. I was quite amazed, most of my dogs protest from the second it is on their face. :) But not Fullerton :P He is my youngest pup to have one, next to Prudy who got one at 12 weeks. :) It is so cute and TINY! Here is a picture of him showing off his new head gear. (Bright green of course, to attract as much attention as possible to thus be bombarded with thousands of questions about why I muzzle my dog. :) If you can't tell I am not looking forward to that part)
The meeting was fun though. We did some more long line work. There seems to really be an emphasis on that lately. It was fun and the dogs did great. Especially Dax our resident Golden/Lab cross. He was so funny. He would get the okay to go get a toy and then would prance around in circles showing it off the everyone. He is so goofy and entertaining to watch. The rest of the dogs did great. Fullerton didn't get to do it though. :) We also had a new family who thinks they want to raise. They were really enthusiastic and asking questions, and stuff. I hope they stick around and raise they seem like they would be really good at it. After class I talked with my CFR about his crate/diarrhea issues and she gave me some advice. (I didn't try it but Fuller was quiet again last night so I think we might be free and clear of that issue. YAY!) She didn't think that a food change would be a good idea at this point. So since he is going to the vet tomorrow for his 12 weeks shots (already?!?) she said to have the vet do a fecal test to see if there is anything else going on. So we will see where that goes tomorrow. AND, Fullerton earned himself a puppy jacket last night. I am so happy to have a jacket in the house again. It has been weird without one. (I turned Spankys in a month and a half ago) Fullerton looks so good and professional in it, unfortunately he thinks it is a fun chew toy. So we will work on that before we go out anywhere. So I have had him just wear it around the house today so he can get used to it. And there are pictures of him in his teensy little puppy coat. :P

IT'S A MIRACLE!!!

Last night I put Fullerton to sleep in the kennel he started his normal whining and I was thinking, "Oh, great! Here we go again." But after he whined about four times (no barking at all) I heard him plop down and he was quiet until he had to go out at 3am. And after I took him out I put him back in and he didn't whine at all. Just laid down and back to sleep. He was great until my alarm went off this morning. (He seems to think that is a sign to get up immediately, silly pup. lol) And then he started barking and whining in his usual form. I waited for him to be silent for 10 seconds and then I told him how good he was and let him out. I think he is starting to get it. Lets hope that he has more nights like this because finally getting some sleep has put me in a pretty good mood already today. :) My CFR is coming to our puppy club meeting today and I was going to ask her for some advice on his kennel issues (I probably still will, just in case) but I want to be optimistic and think it wasn't just a fluke. :) YAY FULLY BOY!!!!

Making Progress

Fullerton is definitely making progress, unfortunately not on sleeping during the night. I have tried feeding the leash through the kennel and correcting him and that just makes him scream worse, I have been feeding and watering him every time in the kennel, I have tried ignoring him and he just goes on and on. And then after he has screamed for about an hour he finally quiets down but he still wakes me up to go potty 2-3 times a night and after he goes I put him back in the kennel and the screaming starts all over again. Any suggestions? I am open. :) I need sleep soon!

Other than that he is doing great. He is a very sweet puppy and such a cuddle bug. I was always sad that Spanky wasn't a huge cuddler. He put up with it because he loved me but he would never approach to cuddle. Every time I sit on the floor Fullerton comes over and crawls into my lap and falls asleep, this is when I usually catch a few Z's. It is so sweet. Too bad he won't fit in my lap too much longer. :) When he came he was 9 pounds, I weighed him on the bathroom scale yesterday and he is almost 16 pounds. I can't believe he has gained 7 pounds in a week and a half. But, I can tell he has gotten bigger. He is also getting the hang of loose leash walking and staying right next to me. He isn't perfect of course at the sight of a leaf, a bug, a pebble, a dirt clod, a crack in the sidewalk, etc, he stops to investigate. He is getting there though. :) He is also doing "sit" on his own about 87% without me helping him. YAY FULLER!! Now we are working on "down" and "stand" I am sure they will take a lot longer. Especially "stand" I don't think I have introduced that to any of my pups when they were this young. So we will see how it goes. And he loves the "come" command. He is really good at it and it isn't even for the food. I just say him name and he comes running before I even get the "come" out. He makes me smile. He is such an active and spunky puppy that he hates being forced to hold still, but he is getting a lot better at being quiet and still when I am on the computer, or phone or any other time I need him to chill. He is a very smart puppy. Our next puppy class is on Tuesday and our CFR is coming to check out all the pups. So Fullerton is going to meet her then. I think it will be a fun meeting. I am hoping to ask her about the kennel issues then, maybe she will have some more ideas for me to try. :) And then he is getting his first set of shots on Thursday, hopefully, Fullerton has been battling some diarrhea for about 5 days. He has been on the rice and cottage cheese for 4 days so I added about 1/4 cup of kibble to the rice last night and he was up all night having to go outside. It is pretty sad, so we are back on just rice. He is acting totally normal though, which is good. But, I don't know if the vet will give him his vaccs if he has diarrhea. Hopefully it clears up soon because it is getting gross. :) It has been a LONG time since I have had a sick puppy like this. I don't think Sherman or Spanky ever had diarrhea when I had them, come to think of it I don't think Adeline did either . . . maybe a little when she was in season. But still, I did not miss it! But Fullerton is a great puppy, I am so glad I get to raise him. :) Oh, and he knows his name. It makes me so happy, he looks at me when I say it. I think it took Tahoma (she was my other 3 syllable name) until she was at least 4 months old to respond to it. I was expecting the same thing from him but after only a week he knows it. :P

Here he is after crawling into my lap.

"I'M CRAZY!!!"

He is SO sweet when he is sleeping!!

And the Fullerton head tilt. So cute. I love when he does it!

And Videos. I find myself taking more videos of this dog than pictures. He is just so darn entertaining. The first one is him responding to his name, and then shows my goofball in action. He is so silly. The second on he is playing with a toy and then it shows his "come" too. The last one is him sitting. I am so proud of him, I think this is the earliest any of my pups has known sit reliably. That's about it for now. I will let you know how the meeting goes on Tuesday!

Great News!!

So you all remember this little guy don't you, of course you do. . . (what a silly question)
Well, on Sunday I found out that he has been placed with his diabetic family!!! I am so excited for him. He is actually out there doing his thing. Apparently he has been with them for two weeks already and is doing really well. They told me that he is still on a trial basis to make sure he is a good match for the family. So I don't have any info on the actual family or anything. I am not sure how long his trial period lasts but I am still so happy. AND, if he does end up staying with this family then he will be part of the next graduation for Dogs4Diabetics next Spring. I GET TO GO TO A GRADUATION!! I am crossing my fingers that everything works out and he has finally found his forever home. GO SHERMAN!!

The First few days

Howdy,
I just wanted to let everyone know what me and Fully have been up to the last few days. He is still an awesome puppy and is learning so fast. His recall is almost perfect it is his favorite game in the world. Potty training is going smoothly and I think it is starting to click with him. I think that he thinks that I am a little crazy because every time he goes potty I jump up and down and get so excited. When he starts going and I give him the potty command and then I praise him he looks over at me and when he is done he comes over for a good pat down. He thinks that game is pretty fun too. :) My only big complaint is that he doesn't sleep through the night. He wakes up two or three times a night and after we go out he screams for a good 30 minutes to an hour before settling back down. I have tried all the tricks in the book with little success. Hopefully we can work it out soon because me and sleep deprivation do not get along. The first night he was here it was practically blizzarding, you think I would get a break my first night but no it had to snow. It's a good thing I like the cold and snow. Fullerton was so funny though, he would sniff to find a place to go and his nose would get in the snow and he would sneeze and shake his head when his nose touched that white stuff. It was pretty fun to watch. He is just a fun puppy. My initial impression of him was wrong, he is a pretty spunky and active pupper but that is okay. I take him for a few rounds around my cul-de-sac every morning, noon, and night (We have the only dogs on this street so I am still being careful until he gets his shots) and that seems to wear him out. He also does some baby puppy, uncoordinated labby loops that are pretty entertaining. He tries to itch himself while he walks which usually ends with him falling on his face and that is funny too. I have missed having a baby so much and I am really loving it. Too bad the silly puppy phase doesn't last nearly long enough. I also went out and got him a name tag. So he is official (and really jingly)

Fullerton also had his first puppy meeting today which he did wonderfully. I was so proud of him. Everyone in the club loves him too (how could you not) it was fun. We met in a school Gym and talked about long lines and practiced using them (well Fuller didn't he got to watch though) after that my leader taught us how to make our own long lines and that was interesting I never would have thought of making my own. :) (I am SO not crafty) Then we practiced recall, Fullerton did great, I was so proud) then we walked through the school where another dog in our group (his raiser works there) has had some fear issues we walked out a door into a parking lot with one of our group members cars running and he did great. I carried Fullerton around the car but he didn't react at all. The dog with the issues did wonderfully as well, he didn't hardly react and then he jumped into a car while it was on (apparently he has struggled with that as well) so we ended on a positive note for him. We were all proud and took turns telling him how good he was. Oh, there was also a grated ramp to walk up to go in the school, I let Fullerton walk up and down that a few times too (I don't think he even noticed. He didn't care at all) So, I think his first puppy class was a success.

And now PICTURES!! (Okay so I have filled up my camera card two and a half times now of pictures of Fullerton. I am a bit snap happy)

This is currently Fullertons favorite toy. He hardly ever plays with his dog toys. He would much prefer to carry his bowl around, chew on it and throw it around the room.
Leaves are also his favorite thing. We are working on it and he ignores them most of the time but they are still so much fun to crunch. :)
Just plain cute. (I finally got him to hold still for two seconds for me to get a decent picture.
By the time I thought of getting "Fullerton in the snow" pictures it had melted all except for these bushes so I took him over for some pics anyway.
YAY! He is SLEEPING!! To bad my flash woke him up and he didn't settle down for a while. :)
One of his favorite spots. For some reason he likes being half under my bed. Makes for a cute picture anyway.
I thought that this would be a good size comparison picture. The doggy bed makes him look tiny, I guess he is pretty small, but he will grow. :)
Just this morning he has started going up and down the stairs by himself. He will go all the way up with minimal coaxing down is a different story. Once we get within five feet of the stairs he freezes so I pick him up and put him down about 1/4 of the way down and make him do the rest himself. He is doing pretty good. This is the first time he went up by himself. He stopped on this step and whined for about ten minutes before I finally picked him up. I set him back down about two steps from the top and he did the rest himself. Now he does the whole thing (except going down) :) But I am still proud of him.
He takes so long to eat that he starts eating standing up and then he will sit and eventually he lays down. It is funny to watch the progression. :)
My Nephew, Cannon, came over after puppy class this morning and got to meet Fullerton for the first time. They were good for a bit but Fullerton is a bit to rambunctious for Cannon so after a little while I separated them.
Cannon pets Fullerton.
Fullertons other favorite place. (Only when he is on tie-down.) He likes to crawl under my dresser.Here are some videos of him. The first is his labby loops, then going down the stairs and going up the stairs. He scares me going down because he jumps the last one or two steps. We will work on that but I am just happy that he is finally doing it on his own. :)



I love this pup!!!

Well Worth the Wait!!!

Okay, sorry for the huge delay. I have been trying to get this post up for a while but blogger is being a dork and between running puppy outside and blogger not wanting to work for me I haven't been able to get it up. So here goes . . . FINALLY!!

Well, I left for the airport about the second I got off work and picked up a friend who wanted to come with me. Then off the the airport we went. When we got there it was about 3:43, we stepped out of my car and a United airplane landed right then and I said, "Wouldn't it be funny if my puppy was on that plane." Then a cart left from the cargo place and ran after the plane. That made me happy. So we went in the "warehouse" thing (not sure what to call it) and the guy checked us in and said it would be fifteen to twenty minutes. So we sat on a bench and waited. About twenty minutes later I saw the cart driving back. It drove into the warehouse and I watched them open the screens on the side of the cart and there was a kennel in it. Then this was the next thing I saw. The crate was carried into the room we were in and the people set it down next to us.
This was my first glimpse of my baby. Isn't he just adorable!! We had to fill out some paperwork and such (well I didn't but the other raiser did because she was the consignee) After that we opened an envelope taped to the top of the kennel it had both pups baby and adult collars in it as well as some paperwork. BUT, the paperwork didn't say which pup was which so the other raiser called the breeder keeper and asked which puppy belonged to each raiser. After she was told we started getting the boys out to see which was which.
Me and the other raiser trying to get the boys out. We didn't want to just yank them out so we tried coaxing. They were hesitant at first and started at the back of the crate but with enough kissing noised they emerged.
This one popped out first and came right to me burying his head in my lap and slathering me with sweet puppy kisses.
AND, he was mine!! I was so happy he knew who his mamma was. Our first picture together. He is beyond adorable. And super sweet.

Both of the boys together.

His super cute face. I love his worry wrinkles by his eye they add so much character. His shave spot is on his left hip which means (since there are only four pups, all boys in the litter) that he is the smallest one. The paperwork on the kennel said that he was 9 lbs when he left GDB (I dunno if that is right but he is pretty small)
This is his brother, Forte, he is just stock full of wrinkles it is so cute. He is the right hip male which means he is the third biggest puppy. Just bigger than mine. His paperwork said that he was almost 12 lbs. Quite the difference between the two.
The boys first meal. He eats SLOW and is very messy. He slopped water and stuff all over the place. It was funny to watch though.
Me and him in the car on the way home. (no I am not driving)
First bath. After being in that crate for a few hours he had some pee and poop on him, and he smelled, so he got a bath when we got home.


Drying off. He was so good for his bath just sat there and let me get him wet and lather him up and then rinse him off. He was a good sport.
My leader wanted to meet him so we loaded into the crate in the back of my car and went over to her house. His first puppy meeting will be this Saturday. I will probably go and make an appearance but I told my leader we may not stay for long.
After trying to get him to play with a toy for 45 minutes he finally chewed a little Nylabone for about 30 seconds. Totally worth the wait because it was adorable.
And when he lays down it is so cute. He does this frog thing. I love it. So far he has been pretty mellow and calm. He is really smart too. He is picking up on things very quickly. I have corrected him for doing a few little things and he hasn't tried them again. I think this next year with him is going to be a blast. He is an awesome puppy and I couldn't have asked for more. He has had a huge day and his whole world has turned upside down but he is being a good sport. Now if only I could get him to go to sleep. He has been go, go, go since we got home and hasn't slept much at all, that just means he is going to sleep all night. . . right??

Here are a couple videos of him. The first is during his bath and the second is his discovery of the mirror. (every puppy has to find the mirror sometime.


Oh, and his name is:

FULLERTON

Kind of a mouthful, but it is growing on me.