Fun Firestation Outing

About a month ago I stayed after puppy class and brainstormed fun outings with my leader. I had made a few suggestions of outings that I went on with my puppy group when I lived in California. One that I remember that was a lot of fun and really good for the dogs was going to a fire station. The pups were able to meet a fireman in his gear and walk around a firetruck with the sirens and engine on. So, she asked if I would be able to set something like that up. I said "of course"

So, the next day I called the Pleasant Grove Fire Station and they were very happy to oblige. I was so excited that they were willing to do this for us. We scheduled to do it on March 7th. Unfortunately, that morning they were out on a call. I called my contact at the PGFS (I had his cell number) and he said they were just dropping the patient off at the hospital and would be there soon. So the group went to the Library across the street and did some work on the "go to bed" command for a while. Then my contact called me and said that his truck got called out to another place but the other truck was coming and when they got there they would do anything that we wanted them to do.

About ten minutes later we headed back to the Fire Station. The captain was there and had one of his men get in all his gear including oxygen mask (which is good for the dogs to get used to the noise) and he gave us an overview of the gear and how the fire station works. It was really neat. Then the fireman in all his gear came over and we let the dogs greet him one at a time. They were all wonderful, not a single one was at all nervous or scared of him. They all ran up wiggling and let him pet them. It was so fun for the dogs and the fireman really enjoyed it too.

This is Dax with the Fireman. (Dax just got his recall for April 19, we wish him luck, he is a fun dog)
This is our only black lab in the group right now, Safari.

Our club Grandma, Myra. (Myra also has a recall for March 28th, leaving our group with three pups until April when we are expecting SIX new puppies. It will be fun to have a big group again.)

Fullerton was absolutely adorable (he is being handled by one of the new guys getting his puppy in April) He went up and sniffed the gloves, his tail was wagging but he was totally in control. It was so cute. :)

He gave the Fireman a few little licks on his mask too.

All the dogs did wonderful and I think it was a very successful and fun outing for the people as well as the dogs. The firemen also asked us a TON of questions about guide dogs and the training and stuff like that, it was fun to answer their questions. We didn't get to do anything with the engine since we ran out of time. But, it was still a great outing. I could not be happier with how it all went. I am so glad that I could set it up. :D