Our GDB filled weekend. . .

What is better than a weekend full of puppy raisers and their dogs? I myself can't think of anything. :D I love puppy raising and all the people involved in it, it's amazing!!

Anyway, on Friday me and Paris went up to the school for the blind in Salt Lake for the Braille Challenge, it was a lot of fun and Paris got a lot of pets and we answered a lot of questions. The kids really enjoyed the dogs and I was so proud of Paris who was on her best behavior and was so good with the kids. A bunch of them enjoyed playing tug with her and she was so careful. They would giggle and giggle when they told her 'okay' and she would start tugging and then 'that's enough' and she would stop. It was cute. A few of them also liked brushing her, she is super smooth and shinny and I think they got all that loose hair out. :D

[Paris playing tug with one of the blind kids.]

Then today we had a puppy raising workshop. It was so much fun and I really learned a lot, I always do. Anyway, I got a ride up with my leader and we always have some fun chats. Here is a picture of her pup Sugar. She is super cute and really smart.

[A close up of Sugars face, she is a very white golden retriever with dark brown eyes. She also has her tongue sticking out a little bit.] While we were there I met a few of Paris' siblings. Here is a picture of them. It sounds like they are all quite similar personality wise and even have a few of the same quirks. The yellow ones look quite similar but their brother Peanut really doesn't look much like the rest. :D

[The puppies and raisers lined up. Peanut (Male Black Lab), Panama, (Female Yellow Lab) Porche (Male Yellow Lab) and Paris (Female Yellow Lab).]

We played a game called 'My dog can do that' where we could pick a card (rated easy, medium and advanced) and then have our dog do what is on the card and get points if our dogs could do it. We split into two teams Ricks Retrievers (The CFR from SoCal/Arizona also came, he is really awesome) and Barbs Barkers. Me and Paris were on the RR team, it was a really fun game. I picked advanced card for Paris both times it was our turn and Paris was great. The first time she had to come to me while someone was jumping up and down next to me, she was perfect and the second time she had to do a layover without me saying anything which is a piece of cake for this girlie. So we won 6 points for our team. Unfortunately, our team lost but it was fun to see all the dogs doing all these bizarre tasks and realizing just how much we need to prepare them for. Some people had to give commands with their back to their dogs and that one seemed hard for them, it may be something for me and Paris to work on. Afterward our teams voted on an MVP for each team and Paris won MVP for our team! I was so proud of the girl!! :D

[Me kneeling next to Paris who is in a sit next to me in front of a gray stone wall. I am holding Paris' MVP trophy. It's a small gold trophy on a black pedestal. Way to go Paris! (It's now on display on my GDB shelf.)] After that we did some work on GTB, Paris is very good at this so no worries there. We all did it individually and then we lined up the beds and did a mass GTB. It was cool and all the dogs were very impressive.

[Paris laying down on her green mat chewing on a piece of kibble with a 6 mo old male black lab named Clifford sitting on his mat to her on the right and a golden named Joaquin sitting on his mat on her left (sadly, I only got a sliver of Joaquin but he is a cutie. What good puppies!] [Paris laying down with her head raised looking at me, she was such a good girl through the whole meeting.]

[Paris and Sugar sleeping in the car on the way home. They are both on the floor of the car with their heads next to each other.]

[A minute later Sugar adjusted so her head and foot are on top of Paris' head, she didn't seem to mind at all.]

Paris has been sacked out ever since we got home, it was a big day for her and she was a champ. Hope everyone else had a great weekend. :D

Not a very good hostess

Me and Paris have enjoyed having some weekend visitors, although Paris is not being a very good hostess. She doesn't like to share her things, especially not her pretty puffy princess bed as you can see in the picture below.
[Paris lounging on the double layered dog bed with Hobbs (a black lab) and Patriot (a HUGE yellow lab) laying on the floor next to her.]
Hobbs and Patriot are both career changed dogs from GDB who were raised by Brittany. It has been great to have them both here. Especially Patriot as he is the brother of the first puppy I raised, Prudy. Although he is making me miss her so much. They act very similar to each other. All three puppies have been getting along just peachy, Hobbs and Paris really like each other. They have had so much fun romping together in the yard. Patriot just kinda does his own old man stuff while the youngsters play.

[The three dogs waiting for dinner. Hobbs and Patriot both stare intently at their food while they wait and Paris looks at me. She is so funny, because she tries not to look at the food while she waits for the okay to eat.]
[The three puppies eating. Hobbs, Patriot and Paris]
Today Paris got to meet my nephew Cannon. Actually she has met him before but I didn't get pictures because she would treat him like a puppy and try to nip at him and get way excited so we have been working on her being calmer with him. I think today we had a breakthrough because she was phenomenal with him crawling all over her. Here are some pictures of the two of them. Cannon can never get enough of my puppies. Oh, and today he finally stopped calling her Fudder (He can't pronounce his L's yet) and he now calls her Paewis. (he really cracks me up cause he says everything so funny)

[Paris laying down on her side with cannon sitting on top of her. She doesn't seem to mind too much.]

[Cannon is now laying across her trying to get her to lick his hand.]

[Cannon laying on his back next to Paris watching her play with her bone.]

[And just because she is so cute here is my niece Hazel sitting on my sisters lap. Hazel has a huge smile on her face and big rosy cheeks. I love her chubby little arms and legs too.]
And Paris had a great first Halloween. We went to two Halloween parties and then the movie theater to see Paranormal Activity. By the second party she was pretty sacked out. She didn't mind any of the strange creatures running around and slept through the whole movie. (which really didn't scare me that much. . .) Everyone loved her and doted on how cute she was. Who am I to disagree? She had a great night!

Baby Pictures!!!

Fullertons mom's raiser (did you follow that, kinda confusing) just sent me pictures of the litter that she got from when they were born. I was so excited to see little tiny Fullerton and his brothers. They are adorable. First this is what she had to say about his mom Saga:
"Saga's personality is gentle, but has spunk to it with occasional brattiness."
That sounds about spot on regarding Fullerton. I think Fuller is a tad more "energetic" we will call it. :) Anyway, first you can look at this picture (I am pretty sure that is Forte and either Filby or Flamenco) and this picture (That is Forte and one of the black pups, but you can see Fullertons fanny in the corner) that was posted by GDB on their website.

Here is Fullertons mom Saga at her breeder Graduation.
Here is Miss. Saga while she was pregnant with the "F" pups.
Here is the ultrasound of the "F" pups. Look at those little puppy blobs. :)

Saga with the 2 day old "F" pups. Fullerton is the closest one to Saga's head. Aren't they cute little pudge balls. :D

Here they at 1 week old. Fullerton is the one at the top of the picture then either Filby or Flamenco and Forte at the bottom.

And 2 weeks old. Fullerton is the one closest to Saga's head again and the other three boys as well. :D

And Fullerton again. I am not sure how old he is in this pic but he looks a bit older than the two week picture. :)

And my boy again.

I am so happy to have all those baby pictures of Fullerton and his brother. They are so very cute.

Lots of Stuff. . .

Well, lots of new stuff this week. :) First I heard from Adeline's mom and Adeline is doing great. She is now in the more advanced Agility classes and loving it. I am so excited because I get to spend July 24th (my B-DAY!!!) with Adeline and her mom. I am going to go to her agility class too. It will be so fun to see her in action!! She really seems to enjoy it. Here is her in action jumping through a tire. Look at that form. :)

I also took Sherman to my little sisters softball game. I have never taken him to a sporting event so I thought that it was the perfect opportunity for him to see what that is all about. He was great going up and down the bleachers and with all the random cheering and all the kids. Here is a shot of him on the bleachers.
Also, I got to watch Safari this week. She is a darling little black lab, and while she has more energy than Sherman does (which I am not used to :) we did have a lot of fun and she is very well behaved for a 14 week old puppy. She is super cute too. Sherman seemed a lot more open to her. He was jealous when I would pet her or talk to her, he would try to wiggle his way in between me and her. He was pretty funny about it, but he did play with her a little bit.


Also, Sherman is leaving a week from today. *tear* I am SO going to miss this boy. He is super sweet, and mellow, and EASY! I have loved all the time that I have had with him but it is time and he is ready. I really hope that he becomes a guide, he is a great dog. But, you just never know. . . but I have had the talk with him so hopefully he listened and studies hard because he has a lot to learn in the next few months. Today he got his last bath. He is so silky and soft and he feels so darn good. Here's a pic of him during his very last bath.
I also got news that Spartan, Sherman's brother, was career changed. He left for formal training on May 3rd and was career changed a week later for what I thought was Hip Dysplasia but when I asked for clarification (because she called it something else that I assumed was hip dysplasia) I just got this back from her. "It means Laxity of the Patella; which means his back knees can get out of the socket and slide inward." That makes me a little more nervous, I really hope that Sherm doesn't end up having the same thing. I really think that if Sherman is going to get career changed it will be a health issue. So, one out of the five cc'd so far. Spartans raiser adopted him and is going to work with him to be a therapy dog. After a few months of Therapy training she is going to apply for another puppy so Spartan will be her co-raiser. I hope all goes well with him. From what I have heard he sounds like an amazing dog. The others are all going into training in the next few months. Sage, Sherman, and Samantha are all leaving next week for the June recall, and then Sirrocco is going in mid-July-ish. I am excited to see how the rest of them do. Good luck "S" pups! Oh, and I got Shermans official recall letter in the mail this week, that came with a few tears. So, now I am working on his "fun things about my puppy" and have a few pics to stick in there too. And then he is all ready to go. But, I will also be meeting Mr. "S" then so that is exciting. I hope he is a good puppy, I can't wait to meet him! Anyway, that is all for now. :) Happy Sunday everyone!

The other "S" kids

I have been in contact with a few of Shermans siblings over the last year. I love being in touch and knowing similarities and differences in the litter. Sherman has four other siblings, Spartan (MYL), Sirroco (MBL), Sage (FYL), and Samantha (FYL). From what I have heard Sherman, Samantha and Sirroco are the most alike in looks while Sherman and Sirrocco share the same personality and Spartan and Samantha are the opposite of Sherman and Sirroco personality wise. I have not heard anything about Sage so I don't know what she is like at all.

This is a picture of Spartan. Isn't he handsome. Doesn't look much like Sherm at all though. :) Here is what his raiser had to say about him in her most recent message.

"Spartan has matured a bit, weighing in at 75 lb. But he still try's to be the boss sometimes. His recall date is May 3 for the college prep course. I will really miss him as he's been my constant companion. We've both learned so much in our time together and have had many adventures."

He is huge, and is nearly twenty pounds bigger than Sherman. I can't even imagine Sherman with another 20 pounds on him. :) He definitely got his daddies size. (I hear Norbert is a BIG boy) I wish Spartan luck in formal training and look forward to watching him on the phase report. You will do awesome Spartan!!

This lovely little lady is Samantha. I can see a lot of Sherman in her, she is almost a yellow version of Sherman. :) Here is what her raiser said in her most recent message,

"Samantha is a small girl. She weighs about 53 lbs. She is pretty good but likes to be a little dominate sometimes. She was looked at for international breeder, but has a little bit of a heart problem. Not a bad enough problem to stop her from being a guide. I have not gotten her recall letter yet, but I am anticipating June."

I heard that she and her sister Sage were both looked at for international breeding but neither were chosen. I do know that Sage has the same recall as Sherman. She will be going into training in June as well. We will see if sister Samantha will join them then. :)

I haven't heard from Sirroco in a while. I sent a message to his raiser a few days ago so hopefully I hear from them soon. :)

Well, that is all for today. Hug those pups for me. :)