House Check

Well I now have an official date for the house check!
The Area Coordinator will be coming on Wednesday the 4th.
I am going to spend the next two days cleaning and puppy proofing the entire house. I'm just a bit restless.
Since I do have six younger siblings, there does tend to be toys laying around the house at times and I know I can't always keep the toys up and away.  So the puppy will just have to learn at an early age to leave the kid's toys alone and only play with his own.

I am hoping that there will be a puppy ready this month instead of waiting until January for a bundle of fur.
So my fingers are crossed!

First Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind Meeting!

Hey everyone!

Yesterday was the first of my many Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind meetings. 

Sadly I forgot to take pictures till the very end of the meeting and had no camera.

This months was held at the RDU Airport in Raleigh, North Carolina. 

There were eight dogs in all, 3 Yellow Labs, 1 Collie, and 4 Black Labs. I worked with  sweet 18-month-old Pearl. Pearl is a yellow Lab and will soon be going back to the Guide Dog Foundation for her formal training. 

I have to admit I was a bit nervous to work with her. The last time I worked with a dog I had no clue what to do. But since then I have learned some of the procedures and training techniques so I thought I had this partly under control. 

Pearl took this opportunity to test me greatly, by not doing anything I said! (but she was still a cutie :)

We started with walking around a circle of cones. The dogs were not supposed to acknowledge the orange cones, the other pups walking in the opposite direction, or the people walking around the circle trying to distract the dogs.

All in all she did great at this part. I think she sensed my tension and thought she could get away with behavior that is not acceptable. 

When asked to HALT she would, but when I asked her to SIT and then change into a DOWN and then go back into an UP-SIT (Puppy Push-ups they call it), she acted like she couldn’t hear a word I said. But in the end she finally sat for me. J

Then we did recall with 25 foot lead lines. Pearls raiser called her at the end of the leash and she was SUPPOSED to come running straight to him, but she ran right past him and started playing with the Collie, Solomon. She got it at the end though.

Then we worked on stairs. I got to walk her up the see through stairs and then back down a ramp. I gave her the SIT command (which she readily obeyed!) and waited for her raiser.

So all in all it was a good first meeting!

On another note, I received the GDF (Guide Dog Foundation) puppy raising manual last night from Christina, the Area Coordinator which I am studying any chance I get.

We are going to set up a date for the house check sometime before the next meeting and now. Then we will just wait for the puppy!!!!!!!!

 Christina said we would probably receive a puppy either January or February due to the craziness of December.

The Beginning

I have started this blog to keep a record, so to speak, of my family and I's adventure of raising a puppy for the Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind.
For those of you who don't know what puppy raising is, it is where an individual (in my case, my entire family) takes in a puppy from a guide dog school and trains the pup basic commands (sit, stay, down, etc...) and manners while also introducing the puppy to the world.
Our main job is to socialize the dogs and teach them appropriate behavior in public, while also loving them. We keep the puppies for about 14 - 18 months until they are recalled for formal harness training back at the guide dog school and will eventually be paired with a blind person.
I am at the very beginning of this adventure.
We sent in an application two days ago and should be contacted by the Guide Dog Foundation within the week.
Though we most likely will not receive the puppy till January/February, there is always the possibility that we will get the puppy sooner.
So please join my family and I in this wonderful opportunity and adventure to raise a puppy who will hopefully grow up to lead a blind person one day.