The Sawdust Festival

In the Summertime, I went on an excursion to the Sawdust Festival. Yes Sawdust!!! Sawdust here, there, everywhere! No sniff, no sniff, no sniff. I was just shy of 6 months old then (now I'm 8 months old). This place would make a great backyard. It was so full of fun, foliage, water, bridges....oh, I was happy here!

Here is our group picture.....well a series of pictures to get to the group picture. You see, it took us awhile to get just the right shot. The puppy raisers were laughing. They all thought it was funny, but somehow I felt if I stepped off of the bench without being released, it wouldn't be funny, so I just STAYED!

"Hey, where are you going?"

"Get back here!"

"There you are!"

"Now we are all here." And look I stayed the whole time! I'm so proud of myself.

Winter and the bee

Last night at obedience class I was doing so good. Ramona had us on a downstay, and I was watching the ants go by in the crack, and then this bigger bug came by, so I sniffed it! Bad idea. I got stung by a bee! I flicked him off of my lip really quick. My puppy raiser saw the bee and immediately announced that I had been stung. All of the puppy raisers ran to their cars to search for Benadryl, luckily Dutch's raiser had some in her car. Within 10 minutes my whole lip swelled up, so that means I'm allergic! I have to tell GDA what happened so they know that I am allergic for future handlers. AND I have to keep Benadryl in my "Go Bag" all of the time now. The swelling could have kept going, but it stopped and was kept localized, so that's good, but had it gone any further than just the localized area we would have gone to the emergency, as this situation can turn quickly into a breathing problem. It's good we have bee's. We need them, but not on my body!

Note: Puppy Raisers: check with your vet as to the proper dosage for your dog's weight, and be sure to report any allergic reaction from any kind of sting.

Dog Gone Summer

Wow, has it been a long time since I have given you an update. The Summer went by so fast, and now here we are in the Fall already. I'm 7 months old now, and I can't wait for Halloween. I get to dress up, and go Trick or Treating with my niece Emma. It's her first time Trick or Treating too. I hope we don't get too frightened.

So, back to why I have not been blogging lately. I was sick for 3 weeks, no obedience, no walks, no shopping, no bank, no post office, no playing with my doggy buddies. Can you say "Patience Young Grasshopper"? I learned how to be on a tie down really good. I learned my backyard configuration very well. Hmmmmm, I like television and music, especially Wall-E. That Eve is so sweet. I love her. When Wall-E says Eeeeeeeeeeeeva, I just melt, and tilt my head to the side. I like to lay on my mom's lap while she rubs my belly and watch Wall-E.

Speaking of belly. There is something else I have to tell you. I am one step closer to becoming a Guide Dog, because after I got better from my icky Summer sicky, I got called in to be neutered. Yep, I had the Big Boy Operation! So my belly rubs are very gentle right now, and we are back to the no no no's. No running, no jumping, no rough-housing, no walks (well we can have short controlled walks), and the nice vet department sent me home with a thing for my head. They call it a martini glass. I call it a real pain in the.........neck! Some people call it a lampshade, the cone of silence, conehead, whatever........it really is limiting my activity level here.

With all of this down time, I did manage to get lucky and attend the 2nd Annual GDA Campout, at Lake Casitas, in the Ventura County mountains, near Ojai.

My puppy raiser Tina, took the Airstream and we joined dozens of other GDA dogs. There were working Guides, and Puppies in Training, and Breeders there. My mom brought the Puppy Pool and I swam with Kelly and Catalina. It was very hot there, over 100 during the day, but in the 60's at night. We saw racoons during one night as I had to "get busy".

Every morning I went for a walk with my fellow GDA puppy friends, Sammy, Perry, and Catalina. We got to play on the playground and go down the slides. That was fun. I didn't hesitate at all. Here are some memories.

This is Catalina, Sammy, Perry, and me, Winter:

This is Catalina and I playing tug of war:

I had the best time at the campout. I can't wait for next year! I really like this camping thing. Next stop, Napa!