Hey! This is Jenny and I'm excited for the puppy to arrive!! I hope she looks like this!
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
It's Official!
We just got a call from Becky that the puppy we will be raising will be released from the kennel at Southeastern Guide Dogs on November 2nd!! Our Nashville group will be receiving 3 puppies - 2 females and 1 male - all black labs. We will be raising one of the females. My heart goes out to Pat who will be raising her 5th black dog (I was secretly wishing there would be at least one yellow pup for her) but we are all thrilled and cannot wait for them to show up on the puppy cam and then head to Nashville.
We need to make arrangements to get the three pups here from Florida. I would really like to fly down and just pick them up but I do not think any airline would allow me to transport 3 puppies by myself. Picking them up on the weekend would work out better except for the fact that Scotty and Billy will be camping out with the Boy Scouts that weekend. It is time to work on a plan. That may turn out to be easier than getting our home ready for a puppy!
We need to make arrangements to get the three pups here from Florida. I would really like to fly down and just pick them up but I do not think any airline would allow me to transport 3 puppies by myself. Picking them up on the weekend would work out better except for the fact that Scotty and Billy will be camping out with the Boy Scouts that weekend. It is time to work on a plan. That may turn out to be easier than getting our home ready for a puppy!
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Excitement is building!
The puppy cam has been updated today on the Southeastern Guide Dogs webpage (www.guidedogs.org - click on Puppy Cam link on the bottom right). There are 9 puppies on the web cam and they were born on August 23rd. The puppies (5 black and 4 yellow) are Goldadors, a mix of Labrador Retriever and Golden Retriever. Southeastern Guide Dogs breeds Labs, Goldens, Goldadors and short-haired Collies for their guide dog program. So what's all the excitement? Well, we were told that we should expect to get a 9 week old puppy to raise around the end of October or beginning of November and the puppies on the puppy cam will be 9 weeks old around that time. Hopefully 4 of those little guys or gals will be coming to our Nashville group.
The Nashville group is currently raising 4 puppies - all black labs. R.J. is just a year old, Maywood and his litter mate, Miles, are 16 months old and little Diva is only 16 weeks. R.J., Maywood and Miles have all been called back to campus - IFT (In for Training) in technical speak - and will be leaving the week of October 14th to start their advanced training. That leaves 3 experienced puppy raisers, and us, needing new puppies to train. Becky, our Area Coordinator, explained that SEGD tries to keep litters together as it will be easier for us to train the puppies if they are all approximately the same age and learning the same commands. Hopefully this will work out and be a big help to us as we go on this journey.
Our AC should receive information possibly a month in advance with the puppy information - breed, sex and color (puppies are named as they leave SEGD) and to date, Becky has not received any information. Are those cute little Goldadors on the webcam coming to Tennessee? We sure hope so, but only time will tell.
The Nashville group is currently raising 4 puppies - all black labs. R.J. is just a year old, Maywood and his litter mate, Miles, are 16 months old and little Diva is only 16 weeks. R.J., Maywood and Miles have all been called back to campus - IFT (In for Training) in technical speak - and will be leaving the week of October 14th to start their advanced training. That leaves 3 experienced puppy raisers, and us, needing new puppies to train. Becky, our Area Coordinator, explained that SEGD tries to keep litters together as it will be easier for us to train the puppies if they are all approximately the same age and learning the same commands. Hopefully this will work out and be a big help to us as we go on this journey.
Our AC should receive information possibly a month in advance with the puppy information - breed, sex and color (puppies are named as they leave SEGD) and to date, Becky has not received any information. Are those cute little Goldadors on the webcam coming to Tennessee? We sure hope so, but only time will tell.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Amongst other things, a crate for puppy
The weekend of the huge semi-annual yard sale arrived and we thought maybe this would be a good time to purchase a crate for the puppy at a reasonable price. We culled through our handy 138 page puppy-raiser manual to see specifics on the crate requirements and realized how much more than just a create we need. A bed, leash, collar, toys, food bowls, baby gates, grooming supplies, tie downs, flea and tick medicine, food, and more. I spoke with our AC (area coordinator) regarding a crate type and .... score.... she has a crate we can use! Scotty was so busy selling at our home that we did not find anytime to look for gates. So, it was off to PetCo to start picking up Puppy's necessities.
I brought the boys thinking this would help Scotty finish laying the carpet, but I guess I did not think of me! PetCo is a wonderland of pets between the kitty adoptions, the puppy training and the lure of rare birds and small critters, it was hard for the two boys to focus on a puppy that would arrive some time in the future. Michael milled around looking at all the live animals while Billy and I tried to pick out a leash and collar. In typical fashion, I forgot the size snap/clip collar I was to purchase (but I did remember the color - Blue), forgot the size bowls to purchase (but I did remember they were to be stainless steel), I could not remember if Kongs were on the approved or disapproved toy list and thought better about buying flea and tick meds until puppy is here. It was not a totally wasted trip though as I found out Billy really, really wants a rare yellow necked parakeet for his birthday!
I brought the boys thinking this would help Scotty finish laying the carpet, but I guess I did not think of me! PetCo is a wonderland of pets between the kitty adoptions, the puppy training and the lure of rare birds and small critters, it was hard for the two boys to focus on a puppy that would arrive some time in the future. Michael milled around looking at all the live animals while Billy and I tried to pick out a leash and collar. In typical fashion, I forgot the size snap/clip collar I was to purchase (but I did remember the color - Blue), forgot the size bowls to purchase (but I did remember they were to be stainless steel), I could not remember if Kongs were on the approved or disapproved toy list and thought better about buying flea and tick meds until puppy is here. It was not a totally wasted trip though as I found out Billy really, really wants a rare yellow necked parakeet for his birthday!
Monday, September 13, 2010
Where is Puppy?
We are on the list and have been told that the Nashville group is scheduled to receive our puppies near the end of October or the begining of November! Currently there are 4 dogs in the Nashville group. Little Diva is only 16 weeks old and has a long wait until call back. Three of the dogs (R.J., Miles and Maywood) have been called back to campus for advanced training and will leave Nashville in early October. Each of the raisers has signed on again as repeat Puppy Raisers! So Nashville will get 4 puppies soon.
We do not know the breed, gender or color of the puppies yet. And, they all come pre-named! Sponsors pay $3,500 for permanent naming rights and the money supports the care of the puppy from 9 weeks and continues until the puppy returns to campus for formal harness training at 14 - 20 months.
My puppy wish list is as follows:
An easy to pronounce named dog - 2 kiddos in speech almost makes this a must!
A male dog - If a dog is being considered for the breeding program they are not spayed or neutered. I would not look forward to a female dog in heat.
A light colored (yellow) dog - While the black dogs are just as cute, we just replaced our bedroom carpet a few months ago with white carpet so I am secretly hoping for a light colored dog.
We are told as first time Puppy-raisers, we will not get a short haired collie to raise. So that leaves us with a Laborador Retriever, a Golden Retriever or a Goldador (mix of Lab and Golden) as possibilities.
Only time will tell, but knowing my luck we will be raising a black female Lab named Gooblygook. And if that is what happens, we will love her and raise her to the best of our abilities. What is meant to be will be!
We do not know the breed, gender or color of the puppies yet. And, they all come pre-named! Sponsors pay $3,500 for permanent naming rights and the money supports the care of the puppy from 9 weeks and continues until the puppy returns to campus for formal harness training at 14 - 20 months.
My puppy wish list is as follows:
An easy to pronounce named dog - 2 kiddos in speech almost makes this a must!
A male dog - If a dog is being considered for the breeding program they are not spayed or neutered. I would not look forward to a female dog in heat.
A light colored (yellow) dog - While the black dogs are just as cute, we just replaced our bedroom carpet a few months ago with white carpet so I am secretly hoping for a light colored dog.
We are told as first time Puppy-raisers, we will not get a short haired collie to raise. So that leaves us with a Laborador Retriever, a Golden Retriever or a Goldador (mix of Lab and Golden) as possibilities.
Only time will tell, but knowing my luck we will be raising a black female Lab named Gooblygook. And if that is what happens, we will love her and raise her to the best of our abilities. What is meant to be will be!
Are we really going to do this?
We are getting a puppy – but s/he is not going to be our puppy. While I agree the effort of blending a new family of six kids (some typically developing and some not so typically developing) may, at times, be hard work enough for any person to handle much less with a puppy in tow, we hope our efforts with this puppy will be rewarded beyond measure. You see, we are going to be ‘Puppy Raisers’ for Southeastern Guide Dogs, Inc. (http://www.guidedogs.org/), a non-profit organization whose mission is to ‘create and nurture a partnership between a visually impaired individual and a guide dog, facilitating life’s journey with mobility, independence and dignity’.
The SEGD website states ‘It takes a village to raise a puppy, especially if that puppy serves proudly as a Southeastern Guide Dog’. It is our hope that our FF village and surrounding community will help us as we train and socialize the puppy.
Please check back often as we will post updates on our experiences and our progress with puppy often.
The SEGD website states ‘It takes a village to raise a puppy, especially if that puppy serves proudly as a Southeastern Guide Dog’. It is our hope that our FF village and surrounding community will help us as we train and socialize the puppy.
Please check back often as we will post updates on our experiences and our progress with puppy often.
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