Geyser in Tahoe

Hi everybody, Geyser here! I just wanted to tell you all about Promise’s and my trip to Lake Tahoe, California a couple of weeks ago. It started out by riding in the car to Chicago with Doug, Caroline and their son, Tyler (who lives in China, wherever that is)

We got to stay in a hotel the first night and that was really fun except that Caroline said we couldn’t rough house in the room :( Oh well. The plane ride was OK but I overheard Doug and Caroline talking about how there isn’t as much room in the bulkhead as there used to be. Promise was a little put out that she had to curl up into a ball for the entire trip, you all know how she likes to lay frog legged all the time. We slept the whole flight and when we woke up, we were in Nevada and it was REALLY hot there!

I was glad that Caroline and Doug remembered to bring our booties, and even though I don’t really like wearing them, it’s better than burning your pads. When we finally arrived at our destination, I was surprised at how many people were there – moms and dads, brothers and sisters and cousins. There were even some KIDS for us to play with - YAY!!! Oh and there also were 2 other black labs like us, except they were just pets, not service dogs like Promise and me.

The house we stayed in was HUGE. There were three floors and Promise and I immediately had to explore every room. There also were RULES, like no dogs in the kitchen, no rough housing inside (that stupid rule AGAIN), stay with the family, blah, blah, blah. I took the liberty of bending a couple of the rules and it kinda got me in a little trouble. I know I am not supposed to get in the trash but those first few days, I just couldn’t help myself. Caroline says I need work on my “impulse control” and I am still trying to figure out what that actually means. Anyway, I got caught red-handed with my head in the downstairs bathroom trash not just once, but THREE times!!!!! What was I thinking????? Doug caught me in it the last time and that’s when I decided it wasn’t worth getting in it EVER AGAIN!

I also had a few problems at the lake at first. Apparently, everyone was supposed to stay together which I didn’t understand right away. I mean, come on, there is a whole huge beach – why couldn’t I just take off and do as I pleased?????? To make a long story short, I had quite a few “time outs” the first couple of days. Promise of course had to be the “goody two shoes” and never got in any trouble, thinking back on it now, I probably should have followed her example. Oh well, on to the exciting part!

We got to take a trip down the Truckee River in these big rafts! It was so much fun (well until the rafts filled up with water and Promise and I had to sit in them). The trip took most of the day because we kept stopping to swim and fetch bumpers and play in the river. I was really tired after that and was a good boy for the whole rest of the trip! Promise and I got to work in Tahoe city a bunch too – there was a lot of stuff and pedestrians on the sidewalks, so we got lots of practice on our clearances.

By the end of the trip I had learned what “staying with the family” meant, and you know what? It’s really not so bad; this family was really FUN – always stuff to do, never boring. I think I learned a lot about life on that trip!

Promise and I are back home now and working hard on our guide dog skills. I think Promise is almost done with her training and she will go to her new blind human in a few short weeks. I am going to miss her so much. She has been such a good role model for me, and I have learned tons of stuff from her. Well got to go, it’s class night and I don’t want to be late!

This is G-man signing off for now!

Vacation

A few of our IFT (In For Training) dogs have been on vacation this week in Lake Tahoe. Geyser spent his time lying on the beach.





Promise is more active and thought she would try surfing. You never know what hobbies your blind partner will have.

Slumber Party

Banjo celebrated his first birthday on Thursday. We attended OccuPaws training class where he was on his best behavior, performing an excellent SIT STAY. We also got a first look at our potential next puppy, as we prepare for Banjo's departure in a couple weeks.

After class, the two birthday boys, Banjo and Geyser, were loaded into the car. As a birthday present they got to have a slumber party. It was planned at the last minute, otherwise we could have had Toby over too.

The real purpose of the slumber party was a visit to Spring Harbor Animal Clinic for the final test before harness training begins. They had to have their hips and elbows checked for possible dysplasia. Having our first puppy expelled for elbow dysplasia, we were a bit concerned. No problem though as Geyser's hips were Very Good and Banjo's were Excellent with no elbow problems either. Both are ready to begin the final stage of their guide dog journey.

Cooped up for most of the day because of the wet weather, a long playtime was recommended before returning Geyser. The two boys chased and tumbled through the wet grass until they were exhausted; it took thirty minutes to tire them and thirty minutes to dry out. The party ended with dinner for the humans while both dogs napped.

Get Your Custard Fix

Woof Fellow Custard Lovers,

A whole bunch of my pals came to help be be cute and adorable at an OccuPaws fund-raiser at Culver's in Middleton. If a whole lotta humans stuffed themselves silly and ate lots and lots, OccuPaws will get some green stuff that humans really seem to love. There were lots of people there and the food smelled great so I'm sure they had a lot. We, on the other hand just got to sit under signs and stuff.

Some of us became movie stars. You can watch us by clicking here on Channel 27!!

All for now,

Harley

Dog Den Blast

Woof fellow black dogs...we rule!!!!

Shepherds and Goldens quake in our dust!!!

Oh, wait, water-break...ahhh.




We all had a great time playing at the Dog Den Saturday morning. Pictures were a little difficult as most turned out to be blurry streaks. We were all pretty well behaved with only a few "unnecessary roughness" penalties and time outs. Poor Harley and Louie were on injured reserve...Harley was just neutered and Louie had a bit of a limp so he didn't get to play either. The humans just stood around and blah blah blah until a pack of labs broke up the talking.





I'll admit, I'm no Lab either and enjoyed some quiet time with Kotah.



There are some more pictures posted here.

All for now,
Wilbur

12 Dog Night!

Hey All - Geyser here.

I'm not sure what my doggy Mom was thinking but we ended up with 12 dogs in the house last weekend! Do you think that might make it into the Guiness Book of Records? Anyway, besides the three little white girls I live with my mom decided to doggysit three dogs for her friend.







Then over the weekend two visitors brought their guide dogs to the house plus three "pet" dogs. I have to admit I did enjoy playing with the other lab! We got to have the garage for our "playground". It reminded me a bit of being at the Dog Den.














We also went on a nice walk on the Glacial Drumlin Trail - six of us anyway.

Now that the house is back down to only four dogs it seems kind of empty! Not really.

Smile if you are a lab and lovin' it!










Geyser,
(the almost one year old.)

Silly Humans

OK fellow Occupaw Dogs - Geyser here. I experienced the most unusual thing yesterday. You are never going to believe this! There is a thing known as moving stairs! Yes, I did say "moving". Now why do you think the humans think they need the stairs to move when the not moving ones work just fine? I am rather confused. Seriously! Anyway, let me tell you that it is no piece of cake getting on and off those things. Nicole had to drag me on the first time. I wasn't going voluntarily! It was awful at first - very scary. But I trust Nicole so I tried to relax a bit. The second time up and down I tried to act calmer but inside I was still churning. Once you master the "moving stairs" the worst of your new experiences isn't over. When I was done complaining, my "doggy mom" informed me that there is also something called a moving walkway. Does it ever end?!! At least those things are only at airports so I am told. If that can be believed!

I also had a couple other "firsts" this week. I got to stand about 10 feet away from a very slow moving train. The squeaking and banging bothered me at first but I got used to it pretty fast. I'm also am going outside a lot with students who are learning how to cross streets. All that traffic is quite annoying. But I did get to see (and hear) a motorcycle do a wheelie! I spent all afternoon Friday learning how to cross at a new kind of street intersection called a "roundabout". The genius who invented or engineered that concept must have been crazy! I think these humans think they are so smart to have come up with these inventions. I just think they are plain silly!

My doggy Mom says she is very proud of me so I guess it was all worth it!

Brothers

Banjo is entertaining a house guest for the next ten days. His brother Toby is visiting while his family is on vacation. They have not seen each other since they were eight weeks old, nine momths ago.

At the OccuPaws training class on Friday night our canine tandem met up with a third brother, Geyser. Geyser (m) and Banjo (l) have been in guide dog training for the last nine months and Toby (r) wanted to see what he was missing. He didn't like having to sit quietly and he didn't understand why he shouldn't run to the person saying "Promise, COME". Banjo and Geyser performed respectably and Toby was impressed with their ability to understand humans.

All Toby wanted to do was play which is what we did Saturday morning. He accompanied us to The Dog Den for Banjo's weekly play time. Banjo was extremely dominant and vocal resulting in many timeouts. He did not experience the switch, but having a new dog in the house may be creating a bit of tension as they determine pack order. Toby got along well with everyone, human and canine. His only transgression was eating the pebbles in the play yard.

After playtime, we stopped at the bakery and Toby experienced one of the disadvantages of being a regular dog. He and I had to stay in the car while Banjo went into the bakery and received hugs from another customer, who was very interested in OccuPaws and may become a puppy raiser.

A new dog in the house creates new dynamics, so we should have daily updates as relationships develop.

View more photos of Toby and Banjo's Adventures as the week progresses.

More Graduation Pictures

Hi,

Click here for more Graduation Pictures.

Randy & Deegan's Graduation

Today was a graduation party for our second guide dog puppy, Deegan. He is now with his forever partner, Randy. It was a long ride there and back, but well worth it to see Deegan again and to watch him work.



















Here is Randy & Deegan walking the last block to the restaurant
















Here is Randy, Deegan and myself & Randall.

There are more photos here.

There were a lot of us at the party. Puppy raisers & friends & family of Randy. We all had a good time.

Fun at the Dog Den

Woooof

Did we have fun last night. All us dogs got to give training lessons to our humans. It's amazing they rule the planet cuz they just don't seem to speak dog!! We had to pretent to not know what we were doing so they had to try harder to pretend they were training us...silly humans. We stayed in a "down stay" for way too long (I thought) while the little ones did their thing.






Then we had to stay still while the little pups played. Tough!!

All for now,

Harley

Forgetful

Woof!

You know, Harley and I have been playing so much we keep forgetting to write our blogs! So here is our week in review! First Harley got to go to visit a school in Watertown and see Divit and Geyser and lots of kids.





Then all of us got to go to Ability Days in Janesville and see lots of kids from Kindergarten to second grade. Was I tired!





Then on the way over to Nikki's to make a movie, we saw 4 buses with my picture on them!!! Here is one of them.





Then we got to Nikki's and was it BORING!!!! Some students were making a movie about OccuPaws so Mom and Dad and Nikki kept looking into lights and blah blah blah - so much human talk I fell asleep!

Love,

Wilbur

Boston Store - Madison again

Woof Everyone,

Wilbur here. Was yesterday ever fun. I got to play in two puppy playtime classes and then I came with Harley to Boston Store in Madison. I got to see some old pals and some news pups I never met before. They had a nice big blanket for us dogs and the kids to sit on. But later on I got kinda hot so I stretched out on the cool tile floor. Here are the big dogs chewing each other's ears.



Harley told me all about OccuPaws newest grduate team - Sophia and Timber...wow is he a big dog! Boy oh boy, did the humans have fun talking while we got pet and played. and that big jar got filled up to the top with green paper :-)

There are some more pictures of all of us here.

Bark at you soon,

Wilbur

Geyser loves Bowling Night!

Hi it's Geyser here! This is my first post. I've been busy as a full time teacher's assistant. I go with my Mom, Pam, to at least three school everyday. This means getting in and out of the car many times a day. I'm a pro at that skill but I'm kinda slow at times. Mostly I just settle into the passenger floor area and doze off but sometimes I like to watch Mom drive and look like a "cool dude".

Sometimes I get to play with little kids and sometimes I have to get through crowded hallways full of very big kids. They sure are noisy! But once we are in the room she is going to work in then I get some down time. I usually take a quick nap but sometimes I play with my toys.
I have my own toy bag that Mom brings along for me everywhere.

The work gig is OK but my favorite activity so far is Bowling Night every Monday. I have some adoring fans that play with me on and off all night while Mom takes her turn at bowling. I get to push around a bowling ball also but they won't let me get anywhere near that lane or those pins. How am I ever going to get good at this game?

I now have my own "bowling shirt" to match Mom and the other girls. It's actually a bandana because Mom has no sewing skills but I'm cool with that! We'll be taking a team picture next week. I'm now part of the Happy Schnapps Combo Team. I think the Tye Dye colors really look great on my black hair!I've had two play dates with my new friend Indi. He's a chocolate lab and has lots of energy. He is teaching me "tug o' war" and how to catch a frisbee. He's kind of a "frisbee hog" right now - showing off because he's so good at it already - but I'll catch up eventually once the weather gets better. Mom keeps saying we'll go to the Jefferson Dog Park but so far the weather has not cooperated. I did get a short walk in the rain on Sunday though - it was only sprinkling for pete's sake. I'm no wuss but I think my Mom is! I could be waiting awhile for that dog park visit.
Well, I guess I've talked way to much for my first blog. I've been with Pam and John now for almost a month so I had some catching up to do! My future blogs will be short and sweet - but with lots of pictures because Mom is a shutterbug. Oh well, good thing I'm such a handsome guy!

Bye for Now,
Geyser

Boston Store - Madison

Wilbur and I got to meet up with Geyser and Casey at the Boston Store East today to sell Community Day booklets. They were very tasty - Wilbur and I split one for lunch! We got pet so much Wilbur and I fell asleep and wouldn't wake up. Fortunately Geyser and Casey stayed awake to get the love. There are more pictures if you click here.

Then I found out the bestest goodest news of all. Casey was coming to our house for a sleepover. Her Mom, Marlette, is going to be gone tomorrow so she came to play with us. Casey took about a whole 3 seconds to meet Stitch and Reggie and Roxie (her doggie Mommy) and then it was playtime.

Mom kept yelling something about no running inna house but we didn't care!

Wheeeee

Love,

Harley

Dawg Zone Halloween Party

Here are a few pictures of the pups that attended the Halloween party at the Dawg Zone in Janesville on the 25th.


We did finally get some nice pictures, but it was hard to keep the little ones still enough for a shot. Kinda like herding chickens.

Geyser update

Hay Marlene, is Geyser sitting in the correct place?

Took Geyser to the Pumpkin patch, and Edwards

apple farm.

This might be our last outing with Geyser, Tues we swap dogs again. We have to take Geyser all

the way next door to Christy.

We get Geyser's brother, Banjo next.

Geyser has been a really good boy.

Ernie and Jan