My Internship

Sorry that I haven't updated for an incredibly long time, but I didn't really have internet during my internship. I finally have time now to update.

Anyways, I had an amazing time at GEB. I worked at the canine development center on a project that they are working on to learn more about puppy temperament and what puppies are best suited to become guide dogs. I worked on two aspects of the project, crating and follow me

I worked along with two other interns, which was so much fun. We also worked on the project for Suzanne Clothier, who is an amazing lady in the dog world. She knows dogs.

Here's an article at the CDC website that pretty much shows what we did.

http://cdc.guidingeyes.org/bin/bcnews?0

And here are some pictures:















This is little Victoria, who I got to take home for a night.

























Here's Elba, who is in breed evaluation. When she came she had kennel cough, so they needed to keep her away from the other dogs. I was the lucky person who got to take her home for a night before her IFT. She's such a sweetie, and I think she still is in breed eval.














The final dog I got to take home is Quanna. She is very shy and she doesn't like the kennels at all. I took her for three nights while she was in heat. The poor thing didn't even want to eat.














Here are the EE pups, in particular Emerald. Everyone loved to pick her up because of her white spot. She's a cutie.














Here I am with Taffy. Taffy is one of my favorites. The T litter in particular is special because they're the first litter we started working with on crating in the Whelping Kennel (when they were about 5 weeks old). Taffy wasn't placed for awhile and this is when I was doing follow me with her in front of Suzanne. Taffy was amazing and Suzanne was impressed. The picture just shows how focused and how well she did.














Here's little Akron, a GSD. There were only two in his litter and he was a huge boy.














This is Erika, one of the other interns, stealing little Celeste. We always told them that one day they'd be missing a puppy and we'd be behind it.
















Here's another one of Taffy (with Erika).














Two of the DDs - Dayton and Dennis














Two of the BBs - I'm not sure who

Benson

So I guess it's about two weeks late, but I'm finally coming around to posting about Benson. He came early Friday morning and left late on Sunday. I think the best part of puppysitting is each time I realize how much I appreciate Quasia.

Benson is a pretty big boy at 11 months (bigger than Quasia, but that doesn't mean much). His raiser had a martingale with him, but that was it - not even a leather leash. His raiser also said that he was a very laid back dog. I don't think I saw that side of him at all.

Anyways, he and Quasia had such a good time together. They wouldn't settle down together though, so I had to eventually separate them, as they were panting very heavily. At first, I was the only one home, so I took him on a walk, after giving him some time to settle in. We walked for about a minute, when he lied down on the ground and refused to move. I kept calling his name, with food in site, but he wouldn't move. Eventually, he walked some and we got to walk. He was pretty good with walking if there weren't any distractions. I think my hands started to blister after that first walk though, with a regular leash. After that I used Quasia's leather leash with him, and it worked a little better.

When my dad got home we took both Quasia and Benson on a walk together. I walked Benson in the street to keep him away from distractions, and midway through the walk he just lied on the ground once again. My dad pointed out that it was probably because the street was too hot for him. Once I moved him to the sidewalk he did better. Sometimes we would have to move him to the street and he just kind of freaked out and lied on the ground. Quasia never acted like the street was too hot for her, so it was just strange.

He was also hard to control because he did not care about food too much. I could say his name five times, and Quasia would look at me, but Benson was focused on something else. At first he was not too good with just general commands (sit, down, come), but eventually he seemed to get/listen better. At one point my dad had Benson and he told him to sit. Quasia sat down that instant, and she seemed to act like she was showing off.

On Saturday we decided to bring them to a tennis court to let them play. That was the best thing for them. It was so funny to see Benson watching exactly what Quasia would do. If she was interested in chasing the ball, so was he. If she started to slow down, so would he. She even started eating sticks (bad habit) at the end and he starting to bring sticks over for her to eat. It was so cute.

Anyways, that was pretty much our weekend with Benson. We didn't really have a chance to take him anywhere special, but he seemed to have a good time with Quasia. Here are some pictures.

When Quasia found out that he wasn't allowed on the bed, she acted like the Queen of England. He even tried to jump up at one point, but she kicked him off.

Quick Update

Yes, we did get Benson and we puppysat him last Friday and Saturday. Yes, I was planning on giving an update and posting pictures here.

The problem is that on Mother's day my dad fell (we don't know how, he doesn't remember) and he fractured both of his shoulders. He also dislocated his right shoulder and broke it in two places. The tried to pop it back in, but they were unsuccessful. My mom and I were in and out of the hospital until Wednesday afternoon when he finally came home. He's in a lot of pain and we've been rushing around to help him. My brother flew home yesterday and he's been a lot of help. Anyways, between all of that I haven't been able to update or do much. I feel horrible because during the days we were at the hospital Quasia was in her crate for almost the whole day (with little breaks). Either this coming Tuesday or the next one my dad is going to have surgery on his shoulder, so we'll be away again.

So I'll be posting about Benson in a little while.

3 Years Ago Today - Brandy

3 years ago today we had to say goodbye to my first dog, Brandy. Brandy was the best dog and she was the one that gave me my love for dogs. I honestly don't think I would have become involved with Guiding Eyes if it wasn't for Brandy. She was the sweetest, most gentle, and loveable dog. I grew up with her and we had her for 11 of her 13 years. I remember dropping her off at the Emergency Vet on a Thursday night, the night of the Friend's finale. She had pneumonia and she was not doing well. That Friday night we got our first GEB pup to puppysit, 16 week old Dinah. I was so excited that we were going to have two dogs. Saturday we took one last walk with Brandy and we said goodbye. She couldn't eat anything or even keep down her medicine. We had to come home to take care of a 16 week old puppy.

So this post is in memory of Brandy: 5?/15?/91 - 5/8/04

Puppysitting again!

I know this might not be a big deal to a lot of you, but I'm really excited. Pretty much the second I got home on Tuesday, we got a call. I just had gotten home from school, so we didn't want to bother with answering from someone we didn't know. They called again the next morning and left a message. They need a puppysitter for their almost 1 year old black male Lab, Benson, for May 11-12. My parents said that they've never gotten a call about puppysitting since I've been away, so I felt that was extremely odd. My grandparents said it was okay (they live with us, and my grandma has asthma). My mom was reluctant, but my dad convinced her finally. For some reason she never wants to puppysit, even though she doesn't do anything when a pup comes. She loves dogs and everything, but she always fights me when we get a call about puppysitting. Anyways, my dad called back and we're going to be puppysitting again! It's been about a year, so I'm not sure if I'm going to know what to do. We may not even be able to go to class on Sunday, so we'll have to see. It will only be for two days anyways.

Kirkland Recalled

Last night, I just heard that Kirkland was recalled. I told you guys how scared I was of this dog food recall thing. Even though it's just canned food, I'd rather not take a chance. A couple of days ago they said something about Diamond (same food, Kirkland is just the Costco named brand) manufacturing food that was recalled. They didn't put it in their own food, they just manufactured it for another company. I looked into switching brands because of that, and I found that there was a place really close to my house that has Canidae. My dad and I decided that we would try Canidae after we ran out of the remaining Kirkland food. I'm not waiting any longer.

Happy Birthday Quasia!

I can't believe Quasia is 3 years old today. I remember celebrating her 1st birthday, and it doesn't even seem so long ago. I wish I could be home to celebrate, but I did send a package home. I'll probably wait until I get home to let her have it though. Hopefully my parents will spoil her. I'll probably post pictures later of when she actually gets to celebrate her birthday.

Oh, and I'm sorry I haven't really been around or updated lately. I've just been so busy. It's my last week of classes, before finals, and I've just had so much to do. I haven't even really had a chance to study for finals yet. Anyways, that's my excuse.

Happy 3rd Birthday Quasia Cutie!!!