Procrastination and Puppies

Procrastination and puppies seem to be the common theme for all my blog posts this month. I find myself always posting late at night, just sneaking in under that midnight deadline. I am not sure why I do this...I always mean to post sooner. But then I get caught up playing with the dogs, or watching House, or talking with my family...and I just wait until the last minute.

Anyone else a procrastinator? I think it really makes things more exciting. The panic that sets in when you have a 20 page research paper due the next day has makes roller coaster rides seem tame by comparison. I think maybe it is that some people work better under pressure? I seem to, though I do not really enjoy it. Things come together in a way that they just don't during non stress times. Hmmm...now I think I am just rambling and trying to justify my procrastination.

Something I can't procrastinate on though is raising puppies. If you procrastinate on house training sooner or later you have a 6 month old dog who messes really are a BIG problem now. Can't train sit, down, stay, come, and loose leash walking in a day. Really not even in a month. not for commands that can be followed reliably in all sorts of situations. No, we have to start day by day to build up to those wonderful dogs we send back. I guess that is one of the really cool things raising has taught me: the wonderful feeling you get from small triumphs built up each day. The little things like learning to sit before dinner. Walking down the stairs. Or simply knowing what their name is. All the little things that hopefully will build to a tearful but oh-so wonderful passing of the leash at graduation. Something I cannot wait to experience.

Ok, now my battery is about to die, so that is my ramble for the night. What is something that raising meant to you?

A little bit of the wild...

Sometimes when looking at different dogs, I have a really hard time believing they were once descended from wolves. Especially with my little dog, Dante. He is a chihuahua, and doesn't really make it on the blog much. It is not because I don't love him...its more because he is just so easy and good there is really never much to say. But he is my first dog, and one of my heart dogs. Marley is my other heart dog for a different reason: anyone meeting Marley would never describe him as an "easy" dog. But I think that is part of why I love him so much: he has taught me so much about dog training, dog body language, and dogs in general. He is the one who introduced me to big dogs (and Guide Dogs after that), so I owe alot to him.

But I digress. Back to dogs and wolf ancestry. Dante is about as far from wild as you can get: always has a soft bed to sleep in, inside most of the day, and just a pampered pooch. Last night as I was reading in bed, he displayed a very "wild" type of behavior. He buried his food! Now let me explain...since Dante and Marley love to sleep on my bed, I have some blankets there for them to snuggle in. When Dante got his treat last night, he started to bury the treat in the blankets. He would dig the blankets up, put the treat under them, and then use his muzzle to push the the blankets back over his stash. Then he would look at me, find his treat, dig it back up, and repeat the process.

Such a funny sight to watch a little Chihuahua bury his "kill" in soft blankets on a big bed.

Puppy Pictures...the process.

Well, Rafferty did not actually get to trick or treat this year, or really participate at all. But he did get to have some cute pictures taken in his halloween costume (and yes, it is the same one Uncle Sterling wore last year). I also got some pictures of him in his puppy coat. He is so funny about having his picture taken. At first he wants to get up, and I have him sit, and then he pops up again, I have him sit, and so on, until finally he sits and looks pathetic while i take his picture. I think it is the big ears and puppy dog eyes that makes him look so bored with the whole thing. Anyone have any tips for taking pictures with baby puppies?

Lost Pets

Recently GDB posted about a lost puppy. In my local paper today there was a letter to the editor about a lost cat that ended up at the shelter and was adopted out. Every day at work I have to let someone know where to look if their dog or cat has gone missing.

Maybe it seems like common sense to me, but one should always start by looking at their local shelter if they have lost their dog or cat. I am sure GDB has notified all the local shelters about missing puppy Gannon, but why is it that pet owners do not know to do the same? Is it a lack of education? Should there be more information about resources for people with lost pets?

Here is my own checklist of what I would do in the event one of my dogs goes missing:

1. Call local shelters. Usually all shelters in my county and neighboring counties. People can be weird about where they take your pet.

2. Contact local Humane Society. Many people don't know about county/city shelters and will take the dog to the Humane Society instead: even if that is a county or two away.

3. Call local vet clinics. Let them know to watch for people who may be bringing in that nice stray they found because they may want to keep it.

4. Contact local radio station (ours will run lost pet ads for free!).

5. Start making fliers with a current picture, vital stats, that they have a microchip (but not the actual number, save that for shelter personnel only) and my contact info (multiple phone #s). Now I would take them to all the places I have contacted initially so there is a visual reminder of the dog I am looking for.

6. Put up fliers around area the dog was last seen. Also put them up on community boards at pet stores, grocery stores, churches, parks, and schools.

7. Post on Internet bulletins and community forums.

8. Keep physically going to the shelters and checking for myself. You never know when your description of a Pyrenees mix looks like a Samoyed to someone else.

9. Keep hoping and searching: there have been cases of some dogs being returned to their owners after months of separation.

Rafferty Picture Post!

Here are some pictures from the day I got Rafferty at the puppy truck all the way to today (wow, 6 days already!). He continues to be a very sweet and fun puppy, though I am beginning to doubt he is a lab: his lack of interest in food is so unusual for a lab! He had his first puppy meeting last night, and had a good time meeting the other two puppies in our club. We now have one of each: a yellow lab (Jackson), a golden retriever (Elvis), and a black lab (Rafferty). Enjoy the pictures!

[Huge puppy Rafferty being carried off the truck by a GDB driver. ]
[Me grinning as I hold Rafferty in front of the puppy truck]
[While I kneel down, Rafferty stand on back legs and places his paws on my chest]
[Rafferty standing next to a small black lab puppy with a small yellow lab puppy in back]
[Golden retriever puppy greats 6 month old black lab puppy by holding paw up to older puppy's face]
[Rafferty, black lab, and Marley, brindle retriever mix, stand in front of large rocks in the snow]
[Rafferty sticks his nose in the snow and has snow up to his eyes]
[Rafferty looking at big brother Marley in front of rocks while standing in snow]
[I hold Rafferty, wrapped in a towel, after his first bath]
[Rafferty sits in front of fireplace wearing his puppy coat. Guide Dog Puppy is visible on the front of the coat]
[Rafferty yawns while having picture taken]
[Rafferty sticking tongue out while wearing puppy coat]
[Rafferty looks at camera with the sun shining on his face sitting on the grass]

Missing GDB Puppy!

Here is a link to the story on the GDB Blog page. Gannon is a 3 month old male black lab missing in Lodi California. If you are in California, or know people near this town, please let them know about this missing pup.

I hope he is found quickly and is safe upon return.

Under the Wire...

I just found out about National Blog Posting Month (NaBloPoMo) from R who found out about it from L^2! Woo, got that? I am going to take the challenge, and start with a very late post tonight! Now that I am back down to "sane" dog levels (as my mom calls it) I will hopefully have much more time to post daily. Some will be pictures, some will be just my musings, and some will be both. Tomorrow we are having wireless Internet installed and I will no longer be limited to random picture posts: now I can post straight from my laptop.

Rafferty has been great this weekend. I lucked out and have had the last two days off. Saturday we went tailgating and he was definitely a show-stopper. Tom was carrying him, and it is a very good thing I am not jealous: there were random girls running up to Tom every 5 steps! Hint to any single guys out there: get a cute puppy and walk around! Better if they are a cute puppy with a guide dog coat on! That night he snoozed in his crate after his big day while we saw Paranormal Activity. I was sooo glad to have Marley with me after that movie.

Today we mostly hung out at home. Started on food-induced-recall and played lots of tug. No accidents at all today: this boy is catching on fast!

That is all for my late night, under the wire post!