Names and Trying to Speed up Time

I've loved talking about names. I love speculating and trying out possibilities. I'm pretty sure I'm still looking at "A" names and I've added a few that I would like to see. I love Anders, Asher, and Atticus of the names that have been submitted so far. I have a dog named Aidan, and I'm afraid that my new puppy will come with that name. However, I've been reassured that if that happens I can name the puppy a different name. So, I'm kinda hoping that happens! : )

Other names I've found that I like are Aleron, Alderon, Albion, Ari, and Alijah. I like Amarillo and Allegheny for place names, and Spanish names I like are Amando (meaning lovable), Alano (little rock) and Alamar (meaning coated in gold).

There is a possibility that I'll be looking for female "J" puppy names. It depends on the availability of male puppies this close to the delivery. One of my club members can't have a female and I can, so there may be a switch. I have to say I love "J" names. I love Jemima/Jem, Jessamy/Jessa/Jess, Jubilee/Jubie, Julip, January, July, Juno/Juneau, Junie... this list goes on and on.

I still have moments of sadness about Ardella. I learned that she is in foster care now and I had hoped to keep her until she left with my CFR. Then her name was listed under Transferred Puppies in the puppy group blog. I had a few weepy episodes today. I'm doing my best to keep busy and to speed up time. I got together some balls of a cotton-blend yarn I had to make a "going to bed" mat for the new puppies out of these colors:



I think I'm going to do a version of the Modern Baby Log Cabin blanket from Mason Dixon Knits, but I don't want to do it in straight garter (too boring) and I think I'll add a seed stitch edge. Here's the blanket I knit for my grand-niece, Ava:



I'm also knitting this scarf for my leader for when she retires early next year. It's called Paws to Remember, which I thought was a fitting title for retirement of a group leader.



I'm using Malabrigo lace and the color is close to the green in the Guide Dog coat.

Lastly, I bought a 5-subject notebook to keep a diary of training and other events in more detail than I can blog about, and a Scrapbook to have something to store pictures and memorabilia of the puppy when the puppy leaves. I also bought a book on scrapbooking - I've not done this before but I like the idea of making this a regular puppy-raising project.



I'll do anything to make the time go faster! I miss having a puppy in the house!

New puppy news

I just found out we're getting a male yellow lab puppy on September 10. He is from an "A" litter. Gosh - are there any A names left? Let the guessing begin!

Humane Society Dog Walker

I went to the local humane society volunteer interview/information session and am now signed up to walk dogs one morning a week. I go through orientation in a few weeks and can expand my duties as I want, and walk more days if I want to. I had put on the form that I wanted to work with both dogs and cats, but I have to start with one species initially. I think I'll be safe in not bringing any dogs home, but the cats are harder to resist. I may wait awhile to work with the cats - I need to grow a spine first.

Speaking of cats, I hadn't wanted to write about this on the same day that I found out about what would be happening with Ardella, but our 15-year-old cat Simba didn't show up for breakfast, nor was he sleeping on the bench he sleeps on. My son had let him outside around 4:30 a.m. and he never came back home. He had been losing weight and getting really stiff the last couple of months and I suspect he is no longer with us. So, we're mourning the loss of 2 animals from our home. The house is feeling more and more empty.

I heard a few minutes ago that my CFR would be taking Ardella to her home next week or right after Labor Day. I should be able to say goodbye at that time. I'm glad to know Ardella's leaving the kennel soon since that's a source of stress for her. It kills me knowing that she's stressed out there. I wish she could stay with us a few days.

Learning to say goodbye

I had a very long discussion with my CFR today and will say that I received a lot of clarity from our conversation and decisions were made with Ardella's best interests in mind. I feel my CFR had my interests and feelings in mind in addition to Ardella's.

That being said, this hurts to say, she's not coming back to us. Ardella does not have a health issue, but is very stressed in the kennel and when getting special attention. It's not horrible stress - she doesn't need to go home with anyone at night - but the kennel situation is very stressful for her and has just now started improving a little. Ardella is going to be spayed today or tomorrow and then will be going home with my CFR or another experienced puppy raiser to see if they can change any of her behavior. If so, she will be placed in another raiser's home. If not, she will be career changed and put up for adoption. I've learned that Labs are creatures of habit and so if Ardella came back to us, she would probably resort to old behavior.

My CFR feels this has been a stressful situation for us and she recommended starting over. It has been stressful, but that didn't stop us from loving Ardella. However, I have found that my biggest fear in all this was not just in losing Ardella, but losing the chance to raise at all. I feel invested in raising a guide dog puppy for a reason, not just to gain another pet, but to raise for someone who is visually impaired so that they can have some freedom. I've seen firsthand what these dogs can do and I want to continue to be part of the process. So, we are on a list to get a puppy off the puppy truck on September 8 (Lyn's birthday). I've asked for a black lab and I don't care about the gender. This gives us some time to grieve a bit and then start over. My leader says this is heartbreaking, but things will change when I have that next puppy in my arms.

We do get to say goodbye to Ardella. We'll see her at a time when she doesn't have to see us and then go back to the kennel. It will be in a few weeks. I really need to kiss her nose one last time!

Bethany, if you read this, can you tell Anna?

Ardella

I called Guide Dogs this afternoon to find out how Ardella was doing. They told me my CFR would be contacting me - that that is the person from whom I would receive the news. This sounds ominous - maybe not - but that's how I took the information. I just want to know something so I can accept and go on, or make future plans.

Sister Ann's Picasa link for wedding pictures

Keri's wedding

Per e-mail from Ann, these start with dinner from the Leavenworths and go through the wedding and reception following. Thank you, Ann!

Fixed, I hope, per Ann's instructions.

Wedding videos

I had to divide this video into 2 parts. The total length is 16 minutes. I'm posting the video for friends and relatives who weren't able to attend the wedding. Pictures are up at Flickr, but they are such a spotty representation of the wedding that I'm going to wait for more pictures to come in from the photographer and from people who were at the wedding to post any.

The person officiating the ceremony is my brother, Mark. I'm assuming you know the bride and groom are Keri and Ryan.

Wedding Week

I am so tired I can't see straight, but just a short note to say that I'll post the U-tube link to the wedding in its entirety tomorrow - it's taking a long time to download and I need to go to bed. The short story is that the wedding was beautiful and the company and celebration were wonderful. All my brothers and sisters were there, so were my parents. We haven't been together very often in the last 11 years or so and even though we were busy, it meant a lot to me that they all showed up and were such a big help and support through the week. I also got to spend some time with an old family friend from our days in Tallahassee, Martin. I don't think I'd seen him since high school and I was delighted to visit with him and his wonderful family.

So, pictures tomorrow. More pictures will follow in days to come - most were taken by other people.

Ardella is at the Guide Dog campus and is being evaluated. I've not heard anything and hope to hear something on Monday. I miss her so much and hope we will be reunited soon. I just don't know what to expect.

Ellie left a week ago and I hope she is on her way to a new family soon.

Beginning of the End?

Lyn took Ardella to work on Wednesday and she had an accident. He cleaned it up and informed the building manager. Yesterday he was told that he was forbidden to bring Ardella back. In the meantime, we've been through an escalating series of accidents since Fun Day. I'm not taking her out and about at all now. I asked for help from my leader and CFR and I'm waiting to hear whether Ardella can go have further tests up on campus. I'm discouraged and I'm wondering if Ardella will be a Guide Dog puppy in training much longer. I don't want to give up, I don't want to lose her, and I want some guidance.

Meanwhile, wedding guests start arriving tomorrow night. Next week will be a whirlwind of activity. I'm excited, even though I'm feeling a bit down about Ardella. Ellie will be leaving us on Monday and plans to visit the Museum of Glass in Tacoma are in place. I'm going to be cleaning house today and tomorrow, and making menus for the week for all the family staying with us, but before I start that, I'm going to go console myself by buying Pat Conroy's new book, South of Broad. I will read anything he writes.

Fun Day

Fun Day at the Boring GDB campus was today. We got a late start from oversleeping and had to feed and water and relieve dogs and cats before we left. We didn't get to campus until 10:45. We immediately saw Karren and Annalynn and Anna and Avani and talked littermate stuff together. Shortly after that Mike started rounding up people from our club to meet Michele, the new CFR. She wanted to meet all the puppies in the group and take them for a walk.

At 11:30, Lyn and went to our littermate meet-up spot and met up with Avani and Annabella. I haven't seen Annabella since picking up puppies in January, so it was great to meet her and her raiser. The 3 puppies from left to right are Avani, Annabella, and Ardella. Alberta, one of the black lab puppies, is in Annabella's puppy group, but I guess her raiser didn't make it. Amos was supposed to be on campus too, but I never saw him either. We learned that Annamarie was career changed this week and apparently is down in San Rafael.

Michele took Ardella for a walk and saw some of the rapid panting, frequent relieving that I have seen. I was glad someone else saw it. She got Dr. Patti to walk with her and Dr. Patti did not see anything that alarmed her, but did say that if my vet wanted more tests run, we would be bringing Ardella up to campus some time this week to have them done. Ardella did have frequent accidents on campus today and rapid breathing on the way up. It wasn't hot. She really exhibits a lot of stress on campus and I don't know if this is because of a physical or emotional response to stress. Hopefully, we'll know soon. Michele also said Ardella shows very little raiser awareness. This is true - she doesn't. She's far more interested in her environment when she's outside or in a big group setting like we've been to on the guide dog campus.

I was a little unnerved by the CFR meetup, so I was more than ready to leave by 2:30, which is when Fun Day ended. We bought a mat for Go to Bed and a front-pouch with belt for food protocol. We stayed to see the new puppies given to raisers (there was one named Marley) and then left. It was good to see people. I hope we are more relaxed next year.

Ellie's new people had a home visit today and they aren't quite ready for a dog. We've been asked to keep Ellie until after the wedding... Sigh!

UA results

It's a relief to hear that the UA was normal, but the doctor was surprised it wasn't more concentrated since it had been 22 hours since she'd had any water. So, he says he still thinks that something is wrong, is going to talk to the vet a GDB and then they will probably ask me to start monitoring water intake by not allowing Ardella water after her evening meal every day. He's also still concerned about her heat intolerance that is much more than Ardella just being hot. I'm more reassured but there's always a next step and I just want this to be over!

Puppy club class observations

Lyn and I tried for 3 hours yesterday to collect Ardella's second urine of the day. Every time she'd squat, we'd try to collect and she'd abruptly stand up and refuse to go. Out of desperation, we called the vet clinic and they agreed to try to collect a sample for us while I was working (a half day) and I could pick her up later in the morning. She wouldn't go for them either. Eight-and-a-half hours later, I went to the clinic, took Ardella outside to the parking lot, walked her around in an area she'd gone before and finally got a sample. This sample looked to be clearly yellow and since Ardella didn't show signs of distress holding her urine all day, the doctor thought things looked promising. So, I'll find out the UA results some time today (I hope).

My hopes for Ardella's future rose (I'm tired of this rollercoaster of questioning) so Lyn and I went to puppy class. Ardella started to get really excited when she saw dogs, I gave a good correction and it was effective. I was excited about that! Ardella is going to be staying with puppy sitter, Peggy, on Keri and Ryan's wedding date, so Lyn and I let Peggy work with Ardella and we had the rare privilege of observing Ardella during class. I was impressed and thought Ardella looked really good physically and behaviorally. She is usually very good in the class and Lyn thinks it might be due to modeling and seeing what the other dogs are doing. At home, Ardella is still very puppy like.

One activity that I enjoyed and that was new for Ardella was when our leader brought a baseball and began rolling it from one person to another. The idea was to expose the dogs to a rolling ball and have the dogs ignore it. Ardella was initially excited by the ball, but with a correction started ignoring it. All the dogs eventually did very well. I plan to do this exercise at home, especially when my 2 nephews are here next week. I think this is something they can do with Ardella that they will enjoy.

Next Saturday evening is when my brother arrives and the week will be full of activity. I have decided to forego Sock Summit and clean house this weekend although we have Fun Day tomorrow and I'll be spending time there. Keri is on her way over to show me the results of her trial hair appointment - I cannot believe how close the wedding date is!

I'll post again when I hear the UA results.

Urinalysis update

It turns out that Ardella's specific gravity (concentration of urine) is very low and has been with all her samples. I was surprised because the last sample actually had color to it! We're withholding water for the evening and will take her second urine of the day in tomorrow. Hopefully a specific gravity result will be available soon after the culture is taken in instead of having to wait weeks. So, Ardella could have kidney problems, but I don't know enough to guess what the extent of the problem is. I'm hoping I have something definitive to report tomorrow.

We may have a home for Ella. Crossing fingers that everything checks out. It sounds like a good home!

Sand animation

This was all over Facebook today. I think it's incredible!

Ellie is settling in. I am keeping her separate from the other dogs, especially when eating, alternating who gets crated, who spends time with me, and we're working on moving her out. It's not that I don't want her, it's just not a good time. She's so sweet and is a velcro dog if I've ever seen one. I had a bunch of pictures on Flickr for MARS to put on the NW adoption page and removed them. I'll post her adoption information as soon as it's available.

MARS needs foster homes, badly. I hate puppy mills. HATE them! That's why there are so many mini Aussies available.

P.S. No word from the vet yet about Ardella's culture. He's still playing phone tag with the vet at the Boring campus. We're hoping for better luck tomorrow. It's been a week already!