I met Karren at Everything in the Ark on Tuesday when she and AL met with a trainer for an evaluation. I was able to give Karren Annalynn's cake and present - a green food dispensing ball and an antler - and I stayed for the evaluation. One of the fun parts of the evaluation was taking Annalynn and one of the staff dogs out to a field in a fenced area and letting Annalynn run on a long leash. Boy did she RUN!
On Thursday afternoon, Karren and Annalynn picked up Ardella and me and we drove up to the GDB Boring campus to see staff that took care of Annalynn while she was in the kennels and to deliver some delicious Butterhorns that Karren had made. Annalynn and Ardella saw one another for the first time in months when we got to campus and they were overjoyed. I was told recently that the puppies never forget the people who raise them and they never forget their littermates. Our girls obviously recognized one another. They remembered the people who took care of them on campus as the techs who cared for them came out to see them. I got a chance to look at the boards but didn't take a picture. It looks like everyone knows that their dog is either waiting for a string or is in training. There have been a lot of recalled dogs and there are plenty of dogs in the kennels at this time. Hopefully the waiters will be placed in a string soon.
After leaving campus, we drove home and got to my house as it was getting dark. We had just enough light to let the dogs run in the back yard and come in and eat cake (Karren saved a piece for Ardella). Ardella and Annalynn were pretty excited to be in the back yard and house together and it seemed Ardella wanted to show Annalynn all the fun things she had learned to do such as running up the stairs and dropping balls down and just running and playing chase. It was hard to tell the dogs apart - they really do look a lot alike. Ardella is larger than Annalynn and weighs 51.3 pounds, while Annalynn is 49 pounds or maybe less. Still, we had to look twice to see which dog we were addressing.
Today, Karren picked me up and dropped off Annalynn for Lyn to sit. Karren and I drove up to campus for a class at Guide Dogs. (It was a great class on relieving protocol, leashes, and Go to Bed). When we came back we were met at the door by two happy dogs who had had a good time chasing, walking on leash, playing tug, and dragging out every toy in the toy box.
(They didn't play with the shoes - my son just left them by the closet).
Ardella and Annalynn were pretty ready to call it a day. Ardella just lay down on the floor.
Annalynn relaxed with a stuffed toy.
I'm so glad the sisters get to see one another frequently. It's so fun to let them interact. We have plans to meet with our former CFR to do some home training and we'll be having regular play dates in the future.
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