McCoy and other things

Life is a blur right now. I now remember why I didn't blog much in the beginning with Ardella. This boy does not sleep through the night and crate training and doing business is starting from scratch. Nights are interrupted and I feel sleep deprived, but I take comfort in knowing this is a short phase. McCoy doesn't seem to know the difference between doing his business outside and doing his business in the crate. I know you aren't supposed to bathe puppies right away, but I couldn't stand the smell any longer and today he got a bath. Now he's wild from post-bath effect. I don't think I've ever met such an endearing puppy though. I want to cuddle him and kiss his head all the time, but he won't have anything to do with anyone for longer than 5 seconds. Does puppy ADHD exist?

Taking pictures is a challenge, but here are 2 we got on Sunday that show McCoy's face. All of them have some blur to them because he doesn't want to be still.



Especially this one:



I've had 3 days of work with McCoy and have discovered that being on tie-down on a dog bed right next to me works much better than having McCoy in a crate. I've actually produced the last few days, so I'm hoping things don't change here. We take frequent breaks to go outside and I think I catch his signals to go outside much better this way. We have fewer accidents during the work day anyway.

McCoy is taking up much of our time, but Lyn took a trip to the Lewis River with Aidan on Saturday and got some nice pictures. Aidan loved hiking on the trail and was quite adept at climbing up rocks. He loved walking beside the river, but wasn't fond of swimming in it.



They hiked along the East Fork of the Lewis River and saw Lucia Falls.





I have done the Dog I and II classes for volunteers at the humane society and later this week will be doing a mentoring session with a seasoned volunteer dog walker. I thought this would be a fun and relaxing volunteer activity, but it turns out that dog walking will be quite a workout. They want us to work on basic obedience skills with the dogs while walking and want us to do things the humane society way. That can be a challenge when I want to correct the guide dog way, but I look forward to volunteering. I'm learning a lot about head collars and good harnesses. I have had good luck with harnesses and now know that it's because I get the kind with rings on the back, not on the front - the front rings act a lot like head collars. I may extend my time to socializing dogs when McCoy is older. I'm quite aware of transmission of disease, and bought shoes this weekend to replace the shoes I'll be using strictly for dog walking. I have this routine of putting on and taking off shoes in the garage, but may change that to changing shoes and clothes at the shelter.

More pictures of McCoy. I wish my daughter would send me the pictures she took of McCoy on Sunday. Keri, please get a Flickr account! I promise I'll only get the pictures of McCoy! : )

Getting McCoy

Lyn took videos of me getting McCoy. In the beginning I'm telling him "It's not Ardella." There was an older puppy in one of the first kennels that was visible from the puppy doorway. It looked EXACTLY like Ardella and I was a little upset that I was looking at Ardella in a kennel, not able to pet her. It sort of took away from the anticipation of getting McCoy. Fortunately, it wasn't Ardella and I was able to enjoy the happy occasion of receiving my puppy.



The things you forget about young puppies! I didn't remember puppies sleeping so much or having to do business every 20 minutes. I also didn't remember why doing business in the backyard where there are a lot of pine cones was something we gave up early with Ardella. There was a reason for moving to the cement driveway that could be swept off and hosed down. I am so in love with this puppy though! His fur feels like velvet and he follows me everywhere. We did the first recall exercise with McCoy tonight and he got so excited. He doesn't know his name yet, but that's coming along. The kibble helps!

The Real McCoy!

They were just a little bit late today. Lyn and I arrived at 11:50 thinking that if we only had 10 minutes to wait we'd be in good shape. However, we found that the truck wouldn't arrive until 2 or 2:30, so we left campus and went out to eat at a nice Italian restaurant in Gresham. We arrived back about 1:30 and Amy drove up about the same time. We went into the kitchen/receiving area to look at the blackboard and found Ardella's and Phineas's names in the kennels. They are both leaving today to go north to our CFR. Phineas also happened to come into the kennel and he and Amy had an unexpected and emotional reunion. I didn't see Ardella, but was so tempted to ask to do so.

Outside we waited with other club members and about 2:30 the truck drove in. They started handing us the puppies out in the parking lot, along the grassy area. I was the last to get a puppy, but did get the chance to see other club members receive puppies. Amy got Josh, Pam got Dublin. I got McCoy and the name really suits him. He's a Bingham/Alanis puppy, so he's Ardella's half brother (same father). He is very, very active! Here he is getting his first drink of water.



He likes to put his feet in the bowl and splash. He also has been playing since we brought him home. He runs, he doesn't walk. He was quite squirmy on the way home and only started falling asleep as we got off the Interstate to get on the main street to our home. I'll have more pictures, maybe even short videos of us picking McCoy up, but I have to feed the boy and show him the rest of the house. He just peed on the floor, bounced in it and barked. I think we're going to be raising a dog with Personality!

Slight change in plans

My leader just called to say that what was finally put on the puppy truck for me was not YLM puppy from an "A" litter, but a BML puppy from an "M" litter. Oh joy! I get my black Lab!

Update tonight, and then tomorrow is the BIG DAY!

Minus 5 Days

We're getting closer!

I got the Loopy Ewe Sock Club shipment today. Probably the last Wollmeise I'll ever get, and fortunately it's in the cooler color combination that I like. I got the Wollmeise, a sock pattern, a sheep notepad (love these) and a project bag.



Lyn and I went to downtown Vancouver where he and Virgil went to Mon Ami for coffee and to run errands, and I went to StitchCraft to visit with Nicholette. I ran into Barb coming out the door and we had a mini catchup session on the wedding and Ardella. I stayed for quite some time and came away with yarn for a sweater. It's Brae Tweed, a supersoft yarn, and I'm trying to decide between 2 patterns - Mr. Greenjeans or Amused, both Knitty patterns.



Virgil and Lyn came in to visit for a little while. I had a close encounter with Virgil and a ball of yarn the first day Virgil came to our house, but he was great in the shop. He just went to sleep. I am in awe of what this dog can do! Now he's not perfect - he's only 8 almost 9 months old. I can't let him out of my sight when he's awake. He has destroyed a box of Kleenex, an exercise band, and a Wubba that I wasn't aware was under a couch. However, 95% of the time he's an angel. I can't resist his face. Have I said today how glad I am that he's visiting?



Here's a picture of Aidan, who feels a little left out. He was enjoying being an only dog after Ardella left. My nephew Colin has guinea pigs who he thinks are adorable. He has created a new family term to describe cute animals and Aidan received the first title of "guinea pig cute" from Colin. So, here's my guinea-pig cute Aidan:



Finally, my cousin, Sam Baker, has released his third CD, Cotton. Lyn's birthday is Tuesday. Guess what he's getting! Can't wait to hear it!

Good News Friday and 6 Days and Counting until P Day

I am still receiving Baby Boy "A" and after keeping Virgil for the last few days, I'm so thrilled! I can't wait to raise a male puppy! We'll be getting 3 new male puppies in the club (we have a lot of female puppies).

I talked with one of my leaders today about Ardella. We will be saying goodbye after she has been with my CFR for awhile. There was a concern that we shouldn't cause Ardella more stress by having her see us again and then leave us so close to having made a few transitions. If she is career changed, we still get a choice to keep her. However, we're hoping that after my CFR works with her, she can still make it to advanced training. I'm happy with this plan.

I LOVE Virgil. He's such a good boy! We went out for coffee with Karren and Annalynn today and he was well behaved. Karren and I switched puppies for a walk we took and I felt like I was with Ardella again. I sneaked in a kiss on Annalynn's nose and felt like I was giving Ardella a kiss goodbye. It was good therapy.

I forgot to add this, but I have good knitting news, too. The newest Loopy Ewe sock club yarn is Wollmeise. It's been a long time since I bought any Wollmeise and I'm excited about getting this upcoming package.

A Welcome Guest

This is Virgil. Unfortunately, his raiser had an emergency family situation and needed a sitter, but I was able to take Virgil, so he is here with us for about a week. He's a handsome boy! He's almost 9 months. He's awesome. He does his business on command, is very good when meeting people when we are walking, and is a very good car rider. He's even calm around cats.

It's great to have a guide dog puppy in the house again! This will definitely help the time pass more quickly and I probably won't get many of those projects finished that I had planned to do. Oh well... : )

Virgil's funny face - I think he got tired of having his picture taken. It was hard to get a picture of him looking into the camera:



He's very good on tie down. We're going to enjoy having Virgil here!



P.S. I am so ready for a new puppy cam on the Guide Dog Blog!