No more polar bear...

When Stacy arrived, we laughed at our little polar bear cub puppy. Her fur was so light, she was so round, and her black nose and dark eyes just painted the picture of a baby polar bear.

Alas, her cute little black nose is turning pink. And no, I didn't use bleach! Her paw pads are also fading to pink. It is a shame, because her dark nose was so cute. From what I hear, it is isn't uncommon for noses to fade like this.

Along with the fading nose, the snoring seems to have dissipated, too. So, I think I'll happily trade a beautiful black-nosed puppy for a pink-nosed dog who sleeps quietly. For now, I have a hybrid, some black and a little night-time noise.

Stacy goes to Santa Barbara

We recently went on vacation, and Stacy couldn't come with us.

So, what do normal people do with their puppy when they go on vacation? They ask a neighbor to puppy sit, or they take the dog to a kennel.

Well, Stacy is a guide dog in training, and she has to stay with a Guide Dogs approved puppy sitter when we go away.

Yeah, you guessed it, no puppy sitters were available in my county. So, Stacy had to go to Santa Barbara and put up with absolutely delightful ocean breezes and sunshine and a beautiful backyard.

While on her vacation, Stacy had the opportunity to visit San Francisco. She went to the beauty parlor and out to lots of wonderful restaurants, and everyone remarked on how pretty she was and how well behaved.

So, my thanks go out to Marcia and her husband for expanding Stacy's horizons.

Stacy, Come!

Stacy used to come any time we called her. Of course, she was always rewarded with a bit of dog food.

We started using the food reward less often, and got down to about one reward out of 4 come commands.

Come hasn't been working too well lately.

So, I added more frequent kibble to the come command and Stacy really liked it.

So, after trips out of the office, I would call her into my office, and give her a reward. Well, it didn't take long for Stacy to figure out that if she ran out of my office immediately after getting her treat (before I closed the baby gate), she might get another one. Of course I didn't fall for it...

Smart puppy. She's going to do just fine!

Baby Pictures

I was surfing the Internet, and found Stacy's baby picture. Check it out at Flicker:
www.flickr.com/photos/guidedogsfortheblind/4169563074/in/set-72157622836740001/

Jolly Ball works too well

After 20 minutes of Jolly Ball and OJ, Stacy decided a break was in order.

Jolly-Ball play with his puppy all the day
Puppy love him well and likes to makes him sway
Oh oh oh oh, Jolly-Ball leap
Oh oh oh oh, make the puppy sleep

Which one are you???

Stacy came into this world at the Guide Dogs for the Blind campus in San Rafael in October, 2009. Every month, they film the puppies playing and post a clip to you-tube. Here is the clip from December, 2009. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nTsoJlT5s4

Can you tell which one is Stacy?

Move over OJ

The orange juice jug sits ignored in the back yard.

Stacy has a new favorite toy, the Jolly-Ball. It is a tough rubber ball about 10 inches across with a knotted rope running through a hole in the ball.

Stacy loves to grab the rope and drag the ball around. When she runs, her front legs bounce against the ball, creating a drumming noise. Of course, sometimes she trips over the ball and goes tumbling (which she seems to love).

I enjoy watching her play, and for some unknown reason, I can't help but hear the reggae beat of Jimmy Buffet singing "Jolly-Mon." Of course, I've been rewriting the lyrics a bit ...

Jolly-Ball plays with his puppy every night
People love him well 'cause he wears the puppy out
Oh oh oh oh, Jolly-Ball bounce
Oh oh oh oh, make the puppy pounce

OJ!

Well, it took some time, but we finally managed to drink 1 gallon of orange juice.

Now Stacy loves her bright orange OJ bottle. She runs with it in her mouth, drops it, runs into it, and sometimes even tumbles right over it.

And OJ bottles are much sturdier than milk jugs. So I don't have to watch her every moment she is playing with it.

Stacy is a clever little girl. She likes to grab mouthfuls of grass. So, when the bottle is between us, she sometimes dips her head down and chomps on the lawn. But she is learning ... I take the bottle away when I catch her with grass in her mouth.

What I miss...

What I miss about my old life ...

• sleeping in (anything past 7 am)
• clean glasses (it is amazing how far a puppy tongue can reach)
• peace and quiet (sans whining, chewing, snoring, bouncing of the X-crate)

What I like about my new life ...

• knowing Stacy wants to see me and be with me
• the wonderful feeling each time Stacy demonstrates that she understands something new
  
• ability to strike up conversations with total strangers, and the surprising discovery that they are not just about Stacy
  

Got Milk?

Stacy has a new favorite toy -- the plastic milk jug.

I always knew Stacy was a puppy, but getting her to prance around and play like a puppy eluded me until I watched a YouTube video of guide dog puppies playing with plastic bottles. They played vigorously with their bottles. So I washed one up, removed the label, and dropped it on the linoleum floor.

Stacy didn't like the noise of the bottle bouncing and sliding across the floor and ignored the bottle after about 30 seconds. I was bummed, but since the puppies in the video had been playing on the grass, I took the puppy and the bottle outside. WOW! Stacy went into puppy mode, running and pouncing on the bottle, chewing, even picking up the milk jug by the handle and shaking it.

We've even taken to playing tug with milk jugs. I flatten the jug by stepping on it, creating a crease where Stacy can clamp on. Then I grab the handle and hold on. (Can you hear my smile?)

The only bad thing about milk jugs is that it only takes about 15 minutes of chewing for her to work pieces loose. This means that I have to constantly watch and take the toy away for trimming. I've heard that orange juice bottles are made of sturdier plastic and work better for larger puppies.

Got OJ?

Umbrellas anyone?

This is southern California, and when it really rains, ...

I watched with amusement as Paul tried to coax Stacy into using the outdoor facilities during a torrential downpour. Stacy was not at all happy about being outside in the rain.

Stacy seems to have decided that Paul has two main functions. The first was easy to observe--Paul makes an excellent umbrella. The second I didn't learn about until they came back inside. I teased Paul about the wet spot on his butt where his raincoat ended, and he told me about the wet spots on the inside of each pant leg where Stacy kept returning to dry off her fur! Cleaver little puppy.

Life is good!

How do you sleep that way?

It amazes me what Stacy can sleep on. She routinely falls asleep with one or more of her toys underneath her body. She just plops down, and doesn't even seem to notice the toys. Being accustomed to a nice soft bed, I cannot imagine sleeping with a rock-hard Nylabone under my ribcage. Ah, the joy of youth...

You Go Girl!

Since I learned to give appropriate "collar corrections," Stacy has been a joy to take on walks. I don't think Stacy much likes the corrections, but they say very clearly that whatever is going in needs to be changed. And when she correctly changes the behavior, she is warmly rewarded with "Good girl" comments.

Although our walks are limited to going around one or two blocks, Stacy seems to be much happier now. Part of that is the amount of positive reinforcement I can give her. "Good girl" is a well-deserved and frequently overheard comment on our walks. That is, when I'm not saying "Good puppy" for variety.

Oh, she still likes to go after beauty bark and fallen leaves, but when she is hearing all those "Good girls" she seems content to leave most of those leaves alone.

We still need to work on overcoming a few distractions -- loud motorcycles being one, unknown humans on foot or bicycle being the other.

I can't wait for her to wake up from her nap so that I can say, "Stacy, Let's Go."

Nap Time

Stacy does a few things very well. One is sitting, the other is sleeping. (Yes, she still snores!)

In puppy club yesterday, I learned how to properly "correct" the puppy when she wasn't obeying. Since then, it has been a joy to take Stacy out for a walk. She still wants to eat every leaf and weed in sight, but she no longer grabs at every fallen leaf, just every 15th or 20th leaf. Hey, every improvement gets her one step closer to her destiny of becoming a guide dog.

Part of the pack

Stacy went to her first puppy club meeting today, where she learned to "come."

Stacy loves the "come" command and obeys instantly. I suspect that is because she is rewarded with food and attention when she arrives.

Stacy also had the opportunity to meet other guide dogs. Photo courtesy of Michael.

Stacy Sit

Laurel had Stacy before the puppy was transferred to us. Laurel did a wonderful job teaching the "sit" command.

ZZZ

My life just turned a bit crazy. A guide dog puppy named Stacy moved in 24 hours ago.

No one warned me that puppies SNORE! Stacy snores when I'm trying to work, she snores when I'm trying to sleep. I adore the wee beastie, I just wish they made "breath-right" nasal strips in puppy sizes.