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.