Where it all stands

Tai is in formal training as of 8-9-08
Paige is still a loving pet and the sweetest dog ever!

Liam has been Re-matched with his new partner.

Voight has been re-matched with his new partner.

The Return of the RamPaige and Tai-rade

This is what happened when Tai got his big sister back. Can you even tell who is who?

The Last Call

As some of you GDA people know, we got a call from GDA on Friday.

Paige has been released from the program.

When I spoke to the head of the puppy department, she said that Paige's dog distraction is too strong to continue. We knew this was a problem when we agreed to take her on just about a year ago. She made progress, but as many of you know, the stress of the harness and making decisions can bring out issues and difficulties in all dogs. She lamented that Paige is such a sweet girl and that her guide work was really excellent, but that this was one difficulty that she would not be able to overcome, and they did not want to break her spirit.

What followed next was a jumble of mixed emotions - and still kinda is, in a way. I called Matthew at work and explained what had happened, still feeling stunned - after all, we got Paige's second postcard not that long ago. He was able to leave work, especially since his supervisor had known Paige, with very little trouble. I, on the other hand, not being able to bring a dog to this job, had a harder time, complicated by the fact I couldn't find a single person higher than myself. I left my boss a phone message and email with a quick prayer for understanding, and left.

We called our wonderful area leaders, closest friends, and then dropped off Tai with his puppy friend Weeko. We had no idea what to expect - this is one part of the process we had not experienced, and did not want to have Tai the 72 pound teenager to distract from whatever might happen (more on him in a sec). The drive up there was odd, because while we were both sort of emotional, both of us were also feeling guilty for feeling happy. We were reminded that this truly is a win-win: it's a win if she's a guide, but it's also a win if she's not. We just didn't know what to do with this win, yet.

Paige had just had a bath and the head of the kennel department brought her to us still pretty damp, but it was a damp, wiggly, happy Paiges that barrelled towards us. She knocked off my sunglasses and me onto my butt much like her "big brother" Voight does when he sees us after a long absence. She immediately pushed her head into our chests as hard as she could - Paige's ultimate gesture of love and affection. We were told all the necessary paperwork would be mailed. We walked her to the truck, she jumped in like she'd never been gone, and sighed a very contented sigh.

Matthew picked up Tai, and I stayed with the Paiges. I got a text message before Matthew left to come home: he knows. Tai had glued his nose to Matthew as soon as he saw him - Tai was scenting his sister! When Tai came out into the backyard, they barrelled at each other, tails a-waggin'. Tai is now fully as big as Paige, weighs as much, with much bigger feet. We think that she's wondering what we fed him while she was gone.

Paige is not going to be staying with us. A part of why we do the whole GDA thing in the first place is that we don't have a dog door for a puppy and truly, we are pretty busy people (as our spotty blogging record attests). It would not be fair to take Tai everywhere and Paige hang out at home by herself. Paige is going to stay with my mom, whose last dog passed away the same day we turned in Liam, August 2006. Mom always wanted to do therapy dogs with her Watson, but he turned out to be ill of health and therefore cranky. Paige will be perfect.

So it turns out that from getting Paige to getting Paige BACK is almost a year precisely. We are still adjusting to the change. We are still pretty emotionally out of whack currently, but these past 36 hours have been amazing on so many levels. We will have Paige until next weekend, and then she will go on to her new home and next adventure.

That's our girl, part II

That's Our Girl!

There are so many things I would like to name this post, most of them words like "WOOOHOOO", "YEAH!!", "MY PAIGES!!", and other general sounds of excited happiness. We got Paige's first postcard from the school. It's been six weeks since we gave her back, and other than a spurious "she's okay" from our source, it's been a long six weeks.

We got back from the Walk For the Animals, and there it was. You see, one of Paige's brothers has been dropped from the training ("career changed" as we call it) a few weeks ago, and that upped our nerves a bit. And keep in mind, she was close to being dropped before she came here, and she was never good with the crate, which is how they travel to training sites when they are in for training. But we had faith.

She's a long way from graduation, and she still has at least two big tests ahead of her. But she's that much closer, and we can't tell you how good that feels. And for the curious among you, this is what we get:

What do YOU call it?

Some people call it the Labrador Shuffle. Some call it the Kirby Derby, the crazies, the scoots, warthog, the zoom-zooms. We call it:

RAMPAIGE!

(sorry, we just figured out how to get video on here - we're a little slow)

The Next Paige Begins

Well, we have survived another turn in. One year ago this past weekend, we gave Liam back to the school. Little did we know that we had yet to meet our Paige, and that we'd be going through another turn-in in a year. (And yes, the idea that Tai is not quite seven months now and that in a year he'll be about nineteen months, ready to go, has hit us like a ton of bricks.)

In the tradition that was inadvertently started when Voight went In For Training, we decided to have a turn-in party for the very last huzzah, allowing Paige to say goodbye to her friends, two and four legged, before she went off to be a guide. And truly, it wasn't just Paige: of the five dogs going in from our South Bay group, four were present - Paige, her brother Palmer, Reese, and Kipper. We invited quite a few people, puppyraisers and colleagues from work, as well as family members - and ended up with about twenty people and twelve dogs. And for the record: two Golden-doodles, one Golden-Lab cross, and nine labs.

These dogs continually amaze me - with all of them running amok in the backyard, there was nary a grunt or growl. When they got a little too rambunctious, the leashes went on and everyone was calm. The highlights: Ember, the Golden-Lab, leading the charge(all twelve dogs) with a ring toy in her mouth, around Matthew and THROUGH our friend's legs; Tai deciding that Oceana was THE prettiest female he'd ever seen and tried to "prove it"; Paige getting her last loves from, oh, basically everyone.

So everyone went home pretty dang tired, and Paige was no exception (Tai went with his friend Weeko home, so we could have our last night with Paige). She got into bed, thumped her tail contentedly, and was out and snoring before you could say "g'night".

The next day: as Matthew says, turn-in is a really good thing. That they got there and are going to be trained for guidework is the whole point. But it still kinda sucks.

We got there early (gluttons for punishment, I guess) and spent a bit of alone time with Paige in one of the dorms that the school has for the graduates (they had part of the building under construction; usually these rooms aren't open). We told her that we hoped that the next time we saw her, she'd be in one of those rooms with her new partner.

As we have said, you get there, you have lunch, and they talk to you about what is next for the dogs, that you can call and check on them at any time, and that you have Given The Gift. I have to say that we were impressed with the trainer who spoke to us. She was very reassuring, explained the next few weeks in much more detail that I have heard before (how they divide the dogs among the three trainers, for example), and told us which trainers would have this string of dogs. Incidentally, one of the trainers who will be working with Paige's string also worked with both Voight and Liam, and another trainer worked with Liam's string as well - a very good thing.

And then it was time.

You take the pictures with the littermates, and then you walk down to the kennels, and they start announcing who goes where with whom. Our little girl was in kennel four, with her brother Palmer, whom she knows and likes. She went right in, seemed very much at home, jumping up to look into the next-door kennels to see her new neighbors. We believe that Paige spent a lot of time in the kennels before we got her, and she's never been known to stress there, so that is one comfort. Then it was time to leave.

We told her that we love her, to try her very best and be the good girl that we know she is. We know she's in the excellent hands of the kennel staff, as well as the trainers, but it's amazing how much you miss her as soon as you shut the door.

A friend of ours once said that instead of the puppies getting medicine for heartworm, it should be the puppyraiser, because the puppies always worm their way into our hearts. Amen.

It's Time

Well, on Saturday, it will be time. Paige is really going in for training. She's come a LONG way, and we couldn't be more proud of her...but....

anyone know of a country that doesn't have an extradition treaty?

I know, I know, we have to give her back, as we gave Voight and Liam back before her, but this is the really hard part. The two of us have differences in how we perceive turn-in also, but it's one of those things that everyone handles differently.

It's been hilarious, the people who have wanted "their last Paige kiss/ hug/ puppysit/ step on the foot. I got a call today from the lady I dropped Paige off with: she had taken Paige to the OTHER lady who's been helping us with the pups while I can't take one to work. The other lady wasn't pleased that SHE hadn't had her last puppysit of Paige (sorry, tomorrow and Friday Paige will go with her daddy, and Tai will be puppysat).

It has also been very hard not to have a pup with me (Amy) at work. I miss the thump-thumps of the tail when I sit down in my chair, the small (or large) snores emanating from the corner.

We're going to miss her.

I don't know what all happens at other schools when you give your dog back, but with us, we have a luncheon up at the school, they have speakers that tell you how wonderful you are, that you have Given The Gift, but still:

You take your dog down to the kennels. You take their collars off. You kiss them goodbye.

You turn around and leave.

Someone asked us after our last meeting why we didn't cry when we talked about turning the Paiges back in. It was nearly four weeks ago. It still wasn't real. And we were dealing with other changes, my new job, etc. Trust me, I'm making up for it now.

We are so proud of Paige, and we truly love what we do. We wouldn't stop doing this for anything. But as our friend tells us, it's like a rollercoaster to raise a guide. The car goes up, the car goes down. You just hang on for dear life.

A Moose By Any Other Name...

I know occasionally other fellow puppy bloggers have posted lists of favorite nicknames for their respective pooches. GDA's company line is not to nickname the dogs, so for example, they might not want you to name your pup Victor, because they would be afraid it would turn into Vic (sorry, that one's taken anyway). That being said, EVERYONE we know nicknames their pups, which is a normal sign of affection. The only real difference is that when giving commands, we use their correct and full name (most of the time, anyway) So, without further ado, the not-official-nickname list for:

Paige


Paige-a-roo, RamPaige, Paiges, Yellow Paiges (yes, she's black, but you need to see her rolling in dead grass), Paiger, Moose, Delicate Little Flower, Ow-Get-Off-My-Foot, Gremlin, Big Love, Habibi (thanks to my wonderful Egyptian friend), You've-Been-Paiged, Paige-Ra (not like She-Ra, like Moth-ra), Baby Girl





Tai

Tainormous, Tai'erd (tired), My Tai, TaiZilla, Tai Chi (yes, we forgot to consider pun potential when selecting his name), Ox, Close-Your-Mouth-When-Kissing-Me, Barky-Pants, Bottomless Pit, Sir, Little Love, Bicious Veastie, The Dark Lord, Captain Ridiculous, Major Lee Ridiculous, Little Boy

Mammoth

We did something 4th of July weekend that we had never done before with any of our previous dogs - we took both of them on vacation with us. Matthew's dad has a place up on Mammoth Mountain and so we met Amy's parents, brother, sister-in-law, and five month old niece Eleanor (Ellie) there for a long weekend.

The dogs did great - and boy, did they get dirty! We hiked to Devil's Postpile, a natural hexagonal rock formation, one of only two in the world (the other's in Scotland, for anyone who's interested) and from there, to Rainbow Falls. The pups had never been on trail before (and really, we had never taken a dog on trail before). They were out of jacket, and were allowed to free-range a bit on leash. They were so curious about EVERYTHING! "Oooh, look! A bush! Oh, look, a pinecone! Can I eat pinecones?" The way back was a bit much for Amy, who already had not been feeling well,... and a lot of the trail home was uphill. Well, let's just say that Amy can't say that Paige never did anything for her. During the more extended uptrail parts, Amy held onto Paige - and was pulled up the hill. Can you say uphill assist?

We hiked to Inyo Crater (which to Amy sounds like a joke, but seriously, that's the name), sat around the house and played games, cooked, and basically enjoyed being "away" for a little while.

Matthew, Tai, Paige, Amy, with Ellie and her parents above, at Inyo Crater.

The other really neat thing was seeing both the pups with Ellie. When the pups had seen Ellie the first time, it was Paige who was very solicitous of the baby. This time, it was Tai, barely more than a baby himself, who was facinated by her. He wanted to be near her, smell her, lick her hands and feet (and face, as we found out when he woke her up from a nap on her play-pad). The sweetest time was when we found Ellie asleep on her play-pad, with Tai asleep with his head facing the baby.


And of all of us, guess who were the two who didn't want to go home?




It made us realize that we could go to new places with both dogs, and have a good time too. Having two on vacation was an adventure to say the least, but with Paige going IFT soon, we can't say how glad we are to have gone.

We're baa-aack!

Sorry, all, we seem to post only in spurts. Everything has been pretty crazy with taking two dogs on vacation/ Amy getting a new job/ life in general.

So, just a quick update and we will get back to our regularly scheduled posting.

Paige goes in for training August 11. She has also gone through a transition, as Amy cannot take a pup to work - so Paige (and sometimes Tai) has been going to a puppy raiser friend of ours who is retired (and has a pup) during the day. A co worker recently asked "Do you have to pay for the child, er, dog-care?" No, it is through the generosity of friends that we are still able to maintain our two dogs until Paige goes IFT. So Paige has been making friends and being a friend to other puppies in training.

Tai is still Tai - ginormous and silly. His new thing is barking. It's not usually random, but in response to being startled or hearing a noise for which he cannot see a cause. However, it's "BARK!" and we tell him no, and then, under his breath "woof". Fellow raisers, you know what this sounds like - a quiet bark without a dog opening his mouth. The exchange usually goes something like this:

(random, generic noise)

"BARK!" "NO, quiet!"

"woof" "No!"

"woof" "no, quiet!"

"woof..."

He always has to have the last word. Tell us this isn't like having a kid.

Love at First Sight?

(And yes, the one on the right is ours. The one on the left we had to give back.)

The Black Snapper Strikes Again...

Sometimes there's no where to hide from the sharp teeth of... the Black Snapper!!

Due to overwhelming popular demand

Due to overwhelming popular demand, Paige is once again extending her stay here with us, and we couldn't be happier!

Regular readers of this blog will know that Paige was scheduled to be turned in for formal guide dog training on May 19th. Two trainers at Gda have decided to continue there careers elsewhere, so the May turn in has be cancelled, and Paige will be with us until August.

This also means that we will have two dogs for the next four months. Tai will be around 8 months old when she goes in. That is a long time with two dogs. However, we are grateful for the extra time with Paige. She will benefit greatly from it and have a better chance of succeeding as a guide with the extra time to mature and get her obedience sharpened up.

Look Closely

So the question is:



Whose paws are whose?
















We did this as an experiment, mostly because one of us thought that Tai and Paige's feet are the same size. They're not, but they're darn close! Maybe it's also because everywhere we go, a lot of that we hear is "Wow look at those feet!" "What big paws he has". Sometimes it is accompanied with a pitying look for Amy, who is on the petite side - a sort of "that-puppy-is-going-to-be-walking-her-in-a-few-months" look. But we beg to differ.

This pic makes it a little more obvious...

Then There Were Three...

The past two weeks have been chaotic to say the least. We've always been a "one dog" family, so having Tai and Paige together took some getting used to. Then along came Voight.

There only being two of us, there were plenty of hectic moments. That being said, we are so honored and grateful for our relationship with Voight's partner that she trusts us enough to watch Voight while she was overseas. There is also something very special about having three of the four dogs we have raised together. Here they are, posing in their respective attire: Tai in his puppy in training "bib", Paige in her puppy in training jacket, and Voight looking mature in his harness (We had his harness, but obviously we did not use it when he was here. We only put in harness for the picture. When we took him out in public, it was in jacket like Paige, although his did not say "puppy in training".)

It was also interesting to have three dogs in that it put Voight back in our vocabulary. I was channeling my dad's mom for most of the time, going through roll-call before I got the right dog I wanted to call/ correct/ feed/ whatever. My sentences began "Voi-Pai-Tai - STOP IT", or whatever. Liam's and Mika's (whom I don't think has made an entrance into this blog yet) names were thrown in there too. I found myself echoing my Nana again - "If I'm looking at you, I'm talking to you".

So anyway, my inabilities aside, having the three posed a few problems, mostly that Voight does not like young males. Period. He was fine playing with Suki, a female only three weeks older than Tai. Voight is in no way a mean dog, but I think he gets a bit... jealous, competitive maybe? - with other males, particularly those who are young and intact. Add that to our Tai being a little instigator - subsequently, Tai ended up being farmed out to be puppy sat. We are supposed to puppy swap, and we do feel that this was a very good experience for him. He came home with glowing reports from both families who watched him (sorry, proud parent moment). It was also good that he was gone, because Paige was still recovering from her altering and Tai seemed to want to remove her stitches (consequently the little girl has staples in her tummy, but they will be removed tomorrow).

Voight was a pleasure to watch - and because he is someone else's dog, he comes with, shall we say, a certain disregard for uber-strict puppy raising rules? Voight sleeps with his owner ON the bed... it's a challege the first few nights to get used to an 80 pound Labrador who insists on being a cover hog. Voight also plays tug with his partner's husband - which we obviously never have, until now. There is a reason that we don't teach our dogs that - Voight nearly pulled Amy over on the first tug. Not a good thing.

Paige also benefitted from having an older dog around - she seems to be more confident and assertive with Tai, who came home yesterday. Paige would play and steal Voight's toys, and "teeth-rattle" or "sword fight" with him, and the benefits seem to be her being less of a softie when it comes to Tai. We caught her laying down last night with Tai, which we thought was adorable until we realized her noggin was holding his head down, along with her paw. He had this look on his face that said " 'Ello? Shishter? Can 'ou move your facsh? Pleash?"

So Voight went home to his mommy, and Tai is home with us. It was a hectic two weeks, but very much worth it... although we have a new appreciation for those of you who handle two or more pups on a regular basis!

Labrador Shuffle

Today, we did the Labrador Shuffle. Not the tuck-the-butt-and-run kind of shuffling madness that comes on all Labs occasionally, but the Tai goes here, Paige goes there kind of a shuffle.

Today, we got to have our first dog that we raised, our first graduate, Voight, come back for two weeks. We are so honored that Voight's partner trusts us with "her boy" while she leaves the country. So Matthew took Tai to another puppy raiser's home for a respite of Paige (Voight doesn't especially care for puppies), and Paige stayed home while Amy went to get Voight. He's nearly four years old now, but the same old Voight. It's so many memories flooding back - the very frantic kisses, the galumphing run, the intelligence.

For example, he ran to the back door (keep in mind, we don't live in the same place as where we raised him) and rang his bell (we tie a jingle bell to the doorknob) to go outside (we're trying to teach Paige and Tai, but they haven't got it yet). When Matthew pulled out the toy basket, he went straight for "Turtle", his favorite toy, shaking it with great satisfaction.

And how is Paige with this, you ask? Is she the same slightly jealous girl that plays with Tai? Well, (and Jenny, this is for you), if Paige could speak, it would have gone something like this:

"A BOY! You brought me an OLDER boy! I like boys. Boysboysboys"

Paige is in love, following Voight around, flirting and trying to take his toys.

And again, we are way behind in posting, but we had the urge to post tonight, to share that our biggest boy is back... for a little while, anyway.

Another Fateful Call

Yesterday we heard from the Guide Dog school. Louise, head of the puppy department was calling to let us know that Paige's hip Xrays had come back, and her hips are not good enough to be a breeder. She is to be fixed and will go in for training with her siblings on May 19.

I will confess sadness that she isn't going to be a mommy, mostly because with her experiences with Tai and other puppies, she showed great interest and aptitude, but I honestly believed that even being fixed, she wouldn't go in for this Turn-In. I thought they would wait, also because she is a rehomed dog. I was wrong. And to be honest, I'm not ready to go through our second turn-in in ten months.

So the next six weeks will be interesting, time for more intensive training, as well as that our first dog Voight, a working guide in Orange County, is coming back to stay with us for two weeks while his partner goes out of the country.


Please keep Paige in your thoughts during her surgery, as well as in her preparation to be turned in. She has come a long way since we got her in November, a 12 month old who barely knew how to sit. We believe in her - and more preparation too!

Mirror Images

I can't tell if it looks like we are glimpsing Paige's past or Tai's future, but it does look like this could easily be a before and after picture. All I do know is this is stinkin' cute.

Welcome to TaiPai!

Tai's first day at home was fairly calm. Auntie Tina and Uncle Ron came over to say hi. He had his first meal (sitting before he ate, of course - just a really brief sit). He went outside many times to get busy. He was generally fussed over, cuddled, and held. He'd been somewhat feisty, shaking his toy lion with great vigor, and marching around like he generally owned the place.

His buddy Salem came over on Saturday, who is three weeks older and about half again as big. Salem is a beautiful boy, and is full of beans, and so he and Tai had quite the afternoon of playing I-will-eat-your-tail-no-I-will-bite-your-nose. They even managed wear themselves out for a nice long nap, curled up together in one fuzzy black ball on our kitchen floor.

Salem was there because his puppysitter, our friend Nancy, went with Matthew to get Paige from her breeder evaluation. Her heart test was only about twenty miles away (as opposed to 50 miles to the school), and so we picked her up directly from there. Also coming home was Jessie, a slightly older white-yellow female, and Victory, a slightly younger black female lab. Matthew called to let me know they were outside when they got home so I could take Tai to meet his big sister Paige.




First, I had forgotten how big Paige is. She is really magnificent, big and solid and - barrelling straight at me. My life flashed before my eyes. I can't imagine what Tai felt. It couldn't have been too traumatic, because soon they were circling each other (Tai was more under Paige than anything else) and wagging enthusiastically. And then - Tai must have been a wee bit confused, because he had a "are you my mommy?" moment, and began rooting around for a snack from Paige's very-much-not-a-mommy-yet flat tummy.

The look on her face - "WHAT does this kid think he's doing?!"

Surprisingly, she didn't give him what-for. And truly, she hasn't yet. There has been one time when she gave him a warning noise, but it was so small, it might have not existed. He loves to chase after her when she's chasing a toy, and she often will put her head down low enough that he can grab the toy too. He also wants to (ahem) assert dominance, but that doesn't work out so well, because she takes that big ol' noggin of hers and gently knocks him over. He bites her ears and lips, and she does not complain. She's such a champ.

We missed her so much. And not that we haven't thought she is good, but - wow. Her obedience didn't suffer after two weeks in the kennels, and she is setting a very good example for little Mr. Sassy Pants Tai.

So now they are hangin' out, being the pups that they are - Tai happily snoozing in his kennel and Paige next to my chair (did I mention they both snore?). We wouldn't trade them for anything!!

Welcome to TaiPai!