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!

We Interrupt this Blog for One of Our Favorite Dogs

While we love our pups, we love other puppies too and we wanted to share this story, as it is one of our favorites, as well as involves one of our favorite "other" dogs.

A very dear friend of ours raised Dusty, who is now six, and a working guide dog. Dusty's partner has had some medical problems that are preventing Dusty from working as a guide, so Dusty (or the Dust-Bucket as she is affectionately known) has been home with her puppy raiser for awhile. In order to keep her in public, she went to work with Amy a while ago. Dusty, being a dignified lady, is a bit more aloof than these "hi-pet-me-please" young pups. In Amy's office at her junior high school, Dusty was less than impressed with the bells, the kids banging on the door to talk to Amy, and the eager hands wanting to pet her. She calmly took it all in, looked around, and promptly took a nap.

Toward the end of the day, one of Amy's co-therapists came in to say hi, and process some cases. The other therapist asked if she could say hi to Dusty. Amy released Dusty from her (self imposed) down-stay. The other therapist began to baby-talk to Dusty, but when she did, she reverted back to her native Spanish. The change was amazing.

Dusty's ears went up and tail began to wag (Dusty is very unique in that when she wags, her tail is pointed down and only the tip moves, but the happier she is, the smaller and faster the wags). She ran to bring her new friend a toy. She even gave very gentle Dusty kisses, which are few and far between for most of us. And then Amy remembered - Dusty's partner speaks Spanish also. Upon further investigation, Amy's co therapist and Dusty's partner are from the same city.

Dusty is bilingual.

Dusty now has a permanent place in the therapist's heart, but the story doesn't stop there. Dusty's puppy raiser took her to visit her partner soon after - and she told Dusty's partner the story. He loved it, but not only that, he shared with everyone around about his amazing bilingual guide dog. He is so proud of her.

Below is Dusty, with our little Tai. It almost looks as if Tai is asking Dusty for her guide dog secrets...

We're still here...

Well, we have been a tad busy lately, so we have quite the blogging backlog. While we get them written, we leave you with this:

Enough said?

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.

Tai-normous

We just got back from the vet...we wish it had been for the "happy vet visit" where the vet just gives him a once-over and a treat so that he learns that the vet isn't Public Enemy #1. Mr. Tai has been...busy-ing with great frequency, so in he went.

But the point of the story - this little tank boy weighs 15.3 lbs at 8 weeks. He's grown a ton in just a week. I wonder about the old wives' tale about humans, multiply the height x2 at their second birthday and that's how tall they would be (I would have been about 5'8''. Not so much.) and if there is anything similar in puppies... because with the rate this boy is growing, he stands to pass Paige sooner than expected!

the brothers

It's Monday. The day of our puppy group's monthly meeting, however Tai is too young to attend, so he gets to stay home with dad. As an added bonus, his brother Truman is also going to be staying with us for the evening.

OK, by show of hands, if you had to pick one of the following to describe what the boys did for the majority of the night, how many of you would pick; played, wrestled, or just acted like boys? How may of you would pick; slept and laid around?

The correct answer is:

They slept. After an initial battle of trying to get two 7 week old labs to sit and wait for their food and the subsequent relieving afterwards, this is how they spent the majority of their night. There were a couple bouts of playtime, more as the night wore on, and by the time that Mom and Jenny made it back, the boys were out of food coma and romping happily in the kitchen.