Cameron at the beach (ignore the date on the photo)

Friday, July 30, 2010

Pictures at the Beach





Let's Play Ketchup

No not really Ketchup that you put on fries, I was just trying to be funny. Let's catch up on the time that we missed blogging.

We all went to Florida on Monday July 19th. We left pretty early in the morning and the trip went smoothly. I rode with the men in the back while the women sat up front. There were plenty of yummy smelling snacks near my nose that I wanted to test out but I was not allowed. I did good resisting the temptation of stealing food. We arrived down at our hotel probably about 6:30 or 7:00 that night. We went out to eat at Olive Garden that night, and it smelled sooo good. After that, we went back to the hotel and turned in early for the night.

The next day, we woke up early so mom could take the crew down to the school for puppy hugging and dog walking. I could not go to this event so I stayed behind with one of the guys in the hotel room. That was fine with me. Mom got to play with two litters of puppies, one of the litters containing the two puppies we were there to pick up. They had so much fun! Mom took lots of pictures of the puppies. The two puppies that we picked up were named Snap and CW. The mother of these pups' name is Tina and she is from the Charlotte group in North Carolina. Tina was around when mom had her first dog, Benjamin. After they got back from their trip to the guide dog school, we all decided to hit the beach! It was so nice out there. It was sunny and the waves were gentle. I was in my harness so of course I could not swim. I got to sit with mom on the beach while the others swam. After a little while, we all traded off and mom got to go swim. We went back to the hotel after a while and cleaned up then we took a trip to Red Lobster to eat that night. Mom and I had never been there before, but we really enjoyed it, mom with the food and me with getting to relax under the table. Another early night for us so we could leave around 8 in the morning.

Wednesday 21st: We got up early and packed everything up to head out of the hotel and to the guide dog school to pick up our group's new additions. We arrived at the Administrative Building to sign the papers for the pups and headed to the puppy kennel afterward. I was in my crate and stayed in the car with one of the men while mom and the new raisers went inside to get the babies. They checked the puppies and made sure we had the right ones and briefed us on anything that we needed to know about the pups. Snap was already showing signs of separation anxiety, so they gave us a couple of towels that had their littermates' scent on it, so she would feel a bit more comfortable. Mom let me get out of my kennel (crate) to meet Snap and CW and to busy before we got started on the long journey home. Now instead of there only being me in the kennel, there are three of us now, which means, I have babysitting duty all the way home (or at least to South Carolina where we are meeting our AC's husband who is picking up their puppy). Our AC and her husband actually got the chance to name, sponor, and are raising their own puppy named in honor our AC's father who worked for the Stanly News and Press hince the name Snap. We have to stop several more times on the trip going home than we did coming down so the puppies could busy, we could eat and stretch, and get gas. The trip went pretty somoothly, although, I did shoot mommy some pretty evil looks when she put me back in the kennel with the babies. There was a pretty good thunderstorm in SC, but we made it through and met with our AC's husband and gave him his puppy, then we headed home. I think we arrived at around 11:00 that night.

All in all, a great vacation from the everyday life at home. It's nice to get to go back to where my roots started every now and then. Mom says I have made the journey down to Florida more than any of her other dogs. What can I say, I like to ride with her.

We are supposed to be having an outing at our AC's house tomorrow evening. Let's hope it does not rain us out. *crossing toes*

Much love from,
Cameron

Friday, July 16, 2010

Florida-bound on Monday

Cameron here,

A new raiser, her husband, brother, mom and I will all be Florida-bound on Monday to pick up two new babies Wednesday morning. Now you are probably wondering what we are going to be doing in the meantime...the answer is vacation!!!! Oh mom is so ready to go. I can see it now, we will be soaking up the Florida sun and havin' some fun!

Mom may take the new raisers to the school and show them around during the puppy hugging and dog walking sessions. They will get to see the campus and play with the pups while I wait for them back at the hotel. I don't think current puppies-in-training are allowed to attend these events. Too much can happen if a couple of dogs get out of hand and things can be passed on from the big dogs to the babies in the puppy kennel, and that just would not be good for anyone. Waiting in the hotel is fine with me, I will get to sleep in a bit before we start a busy day having some fun.

I am so glad to get to go on this trip with mom because I love her so much. I should be a pro at riding down to Florida by the time I have to go IFT. I will get to show the little babies how to ride like a top dog. I can teach them a thing or two about guide dog work.

Did I mention that I am starting to work in the harness now? Our group has two harnesses and we pups get to start practicing in them when we turn a year old. It helps us adjust to the way it feels before we go IFT. It's kind of like a head start. I don't mind the actual body part of the harness, but the handle bouncing on my back is something else to get used to. It is a very different feeling from the coat which is what I am used to. I will have to get accustomed to wearing it if I want to be a guide dog. The harness will be my new uniform when I go IFT. Until then, this is just a little bit of practice before I go back. I will go back into my coat in a few weeks.

Prayer request: Please keep my sponsors in your thoughts and prayers as they are going through some medical issues at this time. I am so glad the world of medicine has grown in the way that it is has. Most procedures are simple nowadays.

I think that about covers it for the night. It's about bedtime I do believe.

Puppy love from,
Cameron

Monday, July 5, 2010

My First Birthday

Cameron here,

I wanted to tell you about my birthday adventure:

Mom, dad, baby, and I all spent the day looking for a new car for mommy. I got to go to a lot of dealerships and look around, the pavement was very hot though on my paw pads and I didn't like that. All of the workers at the dealerships greeted me and gave me lots of attention, especially when mom told them it was my birthday. They were all impressed at my good behavior and how I listened to my commands, not to mention, how calm I was throughout the looking process.

Mom was getting discouraged at not finding the right car for the right price until we came to the last dealership. The last dealership we went to was in Concord and this is where she found the right car, with all the right features, for the right price. It is a Kia Rio hatchback....meaning I have my own space in the very back of the car to sit if mom wants me to sit there. We were greeted by an associate when we first got the and he showed us this car and let us take it for a spin. They didn't mind me riding along one bit. Mom loved the car instantly so they talked about buying and it went from there. I waited patiently for them to finish and all of the other associates really loved me and loved how good I was.

I really made an impression on people today. Mom is so proud of me and how far I have come in my training as a guide dog candidate. Mom knows I will do well at the school when it is my time to shine. But for now, I will be her Cameron and that's all I could want for my birthday! (I got an extra treat though)

Love from your dearest,
Cameron

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Pictures/4th of July/Birthday



These are the pictures that mom took of my face at the Intimidators game.

Mom had a surprise for me a week ago. She had my pictures professionally made at PetSense (pet store near our home) and they are so good. She can hardly wait to order the pictures. She had all of our pictures made actually but this event was more for me than anyone else. She never had the chance to do this with her other two puppies, so she decided to do this with me. If you would like to view the pictures, go to: www.angelakrolphotography.com and go to the Events gallery, click on PetSense, and scroll over until you get to the pictures that start with me in my puppy coat. Our pictures end when the Vizsla pictures are done. Mom is proud of them.

On another note, I hope everyone had a fun and safe 4th of July! I skipped out on the fireworks due to the school not wanting us to develop fears of loud noises. We must be exposed to loud noises, but firework shows are a bit too much for some dogs and can cause them to develop fears which are almost impossible to break. Why would a raiser want to take a chance of ruining their dog because of this?

Birthday, did someone say birthday? Why yes, it is my birthday!!! I am now officially 1 year old, along with all of my siblings. Happy Birthday to my sisters, Cheyanne and Katie of Georgia, my brother Apollo of Texas, and all the rest. My mom is not sure what my three other siblings' names are or where they live, but wishes them a very Happy Birthday just the same! I am sending a lot of puppy hugs and kisses their way! I will see them soon when we all go IFT sometime in between November and February.

Anything else??? Ummm....can't think of anything else, so I guess that covers it.

Lots of Love,
Cameron