PR Day Pictures

ENJOY!!!!

I've Got Mail!!!

Hi everyone,

I have just received the pictures that were taken at Puppy Raiser Day on August 6th of Pam, Cameron, and I!!! They are gorgeous photos!!! Receiving these in the mail have just made my day. I was beginning to wonder if I was going to get the pictures and they finally came. I will have to upload them so you can enjoy as well. I am so proud of my big boy!!! He has grown to be a super dog in my eyes. I bet his new mommy thinks he's a super dog, too. I know she is loving and enjoying him just as much as I did (and still do).

Will post them soon,
Cameron's 1st Mommy

Halfway There

Well, we are now halfway through our waiting period to hear from Cameron and Pam. Only a month and a half longer to go before I can hear how they are doing. I am sure that they are having such a great time together and Cameron is getting to see a world of new things. I can hardly wait to talk to Pam!

Stay tuned to find out how they are getting along,
Cameron's former Mommy

Puppy Raiser Day

I had the best time at Puppy Raiser Day this weekend. This is where I got to see my once-so-small Cameron work his graduation route with his forever person. They were perfect together!!!

Saturday was a great day to have it since it was sunny and bright, the weather was nice except for the heat (which is expected during the Summer), and all of the Puppy Raisers made it to the graduation. We all met in the Administrative building first to be signed in and go over a few rules before the routes got started. A few people on the Puppy Raiser Services Team went over "guide dog etiquette" with everyone and read us the students' Bio forms which tells us a little bit about the student before we actually get to meet them. (In case you did not know, there are rules for greeting a guide dog team such as: greeting the person first- not the dog, never pet or talk to the dog-pretend it's not even there, and do not ask about the person's impairment-if they want you to know, they will tell you). All of us Puppy Raisers gathered outside, at a distance away, to watch each team work a route together as a class. We have to remain very quite during this time so we do not distract the dogs from their work. That's the last thing we want to do is to draw attention to ourselves.

Cameron and his partner worked their route first. They came out of the building with Cameron pulling ahead in his harness like he is supposed to and his nose in the air. I could tell he could smell me and so could some of the other raisers. I kind of laughed to myself watching the expression on his face. You could almost read his mind and this is what it appeared he was thinking: "I know she is here but I don't see her. I can smell her, though." It almost made me hold my breath for fear that he was going to track me down. After the initial smelling of the air, he went about his business and worked his route like a pro!

After all the teams completed their walks, we got to go back inside for the best part of all- meeting the person that has our dog!!!! That is the BEST part about Puppy Raiser Day. I got to meet his forever partner, which is a woman (I knew it would be since Cameron likes his women), and talk with her for a while getting to know a little about her and she got to learn a little about me and, of course, Cameron. I gave Cameron and his partner a gift bag. Cameron got a Nylabone to chew on and a jacket since I didn't know where he would be living and his owner got a picture album of Cameron growing up. She, in return, gave a gift that is very special, it's a picture frame with two pictures in it- one is Cameron's baby picture in the harness and then other is of the two of them on the beach where Cameron is giving her lots of lovin'.

She loves him dearly already and this feeling is clearly mutual. It turns out, Cameron is her 2nd Vizsla guide dog and she is very familiar with the breed since she has several Vizsla friends. How perfect! I couldn't have picked a better person for him if I had tried myself. She is very active so Cameron will have a lot of working time. He will be living up north and will be pampered. My boy is going to love her even more when he finds out what's in store for him when he gets home!!! He is one lucky dog and I am one happy raiser. This is what makes you want to keep raising, and I will continue to do so as long as I am able. The students, staff, and raisers all sat down to eat lunch together before our goodbyes had to come. It was a great meal, Southeastern has some good chefs. Goodbyes, unfortunately, had to follow too soon after our meal. We gave each other a huge hug and I gave Cameron one too. I am looking forward to keeping in touch with such a wonderful team!

These two are truely a Bicycle Built for Two. (This is the title of her bio and is very fitting.)



After Puppy Raiser Day was over, we (my daughter, mother-in-law, and I) left to go down to Lehigh Acres to see Jesse and Hugh. They were happy too see us. we spent the night there with them. I shaved Hugh's fur a little to help with all the shedding and he looks really cute! We left their house the next morning and went down to Sanibel Island to spend a day/night. It was nice to explore a new place this time. We stayed in a hotel on the island for the night and got up early the next morning to make the long 13-hr drive back home.

That is a recap of our weekend. I hope you enjoyed. There will be more updates to follow on Cameron so just stick around.

Cameron's Raiser Mom

Great News!!

Okay for those of you reading this blog, I have one favor to ask of you before you read the rest of this entry....please sit down. Are you sitting? You sure you're not just saying that? Great!

Well......


Cameron got matched!!!!!! He is on the list for the July class. He is among six other dogs that were all raised in Florida. Assuming that this match is a good one and he does not get sent back IFT for any reason, I will be attending Puppy Raiser Day next weekend at the Southeastern campus. I am looking forward to it!!! He has made me very proud!! I knew he could do it.

I will get to watch Cameron and his forever person work a route together as a team. When all of the students have worked their route for their raisers to see, we all go inside the Administrative building so that we actually get to meet the person. We get to exchange information about ourselves. I will get to tell Cameron's new owner lots of stories about Cameron (at least the good ones).

After PR Day is over, I would love to go see Hugh and Jesse again and maybe the Cameron's (Cameron's sponsors) too. We will see if our schedules permit us to do this. I will be taking tons of pictures so be on the lookout for more posts.

Take care,
Cameron's Mom

Cameron has been spotted!

One of my PR friends had to take her dog IFT today. CW(one of our black Lab males in the group) had to go IFT at Southeastern. It is time for him to start his new chapter in life. While CW was being handed off to the kennel manager, his raisers got to see Cameron while he was being walked by a volunteer!!! Talk about perfect timing! They took some pictures for me of course. If I can copy them, then I will post them on here for you to see. He looks great and seems to be very happy. His report cards are awesome as you already know if you have been looking at them. I couldn't ask for him to be doing any better in school.

Proud Momma :)

New Training Report 7-7-11

CANINE NAME: Cameron

MONTH: June 2011

POTENTIAL BREEDER: N

TRAINING PHASE:

TRAINING/COMMANDS IN PROGRESS

X FORWARD : Dog surges forward on command without encouragement

X STRAIGHT LINE CONCEPT: Dog should walk in a straight line, avoiding obstacles, until the team reaches the curb, steps or an obstruction that blocks the path of

X RIGHT X LEFT X RIGHT-RIGHT X LEFT-LEFT

X DOWN CURBS: Dog stops at the end of curb or ramp before leaving the sidewalk and crossing the street

X UP CURBS: Dog stops at the curb or beginning of wheelchair ramp before stepping out of the street and onto the sidewalk and crossing the street

X CLEARANCES (OBSTACLES, OVERHANGS) : Dog moves handler around objects on handler’s right side

X TRAFFIC: How the dog reacts and works in traffic

X INDOOR MALL

X OFF CURB TRAVEL: travel on roads that do not have sidewalks

X STAIRS X ESCALATOR

BEHAVIOR: Behaviors exhibited during training

X WILLINGLY ACCEPTS HARNESS

X DEMONSTRATES OBEDIENCE SKILLS

X WILLING TO WALK OVER UNUSUAL SURFACES

X RESPONDS APPROPRIATELY TO PEOPLE

X RESPONDS APPROPRIATELY TO CHILDREN

x ACCEPTS PHYSICAL HANDLING/GROOMING

X INTERACTS APPROPRIATELY WITH OTHER DOGS WHILE WORKING

X RESPONDS APPROPRIATELY TO NOVEL STIMULI/VISUAL SURPRISE WHILE WORKING

X RESPONDS APPROPRIATELY TO ENVIRONMENTAL SOUNDS/AUDITORY SURPRISE WHILE WORKING

X RESPONDS APPROPRIATELY TO ENVIRONMENTAL STIMULI WHILE WORKING

X EXHIBITS APPROPRIATE KENNEL BEHAVIOR (NO FIGHTING, PROTECTIVE BEHAVIORS, OR EXCESSIVE BARKING)

COMMENTS Cameron is everything I love about Vizslas and then some! What a great dog!

I love the comments!

Cameron's Mom

Happy Late 2nd Birthday!

Happy Birthday Cameron! I know I am a day late but I honestly didn't think to put anything on here. I hope you are continuing to do well in your training and I hope you know how much I miss you! I love you so much sweet boy. I will see you soon, hopefully at your graduation as a guide dog. If, for some reason, that's not what you choose, there will be another day for me to see you.

Love You!!!!
Mom

Pictures of Cameron

This past weekend I had the opportunity to go down to Southeastern while on a mission. My mission was to return my AC's dog to Southeastern for her IFT date. It was a very nice trip. The weather was nice, meaning, not too hot, but not humid either. What a nice break from the humidity up here in NC! No rain clouds in the sky all weekend long, could my birthday weekend get any better than this? I mean really, spending it in what I like to call paradise.

My husband and I made the 10 hr journey down on Friday and spent the evening trying to find public beach access close by. We were semi-successful on this adventure. It is amazingly hard to find a beach in certain regions of Florida. ? Anyways, we got up early the next morning since we had to be at the school by 9:00 so our Guide Dog U Freshman Orientation could start. There is a new program that Southeastern has started (Guide Dog U Freshman Orientation) which is a designated time for the IFT string of dogs to return and you can take a tour of the school, hug puppies, do a blindfold walk with some of the class-ready dogs, and you get to meet and talk with the trainers who will be working with your dogs. There was a pinning ceremony at the Freshman Orientation which consisted of several Puppy Raisers receiving Presidential awards for committing over 1,000 hrs of service in a specified amount of time. It was neat to see the raisers who received these awards with their big smiling faces. :)

We had run through everything on the agenda (even the blindfold walk which I had never done before), and a very friendly staff member was willing to go down to the Main Kennel and snag a picture of Cameron for me!!! I was so happy to get to "see" him after having let him go over 7 months ago. He looks great and I do believe he has muscled up since then. As of right now, there are 3 Vizsla males left- Cameron, Tommy, and Hurley. So glad my boy is still there and seeming to enjoy his work a lot!

After we left the school, my husband I took a road trip down to Lehigh to see our second dog, Hugh, and his blind handler. They are doing well. Hugh was so happy to see us! He even followed me around the house like he used to do in mine. I was touched. He was smiling and there was no denying that! Wouldn't you if you had all of your favorite people under one roof? I'm sure that's how he felt. I took Jesse (Hugh's handler) grocery shopping while my husband set up a new tv for him and Jesse taught me how to make a new dish for supper. He is a great cook for being mostly blind. He has a lot of great ideas and recipes for dishes that he has made over the years. We spent a good amout of time with Hugh and Jesse this past weekend and I think we all were very happy to see each other again. At least I know I was!

We left Lehigh early Sunday morning and went exploring for nice beach area yet again before the long journey back home. We found a really nice beach in Fort Myers. That is definently a place we will be visiting again!! We made our long journery home after swimming in the ocean for a good hour-and-a-half. So nice to relax in the sun for a little bit. We drove all night long taking turns as the other person got tired. It wasn't that bad really. It took about 12 hrs to make it home on this trip with a few more stops and being further south than we originally would have been.

Anyways here are some pictures of Cameron, Hugh and Jesse, and Guide Dog U Freshman Orientation:


My handsome boy!!


Sorry about it being sideways. You can see a sibling in the run to the left of him and the KA.


SNAP and her sign. 'Here's your sign...'


Me and SNAP together.


Jesse and Hugh


Jesse, me, and Hugh

What a great trip to Florida!!! Maybe next trip will be for Cameron. If you haven't looked at his newest training report, look at my previous post. I think it will make you smile. You can only imagine how I feel about it.

Take care,
Cameron's mom

Cameron's New Training Report 6-8-11

Look at my boy go!!! He's got some ++'s on his report card!! He is now class ready.

TRAINING REPORT
DOG: Cameron	Tattoo: 3N09	Date: June 8, 2011
Training Phase: Phase 3

++ =exceeding expectations + = meeting expectations W=working on

Accepts harness: willingly puts on and wears harness	++
Forward: surges forward on command w/out encouragement	++
Straight line concept: walks in straight line avoiding obstacles	+
Left: makes 90 degree turn to left on command	++
Right: makes 90 degree turn to right on command	++
Down curbs: dog stops at curb or end of wheelchair before leaving sidewalk and crossing the street	+
Up curbs: dog stops at the curb or beginning of wheelchair ramp before stepping out of street and onto the sidewalk	+
Clearances: dog moves handler around objects on the handler’s right side	+
Traffic: how the dog reacts and works in traffic	+
Indoor mall	+
Off curb Travel: travel on roads that do not have sidewalks	+
Left, Left	+
Right, Right	+
Stairs
Escalators	++
Underfootings: willingness of the dog to walk over unusual surfaces	+
Food scavenging: does the dog try to pick up food off the ground	++
Obedience	+
Distractions:
Scent : air or ground sniffing	++
People: dog reacts appropriately to people while working	++
Small animal	+
Dog	++
Children	++
Kennel behavior: Does the dog show appropriate kennel behavior: no fighting, no protective behaviors, no excessive barking	+

COMMENTS: I was excited to find out that I would be working with Cameron (I love vizslas). He is proving to be a great dog that absolutely loves to work and please. I've only had a few opportunities to work with him so far and I fully expect to see higher scores as our bond strengthens. His work is already impressive considering that he barely knows me. Great job you guys!

I am such a proud Momma.

Training Report 5/11/11

Sorry I am a little late posting this but Cameron is still doing good. :)

TRAINING REPORT
DOG: Cameron	Tattoo: 3N09	Date: May 11, 2011
Training Phase: Phase 3

++ =exceeding expectations + = meeting expectations W=working on

Accepts harness: willingly puts on and wears harness	+
Forward: surges forward on command w/out encouragement	+
Straight line concept: walks in straight line avoiding obstacles	+
Left: makes 90 degree turn to left on command	+
Right: makes 90 degree turn to right on command	+
Down curbs: dog stops at curb or end of wheelchair before leaving sidewalk and crossing the street	+
Up curbs: dog stops at the curb or beginning of wheelchair ramp before stepping out of street and onto the sidewalk	+
Clearances: dog moves handler around objects on the handler’s right side	+
Traffic: how the dog reacts and works in traffic	+
Indoor mall	+
Off curb Travel: travel on roads that do not have sidewalks	+
Left, Left	+
Right, Right	+
Stairs	+
Escalators	+
Underfootings: willingness of the dog to walk over unusual surfaces	+
Food scavenging: does the dog try to pick up food off the ground	+
Obedience	+
Distractions:
Scent : air or ground sniffing
People: dog reacts appropriately to people while working
Small animal
Dog
Children
Kennel behavior: Does the dog show appropriate kennel behavior: no fighting, no protective behaviors, no excessive barking	+

COMMENTS: Cameron has always been a pleasure to work. He is precise when it comes to curbs and obstacles. Cameron has wonderful obedience out-of-harness and easy to control. He's always ready to put his harness on and begin working. Cameron enjoys playing with roommates out in the field when he's finished working for the day.

Cameron's mom