Tuesday, April 30, 2019

It has been busy at our house !!

 Mom said Spring was in the air which meant Easter was coming !  The four legged hopping dog (Bunny) came over the night before Easter  and left baskets for Mom and Dad and treats for me and Avalon !  Wasn't as fun as last year because then we had to sniff out our treat baskets.  This year they were just with Mom and Dad's baskets.   Still good treats though.  Mom and Dad left to go have brunch with Grandma K and all of their guest then they headed to Wahoo to see Grandma S.  Avalon and I had to stay at home - Not too happy about that !!


Mom and Dad later in the week went over to my two legged sister's house and her boyfriend - Drew for a late Easter lunch.  My sister - Aunna had to work on Easter.  Mom brought over gifts for them.  Some of them had Christmas wrapping on them because they did not get to come home for Christmas.  I was hoping to go and get to see them but their four legged puppy might not have been too happy about that.  His name is Cranky Frankie!

Toward the end of the week Mom and me went to one of my favorite stores - HyVee- and did a KSDS presentation.  Mom put all of our supplies in the Ford the night before since it was at 9:00am  in the morning.  We wore spring clothes but it turned icky spring weather when we were done. Mom showed the slide
show first then talked about puppy raising and placement of dogs.  They had a lot of questions about service puppies being allowed in the store.  Mom explained the difference between  Guide/Service/Facility dogs plus therapy/emotional dogs.  There are a lot of categories out there !  Some can go into public places and others can not. Mom referred them to several web sites. At the end Mom took a picture of all of us and they thanked us for coming.

                             Pup Days 2019

Right before the weekend Mom packed up the Ford again for a trip to Washington, KS - KSDS INC.


 We had lots and lots of stuff in the Ford.  My luggage, Mom's luggage and special donations we bought for the doggies at KSDS College.  Huxley and his puppy raisers came too in their car.  We all stayed at the K-Motel which is right next to KSDS.   On Friday we had a GREAT puppy play date at the KSDS playground then the adults went out for pizza in the evening.  Huxley and I had to stay at the hotel  :(  The next day was a wonderful day with lots of other puppies there, their puppy raisers, KSDS staff /volunteers and special bags with puppy treats.

 I still participated with the puppies in training even though I am an Ambassador now.  I guess you could call it in-service hours.  We did basic command training and some more advanced commands.  I remember doing these when I was in college at KSDS.  
There was also a visiting commander who did some special demonstrations with a Paw Pad ?  I thought that was interesting.  There was a baby puppy there that she worked with.  He wasn't even old enough to go to a puppy raisers house yet. 
We went on a tour of KSDS.  There were puppies in the dorms but no command classes going on.  I remembered everything from my college days there and kind of missed being there.  I had soooo much FUN at college !!  I think there is a graduation coming in June.

I got to spend time with one of my favorite commanders at KSDS 


 Letha Nelson !!


 KSDS I will never forget you and hope to come back again and again for more 
in-service credits hours !




Friday, April 12, 2019

Outlook Nebraska Vision Fair

 Boy, did we have a busy weekend !!  Mom has been talking to me about doing another booth like we did this fall but this one would be inside. On Friday, Mom cleaned house then Mom and me loaded
up all the materials and stuff for the fair.  Thank goodness I was driving with Dad to the fair because there wasn't much room left in the back of the Ford.  It was a real treat to drive with Dad since I have never been in his car before !!  Dad said I was his co-pilot.  COOL !!
 Mom picked up Miss M on Saturday and they headed out before Dad and I.  I was soooo excited that Miss M would be with us.  I have really missed her this winter and was concerned she might have forgotten some of her commands.  I thought I would work with her some while we were at the fair just in case.  I gave her an A after command training.  She did soooo good and had not forgotten her skills even with all of the people and distractions.
When Dad and I arrived our KSDS booth was already set up and ready to go.  People started to come by our booth right away.  We had visitors who were interested in KSDS Guide dogs and some were even interested in being a puppy raiser.  I sure wish I
could have talked to the visitors
like Mom, Dad, Miss M, Grandma T,  and later Huxley and her puppy raiser Shirley did.  I was soo excited when Huxley showed up.  I saw him this fall when he was at the booth with us and he got his cape then at Christmas Bell Ringing.
Miss M and I walked around the
fair some and we met some really interesting people.  There was this BIG green person, three other working guide dog puppies and sooo many people who wanted to pet me.  Later in the day Huxley and I went out and walked around too.  Huxley got a lot of attention but that was OK.  He is a puppy - a big puppy - and people always like puppies.  Miss M did some command training with him and he picked up on everything very quickly.  I didn't give him a A but he probably earned a B+.

On Sunday, Dad, Mom and me went back to the booth.  It was just us this time.  That was Ok because it was not as busy as it was on Saturday.   Dad and I walked around off  and on while Mom stayed at the booth.  Dad even bought some Mexican food for dinner.  I was looking to see anyone was selling puppy food but didn't find any.  Dad stopped and talked to several people who had booths there too.  Kind of boring for me !!  When it was all over we packed everything up and Dad went and got the Ford.  It was a tight fit coming home with little room for me in the back.

When we got home Mom rested and I took a nap.  It was a long weekend and I was tired.  Dad did a few things around the house then we all had dinner.  Everyone was early to bed.

I am so PROUD to be a KSDS Ambassador.
Changing lives one paw at a time !!