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 !

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 !!

Nebraska Strong !! Flood of 2019

Nebraska Strong.  

Key will tell her story from her eyes but it was a VERY scary time here with MANY - MANY people in the state of Nebraska losing their houses and businesses in the flood.  Thankfully, with all of the local, county and state workers along with many volunteers people were able to evacuate to safety.  So many people lost everything.  Businesses were washed away and ruined. Many farmers lost their livestock and their fields are under water.  Nebraska will recover.  A SPECIAL THANK YOU needs to go out to all the people who stood up and made us NEBRASKA STRONG !!

Key's Turn

Let me tell you about the GREAT St. Paddy's Day FLOOD !

It all started on Friday March 15, 2019.  Mom and Dad were gone most of the day. Avalon and I could look out the window and see the water rising up on the dike from the river.  I was starting to get really nervous when I looked out the window and saw a police officer knocking on our door telling us to get ready to evacuate ?  I tried to answer the door and talk to him and tell him our parents were gone but like so many humans he did not speak puppy talk.  I wanted to tell Mom and Dad what the officer said so would they came home right away.  They did come home soon after and I was glad !

When Mom and Dad came home we walked over to the dike to see the river.  It was close to the top of the dike. Mom made us stay on our leashes because the rushing water could wash us away if we got too close.  I have never seen the river or lake so high up.  We came home after our walk and started thinking about what we would do if we had to evacuate our home.  Mom brought lots of pictures and videos's up out of the basement to take out if we needed to leave asap.  Avalon and I made sure we had our supplies.  We went to bed that night not knowing what our village would look like in the morning.  I was thankful Dad got up during the night to check on everything.  

On Saturday morning the river water started to come over the levees and flood into the lake. Dad and Mom watched along with us from our deck.   Dad went out and tried to tie down some stuff on our beach.  He said the water was sooooo cold and icky he was not going to go get anything else.  Dad was soooo cold he was shaking so Mom put him in bed with heating pads.  We all continued to watch the flood water rise.  It was getting scary.  One of Mom's friends called and asked if they could bring their car over so it would not flood.  They live on the low side of the lake.  They did and a little while later Mom went over to their house to help them get out.  The water was rising fast now !!

I was scared when Mom left because I though she might not get out but all was OK.  She along with our walking buddies - Peter the Golden, Pam his Mom and her hubby all came over.  We all watched the flood so if we needed to evacuate asap we could.  Later in the day they shut the water off and then after that the power went off. Some really BIG trucks came around and did that.  There were all kinds of people  trying to load up and get as much stuff out of their houses as they could before the water flooded their homes.  I could see the cars and trucks driving by from the window.  Finally the police officers ordered the low lying areas to evacuate and closed off our roads.  We live on the high side of the lake so we had a choice to stay but most of the Village left.  Dad, Mom and Peter's parents helped us set up our generator so we could have power to a few lamps and the TV so we could watch the flood news. Later they left to stay with friends who did not live at the lake.  I kind of wanted to go with them but Mom told me we would be safe and if we needed to leave we would.

 On Sunday Mom and Dad left to go over to Grandma K's house to get water and take showers.  Mom and dad moved the office into the kitchen so they could work.  Mom also did some ironing for Dad which seemed odd in the kitchen.  We did just about everything in the kitchen because that was where the power from the generator was.  Thankfully Avalon and my food station is right off the kitchen so dinner was not a problem for us.  We even got bottled water too.

On Monday Dad stayed home from work and we went and got more water and took showers at the YMCA.  The police were guarding the village so you had to show ID to be able to drive around.  I hoped my dog tags would be OK.  It was getting really cold in the house without heat but a nice neighbor brought over a heater and Mom could finally take her gloves off.  We watched TV and it was so sad to see all of the flooding that surrounded us.  People and puppies lost everything.  We were lucky to live up on the hill and did not get the flooding everyone else got, but just go a few houses from us either way and they were not so lucky.  Peter -  my puppy friend's house was really flooded !!

 For the next couple of days we opened our house to anyone who was here coming back to their house to get warmed up and have a cup of coffee or charge up their phone since we had a generator.  Mom went to Peter's house and helped with the flooding in their house but Key and I were not allowed to go.  Mom said we don't always listen like we should and she was afraid we would go into the flooded water. Later in the week Mom helped with the Salvation Army who came out to our Village to provide meals, water and supplies.  Mom took her bike and went out to tell people about them plus hand out something that kills germs on your hands.  Had a break down on her bike but a good neighbor helped her out.

 Dad took us over to the Salvation Army station one day and showed us the big equipment they were using to help with the flood.  We stayed and waited until the food truck arrived for dinner.  They only serve people food - No puppy food so Avalon and I had to wait until we got home for
dinner.  There were a lot of

people there and even some other puppies.  I wanted to play but Mom said people were trying to eat and pick up supplies and she did want me to run into or knock them over playing.  It has been a long time since Avalon and I have gotten to go for a free run.  The dike is closed off and that is where we get to play.  I sure hope it opens up again soon.  Mom said I have been a pickle cooped up in the house.  Not sure what that means but I can tell you it is sure boring around the house.

Mom said it will take some time for our neighborhood to recover and I wish I could help out more.  Below is a video of the terrible flooding.

We are Nebraska Strong and Village Strong !!

Village Boy Scout Troop helping out !