I "heart" my doctor

Veterinarian Mike Haworth, whom many of you will remember from his excellent presentation at a recent puppy meeting, is one of the veterinarians who serves raisers/puppies in South Tampa.  Clearly a softie, he conducted Brenna's entire first exam in his lap.  =)

Tiny trainees

Today was a big day for two little pups and their raiser families. 

The long car ride home from the kennel is always better with your sister by your side.  =)

The girls will have their formal introduction to the puppy group at our October 2nd meeting.

Lighthouse illuminates

Tonight we toured the Tampa Lighthouse for the Blind, where we learned about its services to our visually-impaired community.  Our presenters explained various aspects of orientation and mobility training, including safe cane travel and the transition from cane use to guide dog use.  Finally, we investigated many vision enhancement and supplementation devices such as the JAWS computer softwear, eyeglass telescopes, and talking clocks, watches, and calendars.

Linda and Soozie practice with screen magnification software.

Chloe compares the precision of various cane tips.

Lynne's guest, Sue, tests a hand magnifier.

Lynne, Chloe, and Bo learn about the services offered by the eye clinic.

Coming soon -- to a Puppy Group near you!

Airport adventure

Our September Saturday meeting focused on the many sights, sounds, and stimuli of the airport.  In these days of heightened security, we weren't able to practice boarding a plane, but we took several other modes of transportation.

Cheek-to-jowl on the monorail!  Professional guide dogs need to be able to work in close quarters with other dogs.

Guests Tell and Dodger telling secrets.

Lots o'knees on the parking shuttle.  Can you spot the third dog?

One of our assignments for the morning was to practice negotiating a public restroom.  There was lots of laughter in the ladies' room as the dogs took turns peeking under the neighboring stalls (try as we might to squelch that behavior)!   

Faith and David await their next challenge after practicing watching the escalator.  (Only certified guide dog trainers actually take our dogs on escalators.)

Gator and Sue exit the bus as we return to our cars -- hot and tired.

Soozie goes to camp

While her parents escaped for a well-deserved vacation, Soozie went off to puppy camp. 

The perfect houseguest, Soozie demonstrates that the well-conditioned puppy is no threat to wayward shoes and socks.

She probably didn't expect her camp activities to include scrubbing a fire truck...

...or meeting a giant concrete lion.

She was unfazed by the leaf blower while helping her camp dad with the lawn work...

...but was admittedly pooped by the end of her two-week adventure.