Tampa Area Puppy Raisers: November 2010

Monday, November 22, 2010

Gator crosses the finish line

On a sunny Sunday afternoon, our Paws for Patriots graduate, Kathy Champion, ran the women's half marathon in St. Petersburg. Many local raisers and pups attended the event in order to show support for Kathy by crossing the finish line with her. Chloe, who was babysitting Gator that weekend, represented us proudly.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

The Great American Teach-In

An annual event in the Florida public schools, the GATI offers widely-varied guest speakers to local students. Gator did yeoman's work, cycling through two schools and four classrooms. He demonstrated his best napping behavior while Jan educated the students about the conditioning of guide dog puppies.

Gator concedes to a photo with the Panther mascot at his first school.

Understandably, after presentation number four, he was temporarily more interested in an acorn than in meeting and greeting some fellow presenters!

Golf, anyone?

Never let it be said that our dogs don't get diverse experiences at puppy meetings! We endure a long, long, hot Florida summer for the privilege of beautiful November nights for outdoor exposures. The dogs displayed some superb self restraint around rolling golf balls, but they didn't make their handlers' lives very easy! Golfing with a puppy is a little like playing Twister! =)

Tell demonstrates professional golf-ball ignoring.

Gator counters with world-class golf-ball snubbing!

Soozie masters "look-but-don't-touch."

Theia shows that you don't have to be a big girl to be a good girl. =)

The arcade in the clubhouse offered lots of visual and auditory stimulation, but the dogs were unfazed.

Great job, everybody!

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Vision Walk

As the Florida weather cools, the requests for public appearances of raisers and dogs escalate. Those of us in attendance at today's Foundation Fighting Blindness Vision Walk spent a delightful few hours soaking up the "winter" weather, talking, laughing, and enjoying each other's dogs, while, of course, spreading the word about our program.

David and Faith handle public relations with ease, modeling what the well-dressed raiser and pup are wearing this season. =)

Friday, November 12, 2010

New stuff at camp

Theia made some exciting discoveries while on a brief stay with Joanna and Chloe.

First, there was this very odd puppy...

Then, there was a gymnastics meet.

Then, there was a night swim in the pool...

or NOT!!!!

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Remember the Mission

Our November Saturday meeting may not have offered bells and whistles and photo ops, but it overflowed with poignancy and purpose. Three Southeastern guide dog teams were our guests for a Graduate Panel -- a chance for guide dog users to share the stories of their lives with their dogs and for puppy raisers to ask questions about "the other end of the harness."

While we may spend twenty-four hours a day with our young dogs, raisers are very much entrenched in "the puppy end" of this business. The opportunity to consult with working teams -- featuring professionally trained guide dogs who once walked in the pawsteps of our young charges -- does not present itself often and is not to be missed.

All of our presenters were charming and candid and helpful as they addressed our questions. Their dogs, as expected, behaved impeccably.

Equally importantly and impressively, all of the trainees in attendance handled themselves beautifully. =) Here, Soozie rests quietly in the front row as Theia does the same in row two.

We offer our deepest gratitude to our graduates for their time and their expertise. You inspire and amaze us.