puppies inside: Jess and Nala

Showing posts with label Jess and Nala. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

All in a day, across the UP

August 14, 2014

en route to Chippewa

With the click of the gate echoing behind us after our training session with the Baraga teams, Tammy and I start our long drive across the UP. We are to meet up with a group of furlough volunteers, with Chippewa puppies, for dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings in the Soo. But first, a stop in Marquette, about one and a half hours east of Baraga.

Mary, one of Tammy's Independent puppy raisers, lives in Marquette and is raising a male yellow lab named Stellar. Mary asked Tammy if we could do FLD Stellar's In-For-Training (IFT) assessment on our way through.

Every Future Leader dog puppy must be assessed after reaching the age of 10 months and prior to its date of return to Leader Dogs for the Blind. The IFT "standards" give puppy raisers a goal to shoot for in training the puppies, most of which have to do with developing self-control. The IFT includes obedience skills such as sit, down, stay and come, loose-leash heeling through doors, up and down stairs, in a crowd and next to traffic, and dog, noise and motion distractions.

The ever-accommodating-Tammy squeezes Mary and FLD Stellar into our schedule. I have to wake a sleeping FLD Henry to use as the dog distraction.

Another interesting coincidence. Turns out that Mary was the raiser of a puppy named Glacier, who ended up becoming Jess's second Leader Dog! (Jess is my blind blogger friend who lives in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario and had visited Chippewa with us.) Mary wanted to know why Jess had retired LD Glacier at a fairly young age. This is what Jess posted on her blog:

"Glacier retired himself at age five and a half. His sensitive, sweet and goofy nature was just not cut out for guiding a totally blind person. He is now happily living with a friend who takes him to work and spoils him rotten; which he deserves. I miss him terribly, but know that he is getting the best retirement any dog, or handler, could ask for."

After the IFT, we have about 170 miles to drive from Marquette to the Soo. Luckily there is no snow on the roads this time of year, but we still arrive a few minutes late. ARUS Rob and Joyce, Chippewa Correctional Facility staff, are waiting for us with FLD Ekco, Greg and his wife are handling FLD Chewy, Dave and Paula have FLDs Ashley and August, Julie handles FLD Sammy and Lion Tom has FLD Bandit.

The tall tables at Buffalo Wild Wings make dinner with seven puppies more of a challenge, but we make it through without too much commotion. I end up standing most of the time, my foot firmly planted on FLD Henry's leash, keeping him out of reach of the others.

After dinner, Tammy conducts a "furlough training" class outside the restaurant. While furlough volunteers aren't expected to "train" the puppies they take out (that's why the pups must be at least four months old, so they go out having some skills), we want to give them tools to help manage the puppies. Puppies might know things like "sit" and "down" when in the prison, yet not so much with a new handler in a different environment. Tammy wants to see how the puppies do with the volunteers and teach them redirection techniques like name recognition and touch. We also cover tips for loose leash walking and proper bandana/jacket removal and use.

Six people are standing in a row on a sidewalk against a brick walled building, on the left side of the photo. On the right, a woman wearing jeans and a light colored sweatshrit is facing them with a piece of paper in her hands. All the people agains the wall have a puppy sitting on their left side.

Nope, it's not a firing squad! It's just Tammy (right) having the furlough volunteers run through some obedience with the puppies.

Someone wearing red pants is standing off-camera to the right facing a young black lab lying on a cement sidewalk in front of a brick wall. The lab is facing the person and looking up at her. He is wearing the blue Future Leader Dog bandana and his leash is looped loosely from his collar to the person.

FLD Sammy lies down and looks longingly up at his handler.

Two men are walking around puppies that are lying on a cement sidewalk. The man on the left is wearing dark blue pants and a light blue long sleeved shirt. He has the puppy's leash in his left hand and is looking down at the puppy while reaching into his pocket with his right hand. The puppy at his feet is a small chocolate lab wearing the blue Future Leader Dog bandana. The man on the right is wearing blue jeans and a black and grey jackeet. He is looking down at a small yellow lab/golden retriever mix puppy and holding the leash in his right hand. The puppy is lying on the cmeent, facing the brick wall which is behind the men. In the background behind the man on the right is a woman wearing blue jeans, a grey sweatshirt and holding a big purce. She is leaning agains tthe brick wall.

Tammy leads the group through the relaxation protocol. Here Lion Tom (left) and ARUS Rob (right) walk around FLD Bandit (chocolate lab) and FLD Henry.

The same two men are now both leaning over toward their puppies to give them a treat! The puppy on the right is starting to come out of the down position to get the treat.

Gentlemen, treat your puppies!

In this partially blurry shot, the woman wearing blue jeans and a grey sweatshirt is running from left to right in front of the line of people and puppies in front of the brick wall of a building. All of the puppies are sitting nicely.

Tammy gets into action, providing a moving distraction for the puppies. Not one is perturbed!

Before the pups return to Chippewa, Tammy and I do the "traffic" portion of the IFT with FLDs August, Sammy and Ekco. We will be taking these three back to Leader Dog with us tomorrow. Even though by now it is dark, all pups do fine.

Henry goes with Joyce; she's dropping him off to spend the night at Chippewa. Tammy and I are puppy-free!

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

The party is over...

Chippewa
March 6, 2014

When the party dust settled, puppies and people relaxed.

A golden retriever is sitting on the right side between the legs of a man wearing the prison blue pants and white t-shirt, sitting on a stool. The man's head is out of the picture. The dog is wearing a blue bandana. A man sitting on the left, only his knee and left arm is visible, is reaching over to pet the dog under his chin. The man has a tatoo on his forearm that says "forever love."

Time for a little lovin' on FLD Bravo.

Jess talked to the group about working with her guide dog Nala.

Four men are sitting on stools in a row, with two golden retrivers and one yellow lab. Three of the men have the prison blue pants and white t-shirts, the man on the far right has a blue shirt. The first golden is sitting facing the right in front of the first two men. The second golden is lying down between the legs of the thrid man, who is reaching down to the dog. The yellow lab is standing past the last man. The second and fourth men are holding guide dog harnesses. The second man's harness is brown leather with a yellow "do not pet me I'm working" sign on the handle. The fourth man's harness is white with a yellow harness.

Jess passes her guide dog harness around for the guys to compare with a Leader Dogs for the Blind harness that her husband uses with his Leader Dog. Jess and her husband are both visually impaired.

EVENING FURLOUGH

The Future Leader Dog puppies still had more work to do with volunteers who helped take the pups out on furlough. We met for dinner at the Sundown Lounge in Pickford. If it weren't for the tails sticking out from under our chairs, no one would have known there were a dozen dogs under the table!

After dinner, we regrouped at the Pickford Fire Hall. Tammy led everyone in the relaxation protocol to start the evening training session. We played a few recall games and practiced meet & greets, loose leash walking with dog distractions, and stairs.

Three women are standing and holding the leashes of three yellow labs. The woman on the left is dressed in a black with white markings on her shirt and blue jeans - a small yellow lab is sitting on her left side wearing a blue Future Leader Dog bandana, the pup is looking up at her and she is looking down at the pup. The woman in the middle is close to the far wall and is wearing a red and white plaid shirt and blue jeans, she has short curly hair. The yellow lab is sitting in front of her facing her and is wearing a blue Future Leader Dog vest. The woman on the right is wearing a green sweatshirt and blue jeans, she has short brown hair. The yellow lab she has is sitting a few feet in front of her facing her and is wearing a Future Leader Dog bandana. There is a black lab in the corner of the picture on the right side, looking up at someone out of view. The floor is wood, as are the walls. There is a blue and sliver ladder lying on its side behind the woman dressed in black on the left. There is a wood bench seat on the right side against the far wall with a blue jacket drapped on it.

Puppy raiser Kim (on the left) works the relaxation protocoal with her puppy, FLD Kayla, while furlough volunteers work with FLD Bravo (center), FLD Zella and FLD Nell (black lab on the right).

Jess and Nala made a short presentation and spoke about how important it was for her to have a dog that knew how to settle. During a job interview with a potential employer who was already "suspicious" of her ability to do the job, Jess said that a "non-settled dog would have made things worse."

A small german shepherd puppy is lying on a wood floor facing the camera. He is wearing a blue bandana with a white patch with red letters that say Future Leader Dog and a black paw print. The puppy's left ear is down and his right ear is up and leaning to the right over his head. He is looking right at the camera while licking his nose. A brown leash is attached to his collar.

A finally-settled FLD Dax mugs for the camera.

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

We had no idea...and then we met

Chippewa

March 6, 2014

This day I finally got to meet fellow blogger Jess, and her guide dog Nala. (Nala is Jess's third guide dog. Her first two guide dogs came from Leader Dogs for the Blind; Nala is from a different guide dog school because Jess was living abroad at the time.)

Four years ago, when I started writing about my Future Leader Dog puppy-raising experiences on my other blog, "plays with puppies", I got virtually acquainted with Jess. She wrote her own blog about her experiences as a guide dog handler. Jess's blog is now titled "Walking Barefoot in the Sand." She also keeps a blog about her amazing athletic career - "Sea, Land and Tires."

Jess and I share some twists of fate...

My third Future Leader Dog Gus has the same Leader Dog "dad" as Jess's second Leader Dog Glacier. (Read my post, Introducing: JESS, Guest Blogger!)

In the spring of 2011, Jess was staying at Leader Dogs for the Blind for some brush up work with Glacier. On the night I came to visit the new handler of my "graduated" second puppy (Mike), Jess and I practically brushed elbows as we passed each other in the halls of the Polk Residence. We had no idea that we came so close to physically meeting.

In August of 2011, Jess read my blog post, FLD Gus Goes to the UP. My puppy Counselor, Tammy, snagged me into heading north for outings with some of her UP raisers. Turns out that one of Tammy's Canadian raisers worked with Jess's uncle. Small world.

That's not the end of it. With the advent of "puppies inside," Jess made another connection. Our visits to the Chippewa Correctional Facility, not very far south of the Soo, brought me close to her home. I had no idea she lived on the other side of the International Bridge. In January of 2014, we made arrangements to meet during a furlough outing with the Chippewa puppies, but a winter storm kept Jess north of the border. Later that month, she missed another training session with us because she was off competing in the Canadian Para Nordic ski nationals.

In the meantime, Jess and Nala crossed paths with Kim and FLD Kayla at a mall in the Canadian Soo. (Check out Jess's post Puppy Fix!) The two got connected through me and they started spending time together. Jess and Nala even came to the Chippewa Correctional Facility with Kim to meet the inmate raisers. Seeing the end result to one's puppy raising endeavor is always an inspiration.

FINALLY. We would meet! Jess and Nala were waiting for us back at Chippewa. They have become a regular part of the team.

Here is a link to Jess's blog describing this day: Another Prison Visit + Long Awaited Meeting.

An adult yellow lab is lying on a light brown tile floor, facing to the left. She is wearing a neon yellow guide dog harness. A woman and a man are sitting on blue plastic chairs behind the dog. The woman, on the left, is wearing a long sleev blue and white striped shirt and blue jeans and furry winter boots. Her hair is brown and streaked with blonde in the front and is neck lenght. The man is wearing the blue and orange pirson uniform and white tennis shoes. He is bald and is leaning toward the woman in conversation. A man wearing a white t-shirt and blue pants is standing behine to the far left, mostly out of view.

Guide dog Nala waits at the feet of Jess, who is in conversation with one of the Chippewa raisers.