puppies inside: UP

Showing posts with label UP. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

UP presence revisted

October 22, 2014

en route to the eastern UP

We have the rest of the day to make the 200+ mile drive to where we'll stay in the Soo. Deb's training session at the Chippewa Correctional Facility starts in the morning.

The drop-dead gorgeous fall day begs for sight-seeing. You haven't seen "blue" until you've witnessed the sky above the pristine forests lining Lake Superior.

A shot looking straight up into the deep blue sky under a canopy of brilliant yellow leaves.

I lead the way to Munising Falls. We pose our puppies, looping their leashes through the fence in front of the falls.


Deb takes a photo of FLD Jedi while FLD Henry sits...

A close up shot of the golden/lab puppy sitting in front of the wooden fence. The puppy is looking at the camera, with his tongue just barely stickling out. He is wearing the blue Future Leader Dog bandana.

I don't think FLD Henry is happy about me taking so many photos. Here is an interesting series of shots - can you read his body language?

Another close shot of the same puppy, with more of the forest background visible behind him. Now his tongue is further out and his head and ears are drooping.

He's getting droopy...

The same close shot of the same puppy, but now the puppy is facing left and having a huge yawn with his eyes closed.

FLD Henry. Not amused.

I suppose he thinks the stairs are more fun.

A shot from above, looking down at the golden/lab puppy sitting on a wood staircase, littered wtih yellow and brown leaves.

Later we find more photo ops on the Lake Superior shore.

A german shepherd is standing on the left, tied by his leash to a gigantic piece of driftwood. Behind him is Lake Superior. He is looking at the camera, and wearing the blue Future Leader Dog bandana.

A majestic FLD Jedi next to a majestic piece of driftwood.

A black and white photo of the same piece of driftwood, with a small yellow puppy sticking his head out from behind it.

WHERE'S HENRY?

A landscape shot of the sun setting behind a tall bluff on the left, down to a beach and water on the right, gentle waves kissing the shore.

And the sun sets on Lake Superior.

Thursday, January 15, 2015

UP presence

October 21, 2014

en route to Baraga

Road trip!

FLD Henry and I take the day driving to Baraga to catch up with Deb Donnelly. She has been on a longer road trip herself. After visits at correctional facilities in Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, she'll meet with the inmate raisers at Baraga in the morning and at Chippewa the next day. All part of her fact-finding tour to help Leader Dogs for the Blind build consistency into the prison puppy-raising program.

I have been invited to continue documenting things. On the way north with FLD Henry, I pause to drink in the natural beauty of the UP, which for me is always a welcome backdrop to our monthly trips.

CUT RIVER BRIDGE

First stop, the Cut River Bridge. Turns out to be a great place for Henry to practice stairs.

Looking down at a young yellow lab/golden retriever mix puppy that is standing on the wooden landing of a flight of open metal grated stairs going down. The puppy is looking up at the camera and is licking his nose.

FLD Henry is a bit taken aback by the open-grated stairs. "I think I can lick this!"

A long view looking down a long staircase with wooden railings. In the background is Lake Michigan behind a few bare fall trees and some with yellow leaves.

Even I am a bit disconcerted over the long staircase. But the view is beautiful!

Another photo from above of the lab/golden puppy, now walking down the metal grated stairs. He is looking at the camera again, but with a more relaxed look on his face, and his tail is wagging.

After a few flights, FLD Henry is more relaxed.

A view looking up at the underside of the Cut River Bridge from far below. The bridge has green girders. Underneath are fall trees with bright yellow leaves, way below the bridge.

The Cut River Bridge from below.

A landscape view of Lake Michigan, with fall trees in the foreground. Blue sky above with a cloud bank near the horizon.

A fairly calm Lake Michigan stretches out before us.

The young lab/golden mix puppy is leaning to take a drink from a stream. There are tall grasses all around

FLD Henry takes a drink from the Cut River. Stairs like that can make a pup thirsty!

LAKE SUPERIOR

We take another break along M-28 to walk along the Lake Superior shore.

A scenic view of a beach with whitecap waves breaking. There are several trees in the distance on the right, and puffy white clouds dot the blue sky above.

Looking east.

A low shot of the lab/retriever puppy. He is standing on the beach facing the camera, but his head is turned to the right toward the waves of the lake. There are trees stretching off into the distance on the left.

FLD Henry, intrigued by the waves.

A landscape view of the Lake Superior shoreline. There are tall grasses in the foreground and trees in the background, waves break on the beach.

Looking west.

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, November 5, 2014

Bodily fluids, part 1

June 26, 2014

Baraga

Warning: This blog post contains content that might be unsettling. Do not read while eating!

When Tammy called me she was about a half-hour away from our meeting spot along northbound I-75. Her voice held a hint of panic. "Bring more towels and cleanup stuff!" she begged.

She was late coming from Leader Dogs for the Blind and had two special puppies tucked away in crates in the back of the van. FLD Farley, a male yellow lab, and FLD Eco, a male black lab, were to be delivered the next morning at the Baraga Correctional Facility. Farley was sick and Tammy had to wait for the Leader Dog vet to do a Parvo test (it was negative) and get some medication together before she could leave.

On the road the poor little guy squirted "liquid diarrhea" all over the inside of his crate. Tammy stopped to clean up but ran out of towels. "I had four and a blanket," she said when we finally met up. I brought six more, a roll of paper towels, a container of sanitizing wipes and a bottle of Nature"s Miracle.

It was more than 500 miles from the Leader Dog campus in Rochester Hills to Baraga at the west end of the U.P., a trip that should take about eight hours (without puppies). It promised to be a bit longer. "I hoped to get to our hotel before dark," Tammy said. She was thinking we'd probably be washing Farley in the hotel sink at midnight.

We stopped frequently - in St. Ignace, Chocolay Township, Ishpeming. About dusk, prompted by whining puppies, we pulled into a little roadside park somewhere along M-28, next to a small lake.

A small black lab puppy is standing on the ground looking at the camera, a long brown leash attached to his blue collar is leading off the frame. The puppy's tail is straight up.

FLD Eco was happy to get out of the van. Again.

A small yellow lab is sitting down, looking toward the camera. He is wearing a blue collar with a round silver tag. A brown leash is attached to his collar and is being held by someone in the background. The person's legs and hand are the only thing visible and it is out of focus.

FLD Farley is still pretty cute, even if he isn't feeling well.

Big mistake. The mosquitoes of the U.P. are infamous. Withdrawing back into the van was no relief - we were swarmed! The inside of the windshield was just as smeared with bugs as the outside.

The small black lab puppy is sitting down behind the back of a white van. His head is turned to the left and the leash, attached to his blue collar with a round silver tag, is looped off to the right.

FLD Eco doesn't seem to be bothered by the mosquitoes.

We arrived at our hotel 15 minutes shy of 12 hours after Tammy left Leader Dog. It was 10:15 p.m. Luckily, Baraga sits on the west edge of the Eastern Time zone and light lingers longer in the north during summer. "The last glimmer of daylight," Tammy sighed.

Crating seven-week-old puppies together cuts down on the crying, but we had to keep Farley separated from Eco in case he was contagious. We were glad I brought FLD Baker along. (Baker is a female seven-month-old lab/golden mix I was puppy-sitting for a few days.) She and Eco got to play in the room while we kept Farley quarantined.

The small yellow lab is sitting inside a large airline crate. There is a green towel bunched up behind him. He is looking out of the crate, and wearing a blue collar. The crate is sitting on a blue carpet and there is a wood and cloth chair off to the left.

FLD Farley wishes he could play too.

The medicine seemed to be working. We took Farley out to "park" several times before bed but he never pooped. About 2:30 a.m. I thought I heard something, but went back to sleep. At 3:30 we learned I should have gotten up after all. Farley had spray painted the inside of his crate brown. Again. Lights on, park time, clean up time.

Up again at 5:30 a.m. there was no going back to bed. We were expected at the prison between 8:30 and 9:00. Thanks to Farley we finally showed up on time!

A floor level shot of a black lab/golden mis puppy. She is looking right into the camera, the floor is a berber carpet. There is a blue and green plaid dog bed to the left. The background is out of focus and it is a pine wall.

And here is FLD Baker. This photo was taken at my home.

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Dogspeed Harper!

May 16, 2014

U.P.

A far-away shot of a woman wearing blue jeans, a grey t-shirt and a purlple zipped sweatshirt open over it, standing on the shore of Lake Superior holding a leash in her left hand. The leash is attached to a golden retriever puppy who is standing on the left toward her, but looking at the camera. In the long foreground is a sandy beach iwth small rocks strewn about. There are dirty small ice bergs floating in the blue water behind them. The sky is about the same blue as the water and the horizon can barely be discerned.

Tammy and FLD Harper enjoy a bit of solitude along the shores of Lake Superior.

We make a few stops on the long drive home from Baraga. This will be FLD Harper's last trip to the U.P.

A golden retriever sits in front of a large metal sign. On the left of the sign is an antlered deer standing on its hind legs, on the right side of the sign is a black bear standing up on its hind legs. The two animals are holding the outline of a brown metal sign that has the word "Lakenenland" in yellow inside of it Behind the sign are trees. The dog is sitting in what looks like mulch. He is wearing the blue Future Leader Dog bandana.

FLD Harper poses in front of the Lakenenland sign. The "junkyard art" exhibit is between Marquette and Munising along M-28. We've been driving past Lakenenland for months and finally stopped. Tammy had fun posing Harper next to many of the metal sculptures.

The golden retriever with the blue bandana is lying down inside a hollowed out section of a large tree trunk. He is looking out like he is ready to take on the world.

FLD Harper strikes a proud pose in a tree trunk!

The golden retriever sits on a section of brown metal facing the camera. On the left in front of the dog is a large blue metal dog food bowl with the name "Peaches" on it. There are large metal bolts in the bowl lke dog food. To the right behind the dog is a metal "cell" with red metal bars with a blue chain holding them together. Inside is some kind of creature with his mouth open and large white teeth.

FLD Harper sniffed Peaches' food but it was tooooo rusty!

The golden retriever stands in front of a metal sculpture of a dog sled team, mounted on a wood ramp. His leash is tied to the lead metal dog and his eyes are squinting. There is a metal man on the sled behind the metal dogs. A black metal sign above the sculpture says "Finnish" and on the side it says UP 200.

FLD Harper is amused to think that he could lead the UP 200 dogsled team. The UP 200 is a qualifying race for Alaska's Iditarod sled dog race.

The golden retriever, weraing a baby blue "working" jacket, is sitting on a wooden float in front of a white life ring that is hanging on a wood rail. In black letters on the ring are the words "Palms Book State Park." There is a wire grate between the top wood rail and the bottom rail.

FLD Harper sits on the observation raft on the "Big Spring" - Kitch-iti-kipi at the Palms Book State Park. The natural spring is 200 feet across and 40 feet deep. The raft has a glass bottom and the water is crystal clear to the bottom. (The raft is totally closed in, so there is no fear of losing Harper.)

It was a bitter-sweet trip.

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Furlough fun

April 10, 2014

en route to Chippewa

We have the rest of the day to get back east across the UP. Along the way we head straight onto E. Munising Ave in the town of Munising, instead of taking the sharp right turn that is a continuation of M-28. It is less than two miles to Munising Falls. Tammy thinks it is a good idea to take the golden boys, FLDs Drummond and Bravo, for a short hike. We are eager to stretch our legs, too.

The trail to the falls is snow covered, but packed down enough to walk on. Mostly.

A woman dressed all in blue wearing sunglasses appears to be kneeling on a snowcovered path with a golden retriever in front of her. There is a wooded fence along the path with trees in the background.

No, Tammy is NOT kneeling next to FLD Drummond. Her right leg sunk into the snow up to her knee!

The same woman is bracing her hands on the golden retriever as she struggles to pull her right leg out of the snow. She is blurry, but the dog is in good focus.

FLD Drummond holds still as Tammy extracts her leg.

A golden retriever is rolling in a snow bank, he has smashed his head into the snow. A brown leather leash is attached ot his collar.

FLD Bravo takes a snow bath.

Two golden retrievers stand in front of a wooden fence, their leashes are tied to the fend. They are facing each other but are looking at the camera. There is snow all around and in the background is a tall partly frozen waterfall, coming down from a limestone cliff. There are some small fir trees to the left and bare limbed hardwood trees to the right.

FLDs Bravo and Drummond strike a post at Munising Falls.

A cloer shot of the two goldens, who are now close together. One of them is sitting underneath the other one that is standing. The sitting golden has his eyes closed and looks like he is smiling. The dog that is standing is also smiling and is looking to the right. They are in front of the wooden fence, and all the rest is snow.

Silly Bravo can't get close enough to his buddy Drummond.

Tammy asks me to videotape FLD Drummond walking because she said the guys had some concerns about his gait. (We don't notice anything unusual.) The beauty-boy does a nice job of what we call "connected walking." He keeps a loose leash, yielding to gentle pressure, but is not expected to maintain a tight heel position at Tammy's left side. At one point a family carrying a small, yippy dog exits the trail onto the parking lot where we are shooting; Drummond is interested, but quickly refocuses. Good boy!

Sunday, June 1, 2014

Backwards

April 10, 2014

Each month our three-day UP itinerary to meet with the prison puppy-raisers takes us first to the Chippewa Correctional Facility, and then to the Baraga Correctional Facility. In April our trip runs backwards.

We'll be taking Chippewa's first puppies back to Leader Dogs for the Blind to begin formal guide dog training. FLDs Stella, Nell and Tara's raisers will appreciate the extra two days with the pups and the girls don't need to be cooped up in the van any longer than necessary.

Tammy's plan in reverse sounds easy, but that means she must leave her house at 7 a.m. to drive an hour south to Leader Dogs. Here she swaps her car for the van and loads up dog food for the prisons and crates to transport puppies. One crate holds FLD Ecko, a six-month old female yellow lab "finisher" we will drop off at Chippewa on our way to Baraga. It is only a few miles out of our way.

Tammy and I rendezvous along northbound I-75. I bring lunch and an addition for one of the crates. Sometimes being puppy-less is an advantage - FLD Baker, a five-month-old black lab/golden mix, was enjoying a two-week stint at "patti's halfway house" because her raiser was on vacation in Florida.

A young black lab/golden retriever mix puppy is sitting on a sidewalk in front of a stone wall looking at the camers. The puppy is wearing the baby-blue Future Leader Dog working jacket. A brown leash is attached to her coller. Leaning on the right side of the picture are three artificial legs. The first one, closest to the puppy, is from the knee down and it looks like a mannequin lower leg and foot. The middle one is futuristic and made of graphite, from the knee down, the one on the far right is a full leg. The foot and upper leg look like a mannegquin, but the lower leg looks like a metal piston.

FLD Baker is a sweetheart. (And she is house trained!) It is fun to have her along on my assignments writing for the Ogemaw County Voice. Here FLD Baker poses with a selection of artificial legs after my interview of the owner of Orthotec Orthopedics for a future story. (Puts a whole new meaning to the word "leg" doesn't it?)

A close up shot of a woman's face (she is wearing glasses) looking down and to the right at a very small black puppy that she is holding in her right hand. You can only see the puppy's head. The puppy is two weeks old and its eyes are closed still. The tip of its little pink tongue is just stickig out of its clsed mouth.

A two-week old not-yet-named-Baker is held by her mom's host, Phyllis.

A chocolate lab "mom" is lying down with five black puppies trying to nurse on her. Two other black puppies are nearby. The dog and pups are in a white whelping box, there is a thermometer on the left side. The chocolate lab is looking at the camera with a tired expression! All of the puppies have colorful ribbons tied around their necks for identification.

Baker's mom, Amber, nurses Baker (in the orange and purple ribbon) and her siblings. I was fortunate to act as an assistant mid-wife to Amber during the birth of of this, her fourth and last litter.

A small black lab/golden mix puppy is walking toward the camera, the puppy is looking away to the right. The puppy is walking on a wooden deck that has some snow on it. Behind the puppy are rungs of a railing.

A five-week old not-yet-named-Baker checks out the snow on Phyllis' deck. Baker was named by her raisers, Karen and Ron. Do you know the term "baker's dozen?" This little pup is the 13th puppy being raised by the couple!

Miss Baker and Tammy's FLD Harper will spend the night at Chippewa. Tammy wants to take FLDs Drummond and Bravo on furlough with us to Baraga.

We get to Chippewa sometime after 1:30 p.m. The brilliant sunshine makes the mid-50's temperature feel practically balmy. There are still plenty of snow piles in the yard where the guys are waiting for us, but much has melted. ARUS Rob directs Tammy to pull the big white van right up to the Pike Unit gate for the swap.

Gate pass prisoners carry two large bags of Purina Pro Plan Sport All Life Stages Active 26/16 and two large bags of Purina Pro Plan Focus Puppy Chicken and Rice Formula into the unit from the van. A special delivery this month - poop bags! We hand off FLDs Ekco, Harper, and Baker in exchange for the two beautiful Goldens. Tammy is distressed when Mr. Harper, for the first time ever, doesn't seem happy to stay. He barks. He stretches his front paws through a space between the gate and the fence, reaching for her. He barks again and tries to squeeze his head through.

Maybe the image of Harper's escape attempt disorients Tammy. Maybe it's just because our schedule is topsy-turvy, that we usually head for Baraga from where we spend the night in the Soo, which is north of Chippewa. Maybe it's because the roads are dry and the sun is shining for the first time in months.

Whatever.

It takes us at least a half hour before we realize we took the wrong turn onto I-75. Our travel day just got longer.

Thursday, May 22, 2014

A puppy brings love

Baraga

March 7, 2014

A snow covered road stratches off into the distance. Snow is falling which makes it difficult to see the trees that line each sied of the road. A car is approaching in the left lane.

A reminder when counting on alarm-clock puppies: they surprise you. FLD Dax slept all night. Lucky for us, Tammy had set the real alarm. By 7 a.m. we were on the road from the Soo to Baraga. A clear and sunny drive to Munising was a treat, but soon after the usual snow slowed our progress. Even so, we had plenty of time to stop for lunch at our favorite cinnamon-roll place - the Hilltop Family Restaurant in L'anse.

A quiet trip across the UP was another surprise. "Dax became a really good car rider," Tammy said.

The usual committee welcomed us into the Baraga Correctional Facility administration building. Here the Dax we knew reappeared - he had lots to say. We did not dawdle.

A person's lower legs (dressed in blue jeans and brown boots) are on the right side of the photo, the person's right hand is reaching to a small german shepherd puppy who is sitting down on a brown tile floor next to the person's right leg. The puppy is looking up and trying to mouth the person's hand. The puppy is wearing a Future Leader Dog blue bandana and a brown leash is attached to his collar.

FLD Dax tastes a hand.

RUM Steve met us outside Unit 8. "Are we going to get a ticket?" I asked, pointing out the Leader Dogs for the Blind van parked askew in the snow.

"You can put that big white van anywhere you want," he said and escorted us inside.

The teams sat ready in formation in the east wing lunchroom. Chad stood alone with his back to the door. The room was filled with "awwwwwws" as Tammy lifted FLD Dax over his shoulder.

A man dressed in prison blue pants and t-shirt is facing the camera on the left side of the photo. Behind him a woman with short white hair dressed in a blue parka and blue jeans approaches with a small german shepherd puppy in her right arm, the leather leash hanging down. A man in a black jacket is also standing behind with a golden retriever on his left side. Eight other men dressed in prison blues are sitting at steel lunch tables on the right side.

Puppy counselor Tammy presents FLD Dax to his raiser while the teams look on.

There are no words necessary for what came next...

A head shot of a man burying his face into the soft furry face of a small german shepherd puppy that is being handed over the man's left shoulder. The man has his eyes closed and appears to be drinking in the moment. The man's left hand is reaching up to the puppy's collar. The man has a large sliver watch on his writ and tatoos on his forearm. One of the tatoos is the word "hate."

The man still has his eyes closed and he seems to be in deep thought. The puppy is pressing the side of his face against the man's face with his front pays gripping the man's left shoulder. The man is holding the puppy's head with his left hand.

The man still has his eyes closed, but he is squinting is face and pulling slightly away from the puppy. The puppy likely nibbled on his ear. The man is still holding the pup with his left hand, and now his right hand is reaching up to the puppy. A leather leash is attached to the puppy's collar and is drapped to the right behind him.

The man has now taken the puppy in both his arms and is holding the pup with both his hands on the pup's body. The puppy is facing the man's face which is partially obscured. The man's eyes are still closed. There are more tatoos on the man's right arm, one is the word "love," which seems to represent what is happening - hate to love!