Global Animal Blogging Event - plus a GIVEAWAY!

***For our new visitors - please make sure to read the "about" pages at the top of this blog (under my pawesome header photo!) - it will explain more about me & the other doggies my Raiser has trained.
Word you may not know - "My Raiser" is just like your "mom", but since I'm a guide dog in training - I don't know who my real "mom" will be yet.***

That is right, GABE is here!

AND I am "active", which means... I will be hosting A GIVEAWAY!

My Raiser has decided - the giveaway will be for... HER PAWESOME GOAT MILK SOAP! She even has little lab soap & dog bone soap! (see pictures below).

Want to know why we are participating in GABE? We hope to make many new friends, stay in contact with old ones, and win some cool giveaways!

Interested in entering our giveaway? If you have a blog, Leave 1 (ONE) comment and you will be entered, really that's all! The winner will be announced on April 18th - you have until April 17 at midnight to enter/leave a comment.

The prize is NOT store bought soap - this Goat Milk Soap is HOMEMADE by MY RAISER, yes MY RAISER makes the soap - the old fashion way with lye, not glycerin.

The giveaway will be for 2 bars of Goat Milk Soap - 1 "Lab puppy" bar & 1 "dog bone" bar (see pictures below).

This is 1 giveaway - if you win you will receive BOTH bars!

Have a blog? You CAN ENTER - just leave a comment on THIS post BEFORE April 18th!
Any questions? Don't expect to win the giveaway & want to order some soap? Email my Raiser at

letters-fromhomeAThotmailDOTcom,

Or visit the GABE page to learn more about this event.

I will be posting reminders to enter this event, but make sure to leave a comment! (only one please).

Winner will be hand picked (possibly "mouth" picked by one of my furry friends -as I won't be here by then)

Enjoy the photos of the goat milk soap!

Don't forgot to see the post below (my "Wordless Wednesday" post) that picture was taken at one of my "last place" visits - I only have 1 more visit to that place before I leave:(

(Note from Raiser - this soap is made from a mold, I don't hand carve it!

**For humans only - I may include something little for your dog)

Toby

The dog with a blog

Wordless Wednesday - and GABE!

Toby

The dog with a blog

P.S. GABE post coming later!

Toby Tuesday - last times

That's right, today is TOBY TUESDAY!

What's that? It's a post about Toby on a Tuesday!
Subject: Last Times...

Those are the 2 words my Raiser has just starting using in the last week :(

Some of my newer followers may not know this - but I will be leaving this blog, house, family, and my Raiser in 2 weeks 1 day. (Feel free to read the IFT post my Raiser wrote)

I am a guide dog IN TRAINING - which means one day I need that "In Training" to be taken off. I'm heading down to the guide dog school (where I was born) in 2 weeks... I will never come back, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER. (Yes I could get put out of the school - due to medical issues or something, but for my Raiser to be able to continue to raise she can't "adopt" me - as her family already has enough dogs!)

I will continue my training down at the school - for the first 2 weeks I will have medical tests/hip exams & such - if I pass all of those I will be put into training to become a guide dog (if I'm not chosen for a breeder). So once I return to the school after about 2-4 weeks my Raiser will be posting an update on the career I chose.

This blog will be used for the new puppy - we just don't know when, my Raiser wants a puppy when I return to the school - but she most likely will end up waiting 1-2 months.

Back to the subject - Last Times.

With me leaving in 2 weeks, my Raiser wants me to visit/say goodbye to everything, I have 2 more weeks to "finish" everything up here. And the most common saying at the moment is... "This is your last time here Toby" or "You only have 1 more visit to this place".

The time sure has gone by fast, I was just a cute little puppy, my Raiser carried me into meetings & let me ride in shopping buggies. But now, now I'm older, now I'm ready to start training at the guide dog school.

So you will be seeing some posts complete with pictures - of my "last times" at places.

Don't forgot - GABE is coming up TOMORROW!

My Raiser IS letting me do a giveaway - and it will be for her "dog style" Goat Milk Soap! So be looking for the post tomorrow! All you will have to do is LEAVE ONE COMMENT on the post to enter!

Enjoy today's pictures :)

Toby

The dog with a blog

Awards!

Thanks Lola, Booker Man, and Pompei for these awards, I am very happy, as I have not gotten an award in a little while :)

Most of these awards have been passed around to mostly everyone - so most of the friends I pick have already received.

Rules for the Happy 101 Award
Copy the image and paste it to my blog
List 10 things that make me happy, and do one of them today
List 10 bloggers who brighten my day

1. Eating treats
2. Playing outside
3. Chewing on toys
4. Shopping
5. Attending puppy training
6. Sleeping
7. Food
8. Walks
9. Blogging
10. Reading all my friends blogs








Rules for the Sunshine Award
Post the award
Send the award to 12 bloggers Post links and leave a comment on the 12 blogs
Put these instructions in my post so they'll know what to do











To make it easier on everyone - I'll pass along both awards to the following 12 blogs, if your name is listed below PLEASE take this award.
1. Twinkie
2. Khyra
3. Cabana
4. Dory
5. Mayzie
6. Martha & Bailey
7. Cassie
8. The Musketeers
9. Sonic
10. The Thundering Herd
11. Kira
12. Alfie

I'd also like to thank Lola for this "cupcake" she gave me through her blog for my first birthday!



I'm 1 year & 2 days old!
Don't forget about GABE, it's coming up quickly!
Many pictures of ME, coming soon :)


Toby
The dog with a blog

I'm going back to sleep...

Birthday! Awards! Gifts! Pictures! ... FUN!

Well, most (if not all) of you guys know that today, yes TODAY, is my FIRST BIRTHDAY!!
"Happy Birthday to me..."

I had a busy birthday, starting off with a (long) Easter petting zoo/pony rides! (I even got to meet the Easter bunny!). My Raiser did pony rides - I was watching her the whole time, it sure looked like fun!

After the petting zoo, we drove over to puppy class (yes, with horse trailer & all!). And I got to do puppy class on my birthday, I had lots of fun. My Raiser did have to hand back the harness... but we enjoyed it while we had it!

All through out puppy class, I was handled by another lady (and My Raiser handled Duchess), I did MUCH better than last puppy meeting and my Raiser was proud.

After doing many distractions with treats/balls/flags/children/brooms/extra, my Raiser's dad got a horse & llama out for all the puppies to see! That was a big hit...

We then headed home after puppy class, I was quite tired, didn't even know I still had gifts waiting at home!

Later on, my Raiser let me open my gifts, then she took me into the kitchen to make DOG TREATS, homemade dog treats! (recipe came on my birthday card from SEGDI - my school). While they cooked, My Raiser took me outside in the 2+ acre fence (complete with the mud puddle...), I played with my new toy, old toy, and the people!

Coming back inside I got FRESH dog treats, then got a extra (not much) helping of supper. Now I plan on going to sleep...

Busy day, right?

The gifts I received are: A pawesome throw toy from my Raiser, a cool "spa" gift set from my Raiser, 2 really tasty gift bags from people in puppy class and a cupcake from another Raiser!

P.S. Lola & Booker Man (maybe others - I don't remember!) passed along these pawesome awards to me (thank you!) - I will hand them out to other people in another post - as my Raiser wants to go to bed soon! Thanks guys for the awards, I love receiving things!

(Note from Raiser - "HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOBY - I LOVE YOU!")

Thanks "mom"!


All photos have been put in a smile box slide show (I will post a "making cookies" one later on) I would have posted all the photos, but that takes quite a while!


Hope everyone had a great Saturday,


I AM A WHOLE YEAR OLD!



Toby
The dog with a blog




Create your own free digital scrapbook

I've been tagged!

One of my newest friends "Lola" tagged me to play this pawesome photo game.
Rules:

1). go to your 1st photo folder.
2). find the 10th picture.
3). post the 10th picture and tell everyone about it!
4). tag 5 other doggie blogs so they can have some photo fun, too!!

Well we have 2 different photo files - one "all" photos and another "just guide dog" one.

This one is from the guide dog section -



It's a photo of BRAX (My Raiser's first dog), I'm NOT in it!
Brax is with another doggy - Rei (we met with her & her Raiser in 4-H back in 2007!).
They are both in a down -stay (not looking at the camera).

This is from the "all" photo section (yes, it just so happens to be dog related too!)

It's a photo of BRAX (why not me? How does Brax get to be in both?).

He is sitting in front of the guide dog booth my Raiser made at a fair back in 2007 - a third place ribbon is tied to his collar!

Kind of funny how both are of Brax - from 2 different sections...

Now, for the people I'm tagging -

1. Khyra
2. Erin & Pompei (this is also Rei's Raiser)
3. Bunny
4. Dory
5. Mimi & Cabana

If your name is above then TAG!

I really don't know who has/hasn't done it. So if I just tagged somebody who's already been tagged - sorry! (I have heard some of my friends are already tagged - I hope some of the above aren't tagged!)

I also just received some pawesome awards - I plan on posting them tomorrow in my BIRTHDAY POST! (which won't be posted 'til night, as my Raiser will be doing Easter petting zoos - and I'm going with her!)

Toby
The dog with a blog

Did you hear?? (and mud puddle visit)

One of my pawesome friends is hosting an event, and in this event there will be GIVEAWAYS!!
Yes, GIVEAWAYS!
Twinkie is one of my newer friends - she's a furry cute doggy and I'm glad to have met her :)
Twinkie has been planning a pawesome global animal event for us! So we can win cool prizes & meet new people!

The name for this event is G.A.B.E (Global Animal Blogging Event).

I don't know to much about this event; but my Raiser said something about "giveaways" so I had to post about it!

To learn lots more, visit Twinkie's page. (make sure to start at the bottom).

I'm told their are 2 categories for us bloggers -
ACTIVE PARTICIPANTS

PASSIVE PARTICIPANTS

Active being you do a giveaway.
To be Active take the GABE badge (from Twinkie's page) and place it in your sidebar (making sure to link it back to the Twinkie's page) before March 31. On or after March 31 post about your giveaway (making sure to send the link to Twinkie), the quicker you do the giveaway post the higher up you will be on Twinkie's list - so you may have more people viewing/entering your contest. April 18th the winner (s) will be picked.
(you can still enter other giveaways if you are active)

Passive being you only have to ENTER all those giveaways!!
(please note that I am just a dog - I may have gotten a fact/date wrong & of course left many things out - so if you are interested in this cool event please read Twinkie's page & if something is different, feel free to let me know - and of course follow what Twinkie says not me!)
We were planning on just being "passive" but my Raiser is thinking about letting me be an Active doggy (as a birthday gift!)- of course I will be leaving for IFT at the guide dog school before GABE ends, so Liberty or my Raiser (unless the new puppy is here) will announce the winner (s) on my blog :(
Unless something unexpected happens & we get really busy we (hopefully) will be active - so make sure to enter our giveaway when it comes time! My Raiser is thinking about her homemade goat milk soap as the prize... (her soap is very nice - so you guys will LOVE it - and they were quite popular at the slient auction at SEGDI'S Walk-A-thon!!)

So make sure to look into this event!

Guess what I did today??
My Raiser took me out back (a 2+ acre fenced in for goats/horses/) this fence just so happened to have been sitting empty for a couple months & my Raiser decided to let me play in it! (just now, what about the other 2 months??). What she DIDN'T NO - their just so "happened" to be a nice LARGE, MUD, PUDDLE in it...
Not wanting to get wet - I decided to jump OVER it - not realizing it was a "little" to long... yes, my Raiser watched me land in the MIDDLE of the puddle, straight in the mud! She laughed SOOO loud, til she realized that I now needed a shower:)
So that was my fun thing today :) (and no she didn't have her camera!)
P.S. My Raiser went shopping for birthday presents today...

Hope you enjoyed my long, informative but (hopefully) fun post!

Toby
The dog with a blog





GABE'S badge, isn't it cute!!

(almost) Wordless Wednesday

Toby

The dog with a blog

*(Note From Raiser - Toby does enjoy outings in town - his "enjoyment" always looks pitiful to us though!)*

I've made it! (and play time...)

I have OVER 100 followers!
Thank you so much to all who are following me and leaving comments! I also reached 22 comments on Saturday's post - that is the most comments I have ever gotten from different blogs on 1 post! (please note that I don't mind getting 20+ comments on more posts - so do keep commenting when you can!)

On to PLAYTIME!
My Raiser has been wanting a dog fence so she could let me play off leash outside - but as of now we won't be building one anytime soon :(
My Raiser decided to try me in one of her GOAT fences... and see if maybe I would leave the goats alone and just play. Well I've been in the fence 4 times now and I LOVE IT!! (see pictures below).
I tried to chase the goats - but once my Raiser told me "no", I decided chasing toys is much more fun! I'm enjoying exercising daily off leash, and I'm soo happy my Raiser decided to try me in a goat fence!

I hope all my pawesome followers have/had a good Tuesday!

Toby
The dog with a blog

Someone got mail...

*(Written by Toby's Raiser)*

Toby received a card in the mail today from SEGDI (his guide dog school), and much to our surprise it was a HAPPY BIRTHDAY card! (see pictures below)

Yes, Toby's 1 year birthday is THIS Saturday. On March 27th he will be a WHOLE year! Time sure has passed quickly,

Happy almost 1 year Toby!

I also want to thank you guys for helping Toby in hopefully reaching 2 of his goals.

He has already made it to 21 comments, and has 96 followers - THANK YOU!

2 of Toby's goals:

1. Get 100 followers on my blog (!!)

2. Get over 20 comments on 1+ posts (20 comments from 20 different blogs).

He still hopes to get more posts with 20+ comments, but he is very happy that he has already received 20 comments on 1 post.

Thank you so much for following, reading, and commenting on his blog! It means so much to a young puppy to know that people enjoy reading this blog :)

Toby went with me to Zumba (at the YMCA) tonight, and did a great 1 hour down-stay, and also made a new friend :) (See pictures below)

Toby's Raiser

The human that has a dog with a blog

Toby's wonderful card

Toby's new friend

Your help...

...is needed!!
Some of my newer followers may not have seen the post I did back in December, with the goals I hoped to achieve BEFORE returning back to the school.

My top 5 were -

1. Get 100 followers on my blog (!!)
2. Get over 20 comments on 1+ posts (20 comments from 20 different blogs)
3. Update my blog frequently
4. Obey my trainer and learn as much as possible
5. Become the BEST guide dog I can!

YOUR HELP is needed for the first 2, if you are a current reader that isn't following my blog, please do so. If you are one of my pawesome followers and you LOVE my posts, please leave comments.


I would love to fulfill most (if not all) of my goals - you may not be able to help with me obeying my raiser, but you CAN (and hopefully will!) follow me & leave comments!

Updates on my goals:
1. I have 88 followers, only 12 more to go!
2. The most I have gotten on a post is 15 comments, please keep commenting!
3. I have been very busy with blogging lately, adding Wordless Wednesday posts on too.
4. My Raiser said I'm doing a GREAT job with this one, and learning as much as possible!
5. I'm trying... I guess will find out in a month!

If you can help me at all with reaching my goals PLEASE DO!!

All comments I receive from you guys are greatly appreciated :)
THANK YOU!

Enjoy the 2 photos of my shopping trip today, I had some more comments on what a great "GUIDE dog" I am... :)


Toby
The dog with a blog

Question: (and 300th post!)

Did you miss me???

Answer:
I HOPE YOU DID!

My Raiser picked me up at 10:30 this morning, I was sooooo happy :)
My swap father talked to her a little about my 3 week camp life - how I did and such, then it was time to go. I; of course, didn't mind one bit, as I was with my raiser, MY RAISER.
We made a few stops on the way home, my Raiser coated/harnessed me up and off we went. She got many, many, many comments on how well behaved I was, and we even had a few people who thought my Raiser was, well, blind! I felt so proud, that means I would have been a real guide dog. My Raiser said I sure was acting like one, and she was happy at how well I did, doing commands right on the spot, and if she was blind, she would have LOVED for me to guide her!

I was very excited to get back home, see Liberty, sniff my house and sleep.

I hope Duchess didn't "ruin" my blog to much with all her girly talk.
I wished I could have spent a couple days with her, but my Raiser didn't want to chance her coming into heat with me being in the same house, so we traded back at the same time :(

P.S.
My Raiser pointed out to me that this will be my THREE HUNDREDTH POST!
I have enjoyed blogging for the past 10 months and hope to fill this blog up with somemore exciting posts for the next 3 weeks!
Enjoy the photos below, all were taken today,

Toby
The dog with a blog

Letters From Camp - and goodbye Duchess!

Hey blogging buddies - this will be my LAST POST before I leave... I will NEVER get to post on this blog again :( I hope all you guys miss me!

Tomorrow morning I will be leaving with my handler to meet up with my raisers and the family Toby is with - so we can all switch back! Finally I will be HOME!
My handler put together a slide show for you guys; it's kind of short, but it goes through some various photos she has taken of me (most you have seen, but some were never posted on the blog). I hope you enjoy it!
Toby's swap family sent a "photo email" today... with lots and lots of pictures. My handler didn't want me to post them all - but said to pick a "couple". (You may also notice in some of the pictures, that Toby has a raw spot on his nose - that somehow got there when he was in the crate at the swap family's house, no idea why).

I had fun blogging for the "almost" 3 weeks I was here, and really hoped you guys enjoyed reading my pawesome posts.

Enjoy the slide show of ME, and the pictures of Toby below. (please note that my handler tags all photos, but all will have words beside them - as that was what Toby sent along with them)

Duchess

The dog with a blog

This free digital photobook created with Smilebox

"Neighborhood boys just LOVE me!! They play rough like me!"

"I just ADORE people... particularly the ladies...!!!"

"Another party... I didn't care about the cake... there's that cat on the porch...again!"

"Why do these little guys get balls... and raw hide... and stuffed animals??? No Fair!!!"

"My camp mom took a picture of my nose... she was REALLY worried about me... and it..."

"Waiting for a train in Summerville....(it didn't come!!)"

"Such lovely smells... EVERYWHERE!!!!"

"Wouldn't I make a good guidedog puppy action figure???!!!"

"Insurance Rocks....well sort of!!"

Wordless Wednesday

Duchess

The dog with a blog

Things I like...

I LIKE the vacuum.
I LIKE the YMCA classes.
I LIKE dogs.
I LIKE the baby goat.
I LIKE the bunnies.
I LIKE outings.
I LIKE vehicles.

And things I don't...
Llamas... and HORSES...
Those horses are like BIG MONSTERS. I just don't trust them. And the Llamas, well they just look WEIRD!

My handler did introduce me to some horses, a Llama, and some Alpacas - in person, which meant I didn't just see them through the fence :(

No I didn't "freak" when seeing the animals, I just didn't fall in love with them (see videos below). My handler did tell me I did better than she expected. She knows I'm not a "horse lover" like Toby is, but I do try to please her, and she is happy with that.

Enjoy the videos & pictures below, have a Terrific Tuesday!

Duchess

The dog with a blog

I LIKE Zumba. (Movie of Duchess in a down-stay on her paw print blanket, you can see 8+ people doing zumba behind her, she is not phased at all by it)

But I DON'T like Llamas. (Movie of a brown Llama coming up to Duchess, he is just wanting to sniff her, but Duchess thinks he wants to EAT her!)

The monster horses... (Movie of Duchess meeting 2 horses, she is really shy, and doesn't want to go near them, you can see some Alpacas in the background)