About Me

My photo
I am a male yellow Lab. My birth date is September 4th 2011. I am in training to be a guide dog for the blind. (guide dog school -Southeastern Guide Dogs) I'm my raiser's fifth guide dog puppy. She will keep me for (about) 1 year, then I will head off to harness training! Please feel free to follow my blog and keep up with: Brandon's Life... As a guide dog in training

My Furry Friends! (Feel free to join the pack!)

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Playdate... ME?

Remember Tracker? The cute little male black mouth cur pup. He's now a 5 month old puppy - who needs a friend!

The family had another large dog, but due to some horrible aggressive issues she had to be put down. Which leave Tracker lonely - as the little dog they have, doesn't care to play with him.


So? My raiser had an idea of bringing me over to his house to play... I'm only 1 month younger, and we get along so perfect together! (okay, not PERFECT... but at least a "little" bit!).

Today was our first "playdate" and we played for over an hour! It was a blast and I get to go back tomorrow!
(My raiser does stay over with us while we play in the fenced in yard - and she doesn't let us ruff house either - always thinking about safety!)

Enjoy the pictures & movie, I'm off to go nap!

Rudy

The dog with a blog

Picture of Rudy & Tracker's face - they are just standing still panting

Picture of Rudy trying to take a break - Tracker trys to convince him to keep playing

Picture of Rudy & Tracker playing


(Movie of Tracker & Rudy chasing each other in the yard)

Monday, July 26, 2010

Airport Fun

The awesome airport meeting was last week... and this was my first time EVER being inside an airport! It was a very, very busy place - but I did great!
Once everyone arrived, we headed through security check - where my coat, leash, AND COLLAR was taken off (the security guards caught me on the other side!), and it didn't beep when I went through :)
We had a "new" member for this meeting, a puppy raiser for Guide Dog Foundation. She was attending our meeting, since there aren't many Guide Dog Foundation puppy raisers around, and she loved the idea of hanging out with other puppy raisers. We were happy to have her! After security check, we got to do some awesome things. Including riding handicap carts, boarding an airplane and even visiting the cockpit!
When on the airplane, all us dogs were told we HAD to do a "down under " under the airplane seats (the one in front of us). Only 2 of the 9 dogs passed perfectly (they had real airplane attendants come in... and check to see which dogs would pass if we were really flying)... and I PASSED!! I was so comfortable in my down-under, and my raiser was very proud of me!

It was a great meeting and I had a lot of fun. After leaving the meeting, us and 3 other puppy raisers went out for lunch. Once finished with lunch Sparkie's raiser traded dogs with my raiser. And that's were my new adventure began - all to soon it was time to come back home, and my raiser picked me up last Friday.
I had a lot of fun at Sparkie's house, but I'm glad to be back!

Hope you enjoy the puppy class pictures!

Rudy
The dog with a blog







Picture of Rudy in a sit-stay on the back of the airport carts


Picture of Rudy doing a down-under, for the airplane seat

another angle of Rudy's happily doing the down-under

Picture of Rudy & I, Rudy's in a sit-stay, and I'm kneeling down beside him - we are in the cockpit
Picture of Rudy laying in my lap, you can see people waiting in seats behind us

Picture of our whole group - lots of black dogs... and ONE yellow dog!

Picture of Rudy reading the airport safety card!

Picture of Rudy in a sit-stay, and me standing next to him. This is right before we got on the plane
Picture of Rudy in a down-stay smiling!

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Forever Happy

Hey furry friends, I'M BACK!!
Did you miss my furry funny posts?? I sure missed all of you guys, BUT I had a awesome time at Sparkie's house!

And I'm told he had a great time at mine...

I'm hoping that my raiser will have more time to let me catch up with you guys, and also let me do some more posts here and there.

I've got so much furry fun things to talk about, but I'm saving the best for another post!
For now I'm going to let you in on a little secret...

Remember CSN stores?? My raiser has done 2 reviews for them, on her second review they moved her up to "preferred blogger" which means... my raiser may be doing reviews almost every month!
My raiser has decided to not spoil me this time around... and decided to buy a birthday gift for her mom.
She's been pondering between some awesome home decor, some cool table lamps, or maybe a nice shelf or two.

If you haven't already, make sure to check out CSN stores, if you do... make sure to look at their soft and cuddle dog beds!
Enjoy the 1 photo below (taken while I was at Sparkie's house), and many fun updates coming later!

Rudy
The dog with a blog

Photo of Rudy sleeping in the laundry room - where he gets fed

Friday, July 23, 2010

Sparkie Comes... Sparkie Goes

I'm back from 4-H congress! Sparkie was WONDEFUL, and did great. With only 537 people there... he only got stepped on a couple times, and didn't mind one bit!
Sparkie got many complements on how well he behaved, and they were sure right!
For any dog this 4-H event could have been very stressful, Sparkie was never stressed out - and just enjoyed the entire thing!

When it came to the farewell dance, he did the 2 step with me, but then decided to bail on me and try "break dancing"... doggy style. Yes he was doing the tight twists/turns, and was totally feeling the music!

The following day before we left, people were coming up to me saying how well he break dances - and he was the best one on the floor!
Good to know that Sparkie has a second career...

I was happy to enjoy Sparkie this week, and this morning we traded back. Rudy was very happy to see me, and I'm told he did great.

Updates later on Rudy, for now enjoy some picture below!

Rudy's Raiser

The human that has a dog with a blog


Picture of Sparkie & I doing the 2 step (yes Sparkie's on his hind legs)
Picture of Sparkie with my friends, my sister & I

Picture of Sparkie in a sleep-stay, behind him our group is bagging pasta - for our 4-H community service project!
Photo of Sparkie in a sit-stay in the middle of the dance floor - his eyes are glowing, and their is a huge crowd of people behind him
Picture of Sparkie's shoulder & up - he's in a sit-stay with a water fountain behind him
Picture taken from a camera stand - picture of me, My friend, my sister, and Sparkie beside the water fountain
Picture of Sparkie in a sleep-stay, behind him is some of our group & I

Picture of Sparkie sleeping under our table

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Wordless Wednesday - Liberty style

Happy Wordless Wednesday - Liberty would like for you to see her "good" side :)

Sparkie
The dog with a blog

Photo of Liberty's face - with a huge nice piece of slobber/drool hanging ON top of her mouth...

Monday, July 19, 2010

Cow Day At Chick-fil-A

You read the title correct - my raiser MADE me "dress" up like a cow (by adding cute white paper spots onto me) - just to get more looks when she went to some "cow appreciation day" thing at Chick-fil-A.
But everybody loved me!
By the time my furry friends read this post... and look at the pictures - I'll be enjoying myself over at Sparkie's house, and Sparkie will be with my Raiser at some 4-H thing.
Hope you have a great week, as I know I will!

Rudy
The dog with a blog



Photo of me wearing black/white with spots all over (yes - I'm wearing a cow bell, ears, and HOOFS too!), Rudy is beside me- but you can't see much on him.


Photo of Rudy's side - besides the blue guide dog coat, he's got on some white spots, and is also wearing a cow bell


Photo of Rudy snuggled up with the Chick-fil-A cow toy he was given



Photo of the one lone white spot ontop of Rudy's head

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Switch It Up...

Hey furry friends!
My raiser has been hogging the blog lately - due to "updates" on Toby, (like he's more important than me! NO WAY, I'm much cuter than him in a long shot).

I thought I'd give you guys a short update on me real quick... as you won't be seeing many posts next week.

This Sunday I will be leaving... Not for long! Just 1 week :)
My Raiser will be going to some week long "4-H Congress" event, and thinks I'm "too young" to attend it with her. But she hates going dogless to events, so she's doing a "puppy swap" with my furry friend Sparkie. (We puppy sat him last month).

Tomorrow after our puppy meeting we will be swapping - I'll go to Sparkie's house, and he'll come to mine!!

I know we are both going to have such furry fun, but I'll sure miss all you guys! I told Sparkie he could do a post or two - but he's leaving with my Raiser on Monday. So I don't know if he'll have time.
My raiser might "schedule" a post or two to publish while she's gone - just so I don't leave you guys completely!

So long furry friends, and I'm leaving you with 2 furry cool pictures of me!

P.S. My Raiser wanted to let all who commented on the last post know that the picture of Toby may have been sad - but he's really enjoying himself down there, and she wants to make sure you all know it's really heaven in the kennels at the school - so Toby doesn't think he's in "prison" or anything!

Furry Kisses!

Rudy
The Dog With a Blog

Picture of Rudy in a down under the couch, he's got one eye opened

Photo tinted red of Rudy in a down, with his head up & tongue out - he looks very happy!

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Picture Of... TOBY! (not so Wordless Wednesday!)

One of the puppy raisers in our group was heading down to FL last week for Puppy Raiser Day (Graduation) -as the last dog she raised had just graduated.
I asked if at all possible, could she peek into the training kennel, and snap a picture of Toby for me.
What I woke up to this morning - was a very special email, enclosed with A PICTURE of Toby!
Though it's just "a picture", those are worth a thousand words. And this one sure was.
You can read his face in the picture, it's so sad and sweet at the same time.
She said Toby looked great, and all their siblings were doing fine.
I'm glad to hear that, and wish Toby the best of luck!
Rudy's (and Toby's!) Raiser
The human that has a dog with a blog

Picture taken through chain link kennel of Toby in a sit at the door. You can see his whole body, and to the left a stainless steel water bucket. Toby's face is somewhat sad - but also is very sweet looking. We know that face will cheer up once he's placed!!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Toby's THRID Report Card!

*(Written by Rudy's Raiser)*
Wow, seems like just last week I was saying good bye to Toby, dropping him off at the school - and having the thought that I'd never see him again (still have that thought!).

Now Toby has been down at the school for almost THREE months, and I've already received his third report card!
So far, he's doing real well with training - most of his "W's" (Working on) are just on new things he's started learning. He still is having trouble with the harness, but we all know he'll expect it in his own time.

Each day I worry. Wondering if I'll receive a email - with bad news in it. Each day, when opening our inbox, I sometime wish I'd just stop and walk away.

But for now - Toby is still IN training down at the school, it doesn't matter to me how quickly he jumps through training, as long as he's fine, and doing well.

I wish him the best of luck, and know all you guys do the same!

Thanks to all who follow this blog, through our ups AND downs, and sticking with us no matter what happens.
We hope to keep passing on great news about Toby to you all. But we all know everything never turns out perfect.
Thanks for following, Rudy will be posting in the next couple days!

Please note that all the W's (which stand for Working On) in the report card are mostly on new things he's just started, he's not having much trouble with things he already knew - which I'm real happy about, as he's learning lots more, and I know he'll do great!


Rudy's Raiser
The human that has a dog with a blog


Photo of Toby's third report card, so far everything on the list he's started - which is great news!

The Report Card says:

TRAINING REPORT

DOG: Toby
Tattoo: 3B09
Date: July

Training Phase: Phase 1

+ - meeting expectations W=working on


Accepts harness W
Forward +
Straight line concept +
Left +
Right +
Down curbs +
Up curbs W
Clearances W
Traffic W
Indoor mall W
Off curb Travel W
Left, Left +
Right, Right +
Stairs W
Escalators W
Underfootings W
Food scavenging W
Obedience +
Distractions:
Scent +

People +
Small animal +
Dog +
Children +
Kennel behavior +

COMMENTS: Toby is a sweet boy. We are working on his harness acceptance. He is learning new things quickly and is fun to work.

Saturday, July 10, 2010

I've Missed You!

Farm Camp #2 is FINALLY over!!
My raiser hasn't had anytime left to let me do a couple blog posts OR comment on any of my furry friends blogs... :(
But I'm back fur now, and hope to be visiting "some" of you guys soon!
This farm camp was a blast for not only the 11 kids - but also for ME. I was allowed out of the crate for most of the time, and I also enjoyed getting attention from all the furry cool kids!
(see pictures below of us playing!).
Please know I am not purposely ignoring all of you guys - I haven't even had time to comment on ONE furry cool blog this week... which I'm very sorry about!
Hope you all missed me,
Furry Friend Kisses!!

Rudy
The Dog With a Blog

Picture of a farm camper holding Rudy in his lap

Picture of 2 farm campers playing with Rudy (who is half way under the couch)


Picture of one farm camper smiling at the camera while holding Rudy's toy. Rudy's head is sticking out from under the couch trying to reach the toy


Picture of a farm camper

Monday, July 5, 2010

Congrats to the WINNER of my GIVEAWAY!!

My raiser just blew up AND stuffed TEN balloons (complete with the ten names picked by random.org).
And she just put them down for me to pick one. She about thought I wasn't going to pop one (see below movie... of me "trying"). But right before she cut the camera for the last time.... I DID - I really popped one!!

Congrats to Deborah entry #72!! You are the winner of my furry cool giveaway! I'm off to email you now!

Thanks to all else who entered the giveaway, I enjoyed it so furry much... and I hope you aren't to bummed out that you didn't win the furry cool duffle bag - perfect for storing cute little puppies in!

Furry kisses friends! (Please let me know if you can't see the movies - as my computer won't let me view them for some odd reason)

Rudy

The dog with a blog



(Movie of me sniffing some balloons -my raiser chose blue & white for SEGDI colors)

(Movie of Rudy playing with balloons - he chose a blue one - and does pop it, which then stuns him for a second - but he was back to playing after he realized he didn't just kill something!)

Photo of the ten names written out on paper - by my raiser

And The WINNERS are...

My giveaway ended yesterday - and my raiser FINALLY has time to help pick the winners.
(yes winners - I will use "random.org" to pick TEN winners - and out of those ten I will then "nose pick" the top one).

Want to know how? My raiser is going to put the top ten names in ten different balloons... and whichever I pop first... is the winner! (And if I decide not to pop one... then my raiser will do if for me!)

Now for the comment numbers - there are more entries then shown on the giveaway post - as most people just left 1 comment with all their entries. So my raiser did a word document and made a nice list of each entry from each person- and off that list ten names will be picked.

Below you will see the name of each winner - Please note that you ARE NOT the real winner of the package if your name is listed below... you will just be put in another drawing done by me! (if you aren't sure if a name below is/isn't you - all names are linked to their blog)

Out of 137 entries... the top ten are:

1. Deborah(Entry 71)

2. Lynda Del. (Entry 29)

3. Raiser Erin (Entry 104)

4. Feral Female (Entry 41)

5. Lynda Del. (Entry 27)

6. Deborah (Entry 72)

7. Kira The BeaWootiful (Entry 122)

8. Lauren and Don (Entry 3)

9. Khyra And Sometimes Her Mom (Entry 33)

10. El'bow and Hauwii (Entry 11)

Wow, those are some random numbers! Seems like 2 bloggers got picked twice!
My raiser did get "pictures" of each number random chose... pictures coming in a later post!

Congrats to the ten winners... and I'm off to pick the top one. (and comment on the top ten winning blogs)
Rudy
The dog with a bog

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Happy 4th Of July!!

Hey furry friends,
I'd like to wish you all a very Happy 4th Of July!!
And hope you all have/had fun!

Don't forget - your LAST chance to enter my pawesome giveaway is TODAY - the giveaway ends TONIGHT at midnight. So don't forget to stop by and enter if you haven't already!
(and YES I made my goal - 100+ entries!)

Thanks so much, and I won't be blogging much this week - as my raiser is doing ANOTHER Farm Camp....
Oh well, I'll miss my furry friends, hope you miss me too - have a furry fun week and a great Fourth Of July!

Rudy

The Dog With a Blog



Photo of Rudy in a down-stay looking at the camera, with his paw on a American flag bandannaHappy Fourth of July!

Thursday, July 1, 2010

Rudy's Goal

Hey furry friends!
I have a quick favor to ask:
If you haven't already, please head over to my giveaway post and enter to win a totally cool duffle bag.
The giveaway ends THIS Sunday (July Fourth) - at MIDNIGHT.
So make sure to get you entries in!
My raiser will let me draw the winner sometime Monday-Tuesday (she has ANOTHER farm camp that week - so she may not have time on Monday).

The reason for the post's title:
"Rudy's Goal", is because I have a goal I'm trying to reach - and I'd love your furry help with it!
All you have to do is head over to the giveaway post and enter in the giveaway!
Yep, that's all.
My goal is to get OVER 100 comments on my first giveaway post (I'm almost there!).
And that should be real easy, as I have almost 200 followers!
Can you help?
Sure you can!
I know who has entered... and who hasn't. So I'm giving my pitiful face to all who have yet to enter.
Please don't forget to enter in the giveaway - all it takes to one is 1 lucky comment - and that could be you!
I really want my first giveaway to be a hit and for me to complete my goal - so furry, furry please enter the giveaway, you know you want too!

Furry Thursday Kisses Friends and Followers!
Enjoy the "pitiful" pictures below!


Rudy
The dog with a blog


Picture taken of Rudy in a down-stay, his head is resting in between his legs, and he's giving his pitiful look


Photo taken from Rudy's height, of him trying to sleep (yes, I woke him up!)

Photo of Rudy's face, the side of the picture is blured out - as the picture was taken through his dog bone!