The long Awaited Email...

As most of you know, Rudy headed IFT on May 30th, and I've been "excitedly" awaiting the email/call letting me know if Rudy has passed his medicals and moved on to training.

Below is the email I found in my inbox this morning:

Subject: Al and Rudy

Hi - Your boys both passed their hip and medical evaluations, and will continue into guide dog training. Congrats!

I'm so excited to finally know Rudy has passed his medicals, and I'll soon be receiving his report cards!

Fingers crossed for a good first report card! Best of luck Rudy & Al!

Rudy's Raiser

Quick Rewind - The Trip Down

Wow, I can't believe that Rudy's been gone for (almost) a whole month. I'll be looking forward to the "phone call" or "email" soon... giving me news on whether Rudy passed his medicals or not.

I'm doing a "quick rewind" and posting the pictures of the trip down the FL (for dropping Rudy off).
He was such a good boy, and slept most of the way - waking up sometimes, to find out what was going on.
When we picked up miss Cupcake (the mini piglet), Rudy was very calm - and didn't mind sharing the back with her (though she stayed in the crate). I know he was wishing he could have spent more time with her, they sure would have been great buds!
All in All, Rudy did wonderful - though the trip back (without him) was quite lonely.

Rudy is definitely missed here, but I wish him the best of luck with his training.

Rudy's Raiser

Where's Rudy?

Rudy has made a brief appearance on SEGDI'S Blog this week!
I was quite excited when viewing their latest post, as they had many pictures of recent IFT dogs... and luckily Rudy was in the group!
Thankfully Rudy has his "brindle markings" which allows me to "somewhat" tell him apart - but when the picture is slightly blurry, the markings aren't visible.
As you can tell in the pictures below... Rudy is having a blast, and happens to be the only dog jumping! (He never got the "exposure" of playing with many other dogs).

I sure hope Rudy is behaving himself, and I wish him the best of luck!

Rudy's Raiser

(almost) Wordless Wednesday

It's been a little over a week since Rudy went IFT... but it seems like forever to me.

As promised, below are some pictures of Rudy with our new pet.

"Cupcake" is our newest addition, she's a 5 week old Mini Pig (hopefully staying under 30 pounds), who is currently staying inside. (She's completely litter trained!).

Enjoy!

Rudy's Raiser

P.S. For anyone who's wondering... yes, Cupcake may be helping me with some blog posts later on (With Rudy's permission, of course!)

IFT Time

As most of you know, Rudy returned to the guide dog school this past Monday (5-30-2011) for IFT (In For Training).
I've been putting off doing a post on his blog for days, as I can't handle to think about him.

Obviously I really hope he does well with his training, and can make it as a guide dog; but I keep having this feeling in the back of my mind - that he's going to get CC due to allergies/such.
Please keep him in your prayers, not only for him to do well with training - but for him to also pass his medical exams.

Since I don't have another puppy at the moment, but I'm really wanting to keep this blog updated - I will be "drawing out" the pictures and such. So this post will only have pictures of the acutely "drop off", but the pictures taken on the way down, will be posted later.

We arrived at the guide dog school a little before 10am on Monday morning. Showing up a little early, as I wanted a couple pictures in front of the guide dog sign.
Rudy was quite interested in the dog scent that was everywhere - but did obey his sit-stay for the photos.
We were turning in Rudy on Memorial Day (as we were unable to attend the IFT date), so they had very few staff there; which ended up being quite nice...

Normally, once you hand over the dog - it's just taken away (heading to the IFT kennel). And we don't see them again (for now).
But since they didn't have a trainer there to take Rudy, they allowed me to walk him to the IFT kennel (which I've never seen!) - while a kennel assistant escorted us.
I was quite happy to be able to have Rudy for those few extra minutes, but the second I handed over that leash - I was in tears.
Did Rudy care? Not one bit!
Maybe after a little while he started wondering where I was, but he's quite dog distracted... and thought he was in doggy heaven.

When people ask what's the hardest thing to do with puppy raising - the "IFT Time" is always my answer. Giving up a pup that you've had since a young age, while keeping in mind that you may never see him/her again - is what I call hard.

I will be posting some more pictures soon, and Rudy also wanted me to let you guys know the "surprise animal" we picked up down in FL (still not a new puppy - or kitty).

Rudy's Raiser