Fresh Air

Fresh air is wonderful!
With this amazing weather outside, Rudy's Raiser has been taking me on lots of furry fun walks. (Not only to visit with animals - but down the road too!).

On our last trip down the road, I got a whole new FUN exposure... walking beside a stroller - with a baby in it! (A family member was baby sitting).
She was soo cute, but I did very well at ignoring her while we walked down the road... though I did want to give her lots of kisses :)
Rudy's Raiser thinks I'm doing much better with not pulling (as you can see in the video clips below), and she really enjoyed taking me on the walk.
She did decide to walk me in harness most of the time (I did get to do a "fun walk" - out of harness for a little while), as she wanted me to work "both styles" (in/out of harness) and I needed some more exposure with the harness.
All in all, she said I behaved very well - she did take some pictures (see below) that I hope you enjoy :)
Have a wonderful Thursday!

Al - Rudy's Brother

P.S. Rudy comes home THIS Saturday... which is when his Valentine's Giveaway ends - so make sure to stop by and enter!









Rudy's Raiser working me...

(Movie of Al & I walking down the road, Al is in harness walking beside me. We are walking away from the camera, but I then tell Al "Right about" and we then walk toward the camera - Al does very well at not pulling)



(Movie of Al (in harness) & I walking beside the baby stroller my sister is pushing - Al ignores both the stroller & baby)

Thursday Night Fun - and upcoming giveaway!

Hey furry friends!
This will be my last post... before I head off to PUPPY SWAP TIME! (if you missed yesterday's post - make sure to check it out), I will be going to the other raiser's home tomorrow, after puppy class - and will be coming back here in 2 weeks.
BUT, enough about the puppy swap... I'm going to talk about last night's puppy training (an extra training class raiser's could attend - if they wanted).
I had a whole lot of furry fun, and my raiser said I did soo good! We did many different things, but mostly worked on commands & ignoring other pups.
We also did something furry fun... we played a card game, wanna know the rules??
We had 30 or so cards laying around on the ground; each with various commands & such you can do with your dog.
Each raiser & their dog had 2 minutes to do as many cards as they could (they couldn't move on to another card, till they did the command really well).
It was very interesting, but all of us had a whole lot of fun! I know my raiser wants us to do that game again, she really enjoyed it!
I did wear my harness during training class, and it didn't faze me a bit.
I hope you enjoy all the pictures (and movies) below, and make sure to be furry sweet to my brother Al, who will be blogging here for TWO weeks.

**I will be doing a Valentine's Giveaway (starting on Valentine's Day... and ending when I return from puppy camp, the following 2 weeks). Though I won't be here on Valentine's Day... I will have a pre written post that will be published that day, and hopefully Al will make sure you guys all enter... there are some furry cool gifts!

***Mango Minster will be doing the BEST IN SHOW voting tomorrow... I'll make sure to have my raiser do a quick post reminding all my furry cool friends to go vote fur me! (if you aren't already voting fur some other pup/cat...)

Furry Friday Kisses, and I hope you miss me! (I know I'll miss you guys!),

Rudy - The dog with a blog

Working Fun...

The Card Game... (the movies are just of 2 random cards - but we did a whole lot more!)

(Movie of Rudy & I doing the 2 minute "pick a card" game - this card tells us to go greet another person (without a dog), have our dog sit beside us - and greet the person with our dog ignoring her/him. Rudy was a little excited, but he did very well!)

(Movie of Rudy & I doing another card, which tells the dog handler to have your dog sit, then down. Sit beside your dog, and massage 1 front foot & 1 back foot. Rudy does it perfectly)

Behaving during a Meeting = FUN Afterwards!

I attended a Naval Academy Event with my furry cool raiser/family; where they would be packing boxes to send up to all of our "groups" mids. (I just slept...)
Doing what my raiser asked of me; I did a down-stay during the meeting, somehow managing to fall asleep, with all those people talking (see movies below).
But the one thing I didn't know my raiser was planning... was IF I behaved well during the meeting, then before we left - she'd let me have a short "playdate" with Biscuit (a yellow lab who lived at the house we were doing the meeting at).
Funny thing was - since Biscuit was outside in their fenced in yard; I didn't even realize a dog was there! (I did smell a furry cool creature... but I didn't know fur sure if it was a doggy).
since I behaved SO WELL during the meeting, my raiser & the owner of Biscuit had both of us doggies on the leash - and let us (slowly) meet.
My raiser was told that Biscuit doesn't always like strange dogs - but fur some GOOD reason, she fell in love with me... and we played for over an hour!
(Biscuit is a 6yr old, SPAYED female)
My raiser took many pictures and videos (see below), I hope you enjoy them :)
Furry Monday kisses!

Rudy
The dog with a blog


Behaving during the meeting...


(Movie of Rudy in a down-stay; you can hear the people in the background talking... quite loudly. Near the end of the movie; the chair beside him, gets pushed into his head... all he does is move his head to a different place! Good distraction training)


(Movie of Rudy in a down stay - in coat/harness, people are talking in the background; and many people are walking by/stepping over Rudy. He isn't fazed at all by the distractions/shoes/people.)


Equals; FUN afterwards...

(Movie of Rudy & Biscuit playing on the deck)

Twice the Fun

Interested in having twice the fun, at your house today?
Follow these rules to find out how -


To have twice the fun - you will need TWICE the toys...



Once you accomplish convincing your mom to buy you TWO of the same toys, you then begin having "twice the fun" with those toys...

Continue having "twice the fun" with the toys - but make sure to chew on BOTH toys...

You do have to realize, having "twice the fun" will make you tired quite quickly...

As long as you understand those rules, having twice the fun is a furry BLAST - and should be done everyday.

Hope you enjoyed those pictures, and have a furry FUN Friday!

Rudy - the dog with a blog

Bed Training... with videos!!

I betcha you never knew that there was a command for "BED"!
You may think that every dog knows that command by heart... but maybe not the exact way I do :)
What is the command 'bed"?
When my raiser gives the command "bed" I'm to find the closet dog bed and lay/sit/stand on it... until I'm given the command "okay/take a break/come". This ISN'T a "stay" command - as I'm allowed to play on the dog bed... and get up and move around (as long as some part of my body is touching the bed... I'm good!).
This command is quite helpful for my raiser when we have company over - eating dinner - playing games - watching TV - cooking - etc :) I can stay on the bed for a short time of 1 second... or a time of 2+ hours... all depends on what my raiser tells me!
I've known this command for quite awhile (back before November 2010), and my raiser thinks it is one of the best commands I know!
I can do this command on different beds... in different rooms... and with different people.
(Please not that this command is not a "have to" in the guide dog book - it's something the raisers CAN teach the dogs if wanted).
Enjoy the 2 movies below of me doing the "bed" command - both are in 2 different rooms, with 2 different beds.

Furry Thursday kisses,

Rudy
The dog with a blog

(Movie of Rudy doing the "Bed" command in the dinning room - when I say "bed" he finds his bed and stays on it 'til I say "okay or come")

(Movie of Rudy doing the "bed" command in the living room; with a different bed)

New Year's Party... for our Guide Dog Group

Last Saturday was our furry awesome New Year's Party with the guide dog group.
It was AMAZING - all but 1 pup showed up, and we also had some "older" dogs come (some that graduated from the guide dog school - and are in the breeder program, or got Career changed due to allergies). So it was a very "dog" crowded place!
I also got to meet the newest pups to our group: "Hedy", "Happy", "Waffles" & "Judy", which are all so furry cute!
My last puppy sitter (who currently is raising Waffles) was there - and my raiser was so surprised that I cared more about the lady - then I did about her puppy "Waffles"!
Which isn't normal... because I'm really dog distracted! Guess I just really like my sitters!
We did obedience before sitting down to eat - and I did PERFECT with my commands, getting them all correct right on the dot. When we did the puppy swap (all raisers trade puppies) my raiser ended up with "Happy" one of the new pups. And after I calmed down, I did pretty good with the raiser who was working me.
We did the awards/gifts before we ate - and I was given this HUGE baggy with cool things in it. One of which was a awesome water bottle toy (pictured somewhere below) that I love.
My raiser handed out SEGDI puppy raiser bumper magnetics that she designed to all the current puppy raisers. (Thanks to Build a Sign - as they donated all those to me for free!). The puppy raisers LOVED them, and our AC thinks the school may be interested in them too :)
Once the people finished eating - all the dogs were given doggy cake, which was amazing - we took a group picture (and some pictures of my brother "Al" & I together), then it was time to leave.
I really hope you guys enjoy the pictures & movies below!
I'm off to go eat some snow :)

*Btw - if you didn't see the post my raiser did yesterday, it gives out ALL the info we have on her last dog Toby. And tells you what career he chose to take. So make sure to check it out - as he's got a fun filled life ahead of him!*

Rudy
The dog with a blog

(Movie of Rudy doing the command "down" during puppy class)

(Movie of Rudy doing the commands "down" & "stand" during puppy class - he was the first pup to stand and our AC told him great job - which you can "kind of" hear in the video)

My Furry First - WHITE Christmas! *(and GIVEAWAY ends tonight)*

Hey furry friends!
Not only was Saturday my FIRST Christmas - it also ended up being... my very first WHITE Christmas!!
It started snowing white goodness Christmas night - and the following day EVERYTHING was furry cool white :)
I wouldn't eat any of it off the ground, but once my raiser made a ball of snow in her hand and told me "okay"- I gobbled it right up and it was furry good!! (Since I'm being trained to be a guide dog - we aren't allowed to be eating things off the ground - and my raiser was quite happy that she didn't even have to remind me about that - I just ignored it!)
Liberty just so happened to be outside EVERY time my raiser took me out to play; so the pictures below have Liberty in like EVERY picture!
She really enjoys the snow - and wishes I could be turned off leash to play - but as rules say: I've got to stay on leash!
I'm planning on posting Christmas pictures tomorrow - and a really cool post for Wednesday.
But fur now; enjoy the white pictures AND video below - Liberty is the huge dog in the pictures/video with me (The family's 2yr old female English Mastiff).
Hope everyone had a furry good Christmas,

BTW - the furry cool hands free waist leash giveaway I'm doing ends TONIGHT so make sure to head over and enter - it's very easy!

Rudy
The dog with a blog

(Movie of Liberty & Rudy jumping around in the snow - Rudy's still on leash; which makes it very hard for him to play)

Lucky Paws Hands Free Waist Leash; Review AND Giveaway!

You read the title furry right - this post is a review AND giveaway for a Lucky Paws Hands Free Waist Leash!
One of my lucky readers will win a Hands Free Waist Leash from Lucky Paws shop.
But first... a furry cool review of this awesome leash/shop...
My raiser received the leash in the mail a couple days ago - but was waiting to do the post; 'til after our Holiday Contest had ended (due to being quite busy with picking winners). Now that the contest is over... it's time for a leash review AND GIVEAWAY.


My first impression:
It smells AMAZING! Though I guess you guys don't care for that kind of review... :)


My raiser was eager to do this; as she thought it would be a great leash for us to review. As my raiser does lots of walking/running - and takes me with her sometimes... (I'm only allowed 2 miles with her though - she does the rest without me).
She loves how you can use it around your waist WITHOUT hands - OR turn it into a regular dog leash in seconds; that's 2 in 1! End up changing your mind about using the leash around your waist? No worries - as it works PERFECTLY as a regular leash (my raiser & I tested it out both ways - she says it's quite comfy/soft with your hands too!)
And it comes in many furry cool colors.
(Our pictures/videos with the leash we reviewed are on the bottom of this post)

Of course this isn't something I'd be allowed to use in town while working; but my raiser will be using this for our "daily" walks/runs. And may use it as a regular leash around town too.
A few words from my raiser:
Hey furry followers!
Hope you don't mind us throwing in some reviews/giveaways on this blog - as it's not really part of Rudy's guide dog training. BUT we get to try some cool things AND sometimes so do you!
This time we are doing a review AND giveaway as Lucky Paws has kindly offered one of our readers their very own leash!
I've had great contact with the lady - responds quite quickly. This lady is not only a dog leash/collar seller - she is also a certified dog trainer. feel free to read about her; she's an awesome person to get to know!
I have taken Rudy outside; and used this leash as a regular dog leash - and with it around my waist. It is a very nice/comfy leash to use in your hands - but it also works wonderful around your waist. I will be working Rudy some over the next couple weeks - for pulling purposes while on this leash - but he is doing quite well; and slowly understanding the point of walking calmly on leash! I do hope this leash will help him learn that any type of leash or walk we are on - doesn't mean you have to pull!
If you are interested in learning more about her products - go ahead and stop by - She sells items on her website and on Etsy).
I'd like to thank Heather & Lucky Paws for letting us review this leash - I'm very happy with it; great quality too! Read rules below - if you'd like to enter the giveaway
Back to Rudy:

Furry thanks raiser!

Interested in owning your very own Hands Free Waist Leash?

The rules are VERY simple and quite easy :)
All you have to do to be entered in this giveaway is... Leave a comment on THIS post - yep, just comment on THIS post and your entered!
For more entries: (leave SEPARATE COMMENTS for each entry you do - feel free to do any or all below!)
1. Follow our blog (current or new follower - either is fine)
2. Go to Lucky Paws Website and tell me something new you've learned from viewing it
3. Go to Lucky Paws Etsy Shop and tell me one thing you'd love to own!
4. What's your favorite feature that the Hands Free Waist Leash has?
If you use all that's listed above - plus the first comment... you should have FIVE entries into this giveaway! (please note - all entries need to be in SEPARATE comments - otherwise it won't count).
This giveaway will last for ONE week.
Starts today: 12-20-2010
Ends: 12-27-2010
The winner will be announced on my blog - and contacted via email (please either have your email available in your profile; or leave it in a comment).
Furry thanks for reading AND entering - good luck!
Enjoy the pictures/videos below!

Rudy
The dog with a blog




(Movie of me using it as a regular leash - I'm walking Rudy off road in the grass - sorry it's kind of shaky!)

(Movie of Rudy and I walking; with the leash around my waist - we are on the road walking)

(Movie of Rudy and I walking; leash still around my waist - but we are now off road in the grass)

**WINNERS - WINNERS**

Hey furry friends!
My raiser is FINALLY helping me with the WINNER post. Yep, my Holiday Contest/Giveaway is now over - and the finalists (posted earlier today) were picked this morning:
Top 5 for the Dog Lovers Pack Giveaway:

1. Corbin

2. Mango

3. Busy Buttons
4. Michaela & Rascal

5. Oscar the Terrier

Top 3 for the Humans Only Giveaway:

1. Sugar the Golden Retriever
2. Samantha
3. Kari
My raiser had a furry cool friend pick the winning poems - she did not know who wrote the poems - or what blog they had - all she did was choose her favorite ones :)
Congratulations goes toooo:

Humans Only Giveaway WINNER:
Sugar the Golden Retriever

Dog Lovers Pack WINNER...S:
Corbin ...... AND Oscar the Terrier
**WAIT** That's TWO winners... Oops! The friend couldn't pick just one - so she picked her favorite 2 poems; and my raiser was going to do a drawing for the winner.

She thought it would be a furry cool idea to put the 2 winners names on the bottom of 2 dog toys - and whichever I picked... would be the furry cool winner.
As you can see below... It didn't work out (I can't pick just one!)

(Movie of 2 toys; Rudy goes and picks up one... then the other - he walks away carrying BOTH toys!)


We gave up that idea... and went on to wrapping the names around 2 dog treats:

(Movie of 2 treats with winners names around them - Rudy does pick one of them)
and...

The winner is........... Corbin!

Congratulations to both Sugar & Corbin for winning my Holiday Contest/Giveaway!

My raiser will be (trying) to email the WINNERS shortly - but if you see this post, feel free to send us an email! (guidedogawareness AT yahoo DOT com)

FURRY CONGRATS & MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Rudy

The dog with a blog

USNA...

****Warning! Very long post ahead****

Hey furry friends! I'm finally back from the short furry fun "vacation" we were on.
So sorry for the warning at the top - but thought I should let you guys know... that this post will be a "little" long!
If you have time please read about the fun trip -I know you will enjoy it - I even mention a cannon in the update :)

Thursday
Back on Thursday, we left the house. To drive hours & hours on the road. (Getting to the hotel around midnight). I don't have much to tell - as we were just driving... so no fun update on Thursday. But...

Friday
I found out what we were doing. We were up in Maryland... visiting? My raiser's brother, who's at the Naval Academy (USNA). I've met my raiser's brother a couple times (back in May/June). So I was furry glad to see him again - and see some of his friends!
The family got to eat lunch with him (in the dining hall where all the other's eat). And I sat quietly on the floor, like a good dog!
We all went to watch the parade - which I really enjoyed, 'til I heard the band playing. My raiser had to make sure to keep me quite - because I really wanted to join in! What we didn't realize they were going to do was... Fire off a cannon... not once, not twice... but over 7 times! My raiser was so shocked I didn't even bark!
After hanging out for quite awhile we headed to some place where they go running - but since there would be obstacles on the way, I stayed back with my raiser's mother. When my raiser got back from running - she went on and on about how fun it was climbing & jumping over things. If it was so much fun... she should have taken me!
We headed to someones house that night to eat dinner (our family and some others made pizza), getting back to the hotel late at night I was soo sleepy! On

Saturday
My raiser, her mom & me headed downtown for some shopping. While the others went to the Navy football game. Little did I know that downtown was also called "dogtown". More than half the people brought their dog along! I saw and ignored soo many dogs, from little hand held dogs - to dogs that are taller then our family dog Liberty! (who's an English Mastiff!). It was a fun time in downtown, and we even went into the store called "The Black Dog". While in there we did have some families ask if I was "The Black Dog" - nope, I'm just a very cute black puppy! But I was soo happy they thought I'd be "The black dog!". After the football game ended we all headed to someones house for a cookout! I really enjoyed getting all the awesome attention. And later on I even got to "help" play volleyball... but my raiser made me stay on the sidelines :(

Sunday
After church we headed to the mall for some lunch, I slept quietly while they ate, and pretty soon it was time to say our goodbye. My raiser's brother went back to the Naval Academy - and we headed on home. I enjoyed the hours of sleep on the way home, and was so glad to see Liberty when we walked through the door!


Now that my update about our trip is over, please enjoy the pictures (and movies!) below, I most likely left out something important about our trip... but I'm off to sleep some more... so enjoy it how it is... :)
Someday soon I'll stop by your blog!

Rudy
The dog with a blog

(Movie of Rudy playing with the balloon we were given at the hotel)



(Movie of Rudy watching the band at the parade)


(Movie of Rudy listening to the cannon)

(Movie of Rudy watching the parade - as people march by)

Working Rudy

(Written by Rudy's Raiser)
Rudy is doing so well in his training, I decided to let him show you a couple movies of a few easy commands he knows.
Just so you can see what he's been up to lately! (and to make up for those farm camp pictures... that got deleted!)
So enjoy the movies - please note Rudy thought it was play time, so he wasn't to "perfect" in a couple ones!!
The following movies are all very basic commands - and are focusing only on - "down", "sit", "stay", "come", "go get it", "give", and "leave-it". Most were taken inside the house - but 2 are at Zumba class (at the YMCA)

**Upcoming obedience movies of him working in coat on leash - very soon!**

Rudy's Raiser

The human that has a dog with a blog



(Movie of Rudy doing a "sit", "down-stay", "leave-it" to a stuffed animal, then a "come" - still ignoring the stuffed animal)



(Movie of Rudy in a "down-stay" at Zumba class in the YMCA last week. You can see people dancing/moving in front of him)

(movie of Rudy in a "down-stay" at Zumba class in the YMCA last week. The camera was sitting down so it isn't too shaky! You can see people behind him doing Zumba - the only reason he's in a different spot then the last zumba video - is he was "out" of the camera being so close up... so I moved him a little for the movie!)

(Movie of Rudy doing a "come", "sit-stay", "leave-it", and "go get it". In the movie he comes running to me - before going to pick up the toy (which I gave him permission to do) - and it looks as if he may have jumped on me... but really he was so excited - he just ran to me - and did some tight little circle - than ran and grabbed the toy!)

(Movie of Rudy doing a "down-stay", "leave-it", "come", then a "go get it". He did it so well - and knows I was very proud of him!)

(Movie of Rudy in a down chewing on a bone - I use the "give" command, put him in a "stay", throw the toy... then tell him "go get it". He runs after the toy - so cute!)

Pool Party FUN!

That's right... our guide dog group did there recentest puppy class at -
A SWIMMING POOL!
A friend of our AC was kind enough to let our group use there very nice swimming pool for us to teach our dogs how to swim.

My raiser seemed to think I was going to "just love" the water... but she was WRONG! I did everything I could to get OUT of the water.

Though I wasn't like some of the dogs (swimming laps... after laps... around the pool), my raiser was proud that I "got in" by myself once - of course jumping back out real soon!

While doing some obedience outside of the pool (which I got an A+ for!) our AC had each raiser take the dog down the pool stairs - let them swim in a little circle - and come back up the stairs. I wasn't overly thrilled about that - but I got over it.

It was a blast watching the 2 new puppies in our group "try" to swim - they are soo tiny!

My raiser didn't get many pictures taken at the pool party - but she's hoping some other raisers will send some pictures to her, if so I'll make sure to post them :)

Fur now, enjoy the pictures & movies below, furry kisses to my friends!

Rudy

The dog with a blog

(Movie of Rudy & I going into the water - and coming back out - via the stairs, Rudy wasn't to happy about it, but he was a good boy!)

(Movie of little Lexie -the little black/tan puppy swimming in the pool)

Package!

Thanks Samantha for this wonderful book!
Toby entered her GABE giveaway last month - and he was the lucky winner! (It is sad he was not here to "get" it though).
Tracker and Liberty cared NOTHING for the book when it arrived (see pictures below). I guess they figured "no treats - no good"!
They may not like it, but I'm enjoying it!
Thanks Samantha!

Toby's Raiser & Tracker's Sitter
The human sometimes with a dog that has a blog

(Movie of Tracker & Liberty ignoring the package)



(Movie of Tracker ignoring the book - he may not like it, but I do!)

Another Day??

Yep!
I offered to keep Tracker another day (or 2) if they (my neighbors) needed. It seems that Tracker is a "little" bit of a handful for a person who just had back surgery, so he came over this morning. (Liberty was quite happy!) and spent all day with me!

I'm loving how housebroken he is, and of course, how well he listens.
(I'm thinking... future guide dog?? Joking:) But he is smart enough for one!)

He's a great dog, and I'm so happy I get my "puppy fix" AND get a chance with "puppy training" before my new little one arrives :) (It's kind of like a "refresher course"!)

Tracker is a cutie, which makes for great pictures...
So enjoy the pictures (AND movies) below!

Toby's Raiser & Tracker's Sitter
The human sometimes with a dog that has a blog

(Movies of Tracker "attacking" Liberty... he may think he's winning - but Liberty is still bigger!)