I'm leaving...

No, not for good!!

But it's "puppy swap" time at our puppy group... and I'll be gone for 2 whole weeks.

For those of you who don't know what a "puppy swap" is, I'll explain...

During the 1+ year our raisers have us, we have to participate in a "puppy swap". This swap could be at any time... and for as many weeks as the Area Coordinator wants.

The AC will assign us dogs a different raiser for those weeks (she tries to place us in different environments... for a dog who doesn't go to work with it's raiser; they place it with a raiser who would take the dog to work) and for those weeks we follow the new raiser's schedule.

This is to get us dogs used to working in different environments - being handled by different raiser's - learning to obey with someone other than our normal handler - and much more.

My puppy swap date has been set for THIS Saturday, I will go to stay with another raiser for 2 weeks... and then return back to my current raiser.

While I'm away, my raiser will have my brother "Al" (also known as, and called "Big Al"...).

Sadly, I won't be able to update this blog while I'm gone - BUT I've given permission to my Raiser that (if Al wants) he may update my blog while I'm away.

I really hope he won't scare all my followers away... and you will continue to read my posts when I return. He's a great dog (like me!) and I just know you'll love him.

My raiser will most likely update once or twice about Al, before letting him on - but he's related to me, so he'll get the hang of it quite quickly!

On a different note - furry thanks to all who voted fur me at Mango Minster, and though I didn't win the "readers choice" award... the judge just so happened to pick me as the winner!

I'm furry excited to have won, and I'm looking forward to the Best In Show competition, that's coming up.

AND... I also want to thank The Teacher's Pets for picking me as one of their friends to highlight on their "Thankful For 3 Friends" blog hop, furry thanks!

Have a happy Thursday, and I do plan on posting before I leave,

Rudy - The Good Old Dog

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

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

Pawesome...

When my handler was teaching me how to work a blog, she had me read through some posts Toby had done over the last month(s).
I was starting to think, "Why does Toby get all the comments, and I'm left with just a couple?"
Until I came upon this word:
PAWESOME - No wonder he gets all the readers!
What the pup is pawesome?

My handler saw my "face", so she looked at the word, laughed, then explained what it meant.

Evidently "Pawesome" means "awesome" - but you add a "p" at the beginning. So it's "dogarized".

Since I'm new at all this stuff, I had no idea what it meant, now I'm kind a embarrassed I didn't know what the word was...

Oh well, I'll get over it.

Have a PAWESOME Monday, and enjoy the PAWESOME pictures my PAWESOME handler took with her PAWESOME camera!

So does that mean I'm gonna get a whole bunch of PAWESOME comments, from PAWESOME bloggers??

Duchess

The dog with a blog

Sirens and Lights...

OH MY!
The puppy meeting yesterday was at a police station and fire station; man was it NOISY!
After we worked our wiggles out they started turning on many different nosies from a car, some sounded really odd.
Once I was used to the noise my handler took me closer to the car for a "visit".
I wasn't to sure about that, but she kept beside me & pretty soon I was right beside the car!
We practiced meeting other people & dogs, (for us dogs to learn not to pull towards others).

We got to watch a policeman on a bicycle weave in/out & around us dogs (we were in a sit-stay), and then he got on a segway (those things look odd!).
Once we finished up at the police station, our group headed down to the fire department. We sniffed some equipment, and then it was PICTURE TIME! (see pictures below...).
After everybody was done taking pictures we went on a short walk downtown (as a group), when we returned we all said our goodbyes, I even got to say a short hello to my raiser's!!
I wasn't to interested in them though - I cared more about the other doggies...
My handler told me I did VERY well, and came close to being like her dog "Toby", I feel proud:)
Enjoy the pictures!

Duchess
The dog with a blog

Duchess Day!

Hey guys, it's Duchess here.
I finished up my studies on blogger world, so I should be a pro at this!
Toby's Raiser has been busy with introducing me to EVERYTHING!
Somehow she thinks I should meet some animals...
Yesterday I met some mini pigs, a new baby goat, chickens, a llama, alpacas, bunnies and SO MUCH MORE!
I didn't like the alpacas to much, and that pig freaked me out!
My handler took many pictures of me meeting animals & such, so make sure to check out the pictures below (she even tags them!).
I got to help set up for a 4-H yard sale yesterday, and today it opened, so we went up to help "man" it. I got to lay there and be bored for HOURS; but my handler told me I did very good :)(P.S. Toby's Raiser will be called My handler, because she isn't my raiser/trainer).
Tomorrow I will be attending a guide dog puppy meeting. I heard something about it being at a police station...
More updates later, enjoy the pictures!
Please leave comments, as I want to know how my blogging is...Thanks!
Duchess
The dog with a blog

Letters From Camp... PICTURE TIME!

A few words from Toby-
"here's a few shots! More very soon!
~Toby~"
I also got an email update from the family he's staying with-
"Toby is a very smart boy...knows his commands nicely...
Distractions are many for his brain at the moment...(so much to see !!!.. so many things to sniff, to mark, to paw!!!) We are greatly enjoying him...

Hubby is off tomorrow and is planning for a full day of exposures and tooling around stores, etc.... I will give ya the lowdown on their day...

Did a bit of nail trimming just now.. he was so polite...
No issues with eyes/etc. so far - so good
More soon!!"

You may notice in the pictures Toby gets to meet their new puppies (rescued 3 week old Lab mixes).

More updates soon, enjoy the pictures! (Some Toby sent with words beside them, but all are tagged by me).


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








"No one loves this blankie more than me!"












"There's a party going on-- but I see a cat in the woods!!!"









"Puppy love??? No...They look like squirrels- or cats...or..!!"

Please Welcome...

DUCHESS!

Toby's sister "Duchess" will be staying with us for 3 weeks. (as long as she doesn't come into heat first). She is a female black lab, and will be turning 1 year on March 27.

We just picked her up this morning, and she was quite excited!

Some main things I'll be working on with her are: commands, whining, & jumping.

She's such a cute puppy, and is like half the size of Toby!

She isn't an ill behaved puppy, I just need to get her to understand some things better.

She is a very attentive dog and responds well to most commands. She did the "stand" command immediately when told. I'm impressed and anxious to see how well she works.

I will be giving Duchess a "crash course" in blogger, so she will soon be running the blog for Toby & I.

Enjoy the pictures,

Toby's Raiser

The human that has a dog with a blog

No she's not barking/growling!

Letters From Camp...

Hey guys, Toby's Raiser here. Toby started his puppy camp last night around 7pm.
I will miss him (I already do!), but I'm lucky enough for him to have gone to a family who plans on letting Toby send updates!
Here is a letter I just received from my big boy, please enjoy!

hello mom...

Camp is ok... the food is somehow the same so that is good. I slept in a big kennel last night with my bones and bed. It was my first night, but I didn't even whine- just ate my biscuit and went to sleep-- mostly... I was tired after a good long walk through the camp neighborhood.

Today I got to meet the other kids who live here... zak is five today... I think I smell cake. He makes a lot of high pitched noises which get me a little excited. almost like the puppies..oh... the puppies. There are two little little little tiny puppies here at camp, too. I think they're too small to be here (they look like small kittens!), but the humans said they didn't have a home so will be here at camp with me for another week or so... I tried to play with them... but they are a little small for my masculine figure!! Oh.. Jena is the other kid at camp... she is seven.... much calmer than zak. She will be a good playmate I think. Am I big for my age? Everyone here is surprised how big and strong I am already. (It's cool being the biggest kid!)

A bunch of human kids came over this morning and we went to the bus stop together... I liked sniffing everything... but you know I do... No goats here yet, but I saw an Emu down the street. Maybe I'll get to smell it later.

Well, gotta go, mom. I am told I have to help vacuum now... something about a birthday party later.... Yippeee! Maybe I'll earn a biscuit badge by lunch. I miss you of course, but I'm doin good so far. You know, mom... I AM almost one already....
More soon.
Your dog son..

Toby
P.S. we'll send pictures soon...

Enjoy it?
So heart warming isn't it!
attached below is the LAST picture I got of my sweet boy...
Tomorrow is the day Toby's sister Duchess will be coming into our home. We don't know if she will be staying the whole 3 weeks, as she is due to come into heat anytime. If she does then she will be going back home.
I will post more updates from Toby when I receive them, and Duchess will be taking over the blog when she gets here.

P.S. "Letters From Camp" will be the name of posts that have letters from Toby in them.

Stay tune for more!

Toby's Raiser

The human without a dog who has a blog

New News for Toby...

Yesterday My Raiser got a new dog tag made for me,

I thought the highlight of this new tag was it being cool and red. But today I found out otherwise.

My raiser just told me I won't be coming back home from Walk-A-Thon next week with her, instead I will be "attending" a 3 week puppy swap. THREE WEEKS?!? I will be a whole 4+ hours away from my raiser for 3 weeks :(

She tells me the family sounds really nice, and even has some children I can play with.

I told her I will "try" and be brave, try new things, and love my life... We'll see how that goes!

I'm told this puppy camp is the highlight of my getting the new red tag, though I'm not so sure I agree.

During this puppy swap my raiser will be receiving my sister "Duchess" (black lab). Since I'm going to a different puppy group and Duchess is from our group the drop off/pick up dates won't be the same. So I'm quite happy about that, maybe I'll have a day with my sister!

I will be dropped off at my "new" house on the way back from WAT in FL. My raiser will take her laptop so I can write the the WAT post on it and then she will post it when she gets home...WITHOUT ME. I'll have the blog updated by Duchess when she gets here.

The new tag was to replace the one I was wearing that said "Frankie", (my last raiser's puppy), since my last tag with my name on it was to scratched up to read.

On the plus side I am feeling MUCH better!
The vet hasn't an idea of what was bothering me, but we are all just glad I'm fine:)

Thanks soo much for you thoughts & words!

Enjoy the photos of my new tag, and have a Marvelous Monday!

Toby

The dog with a blog

My cute red tag & I...