Snowy Day!

SNOW... SNOW.... SNOW!!!
that's right, it's a super snowy day here at our house. 
I have discovered that snow is a glorious, wet, and exciting treat to eat!  I found it to be very tasty.
Snow is also amazing to play in, I never knew you could have so much fun!
Do any of my furry followers have any snowy white goodness?

-Pal

Weekend Retreat

I had the joy of attending a 4-H retreat with my raiser this past weekend and boy was it bundles of fun!!
I was suppose to attend two 4-H retreats with her in March, but due to the serious medical issues I was having earlier in the month... I ended up spending my weekend at the specialist, instead of with her at the 1st retreat.
So my raiser was very happy when her 2nd retreat came up, and I wasn't having any medical issues.
She knew this retreat would be such a good experience for me, and didn't want me to miss it the second time around... thankfully, I was able to attend!
We both had a blast, and this is one of the first times I've been in this kind of setting (cabins - tie downs - camping stuff - etc).
My raiser and her 4-H friends took LOTS of pictures during the retreat... and I happened to star in most all of them, guess I'm very popular with the camera :)
I met lots of new people at the retreat and my raiser was impressed with how well I worked; and I  even got to attend some different workshops & a dance with her (including "team building" & hip-hop classes!).
Enjoy the enormous amount of pictures below...

-Brandon


Taking a break during the dance...

Picture of Brandon laying down, resting his head on my legs (I'm sitting beside him)

My raiser & I rocked out the dance floor!

Picture of Brandon and I dancing

Had to take a quick break from the dance, to give my raiser a kiss!

Picture of Brandon giving me a kiss (I'm kneeling down)

And my raiser had to pass along a furry awesome hug to me...

Picture of me holding Brandon in my arms, during the dance

Group shot with some 4-Hers!

Picture of Brandon and I with some other 4-H ers, we're all pointing & staring up at the sky

Another group shot with more 4-Hers!

Picture of Brandon and I with some more 4-Hers

Workshop time!

Picture of Brandon in a sit-stay during a workshop, you can see some 4-Hers behind him

I was even able to watch some 4-Hers play a interesting game...

Picture of Brandon in a down-stay watching other 4-Hers play a game that includes hitting foam balls everywhere...

Lunch time = nap time!

Picture of Brandon asleep beside our table during lunch

Man do 4-Hers pack a lot...

Picture of Brandon in a down-stay, you can see a huge pile of luggage behind him

Never knew you could fit into the cubbies...

Picture of Brandon, another 4-Her and I all sitting in the cubbies in our cabin

So I have to sleep here???

Picture of Brandon sniffing the spot between 2 different bunk beds

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)

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

PLAYDATE!

My furry cool raiser set up a play date for today with my cool buddy Tracker (who I've not played with in months!).
Tracker is our neighbor's Black Mouth Cur. dog - he's a little older than me, but we are about the same size.
We had a playdate back in July 2010, but then my raiser got furry busy - and never had time to take me over again. She decided (starting in 2011) that she would try to set up some playdates with Tracker.
My first 2011 playdate was today - and we had loads of fun! I was there for (about) 1 hour - my raiser read science while us 2 pups played (having to look up from her book every 2 seconds - to make sure we were playing nicely!). It would be even better with more dogs - but I'm still happy to be able to play with Tracker!
All in all we both had loads of fun today, of course I slept right when we got back home :)
Enjoy the pictures (and movie) my raiser took of us today,
Furry cool Thursday kisses,

Rudy
The dog with a blog


Hey Tracker... Lets share secrets!


I think we'd both rather go play though...


and play...

and run...

(Movie of Rudy & Tracker playing with each other in the fenced in yard)

But all too soon we will get tired...

Working Fun!

Hey furry friends!
Sorry I've not been posting everyday - I hope once things calm down I can get back to posting more often!
My Raiser is running behind - but she hopes to get the items she ordered (today!) in the mail soon; for the HOLIDAY GIVEAWAY I'm doing here on this blog in a week or so (it was going to be the first of Dec - but my raiser doesn't have the items yet!).
So stay furry tuned for the awesome giveaway she's doing (she will be doing TWO giveaways - one fur dogs and one fur the humans!).
My Raiser's life calmed down a little bit after Thanksgiving, so she took me out shopping (including PetSmart!), she worked me in the shops (working on not pulling, and obeying commands on the dot). She worked me for a while in PetSmart, as I have a dog distraction... really bad. We worked around some other dogs; then headed over to the cute hamsters for a distraction test; I was really wanting to play, but my raiser made me listen to her (sorry no pictures/videos - she does hope to take some shots next time though!). After I did good she put me in a sit-stay so I could watch them play, those things are soo cute!
Overall I did good; my raiser just wishes I'd calm down around dogs, but I'm still a puppy for goodness sakes! She didn't take ANY pictures shopping today, but when we go out again I'll make sure she takes some good shots of us working.
I will be updating you guys on the 2 giveaways my raiser will be doing (1 for the furry fellows and 1 for the humans) real soon.
Have a furry great evening,

Rudy
The dog with a blog

Vision Walk

Hey furry friends!
The puppy meeting last week was the Vision Walk, all us pups (and raisers!) met there to walk. It was a furry great exposure and we even saw some real working dogs too!
This was the last meeting for some of our fellow guide dog puppies (Sparkie, Cindy Jay, Bingo, Angel & Elsa). As they are heading down to the school this week for IFT (In For Training). Those were some great dogs in our group and my raiser will miss them! (Sparkie was a dog my raiser has had at our house before and she loves working with him).
I'll miss them too... but hey, we've got new pups in our group!
We did a 2 mile walk, once we finished our AC had us in the shade and we did some obedience.
My raiser said I did quite good with my obedience, and I was furry tried when we got home!
Enjoy the pictures below,

Rudy
The dog with a blog

Rudy's Photo Shoot

As promised, these are the pictures my raiser did during her "photo shoot" with me on Saturday. It took a little while for me to get them posted (sorry) but I furry hope you enjoy them, my raiser hopes to take me out in the next week or so - to get more (maybe in coat too!).

She published some of the pictures on this post, but to view all of the ones she took - check out the smilebox slide show she created at the bottom of this post.

Please let me know how much you furry enjoyed the pictures, my raiser really hopes you like them!

(My raiser did take the pictures with both her & I in them - she just had her camera on her cute little gorilla pod she got for Christmas last year)

Rudy
The dog with a blog

Rudy's photo shoot pictures in the smile box slideshow

Working Rudy 2

Back in August, my furry fun raiser posted a Working Rudy post. Complete with a couple movies of me doing some basic commands inside the house (and at YMCA).

I'd like to share some more "Working Rudy" movies with you.

Yesterday, after my raiser finished doing her own "photo shoot" (taking photos of me outside - which she will be posting soon!), she took a couple movies of us working on a couple commands.

I decided to post 3 of them below - for your viewing pleasure :) I am working out of coat, on leash; outside. You may notice a few cars driving by from time to time, my raiser was happy they DIDN'T distracted me! I don't know if I did that great in the movies, but my raiser said I did furry good!

Enjoy,

Rudy - The dog with a blog

(Movies below are all based on the same commands, just taken & done a little differently. Some of the commands done below are; sit-stay, come, heel, switch, & forward. With some cars driving by as a distraction in some sections.)

A Furry New Blogging Pal!

Hey furry friends!

A lady in our guide dog group - that puppy sat me last weekend (while my raiser and her family were at the Dairy Goat Show) has just started her very own blog.

She will be receiving a little puppy in just a couple days (the beginning of November) from the guide dog school.

That's right, she is starting to raise... us awesome guide dogs!

I would love for all of my awesome furry followers, to please stop by her blog for a quick visit! (feel free to follow her while your there!)

I love seeing more guide dog bloggers out there - even better for "my" guide dog school, so the more friends she has - the better!
She will be receiving a furry cute female puppy, named Waffles; I can't wait to meet her :)

So make sure to check out her blog, furry please!

My raiser hopes to take me outside for some picture taking tomorrow, so I may be posting some pictures she took - and maybe a couple movies of me doing obedience/commands, so stay furry tune!

Rudy

The dog with a blog

RUDY'S BACK!

Hey furry friends, my raiser was able to pick me up on Sunday evening (they were on their way back from the Dairy Goat Show), I was sooo glad to see her... but I think I was more tired than anything!
My raiser had a furry fun blast at the goat show. She won many ribbons (and many different placings!). But she was very excited when she was placed first in the showmanship class (when the handlers are judged - not the goat. She was judged on her knowledge of dairy goats, her appearance, the goat's appearance, and how she handled/placed the goat in the show ring). She has been studying up for quite a while, and was hoping to place in the top 4. Guess she did! (she placed first out of 9 people!)

She also got reserve champion with one of her 2010 babies, and she was quite excited with that!
Overall my raiser had a blast hanging out with her other friends; and showing many goats!

I had lots of fun over at the puppy raiser's house, she even had a cat for me to "play" with!
(see pictures below). I was also taken to the puppy class last Saturday, and besides the fact that I pull... I did very good with my puppy sitter!
Enjoy the pictures below, more updates coming soon!


Rudy
The dog with a blog

Poor Little Me

I was so furry excited when my raiser's friends started showing up for her birthday party. Some came inside and even said hi to me!
But all to soon - they went up stairs and turned on some girly type movie. Complete with hundreds of different types of candy to snack on.... Which means?
I had to stay downstairs... away from them! I was soo sad. My raiser DID give me a new toy (see pictures below) but I was still quite sad. And when my raiser's mom brought pizza home.... I wasn't allowed ANY :( Off course it's not like us guide dogs ever were... but I'm okay with it... I did get a giant busy bone!

Before heading to bed... my raiser allowed me upstairs... and I got to play with all the girls! My raiser didn't take any pictures with me and her party guests... but I'll just let you know: I did have a little bit of fun!

My raiser said she stayed up til 5am with some of her friends (while all the others dozed off... including me!) I don't get why girls stay up talking... I'd just assume going straight to bed!

All in all I did have fun (when I was allowed beside my raiser and her friends). But for some of the time I did feel like I was being left out... it wasn't like my party or anything though!

Happy Sweet Sixteen to my furry awesome raiser! I know she really enjoyed the downtown scavenger hunt her family planned for her and her friends to do!
More picture updates coming furry soon, sorry to not be posting very often!


Rudy
The dog with a blog







Happy Sweet Sixteen; Raiser!

Wordless Wednesday - Don't ask...

Rudy

The dog with a blog

Fun at The Sitters

Hey furry friends - Rudy here :)
I'm finally back... yes, I'm BACK!!
Thanks to all the furry awesome bloggers who left comments while I was gone, I truly enjoyed reading through them when I got back.
My Raiser (and her family) picked me up on their way back into town. I was jumping with excitement when she came to the door to get me!
Updates about how it went at the sitter's house in another post - but fur now...
I furry glad to be back!
My raiser will soon be uploading the photos she took while down at Disney - and I told her she could post a couple, even though they have NOTHING to do with me :(
But she did mention she met Pluto... and got a picture with him :)

My raiser said she had a huge blast at Disney, but at some moments she really missed me. She said that during her week down there, she saw 5+ service dogs there! Which just made her miss me even more.
She knew that while she was splashing at the water park or going upside down in a roller coaster - I'd be having fun back at the sitter's house. And she was furry right!
They had 2 dogs there for me to play with... and it was awesome!

I'll be sending out the prizes to the giveaway winners shortly, my raiser picked up some fun stuff for them while she was down at Disney World!

Rudy
The dog with a blog

Giveaway WINNERS

The winner hasn't been chosen yet... but my raiser used random.org to pick FIVE winners.
From there I will chose the one winner of the leash and collar giveaway.

Please congratulate the top five winners:

1
Comment #4:
Valerie said...
Very nice!! Cindy Jae would look fabulous in those :-)
September 15, 2010 4:35 PM

2
Comment #18
Ellen said...
Wow what a beautiful dog. I also have a son at USNA. Enjoyed seeing Rudy on T-Court!
September 16, 2010 7:54 AM

3
Comment # 30
Joey said...
Hey Rudy, I know your brother, Kelton. He is in my group.
September 18, 2010 3:15 PM

4
Comment #15
Khyra And Sometimes Her Mom said...
Khongrats on such a khool giveaway!I'm in please!Hugz&Khysses,Khyra
September 15, 2010 8:40 PM

5
Comment #21
Rascal's Trainer said...
Happy 400!!! You've done a great job. Count Rascal and me in.
September 16, 2010 2:24 PM

I really wish all the furry fun bloggers could win the giveaway... but I'm only allowed to chose ONE. :(
From here my raiser will write down those five blogger's names.... and wrap them around treats - whichever I pick up first (not letting me eat the paper) is the winner. She does plan to capture this moment on video.... for all of you guys to watch!

Furry congrats to the top 5 winners.... but ALL of you guys are winners to me!


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)