My First Christmas!

I hope you guys are having a furry good Christmas, spending the time with your loved ones and eating lots of sweets (or yummy dog treats)!

My raiser gave me LOTS of furry cool goodies, but I will share about them in a later post (complete with lots of pictures...)

Fur now I just want to wish all my blogging friends a MERRY CHRISTMAS!

- Brandon

Picture of Brandon with some of his Christmas goodies (Brandon also has his tongue sticking out!)

(almost) Wordless Wednesday

TOMORROW is the day... my very first BIRTHDAY!!
I hope all of my blogging pals can make it to my "birthday blog party" (by leaving a comment on tomorrow's post) - hope to see you all there!
I'm off to go stare at my amazing birthday pressies...

Rudy - The dog with a blog

I wonder if there really is a watermelon in that gift bag?



(Movie of Rudy staring at his pressies)

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)

Who Wants a PRIZE??

Hey guys!
Didn't see my last post? Make sure to visit it. As you could WIN A PRIZE!!

Yes, I finally got the "name game" rules finished... and posted.
But only have 14 comments - and I have 145 followers... so check out the post to enter, as I know there are many more out there!
(You know you want to win the HOMEMADE dog bone bar of goat milk soap... made when Toby was still here!)
So jump right over to the name game post to comment with your 5 fav male puppy names!

Happen to pick my new doggy's name? You will win one dog bone bar of goat milk soap!
(I will do a drawing if there is more than one winner).

So hurry over to the post & leave your 5 winning names!

I will be reminding you guys over the next couple days - you have till THIS Saturday at midnight to enter... SO HURRY!
Name Game Post

(please note that the goat milk soap is for HUMANS only - not dogs, I may include a yummy treat bag for the dog!)

P.S. I did some "shopping" today for my new puppy - I have a new leash/collar, lots of awesomely fun toys and yummy treats - pictures coming soon :)

I'm going to head over to my "name game" post and guess 5 names (though I'm not going to give myself the bar of soap!). Just so I can have some fun in the guessing too!

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

You could win it!

Name Game (WITH A PRIZE!)

Think you have what it takes to pick my new puppy's name??

You have FIVE chances to guess my dogs name.
Try to pick 5 that will match a cute MALE black goldador.

They can be any random name - just note that people are paying $3500 to name a puppy... so each name has a lot of thought & meaning.

To enter:
1). Leave ONE comment on this post - with the 5 names that you chose
2). You have from NOW until midnight on Saturday to leave that comment... so get commenting!
It is THAT easy!

I will be publishing comments when I receive them (feel free to check back to make sure your comment gets published - as blogger likes to "eat" some).

I have decided to publish the comments when I get them, so (if you want) you can look over the names other bloggers' picked - so you don't choose the same ones (more of a chance that someone wins).
(Yes you may use the same name as another blogger - if you want)

IF a blogger happens to have picked the right dog name they will be receiving a prize... !
You will win 1 bar of my dog bone homemade goat milk soap! (picture below).
If more than 1 blogger picked the right name - I will do a drawing to pick the 1 winner.

Have any questions? Feel free to pop me an email at: guidedogawarenessATyahooDOTcom.

I will be posting reminders - just in case you decide not to enter right away.

Remember: 1 comment with FIVE guesses (or less), you may also add a reason of why you picked certain names or a meaning to go with them (if you'd like).

Ready... START NAMING!

(Please note that I DO NOT know my dogs name yet - and most likely won't find out until Saturday/Sunday)

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



This could be YOURS!

Toby Won a Giveaway!

Back when GABE was going (last month) Toby was still here.

One of the blogs he visited was the We Three Doxies.
Toby left a comment on their giveaway post - and though he wasn't here to find out, he WON their giveaway!
The giveaway was for:
Some of Albert's fluff
A coffee mug with the GABE logo on it
And a 8x10 glossy photo of Puddles
She was kind enough to ALSO include some yummy looking treats for the new guide dog puppy!

Thanks so much Puddles for this awesome package, my new puppy will truly love the treats - and I'm already loving that coffee mug :)
Puddles, I'm thinking about framing the photo of you with Albert's fluff... hope you don't mind!

Still working on the name game rules and post- sorry for the wait! I'll go ahead and leak one rule... you can have up to FIVE names picked... so start thinking!
Enjoy the pictures of the gifts, no doggies in them - sorry!

(P.S. I'm a little behind on visiting your blogs - sorry! I hope to catch up in a couple days!)

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

Birthday! Awards! Gifts! Pictures! ... FUN!

Well, most (if not all) of you guys know that today, yes TODAY, is my FIRST BIRTHDAY!!
"Happy Birthday to me..."

I had a busy birthday, starting off with a (long) Easter petting zoo/pony rides! (I even got to meet the Easter bunny!). My Raiser did pony rides - I was watching her the whole time, it sure looked like fun!

After the petting zoo, we drove over to puppy class (yes, with horse trailer & all!). And I got to do puppy class on my birthday, I had lots of fun. My Raiser did have to hand back the harness... but we enjoyed it while we had it!

All through out puppy class, I was handled by another lady (and My Raiser handled Duchess), I did MUCH better than last puppy meeting and my Raiser was proud.

After doing many distractions with treats/balls/flags/children/brooms/extra, my Raiser's dad got a horse & llama out for all the puppies to see! That was a big hit...

We then headed home after puppy class, I was quite tired, didn't even know I still had gifts waiting at home!

Later on, my Raiser let me open my gifts, then she took me into the kitchen to make DOG TREATS, homemade dog treats! (recipe came on my birthday card from SEGDI - my school). While they cooked, My Raiser took me outside in the 2+ acre fence (complete with the mud puddle...), I played with my new toy, old toy, and the people!

Coming back inside I got FRESH dog treats, then got a extra (not much) helping of supper. Now I plan on going to sleep...

Busy day, right?

The gifts I received are: A pawesome throw toy from my Raiser, a cool "spa" gift set from my Raiser, 2 really tasty gift bags from people in puppy class and a cupcake from another Raiser!

P.S. Lola & Booker Man (maybe others - I don't remember!) passed along these pawesome awards to me (thank you!) - I will hand them out to other people in another post - as my Raiser wants to go to bed soon! Thanks guys for the awards, I love receiving things!

(Note from Raiser - "HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOBY - I LOVE YOU!")

Thanks "mom"!


All photos have been put in a smile box slide show (I will post a "making cookies" one later on) I would have posted all the photos, but that takes quite a while!


Hope everyone had a great Saturday,


I AM A WHOLE YEAR OLD!



Toby
The dog with a blog




Create your own free digital scrapbook

Did you hear?? (and mud puddle visit)

One of my pawesome friends is hosting an event, and in this event there will be GIVEAWAYS!!
Yes, GIVEAWAYS!
Twinkie is one of my newer friends - she's a furry cute doggy and I'm glad to have met her :)
Twinkie has been planning a pawesome global animal event for us! So we can win cool prizes & meet new people!

The name for this event is G.A.B.E (Global Animal Blogging Event).

I don't know to much about this event; but my Raiser said something about "giveaways" so I had to post about it!

To learn lots more, visit Twinkie's page. (make sure to start at the bottom).

I'm told their are 2 categories for us bloggers -
ACTIVE PARTICIPANTS

PASSIVE PARTICIPANTS

Active being you do a giveaway.
To be Active take the GABE badge (from Twinkie's page) and place it in your sidebar (making sure to link it back to the Twinkie's page) before March 31. On or after March 31 post about your giveaway (making sure to send the link to Twinkie), the quicker you do the giveaway post the higher up you will be on Twinkie's list - so you may have more people viewing/entering your contest. April 18th the winner (s) will be picked.
(you can still enter other giveaways if you are active)

Passive being you only have to ENTER all those giveaways!!
(please note that I am just a dog - I may have gotten a fact/date wrong & of course left many things out - so if you are interested in this cool event please read Twinkie's page & if something is different, feel free to let me know - and of course follow what Twinkie says not me!)
We were planning on just being "passive" but my Raiser is thinking about letting me be an Active doggy (as a birthday gift!)- of course I will be leaving for IFT at the guide dog school before GABE ends, so Liberty or my Raiser (unless the new puppy is here) will announce the winner (s) on my blog :(
Unless something unexpected happens & we get really busy we (hopefully) will be active - so make sure to enter our giveaway when it comes time! My Raiser is thinking about her homemade goat milk soap as the prize... (her soap is very nice - so you guys will LOVE it - and they were quite popular at the slient auction at SEGDI'S Walk-A-thon!!)

So make sure to look into this event!

Guess what I did today??
My Raiser took me out back (a 2+ acre fenced in for goats/horses/) this fence just so happened to have been sitting empty for a couple months & my Raiser decided to let me play in it! (just now, what about the other 2 months??). What she DIDN'T NO - their just so "happened" to be a nice LARGE, MUD, PUDDLE in it...
Not wanting to get wet - I decided to jump OVER it - not realizing it was a "little" to long... yes, my Raiser watched me land in the MIDDLE of the puddle, straight in the mud! She laughed SOOO loud, til she realized that I now needed a shower:)
So that was my fun thing today :) (and no she didn't have her camera!)
P.S. My Raiser went shopping for birthday presents today...

Hope you enjoyed my long, informative but (hopefully) fun post!

Toby
The dog with a blog





GABE'S badge, isn't it cute!!

Paw it Forward

.(Written by Duchess's handler, Toby's Raiser)
When picking up my mail Saturday, I was surprised to find... a package for TOBY!!
It was from our lovely friend's over in CA! (Thanks Kari!).
Duchess of course was quite excited, and didn't care too much about her name NOT being on the package...
We opened it up, and not to my surprise at all- it was for the dogs :) TREATS!
Of course I told Duchess we would have to wait to open them, as they are Toby's, not her's.
I have never received a paw it forward gift, and don't know too much about them.
I was told though, once you receive it, you pass it on to 3 other dog blogs.
Since I'm not rich (!!), It will be a small gift, but you guys should still enjoy it.
Have never received a Paw it Forward package? Want to be 1 of the 3?
Leave a comment with the word "pawesome" in it (thanks Duchess...), and the first 3 "pawesome" comments will receive a small gift! (in the USA please)
**(Please note that I DO filter comments, so they aren't published right away - though I do try and post them when they come in)**
Don't be shy, if you want to participate leave a "pawesome" comment!! (all comments are welcome, if you include "pawesome" in the comment I will count that as you are wanting to participate)
Please email me at "letters-fromhomeAThotmailDOTcom" if you were one of the three, or leave your email in the comment and I'll email you.
Thanks again Kari, Toby will enjoy the healthy treats when he gets back from camp!

P.S. I see a "IFT" (In For Training) email in my inbox... I guess that will be my next post...

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

Christmas Goodies!!

(me laying down, giving the cutest face
with blanket around my neck, like superdog!)

Sorry it took so long to write this post, my trainer has been "After Christmas" busy!

I had an awesomely fun Christmas, and got many good goodies!

My trainer filled my stocking with lots of toys, and a little bit of treats (since I'm on a treat diet, she doesn't want me having to many).

I finally got to open the gifts I got from the guide dog Christmas party, they are soo cool! (ones already in the trash...).

I really enjoyed my first Christmas, and I'm so sorry to see it pass by so fast. I am sad to know that this will be my only Christmas with my trainer, as next year (2010) I will be IFT (in for training) at the guide dog school.

I would have to say the BEST thing I got for Christmas is a small stainless steel bowl. It it the one toy I CAN NOT tear up! Which makes my trainer really happy:)

My trainers favorite "toy" she got for Christmas was a Gorillapod, it really helps her take pictures of both me AND her!

Enjoy all the photos, and we hope you guys had a really pawsome Merry Christmas!!
Did you have a favorite Christmas toy/gift?? I'd love to hear about it!

Toby

The dog with a blog

Me trying to tear up my stocking...

A blue doll was inside my stocking! (the doll is now in the trash...)

Me tearing up an orange teddy bear (now called "bodyless bear")

Me enjoying my camo toy

Me with "some" of the toys I got for Christmas, (toys are laid out on my trainer's polka dot blanket)

Me chewing on a squeaker toy-with the package still on

My trainer's pink/black "gorillapod"

I am Christmas tired! (Me laying my head on my trainer's feet)

Can I play too? (me laying in the middle of a horse ranch playmobil game:)

Me & my stainless steel bowl...

Merry Christmas!!

(Picture-Toby kissing me/trainer, taken

Christmas morning)

This is my FIRST Christmas! My trainer got me many, many gifts...

I would like to wish all of you guys an awesome Merry Christmas!

I will be doing a "following" post later (tomorrow or so/when my trainer can help:) and be posting lots of pictures!

As for now, I will return back to tearing up my 7th toy!

Happy holidays!

Toby

The dog with a blog