Letter

My trainer's family got a letter from her today. They all took turns looking at it, maybe they'll let me have a turn with it. She said that she went to the service dog school in Tokyo and bought a t-shirt and a keychain; wonder which one is for me. She said that she visits the guide dog school this weekend.

I hope she brings me back really cool souvenirs. I'll post photos of them before I chew them up!

Frankie

puppy class

Not only did we tour a construction site, but we also practiced "Kennel-in". There was a fast "sit-stand-sit" excercise and we even played a card game. We had to do whatever command was on the next card in the deck.



























I didn't know I still got to go to obedience class even though my trainer was out of the country. I was so excited! And, I really didn't know that my trainer's brother was going to expect me to obey at obedience class either. I needed to show him who was boss, so I pulled and pulled. One of my trainer's friends took over and worked with me some. Then this morning my trainer's brother, who'd evidently gotten some advice on how to handle me, started out my day with some obedience work today. I can obey...if I want to.

Breeder Evaluation

My trainer warned me that this form would come after she left on her trip. So it did come, and I did pose. I did not like posing for these photos though. They kept making me stand up against the wall and trying to make me stand up straight. And if I moved they put me right back there again. I didn't see the reasoning for it though. Why couldn't they just get me doing something cool? No, they wanted a plain boring shot of me just standing there.
Then you know what they did? They stood on a little flat box and picked me up in the air. I thought they were going to drop me! I tried to wiggle free, but the more I wiggled the more times they started over. Finally, my trainers dad held me still and he stood on the little flat box. They said "We got it!" and they wrote down my weight.

4th of July Parade

We left at 6:30 am this morning to go to the parade that the guide dog group was doing.

We did it last year and won first, and the years before we won to, so this year we didn't enter to win, just to walk in it with the guide dogs and float.

We gave away candy and dog biscuts. There were almost as many dogs as there were kids!

My trainer took some pictures, but none of use walking in the parade.

Frankie

Me and the neon colored clown

Katie (my sister) under the float

Waiting for the parade to start

Missing mom

No not my real mom, my human mom!

My trainer is leaving for a trip next week... and will be gone a WHOLE MONTH!

And I am not allowed to go with her. Life is soo unfair.

I can't believe she has known this before she got me, and never told me that she was leaving for longer than a day without me.

Since she can't take me with her, I have to stay at home. My trainer's brother and sister will be watching and working with me.

So if there aren't that many posts, don't worry. I don't know if my trainer will let my sibling's let me use the blog when she is gone. But we will find out. I might get them to take pictures of where they take me so then you can see some photos.

But one way or another I will get some posts uploaded.


Frankie

Guide dogs are...

Picture taken June 30,
(the post was done a week ago)

Hey guys!!

My trainer wants to tell you something.

Hey, I was bored and came up with something, comment on how you like it!!

Guide dogs are...

Generous

Understanding

Intelligent

Doggone cute

Easy Going

Dilligent

Obedient

Greatly appreciated, and

Smart

And Frankie stands for...

Friendly(well sometimes)

Rambunctious

Active

Needs to smell everything

Kind

Indepentdent

Eats anything and everything!

What? I just read though this, how could my trainer write that!?!

I am really friendly no doubt about that. I don't EAT everything in sight, just some of it. And, I only smell stuff ... because it smells good!

But she is right on the independent; I can do anything on my own even if it turns out to be a disaster! (It's only happened a couple times).

Frankie & Trainer

Rodeo!

Hey guys!

I went to a rodeo with my trainer's family yesterday and had a blast!!
There grass tastes soo good and the food...

Well we were there for over 4 hours! I did soo good, well I we will have to talk about that later!
There were horses and cows there, I even had horses galloping right in front of me, but its not like I have never seen I horse before - we do own 2.

I think I liked the greasy pig chase the most, they let out a greasy pig and over 100 kids were after it and 1 of those 100 have to catch it! The poor little pig didn't even have time to run before the kids came after him. It was quite funny even if my trainer's sister didn't win!

I also got to watch barrel racing team roping, bull riding, and bronco riding (horses), and at the beginning I even got to see a parade of horses with flags!

Look at the bottom for pictures, the only pictures of me though are just looking at horses so you won't get any pictures of me and a horse.

Frankie

Watching the horses

Parade

Bucking broncos

Dress up

Do I look cute??

Have you ever wanted to play dress up? I haven't!

AND YOU DON'T WANT TO!!!
But my trainer wanted to keep her little cousin occupied, so she let him dress me up!

With some help, he dressed me up as a pretty little girl(I think).

Then he dressed me up as a dog in bloomer bottoms.

And since she knew that I wasn't liking it very much she only let him dress me up one more time. It was a 2 part bathing suit(not that anyone in my trainers family wears it!). It was a little shirt and shorts so it looked kind of like it!! My trainer only got one picture since I wouldn't let her take more pictures, so we just went with the one!

Frankie

Pictures

My trainer has been keeping a file of photos taken of me, and naming them by how old I am.
I decided to post them so you can see how much I have grown since 4 weeks!!

Frankie

Puppy picture(when we dropped off Brax),
4 weeks





Harness picture, 6 weeks




















Library, 9 weeks


Touring the Biltmore House, 10 weeks















Night time, 11 weeks


Train/puppy field trip, 12 weeks

















Baby goat, 13 weeks

YMCA, 15 weeks















Puppy class, 17 weeks
(4 months)

Park, 20 weeks(5 months)


















And now(notice the new collar!) 6 months

Movie "stand stay, come"

This movie is like the other one but no treats are involved.
Also, if you notice at the end, I don't like the "come" command that much!!

Frankie

Movie "Stand stay, leave it"

This is the hardest command that I have learned so far! "stand stay" is a command that I have just started learning, and I am doing good at it. Well enjoy.

Frankie

Movie "sit stay"

This is me doing a "sit stay", it was kind of hot outside so the movies were taken in my trainer's room.

Frankie

Movie "down stay, leave it"

I am in a "Down stay" with a "leave it" command.

Frankie

And the names are...

Girl: Dove
Boy: Reese's
Thanks everyone for the name ideas!! Both names were chosen from commentes on the blog.

Also, I will be doing a post on some commands I am learning but I have to get a movie first!

Frankie

Park

I have been meaning to put pictures of me going to the park on my blog.

If you remember the post on going to the Y with my trainer(http://guidedogawareness.blogspot.com/2008/04/ymca.html), my trainer also takes me to the park afterwards, it's really fun and I got to go down every slide there (even the long tunnel one!). Then my trainer got in a big red swing and put me in it with her.
I put my paws out when we were swinging and it looked really cute, but we didn't have a camera! So we went back the next week and tried to do it again. It didn't turn out the same, but it was still really cute!

Frankie

Me on the swing (face shot)


If you notice you can see one paw holding on!

Puppy class 3

Hey guys!

I'm a little behind on the post for puppy class 3, but I am just getting the photos downloaded now.

It was a lot of fun, and we have started (since puppy class 2) working outside. Its quite hot out, and they are trying to get the dogs ready for all the heat down in FL when they return. It was really hot when we went in May, so I wonder how hot its going to be at the fourth puppy class!
We worked around cones, and on some different surfaces like a tarp, a crate taken apart so you can feel the metal, towels and a couple other things. Some dogs shyied away and wouldn't go over them, but me... I went over them right away not even noticing them! Though the whole class I sounded like a horse, since I was pulling so much (or so my trainer says). My trainer noticed that my siblings and other puppies the same age are wearing collars that are nylon with a little bit of chain for the lead.
go to: http://www.petplanet.co.uk/product.aspdept_id=251&pf_id=0062 to see what it looks like if you don't understand what collar I am talking about.
Well my trainer got one of those kind of collars to help my pulling (I am not allowed to wear a choke chain collar in till I am over 6 months) so she bought a blue half nylon, half chain, collar. It's worked real well, and has helped my pulling a lot. She still looks forward to getting the choke chain collar though!!
Go to the end of the post to see pictures:)

Frankie


Doing figure eights around cones, (I am at the
end of the line)


waiting in line to go around the cones (note: one cone has a ball on it, the others have really good looking treats!)

The last ones

The girl is on the left,
and the boy on the right
Any name ideas??
History:
Born: Tuesday 7pm, June 3, 2008
Breed: Nubian
Color: black and white with a hint of brown
Mothers name: Carmello Candy bar (Candy)
1 girl and 1 boy.
Would like candy names, We already have:
Gumdrop, Skittles, Peppermint Paddie, and Milky way. Comment on candy names!!
I will hopefully get to play with them later today.
Thanks, can't wait to hear the names!

Frankie

Alone or not?

Now I am all better (hopefully!)

I got sick Friday night and Saturday morning... and did a "big" in my crate, it was really loose and had blood in it, so I was taken to the vet later Saturday (mind you right when we'd get back home we have had to run out again to go to a graduation and dinner). Well my trainer didn't want to take me with her as the sickness might be contagious to other dogs (there is a service dog in our church) and people (everyone likes to pet me and sometimes doesn't ask). So, we called our area coordinator to ask permission to board me. BOARD ME! Out of all things my trainer planned on leaving ME at the vet. The shots are bad enough but staying there over night, is my trainer going crazy!

Yes I stayed over night, I am still alive and in one piece, but still I had to be in a kennel with no people there, just dogs. So pretty much, I was alone!

Since yesterday after my trainer picked me up I have not had anymore accidents and when I went outside it wasn't loose.

Frankie

A kiss or lick?

Comment on what you think!

Frankie

My trainer's sister & me,(#1)

My trainer's sister & me (#2)

BRAX'S PICTURE WITH OWNER!

Hey guys,

Since Brax has gone home with his new owner a week or two ago, and we aren't allowed to have contact(yeah not even me!) , I am doing a post for Brax.
Our scanner is still broken so I went to the guide dog site and Brax's photo is there, so go to:http://www.guidedogs.org/graduates.asp and the bottom picture is Brax(since he wasn't there for Puppy Raiser day he isn't in the top picture). My trainer got the picture in the mail yesterday and he is really big; he's grown since January!

Frankie

Convention, 3 days!!

I went to a convention last week for 3 whole days!! It was a really long drive so we stayed at a hotel.

It was my first hotel stay and it was really neat.

Since I am not allowed to sleep on a tie down yet(that would be a disaster!) we took the crate, and some of my toys: A pink camouflage toy, a bone, a weird twisted pink toy(down below in a picture), and a red squirrel squeaker toy. They are some of my favorite toys.

The convention had a lot of books there, so I spent a whole bunch of time laying down when my trainer was looking at books. And the last day I was there we met a working service dog that was a odd breed, German Shepherd/Rottweiler mix, he was really big and named Tank.

Frankie

Me and my neat toy in the hotel

Me waiting while my trainer looks at books

Tank, the 4 year old service dog

After all that walking, I crashed and took

forever to wake back up!

Flea Market

Hey guys!

I went to the FM Saturday for a guide dog field-trip and I had a lot of fun!

There were 2 other dogs there, Marcia and Angel...my sister! We all went different ways to explore the FM then could leave whenever we wanted. After we went through all of it, we saw my sister, and her trainer asked if we could take our coats off and play some for a reward,(like I deserve it!) So Angel and I got our coats off then played for half an hour or more!!
I had a really good time there, well, mostly because I got to play.

Frankie

Angel's on top of me!

Ha! now I am on top

THE PHONE CALL!!

Me and my trainer at the horse show.
Told by my trainer:

The phone call was last night at 6:24pm. I was really glad to hear from the lady Brax is with. She said that she has had 7 dogs over 35 years. So Brax is her 8th. She said Brax still has his silly side:

The new owner has balance problems so the dog they placed her with before Brax didn't work for her because he was too short. Brax was picked since he is tall. So when she trips he breaks her fall, or stabilizes her.

Today Brax will have his first airplane flight to go home.

Brax is doing real good with the lady and she says after the 3 months that I will be able to visit him! I miss him a lot and hope to get some pictures soon.

Love your trainer

Back to Brax now, I really like it down here at the school I even sleep in the dorms with my owner. I will be leaving to go to my new home today, and there, welcoming me, will be my new owners retired guide dog who is 8 years old.

Love

Brax

New collar

Don't you like the bubbles!

I am in the stage where I keep outgrowing my collars.

My trainer found this one for me at
Wal-mart on sale for only $1.60. Since I will out grow it next week it will turn into a goat collar for Cate.

Frankie

Happy Mothers Day

I can barely remember my mom.

She keeps getting fuzzier everyday







Frankie

"Down Stay"

Doing the command "Down stay", see how well I behave!

Hope you like it.

Frankie

Never Mind

3 months old, face picture of Brax


The Airline wouldn't change the flight for my new owner(without making her pay lots of money).
So, I won't get to meet my puppy raiser after all. Which by the way, she was already making arrangements to come see me.
So no pictures, sorry.
Mabye in the future my puppy raiser can be a globe trotter and come visit me in my new home.

Brax

Over 100!!

I have made it over 100 posts! (Well, with Brax's help that is).

Oh and at the bottom are some photos of the basket that was for holding my toys.


Frankie


The basket


And the handle

Update on FRANKIE

Me laying down, (this was just taken of me today).

Hi guys,

Now that Brax is letting me have a turn on the blog for all the attention and comments, I can give a update on ME.

I am doing really well so far as commands(only if you don't count "No" for biting), I already know "sit" "go get it" "down stay" and "sit stay" I am still learning "down", and "stand".

The next commands will be "switch" "heel" and "forward".

I will be putting some more movies of my training on soon. I also have been learning to sit at doors and stairs.

Frankie

Just Kidding!!

Me at the airport for a field trip.(3 months old)

The blind person(aka my new owner) is staying for Puppy Raiser Day!(which I thought was graduation but it is the same day just called something different). Although the blind person will make it, I don't know if my puppy raiser will be able to make it. She is still tying to figure that out.

I will be living with a lady in Missouri.

If my puppy raiser goes to the PR-Day then I will post pictures.

Brax

PLACED!!!!

I know I just moved into phase three which is at least longer then 2 or 3 months. But there was somone that no other dog would match with so they pulled me out of phase 3 and now I am placed! I would be graduating(also called Puppy Raiser Day) in a week, but neither my new family or my puppy raiser can make it. My puppy raiser will hear from the blind person soon, and I will be able to (hopefully) meet my puppy raiser in a couple months!!
More detail and hopefully pictures later,
Love, the placed dog.

Brax