The day had come! Yesterday I got to meet my new guide dog puppy! For a week now I have known only that he was a male yellow lab, who's name started with "Y".. Guesses included Yoda, Yeller, and Yolo, among many more, but no one thought of Yosemite.
Being born not far from Yosemite national park in California, and it being my parent's favorite place to visit, I'm in love with his name! I don't believe in coincidences :)
But before I get too mushy, I'd like to tell you about the hours leading up to meeting my puppy, as I have found so few accounts of raisers writing about their experience at the puppy truck to pick up their puppy! Hopefully you find this helpful, as this was my first time :)
~~~~~~~~~~Wednesday June 12, 2013
I was so excited I could barely handle it. The next day I would get my puppy! I went to bed as early as I dared, my thought process was that of a 5 year old on Christmas Eve: the sooner I go to bed, the sooner I get to wake up! Well, by 4 am I was tossing and turning, my brain couldn't stop dreaming about my little yellow dog. So I woke up, found some music that I liked that would help me relax, and fell back to sleep around 5:30am... I was awake again by 8! I stayed in bed and read for a while, trying to pass the time, then I slowly got ready for the day, all the while I was sick to my stomach from excitement. The truck was coming at 1, so I was planning on leaving around noon so I could be there in case it came early. Around 11:30, my club leader texted me and told me the truck had gotten a flat tire in Nevada (noooooo) and was running an hour or so behind. I had to wait a whole other hour!! It was like some cruel joke...
My boyfriend Taylor came over at 1 so we could go grab lunch and head to the hotel parking lot near the airport where we would meet the puppy-mobile. I couldn't eat though because I was so excited. We got there at exactly 1:30 and parked, and low and behold, here comes the puppy truck right behind us! They were earlier than expected, and we had made it just in time. Of course I lept out of the car and we stood by my club leader while they parked the puppy truck and set out the awning for shade. It was slow going, it's like they were doing it on purpose, for the suspense!
Finally they start calling out Raisers last names. There were 19 puppies getting off the truck yesterday. And each time someone's last name was called before mine, I got more and more anxious. my leader told me the order goes by oldest puppy to youngest puppy, and since mine wasn't quite 8 weeks old, I would be one of the last. After puppy 17, it was my turn! The man called my name and as I stood at the truck door, I finally caught the first glimpse of my new puppy; and he was the cutest thing I've ever seen! (And definitely the cutest puppy off the truck so far, but maybe I'm biased). :) I anxiously waitEd at the bottom of the steps while they scanned my puppy and put his first collar on.
Finally, after what seems like a lifetime, the puppy man turned to me and gives me some hints on what my puppies name is.
"It starts with a Y. It's a national park, kind of like Yellowstone, but it's in California."- he said
"Is it Yosemite?!"
"It's Yosemite!"
And then he hands me my tiny yellow puppy, and I'm instantly in love! I of
Course can do nothing else but swoon over Yosemite, so Taylor grabbed the puppy bag and his food for me, and we went and got him a nylabone dinosaur out of the toy bin that my leader brought. :) his sister and brother were also on the truck. Yankee was his big white/yellow brother, and his little black sister Yiska. His sister will be raised here in utah as well. One of his other black sisters, Yori, is being raised in Oregon.
~~~~~~~~~~Thursday June 13, 2013
Yosemite slept in my arms the whole way home. When we got there we took him out to the yard and gave him some water and fed him his lunch. He was fascinated with the grass, and wanted to be in Taylor's lap. The rest of the night was spend bonding! And teaching him "do your business" on both the concrete and the grass. He will relieve on both right now and id like to keep it that way! I once puppy-sat a golden retriever who didn't like to relieve on concrete and it was a pain.
So far, Yosemite hasn't disappointed ;)
When it was time for bed, he was sleeping on the couch with me, so I put him in his crate and he fell right back to sleep, no fuss. Letting him nap periodically through the evening so he gets used to his crate definitely helped!
~~~~~~~~~~ Friday June 14, 2013
We didn't get up until 6 am the next morning, when I could hear him playing in his crate. He didn't cry at all, slept right through the night! Took him outside and he pottied right away. I gave him his heart guard medicine because Yosemite turned 8 weeks old today. We played together this morning and worked on walking on a leash, and when he was tired, i put him in his crate and went to work for a few hours. In between my two jobs I came home for an hour and let Yosemite potty and fed him his lunch. Then we played together and pottied one more time, then I crated him and left for my second job.
Tonight when I got home, I was super excited to see Yosemite! I let him out of his crate and took him out to relieve himself. After a few minutes of smothering, uh I mean cuddling, I decided to get him a name tag for his collar. So him and I drove to Petsmart to pick one out!
**Now this part is very important, I held Yosemite the whole time while at the store so that he never touched the floor. he doesn't have all of his shots, and I dont want him to get sick. **
We picked out a tag, paid, engraved it, and went home. He now has a pretty red tag, which of course, makes it OFFICIAL!
After getting home I fed him his dinner. I am currently switching his puppy food From what he was eating on the puppy truck, to one of the choices Guide dogs mentioned in their packet he came with. I just like this new one better :) (it got higher ratings on dogfoodadvisor.com.) after he ate, played, then ate again, I cooked myself dinner while he sat in the kitchen with me. I brought his dog bed in with us because he seemed about ready to fall asleep. I'm watching him try to get comfortable, and then he decides the open cupboard is going to be more cozy then his bed, so he climbed in and laid down. That's when I decided it was time for a nap in his crate.
After he finished napping, my good friend Anna came over tonight to meet him. Who doesn't love a soft yellow puppy?! We walked to get a movie at a redbox machine down the street, and Yosemite got to go with us. I carried him there and back because he doesn't yet understand the whole "leash walking" thing. (spoiled puppy!) he laid on the bed with us while we watched our movie, and we played with him and his toys. He's starting to love chewing on his nylabone dinosaur. And he really enjoys his rope toy. Yosemite was cracking us up with his cute puppy antics! He is so comfortable in his own skin, I love that about him.
I think he's going to like it here :)
~~~~~~~~~~Saturday June 15, 2013
Yosemite let me sleep in until 7:40am! And then he cried to let me know he had to go potty, so I took him outside on the pavement and he peed right away, and then moved him to the grass (because I forgot to grab his leash in my sleeper stuper out the door) and he pooped. Such a good puppy!
This morning in his breakfast, I added warm water to his kibble to help keep him hydrated because he's crated during the day. The GDB handbook said its a good idea, and it's what I do for my 10 year old border collie/Aussie mix anyway :)
Immediately upon finishing breakfast, Yosemite thinks its a good idea to chew on my flip flops, so I remove them from his dagger like teeth (yes, I'm still WEARING the flip flops while he's gnawing on them) right now he is playing with his "lion" which he loves. I have a feeling he is going to be a very busy boy today!
Is three hours, Yosemite has a vet appointment at Cottonwood Animal Hospital to get his shots, now that he's 8 weeks old. (Eek, poor guy, he doesn't even know what's in store for him!) usually they do them at the guide dog center, but Yosemite was one day shy of 8 weeks old when I picked him up on Thursday. (it's been two days all ready?!)
While I wait for his appointment time to roll around, let me tell you about how I got into puppy raising. :)
All of this started when I was in elementary school, and puppy raisers held an assembly with their puppies.
They came to talk to us about what it was like to raise puppies, and the important work the guide dogs do for people.
At the end of the assembly, they handed out business cards. (To give you and idea of how long ago this was, there were shepherds on the front of the business card, sitting with lab and golden puppies..not too weird right? Well, they stopped using shepherds as guide dogs 11 years ago.) I still have that business card in storage somewhere. This was 12-15 years ago that they came to my school! I remember constantly bugging my mom, asking if we could raise a puppy, every year, but it was never the right time.
As I grew up, it continually got pushed to the back burners. Even when I moved out, I was trying to navigate school and work, etc.
This year I decided it was the year to do it! So I contacted my local club leader and started going to weekly meetings.
After a few meetings I had a home inspection, and was required to puppy-sit a puppy-in-training. My first was Ava, a 1 year old golden retriever.
Immediately after, I puppy-sat another golden named Sony. From there I decided I wanted a puppy on the June truck.
The last month of waiting for June 13th to arrive was torture! About 2 weeks ago, my leader Lindsey brought in balloons for the 3 of us that were getting June puppies.
I had 3 balloons. A Yellow balloon with a big "Y" on it, (which told me I was getting a yellow puppy who's name starts with a "Y"), a "IT'S A BOY!" Balloon, and a green balloon with a date of birth written on it! (4-19-13).
The two other people were also getting male yellow labs, but they were getting "R" siblings born 4-5-13. That was a very exciting day for me! It made everything feel so real. I was finally on the last leg to my dream of becoming a puppy raiser
I took Yosemite to the vet today for his 8 week vaccinations. We met up with salt lake celebrities, Melissa and therapy dog Honey outside of Cottonwood Animal Hospital. honey was diagnosed with bone cancer this week and they had to amputate her front leg, so she was there for a check up. Yosemite was very calm while Honey sniffed him! I was so proud.
When we walked into the clinic, he was bombarded by vet techs and receptionists! Everyone had to pet him, and everyone had to kiss his sweet face and tell me how cute he was! One of the techs held him while I filled out my paperwork and she had to show everyone what a lover he was. He was so mellow through it all, didn't get excited or anything. He acts like he's used to it ;)
When we went into the exam room to wait for the Vet, Yosemite got weighed by a tech in the room. He is 13.2 pounds! What a chunk! His temperature was normal, and he was bright and alert. After she left, Yosemite laid down on the exam table and totally relaxed. Even fell asleep for a few minutes! When the vet came in, he checked his lungs and his heart, his eyes, nose, mouth, and his tummy. He said he is perfectly healthy puppy, and one of the most handsome dogs he's seen! ;) I would have to agree. Then he gave him his vaccine and we set up an appointment for his 12 week exam. I was so proud of my puppy! He did extremely well! He didn't mind being handled at all, didn't even flinch for the shoointment when they put the thermometer in his bum :/ he's going I be such a good dog.
Tonight me and Yosemite got to hang out at the house and relax. We played alot of tug, and got out his new kong to chew on. We worked on body handling and tie down. He's really good at both. The tie down he wasn't fond of at first. But now I make sure he has a chew toy with him and he's doing alot better. :)
Later on, I took Yosemite down to the creek behind my house so he could experience something different. I set him down on the bank with a leash on, and he went into the water up to his toes. Wasn't scared at all! i was very proud :) he stayed calm and curious :)
After drying off his toes, we walked to the gas station by my house to return a movie. (Okay, I walked, he was carried.) half way through our walk back I set him down so we could work on his leash skills. He was very hesitant to move forward, but he would come to me if I got down on his level. After two times of him walking forward successfully, I ended the session and carried him home.
He watched a movie with me tonight, and we played with his toys. When he sleeps now, half the time he sleeps on his back, all his legs in the air! It's the cutest thing ever. Now he will come up and lay by me, where at first he was okay laying where he wanted... We are bonding. ;)
~~~~~~~~~~Monday June 17, 2013
Yesterday was Father's Day! Yosemite woke up around 7:30 to go potty, then he laid in bed with me for another hour or so and slept.
Last night we went to my dads house to grill up some food, and the part of my family hat was going to be there, I wanted them to meet Yosemite of course :)
The minute we walked in, my youngest brother spencer fell in love with Yosemite. Spencer has special needs and Yosemite was so calm and sweet with spencer.
My dad adopted a three legged border collie/Aussie mix named Teagan. She is a little over a year old now, and her and Yosemite hit it off right away! They were playing with each other, and he was following her around the living room, it was great.
What I really wanted to see was my ten year old border collie/Aussie and Yosemite get along. She's old and puppies are annoying. ;)
At first Madison wasn't sure if she liked him, she growled a time or two to put him in his place. But by the end of the ending, they were laying next to each other, and even touching! A huge step for Madison as she usually isn't extremely fond of puppies. Though we know Yosemite is just "any" puppy ;)
On our way to ogden for Father's Day, I had Yosemite ride on the floor board in the front seat so I could keep an eye on him. It's. 50 minute drive and for the fist 40 minutes, on and off, he was persistent in trying to climb on the seat. I stayed consistent though and kept showing him where his place was, and right as we got off the exit for my dads house, he curled up and fell asleep :) success! On the way home he immediately fell asleep on he floor and stayed asleep the whole time.
This morning he woke up a little earlier than normal, around 6:15, so I took him potty and fed him, then while I ate my breakfast i put him on tie down (which he is doing really well on now.) Madison came over to be next to me, and eventually she laid down with Yosemite and they both fell asleep! I think they are going to be best buds.
Tonight was Yosemite's first puppy meeting! It was held at another puppy raisers home, in their backyard. We worked on using food rewards for calm behavior and distractions. Yosemite whined a bit and barked a couple times, but when it came time to sitting calmly next to me, he was a champ :) even when a dog came and sat in front of him. I wish I had taken photos!
This week I'm going to work on loading the word "nice!" And rewarding calm behaviors/distractions because there's no time to waste ;) I want him to be the best dog he can be, and I have an advantage by getting him young (atleast I feel I do). Yes he isn't as mature as the ten week old puppies, but he is also learning everything from a younger age.
On the way home in the car, he immediately fell asleep and stayed that way for a good 40 minutes :) so proud
When we got home from puppy class, my sisters shihtzu puppy, jasper, came over for a little bit, so Yosemite got to meet him :) Yosemite may be younger by a couple weeks, but he's aready bigger than jasper!
~~~~~~~~~~Tuesday June 18, 2013
Today was a sad and busy day in my own life, so tonight's post is going to short and sweet.
Yosemite and Madison got to watch me fill their new kiddy pool! It's definitely summer time. Yosemite has gotten his front paws wet, and drank from it, but hasn't gotten in fully quite yet ;) he does like drinking from the hose too.
Ill post pictures of that soon.
Yosemite got a new toy to chew on, a rubber bone that's indestructible. He really likes it! I originally had bought it for maddie, but she's never wanted if.
~~~~~~~~~~ Wednesday June 19, 2013
Last night we worked on body handling and him staying calm during it. I sat him down in front if me with his back to me and slowly massaged him all over. I picked up all his paws, ears, mouth, messed with his gums. He stayed very relaxed thought it all. Then I laid him on his back in my lap and tried to do the same exercises..he isn't comfortable with that yet. We was crying the whole time and would occasionally struggle. I waited until he calmed down And stopped crying before I released him. then I laid him on his side and had the same reaction, so I waited again until he was calm for a second before letting him up. Now I know what we will be working on every night ;) silly puppy. His tie down and walking on a leash have become better though. And he will go up the stairs and is learning how to go down them.
I got a forwarded email last night from my puppy leader. She had gotten an email from another puppy raiser that was about to receive the last Y puppy, and wanted to get in touch with me :) so I emailed her back last night and hopefully I hear back soon!
~~~~~~~~~~Friday June 21, 2013
There's been a few people who have asked me how to pronounce Yosemite's name. It's: yo-SEH-mih-tee. Like Yosemite Sam, or Yosemite national park. :) hope that helps clear up any confusion.
Yosemite has been introduced to the puppy pool! Madison showed him that water is fun :) and he loves to drink from the hose. He doesn't really go into the pool water on his own accord, but he's not afraid if I put him in it.
Occasionally my puppy club will have a pool party at someone's house, so I want to start my guy early so he isn't afraid of the bigger pools.
Yosemite is getting good at walking on a leash and going up stairs! he's still good on his tie down, and he is now sitting for his food. He is playful with Madison, but he barks alot, so I'm trying to curb that. He likes to cuddle or sleep under the couch. He's really good about his crate and only cries when he needs to potty. He still has only had one potty accident with me, but I guess my mom has a problem with him having accidents when she has him out. Overall he's doing great and I can't wait to start taking him places
~~~~~~~~~~ Tuesday June 25, 2013
My weebly app wasn't working this week, I wanted to post and couldn't! But now I'm back.
Not too much has happened since my last post. My little brother spencer came to visit this weekend, he lives with my dad during the summer. Him and Yosemite have become fast friends! Yosemite is so loving with spencer and always crawling in his lap. Spencer could use a service dog ;)
On Sunday I took my dogs to petsmart to get Yosemite some new toys. I laid his blanket in a cart, and put him on it. He loved to ride in it! I got him a new chew toy, and some new stuffies. He loves them! On our way home from the store we stopped at the park next to my house. I laid out the blanket and let Yosemite play with his toys and people watch. Of course it didn't take long before some people came over to meet Yosemite. ;) he eventually tired himself out and we went home.
Yosemite's favorite place to be is "under" things. Under the couch and under the chair outside are his two most favorite. Whenever we hang out in the yard, he's gotta be under his chair. :)
Yosemite's second puppy meeting was last night. We went to another raisers house. We worked on head collars, going for walks on a loose leash, dog distractions, Come, and I had my leader lindsey help me with Yosemite's body handling, as he struggles when he's put on his side and I wasn't sure if I was allowed to hold him down. Apparently it's okay :) Yosemite did better this week about the barking and whining. And he was awesome at come! He's not extremely good motivated yet, but he loves praise. She said he should become more food motivated as he gets older. I took some pictures of him at puppy class, I was proud of him.
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