Sanford Airport

Shirley was amazing this was her first day back after 5 weeks on campus and she handled it like a pro.

                                             catching up

SOME FUN

getting weighed

                                                                  waiting on   Luggage

Shuttle pactice, these dogs are amazing you would not believe how many dogs and people we got on this bus. 

                            We participated in a full TSA screening with a few of us including my dad was picked for a random screening . All the dogs were amazing this was a nice practice round for the handlers to build thier confindence about air travel with a guide dog.

If this photo if chosen will appear in the TSA Magazine .The TSA agents and all the airport Staff made this a great puppy exposure. Everyone was very accommodating. This is a great smaller airport , their SFB slogon fits Simpler. Faster. Better .

Shirley is BACK

  We went down to the campus on Friday to pick Shirley up, if you havn't been following along she was down there for her heat cycle. She was there for five weeks. First, we went to the puppy center to pick her up, but she wasn't back yet (she was at the admin building), so while we waited we had papers to sign and as we did that one of the keepers said "And you know she's pregnant.", you should of seen our jaws dropped and simultaneously yell what , the lady looked at us said "Oh no thats not Shirley's paper well the news goes to Diva not Shirley" maybe that was some kind of puppy kennel humor. So off to the admin office and she was there with a trainer all calm and sweet hanging out .We walked over and it took a few seconds and when she realized it was us she jumped for joy. That's a good feeling! As a result of her stay the main thing we have noticed right away is she has really mellowed out to the point she's a different dog. Before kennel time she had 2 settings on /off and off was sleeping .She was the type of dog you would give the down command and she would look at as if to say been there done that- stay where really really ....and she liked her space.  She would even eat fast were talking a matter of seconds,  now she's like the lady in lady and tramp she'll look at the bowl and back at you as if to say all this for me ok i'll try crunch crunch , she has even left a few nuggets, unheard of before now. And she is super sweet now; she offers a lick and then lays down across your feet :)

Finally!

Shirley will be coming home on Friday. It has been about 5 weeks, and we really miss her. I can't wait! 

Saturday at Forest Lake Manor

Saturday Morning our group meet in Daytona at Forest Lake Assisted Living .Shirley is still missing in action .Still at SEGD. So, I worked with Leo, thank you Ms Peggy . Our first challenge was an obstacle course where the dog has to go around many objects that can occur on walks. They prefer that the dog decides which way to go around the object, and the handler makes corrections if that is not a viable option. This helps build the dog's decision making and independence. Then we took a quick tour of the building and met a few of the residents , which was a good exposure for the dogs. At the end we got together for a group picture.