Anya

Anya was the 2nd puppy I raised. She was an amazing little girl and exactly what we wished for when we got Magician. We wanted a female black lab when we started raising pups, but got Magician because he was ready to go and we didn't want to wait! I got Anya on April 22, 2002 off the puppy truck. She was born Jan. 30, 2002 to the Famous Julianne and her dad was Les. She had 4 black brothers and 1 yellow brother-NO SISTERS (poor girl!). Anyway, her brothers were Alex (cc), Alamo (guide), Alto (guide), Amador (cc) and Armstrong (cc-but the spokesdog for Dogs for Diabetics).

The things Anya taught me were:

* you can be "almost perfect", but not "absolutely perfect"

*black is beautiful!

* act so that people call you "princess"

*each dog has it's own personality

*she was born to be a guide-some dogs just have it!

*dogs don't all chase balls-in fact, some dogs care less about balls!

Anya was an amazing dog! I knew from day 1 that she was going to be a guide dog, but she was one of the dogs that I would have kept in a heartbeat! Anya never actually made it to phase 10, she got put into class from phase 8. She graduated with her partner in November of 2003. She is still working in CA and has the most perfect person as her handler! Anya and her partner are two peas in a pod and it shows!