Pictures...

So, I do not actually own a camera right now... SO I had to borrow my 9 year old neices camera to take some pictures of the boys. Since Frisco is leaving soon, I wanted to get some good pictures of him...possibly for the 2010 calendar (because we all know I'm obsessed with the calendar pictures. Anyway...so here are some pictures of the past 2 days...

This is my favorite. I think I am going to submit it to GDB for next years calendar. I realize the top of his head is cut off, but it is the essence of Frisco.

This is not really a calendar worthy photo, but I think it's cool how the background didn't show up, but Frisco showed up perfectly.

Remember this photo???

Look at how Frisco has grown compared to Ontario...

(Frisco isn't quite as big as he looks next to Ontario...but in comparison)

Here is Ontario's Fall 2008 Picture!

Frisco laying in some flowers...

Another one of my favorites...another possible calendar picture...I love how his legs are crossed...gives him personality!

small update

I WILL update over the weekend...probably on Sunday. I'm going to be taking several pictures on Saturday and Sunday.

Nothing REAL exciting has been happening here. Frisco is on the recall list to go to Oregon on November 1st. Ontario is amazing and a dork all at the same time...if you haven't figured it out, Ontario was career changed and I decided to keep him, so he's MINE! :) Anyway...I'll post pictures and stories over the weekend.

Here is how my summer went...

I'm too lazy to write a big long post about how fantastic and wonderful my summer was...so here are a few pictures to SHOW you how extremely amazing my summer was...and what I did...

Went to SEVERAL Luau dinners and dances...

Dressed up as Miss Rhode Island from the movie Miss Congeniality for a Halloween Dance (yes, the dance was in the middle of the summer)

Met a lot of new friends and went to breakfast and danced down a red paper covered floor in my pajamas...

Climbed a climbing wall...blindfolded! (when I did it in a race I did it in 33 seconds.)

Went to San Diego and visited the LDS Temple there (I've always wanted to go to this temple because it is so beautiful!)

Went the the beach...MANY MANY MANY times!-- I LOVE THE BEACH!!!

As for Frisco, he did a lot of these things with me, but also he laid around like usual...looking pretty! Oh, and he got bigger and older! He's 11 months old now...I can't believe it! He is doing SO well! He's such a wonderful dog I think he has what it will take to be a guide dog!

So pretty much I would highly recommend camp to anybody who thought they would be interested. It's not all fun and games and it can be hard to live with that many people in such tight spaces all the time. But there is no other experience like it! If you think you like camp and such, you should definately consider it in your future! I LOVE IT! Can't wait to go back next year. It's the best!

more of camp

So since I wrote last we had Elementary Camp and Multi-disabled camp. Elementary camp was a lot of fun. The session lasted for 6 days and the campers were from ages 5-12ish. I did periods of guide dogs where I would teach the kids about guide dogs and we walked the dogs around camp. The kids seemed to have a really fun time with it and learned a little about dogs and guide dogs. We also had the summer festival during this time. Some people from GDB came for the Festival and I got to hang out at the GDB booth area for a little while. For most of the day I got to drive the "cushman" which is the little golf cart we have here at camp. There is a steep hill that some people don't want to walk up--or can't walk up, so I shuttled them up and down on the Cushman. It was fun to drive because I got to meet a lot of the public and share my love of camp with them! 

The break after Elementary Camp, I stayed here at camp. We went to dinner and shopping and played laser tag one of the afternoons. 

For the last 3 days we have had Multi-Disabled camp. We had adults and kids, who were quite involved...most of them had aides to help them with the activities. It was a fun session and it's always fun to see the peoples faces and see what camp does for them! 

I'm excited for this next session which will be Junior Camp. I have some fun things planned for the session!

On another note...I was talking to my mom on Friday and I have a new nephew! He wasn't due until August 4th, but some things happened and surprise!!! We have a new member of the Brown Family. His name is Ryan William Brown. He has 2 older sisters who are all so excited for him and from what I hear everything is going very well! 

Here I am at Camp Boomfield

We had our first 2 sessions at Camp...Family Camp and Adult Camp. Both sessions were good and Frisco is being a very good boy! Camp is a lot to handle for a puppy, but all the pups this year are doing VERY well! It is definately easier having an older puppy for camp. 

I have been to the beach several times, which is definately the highlight of my time in Malibu. If I didn't love Utah Mountains so much, I think I would be VERY tempted to move somewhere to the beach! My legs are VERY tan...for me :) wahoo!

Last Monday we went to one of the girls houses and took the doggies swimming in her swimming pool! Frisco wasn't a huge fan of the pool, but he swam well and I think he could be a water dog if we had the opportunity to go swimming more often.

I don't have pictures yet again...but I will try to get some soon...Right now I'm in San Diego with some friends, so hopefully we'll take some pictures and I'll be able to post pictures on my next break!

lacking in posts...

No, I have not fallen off the face of the planet :) This is what has been going on...

After I graduated from college, I really didn't have much going on...just looking for a teaching job for next school year and waiting for the time to come when I could leave for Camp Bloomfield!

Well, since I had no money and nothing better to do...I asked my vet (and former employer) if he needed any temporary help at his clinic...low and behold...he sure did need/want help! So I have been working at a vet clinic as a tech for the past 3ish weeks! It has been a lot of fun, but it's crazy! There are 4 vets at this clinic and they happen to be well known reproduction vets...which means we get a lot of show people...which means they are VERY particular and high maintenance! Anyway, it's been fun, and I will be sad to leave and go to camp...

Also, I got a teaching job for next year lined up in the same district I did my student teaching with! Lucky me! I'm so excited and that has reduced a lot of stress for me...knowing that I'll come back from camp, to a job! The down side is...I start with new teacher training the day after I get home from camp...talk about being busy!

So anyway, in the midst of working at the vet clinic, I had to move out of my apartment/house in Salt Lake and back in with my parents...as my lease was up, and there is no use paying rent for the summer while I am at Camp! So I got to do that all this week...lucky me!

Since I am living with my parents...I can't post pictures, because I have basically the slowest internet connection on the planet...but I will try to post pictures in the next few days when I get a chance to go to somebody elses house and use their internet! :)

Frisco is doing well. He is a sweet and very affectionate dog! He just turned 8 months old and I can see he's kind of becoming a teenager. He got neutered a few weeks ago...but I really haven't noticed any difference in him since that happened, and I don't really expect to. Being an only dog has been hard on him and me. I can tell he misses Ontario, but all in all, Frisco is doing great! He is a very nice and easy dog to handle.

MY Graduation

So I graduated from the University of Utah on Friday... here are some low quality (aka-not digital) pictures of the event and my campus...


Check out the SEXY red shoes!!!


SO happy that it's over...now just to go on and get the masters...

As you can see in the pictures...I am about 300 pounds ;) Seriously though, I don't know why they can't make those gowns a bit more flattering!!! I enjoyed my bachelor's degree days...but I'm ready for bigger and better things now!!! Haha!

Too Bad!!!

So they didn't choose any of my pictures for the calendar :( Guess I'll just have to try for next years! I need to take more pictures anyway ;) Maybe they will be one of the small pictures again??? Who knows.

Frisco and I are missing Ontario terribly! No news is good news, so we're assuming he's still at GDB and that he hasn't been career changed yet or anything.

Yay!!!!

I am done with my bachelor's degree and will graduate as of May 2nd. Anyway...one of the things I needed to do in order to get a job, is take a test. It is called the Praxis test and all teachers have to pass this test in order to get their license. So, I took the test in January and got my results in Feb. I did VERY well on the test (193 out of 200). I was pleasantly surprised with this score. Anyway...tonight I was at a conference with my advisor for college and started chatting with her and guess what??? I got the highest praxis score out of anybody who has ever taken the test from my university! Anyway...I am now over the moon!!!

Beautiful Brog

I got this picture from Brogan's mom today! Isn't he so pretty? He is 4 1/2 now and while he is a bit chunky, he's really doing very very well and his family loves him very much! What more could a puppy raiser ask for? Rudy is the small dog in the picture-Brog's little brother...he is a 1 year old French Bulldog/Pug mix.

Goodbye Ontario

Ontario went on the puppy truck on Sunday...so here are some of my favorite pictures of him. Frisco and I miss him a lot :(

A Vote...

Some of you might remember O'Connor's Tulip pictures from last year right before his recall...well, aside from wanting beautiful pictures of O'Connor for myself, I also was on the quest for the perfect calendar picture for the GDB calendar. O'Connor's tulip picture was not one of the 'month' pictures in the calendar, but it was one of the side pictures...Well, this year I want one of my pictures to be a 'month' picture...since I have 2 pups, I get to send in 2 pictures...so anyway, for Ontario it is going to be between one of these 4 pictures...so I need you to vote on which picture you like the best...

#1...

#2...

#3...

#4...

PS...I do realize that his ears are cut off in most of the pictures...they are just TOO big and if I don't cut them off a little then it just looks a little funny...

Cricket...

Today I picked up Cricket...

She is a working guide here in UT...

Her handler went to Europe...

So she will be staying with me until the 12th! She's a very pretty girl and very very easy and mellow! She is almost 3 years old and has been working with her handler for a little over a year.

About a year ago...

Since I forgot to do this on March 30th...

My little baby Ontario arrived in UT on March 30th 2007! He was full of FLUFF. He was amazingly fluffy and INCREDIBLY bony! He had great BIG tree trunk legs, but only weighed 16 pounds! He was EXACTLY 10 weeks old! He was very very calm when I picked him up. I promptly fed him and he ate like a horse and then he pooped!

Denny got to be the one to hand me my new puppy...Ontario!

My club also got Montgomery, Sherman and Rondelle that day!


Since I had several new raisers getting puppies that day, we did a puppy handling session at the truck...Ontario screamed "bloody murder" when I was making him do this...


That night we went to my mom and dad's house to show them the new puppy! This is the first "solo" picture I took of Ontario...after having him for a few hours!


This little 16 pound...10 week old puppy has come a LONG way! He is now 14 1/2 months old and weighs about 75 pounds! His face is no longer almost all black, his ears poke straight up, his chest is a darker tan...but his EYES are still the same...AND he's still the adorable, sweet, loveable pup that I picked up from the puppy truck a little more than a year ago!--oh, and he's not quite so bony anymore!

Questions...cause I'm bored...

1} How many puppies have you raised? Frisco is #10...I also raised Magician, Anya, Spence, Garvey, Brogan, Sonny, O'Connor, Carlisle, and Ontario

2} Why did you start raising? I went to GDB puppy meetings because I needed to learn how to train my beagle...I started raising after 1 1/2 years of meetings when I convinced my mom that we needed 2 dogs.

3} How Long have you been a puppy raiser? I started in 1999...so 9 years

4} What is one thing you have learned in raising? Consistency and praise are the KEYS to everything...Also, Dogs and Kids are so much different ;)

5} What have your puppies taught you? Magician taught me that Supervision is KEY to all good house behaviors...Anya taught me that some dogs are just perfect...Spence taught me about patience and perseverance...Garvey taught me about love...Brogan taught me about giving something/body your WHOLE heart...Sonny taught me about how important relationships with people are...O'Connor taught me about being the best you can be, no matter what others say...Carlisle taught me about the importance of tough love and respect...Ontario has taught me NOT to listen to others, but to do what you KNOW you should do...and Frisco will teach me many things while I have him as well.

6} What is the strangest thing someone has asked/said to you about your puppy? My favorite was when a second grader told me that "Ontario was made really well"

7} Do you give your puppies real name out in public? usually...but sometimes I make up names...just to be interesting...

8} What is the most embarrassing incident that you've had with your puppy? various potty stories...

9} What is the most proud moment you've had with your puppy? graduations of course...but also a few weeks ago when I realized that Ontario doesn't have some of the behaviors that people told me I couldn't fix because he's a GSD. Or when Carlisle stopped barking all the time...or when Brogan decided to come...or when I see my working guides walking down the street in their own environments and their partners have full confidence and trust in them...

10} What advice do you have for newbie puppy raisers/owners? Listen to your leaders...they know how to help you...stay humble and ALWAYS remember to be CONSISTANT and PRAISE your puppy constantly!

One Down...

So I dropped Frisco off at the puppy sitters house tonight :( He will be gone until April 11th. :( It's funny because you would think after raising so many dogs it wouldn't be so hard to take a dog to the puppy sitter...but I get worse and worse at it! He needed to be away from me for a while though as he is SO attached--maybe even more attached than the GSD??? (is that possible?) Anyway, so since Ontario is leaving...we needed a few days of one on one time...plus I'm going to be babysitting a working guide from the 3rd-12th. Then Ontario leaves on the 13th, so really Frisco had to go to the puppy-sitters house! I hope he's good for them. But I miss him already...

Official Breeder O'Connor

I got O'Connor's official breeder photo's from the breeding department today. This means, these are the photos that go in the Fun Day breeder books as well as for GDB's records. :) I just love this dog!

Rocky Mountains...

This is a view of one of the "Rocky Mountains" from my house! Isn't it amazing??? It was such a pretty day with the sun and the snow and the picturesque clouds ;) I know many people have not seen mountains like this from their house and I just think they are so pretty! AND I'm SO lucky!

Snow Pictures

It has been quite warm here the past week or two...I was even thinking of pulling out my capri's and shorts...alas...not that lucky! Last night it snowed! It was okay that it snowed though, because I haven't gotten any real good pictures of my puppies in the snow...but here they are! The pictures that any good puppy raised in UT should have ;) SNOW pictures!!!

Does this not remind you of a certain black face that is pictured with Tulips???

And just HOW priceless is this face???

They were watching some ducks and seagulls...isn't it a wonderful photo though???
They have such adorable profiles!

Ontario looking a bit bewildered :) His normal look that I will always remember!

So anyway...the boys weren't the happiest with their photo shoot...but they decided to comply after a while :) I love them and they did great with all the distractions at the park and those distractions made for some wonderful photos! :)

Smarty Pants...

Ontario goes to the University of Utah almost every day...

he must be a "smarty pants"

All in about 10 minutes...

Ok, so this is the eating process at our house...

We wait for our food...

we eat our food...
we continue to eat our food...
we lick our lips and say "thanks mom"...

All this happens in less than 10 minutes...of course Frisco, being the lab ALWAYS finishes his 2 cups first! He comes to me when he's done and licks his lips and burps...then he longingly looks at Ontario who is still eating and seems to say "mom??? How come he is still eating?"

Gradumatation :)

It's the post you've all been waiting for...O'Connor's official graduation post! So it starts out like this...
Wednesday 8:20ish pm...I called O'Connor's person at GDB. I was waiting for my flight to OR in the airport so it was the perfect time to call. So anyway, he was in his room and I introduced myself and first things first...he got ALL my contact info and promised to stay in touch...Then we talked about how wonderful and fabulous O'Connor is! He is living in Denver now and works in a big office building. I found out that his handler has had 2 previous dogs, Seth and Tompkins.
Thursday... O'Connor's handler emailed me some pictures of the day he got O'Connor (these are the pictures posted below)
Saturday (the big day!!!) 11:30am...My friend Whitney and I showed up at GDB. We went in the visitors center and they gave us the graduation program...Whit opens it up and yours truly is FIRST!!! Yikes... We visited with a few people from CO who also had dogs graduating and that was fun.
11:45am... They take us into the dorms and seat us in areas to meet our handlers and see our puppies again!!! O'Connor was THE FIRST puppy who got to come out with his handler...lucky me! So the class supervisor is doing sighted guide with O'Connor's handler and O was healing very nicely...and then he saw me and his nice heal became the little engine who could trying to get to me. It was the greatest thing ever! When they got to me, O'Connor tried to flatten me. NONE of my graduates has been THAT excited to see me (and I've had some pretty excited puppies at graduation...) So after jumping all over me for a few minutes, O'Connor was tired and layed down at my feet. Then he remembered he was with me and tried the whole thing again. Then we went and got formal pictures for GDB (I'll post those when I get them). I talked with his handler and life was great.
1:15ish...time to get ready for the actual graduation, so the instructors took O'Connor's handler and I got O'Connor all to myself. We went back over to the visitor's center and into the "little room" where we would stay through the graduation slide show. The lady from GDB who was coordinating everything reminded me that since I was first to speak...I set the tone...in other words, if I cried, EVERYBODY else would cry. So it was finally my turn to go out of the room and stand by the class supervisor...he was very nice and said that O'Connor is a truly amazing and fabulous dog (as if he needed to tell me that!) He really liked O'Connor a lot! Anyway, so I went up on stage and I don't really remember too much of what O'Connor's handler said, and then I said some things about O'Connor being the greatest dog ever, and told a story about O'Connor and the 2nd graders I worked with last year...I didn't cry! :) So then after graduation, we went and got Frisco out of the Kennels and took these pictures:


After the picture taking I went and watched one of the guide dog trainers work with her sheltie...teaching him to work some sheep. That was fun...
5:00pm... went back to campus to pick up O'Connor and his handler. We went out to dinner with Emily and Ellis and several other people...and got some more talk time with O'Connor's handler and others who were in the class. It was awsome! Such a great graduation day! O'Connor's handler is SUPER nice and has promised to stay in touch and so far is doing VERY well with that ;) I'm sure O'Connor will have a wonderful life as a guide in Denver and if he ever wants to come home...that is fine with me as well! (but I DO hope he works for a long time!)

All grown up

This is what my beautiful O'Connor looks like all grown up at age 2! I'll post pictures of him in his harness and write about graduation in the next few days! Isn't he pretty??? He's 23 inches and 63 pounds right now. Practically perfect!

The day has come...

I don't have any pictures today...but it is official...Ontario is going to GDB for his formal training next month! I'm very excited to see how he does and I know he'll do great! I'm not so sure I'm ready for him to go so soon...it seems like I just got him :( But anyway...I love him and am proud of him that he's made it this far and that GDB has enough confidence in him to take him back! He's come a long way. Of course, when I get back to UT, I'll take pictures and do another Ontario post...

Ode to O'Connor

8 Weeks
8 months

10 months

13 months-recall

Sick and Tired

We've been sick and tired and tired of being sick at our house the last 2ish weeks :( I had the flu and Ontario and Frisco were very good to conform to my lazy, sleepy lifestyle. They got themselves into this position on their own when I was watching a movie...how cute are they?