Monday, March 29, 2010
Monday, March 1, 2010
Piper - Week Four
Wow! What great strides Piper has made these past few weeks. She is turning into a delightful and obedient little puppy (most of the time). It is Monday and I am pleased to announce that Piper slept through the night last night. It was a pleasure to sleep for all those hours uninterrupted, and a delight to wake up to puppy kisses before our little venture to the out of doors. Piper's routine is becoming more predictable for her and for me.
Workday mornings go something like this. I'll let Piper tell you about her days now that she is 10 weeks old and has been with me for just over three weeks:
1. Give puppy kisses to Barb while she carries me through the house in the dark.
2. Sit next to the door with or without command while Barb puts on my leash.
3. Run outside to do my business and sniff around for a moment or two.
4. Come inside and gobble up one or two pieces of kibble for being a good girl.
5. Watch Barb make her coffee.
6. Watch very intently as Barb stuffs my Kong toy with about a quarter cup of kibble.
7. Follow Barb intently to the bathroom where I sit briefly for one piece of kibble while wagging my tail and wiggling a lot until my Kong toy is put on the bathroom tile and I knock all the pieces of kibble out and gobble them up as fast as I can.
8. Chew on the toilet brush while Barb is showering to help curb my appetite to pee and poop on the floor.
9. Wait for Barb to turn off the shower and open the shower door.
10. Step inside the shower for an after breakfast drink of water from the shower floor, and sometimes I like to lick Barb's feet.
11. Outside again just-in-case I need to go again.
12. Barb's gets her coffee and refills my Kong toy (yeah).
13. Back into the bathroom to eat more kibble and watch Barb get ready.
14. Yeah! Barb is ready to leave for the day.
15. To the door where I sit to have my leash put on (and I try really hard not to pee on the carpet).
16. Out the door to the garage where Barb opens the passenger door to her car. It's taken me a few weeks, but I can now get in the car all my myself. I am a very proud puppy and a fast learner.
17. Once in the car I really enjoy licking the lid of Barb's coffee cup (although Barb doesn't look happy when I do it). I also enjoy chewing on the hand break and the stick shift. I have not once chewed Barb's glasses because she always makes sure to put them where I can't get them. She's a pretty smart girl.
18. Sometimes I don't stay in my seat while Barb gathers up her stuff and my stuff and puts on her coat. This morning I found two delicious receipts in the back seat which I thoroughly enjoyed nibbling on but this made Barb a little mad so maybe I had better not do that again. She put the receipts in her purse this time and zipped it up.
19. Some days I just fall asleep right away on the ride to work. Other days I am really playful and don't understand why I can't chew on Barb's hands and clothes with my very sharp teeth while she is driving.
20. We arrive downtown, drive through the parking garage, and park. Barb tells me to "Stay" but I don't know what "Stay" means quite yet. Barb gets out and walks around to my side of the car and opens the car door. She takes my leash, gathers her bag and mine, stands back and tells me, "Piper, come". I can now get out of the car all by myself. I am pretty proud because I am small and the ground is kind of far away from my seat. This morning the guy that parked next to us saw me get out. I think he was amazed!
21. We walk through the parking garage and most mornings I just squat right there and do my business even before we go down the stairs.
22. I follow Barb on my leash like a big girl, and I walk down a flight of stairs like I was born to climb stairs.
23. Out the door of the garage and we wait to cross the street. Once we cross the street I love to put my nose to the ground and smell the smells of so many delicious things. Cigarette butts are my favorite.
24. This morning Barb let me stop to nose around in some tall grasses. I know I was born to sniff around and roll in those grasses. It was SO much fun and Barb just giggled at me before she made me cross another street and go into her big office building like we do every day.
25. I love going to work with Barb. We always stop to say hello to Henry, our security guard. He thinks Barb will never send me back to "Leader Dog" and that I deserve to stay and be the fierce guard dog for the building. Henry loves me!
26. Next Barb pushes the button for the elevator and lots of people pet me and talk to me and say how gorgeous I am. Everyone knows my name except for this one attorney guy that Barb works with. Today he said, "I'm sure the puppy has a name". Well duh, I've only seen him every work day for three weeks you'd think by now he would have at least asked. But then again, I'm not sure what his name is either.
27. When we get to the 8th floor I know it's time to romp down the hallway for my meet and greet of my office friends. Almost everyone loves me at the office. Barb says that people even want to wake me up from my naps to play with me. She's started to say "NO" to them because she says she needs to get some work done.
28. I usually play around for awhile, get some water, get out my toys, maybe go back outside again, before I take a little nap.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Blessings
"What you are doing is a good thing, bless you." "Piper is going to make a difference in the world, blessings to you and her." "If everyone did just one thing like you are doing, the world would be a better place." And, the words I received from the proud owner of her fourth lab, "What you do is so appreciated, God bless you."
I have never been blessed by so many people in such a short period of time. Blessings were not something I was expecting to receive when I filled out my application for this particular job. Lots of puppy kisses, visits to the outdoors on cold winter nights, and walks, maybe, but not blessings. I never actually thought I would receive a puppy to raise for I was sure I was in no way qualified to do the job. Four months after filling out my application I can definitely say I can use all the blessings I receive and I am in no way qualified to do this job. Piper is no ordinary puppy. She is headstrong and nippy and also very loud when she has an opinion about something. Now it's my job to teach her proper puppy manners and put her on the right path to being a very good dog. She is very smart and learned to sit within just a few tries on the very first day I had her. She was not quite seven weeks old. She is very curious and into everything imaginable, including electrical wires. I can't leave her alone for one second, and even sometimes right under my nose she is up to something. This morning was an example of that. Applying my makeup, looking in the mirror and not paying attention to Piper, I finally look down at the floor and realize that she has decided that the toilet paper roll is the perfect puppy toy of the moment. Of course I am running late for work, but I cannot resist taking a photo to capture the moment. I know that this puppyhood of Piper's will be fleeting and I will look back in a year when she is gone and have only my memories and photographs.
I get lots of questions every day. "Why do you have your dog with you at work?" "What kind of dog is she?" "Is she a puppy?" "Is she a Lab?" "How much did you pay for her?" "Where did you get her from?" "What if you decide that you don't want to give her back?" "How much are you getting paid to do this job?" "Will she be big?" "What if she fails her training, can you keep her?" "Will they take my dog too?" "Is this a contractual agreement?" "Can I buy her from you?" Answer to last question would be, that's negotiable. Depends on how much havoc she wreaks on my house and my life in the coming weeks.
Piper's life was planned out for her even before she was born. She was born with a purpose and that purpose was to be trained as a "Leader Dog for the Blind". She will start her career in about a year. In the meantime, Piper is a puppy, and as such deserves a really quality puppyhood with lots of learning experiences, discipline, boundaries, and play time. Piper is nine and a half weeks old now and can walk perfectly on her leash. Actually she came to me from the breeder already familiar with her collar and her leash so I didn't even have to transition her into it. We have had such fun romping through the snow on the golf course close to our house. I want it to snow more and more. It makes everything look so gorgeous and puppy paws stay nice and clean.
I have never been blessed by so many people in such a short period of time. Blessings were not something I was expecting to receive when I filled out my application for this particular job. Lots of puppy kisses, visits to the outdoors on cold winter nights, and walks, maybe, but not blessings. I never actually thought I would receive a puppy to raise for I was sure I was in no way qualified to do the job. Four months after filling out my application I can definitely say I can use all the blessings I receive and I am in no way qualified to do this job. Piper is no ordinary puppy. She is headstrong and nippy and also very loud when she has an opinion about something. Now it's my job to teach her proper puppy manners and put her on the right path to being a very good dog. She is very smart and learned to sit within just a few tries on the very first day I had her. She was not quite seven weeks old. She is very curious and into everything imaginable, including electrical wires. I can't leave her alone for one second, and even sometimes right under my nose she is up to something. This morning was an example of that. Applying my makeup, looking in the mirror and not paying attention to Piper, I finally look down at the floor and realize that she has decided that the toilet paper roll is the perfect puppy toy of the moment. Of course I am running late for work, but I cannot resist taking a photo to capture the moment. I know that this puppyhood of Piper's will be fleeting and I will look back in a year when she is gone and have only my memories and photographs.
I get lots of questions every day. "Why do you have your dog with you at work?" "What kind of dog is she?" "Is she a puppy?" "Is she a Lab?" "How much did you pay for her?" "Where did you get her from?" "What if you decide that you don't want to give her back?" "How much are you getting paid to do this job?" "Will she be big?" "What if she fails her training, can you keep her?" "Will they take my dog too?" "Is this a contractual agreement?" "Can I buy her from you?" Answer to last question would be, that's negotiable. Depends on how much havoc she wreaks on my house and my life in the coming weeks.
Piper's life was planned out for her even before she was born. She was born with a purpose and that purpose was to be trained as a "Leader Dog for the Blind". She will start her career in about a year. In the meantime, Piper is a puppy, and as such deserves a really quality puppyhood with lots of learning experiences, discipline, boundaries, and play time. Piper is nine and a half weeks old now and can walk perfectly on her leash. Actually she came to me from the breeder already familiar with her collar and her leash so I didn't even have to transition her into it. We have had such fun romping through the snow on the golf course close to our house. I want it to snow more and more. It makes everything look so gorgeous and puppy paws stay nice and clean.
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