Mall Walking!

This past Monday was a very busy day for Joy! We had puppy obedience at the mall, only this time, instead of working in the parking lot, we all went inside and walked around. This was the first time that the little puppies had class with the bigger puppies.

We started out in a different area of the parking lot and all the puppies walked around in a circle, as usual. We then practiced 'halt', 'sit', 'down', 'stay', 'forward', etc. I was very pleased with the way Joy behaved!

There was also plenty of grass around, so the puppies had plenty of room to 'busy'.  Then we all formed a line and walked into the mall. We stopped inside and sat on the benches at first while our AC (Area Coordinator) talked about what we would be doing.

Looots of sleeping puppies ^_^

So, we then split up into two groups: older puppies and younger puppies. Joy and I headed off with her two brothers and a couple of slightly older puppies in what I dubbed "the puppy parade". You should have seen people's reactions! We heard various things like:

"Mom, there are DOGS in the mall!"

"THEY'RE SO CUTE!!!"

"Are they for sale?"

No, seriously. At least two people asked us if they were for sale. I guess they figured we were like walking, talking advertisements for the puppy store on the first floor.

We walked all around the first floor and then we braved the long staircase and the elevators! A couple of puppies were a little scared but Joy plodded right ahead, trying to take three stairs at a time! We've also done several elevators already so she was fine when we came to this.

Then we took the little puppies out to 'busy' again. As we came inside we were greeted by two very enthusiastic people who were very curious about Southeastern Guide Dogs and our puppies. The younger man was quite smitten with my dog and (after she did a very good sit for him) he started HUGGING, KISSING, AND LICKING HER.

It was weird.

Um...would you run up to someone else's dog and start kissing it? I wouldn't. Let alone a dog with a cape that says "Guide Dog In Training"...

People confuse me.

Anyway, we walked back to the fountains and waited for the other puppies. Several other people and kids ran up and started petting our puppies without asking but we made sure to tell them about what the puppies were doing and what Guide Dogs are. When we were reunited with the other group, we took a group photo.

I just love how MY dog is the only one that's moving.
Joy was...a little hyper at this point in the evening.

The only way I could get her to be still was to hold her...

I love her worried expression in this picture!

When the puppy meeting was over and we were walking out to the parking garage, we passed by a troop of Brownie Scouts in a Build-A-Bear store. It was like a chain reaction, once one little girl had seen Joy, they ALL saw Joy.

There was nothing we could do besides go in Build-A-Bear and let them pet her. At first we pretended we were looking at the bears. I was happy to hear one of the moms tell her daughter, "No, that's a service dog."

So, I walked over to them and said, "Would you like to pet her?" Of course they did!
The little girls were all so sweet and gentle with her and Joy sat immediately (something she's been doing a lot lately) so that they could pet her.

They asked me lots of questions about her and I tried my best to answer them. Meanwhile, the moms took pictures. Including mine.

Let's all guess what Joy wanted to do when we came home...

Silence.

Which means, this morning...

Craziness.

Peace, Love, Joy :)

Saturday's Events

Yesterday I was dying to get out and take Joy somewhere! So my dad and I hopped in the truck and went over to a local barn where they were having guided tours and snacks. Joy loved all the grass and open spaces and the smells of all the horses!

This is the only picture I have of Joy and the horses, sorry :(
She really liked sniffing this one and tried desperately to crawl
under to join him!

As we were leaving, we passed by some people we knew who were feeding some pretty enormous fish. I tried to get Joy to look at the fish but she was way more interested in the food that the people had!

I promise that I do have other shoes besides gray Converse...

Ever since my last post where we took Joy to the beach for the first time, I've been dying to go back. You know, for someone who has lived in Florida her entire life, I don't go to the beach very often, even though I love it. (You can tell this because I'm not tan AT ALL.) So yesterday, we took Joy again!

Unfortunately, I'm not sure Joy feels the same way I do about the beach. Okay, well, the beach itself is fine, the water...is a different story.

I'm not sure if it was the fact that it was high tide or that it was a little windy but she just refused to get in the water! It seemed to really scare her so we stayed a way for a while. However, there was a couple of times where the tide came so high that it splashed over her, so she ended up a very wet and sandy doggy.

"Please do not make me go in that water again."

Joy loved looking at (and chasing) the birds!

Shake, shake, shake :)

The 'Yoda-Ear' effect.

Until next time!
Peace, Love, Joy :)

Just a Quick Update

Joy has been working very hard lately. She sits to let people pet her, tells me when she has to "busy", and (for the most part) comes when I call her. However, there are still a couple of things she has to learn. Like not chewing on things that aren't hers. Joy LOVES to put things in her mouth. If it's not something she's supposed to be chewing on, I tell her, "NO" and she freezes, with the object still in her mouth, like this:

No hand sanitizer for you!

Speaking of things in Joy's mouth, she aboslutely LOVES to chew on her tail and leash! Does anyone else have this problem? I (along with others) have often been beaten by a soaking wet dog tail. It's pretty disgusting.

 "Stop chewing on your tail!"

Fine.

The socializing is going very well also. We've been to malls, restaurants, grocery stores, and lots more! We know we frequent a place when we're greeted by a chorus of, "Hey look, it's Joy!"

Joy takes a quick Superdog nap while waiting for us to order

But who wouldn't love this face? I'll put up another, longer, post soon, as soon as we do something interesting.

Peace, Love, Joy :)

5 Things

5 Things I Do Not Love Hearing/Annoying Things That People Say (About Joy):

1. Come here puppy! (Oh my gosh, seriously? You're going to call over someone else's dog? A dog that's wearing a cape that says "Guide Dog In Training"?!)

2. Sit! Good dog! (Okay, apparently you *are* going to call my dog. And you're going to tell her to sit. Awesome.)

3. I'm gonna train MY dog to be a guide dog so I can take it everywhere too! (Really people? Reeaally?)

4. What a cute boy! (She's wearing a pink, flowered, matching collar and leash. Think it through guys.)

And the thing that I hate hearing most:

5. But isn't it going to be really hard to turn her in?

Yes, people, I do realize that it is going to be difficult. If it isn't, then I didn't do a good enough job. That's why I TRY TO AVOID THINKING ABOUT IT! Seriously, anytime even a notion of IFT day pops into my head I immediately start thinking about something else. That doesn't always work so I try humming an obnoxiously catchy song. Like "It's a Small World". (Dang it, now it's stuck in my head again.)

Aaaanyway, I'm not really sure why everyone is so intent on reminding me of the day when I have to give up my sweet Joy. The worst part is when I say, "No, I'll be fine" in an effort to leave or start talking about something else. But NO. Then they say, "Oh, you will not be fine! You'll be devastated!" Thank you very much for reminding me of my pain.

My intentions for this post were not at all to be whiny! Although, it's starting to come across that way.....So here are 5 things (out of many!) that I absolutely love to hear people say.

5 Things I Love To Hear People Say About Joy (or Guide Dogs):

1. No, you can't pet it, that dog is working.

2. That is the cutest dog I have ever seen in my life.

3. (Parents to kids) See that dog? One day, that dog is going to help someone see.

4. I wish my dog were that quiet.

5. When people ask what she is in training for and I say, "The ultimate goal is to be a Guide Dog for the blind, but there are other programs for her if she doesn't make it," and they say, "No, that dog is going to make it." 

Joy has started getting into her crate at night by herself when she's ready to sleep, so cute!

Or when she just feels like a little nap, like she did a little while ago...

But still, one of her favorite places to sleep is in my arms :)

Peace, Love, Joy :)

Apologies (And Pictures!)

I will start off this post by apologizing for my extended absence:

I AM SO SORRY!

It's not because I didn't want to, I promise! It's because of our stupid internet. Instead of taking an hour to explain our predicament and whatnot, I'll just say that we only are allowed so much data per 30 days. For the past two cycles we have gone over. What happens when you go over? They cut off our internet. Now, everyone in my family has a LOT of things to do online everyday and unfortunately, blogging and uploading pictures takes up a lot of data. (Also, the last time I tried to write this post I realized that part of my laptop's motherboard was broken...) So here I am, connecting to WiFi at my Grandmother's house on my new laptop. I have lots of pictures for you so, here we go! :)


These first pictures were taken at our last puppy meeting.

Joy (the darker one) with her brothers Gordon and Bentley

Brotherly love :)

Joy loves to sit between my legs like this

Joy does a good stay!

Puppy photo shoot in the front yard ^_^

She always has to stop and smell the flowers...literally

Mid-yawn ;)

"May I please just have one more treat? Please?"
Just look at those eyes. HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO REFUSE THOSE EYES?!?!

At the vet last Tuesday

Yesterday was super busy. We started off, as usual, at Church...

...Then we went out to eat lunch...then we looked at laptops...then we went to see The Lion King (my mom and I did, Joy and my dad didn't)...

...Then we looked at more laptops...then we bought a laptop...then Joy got really tired...

...Theeeen (duh duh DUUUUH)... Joy got a bath!

Then she was tired again.

Peace, Love, Joy :)