Charlie and the Basement Stairs

Charlie is still a little guy weighing just over 9 lbs at 9 weeks old. So a 15 step stairway must seem huge to him. Wilma, Kramer and I went into the basement and I left Charlie standing at the top hoping he would follow.

Although he wanted to, the long stairway seemed to be too much for him.

After some coaxing, he did make it down a few steps, but then he turned and ran back up (must be easier to go up!)

So I carried him down towards the bottom, where the end wasn't so far away. After some hesitation, he made it to the bottom!

After sniffing all around the basement, he decided he likes it better upstairs and climbing all the way up and snuggled against the door.

The Next Trainee....

Macy has graduated rom Leader Dogs and is a career girl now! She is working for a woman in Lansing MI. The woman contacted me and Jennifer right away to say how much she already loves Macy and how much she appreciates what we as puppy raisers do.

So onto the next trainee.....

This is Future Leader Dog Charlie. He's an 8 weeks old little golden fluff ball! I picked him up last Friday from the Leader dog school in Rochester Hills, MI. He weighed 7.1 lbs....so tiny! Wilma's little pudges were almost twice that size at the same age!

Charlie's parents are Abby and Buddy, both from the Leader Dog breeding stock. (Wilma's mom is named Abby too!)

Charlie plays hard and then sleeps soundly.

He wasn't too interested in eating the first few days, but suddenly Sunday afternoon he decided his food wasn't so bad after all and has beem a little chow hound ever since. He loves to carry his food bowl around. I've never had a puppy do that before!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!

America's Next Top DOG Model

Today Kramer and Wilma participated in a photo shoot to model a dog fitness vest. The photos will be used for marketing and advertising Laguard Dog vests.

These vests are used to add weight to your dog, so a 20 minutes walk with the vest gives the dog the same amount of exercise as a 60 minute walk without the vest.

These vests are also used in physical therapy and conditioning for dogs. Wilma is demonstrating how to stretch in the vest on an inflatable egg physical fitness ball.

Madison and Kramer worked together to show that all breeds of dogs, even poodles, need to exercise.

Macy is a Leader Dog

Macy is a working girl now! She was delivered to her new handler on Wednesday!
Jennifer and I drove to Rochester on Tuesday to see her and wish her luck in her new career. At first, she didn't seem to even notice us, but then after a few sniffs she seemed to all of a sudden remember us and started wiggling all over.



Macy is working somewhere in Michigan! So we'll be watching for her everywhere we go!
Good Luck Macy!!

Happy Halloween!

Here are the kids dressed up for their Dock Club Halloween Party. This year, the Cat in the Hat had his sidekicks Thing 1 and Thing 2 with him.

The party was complete with a costume parade, dog games (Wilma won the Peanut Butter Lick!) , a scanvger hunt in the woods (where we found a pumpkin with dog bones tied to it!), and lots of good food and dog treats!

Macy Update

I received word today that Macy has been issued (meaning she was matched with a blind person) and is in the current student class at the Leader Dog school! IF all goes well, she will graduate on Oct 16th and me and Jen will get so see her again and meet her new handler.

Cross your fingers for her!

Kramer's Renaissance Festival Birthday

Kramer turned 5 today! And he celebrated it in Holly Grove at the Renaissance Festival with Amelia. He got a fancy new Birthday collar.
The Duchess and her Ladies sang to him.
We were checking out the Dog Scouts booth and there was a golden there that looked a lot like Wilma. Well, there was good reason for that...it turned out to be Wilma's brother Mitchell and his owner Joanne! Mitchel is Joanne's Seizure response dog and he's also Dog Scout. Joanne helps run the Dog Scouts of America up in St Helen MI. Too bad I didn't bring Wilma so she could see her brother again. But we plan on getting these 2 together, maybe for their 5th birthday next April. It was so good to see Mitchell again and to meet Joanne!


After the fun filled day at the Renaissance Festival, Kramer had a little party celebration at home with Wilma. Wilma thought it was a pool party!
Happy Birthday, Kramer!

Paws in the Park

Last weekend, Wilma competed in the Ultimate Air Dogs Dock Diving competition at Paws in the Park in Canton. This was a Short dock event with a 20' dock, as opposed to the Long dock that's 40' long. Although short or long does not matter to Wilma...she still only jumps 3 ft. But she has fun! Petie and Tommy from Wilma's dock club were there competing too!

Wilma got a new float toy with lots of places to hold treats!
And Amelia tried it for the first time during the open jump. She did great!

The Dearborn Animal Shelter "gang" came to the event with their dogs. Barb and Tito, Pat and Jessie and Abby, Suzanne and Boogie and Sadie, Diane and Amelia, and Sue and Timmy all cheered Wilma on. And Andrea and Aussie stopped by to say hi on Sunday. Here's Aussie, Wilma, Abby and Tito.
And Jill, Jennifer and Flurry came to cheer Wilma on!
We saw some old friends from Paws. Jane and her service dog Ukon, Erica and her service dog Cooly and Andrea with her puppy in training Felix and her keeper dog Aussie, and Ken and Mary (with no dog). We met Quasi with his client too. We also saw Kricket, who is Kelso's (my second Paws puppy) sister. It was good to see everyone again. Jane got wet giving Wilma some loving!
Here's Quasi's client..... The Dog Whisperer.... one cookie is all it takes to get 5 dogs to give you 100% of their attention! (Wilma, Ukon, Cooly, Flurry, Quasi)

Bunnies In the Garden

My garden is growing more than tomatoes this year. We have a whole litter of bunnies! I found them in a hole, just moments after they were born. Tiny, pink, and hairless with their ears plastered against their heads. At first I thought I found a nest of mice!

The next day, they were buried under a mound of bunny fur, all comfy and cozy. I was careful not to touch the nest, but I couldn't resist peeking under the bunny fur blanket by lifting it with a stick. They already had fur! The "blanket" grew bigger and bigger, bunny fur knitted with dry grasses.

And day by day the little bunnies grew. There ears got bigger and their hair thicker with white spots.

Then one day when I went to peek at them, one little bunny hopped out of the nest! Without touching him, I scooted him back in his nest and covered up the hole. The next day, all of them were gone. And I never did see the mamma bunny.

And through all of this, Wilma and Kramer didn't realize that there were bunnies right in their own back yard!

Beating the Heat

It's been very hot summer in Michigan. Wilma and Kramer have been cooling off in the pool almost every day. Kramer has actually walked up the the steps and stood there until I bring him in (he won't go in by himself). He's gotten very comfortable floating around on the raft.

Of course Wilma is still a little fish. And she dives into the pool like a pro! I just wish she would dive like that from the Ultimate Air Dog dock.

We took off for South Haven one day, to spend the day on Lake Michigan. We had the dog beach all to ourselves for a short while. Sun and sand, that's the life!