Pool Safety!

 Today we had a great pool safety meeting at second in command Stephanie's house.  AC Carolyn was on vacation so Stephanie hosted and ran the meeting, starting with a rundown of all the news that we needed to be updated on.

Stephanie and yellow lab Coastie. Stephanie is sitting in a chair and Coastie is lying on the ground next to her.

 We were a little concerned that the rain might be an unwelcome guest, but it only sprinkled a bit and actually provided for some nice overcast clouds and a cool breeze.

Puppy raisers from left to right Lois, Fred, Susan and Brian.  Lois has Babe on her left, Fred has Coach on his right, Susan is sitting next to Brian and puppy Liz is sitting on Brian's right.

 We all sat in a big circle on the deck out back and listened to the news.  Our next meeting will be broken into two spots: Up north in Palm Harbor with Sylvia and here in Clearwater at the white cane day with Cheryl on Oct. 6th.  Stephanie and Carolyn will be at the AC training day.

Sue and Katie and Bev and Tabina smile for the camera.  Katie is sitting between Sue's legs and Tabina is lying on the floor under Bev's chair.

Lois and Babe.  Babe is in the process of lying down on Lois's left. Lois is smiling and looking left.

Stephanie goes over the list of things we need to know.

Fred leans down to pat Coach's shoulders.

Susan is smiling as Brian gives Liz a hug.

We did have a visitor to our meeting, a guide dog user: Debbie and her guide dog Luke.  She got Luke, who is her first guide dog in May and will be speaking with us at our Nov. meeting.

Visitor Debbie and her guide dog Luke

Gail is staring at the pool waiting to jump in as Michele listens to the meeting.

We also heard some sad news from Bev about Tabina.  Seems Tabina has been diagnosed with bi-lateral hip dysplasia.  The final word and decision will come probably next week, but in all likelyhood she will be career-changed.

Bev gives Tabina a little kiss.

Bev places a kiss on top of Tabina's head.

 Tabina and Coach were the youngsters of the group, but starting today, Nancy will be picking up Ava.  Karen and Bob will be getting Liberty soon as well.  So Coach will just be one of the gang now!

Close-up of Coach looking back at the camera.

Stephanie announced that there was a closed Facebook users group for Southeastern puppy raisers that was run by Jen Gerrity, the trainer.  If you search on southeastern puppy raisers, you should be able to find it.  Just request access.  If you have any questions, let Stephanie know.

Michele and Gail.

 After the announcements, we did some obedience work and Stephanie showed us the turn command again.

The obedience circle.

 Then we did pool safety.  The object was to slowly introduce your dog to the pool, make sure they knew where the steps were and also that they didn't just jump into the pool. They need to only go in the pool when they are given permission to do so.  Jumping in on their own is not permitted.  So, if your puppy is currently doing that, you need to stop them and work on having them enter the pool on command.  It is a dangerous distraction if a guide dog jumps into bodies of water on their own.

Coach is on the edge of the pool steps, but won't get in on his own.

Brian and Liz show the group how swimming is really done.

Liz shakes off the water!

Finally, Gail gets to swim in the water and swims to Michele.

Everyone watches the experts in the pool.

Guide dog Luke wants to go in!

Gail and Luke, swimming and playing in the pool.

Stephanie helped Luke get his pool safety lessons.

Gail and Luke running loose after getting out of the pool.

Debbie and a very wet Luke!

Coastie and Tabina have a moment to play together.