Threshers Baseball Game!

Last night our Southeastern Guide Dog Central Pinellas puppy raiser group joined the North Pinellas group for a joint meeting at the Thresher's stadium to watch a baseball game.  

Long shot of a bunch of green puppy raiser shirts gathered
at the front steps leading up to the stadium.

 We gathered in front of the steps leading up to the stadium to get our tickets and our list of exposures.  See, this wasn't just a fun baseball game: this was work!  Our puppies were going to have to accomplish some very specific goals.

Nancy and Blair with Ava, their black lab.

Steve and his goldadore Carly stands next to Fred with our black goldadore Coach.
Both dogs are in coat. Carly is lying down, Coach is standing.

Phinley, the Thresher's shark, rode by on the scooter and paid
a visit to Cochise, who was being handled by Michele.

Once we got our list, it was go to work!  We had at least 5 or 6 things we needed to do:

Sign for the men's restroom.

One of the places we needed to visit was the men's restroom.  Large stadium restrooms are great exposures for the puppies.  They are very different from your home bathrooms.  Think about it.  Would you let your dog lie down on the stadium bathroom floor?  What is a blind person going to do when they walk in with their guide dog and they need to use the bathroom?  How are they going to keep their dog standing?

The sign for the ladies restroom.

There is a stand command that can be used, but if your pup starts to sit, merely put your hand under his belly to get him back into a stand if you find that the hot dog, caramel corn, and three beers that you just consumed might cause you to be in the bathroom for longer than you thought.

Blair, Bob and Fred working their way down the list of exposures.

 In addition to restrooms, we had to visit the children's play area and Frenchy's which can be very crowded and noisy.

AC Stephanie and Asst. AC Lois.

 One of the other things that was important for us to do was to take our pups down a row of seats.  It was important that the row below us had people in it.  The goal was NOT to have your pup stick his nose into someone's ear or plate of food!

One of the yellow goldadores in coat.

Then there was the concession stop.  Make sure your pup doesn't jump up on the counter!  Check!

After the concession stand exposure, which Coach passed
with flying colors!, we stopped to eat and chat.

Thankfully, it was two for one drinks night, so we all got two for one....WATER! haha.  You were thinking something else, weren't you? 8-)  It was HOT!

Julie and Brian with Treasure, a black lab. who is in coat.

 We had a couple of new prospective raisers with us, so we spent some time with them.  I think we hooked them. 8-)

AC Carolyn and her husband Steve.

And it was nice to be with our old AC and see our friends in the North group!  In too short of a time it was time to go.

After a long evening, puppies and raisers start to leave the stadium.

 A successful time was had by all.

Wait, what was the score?

Largo Park Meeting: 1st Meeting with AC Stephanie!

Today was the first official meeting of the newly formed Central Pinellas Puppy Raiser group under the new leadership of Area Coordinator Stephanie, with Assistant ACs Lois and Bill.

AC Stephanie is smiling and ready to welcome everyone to Largo Park.
She has two leather guide dog harnesses in her hands for the older dogs to try on.

As we waited for the much smaller group to arrive, we chatted and let the dogs settle down.

Charity, Lois and Bill's puppy, looks directly into the camera.

Brian says hello to puppy Treasure.

 After everyone had arrived, we moved to another area for obedience.

Brian H. gives his puppy Treasure the sit command, and she pays rapt attention to him.

 Largo Park has some great exposures.  One in particular is a giant German Shepard.  Most of the dogs went right up to it without a problem.  Charity, however, did at first have a little problem, but since Bill and Lois are old hands at this (Charity is their 11th dog), it was extremely useful for the rest of the group to watch how they handled the situation.

 Charity barked and backed away.  Both Lois and Bill didn't coddle her, but instead got her to walk up to the statue at her own pace, taking small steps forward, with praise when she would go forward.

At first Charity barked at the statue and backed away.
The photo shows Lois standing firm and Charity backing away.

Lois was able to get Charity up to the statue and she covered the statue's eyes, as sometimes, it is the eyes (or lack thereof) that freak dogs out.

Charity is up at the statue and is able to sniff the statue's head.

 Then Lois took her all the way around the statue, notice her loose leash and she used praise the whole time.

Lois and Charity are walking around the back of the shepard statue. Charity is looking up at Lois.

 Lois lets Charity sniff and look at the statue all she wants and continues to praise her.

After all this, she walked Charity away and then walked her back up to the statue: no reaction!  Yea, Charity!!  Good girl!

It's important to remember that when your puppy sees something that startles them, let them approach it slowly, give lots of praise, and then return to the item again.  Perhaps next week, go back and try it again.  Or find another similar object and try it.

Photo of Debbie with guide dog Luke leaning against her .
Katie and Bo are behind her.  Katie is smiling

We had some special guests at our meeting: Debbie and Luke and Debbie's husband, and Katie and Bo and Katie's boyfriend.  They were all able to provide a valuable perspective to the conversation we had and it was great fun to have them with us!

Close up of Luke as Debbie presses his head into her thigh.

 Charity will be going in for training in August and she was able to try on the harness as well.

Charity with her harness on!

Bill is holding Charity's leash as she walks with the harness on.

 She had no problems walking in harness.

Coach walks by some statues of children and has no problems.

Another exposure: flags flapping. We are all standing in the memorial courtyard with 6 flagpoles.

 All of the puppies were very at ease with the flags flapping on the flagpoles, and it was a very windy day.

Ava managed her harness with ease.

One of our prospective puppy raiser families has very small children, so our puppies got to experience interactions with infants and small children today as well.

Puppy Pauline, Emma and raiser Melissa.

It got a bit hot, but we had plenty of water for Coach and Ava to share a drink.

Max and Emma continued to love on Pauline.

In For Training and A New Start for Puppy Central

Today is a culminating day for puppy raisers.  It is one of the days they call IFT, which stands for In For Training.  That means that certain puppy raisers got a letter about a month, month and half ago that told them to prepare to bring the puppy they had been raising for the last 12-15 months, back to Southeastern Guide Dogs so that they could begin their final phase of their journey to becoming a guide dog: Guide Dog University.  

Now they would be matched with a certified trainer and begin formal harness training.  They would be taken out into the field and trained, tested and trained and tested again and again.  But first, the puppy raiser has to give his or her puppy up.  After all, it's in the job description.  It's what we do.

Stephanie has been raising Coastie for a little over 15 months.  The City of Clearwater sponsored Coastie and Stephanie and the handsome yellow boy have been fixtures at City events over the last year.  They even had a farewell party for him this week to wish him luck in his studies at Guide Dog U. 

Photo of puppy raiser Stephanie and Coastie.  Photo by Southeastern Guide Dogs.  To see more about this event go to the album Guide Dog University.

Stephanie is also taking on a new role with our group.  While she has been an excellent puppy raiser, as the amazing Coastie is living proof, her next role with Southeastern will be as Area Coordinator for our Central Pinellas group, since our group split in two as of June 1st.

Photo of the Central's Area Coordinator Stephanie saying goodbye one last time to Coastie.  Photo by Southeastern Guide Dogs.  To see more about this event go to the album Guide Dog University.

Just as we know that Coastie will be giving it his all as a guide dog in training at Guide Dog U and making us all proud, we also know that Stephanie will be an amazing AC.  As hard as it is to send your puppy back, Stephanie, know that we are all there for you, wishing you the best and here to help you on your new journey.