North Pinellas IFT and Some New Puppies

From Carolyn:

This past week we had three first time puppy raisers experience their first IFT day.  The Ciletti family dropped off Cherry for her next step.  

Black lab Cherry knows something is up as she looks back at Dianna from the front seat.

Dianna and Cherry at Cherry's Guide Dog U sign. 

Vince on a blind walk with a trainer and guide dog.

Susan and Brian Blair's time with Essie came to an  end. 

Brian and black lab Essie by their Guide Dog U sign.  Brian is wearing his sunglasses for a reason.

And finally Tanner and Tim Brown said their farewells to Nigel.  

Nigel, by his sign, looking as regal as a yellow lab can.

Tanner and yellow lab Nigel.

This appeared to be a really large IFT day.  I heard all of  Miss Faye's 14 puppies were there along with 17 other pups.  Thirty-one dogs were called in for Freshman U this past weekend.  I sure hope the trainers got a good night's sleep on Friday. I got emails from each of the raisers and it seemed like the bittersweet day that most of us have experienced a time or two (or 8, 9, or 10 times) before.  And no, it doesn't get easier after the first one.  Like I've said before, each pup touches our life before it touches someone else's.  Remember friends, this is the day we long for from the minute their paws hit our front door.  We can only get them so far, then it becomes time for their next step.  These dogs are our special friend, but will be someone else's best friend.

On a lighter note, Susan & Brian came home with a pup on Saturday as well!!! No reason for Essie's bed to get cold.  They have a new black female (sound familiar Essie?) named Liz or Lizzy depending on her behavior!  And Stephanie Miller picked up Coastie late last week.  Coastie, remember, is being sponsored by the City of Clearwater after the "incident" at Coachman Park.  Rock on Stephanie for taking the extra step with the city.

Stephanie holding her adorable yellow lab Coastie.

I can't wait to meet each of these new pups very soon, and Brown & Ciletti family, if you want a new pup, just let me know and I'll see what bundle of fur the school has for you!

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Upcoming dates:

April 26th MONTHLY THURSDAY MEETING, this is at the Lapham's horse stable.  

• 6:45 to busy pups, meeting at 7:00. 

• http://thesoaringeagle.com/

• 11612 Innfields Drive

• Odessa, Florida 33556

• *** WEAR TENNIS SHOES AND LONG PANTS *** 

 April 27th, HUDSON, the 20th annual Southeastern Guide Dogs Golf Tournament at Beacon Woods Country Club.We need pups there throughout the day. 

May 5, 2012 Symphony Under the Stars:  This will serve as our MONTHLY SATURDAY MEETING.  Thanks Michele R. for setting us up with tickets for this.  If you have not already RSVP'd, please send her an email with the number of tickets you need:  michele_reese(at)verizon(dot)net. We will be tailgating early, if you'd like to join us.  More info to come on that!

May 11th, 2012: Walk-a-thon at Largo Day School (I think the time is 10-1, but I will get confirmation asap)  Vonn Rd, Largo.MARK YOUR CALENDAR FOR JUNE DATE CHANGE.

WEDNESDAY June 20th will be our monthly meeting date at the Threshers Stadium in Clearwater.  This will be in lieu of the meeting June 28th.

Puppy Tic Tac Toe

Have I got a good video for you!  A complete game of puppy tic tac toe.  It's at the bottom of the post, so if you just want to go there and see it, then by all means.  I'll wait.

Are  you finished? Great!  We had our meeting out at Largo Central Park which is filled with puppy distractions and fun things to do.

Nancy and puppy Orchid sitting at her side.

We were originally going to stay near the children's playground, but the spot ended up being reserved for a birthday party, so we ended up moving to another spot a bit further away.  We had just about everyone in attendance.

Kerry and puppy Bobby, a chocolate lab, Stephanie, Roger and puppy Gail, a puppy raiser I don't know and Keegan and puppy Laurel.

Sue and puppy Katy

Stephanie, Michele and puppy Gail and Michele's husband Roger

Lois and puppy Babe and Nancy and puppy Orchid.  The puppies are practicing down stays.

Karry and puppy Bobby.  Bobby is on a down stay.

Young Mr. Woodman and their ambassador dog.

Cheryl and Jam before he got banished from the circle.

Brian and puppy Essie.  Despite the stern look, Essie remained firmly in the circle, the whole time.

Dianna and puppy Cherry practicing a down stay while being in the middle and serving as a distraction.  Cherry goes in for training next week.

From here on out, the photos are by Michele and her husband Roger Reese. From the obedience exercses we moved on to the train distraction.

Here is the group waiting for the train.

Carolyn is explaining the rules of tic, tac, toe to us.

Karen, Sue and Nancy are listening intently.

Carolyn and Sunny demonstrate on the tic tac toe chalked in board.

More demonstration by Carolyn.

Puppy Bobby and Karry go first.

Keegan and Sunny follow.

More and more puppies are added to the board.

Yellows win!

Here is the video of the complete game:

Marge and Dakota Get New Jobs

Marge, a black lab, walks toward the camera as Officer Joe kneels behind her.

Bev Klein’s puppy Marge was recently placed with Florida Fish and Wildlife for a new program called Exotic Animal Detection.  She was selected because of her quick thinking and her high energy.  They feel she will be an asset to public service.  As you can see from the photos, she and Officer Joe seem to be close pals already!

Marge is sitting by Officer Joe and gazing up into his face.

In addition, Dakota, Suzanne Foster's puppy, was also placed with Florida Fish and Wildlife.  Evidently when Dakota and Officer Still met, it was a home run for the partnership.  Photos are forthcoming.

Upcoming Meetings and Dates for Events in April, May and June

From Carolyn and Sunny

April marks the beginning of a very busy season when there are lots of events.  If you can attend any of these events, please let Carolyn know.

April 8th, Polo exposure:  $10 to get in, thanks to Melisa Reiter from South Group.  www.sarasotapolo.com for info.  Last polo match of the season, if you can make it.

April 13th Ruth Eckerd Hall event lunchtime.. (Thanks to those that have RSVP'd)

April 14th MONTHLY SATURDAY MEETING: Largo Central Park, near the kids playground area 10:00 (career change dogs welcome)

April 21 Puppy U ~ IFT Day, Farewell to:  Cherry, Nigel, and Essie  :(

April 26th MONTHLY THURSDAY MEETING Location TBD... 7:00 pm

April 27th, HUDSON, the 20th annual Southeastern Guide Dogs Golf Tournamnet at Beacon Woods Country Club. We need pups there throughout the day. 

April 28th, Clearwater, Morton Plant Mease Health Fair from 11 am to 3 pm at Countryside High School.

May 5nd, Symphony Under the Stars... This will serve as our MONTHLY SATURDAY MEETING.  Thanks Michele Reese for setting us up with tickets for this.  If you have not already RSVP'd, please send her an email with the number of tickets you need:  michele_reese(@)verizon(dot)net. We will be tailgating early, if you'd like to join us, more info to come on that!

MARK YOUR CALENDAR FOR JUNE DATE CHANGE.

Anatomy of an Event (with Photos)

On Tuesday, the Daughters of the American Revolution got together an event to greet WWII veterans and their guardians returning home to the area at the St. Petersburg/Clearwater International Airport.  Ultimately, the event on Tuesday was canceled as the people mover hit the plane and damaged it and they had to get a new plane and leave the following day.  But, we didn't know that until after everyone was already assembled and waiting for them.  

Turns out that wasn't the only little mishap of the evening. As Fred and I walked through the doors of the airport, Jam saw all the puppies and people gathered to welcome, HIM, evidently, and he let out a joyous bark of thanks.  Fred and I blushed a deep red.  It was just the start of Jam's misunderstanding of the whole evening.  What he thought was a huge party in his name only to which he longed to run unimpeded,  was for us 20 minutes of exile outside the circle of acceptance.

Jam and Fred walking into the airport.  

It happens.  Especially when you are almost a year old and still have all your equipment. 

Michele and Roger with Gail, who is sitting and looking up adoringly at Michele. 

All of the puppies were super cute and for the most part obedient. It was a great public relations event as we had lots of people come over to pet them and ask questions.  

David and Petey (St. Pete's first puppy, a yellow goldadore) and Ed and Eric the red.

I tried get Ed and David to both look up at the same time, but when one would look up the other would look down and then the puppies started doing it, so I gave up and this is the best photo of the lot.

Melisa and Duke, her ambassador dog are checking out the scene. Duke, a yellow lab, is sitting.

South Pinellas puppy raiser group joined us for this event and it was really great to be able to see them all again.

North AC Carolyn schmoozes the crowd.

Fred and Jam lookin in from the outside of the circle of acceptance.  Lonely, so lonely.

But when you are on the outside, you do listen.  Notice that Jam is actually sitting nicely with his head tilted to Fred.

More schmoozing going on with cute puppies.  This is a black lab puppy from the South group.

Fred tries to angle Jam into the circle so he can actually talk to someone.  No luck!

The Mayor of St. Pete with Petey posing for photos.  Duke sits nearby and wonders why they don't photo him.  He is just as handsome.

The event was reschedule for the following night.  Jam did not attend.  Most everyone else did.

Pet Beds by Sylvia

One of our very talented puppy raisers, Sylvia, makes these amazingly soft and snuggly puppy blankets.

Photo of puppy blanket with paw print pattern.

They are a bit fuzzy as they are made of a fleecy fabric that is washable and they have a little bit of padding in them.

Here is a photo of some of the many patterns the blankets come in.

 As you can see, Sylvia makes them in all sorts of applicable doggie patterns and also ones to match both boy and girl sensibilities.  I can say from experience that both Jam and HRH Berkeley have loved their blanket so much that they carried it in their mouth from room to room.

It is that snuggly.

Proceeds from the purchase of the blankets go to Southeastern Guide Dogs and to our North Central Puppy Raiser Group.  In fact, our own Sunny puppy that Carolyn is raising came from the proceeds of these blankets!!  That's $3500 folks!!!  So buy some blankets. 8-)

Please contact Sylvia  at mcchessylvia(at)yahoo(dot)com if you are interested in purchasing a blanket.  They are $20. Super snuggly; your puppy will thank you.

Walkathon 2012

The Southeastern Guide Dogs 2012 Walkathon was held in Saint Petersburg, FL this year and kicked off by the Mayor of St. Pete and by Petey, the city's first puppy, who is being raised by Dave, who is the South Pinellas group.  They estimate there were over 4,000 people participating in the parade, countless dogs and about $450,000 raised in funds to help support Southeastern.  That's quite a bit of support from all of you!  So thank you to everyone who donated, participated and volunteered to help in some way.

We made the Walkathon itself our Saturday meeting and it was quite a day.  It ended up being almost an all day affair for some of us as we went to both the Walkathon and the celebration dinner afterwards.  Here are just a few of the photos from the two events.

Walkers on the trail.  The route was great, most of it by the water with a great breeze.

Here Karen Hamilton says hello to Duke a former Southeastern puppy as Duke's puppy raiser Melisa talks with Jan, the AC of the Tampa puppy raisers.

Sunny, Carolyn's yellow lab.

Bev and Sunny

Joel on the left with Bernie and Elizabeth with Denny.  Both dogs are goldadores.

Lauren and Sylvia with Denny and Sunny.  Denny has rolled over on his back for Sunny who doesn't care and is looking away at another pup.

Lauren and Sunny sitting in a field of grass.

The Gagne's and their pup Babe. 

Some of the North Pinellas Group with the bay at their backs.

Lois and Babe, with Bill behind her.

Here Jam and Stephanie are approaching the finish line.  

And then there was the dinner.

Susan is describing something as Jam peeks out from under the table before dinner arrives.  Fred is about to make him do a down  stay.

A papparazzi shot of Petey the first puppy of St. Petersburg at the head table at dinner.  He was a superstar!

Here Petey is being held by the Mayor and fawned over by various dignitaries.  Naw, this puppy won't be spoiled.  Not a bit!  

A good time was had by all!