Vinson's Pal, Garcia, Featured in Seeing Eye Video

Garcia in a Race Car from the video

Vinson didn't make it into the latest Seeing Eye video, but his great friend Garcia did, and he has a "speaking" role!

Check out the short video on The Seeing Eye's YouTube channel.

What does Your Desk Look Like?

Any dog lover will tell you that dogs have a knack for creating comedy. This morning, Garcia took the stage.

As you all know, Vinson and Garcia are wonderful friends and share office space at The Seeing Eye. This morning Garcia quietly came in my office for the usual morning hello's, but this time I didn't hear or see him.

Coincidentally, Vinson had found one of Watson's tennis balls in the car this morning and managed to remove one half of the cover like a banana peel. Thankfully he didn't attempt to ingest it (something he would've tried without a second thought earlier in his puppy-hood)!

I placed the tennis ball on my desk when I arrived and  forgot about it. I was working away at my computer when I realized there was a big black and pink Garcia nose resting under my monitor, patiently awaiting some tennis ball play. The photo here shows the surprise I got!

Garcia's nose, a peeled tennis ball, and yes, that is Vinson and myself on the day we first met in the red frame.

Pat's House, Day 1: Tuesday, December 27

Written by: Pat McKenna

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The Puppy has landed. My wife and I have the great honor of watching and minding young Vinson for several days. I took possession around 10 am. He was great for me in the office and behaved brilliantly in the car ride home.

The real action started when he was introduced to our pack. We have 3 dogs, Garcia, who already knows Vinson, as well as Mino the Terrier and Tighe the Boxer. Tighe and Vinson hit it off at once.

We thought we had puppy proofed our house, we were mistaken. Vinson has a real gift for acquiring items of great interest to him. Sticks from the yard, shoes, and slippers even if they are being warn.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. This one, with Vinson a blur of motion while Garcia sits calmly, says it all about our little friend!

He grabbed one of my wife's slippers that resulted in a real nice game of keep away. I was highly entertained, my wife less so. She's started referring to him as the "devel dog" until I pointed out as he was yellow, not chocolate, Twinky might be more appropriate.

A few of Sital's cousins stopped by today with their kids, ages three and four. Vinson was a big hit. One of the girls took off her shoes and socks, as she is want to do. The socks were on the ground for mere moments when Vinson sprung into action. One sock was rescued, the other fell prey to our little yellow guest (he's doing fine).

And then there were Three

Today Vinson had another special time in the field at The Seeing Eye - this time it was Vinson, Garcia and Watson together in the sunshine.

Vinson liked to try and keep the others from getting the ball, and Watson showed some of his hearding instincts as he tried to move Vinson into smaller and smaller portions of the field. Eventually they all rested together and enjoyed the crisp afternoon.

Three happy dogs.

The Gate Escape

Vinson gave us a little surprise at The Seeing Eye. Pat and Garcia were standing just outside my office gate while Pat and I discussed a project. Suddenly there was a commotion, and by the time I peered around my computer monitor, Vinson was standing outside the gate, happily licking his pal, Garcia! By the sound of it, the escape was not graceful.

I'll be keeping a close eye on him to ensure this behavior never repeats; and he loves being in my office. It's just that his adolescent-like energy wouldn't let him resist a chance to see an old pal.

Now, Vinson is sleeping as close to the back of my chair as possible; and he matches the color of his bed quite well.

It's tough to have a bad day at work when you can spin around in your chair and see this!

Vinson's Brief Cameo

Vinson makes a very brief cameo appearance in his pal Garcia's very popular dog's-eye-view video on The Seeing Eye's YouTube channel. See if you can spot him at the end of the cool clip.

Crate Friends

Vinson loves to mimic Garcia's actions. This morning, while Pat and I were meeting in my office, Garcia picked up a Nylabone, walked into Vinson's open crate and laid down, followed by his favorite shadow, Vinson. The two of them calmly played with their wishbone toy for a few minutes and I managed to capture some on this quick video.

Full 1080p high definition available on our YouTube channel - www.YouTube.com/Seeing4Me

Back in the Company of Friends

Garcia and Vinson posing

Vinson and Garcia are very happy to be back together after Vinson's recent vacation. This morning, Pat and I took them out to one of the many beautiful spots on The Seeing Eye campus for some photos in the sun. Garcia is great at showing Vinson the ropes, and the sat together calmly on a big boulder for some pictures.

Monday Morning Meeting

Saying "hello", puppy-style

Vinson and Garcia just enjoyed their Monday morning "meeting". They are always so excited to see each other after the weekend, and you can tell by the photo (courtesy of a coworker) that Garcia can keep up with the young pup's energy!

Best Buds

Pals at the watering hole

If you've followed this blog, you already know that Vinson and Garcia are good pals here at The Seeing Eye. In this photo, the two of them take a drink from the same bowl after a little time playing with the Kong.

Seeing Eye® Dogs Play Just Like All Dogs!

 

Vinson and Garcia have become great friends, sharing office space together and having some morning play time.

Sometimes here at The Seeing Eye, we hear statements like, "It doesn't seem fair that Seeing Eye dogs don't get to run and play". The answer is, that's not the case!

Spend a little time watching any of the TV shows about dog training and you'll find an almost universal statement - a dog needs a job to do. The dogs love to work because their enjoyment comes from pleasing us and receiving praise.

Seeing Eye dogs are trained that, when in harness they are on the job and are to act as trained. But when that harness is off, they quickly settle into being off-duty, "regular" dogs, playing and doing typical dog things.

In this video, you'll see the calmer moments of Vinson and Garcia playing together after Garcia's owner removed his harness and released him to play.

Milestones

Vinson has crossed a few more milestones:

1. First, he turned 22 weeks old on Sunday, and weighed in at 33 pounds.


2. Second, he lost another tooth and left it for us to find instead of gobbling it up.


3. Third, Vinson is now officially too tall to fit through the cat doors in our gates - which makes things a lot easier around the house.


4. Last, but certainly not least, Vinson was so excited to see Pat and Garcia this morning that he leaped over the gate in my office door to go and say hello!

I'll be working on number 4 should another gate-jumping attempt be made!