Walking Buddies

Friends in the sun.

The walks were bitter cold this weekend but Vinson and Watson both enjoyed them regardless. Here's a shot of the two of them telling me to "come on" as I struggled with gloves and pockets to snap this photo.

Cold Rain and Snow

This morning I discovered that Vinson's distracted attraction to blowing leaves works with blowing sleet and snow as well. As we rounded the path at The Seeing Eye on our morning walk the wind came whipping across the open field and it began to sleet and snow (Vinson has a knack for timing his outside time around wild weather, a fact that hasn't gone unnoticed by my smiling coworkers). Surrounded by swirling flakes, Vinson began attacking each one as it contacted the path, shifting his focus from one to the next in rapid succession.

While a bit of this is typical puppy behavior - especially given that Vinson has only experienced snow one other time so far - we do not want these simple distractions to continue; being overly distracted is a common reason for dogs not continuing through guide training.

Through consistent correction and praise we'll continue to work on distraction issues every time they arise.

Adaptation is the Name of the Game

Vinson sitting proudly in the morning sun, his breath visible

Sometimes pieces of the puppy puzzle seem counter-intuitive. Vinson has been exhibiting challenging behavior more recently than every before.

Now a game of ball in the big Seeing Eye field is typically a reward for Vinson, a special treat with some recall and obedience work built in. But I got to thinking this morning as I looked over the sun-drenched rolling field and pondered how mild the weather is for mid January, that some of Vinson's behavior may also be signalling a need for additional challenge and exercise.

And so, to the field we went. Vinson performed very well, returning consistently and sitting proudly while awaiting the ball throw.

We'll see if this approach - combining additional fun and work along with our usual daily routines - will help during Vinson's latest puppy phase.

The Latest Chews

Thanks bud.

It's (thankfully) been quite a while since I needed to post a "Latest Chews" article, but alas the time has come. Sarah's wonderfully-comfortable L.L. Bean lambswool slippers now bear a striking resemblance to small-town roadkill.

The Latest Chews:

• Sarah's Slipper
• Leash
• My Slipper
• Watson-hair tumbleweed
• Leash
  
• Watson's dog bed

I wonder if the bitter apple folks make shoes...

Weigh-In

Vinson's current weight: 55 pounds

Pressure Mounting

Vinson was pretty wild at the club meeting last night - barking, biting the leash - behavior that's become more prominent recently. The most embarrassing scene this week? Vinson attempting to mount a coworker's off-duty Seeing Eye® dog. Repeatedly.

We spoke with our puppy raising Area Coordinator and filled her in on the recent changes in behavior. Since Vinson's particular Lab/golden mix eliminates him from consideration for breeding at The Seeing Eye, a sooner-than-later neutering is being considered...

Off to Puppy Club

We're on our way to puppy club. Hope Vinson is ready to be attentive!

New Friends

Vinson had the pleasure of meeting a new puppy friend at The Seeing Eye today - a 16-week-old golden retriever being raised by one of our front desk volunteers. The tiny, soft pup was gave Vinson gentle kisses on the face while he proceeded to try and steal her big tire toy.

Pat's House, Day 5: Saturday, December 31

Vinson loved the fenced back yard at the McKenna's

Written by: Pat McKenna

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Today Vinson goes home. It's been lots of fun having him here and far less action packed than I had imagined. Nothing broken, lost, or chewed. Tighe and Mino will be sad to see him go.

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Sarah, Vinson, Watson and I would like to thank both Sarah's folks and Pat, Sital, Garcia, Tighe and Mino for opening their homes and daily lives to Vinson; and thanks to the Creveling family, including boxer Eddie and Seeing Eye puppy, Kimber, for watching Watson!

Pat's House, Day 4: Friday, December 30

Written by: Pat McKenna

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Having been given warning that Vinson liked Christmas trees, or more precisely, bird ornaments hung on Christmas trees, I took a precautionary measure. So far it's worked. Our tree and its adorning birds remain unmolested.

Over Christmas I was given a small rug depicting a yellow dog. It's interesting how both Garcia and Vinson have gravitated to it.

This landing has become the favorite hang out for the pack. From left to right: Mino, Garcia, Vinson and Tighe

Pat's House, Day 3: Thursday, December 29

Written by: Pat McKenna

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Very cold this morning when I took Garcia, Tighe, and Vinson for a short walk. Vinson is very good on a leash. He has a strong pull which I believe is encouraged as this will be an asset for future work as a guide.

Grooming this morning went about as well as yesterday.

Vinson really enjoys when I do my daily floor exercises. Push ups and sit ups have definitely become more challenging over the last several days. My normal and boring morning routine has transformed into a high action fully interactive event.

Pat's House, Day 2: Wednesday, December 28

Vinson sitting proudly on the landing while Garcia chews his Nylabone

Written by: Pat McKenna

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Today started off with a bang. All the dogs, seperated for sleeping, were extremely happy to be reunited this morning. Vinson and Tighe the Boxer have a great game they invented. It's a high energy pass time that features running and playing. It's definately best when played outside in our fenced yard.

So far Vinson's doing great. His games of keep away aside, he's been behaving, getting along wonderfully with our dogs, and is very willing to go into his crate when it's time.

Every morning our three dogs go out together to relieve themselves, then come in for breakfast. They are to sit wait patiently until the "eat" signal is given. After they are done eating we do some obedience work, and finally grooming. Vinson did great with almost every stage of the morning plan. He did have a different idea about grooming. Brushing his teeth ultimately turned into a wrestling match that got more tooth paste on me than on his teeth. An impromptu game of keep away resulted when he stole the zoom groom and commenced zooming around my basement. A timely reminder from Tighe brought the game to a close and the brush was recovered. I'm hopeful tomorrow's grooming session will go more smoothly.

I'm pleased to see the Christmas tree is not a point of interest for our little yellow guest. So far, he hasn't acknowledged it's presence. I'm hopeful this doesn't change.

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).

Christmas Trees, Socks and Lots of Doggies - We're Back!

Puppy-Proofing includes choosing decorations!

After a pause in the Blog for holiday gatherings, we're all back in the same place and there are lots more stories to share! Vinson is now a bit over 10 months old!

Sarah and I had a great trip to Oregon to visit family and do some skiing and snowboarding. In our absence, Watson stayed with his original puppy raiser, and Vinson split the time between Sarah's folk's house and Pat and Garcia's; and boy did he have fun!

While staying with Sarah's folks, Vinson decided to do a little "redecorating" for the holidays. While they took lots of care to puppy-proof their house in advance, one of Vinson's habits eluded the plan (remember the stuffed moose from a while back?).

Vinson continues to be enamored with small, stuffed critters - anything that looks reasonably real. Sarah's folks had one ornament on their tree that looked like a real bird; and while it was hanging high up, that was no deterrent to Vinson. Before they could stop him, he leaped up to grab the bird, getting his legs tangled in the holiday lights and ultimately pulling the whole tree down! I'm told they snapped photos of the repositioned tree after the incident. Luckily no birds were harmed and the tree was able to be reasonably redecorated.

Then it was on to Pat's house...

The following series of posts were graciously contributed by Pat, his wife Sital, Garcia and his pack.

Merry Christmas!

From The Seeing Eye archive, a yellow Lab from a different era

No, this isn't Vinson in the photo. It is a Seeing Eye yellow Lab puppy, but he's sitting with a harness in front of a Radio Shack "Micro Computer" - the TRS-80 II, released in 1979. Can you believe that computer retailed for $3,500?

Vinson will have lots of new stories to share on here next week. He's been staying with friends while Sarah and I are traveling and some funny moments have already occurred.

Stay tuned, and in the meantime, have a wonderful holiday celebration with your family, friends and precious canine pals!

Put Your Arm Around a Friend

After having their dinner, Watson and Vinson settled into Watson's big dog bed together, each with their own Nylabone. Watson proceeded to put his arm around his little buddy!

Although Vinson's antics are often compared to those of "Marley", the new drywall in this photo is thankfully not related to puppy play!

A Very Big Day for Vinson

Ryan & Vinson posing with the new vest [photo: Jill Jaycox, Vinson's Area Coordinator]

This morning after successfully displaying proper behavior and obedience throughout various Morristown locations, Vinson has officially been "vested", and may now wear the official Seeing Eye puppy vest.

The vest represents that Vinson is continuing on the path to ultimately become a Seeing Eye dog. Any time we take Vinson to public events or local businesses who have approved his presence, Vinson will now wear the vest instead of the puppy bandana that the young ones wear.

Typically, vesting happens at around 6 months of age and is handled through your puppy club, issued by your area coordinator. Vinson was about two months behind on puppy club work due to his leg break back in the Spring, so his vesting was a bit delayed. But that takes nothing away from the fact that this is a very big moment on the puppy raising path; and we're super proud of him! Way to go, buddy!

The Greeter

Vinson sitting at the entrance to The Seeing Eye this afternoon

Vinson's dream job is to be the official Seeing Eye greeter at the reception desk. He takes advantage of any opportunity to meet new people, say hi to old friends and catch up with canine pals.

Today he was super excited to meet an incredible family from the Philadelphia area. The family's two sons put together what sounds like a very cool and complex haunted house each October; and this year they decided that they wanted to use the event to raise money for The Seeing Eye.

Their haunted house, and the cause, were a huge hit, and the boys raised nearly $500 for The Seeing Eye through the generous donations of their haunted house visitors.

Today, the family made the 2-hour drive to our campus, as they wanted to see the campus, meet some pups and present their hard-earned check in person. Of course, Vinson was thrilled to meet and play with the boys. Everyone had a great time!

Decking the Halls

Today, Seeing Eye staff gathered in the main lobby to trim the holiday tree and place their toys for those in need underneath it. Since this is Vinson's first tree experience I wanted to expose him to the various scents and decorations.

Vinson was very gentle with the tree, but he really had his eye on some of the stuffed toys beneath it! Still, he settled down well enough to "rest" without being held for this photo.

Vinson laying in front of The Seeing Eye's holiday tree and fireplace

Catching Up

Sorry Vinson hasn't shared much of his story in the past two weeks. Here's a quick catch-up:

• Vinson and Watson have become fast friends, and while Vinson still needs to be reminded to settle down when the big guy is finished playing, they are both loving each other.
• Since both Vinson and Watson travel to and from work with me, we had some new routines to develop. Watson stays in The Seeing Eye's staff dog housing building, so he needs to be dropped of there with all of his toys and accessories before Vinson and I head up to the office.
• Vinson enjoyed meeting the Orientation & Mobility students at The Seeing Eye last week.
• The late cold temperatures have really excited Vinson when we're outside - which is normal. Some of the leash biting and other "old" behaviors have returned slightly when the crisp air meets the pup's excitement.
• Vinson and Watson are both preparing for extended holiday vacations with friends and family. Vinson will be spending part of the holiday break with Pat and Garcia from The Seeing Eye; and Watson will be spending some time with his puppy raising family.

More to come...