A Chilly Morning

One morning this week when it was quite chilly outside, Mason and I went for an early walk. He enjoyed the coolness and the new route. Here he is finding the bus. I like his little tongue hanging out :) Can you tell that he is a little wet? We had to walk through some sprinklers! Mason tried to bite at the water as it landed on his head, but he walked through the sprinklers like a trooper. Brrrr!!!! Chilly and wet... felt like fall :)

Around Town

My name is Sarah and I am also an Instructor at GDTX. I have the privelege of working with Mason now that he is in Advanced Training. Here he is posing with some of the fall decorations we worked around at the mall. Mason gets lots of attention when we are working. Everyone thinks he is BEAUTIFUL and well-behaved. :)

Happy Fall Ya'll!

Daily Life

Mason in the training van with some of his pals- Willie and Echo

Mason finding a seat-- He loves this game!

Mason's Graduation

Hi, my name is Jamie Landy and I work for Guide Dogs of Texas as an Apprentice Guide Dog Mobility Instructor. It is my pleasure to inform you that Mr. Mason has come into Advanced Training to be a Guide Dog. Now that Mason is playing with the big boys our first course of action was to assign him a Boarder. This is a very important thing for me seeing as I can't take weekends, holidays, work trips or even get through a class with a client unless I have a Boarder for the pups.

The picture on the left is of Mason coming into advanced training with his puppy raisers Wes and Mary Reimer and Mason's new boarder Carol Deil (to the far right)

Down Below are some pictures of Mason enjoying his new boarder's house.

When you graduate to big boy school it's time to turn in your blue puppy jacket and upgrade to a brown leather harness.

Well thats all for now folks. When I get more pictures I will post more blogs!

PuppyPlay Day 2008

On May 10th Guide Dogs of Texas had it's second annual Puppy Play Day at the K9 Country Club north of San Antonio. A good time was had by all - pups and people. It was a hot day, so the pups spent a lot of time in the pool.
Mason seems to be trying to coax Oliver into the water. "Come in. The water's fine."
When Mason gets wet he looks skinny. I was going to say he looks like a drowned rat, but, truthfully, I've never actually seen a drowned rat. Have you? Anyway, he looks a lot better dry than wet.
Two on a toy. Mason wants to make it three.

The puppies didn't spend all of their time in the pool. They ran around the rest of the grounds, including this playground. When I downloaded this picture I noted that Mason wasn't actually playing in the playground. Oops!

This lab found a nice, shady place to rest.

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Unfortunately the combination of the heat, lots of time in the pool and all the running around had a negative consequence. Mason and some of the other puppies tore the pads on his paws. We had one sore puppy for a few days. He wouldn't even walk outside. So we put ointment and socks on his feet and carried him in and out. He looked like a sheep.

Mason played so hard one day

His feet were sore as heck.

He had to go outside and pee,

But was a nervous wreck.

We put socks on his feet

Carried him in and out.

That helped him do his business

And he didn't have to pout.

So Mary had a little lamb

And boy did he look odd

But he soon was feeling well

And walking on the sod.

Before and After Grooming

This week we took Mason to Doggie Dooz to have a professional grooming and clipping. Our thanks go to Jeff and Kelli Wright for the complimentary grooming. We appreciate it and we can tell Mason does too. He was going through his third (and final) coat change so had lots of hair to deal with. He has a soft, wooly coat a lot like a lamb. The cut was just in time for the hot, summer weather.

Before

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After

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Kelli said that Mason did well during the grooming after some initual nervousness. Considering that the noise of clippers freaked him out when I got my haircut a few months ago that was good to hear.

"Don't I look handsome?!" (he said modestly as he posed so nicely.)

Finds

We combined our walks recently with working on "Finds." Mason knows Find the Seat, Door, Steps, Curb, Elevator, Button and Bus (vehicle). He is working on more finds like:
Trash can
Counter (in a store)
Boys* (Mens room)
Girls* (Ladies room)
Stall (the handicap stall)
Pot (urinal)

When Mason finds somethine we must use it. We've ridden lots of elevators, thrown lots of trash away and used the rest rooms often. Once he has found the steps he has to put his front paws on the first step and stop. This gives the person time to find the step. Then I say "Let's go" and Mason proceeds up the steps.

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When going down the steps Mason has to sit very close to the step. Then the same procedure is followed.

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Wes worked with Mason to find the mens room, stall and urinal. No, Wes isn't pretending he is blind; he just had cataract surgery and his eyes were dialated that day. He is doing well and is amazed at how bright colors are after the surgery. Mason learned to find the trash can quite easily. As with the rest rooms he uses his eyes and nose. This made it much easier for him to learn.
Stay tuned later this week for before and after photos of Mason when he got his first professional grooming and haircut.