I will no longer be updating Iron Guide (see below). Instead, I am now writing at my new, personal blog. Though that will be about some of the newer things I'm doing in life, if you want to see updates about Louie, Lester, and now Dusky, add me on Facebook -- there's enough ridiculously cute pictures to go around.

Unlike everyone else on this blog, Janine Prindle is a human. She is a long-time raiser for Guide Dogs for the Blind, having raised some 27 (!) puppies with her family over the years. At the same time, ironically, her own vision has been progressively deteriorating. She is now legally blind and currently staying at the Boring campus, in class to get her own guide dog. She has been there for about a week and is writing an incredible day-to-day journal about her experiences there.

She has been paired with Cranberry, an eighteen-month-old yellow female Labrador. Apparently, her noise is a perfectly appropriate cranberry color. :) They seem to be getting along just wonderfully.

I can't imagine what it must be to be in her shoes and on the other side of the training. I don't know that I would have the courage that she does.

Labels: Lester

Permalink | Written at 1:55 AM | Post a comment | 3 comments | Trackbacks

A friend's girlfriend has a six-month-old Bengal kitten, Starbucks, that knows how to use the toilet. The real, people toilet. Really. No joke. This blows our whole poop-on-command trick out of the water. Lester, why can't you poop in the toilet?

Labels: Lester

Permalink | Written at 1:42 AM | Post a comment | 1 comments | Trackbacks

Lester and I were practicing stay on the long-line on our morning walk yesterday. Here he is with his whole head buried in the grass. That's his not-so-subtle way of saying to me, "I'm bored. B-O-R-E-D. BORED." I imagine he's dreaming about running around and eating all the tasty dandelions.


He did perfectly: he held his stay for an entire minute, 30+ feet away from me, all in that big, delicious field of dandelions. And he did this multiple times! Of course, what he did after he got the release command is an entirely different story... :)

Labels: Lester

Permalink | Written at 6:34 AM | Post a comment | 2 comments | Trackbacks

Phew. The last couple weeks have been total blur. Sorry for not updating more frequently.

The first blushes of spring are arriving in Seattle and a bunch of us have been just dying to re-start our weekly hikes. Although several other people flaked out [ahem: TAXES? what kind of excuse is that?], on Sunday, Quincy, Brett and I hiked up Rattlesnake Mountain. It started raining halfway through, so we wussed out and turned back at about two miles out and a quarter mile up.

Here we are near Rattlesnake Ledge. It's not quite the Ledge -- that's a few hundred yards to the west. We either can't quite or didn't want to follow directions. :)


Although I brought water specifically for Lester, I forgot his water bowl. So, we improvised: I cupped my hands, Quincy poured water into them, and Lester lapped up as much as he could before it all leaked out. It was all kind of funny, but, thankfully, Brett didn't have the camera. =P

We probably totaled out at around four miles. Although Lester has gone on longer walks with me, that's not bad at all.

Labels: Lester

Permalink | Written at 5:59 AM | Post a comment | 0 comments | Trackbacks

Just got back from our morning walk. Unfortunately, it looks Lester has picked up a very bad habit.

Off leash in the tennis court, I asked him to sit, which he very begrudgingly did, but, when I asked him to lay down, he just stood there, looking back at me. He mostly knows the core commands at this point, but he's definitely not totally reliable yet, so that's not terribly unexpected. I started walking over to hand-place his down, but, as soon as he saw me coming toward him, he startled, looked at me, and took off on a full sprint in the other direction.

Oh boy. Not good. Having outgrown his puppy waddle, Lester is now fast enough that he can outrun me. I couldn't catch him if I wanted. Not good at all. Still sprinting. Now on the other side of the tennis court.

"That's enough!", I yelled out. That brought him to a screeching halt. Well, momentarily, at least. As soon as he saw me walking toward him again, he took off again. This kid knows he's in trouble. Deep, deep trouble. He so knows it.

I hadn't ever had this problem with Louie, but I remembered Heidi talking with a family about their dog trying to play keep away at a meeting long ago. Basically, the last thing you want to do in a situation like this is chase after the dog. That's just the funnest game they can ever imagine. Playing keep-away (and winning!) with the alpha-male. I mean, really, how does life get any better than that? Instead, you're supposed to just very calmly and quietly walk the dog down, correct him, and then bring him back to where he was supposed to be.

I was (mostly) successful at that. To make a long story short, after a few minutes, Lester either got tired or realized he was finished either way, and I finally got ahold of him. I don't think I was too hard on him (see below), but hopefully he got the point.

Thinking about it now, I think I know why he did it. Lester knows his manners well enough that I feel comfortable letting him freely roam the room while I'm doing something else. Most of the time he's good about it, but, obviously, occasionally he'll do something stupid and -- here's the crucial part -- I walk up to him to correct him. I also walk up to him to praise him, but, putting two and two together, I've definitely sometimes seen him appear apprehensive (ears drooped, head lowered) when I've approached him in the past. If I praise him, he immediately perks up and starts wagging his whole body, but, still, until he knows which way it's going to go, he's apprehensive. In this case, it was just a step further.

What's funny is that he really does know when he's in trouble: he's usually worried only when he really has done something wrong. Occasionally, he'll worry even if he's doing great, but that's pretty rare and short-lived until the moment he hears "good boy!"

In either case, not quite sure about the best solution here, but I'm going to (a) consciously try to praise Lester much more so that he's less apprehensive and (b) keep him on leash, closer to me when I think I might need to correct him.

Labels: Lester, Louie

Permalink | Written at 11:36 AM | Post a comment | 4 comments | Trackbacks

Upside down and trying to eat his paw. That's my goofball Lester for you.

Labels: Lester

Permalink | Written at 12:42 PM | Post a comment | 3 comments | Trackbacks