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.

Lester very suspiciously peering over the edge from the 10th floor of the Seattle Public Library:



"I'm bored. Can we go home now?"

Labels: Lester

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I submitted the monthly report for Lester a couple days and it's amazing to see the progress he's making month over month. At this point, we're basically just cruising along: he knows what's expected him, and just does it. Not only does he listen to me without much ado, but he's so in tune with my habits that he sometimes does things without my even asking! As I write this, I'm sitting in Tully's and Lester is just laying down underneath my chair, mostly just quietly sleeping, occasionally getting up to people-watch, and being the model of all-around guide dog behavior.

He's been getting a lot of experience lately, attending the usual meetings, hiking up mountains, hanging out at coffee shops and libraries, and, last but definitely not least, being the social butterfly at parties. He's fantastic at work and at home and, minus dog and very occasional people distractibility, is doing just perfectly.

Dog distractions are really the only thing I'm worried about at this point. It's a little expected, what with him going through the teenage months right now. At the same time, he's posting definite, noticeable improvements every month and usually knows to control himself at this point, so I'm quite happy. Although Lester is officially on food rewards, I haven't been using it them frequently. Instead, I'm sticking to what's working right now. I've been intensively working him around other dogs, just going back and forth trying to keep his focus on me. That's involved a lot of crouching, some high-pitched baby talk, and a couple mildly embarassing conversations... but it seems to be working. :) At this point, Lester can usually walk by other dogs -- crossing in opposite directions, or even walking past in the same direction -- and still retain most of his composure. He had a mild fit at a party a couple days ago, but that was because another dog very unexpectedly showed up, kept sniffing around his private parts, and the general excitement of the packed house. We'll save that for advanced placement stage in a couple months.

Even Louie was a little dog distracted at this age and he obviously worked out wonderfully. An excerpt from my September report a year ago:

Louie is still dog distracted and garbage-mouthing as before. He can control the former most of the time, and has only garbage-mouthed once the past month, so they're getting better but still there. [...] What's impressed me about Louie this month is that his dog distractability is noticeably less than before -- he'll still show an interest in dogs, but he knows to control it even without a correction. Sometimes he'll need a gentle reminder, i.e. a tug on his leash or my softly speaking to him, but he's getting better!

Lester is a little further behind, but he's catching up to his big brother. And, on the flip side, Lester hasn't garbage mouthed at all in weeks! :)

Labels: Lester, Louie

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A few people have gotten sneak previews, but, today, I'm happy to show everyone. Folks, I present to you Louie and Gail's five babies: Padma, Patrice, Pecos, Polo, and Pran.


I just love how the little yellows sleep against each other with their head squished up on the other. Here's the funniest thing: that's apparently normal! It's on two different days!

Gail had two black females, two black males, and 1 yellow female (little "Pran"). If you're wondering why there are 3 yellows in the pictures, it's because Guide Dogs sometimes combines litters if they're small. Brothers, sisters, step-sisters, and step-brothers are all doing well and have now been matched up with puppy raisers all along the West Coast.

Guide Dogs mailed me the pictures and letter a couple weeks ago, but I just hadn't had the time to get them scanned and posted. (I got physical prints and it turned out that Guide Dogs didn't actually have digital copies.) I finally got around to dragging myself over to Kinko's and getting them scanned today.

Out of the 151 (!) suggestions, I picked the following five:

• Parker
• Patience
• Pari
• Parvati
• Pran

It being that I haven't heard of -- let alone met -- another Indian raiser, Judy suggested and I agreed that an Indian twist would be nice. Both my mom and Judy suggested Pran [*], which roughly translates into "life" but has a somewhat deeper meaning of spirit and lifeblood that I can't easily put into English. I think my mom put it best, however, saying that these dogs bring life to their owners. Parvati got 3 votes and had a fun Harry Potter angle (that one's for you, Kim! :P). Parker was the clear favorite with 5 different votes, so that one was a no-brainer. And Patience just cracked me up, which Hobbes Dogs suggested because, you know, every raiser and handler "needs to be reminded to have some patience from time to time."

[* Pran is pronounced "pr-AH-n". The "a" is like the "a" in "Pa", as in what you'd call your dad. It does not, I repeat, not, rhyme with Fran.]

Combined with the other raiser's suggestions, ensuring that no other puppy or working dog has the same name, only one ended up making it through. It sucks a little, but I'm happy there's at least some Indian masala in the mix now.

Labels: Louie

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