Franky-Doodle is a D4D!

So... I have been in contact with Cheryl, the head trainer at D4D, for the last few months. During that time, I have heard a lot about Franklin. At their birthday party, I simply went by "Franklin's puppy raiser", because everyone knew who Franklin was. All day I heard, "oh, we love Franklin". It was exciting to hear, even though I wasn't able to see him because his foster family wasn't able to attend the party. I was pretty disappointed, especially because there were other puppy raisers there that got to spend time with their dogs, but I was instantly drawn to another dog that I could tell had a Franklin-like personality, AKA- he was very relaxed. He was huge, and almost white in color. At first I thought it was blogging friend Burgess, but I knew that he was still in training at GDB. I then learned that the big boy was Bradley, previously known as Bracken, Burgess' brother. So I got to work with him the whole day, and it was really comforting just to cuddle with him.

I also got the news that Franklin had been ready to be matched with a diabetic person a few months before, and had caught on to the scent very quickly, but the trainers couldn't bear to give him up! But they said that he would be going into a class that started on November 2nd, and that they would be emailing me around the middle of November to let me know how he was doing. So, a couple of days ago, I got an email from Cheryl saying that Franklin had successfully completed training with his new partner and would probably graduate on February 10th. Yay for my baby boy!!!

Also, because Cheryl fostered him for a good portion of his time in training, she got some pictures of him. One of which, she showed me, is the desktop background on her computer. She is just one of the many that fell in love with my Franky! Here are the pictures she sent me.

For those of you with screen-readers, I hope this works! Please let me know.

-Is Excited-

Wow... I have been doing a lot of blogging recently! o.O Very strange...

Anyway! Guess what guys... Franklin has been picked up by D4D!!! I really wanted to go to this previous graduation (where blogging pup Sherman graduated), but missed it, and later found out that my Franklin was there! One of our leaders went, and she said he is doing really well. Everyone was raving about him, and the whole staff is in love with him already. His foster family is wonderful, and can't stop raving about him. I am still very proud of my boy. ^_^

We also learned that the GDB staff had doted on him, and were considering him as a breeder until they found the luxating patellas. Kind of sad, because I would have loved a grandbaby. =D

...

Gah, I don't even know why I get my hopes up any more...


I HATE this!

If you haven't already guessed, Franklin was CC'd. And check this out. It was for the exact same thing Eagle had.

We just found out this morning. Our leader said that the trainers said that they had delayed in CCing him because he was so good. Their exact words were "he was on his way to success." They said that he was one of the hardest working dogs they had had in a while, and that he obviously wanted to work. They were even considering moving him into the accelerated program.

But, after two weeks in the harness, he started limping. It wasn't a very large limp, but it was still there. And if he was limping after just two weeks, how bad would it get if he was constantly in the harness?

Two amazing dogs, both career changed for the same thing. That would make four dogs from our club in the last 12 months to be CC'd for Luxating knees.

One of these days I will get a dog without a medical problem... hopefully...

Woot woot!!!

I know I haven't updated in a while guys, but guess what? My Frankie baby is in phase 3!!! Gosh, I am really excited. =D Eagle didn't even get a phase, he was CC'ed so early. I am just thrilled all of the medical stuff should be passed. Trust me, I am breathing a sigh of relief.

Pilaf is doing really well. She makes me proud every day. I won't say she is perfect (what dog is?) but she doesn't really have any issues, and that is something I consider a blessing. She is currently the best behaved dog in our club, and the oldest, and I know she will do well in the future. ^^

If I can get the camera to work, I will take some pictures of our puppy clubs annual feild trip to Old Sac this weekend. I'll keep you posted!

Goodbye...

Sunday I had to say goodbye to one of my best friends. Let's just say that it wasn't easy.

I had a debate tounament in San Jose Friday and Saturday, as well as the weekend before, so I felt a little ripped off. I wanted to spend as much time as possible with him. Now I realize that being away probably helped me let him go.

I got home from the tournament at 2:00 Sunday morning, and at 8:00, I woke up and got ready to go. I decided at the last minute that I wanted to bring Pilaf with me, because I figured I would need something to cuddle with on the way home. =]

Needless to say, it was a tense road trip. It was my older sister, my parents, and me in the car the whole way down, dreading the time that we'de get their. Finally we pulled into the parking lot at about 12:45. By this time, I kind of just wanted to get it over with. We made our way across the campus, taking pictures about every other step. we were walking one of the many paths when we ran into a man who was in class with his second guide, Amazon. When he learned that we were pppy raisers, and bringing a dog back, he almost cried telling us how much he appreciated everything we do. It definitely brought the hole experience full circle for my whole family.

We then made our way to the kennel itself, stopping to "awww" at the puppies, of course. As the kennel was still on lunch break, we were just about the only ones there. One sweet lady (I can't remember her name) decided that she would just check us in, even though we were a little bit early. She could not say enough about how amazing Franklin was behaving, and so calm he was. She told us several times that if he became a stud dog, he would be living at he house like a spoiled rotten pet. =] That made us pretty happy!

We then put him in his kennel, and said our last goodbyes. It was really hard, and I won't lie, I cried buckets. We are all praying that he won't have any medical issues.

And so ends another era in my life...

On another note, our club's 2 yellow boys went back for training this weekend (Franklin and Fury, no, they are not related), and 2 new yellow puppies were picked up. a yellow female named Ingabore (crazy, I know, we are going to call her Inga), and a yellow boy named Robbie. If they were not different genders, you wouldn't be able to tell them apart! They are both very tiny, and have really short noses. We were all excited about the chance to have more pups in the club! That brings us to a grand total of 12 pups in our group, plus a few families that should be getting puppies soon!!!

Picture Post!!! Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!! =D

Here are pictures, from the Pilaf pickup to (almost) present!

The Pickup!

Pilaf sibs (I think Pilot is somewhere in here...)

I just love this next pic...

Christmas!!!

Explanation of the next pictures: We put this stuffed Santa out on the floor next to our couch for decoration, and Franklin fell in love. He would sleep curled up with it every day. He never chewed on it, just snuggled. I wish I had a picture with his vest on, one of these would be cute for the calendar!

My sweet babies, about a week after getting Pilaf. She already new down stay!

Franklin's Birthday, February 1st. He wore this ballon tied to his collar all day long...

Pilaf at the Vet

The pack of mini followers:

I just love this picture. You can't really tell by Frankie's face, but he adored this kid...
How they sleep in the car... all curled up around each other (we have a small car)
The most recent picture I have of them together:

Franklin and Pilaf had a BIG day yesterday. We woke up at about 5:00 in the morning, and started driving to Corning (a little town near Redding) for my brother's Awana Bible Quizing and Games day. It was a competition with kids from clubs all over California, Oregon, and Nevada. We first met at a little church for the opening ceremonies, where Franklin and Pilaf kenneled nicely together under a pew. Then, we moved into a really tiny and cramped gym, where the pups slept nicely for about 1-2 hours (i can't remember... lol)We then went to Subway for a quick lunch, and then off to a high school for games in the gym, where the pups got to work amidst all of the noise and chaos for another 1-2 hours. Then it was another long car ride, and off to dinner at a BBQ resteraunt in Woodland, before we made our way back home at about 8:00 in the evening. All together a long and exciting trip for Pilaf, but I was very proud of both of them! I have several cute pictures, but I can't post them until I clear of space on my computer so I can upload them! =P

~Taelor, Franklin, and Pilaf

Yes, I am still alive...

My life is hectic beyond belief, but I am still here!!! XP

Well, as some of you might already know, I no longer have just one pup!

Yup, Miss Pilaf entered my life just a few days before Christmas!!! She is a female lab/Golden cross. My first little girl, and my first part golden! She is also Pilot's sister.
I have really enjoyed this beautiful little girl. As one puppy sitter in our club just said: "I love how she is like an on/off switch. When you want her to play, she always wants to, but when you want her to just lay down at your feet, she is happy to!" She is a definite Golden, and LOVES people. She truly believes that every human was put on this earth to pet her. She also is semi-obsessed with water, and as such has been greatly enjoying the rain we have been getting the last few days. =D Overall, she is very sweet and responsive.

But as I mentioned before, Pilaf is not the only pup in my care.

Franklin has grown up to be suh a great boy. He really is ideal. He knows all of his commands, and just wants to be with you. He will come as soon as you call him no matter where he is. In fact, we once had a puppy meeting in a field (fenced, of course) full of guide dog pups, and he came from clear across the other side. He is sweet, gentle, loving, smart... pretty close to perfect. Everyone in our club wants to work with him if we ever have any little fun "contests." =P He just turned 1 year old on February 1st, and he has a recall date for March 28th. We all think that this is really early, but honestly I know he is ready. I am rossing my fingers that there are no medical issues, because I know he will succeed in becoming a guide if he has good health. And if for some reason he doesn't make it as a guide, he will make the best canine buddy. We have 3 boys in our house with ages ranging from 4 to 12, and he lets them climb on him, ride him like a horse, practically choke him, anything! =P

Well, that is my little update!

And because it is short, I will amuse you all with a list of the current nicknames for each of them:

Franklin:
Frankie
Frankie-doodle
doodle
Danke
Danke shen
Bubba
Frank
doodle-bear

Pilaf:
Pilaffers
Peewee
Peepee (only my sister calls her this)
P-Lily
Pilafity
Little girl

Hope you guys are all doing well!
~Taelor, Franklin, and Pilaf~

P.S. I would post pictures, but for some reason blogger won't let me at the moment. Hopefully I will be able to post some soon!

Well, this is NOT the next thing that I wanted to post...

Well, I think you all probably know what I am going to say. Last night I got the dreaded call... Eagle was career changed. Obviously, from the short amount of time in the kennel (5 days) it was a medical issue. As it turned out, he has a genetic problem with his knee. They told us that it would go unnoticed if he was a pet, but it was so severe that it would blow out after working in the harness for only a year! They also said that it was too severe to become a canine buddy (something else they were considering, he loves kids) and D for D might not accept him. My CFR, Celeste, said that she was sooo dissapointed because he was one of the best dogs from her territory! I met quite a few trainers at the campus, and they were all looking forward to seeing Eagle at the campus, but I guess it wasn't to be. What is ironic is that I also have a genetic issue on the same knee!!! If he is not accepted by D for D I will not be getting him back. The deal from the beginning was that if I wanted to continue raising then I couldn't keep them. I know EXACTLY how Megan feels!!! He was my perfect puppy, and dropped for medical reasons. This also coplicates matters for his sister Eliza, who was going to be a breeder. Now she might not as there is a genetic problem in their lines.

Warning: the following is a vent of emotions, you do NOT have to read this if you don't want to. the rant will be in pink.

I don't know why, but I feel so... cheated. I mean... I worked sooo hard, and he was so good, and then he was only at the campus for 5 DAYS!!! They didn't even get to see just how good he really was. In a way I even feel that Eagle was cheated. Everyone around him could tell that he just wanted to work. He was MADE for it! And now he probably won't be able to do hardly any sort of work at all. I am still in shock. I don't really think that it has fully registeres yet. The worst part is that it was nothing Eagle or I could have changed. It feels like all of the work I have put into this dog is just wasted.

Okay. I feel sooo much better now.

On a happier note, this last Monday I recieved a transfer puppy named Fraklin. He is 7 months old, and was started by a raiser in our group. She was the one that raised Willhelm, who by the way is graduating with Splash on the 30th!!! I forgot to tell you guys that happy news... sorry! *sheepish grin* Anyway, Franklin is a MYL that has some issues. He does NOT like to work. In fact, he hates it! This is a good learning experience for me, because I was always working on toning down Eagle. With Franklin I am working on motivating him. He is content to sit and watch the world go by him. We think that he would be a great pet for an older couple!!! hahaha! He is a real sweety, and loves to cuddle up in your lap. I am currently working on food protocol (sp?) with him, because food is the only thing that motivates him at all. And it barely keeps him moving, at that. Everyone keeps asking me is he is sick, but it is just his personallity. Just yesterday it took me over 5 minutes to get him out of the car, and I ended up having to drag him. No joke. I will post poctures later!