Bentley

Ben-Man

(Bentley standing in the kiddie pool looking up adoringly at Kaitlyn)

 Bent-Bent

(Bentley and Sadie in the kiddie pool)

Ben-ah

(Bentley sleeping all twisted in his crate)

Ben-a-Boo

(Bentley sleeping in the passenger well of the car with his head up by the gear shift)

Ben Ben

(Bentley laying down with a rubber heart-shaped toy in between his paws)

Bentley is his name... so don't wear it out.

Cracker Country

(Dave and I stand under the Cracker Country sign)

Saturday my family took advantage of the free admission passes to Cracker Country. Once a year certain museums will open their doors free to anyone who has printed passes from a website. One year we went to the Ringling Brothers Museum of Art. So we decided this would be a great outing for Bentley.

(Bentley looking through a wood fence at the Cracker Horses)

Cracker country is a walk-through museum that consists of houses the first Florida settlers built (around the 1900's). Many of them are one-room and all of the buildings are made of the original structures. There was a church, dry goods store, school house, post office, printing company, a professional cracker and many others. And many stairs. Which Bentley did very well at sitting at the base and top of the stairs every time, but towards the end, he was DONE! It was a very hot day, but thankfully most of the walk was shaded by large oak trees.

(Bentley and I sitting in front of a large replica of train tracks that ran through FL)

(Bentley laying in front of an empty furnace... much too hot out for it to be running!)

(Bentley and I standing at the top of stairs which are beside a caboose)

(Bentley looking through another fence at very noisy geese)

(the geese were not impressed to have Bentley sticking his nose through their fence... they kept hissing at him!)

 Bentley was quite worn out by the end of the day. Finally :)

(Bentley sleeping in the car)

Nine months, no way!

I know I haven't been good about keeping up with Dave's monthly birthdays, but consider yourselves lucky your getting one today :)

1. Dave l-o-v-e-s kids. His most favorite are ones with yummy crumbs left over from lunch on their faces.

(Dave lays on the beach with his very long tongue hanging out)

2. One of Dave's favorite outings is going to the massage therapist. He knows exactly where he is supposed to lay down and he knows to be still and quiet. For a whole hour!

(Dave standing in the yard)

3. Dave really enjoys napping in his crate or on his bed. He doesn't really twist his body in goofy ways some dogs will sleep, he likes to sleep on his tummy or his side like his mommy :)

(Dave asleep in his bed)

4. Dave likes to come and watch me paint my nails. Every time he has to sniff the nail polish remover and do a butt-run.

(Dave comes running towards the camera while during a romp in the yard with Sadie)

5. In the mornings, mom feeds her large fancy goldfish. Mom will call Dave and say "Let's feed the fish". Dave come running, sniff the fish food to make sure it's still good, then mom will sprinkle some food in the water. Dave will watch them eat and when they're done, he goes back to his business.

(Dave sits in the sun outside)

6. When I give Sadie and Dave a bath, I bring in all the wet towels, and throw them in the wash along with Dave's blankets and Sadie's bedding. Dave will sulk the whole time they are out of his sight. As soon as they come out of the dryer, all nice and warm, he carries the around struttin' his stuff :)

(Dave laying on his bed again...this time he has his blankets!)

7. Dave is by far, Sadie's favorite puppy we have raised. In the beginning, we told SEGDI we could not raise a male dog because Sadie did not like male dogs. But when the opportunity was given to us to raise Dave, we couldn't say no! Ever since our Dave-man, Sadie has changed her opinion on male cooties.

(Sadie stands in the kiddie pool that has 3 inches of water and Dave sniffs her belly while standing half in and half  outside the pool)

8. Dave is always so happy to see me when I come home for lunch. Mom told me while I'm gone, Dave will lay by the door and sulk. At least until someone says "Do you wanna carrot?"

(Dave looks at the chickens through the fence. We have 1 rooster and 5 hens.)

9. Dave thinks it's about time fall come around! He's ready for long walks in cool weather and no mosquitoes for our walks through the park!

(Dave sits in the kiddie pool... we finally got him to play in it instead of outside it!)

The package

(Dave laying down with a stuffed, manila package between his front paws)

Dear Wendy and Eve,

  Today, Meagan and I walked (in the rain... it was fun!) to the post office to mail a package to you. It's only two blocks away, but we got soaked! I behaved very well in the post office. I hope you like what we sent you.

   Love,
      Bentley

p.s. Wendy, please be sure to let us know the package got there safely! Give sweet Eve-r-beaver a hug for us!

Life of the Party

October 20th, our puppy group had a guide dog meeting at a local fire station. Of course, as soon as we got there, the trucks (and fire men who said they would be in full gear just for us!) had to leave for an emergency. But the dogs all got to sit and watch the trucks leave with their sirens going, and lights flashing. Pretty impressive to us humans, but I think the dogs could have cared less.

(Sue, our AC handled Dave for me at this meeting. In this picture, Sue and Dave are watching the fire engines roll out)

(Fire engines are starting to turn on their sirens and Dave is looking the other way... completely ignoring them!)

(Dave, Sue and Heike with puppy Tango watch as the trucks leave)

After a tour of the station and talking to the Captain (of 25 years!) of the fire station, we had a small meeting and obedience session out the back.

(Bob, Bob and Dave come inside from where the fire trucks park :)

(Alice and short-haired Collie, Garrison, walk through the hallway)

For the first time everyone got to meet the new babies of our puppy group...

Meet Tango

(Tango, a white golden retriever sits nicely and looks at the camera)

and Jerry

(Jerry a chocolate lab, sits and looks at the camera with a big smile!)

Very handsome little guys.

This meeting also marked the start of puppy camp for Dave and Bentley! Leslie, who is raising Bentley (an 8 month old chocolate lab), switched dogs with me. It was a little hard to say goodbye to Dave... it will be almost 2 whole weeks without him! But I know he'll do good and enjoy going to work with Leslie everyday!

(Dave sits on the beach with his long tongue hanging out)

Bentley is the life of the party around here... Dave is very relaxed and calm (most of the time), but around the dinner table today we were teasing, "If we put just Bentley in a box, he'd still find something to get into or play with!" :) He helps me clean up my room in the morning... bringing me my stray socks and even making sure there is no extra dog toys hiding under my bed. He's such a sweet little guy! He has really fallen in love with my sister, Kaitlyn.
Bentley is definitely a pleaser pup. My dad and I went on an night walk and Bentley did great! We walked about a mile and not once did he flinch at dogs barking or cars passing by.

(Bentley lays down and smiles at the camera with a rubber, heart-shaped toy between his paws)

Can't wait to take him shopping! :)

   Meagan

Super Late

No, not the time. (good morning!) But posting such an amazing video. I tried to find something on youtube earlier, for a 9/11 post, but couldn't find any thorough stories. Thanks Rebecca for sharing! Get your tissues ready...



Dogs are amazing animals. I am proud to be able to help people, by raising a puppy, who deserve these dogs so much more then I do. Yes, it's very hard sometimes. Housebreaking, Leash training, Crate training, teaching commands and finally giving them up. But if I had a disability, I know I would want my freedom to go where and when I please. And to know I can trust my dog... just like Salty.

TIA meeting

September 11th, our puppy group went to the Tampa International Airport for one of our meetings. It was a wonderful meeting, full of exposures, new sights and sounds.We rode the shuttle bus, the monorail, went on many elevator rides and walked around the stores.

(Dave and I waiting by the elevators)

(Dave and I in the elevator)

 With going to the Airport on 9/11, you could sense the security was a bit higher. I have been to the airport several times and I've never seen as many police and military people before. Dave saw a working police dog. Dave stopped and stared at him... not in a "I wanna play" way, but almost as a sign of respect.

(Dave takes a busy break at one of the few grassy areas at TIA)

(Dave, Bentley and Randy look on as Dave the person, wheel Sue our AC, around in a wheelchair)

Karl Whitehead stole walked Dave around for a while. Dave, once again, was fascinated with all the escalators so I went up the escalator and came down stairs while Dave watched on the ground. Dave looked every bit jealous :)

(Dave watches me come down the a flight of stairs with a super-fast-wagging-tail)

We then rode on the monorail. That was fun. And bumpy. Once I pried Karl's hands off of Dave's leash got Dave back, we went to the baggage claim area. Dave was so funny in the baggage claim. Dave smelled every single bag that went by him... Bob teased us and said "watch Dave find drugs or something" :) The conversation even went into "watch everyone start snatching up their bags hoping the dog won't sniff and alert someone". Then Dave tried to jump up on the belt... such a nut.

(Our group chatting by the baggage claim)

Speaking of Karl, Karl and Sharon Whitehead have raised Randy from 9 weeks old and the TIA meeting was Randy's last puppy meeting! Randy is going IFT (in for training) on Saturday. The Whiteheads also raised a female dog whose name is Jeannie. Jeannie is now an ambassador dog, traveling the country with her person to further promote SEGDI!
While cleaning up my computer of it's literally thousands of pictures, I came across these two pictures the Whiteheads took of Dave when he was a puppy. Randy was a little jealous that his mommy was lovin' on another puppy :)

(Sharon holds Dave on her lap while Randy sniffs Dave's belly)

(Sharon holds Dave while Randy lays by Sharon's feet)

 Make us proud Randy! Study hard in college!

Next meeting, a fire station. Complete with a tour, up close fire truck sniffing and a fireman in his full fire-fighting gear...

Maybe

Maybe Dave

(Dave carrying his blue blanket)

Should have been

(Dave cuddled up with his blankets in his crate)

named Linus

(Dave laying on his blanket)

beacause Dave loooooooves

(Dave looking at Sadie while holding his blanket)

his blankets

(Dave standing with his blankets on his back)

just like Linus

(Dave laying on his new bed, with his blankets!)

How Dave eats a carrot

This is how Dave eats a raw baby carrot.

Ever see a dog eat it like a person eats corn on the cob?

Neither have I :)