What's December without Christmas Eve?

Anyone who listens to Owl City will appreciate the title of this post :o)

December, for most, is usually busy. Every year, my family decides "We are going to finish our shopping EARLY". But for some reason, we are still out running around on Christmas Eve.

I regret to say, Dave never had a chance to meet Santa. I took him to the mall, to walmart, all around town, even down south and we could not seem to find a Santa that didn't have an hour long wait in front of him. Dave was able to sniff many statues of Santa, snowman, and even a manger scene. Close enough.

As tradition, our family goes caroling to friends and family in the area. We were even able to surprise Ellie's sponsors!

The Boyle family and Dave on the front porch of Bob and Sue's house... Dave is wearing a Santa hat!

I don't know how many places we went to shopping for just the right gift... but the Red Barn Flea Market was the hot spot for a green laser pointer my dad was wanting...

Dave and Meagan in the isle of the flea market

As with all of our guide dog puppies, Dave had a stocking. I found it at Target and with fabric paint wrote Dave's name and the year on it... it turned out pretty cute!

Dave laying on the floor with his stocking under his paw.

 I don't know what it is with our silly Dave-man, he LOVES soft things... blankets, socks, towels, even the occasional stuffed animal he will snitch from Kaitlyn's room. Dave wanted to carry around his stocking instead of looking through it.

Dave carrying his stocking around... never mind what's in it!

Sadie wanted in on the stocking too.

Dave was pretty smart once he realized there was toys inside his soft sock. He grabbed the toys, set them, down and came back for more.

  And of course, we have to get a picture of the puppies in the left over wrapping paper!

We hope you and your family (humans or animals!) had a Merry Christmas!

New Years

 HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Giving Dave a midnight kiss on New Years

So it's gross. But hey, he's my little boy :)

And my little boy goes back to canine college on the 14th. I was wondering can't he just CLEP from home?

Dave's Birthday

Dave turned one on December 22nd. Although poor guy, we didn't celebrate it until a week or so later. Dave and I took advantage of Christmas sales at Petsmart and bought some sweet toys... Dave got to pick them out :)

Dave in front of Petsmart large selection of toys

Out of all the bones, rope toys and rubber kongs, Dave picked out a no-stuffing raccoon and a Tennis Kong Toy.

For Dave's party, Dave wore a party hat, had a puppy gift bag, and vanilla ice cream cake

Even Sadie wore a party hat!

Dave loved his ice cream... unlike most people er, dogs, Dave prefers his cake before his presents.

Dave was a good boy and let Sadie have some...

Until pig Sadie decided to take it all.

Kaitlyn and Meagan decided to have some fun with the party hats. We put five hats on Dave so it made a star around his head...

Dave makes a cute star...

NOW time for presents!

Loving his presents...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVE!

Busy Dave... no, not the command busy...

Dave has been a pretty busy pup! These past couple weeks have been, in a way, life changing for him.

We had a very good Thanksgiving. Dave usually hangs out in my room, with a baby gate up so he can still watch the groups of people come and go while we eat dinner. Our friends are great about not feeding our dogs table food, but it's a tight squeeze sometimes depending on how many people come! Once the humans are full and on the verge of exploding, Dave comes out, goes busy outside and gets to have playtime with whoever (meaning everybody) will play with his toys.

(Dave poses with a Thanksgiving headband on)

My mom's grandma lives in an assisted living facility about 1 1/2 hours away from us. We happened to be in her area for a doctors appointment and so we stopped in to see her. I'm always amazed at how much impact a dog can have on people either in hospitals, nursing homes or in rehab facilities. Dave made the residents day so much brighter with just his sweet and happy face! Dave even met a manager of the assisted living facility whose name happens to be Dave as well.

(Dave, Meagan, her siblings and their great-grandmother pose for a picture)

Dave is always making us laugh with his silly antics!

(Dave lays on his back, feet in the air with his favorite no-stuffing fox by his head)

Our puppy group had a meeting at a local park. The park had a nice walkway and perfect sitting area for a meeting. This was a milestone meeting for Dave... he got to try the harness on for the first time!

(prior to the meeting, Meagan and Dave sit beside the trail and smile for the camera)

(Sue, our Area Coordinator, shows Dave the harness to let Dave smell it)

(Sue helps Meagan put the harness over Dave's head and get it clip on. I think Dave was more interested in licking Sue!)

(Dave lays quietly beside Meagan while wearing the harness)

(mmmm.... Dave looks so handsome in leather!)

(The pups work on some down stays for obedience)

(Leslie and Bentley work with Meagan and Dave on dog distractions... They are improving on the recalls Jen Garrity! :)

Christmas is coming quickly (just 10 days away people!) so we got the decorations out and put our tree(s) up. Once Christmas is over, the house always looks so empty and boring!

(Dave wears a green, red and gold wreath around his neck while sitting in front of our fully decorated tree)

We attended the annual Christmas Boat Parade. Our friend has a dock and the boats go in their canal. It was really fun this year! Dave did great... even with the had-no-idea-it-was-coming, pee-your-pants-it-was-so-loud, firework that went off on the dock next to us! I think Dave attracts the loud, unexpected noises.

(Dave and Meagan on the dock while a beautifully decorated boat passes behind)

(Dave watches one of the 33 boats that passes during the parade)

 Now for some, exciting, tear jerking news we received in the mail.

(Dave's In For Training notice for January 14th arrived in the mail this past Saturday)

We are excited that Dave is ready for college. He is so smart and loves to get his blue coat on to "go with me" and work. His favorite command (other then take-a-break for his meals) is "find the door" with a crisp and upbeat "switch" at the switch doors. Dave also really LOVES stairs. Like really loves them. I think it's like kids who don't have stairs of their own, so they love to go to peoples houses just to climb their stairs. I'm anxious to see what Dave thinks of escalators!

The big question I get is "Will you raise again?". Well, that is a question I've answered 4 times before and said "We're going to take a break for a while" and that breaks only ends up being about a month long. I'm not saying no, or yes. Let's just say, I'm keeping a tight grip on my puppy manual for a while longer :)

Veteran's Day Parade

After our the soccer game today, we attended the Veteran's Day Parade in AB. It's a small-town so it's a really small (2 mile) parade. But somehow, everybody gets excited about it no matter how dinky it is! It's probably the only thing that the community gets together for.

(Dave smiles at the camera while an antique red car drives by behind him)

These biker-happy people were VERY excited about seeing Dave. Someone yelled out (over the loud hum of cycles) "Paw for Patriot's?"  "Yes 'sir" I answered and we exchanged a thumbs up

(Dave watches as the bikers ride by.. he wasn't fazed a bit by the loud hum!)

So in return, a lady took a picture of Dave and I from her bike... can you see her?

(Dave stands close to me while a biker takes a picture with her iPhone)

(Dave watches as a small float rides by)

 The pirate floats are always rambunctious, wild and very noisy. At one point, their float was playing the song "Who let the dogs out". We can always count on the pirates to throw plenty of beads. After someone threw some beads and yelled "for the dog" I slid them over Dave's head and the ladies went nuts. They thought it was the cutest thing. And then the bead collecting started.
Here is a video my dad took of Dave getting some beads... Dave got more than I did!

(Dave watching a red pirate float go by... while wearing a few beads of course!)

(A pirate getting ready to slip some MORE beads over Dave's head :)

(Dave and I standing and showing off my few and Dave's  many beads)

There is always a cannon float for a restaurant called "Beanies". Unfortunately, they only fire the cannon 2-3 times for the parade (just to show you how short it is :) so over the music, and people cheering, you don't really hear it until it's right in front of you. Of course, Beanie the cannon stopped right in front of us and lo and behold, fired. Twice. And Dave? Didn't move a muscle. Whoop whoop!
Dave then proceeded to crash when we got home... talk about exposure overload! Crowds, cheering, yelling, clapping, loud music, smokey smells (from the cannon), motorcyles, marching band, children, beads and candy being tossed around, police sirens, army tanks and trucks... it was a good day.

Seafood Festival

(Dave and I sitting beside our booth)

This past weekend was the Ruskin Seafood Festival. (you can also call it the Tomato Festival and the Manatee Arts Festival... all three are exactly the same :)

Our Puppy Group always has a booth at these festivals to educate the public about Guide Dogs. Specifically Southeastern Guide Dogs.

(Dave sits nicely while I hold his leash and a really nice, very curious man pets Dave. The guy had some great questions about the school and the guide dog process. You don't raise 5 guide dogs and not learn a thing or two :o)

(Dave lays down nicely while watching people wander by. He did great at not getting too excited about people... but he really liked the greyhounds at the greyhound rescue booth :)

As well as seafood, there are animals, health and wellness screenings, homemade goods, art, jewelry, and contests.... like this one...

(Dave sitting in front of a hot pink smart car. The smart car fits only two people -or a person and a dog- and is the perfect size for a semi truck tire to squash it. I would freak out about driving it on the highway!)

Raffle to win a pink smart car, a golf cart, or $25,0000. I'm not so much a pink girl, but hey it's a car right?
Can you just see Dave and I riding around in it? Nope. Me neither. But hey, it's a car. And I haven't won it yet. The car or the cash.

Here is Dave with the ponies. Poor Ponies. I'm sure they would much rather be frolicking in a large grassy field somewhere, but they were hear to entertain kids. And Dave. Although he wasn't so much entertained as you can see in the picture.

(Dave sitting in front of the ponies waiting to be ridden by small children... Dave is looking over his shoulder at me with a very bored expression on his face)

Here is Dave with a pig. The pig is almost the same size as Dave which tickled me pink :)

(Dave and the pig, which is in a gated area, are standing almost side-by-side. Dave like the smell of the pig)

And there is no such thing as a seafood festival without some pirates!

(Dave with 6 pirates -wenches- they told me they took a picture the day before with a chocolate lab... these handsome boys sure have a way with the ladies :)

Dave's Halloween

Our family doesn't celebrate Halloween.   -What no candy?!?-
We used to. My mom loved dressing us three kids up in coodinating costumes. Like one year, when it was just Collin and I, we were "Mary had a little lamb" -Collin was the lamb- but my lamb kept running away leaving a trail of cotton balls that fell from his outfit (my mom glued every one of those cotton balls on his outfit by hand) so I then became "Little Bo-Peep lost her sheep".
One year (once Kaitlyn was in the picture :), the three of use were "The three blind mice". If our scanner worked I would post that picture. It was probably my favorite.
Another I can remember just because the face mask was so very irritating cute, I was "Cat in the Hat" and Collin and Kaitlyn were "thing one and thing two".
Waaaay back when I was an only child, I was a bird. But we won't go there.

Anyway. One year, my then 3 year old sister, freaked out about a house that was decked out with flashing lights, bloody walls, zombies, ghosts, you name it. She even refused to go near the house. We had to cross the street and go clear around it. So the next year when mom asked if we wanted to go, we all said no. That was when the special treats, candle light and movie night developed.
This year we got some candy at the store and played Uno in almost complete darkness. Who needs all that candy anyway right? :)


But something that is still fun to do is carve pumpkins :) I don't know why I didn't think of this with my previous guide dog puppies, but this year, Dave had his own pumpkin.

(Dave in front of the pumpkin patch)

(Dave's pumpkin in between Dave's legs. The pumpkin is spray painted Southeastern Guide Dog coat blue and the school's symbol scraped into it revealing the pumpkin's orange color. The school's symbol is the profile of a guide dog's head with the blind person's hand holding the dog's harness.)

(Close-up of Dave's pumpkin)

We did go to Walmart and show Dave the gross rubber masks, let him sniff the fake hair, and even showed him a couple full out costumes. Did he care? Nope.