Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays everyone! Sorry for the huge gap in between posts, but I have been really busy. About two weekends ago, my family and I went to a Christmas tree farm to pick out and cut down our own Christmas tree. I loved it! I got to ride on a hay ride and was very well behaved. I also met a goat who wanted to headbutt me so I stayed away from him. And I met a horse who was very friendly. (Sorry no pictures we forgot the camera.)

We decorated the tree nearly a week after we got because we were so busy, but it got finished. I got in trouble though because I could not resist this one wooden ornament and I chewed it up. My owner was not happy.

Lately I have been working on my obedience and really am getting good. The reason is because on Christmas day I get to go visit my owner's grandma who lives in an assisted living. I get to visit with all the seniors, but I have to be on my best behavior.

As far as the puppy goes... It all depends on how many applications are turned in for our area for us to get an explosive detection puppy again. If there are not enough applications, my owner is considering possibly raising a guide dog because she really wants to raise another puppy. (Oh as far as my vest, my owner got a very nice leather leash for me instead so I am just going to use my backpack.)

Happy Holidays!
Ggoody

New Vest, New Puppy?

Hey everyone! It has been awhile since I posted lately, but not much has been going on. My owner has been trying to get out and put flyers up, but with school now in full swing it is hard to find any spare time. I heard that I am getting a new vest though. This vest will be much more official than the backpack I have. It will look like the puppy raising vests although it will say something along the lines of "TSA Puppy Raising Program" and have a patch saying "I am friendly. Ask to pet me." I think the vest will either be green or red. As soon as I get pictures of my new vest I will post some.

Also on the puppy front, right now there are no puppies to be placed in our area. We need more volunteers bad! There is a litter coming at the beginning of December and a couple more after that. So hopefully in early 2009 a puppy will be ready for us to raise. Other than that I will try and keep everyone posted about how the flyers and vest works out.

-Ggoody

My New Job in Advertising...

Well this week I am officially starting my new job as advertiser. My owner and I have been going out to pet stores, grocery stores, and any where else that allows flyers to be put up. The flyers are to help promote the TSA Puppy Raising Program so we can get more volunteers. My job is to wear a "back pack" with a sign on it that says "Keep our nation safe, ask about raising a TSA puppy." This way when people come up to pet me they get interested in the program. I take my new job very seriously. I sleep in the car on the way to the stores, but once out of the car I am all business and I love all of the attention I get too! Here are some pictures of the flyer and me with my "back pack".
-Ggoody

Hi! My Name is Ggoody.

My name is Ggoody and I am a 2 year old black labrador. My first purpose was to become an explosive detection dog for the government. I was raised by a wonderful family called puppy raisers from the time I was 10 weeks old to 1 year of age. My name is pretty special too. I was named in honor of a September 11th victim, Harry Goody III. My name has two "G's" because I was from the "G" litter meaning all of my siblings name starts with a "G".

My puppy raisers's job was to get me exposed to all sorts of sights, sounds, and smells that would be in airports, mass transit areas, and cargo systems. That meant I got to wear a red vest and go to public places such as hardware stores, parks, crowded parking areas, etc. My puppy raisers also had to build up my play drive which meant I had to really become interested in working to earn my toy. My puppy raisers would tug with me and hide the toy in simple spots to encourage me to use my nose to find the toy. I also had to become crate trained. I spent a lot of time in the crate to simulate what I would be doing if I was working. When out of the crate I played a lot or got walked then it was back in the crate for a rest.

About once a month I would return to the TSA Canine Breeding and Development Center to be evaluated and see where improvement might be needed to help give me edge to make the program. When I turned 1 year old, I was officially turned back to the TSA Canine Breeding and Development Center to be tested to see if I would be able to continue on as an explosive detection dog. Some tears were shed that day, but everyone had the better cause in mind.

Unfortunately about 2 months after I had been turned in, it was decided I would not advance to the explosive dection program because of my bad allergies. The bittersweet outcome was that I was able to return to my puppy raisers with a new purpose, pet dog.

Now after my return my puppy raisers are anxiously awaiting a new puppy to raise. At least I can help show the newcomer some of the ropes!

-Ggoody