Remembering 9/11

I would like to dedicate this post to all of the people who lost their lives on September 11, 2001. Today is a day that will never be forgotten in United States History. Remembering all of the firefighters, police officers, other public officials, and even just ordinary citizens who risked their lives to save others is something that can never be forgotten.

Part of the TSA Canine Breeding and Development Center's naming process is that all of the dogs are named after 9/11 victims.

Ggoody is named after Harry Goody III, a man who worked in the World Trade Center, loved science fiction, and riding bicycles. I would like to express my sympathy to his family remembers who lost their beloved family member in such a tragedy. I would also like to say that even though I did not know Mr. Goody, I will never forget to honor such a wonderful person.

Llarson is named after Scott A. Larsen, a firefighter who lost his life trying to save others. I would like to commend Mr. Larsen on his bravery for helping others and he will never be forgotten. Again I express my deepest sympathies for Mr. Larsen's family.

September 11, 2001


-Addie, Ggoody & Llarson

Happy 9 month day!

Happy 9 month day "L" litter!

With Llarson gone this week for his evaluation, I do not have a picture of him at 9 months old yet. Here are some pictures of Ggoody that I took tonight at soccer practice. (Sorry of they are fuzzy, I used my cell phone.)






-Addie, Ggoody & Llarson

9 months...almost

Llarson has actually been quite busy this week. On Monday since I had a nice break from homework, I decided to take the dogs up to our county park to run in an enclosed baseball field. Ggoody and Llarson had a blast! Once I got the outside gates of the dugouts closed, I let the dogs off leash. They both took off running. They ran laps around the field until both were exhausted.

Today Llarson went up to the outlet mall with us shopping. He did great! We walked through the outdoor part and he ignored any people passing by. A random balloon popped behind us and he wasn't phased at all. Then when we went a in few stores he again ignored people who were interested in him. The funniest thing was when we were in a store (Eddie Bauer, I think) they had mirrors up, you know the kind with three mirrors in a small arc so you can see what the clothes look like from behind? Well I walked Llarson up to it and he was shocked! He wasn't scared and didn't bark, he just had this really confused look on his face trying to figure out why there were so many dogs. The look on his face was priceless! I wish I got a picture of it.

Tomorrow Llarson goes back for his 9 month evaluation, so he has a week to reunite with his siblings. On September 9 Llarson will be 9 months old! A golden birthday...sort of. I will update next week with how Llarson's evaluation went. Until then...


-Addie, Ggoody & Llarson

August Update

August has been pretty a pretty busy month for us because school started on the 25th. Prior to school starting we were out shopping and I took a short trip to Colorado. Anyway, on to the update of Llarson.

Llarson was returned for his weekly evaluation earlier in the month. When we picked him up we saw his sister Llinanne again. It was fun to talk to her raisers and hear some stories about Llinanne. Llarson's report was great and he is progressing well. The only issue was his left ear was a little dirty so he is getting that ear cleaned twice a week for two weeks.

As far as outings, Llarson is a regular at soccer practice. He loves going and walking around the park. Once he gets somewhat tired (he as an abundance of energy), I usually sit down to watch part of the practice and so does Llarson. He does pretty well laying down and waiting before I am ready to walk around again.


Since school started on Tuesday, Llarson has been in his crate more than he was during the summer. I have been working hard to walk him twice after I get home from school to try and drain some of his energy. Today I thought it would be fun to take him to the middle school field to run around. He did great! I put him on his long leash and let him run around as we walked the trail that goes around the entire field area. After, I let him explore the outside of the school and portables. He loves the doors of the school. I think he was expecting to go inside. After that I pulled out his favorite toy (a kong with a rope) and tugged with him and did two search sessions with him. I hid the toy on the bleachers and both times he found the toy very quickly despite one of them being under a step. I was very proud of him! Then we headed home for the evening with one tired puppy. Hopefully this weekend Llarson will be able to go to soccer scrimmages. Llarson goes back next weekend for his 9 month turn in, so look for an update after that. The picture of the black Lab is actually Llarson's dad, Aabel. He is currently working and hopefully Llarson will follow in his father's pawprints.

Have a good weekend!

-Addie, Ggoody & Llarson

Full July Update

July has been a really crazy month for me so I have only been able to throw in really brief updates. Here is basically what happened for us during July.

Well at the beginning of July, my family and I flew up to LA to visit my uncle who was slowly losing his battle with cancer. Sadly while we were there he passed away. It was a very emotional time for my family, but we are slowly dealing with the loss. During this time Llarson was at a puppy sitter's house. Llarson got a decent report as the only damage he did was chew a hole in a sheet that was used to cover his kennel. (Typical Llarson...)

Not more than two weeks later, my grandmother's health started to go downhill. She was 87 and had dementia, but my family and I cared for her for the past 8 years. Sadly July 19 she passed away. So we flew to San Diego for her funeral. Llarson was again sent to a puppy sitter's house (actually the same people graciously offered to watch him again. A big thank you to them!). After the funeral, my brother, sister, and I went to Sacramento to visit with my other uncle to get away from all of the events that had happened and just relax.

We had a great time in Sacramento. I got to play with my uncle's German Shepherds, Sasha and Kobe. They are great dogs! Kobe has a spine problem so he goes once a week for acupuncture so I went up to Davis with my uncle and watched the acupuncture. It was really neat. Later in the week on Wednesday my uncle took me up to UC Berkeley to tour the campus. Then on the way home I convinced my uncle, cousin and sister that we had to stop at Guide Dogs for the Blind for a tour. So we did! It was my second time touring the campus and again I loved it. There were some adorable puppies that I wanted to take home with me. We also saw a breeder on the video cam in the kitchen and I believe her name was Alanis (black lab). And then the tour guide pointed out another dog in training, a yellow lab named Arcadia.

Well now I am back from California and back with Llarson and Ggoody. Ggoody had developed a minor ear infection while we were gone so that is getting cleared up. Llarson is doing fine. He went to my sister's soccer practice and had a blast running around the baseball field. Since it is completely enclosed I let him off leash to run and explore. Anyway that was my crazy, emotion filled July.

Here are some pictures to end this post on a more joyful note. Enjoy!

Sasha



Kobe





Black Lab in formal training at Guide Dogs



Black Lab Puppy



Yellow Lab Puppies



6 week old yellow lab



Llarson on our evening walk today. (Sorry if this is a grainy picture I took it with my cell phone.)



-Addie, Ggoody & Llarson

Quick Update, More to Follow

Wow! It has been a long time since I have updated. I have been in and out of town after the passing of both my uncle and grandmother, but things are slowly starting to get back in sync. Llarson was Llarson the last time he was at the puppy sitters and I am sure this past time he was his usual goofy self.

I am very excited to say that I went on my second tour of Guide Dogs for the Blind today. I absolutely love the campus and saw some adorable dogs and puppies. (I will post some pictures as soon as I get home.) I also went to Berkeley and saw a guide dog puppy in training for Guide Dogs of America. It was a very well behaved (and cute) yellow lab puppy.

Once I get home I will try and do a more throughout update with pictures from Guide Dogs as well as some pictures of the now 7 month well almost 8 month old Llarson.


-Addie, Ggoody & Llarson

We're Back! (Short Update)

I am back from California and Llarson is back from the puppy sitters. This is just a quick update on Llarson's dad, the rest of the update will be a little later. The monthly news letter from the TSA Puppy Program came in today and I am proud to anounce that Llarson's dad made the program and graduated! Llarson's dad Aabel graduated and will be working in Colorado. Four of Aabel's siblings also graduated and are now working. Seeing Llarson's dad graduate gives me high hopes for Llarson.


-Addie, Ggoody & Llarson