The Return of Llarson

Well Llarson is back and is actually improved. He used to have sort of these growling biting bursts, but we have only had one instance where it happened and I corrected him and it immediately stopped. We have a new technique to use in order to get him to respond in the appropriate way when he acts up. Basically all we have to do is pull up on the leash and he has learned that that means sit and he will sit and hold it until I say it is ok to leave. The only issue is barking in the crate, but I have to say it is a lot less than it used to be. So we are plugging our ears and trying to ignore it. I thought he would be bigger, but he has only gotten a little bit taller that's it. He still cannot fit into is full adult collar yet so he is borrowing one from the program until he grows into his adult one. Since summer is coming up next week I will be able to take Llarson every where with me, so more posts of our outings will be coming. This weekend I we might go somewhere, but we will see. Also we might be taking him to a baseball game (minor league) soon so be ready for a fun post about Llarson's first baseball game.






-Addie, Ggoody & Llarson

Namesake

Since all TSA dogs are named after 9/11 victims, I thought it would be appropriate to share who Llarson is named after.

Llarson is named after a firefighter from 9/11, Scott A. Larsen. The following is a paragraph about Scott A. Larsen from the book "Portraits 9/11/01".

"When Scott A. Larsen finished a shift at the firehouse — "He was very good with the tools; he fit right into the place," said Brian Cleary, his friend from Ladder Company 163 — off he'd go in pursuit of more activity, usually with his three children. He outfitted them with Rollerblades, and got them onto their bicycles on summer days. He could spend an entire day at the beach, then fix dinner on the grill. During the midwinter school break, he packed everyone into the car and drove from their home in Glendale, Queens, to Disney World, stopping to spend the night in North Carolina, to buy sparklers in South Carolina, to sample as many Dairy Queens as possible below the Mason-Dixon line.

It meant 12 hours of driving at a stretch, but he loved it. On arrival, Firefighter Larsen, who was 35, headed for Space Mountain, where he usually rode solo. "He'd try to convince the kids to go on it," said his wife, Carolann. "Once he bribed them with a stuffed animal. They came off scared like anything."

His wife, Carolann was pregnant at the time of 9/11. Two days later September 13 she gave birth to another son. She named him "August" after her husband's father, the name Scott wanted. The other children are Marisa, 9; Brenda, 8; and Scott, 5."

With Llarson's namesake it really makes me hope that Llarson will make the program to do what he was born to do. To the Larsen family: I am sorry for your loss and I hope Llarson lives up to his namesake and becomes a protector of our country.

-Addie, Ggoody, and Llarson

P.S Llarson comes home Monday! Update on that later.

May Update

I just realized this will be my first May update, so let it begin. I forgot about this link, but here is a link from our local news station about the TSA Puppy Raising program and it will give you more insight about the program. Also the litter shown is Llarson's litter!

http://www.news8austin.com/shared/video/video_pop.asp?destlist=62025

We haven't heard much about Llarson in awhile because several of the people who will be working with him are out of town for a week or so. We did hear about a week ago that Llarson has been making progress with his behavior so hopefully he will be able to come home soon. I can't wait to see how big he has gotten as he is now 5 and 1/2 months old! Here are some pictures of Llarson in the morning right before he left.





Ggoody has been enjoying herself lately, being the top dog again. Although there is some bad news, but with a good prognosis for Ggoody. Back in October, Ggoody had a seizure and it scared us to death, but she only had one and we figured maybe she got into some fertilizer that one of the neighbors might have put down so we did not worry to much since she seemed fine after that. She had another one in April, but again it was just one seizure. Then about 2-3 weeks ago she had another seizure and one of the worst ones since she lost complete bowel control and seemed much more disoriented afterward. My mom rushed her to the vet and she got a complete blood work up, but everything was normal. We think she could possibly have epilepsy, but there is nothing we can do since she only has seizures every so often and the medication severly damages the liver so in the long run it would not be worth it to put her on medication. The good news for Ggoody is that she will be fine, but might experience a seizure every so often, so we are taking every precaution to make sure nothing bad happens to her and she stays safe.

On a brighter note last weekend we had the pleasure of taking care of our neighbor's cocker spaniel, Missy, while she went away for a Mother's Day weekend. We had a lot of fun with Missy. We brought her to our house during the day so she would have some company and plus Ggoody and Missy are best friends. Here are some pictures of Missy in my room on a dog bed that I put down for her so she could be comfortable while I was on the computer.





Also here is a picture of Ggoody tucked into all of the blankets on my bed. My dad wrapped her up and she fell asleep! It cracked me up so I had to get a picture of it.




I hope everyone has a great weekend!

-Addie, Ggoody, and Llarson