Puppywalker Picnic

Here goes my promised long post about the puppywalker picnic. Sorry I don't have pictures from the picnic, we were running late so both the camera and dogs got left behind.

Well after a bit of a rough late start, we were on our way to San Antonio around 10:30 on Saturday to get to the picnic around noon. Around 12:20 we pulled up the gates of Lackland Airforce Base. A few minutes later we were finally on base and at the picnic site.

We walked up to the pavilion and we saw two dogs playing. They looked extremely similar to Llarson and come to find out they were his sisters! I know one was Llilore and I believe the other was Lleavey. (They all look so much alike, plus we saw five of his siblings so it is hard to keep them all in order.) His sisters were red in color like Llarson, but considerably smaller than him. Plus Llilore had much better manners when we were petting her.

We talked to Llilore's raisers for awhile. They have raised two dogs (1 working and 1 breeder) and Llilore is their third. The second dog they raised was there with them. Her name is Dd'atri (I believe this is the spelling). Dd'atri is a black Labrador breeder, who was bred a few weeks ago, so hopefully she will be having some cute little puppies soon.

After a nice discussion about raising pups from the L litter we headed up to get some food. They had great barbecue and a wonderful homemade cake that had blueberries and raspberries to make it look like the American flag. We sat down next to a family, that was raising a dog named Kkeating. Kkeating is a lab (I believe black) that is getting recalled in November. Their dog seemed to be a lot like Llarson energy wise, high strung.

Then after lunch we watched a demonstration of three dogs at different stages in training. They had five or so groups of luggage in a line with each group containing four pieces of luggage. The first dog was a novice so they did some pretty simple luggage searches, not extending past the third set of luggage. The second dog was a yellow lab named Iirgang (Ggoody's nephew) was next. He was more high strung than the first dog. He was in the middle of training so they extended the search further down the line. Finally the last dog was Ddanz, a black Labrador. He was the most advanced, so they put the aid (what they dog is trying to find) at the very end of the line and he found it with ease. It was really neat to see the different work ethics of all three dogs.

After the demo we headed over to the t-shirt stand and bought a new shirt plus they had car decals so I bought one for my car. Then it was time for my favorite part...the kennels.

We walked through the kennels and saw a lot of really cute dogs. We saw 4 of Llarson's siblings: Llinanne, Lleavey, Llangone, and I believe Llangley. We also saw Llarson's mom Cini. She was super sweet and looked a tiny bit like Llarson. The first group of dogs we saw was the R litter. They are all yellow labs about 14 weeks old. Some of the names that stuck out to me were Rrusso, Rreynolds, Rrall, and Rrand. Rrusso was my personal favorite. Cute name and adorable face. After looking and petting almost all of the dogs we were on our way home. It was a great picnic and totally worth the drive. Here are a few pictures to make things a little more interesting.

R litter (my guess a week or two old)



Back of T-shirt



Car Decal



Ggoody is ready for Halloween



Random picture of Llarson in Home Depot during the summer

Big Post Coming Soon!

First, thank you to all who commented about my possible business idea. I decided to stick with it and I am currently working on the beginning phases of a business plan. I will update how that goes as the project progresses.

Second, the reason for the big post coming soon is because Saturday is the Puppywalker Picnic at Lackland Airforce Base. It is basically the equivalent of a Fun Day for all of those who raise for GDB, but on a smaller scale. There is a barbeque, raffle, a tour of the kennel and cuddles with the little pupppies, and a demonstration from a working dog. Overall it is a thank you for all of the hardwork the program's volunteers do. I can't wait! So look for a big updating post sometime this weekend.

Third, but not last...On Friday Llarson turns 10 months old! Double digits. It is hard to believe he goes back in almost two months. Well his 10 month old day is jammed packed with it being my high school's homecoming and the premier of season 9 Degrassi. Friday is looking good!

Until then,

-Addie, Ggoody & Llarson

Poll...Please Comment

For my entrepreneurship class we have to come up with a business idea. I figured why not combine business with animals.

I was thinking of creating an online business, that would sell "puppy in training" equipment, but at a slightly discounted price. The business would sell service dog school approved toys, bones, leashes, collars, head halters, crates, food, etc. Maybe even flea/tick preventative and heartworm preventative? For instance nyla bones would be sold at a lower price. Another option that would be nice would be to buy in bulk. Instead of buying one bone, buy 10 and save the difference?

I don't know this is just an idea. I think this could work out ok, in that everyone who decides to raise a dog knows that there is a financial responsibility to raising a puppy. I figure why not "create" a business that has everything a puppy raiser would need on one site and at a slightly lower price and it is delivered to your house.

Please let me know what you think. Any comments are greatly appreciated!

-Addie

9 Month Evaluation

Llarson is back after his week long evaluation! Unfortunately I could not go to the pick up because I was taking the ACT (I was mad when I saw the test and pick up were on the same day. I love going to pick ups.), but my mom and brother picked Llarson up. I asked if they could take a quick peek at Llevin, Llarson's brother, because he is the largest of the litter. Llevin is twenty pounds heavier than the other puppies in the litter. He is black with brown markings on his legs. My mom said he looked like a heavier set Ggoody.

Anyways on to the report...

Llarson did fantastic!! This is a quote from his evaluation.

"Llarson got a perfect score in his environmental test at the airport!! Keep up the good work."

I was sooo excited to see this when I got home. My mom was talking to the guy at pick up and I guess this is almost unheard of and is an extremely good sign. I am so proud of Llarson.


-Addie, Ggoody & Llarson

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