GWU Homecoming

Well, it's about a week late, but better late than never, right?

Tucker and I got to go to Homecoming at Gardner-Webb weekend before last and it was SO MUCH FUN.

We stayed with my friend Suz who is thankfully renting an apartment where there is a fenced in yard so Prince Tucker could run around like a fool. :)  Equally funny was Tucker's discovery that the big black patch in the middle of that backyard was not actually ground, but a pool cover.

As the water began to seep up around his feet, he looked at Aunt Suz with an expression of sheer horror.  Water had never come up from the ground before... After a few words of encouragement, he finally found the courage to run to the edge.  Still bumfuzzled by the entire experience, he then proceeded to examine the pool, believing that as long as he kept one foot on the edge, the pool monster couldn't get him.  Once he realized that releasing one's paw from the cover made a very intriguing suction sound, he was nearly unstoppable.

The next morning we went to campus to see who we could find before the Homecoming shenanigans began.  We got to see a few old classmates and some professors, namely Dr. Jones.  Tucker was so happy to see him.  Everyone was really surprised at how many people he clearly remembered, but he spent the most formative months of his life on that campus - of course he remembers them!

On our way to the football stadium, we ran into Doc Hunt in front of the new Tucker Student Center and she gave us a ride on the golf cart.  That suited Prince Tucker just fine.  We ate lunch with Doc and Dr. Jones, got to see Dr. Eastman, and headed over to the Deaf Club tailgate.  Tucker got to play with my friend Jack's new puppy, who was definitely the tougher of the two canines, I might add. ;)  Afterwards we made our way to the football center where we got to see a bunch of friends, including Dr. Morgan who puppy-sat for me last year.  Right before half-time I took him up into the football center so he could visit the VIPs.  Dr. and Mrs. Bonner (the president) came out to see him as well as several members of the senior staff.  Dr. Bonner asked me if Tucker enjoyed being back and when I replied that he seemed to be having a great time, he said, "Of course he is, we have a building named after him!"

Not surprisingly, the game (which we actually won, I might add) wore Prince Tucker out, so it wasn't long before he was trying his best to take a nap.  We left the game early and hung out with Hannah and James for a while before heading back to Suz's.

The next morning, we swung by Dr. C's place before heading home so she could see him.  She also puppy-sat for me last year, but her dog Trevor isn't Tucker's biggest fan, so we decided to meet in the court square to avoid rocking his boat.

All in all, it was a marvelous yet exhausting weekend for both of us.  I'm very thankful for my Gardner-Webb family, and especially that they were so willing to let Tucker come visit with me.

Now for the truly entertaining part - pictures!

 Tucker with "his" student center now that it's up and running.

Tucker and a new friend and GWU fan.

Tucker with friends at the game.

Tucker sleeping at the game.

Thanks for the cool jacket Mom!

"At the foot of the mountains, is our college proud she stands!..."

My handsome boy.

Proof that I was there!  Photo courtesy of Dr. Morgan.

The Definition of Purpose

The Definition of Purpose

Note: If you are short on time and just want a good story, skip down to the paragraph that begins with "at 5:30 this morning."

Lately, my mind has been somewhat consumed with one thing: purpose.  I moved to Winston-Salem after graduating from college because as my best friend put it, “I didn’t have a plan, so I might as well move to Winston to be her roommate again.”  That plan satisfied me for a while, but then I began to search for something else.  What was my purpose as a new grad in Winston?  When would I find a job?  What was I supposed to be doing? 

Although I eventually secured work as a part time adjunct with Forsyth Technical Community College, it wasn’t long before I wasn’t satisfied with that, either.  I live with three Divinity students, and after having been graciously invited to several of their friends’ dinners and game nights, I caught the “grad school bug.”  I suddenly wanted nothing more than to be in graduate school, though I had no idea what I would study if I were to go to grad school.  When I was an undergrad, my life had purpose.  I was somebody.  I knew where I stood, I knew what I needed to work on, and I had a definite goal: graduation.  As I sat in my room in Winston, I simply felt demoted, purposeless, and like I was failing at post-grad life.  I wanted to be successful, and though I originally thought I wanted that success for myself, I think I was looking to please and impress others more than anything.  I was that girl at Gardner-Webb.  I was involved in all kinds of things, I loved my professors and as far as I know, they loved me.  I was invited to special conferences, led my peers, and was the first student to become a puppy raiser while in school.  I had purpose, I had admiration, and I was making the professors I held so dear proud.

Up until my senior year, I had always assumed I would go to graduate school straight out of college, or that if I didn’t, it would be because I had another clear career goal in mind.  Instead, I found myself lost in a sea of unemployed post-grads scrambling for part-time positions.  I cherished the moments that I was able to go back to Gardner-Webb and soak in the feelings of familiarity and belonging.  Now, don’t get me wrong. I was actually really enjoying Winston-Salem.  I had already fallen in love with the city and was beginning to form relationships with my new roommates and friends from church.  The day to day was actually going very well.  It was when I attempted to look down the road and try to visualize what I would be doing six months or a year from then that I began to feel anxious. 

My wonderful new roommates, who both took a few years off before coming to graduate school, gave me several great pep-talks and helped me to somewhat settle in the fact that God has purpose for my life even in the in-between stages.  I had just begun to take that to heart when the bomb dropped: Tucker was being career changed.

In the moment of that phone call, I felt so many emotions that I’m not sure I could ever fully express them all.  I was sad for him, frustrated with him, and disappointed in myself.  He had come so close only to be released from the program and into an uncertain future.  In the hours and days that followed the call, I realized that underneath all of the initial emotions, I was actually extremely upset that I wouldn’t be able to call my professors and administrators at Gardner-Webb to tell them that he had graduated.  I had wanted so badly to prove to them that I had been right about raising a puppy on a college campus.  I still knew in my heart that it had been a wonderful environment for a service dog to grow up in, but I had eagerly awaited the news that would show that beyond a shadow of a doubt.  In some ways, Tucker had been my last hold out for success.  I my mind, I hadn’t been terribly successful thus far, and I think I hoped that once Tucker was proven a success, I could ride the coattails of it and find a renewed feeling of purpose. 

I immediately decided that Tucker was going to be a service dog.  While I do sincerely believe that he has characteristics that would make him a wonderful service dog, I think I made this decision more out of an effort to save face than anything.  My mouth said, “he’s just so good and he needs a new job,” and my brain said, “by golly if he can’t put the Leader Dog title before his name, I’m going to make sure he can put a Therapy Dog title after it!”  At the time, even though I knew I had mixed motives and feelings about having him certified as a therapy dog, I still believed that, since therapy dogs are clearly a benefit to society, that this was the obvious path for him.

I contacted a trainer who graciously invited me to come watch his current therapy dog training class, and boy I’m glad I did.  Based off of the research I had done, I assumed that Tucker was probably 80 or 90 percent ready for the test.  I left the class that night realizing that he was probably more like 60 or 70 percent of the way there and that it would take much longer than I originally anticipated to bridge that gap.  I felt defeated and unsure, but in my mind, Tucker still had to have a job. 

That brings us to today (which is now in fact, yesterday).  In reality, there wasn’t really anything special about it.  I took Tucker to the vet for a general check up and my best friend and her fiancé took Tucker with them to a park for a walk.  At the vet, several other clients commented on how well behaved Tucker was and how handsome he was, and while Tucker wasn’t necessarily the best of guests on the walk, I believe my roommate and her fiancé still enjoyed having him there.  She showed me a video of him enjoying his first ride in the back of a truck (which was carefully monitored for safety I might add) and talked about how he desperately wanted to say hi to a big fluffy poodle.  After she went inside, I sat with him on the patio and thought about what it would mean for him to just be a dog.  He still brings people joy, both those close to him and those who simply admire him for a moment, and he really is just a good ole dog to have around.  However, by the time Tucker and I went to bed, I had completely forgotten about this inward conversation with myself.

At 5:30 this morning, someone screamed and woke me up.  I thought I was dreaming, and sat up to listen.  I heard it again, and again, and again.  Being the detective story and drama junkie that I am, I immediately assumed someone was being murdered outside my window in the parking lot.  Though the logical part of my brain said, “what the heck do you think you can do about it?” the human side of my brain replied with, “well I don’t know but get your butt up there!”  As I reached the top of the stairs, I realized that the screams were not from outside my house, but inside.  I looked down the hall and saw that one of my new roommate’s lights was on.  I burst into her room to find her crying hysterically, shaking, and curled up in the middle of her bed.  She managed to stutter the word “mouse” before beginning to cry again and pointed to the corner of her room.  As I began to search for said mouse, my other new roommate appeared and crawled onto the bed to console her. 

Though I looked and looked for the mouse, I couldn’t see evidence of one anywhere.  When we finally got her calmed down enough to hear us, I told her to move to the other girl’s room and that I was going to bring Tucker upstairs.  Tucker, who had heard the screams, was all too keen on getting upstairs to see what was happening.  It had been laundry day for this roommate, and each corner of the room had a pile of clothes on the floor.  Though I surveyed the room with a flashlight, I didn’t believe I would ever find the mouse and that it might even have escaped already.  It was at this moment that the other roommate appeared at the door to say that my frightened roommate had managed to get another word out.  Squirrel. 

While I had originally thought that there was a chance she had just dreamed about her arch enemy, the mouse, I knew that we had been having issues with squirrels in the past week, and realized that although I hadn’t seen it yet, there had to be one there.  I got Tucker excited and told him to “find that squirrel!”  Though I know he had no earthly idea what was going on, he understood enough to start poking his nose around the room while I carefully sifted through the piles and cleared the floor.  Sure enough, Tucker found the squirrel. 

For the next ten minutes, Tucker and I chased the squirrel around the room.  It was a team effort: the squirrel would jump into a box in the closet, I would begin slowly pulling items out, and Tucker would chase it out of the box and back into the room.  Eventually, Tucker helped me corner it behind my roommate’s printer, and I was able to catch it in a Tupperware container.  As it turns out, it was a little Sugar Glider who we believe got stuck in the wall when we had a hole repaired outside yesterday. 

I went to my other roommate’s bedroom to tell them we had indeed captured a small squirrel.  My still somewhat shaky roommate was incredibly excited and called out to Tucker that he was a good boy.  Before I could catch him, he then proceeded to leap onto this very high bed and smother her.  He was so happy she was happy, and she was so happy we had a squirrel-catching dog. 

As we finally began to laugh about the whole experience, the second roommate and I realized how differently we reacted to the situation.  When I came into the room and realized what was going on, I immediately began looking for the mouse.  She, on the other hand, immediately sat down on the bed and began to hold and comfort our terrified friend.  My now much calmer roommate thanked us for coming to her rescue and said she was glad Tucker and I were there to go after it. 

After poking holes in the Tupperware, Duck taping it shut, and putting it out on the screened in porch, Tucker and I returned to our room.  It was then that I realized that we do have purpose.  It may not be grand in the scheme of the world and it may not come with fancy titles or recognition, but we have purpose in the small little corner of the world God has placed us in and for the people he has chosen to put in our lives.  I may not be able to get Tucker certified as a therapy dog anytime soon, and I may find myself desperately searching for part-time work again come the spring, but in the end, He has a plan. 

Sometimes purpose isn’t fame, fortune, or long-term success.  Sometimes purpose is just catching a squirrel. 

  

The (Bad) News

Unfortunately, I got a call from Leader Dog yesterday to tell me that Tucker has been career changed.  Even though he made it to stage 4 of 4, he was too easily distracted by other dogs to serve as an a good guide.  While I am glad that this means he'll be headed back my way very soon, right now, the feelings are more that of sadness, disappointment, and stress.

I'm finding myself frustrated by those around me who cannot understand why I cried instead of jumping up and down.  I'm beginning to realize that as much as my friends were instrumental in raising him, very few have come close to understanding what it's like to actually be the raiser.  Even though I didn't want to give him up in May, I think every puppy raiser can understand that feeling of, "I put 11 months of my life into this - blood, sweat, and tears - and I want him to make it.  I want to see him in a harness, changing someone's life for the better."  It is hard to ask anyone but a puppy raiser to truly understand those conflicting emotions.

If Tucker had career changed that first month I gave him back, I'd have jumped for joy without question.  It is the fact that he made it this far - far enough that I didn't miss him all the time anymore - far enough that we all believed he would make it - far enough that I marked my calendar with, "Tucker should get his person this month!" that makes it hard.

It is hard because now that I know he can be mine again, I want him back, and I want him back NOW. Unfortunately, my living situation in Winston means that he will more than likely have to spend the next year three hours away from me at my parents' house.  Now, I am thankful that they have agreed to keep him and I know that he will be in good hands, but I am concerned about how that will change him.

I don't want the training that Tucker and I did to go to waste.  He's too good to just be a pet, and therefore, I want him to become a therapy dog.  The problem is that my sister's dog (who lives with my parents) is certifiably crazy roughly 60% of the time.  Don't get me wrong - she's a great dog, but she's not a Leader Dog - she wasn't raised to be.  I can't afford for her to undo all of Tucker's training and turn him into your average, somewhat unruly, house pet if he's going to be a therapy dog.

Now we come to the final piece of this puzzle: failure.  I knew going in that the odds were against him - 60-40 to be exact - but by the time he went back, and especially once he passed the first two phases of training, I thought we had beaten the odds.  For those of you who know me well, you know that failure is not something I embrace.  I have lived my life, and especially my last four years at GWU, wanting to be a success - doing everything in my power to make sure I was successful - and I usually was.  While career changing is not necessary synonymous with failure, right now it's hard to remember that.  I knew that dog distraction was a problem for him, so why couldn't I fix it?  Was it him?  Was it me?  Should I have sucked it up and made more time in my busy schedule last year to bombard him with unfamiliar dogs until it was no longer an issue?  Would that have even worked?

These are the thoughts currently plaguing my mind and the reason that I am not yet to the point where the happiness of his return can overwhelm the disappointment at his removal from the program.

New Update on Tucker

I got Tucker's 13 week update today!  I'm going to copy and paste it below.  He's almost finished!

The dog you raised D#13468  Tucker has been in training for 13 weeks and has completed the third of four phases of training.  The instructor working with Tucker has made the following comments: 

Tucker is doing well at:

1. heeling

2. responds to obedience commands quickly

3. learned the basics of guide dog work effortlessly

Tucker is working on:

1. going up stairs

2. dog distractions

3. intelligent disobedience while traffic checking

This update lets you know how Tucker is doing at this point in training.  Thank you for raising Tucker for our program!  Should you have further questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Puppy Development.  You will receive another update once this special dog completes training and is placed with a client.  The journey is almost complete!

Puppy Development

Leader Dogs for the Blind

5 Week Update

Leader Dog emailed me Tucker's 5 week update this morning.  He has passed from Phase 1 into Phase 2 with two phases remaining before graduation.  

Tucker is doing well at:

1. caught on quickly to the clicker

2. eager to please the handler

3. getting along with the other dogs

Tucker is working on:

1. staying in position after clicked

2. being mouthy with the leash

3. distractions to small animals

This does not surprise me at all, and hopefully, he will continue to improve in his "working on" areas. :)

Saying Goodbye

To say this has been an emotional week would be a gross understatement. 

On Monday, I graduated from Gardner-Webb University - a place very near and dear to my heart - and on Thursday, I gave Tucker back to Leader Dogs for the Blind. 

I was nervous about graduation because I was giving a speech and feared that Tucker might pick the most inopportune moment to act out.  Thankfully, he did a marvelous job, and made me very, very proud.  I was also concerned because I was somewhat afraid that he would see our special guests in the audience - Roy and Suzie Ferguson, Linda, and her Leader Dog "Disney."  He did much better with Disney than I had anticipated.  He still wanted to play, but he held it in better than he ever has before. 

Seeing Linda and Disney work together definitely helped when it came time to take Tucker back to Leader Dogs on Thursday, but I still miss him more than I can truly explain.  When you've had a little yellow shadow for 11 months straight, and then suddenly he isn't there, it's a big adjustment.  Dropping him off was made at least somewhat easier by the fact that he was excited by all the new sights and smells and didn't act nervous or afraid.  They said he would have his x-rays taken on Monday, and then, assuming he isn't chosen for breeding stock, would be neutered towards the end of the week.  Assuming his physical exam goes well, he is due to begin training on June 4th. 

Despite the pain of giving him back, I wouldn't trade this past year for the world.  I learned to have more patience, be less of a perfectionist, and put his needs before my own.  He taught Gardner-Webb about service dogs, and I think many of the students, faculty, and staff there will miss him more than they originally thought possible.  He was an excellent ambassador for Leader Dogs, and accompanied me to five different conferences - braving the airport for two of them.  Though I will miss him, I know that he has a higher purpose, and I can only hope and pray that his new handler will love him more than I do, and experience a new level of independence. 

The list is so long that I cannot begin to name everyone without leaving someone out, but please know that if you helped with Tucker in any way over this past year, that I thank you from the bottom of my heart.  (And a big thank you to my Dad who drove all the way there and back to help me turn him in.) We couldn't have done it without you. 

Enjoy the pictures.  I'll post updates from Leader Dog here as I get them.

Photo taken for the Gardner-Webb Magazine -Photo Cred - Mark Houser

From left to right: Dr. Tom Jones, Me, James Withrow, Derek Breakfield, Hillary Leonard, Matthew Lienberger (sp?), Hannah Riener, and of course, Tucker, front and center.

Me and Tucker post-graduation

Me and Tucker with our special guests - Linda and Leader Dog Disney, Suzie Ferguson, and Roy Ferguson

Spring Retreat Savannah

After Easter break, Tucker accompanied me to the Who's Who banquet.  I knew that I would be recognized for my inclusion in this group, but what I did not expect was for Tucker to receive a plaque as well. :)  Dr. Hunt, Dean of Students at GWU, created a plaque for Tucker that names him to the Who's Who Among Dogs list. ;)  I was really surprised and couldn't hardly stop laughing.  It was excellent.

Dr. Hunt reading Tucker's award.

Dr. Bonner after presenting Tucker's award.  When the President of the University decides to bend down and pet the puppy in jacket... you just call it training for the unexpected and move right along... ;)

Looks pretty legitimate doesn't it? 

The following weekend was my last spring retreat with the honors program.  We drove down to Savannah, GA and stayed on Tybee Island.  While Tucker did very well in jacket, he was a lot harder to handle out of jacket than normal.  As it turns out, the people of Savannah love dogs.  They're everywhere.  When you've got a dog whose biggest obstacle is dog distraction and they're so full of hormones that they can't see straight, this makes for an interesting outing.  He wasn't horrible by any means, but he did end up in the gentle leader a few times because he was killing my shoulder. 

Tucker also got to see horses up close for the first time because they had horse-drawn carriages everywhere.  He really disliked them at first (big ugly dogs?) but by the end of the day, he could walk past without getting excited.  He also had the opportunity to go to Paula Deen's restaurant.  How many dogs can say they've been to Paula's? ;)  Due to the age of the city of Savannah, we also had to learn to tackle a variety of new surfaces and stairs including really awkward cobblestone stairs that led down to the old cotton exchange.  He did a wonderful job.  On Saturday night we went on a ghost tour and the guide kept saying that if there was any ghost activity, that Tucker would probably react.  I had to laugh.  First of all, I'm what you might call a skeptic about ghosts - wasn't expecting to see anything anyway.  Second, I really wanted to say, "You don't know him very well, do you?"  This puppy has slept through an earthquake (a small one, but nonetheless), concerts, movies in the theatre, dormitory shenanigans, and take-off - I can pretty well guarantee you he won't be responding to ghosts. ;)  Sure enough, he proceeded to flop over on the pavement for a short siesta each time we stopped, thus disproving this woman's theory that animals are always sensitive to these areas of high magnetic activity...

On the island, Tucker discovered Spanish Moss.  Though I tried to keep it out of reach, there's still no telling how much he may or may not have ingested.  He also taught Dr. Jones a valuable lesson in puppy containment.  Sunday morning, as I was trying to get ready, Dr. Jones decided to take him for a walk (I was told by other students that Dr. Jones was tyring to educate him along the way, ie, telling him the scientific names for all the plants he ate or peed on).  When they returned, I was still getting ready, so Dr. Jones decided to tie Tucker to a post.  Although I tried to tell him this wouldn't work, he proceeded to try to secure Tucker's leash to this post using a stick.  That's like trying to tie a person's hands with a nerd rope - not happening.  Almost instantly, Tucker had removed the stick and freed himself.  As he dashed happily back and forth between our beach houses, I tried not to freak out so he would come back to me instead of thinking it was a game.  Thankfully, we had him back in short order.  Lesson learned - you can't restrain a puppy with anything made out of wood... We went to the First African Baptist Church that morning and Tucker did so well that there were several church members who didn't realize he was there until we left. 

Since that weekend, Tucker has been to two awards ceremonies with me.  Of course, he always waits until we're in the middle of the room or stage to stretch so it looks like a bow.  He also tends to cheese it up for the camera man. :)  We've also been to an elementary school in South Carolina.  My honors professor's wife is their librarian and she invited us to come.  Over the course of two hours, Tucker saw almost 200 children (second and third graders and a few special needs children).  He did an excellent job staying calm and being gentle when we did take the jacket off so they could pet him.  I'm very thankful to Miriam Ash-Jones, their librarian, for reading them books about service dogs prior to our arrival, because that meant the kids actually asked good questions!  I mean, there's always the occasional, "Does Tucker have a girlfriend?" or something similar, but for the most part, they did a really good job. 

TUCKER'S BIRTHDAY IS TOMORROW! 

Picture time:

Photo Cred: Beth Anne Kington

Photo Cred: Beth Anne Kington

Photo Cred: Beth Anne Kington

Photo Cred: Beth Anne Kington

Photo Cred: Beth Anne Kington

Oh, and we also went to Derek's Psi Chi Induction.  Note the bow tie. :)

Also, this is what Tucker thinks about his gentle leader... he knows he's in trouble. lol  Photo Cred: Beth Anne Kington

Tampa Time

Tucker and I attended our last honors conference the week before Easter in Tampa, Florida.  He was a champ, as usual, and did much better with our 12 hour van ride than I anticipated. ;) 

I let Tucker off his leash in the van so he could move between the seats without getting stuck, and I'm pretty sure that meant he slept on everyone's feet at least once.  At one point, while we were discussing when the next stop might be, I said something about needing it to be around 5 so I could feed Tuck.  One of the girls asked if he would really know what time it was.  I laughed.  Sure enough, at 5:00 on the dot, Tucker came crawling under the bench seats to the front of the van and sat straight up beside me.  The internal clock of a hungry dog is quite amazing. ;) 

I served as a student representative for the SRHC (Southern Regional Honors Council) this past year, so Tucker and I had several meetings to attend during the weekend.  He did wonderfully at each of these, and during the presentations.  Despite the fact that I announced at the meeting last year in Little Rock that I would be training a Leader Dog for the Blind and the fact that his jacket says "puppy being raised for..." I was still asked by one of the professors on the council if I could see... and this was after we had been in meetings for the past day and a half.  It never ceases to amaze me.  Even so, we only had one real issue in Tampa: it was hot.  Tucker did so well with the heat in Arizona last semester that it didn't even occur to me what was wrong when he started begging to stick to the shadows on one of our walks.  Once I realized the pavement was too warm, we stuck to the shady parts and hurried back to the air conditioning of the hotel. 

GWU scheduled the Senior Pinning Ceremony for the Sunday we were supposed to be driving back from Tampa, so the majority of the seniors were allowed to take a van back early so we could make it in time.  This meant we had to drive half of the way Saturday evening and the rest of the way Sunday morning.  Late Saturday night, we were attempting to locate a hotel when the GPS took us to the middle of a wheat field.  There were no lights whatsoever.  One of my friends suggested we were about to be in a real life horror movie.  It was obvious, however, that she missed the mark a little.  We were clearly about to enter an episode of Scooby-Doo.  Think about it.  College kids, a big 15 passenger van, and a dog.  Scooby-Doo. 

Thankfully no masked villains jumped from the rows of wheat, and once we asked for directions in a McDonald's drive-thru, we were able to make it to the hotel without incident.  We made it back in time for Senior Pinning and Tucker did a lovely job there as well, sleeping through most of the ceremony and posing for pictures afterwards.

This past weekend was Easter break, so we went home to Hendersonville.  Tucker played hard with Mattie's puppy Kalli all weekend, except when I made him go shopping with me for a formal dress.  (He doesn't really enjoy shopping, and he has a nasty habit of creeping on the people in the dressing room next to me... )  Even so, he was very professional.  Monday morning, as we sat in the parking lot of the mall, I noticed that Tucker's bottom right canine tooth was chipped.  That night, after I returned to school, Tucker and I went to my friend Derek's house for a cookout.  Tucker played with his Australian Cattle Dog, Buddy, most of the evening (and went for a somewhat unplanned swim in the pool).  I thought everything was fine and dandy until the next morning when I let Tucker out of his crate.  Whereas he normally gets really excited and picks up "glow ball" to carry around the room while snorting, he picked it up and dropped it.  It was strange, but I didn't think much about it until it happened again after he ate.  He had eaten very delicately, which if you've ever seen a lab eat, doesn't happen very often, so when he dropped the toy for the second time, I decided to check his mouth.  To my astonishment, the top of his lower right canine was missing - I could see pulp.  Long story short, we went to the vet, they gave him antibiotics and pain killers, and then we went to Walmart to buy "broken tooth approved" toys (aka, soft rubber toys).

When we got home, I decided to let him have his "freezer toy" (a rubber toy filled with frozen dog food) because the vet said the cold might actually help numb the tooth.  Unfortunately, he was still hurting too badly, and refused to play with it.  Being me, I decided to try to put Orajel on his tooth.  I totally underestimated the speed with which his tongue would be able to take the gel off, and soon my couch and I were covered in dog drool.  Thankfully, once the pain meds really kicked in, he was at least able to lick at the freezer toy without hurting too badly.  In fact, the meds have made him really mellow, which is kind of amusing.  At least he doesn't seem to hurt as badly as before.

Despite his injury and the fact that his meds may have made him a bit loopy, we went to the YMCA today for an AX service project which had the theme of reading to pets (aka, Tucker).  We talked to the kids about Leader Dogs and then read them books about dogs, and finished up with a nice puppy petting session.  Tucker loved it and he was so very, very good.  The Y librarian was very impressed with his poise around so many small children who all wanted to hug his neck.  

Senior Pinning - Photo Cred: Mark Houser

Photo Cred: Beth Anne Kington

Okay, so let me just explain what's happening in this photo.  Tucker and I have the same routine every time we put his jacket on.  I tell him to wait, I drop the leash and step on it, and then I put his jacket on.  He stands perfectly still for this almost 100% of the time.  This day (as we were driving to Tampa) was not one of those days.  As I leaned over to put his jacket on, he lunged and pulled the leash from under my foot.  We were in a parking lot (as you can see) and my immediate fear was him getting loose or getting hit by a car, so I instinctively reached out to grab him.  As it turns out, I was slower than I thought, and instead of grabbing him by the scruff, I grabbed his tail.  So, before I really knew what was happening, I was hanging onto his tail pulling him back towards me.  Beth Anne, ever watchful, saw the whole thing and snapped my reaction to having pulled my puppy by the tail. :) 

Getting ready to go to the block party in our tie-dye.  Photo Cred: Beth Anne Kington

Photo Cred: Beth Anne Kington - Once again, Beth Anne realized what was happening before I did and snapped this lovely photo.  This is what Tucker thought about sitting in presentations all day.  :)

Photo Cred: Beth Anne Kington.  Well, I look ridiculous, but the puppy looks good!  Presenting "The Furry Side of Service Learning: Future Leader Dogs and the University."

"Now, what is the girl's condition?"

*Disclaimer - I wrote this blog in February but Blogger didn't actually post it... so none of this was recent.*

"Now, what is the girl's condition?"

She loves puppies, that's what. 

Yes indeed, this question was directed at my Provost several times over the weekend while he, my friend James, Tucker and I were attending the Emerging Issues Conference in Raleigh.  Apparently, several times when I left our table, people would lean over and ask Dr. Leslie and James what my "condition" might be.

I was constantly amazed at how many times this question was posed.  Not only were these supposedly highly intelligent people, but I'm pretty sure his jacket says "Puppy being raised for Leader Dogs for the Blind"...  Granted, the people at our table may not have been able to see the jacket, but I still feel like there are better ways to ask that question.

My other favorite moment of misunderstanding came when I took Tucker out for a walk one day.  We had gone a block or two from the convention center and as we were coming back, I decided to put his jacket on early instead of waiting until we got right next to the building.  As we began to cross the last street to the center, the driver of the car that was stopped at the red light looked at me, looked at Tucker, and popped his car into reverse, backing a good ten feet or so behind the crosswalk.  I guess he was afraid that the blind girl was going to run into his car?  I wonder what he thought Tucker's job was...

Regardless, the conference was good and Tucker was excellent.  He sat through endless hours of meetings and presentations and even helped me introduce one of the speakers.  We were accident free and he did a pretty good job walking around the city nicely during our free time, though he would get really excited when he saw grass.  I will say one thing, Raleigh doesn't make it easy to find a place for the puppy to go "park."  He was forced (though it is good for his training) to use the concrete sidewalk a time or two, and even a flowerbed once.  No one in the hotel gave me a hard time (kudos to you, Sheraton) and Tucker did pretty well with finding the room and the elevator. 

Per usual, however, he did have his moments, though they were always away from the public eye.  At one point I stepped out of the hotel room briefly (literally for a second or two) and when I opened the door, he wasn't waiting for me to return as I expected, but sitting atop the queen mattress with my shorts in his mouth. ;)  Little stinker. 

The last day of the conference, the students put on a flash mob.  Again, in typical Tucker fashion, he not only made it on a video recording of the flash mob, but is stretching, which makes it look like he's taking a bow.  :) 

As I was taking this picture, I heard some ladies behind me say, "Oh my gosh look at that puppy!  I can't believe he's just sitting there posing!"  :)

Presentations Galore

Tucker and I have been very busy the past few weeks.  He spent spring break with my parents while I was on a mission trip in Louisiana (oh, the stories they have to tell) and last week he "helped" me present my senior English/Honors thesis. 

For those readers who may not know, "thesis" is a big deal.  My English thesis was a joint project with my honors courses, so instead of being 25 pages, it was 40.  These 40 pages had to be condensed into a 20 minute presentation, which essentially means I had to reduce it down to 10 presentable pages.  I decided that I wanted to have Tucker come to the presentations, partially because I just enjoy showing him off and partially because he calms my nerves.  Knowing that sometimes puppies will be puppies, I planted a puppy-sitter in the crowd (thank you, Christy!) just in case he decided to act up while I was presenting.  He was doing alright sitting beside the podium until he saw my Mom move to take a picture.  As soon as he saw her, it was all over.  He stood up, wagged his tail, and got really excited.  Continuing to present, I leaned over, put him back in a down-stay, and kept going.  He then decided to jump up and bark.  I nodded to Christy who came up and took him from me and led him outside.  The rest of the presentation was fairly uneventful, and thankfully, my professors were all very understanding. 

The very next morning, Tucker and I hopped a plane to Baltimore, Maryland for the Super Regional Alpha Chi Conference.  As usual, he was a champ in the airport.  He did a great job at the security checkpoint, holding his sit-stay until I asked him to walk through the metal detector, and though he did get slightly distracted, he didn't make any noise as we passed by a very angry shih-tzu in one of the terminals.  When we (my classmates and professor) had all bought something for lunch, we returned to our terminal and I sat on the floor with Tucker to eat.  Although he thought he was starving to death (I don't give him breakfast when we fly) he never once tried to get my cheeseburger even though his head was resting on my foot and the cheeseburger was on my knee.  Jaws dropped as people passed and realized that a Labrador was sitting less than two feet away from food and not begging. :) 

Despite the fact that we told the travel agent we had a service dog in training with us, they failed to assign me to bulkhead seating.  Thankfully, on the way up, there was no one else in my row, so Tucker had plenty of room.  (The same cannot be said about the flight home - but more about that later.)

We arrived at the hotel mid-afternoon on Thursday and stayed through Sunday morning.  Tucker did a wonderful job throughout the conference.  When I gave my presentation (The Furry Side of Service-Learning: Future Leader Dogs and the University) he curled into a ball beside the podium and slept, which was a definite improvement from my last presentation. ;) 

Okay, now for the funny stories of what happens when people fail to use the brains God gave them:

Though we had emailed back and forth with one of the hotel managers, the hotel staff seemed completely shocked when we walked in with Tucker.  Dr. Hobbs had to explain the whole situation to them again, and one of the managers said he had a few questions for me.  The strange thing was that when he walked over to ask said "questions," all he wanted to know was if we had arranged for Tucker beforehand (he had just asked Dr. Hobbs this question, so I think he was hoping to catch us in a lie or trip me up or something).  When I told him we had, and let him know that I had an ID and health certificate, he immediately became very apologetic and said everything was fine. 

Thinking we had settled all the puppy confusion, I was very surprised when I was stopped again that night by hotel security.  Around 11pm or so, my friend James and I decided to take Tuck out to park.  As we walked through the lobby, I could tell the night shift was keeping a close watch on me, but I didn't realize that they hadn't heard about Tuck.  When we came back inside, a very large and intimidating man with a Russian accent stopped me.  Our conversation went something like this (don't forget to insert your best Russian accent):  "What is about the puppy?"  .... "What?"   "What is about the puppy?"  .... "Do you mean why do I have him?"  "Yes."  "He's a future Leader Dog for the Blind.  I'm his puppy raiser and he goes everywhere with me."  "You have documentation?"  "What?"  "You have documentation?"  "If you mean his ID and health certificate, then yes, but it's up in the room.   I can go get it if you want, but when I checked in earlier they said it was fine and didn't want it."  "Oh, okay, sorry for confusion."  He then motioned to one of the men working the check in desk who very sheepishly nodded - apparently he was the one who wanted me to be questioned but was too afraid to do it himself. 

The next morning when I took Tucker out to park, the morning shift gave me strange looks as I walked through the lobby.  When I came back in, I was just thinking that if I had to explain myself to another security agent I was going to let somebody have it when one of the employees I had met during check in came up to me.  She said, "I'm sorry if you had some trouble last night."  My first thought - how did you know I had trouble last night?  She continued, "I saw what was going on and I figured I might have to step in at some point."  Keep in mind that she's telling me this at roughly 6:30 am.  I am tired - ergo, not a happy camper - and it was all I could do not to say, "You mean you saw the entire thing, knew exactly what was going on, and still refused to come save me from that lengthy and awkward exchange?"  I told her everything was fine but that I hoped everyone knew about us now so we could avoid going through that again. 

The fun and games continued as I sat in the conference room waiting for my presentation to begin.  One of the judges came into the room and began greeting the presenters.  When she came to me, she looked at Tucker, looked at me, and said, "Will you be okay getting to the podium?"  Tucker was positioned such a way that it was very easy to read his vest, which says, "puppy being RAISED for Leader Dogs for the Blind."  Again, I curbed my sarcasm and simply replied with, "Yes, ma'am I'll be fine."  Then she pulled my certificate out of the folder to give to me.  Again, she looked at Tucker, and then proceeded to rub her hand across my certificate, apparently looking for braille.  Finding none, she just stood there until I reached out and took it.  The look on her face leads me to believe that it wasn't until that moment that she realized I could actually see her. :) 

That afternoon, we decided to visit an old cemetery (Dr. Hobbs, our professor, studies gravestones as a hobby).  As soon as we got out of the cab, I saw the "NO PETS" sign.  I really didn't want to deal with angry cemetery personnel, so I parked Tucker outside the cemetery, put on his jacket, and walked in, keeping my gaze straight ahead.  Dr. Hobb's stepped inside the office to get maps, and when she returned, she said they had immediately told her the dog wasn't welcome, but that she explained he was a Leader Dog (she has a habit of accidentally leaving the "future" part off of that one).  About that time, I saw the woman appear at the window of the office, and she was looking straight at me.  Realizing I was being watched, and feeling slightly peckish, I decided to refrain from making eye contact with any of my peers, and whispered to them not to hand me anything to read.  The woman either temporarily bought it, or just came to terms with the idea of Tucker, and finally left the window.  After we had been walking through the cemetery for about half an hour or so, we inadvertently regrouped and stood talking on a pathway.  Tucker, angry that I was making him behave and wear his jacket in an outdoor setting, had already earned himself an afternoon in the gentle leader collar, and was NOT happy with me.  He flopped (yes, flopped) down onto the pavement, and did his best pitiful puppy impression.  Dr. Hobbs immediately asked me if he was alright, and although I tried to assure her that he was just being dramatic, my classmates weren't quite buying it.  Several of them asked if he needed water and even though I tried to tell them he didn't want it, I went ahead and gave it a try just to show them he was okay.  Each of them poured some of their water into the bowl I had and I put it down next to his head.  He barely lifted his head, looked at the bowl, and then flopped back down on the pavement with a sigh.  Laughter ensued and I made sure to point out that I did try to tell them that would be his reaction.  Not wanting to completely waste the water but having nowhere to store it, I lifted his lip and poured it into his mouth.  This brought on more hysterical laughter as he (head still sideways on the ground) tried to lazily lick up the water.  The group then decided to visit the Booth family monument (yes, John Wilkes Booth).  Tucker and I had already been by this monument with our friend Amy, so about halfway there, I spotted a nice shady spot and told them just to pick us up on their way back.  After a few lazy minutes under the shade of the tree, Tucker was back to his usual antics and all was well with the world. :) 

The next day, we again visited a cemetery, but this time to see the grave of Edgar Allen Poe.  My thesis involved comparing the relationship between Poe's detective stories and contemporary detective fiction, so this was a must see for me.  It was a rainy day, but it was still a fun outing (though Tucker did require a few minutes with the hairdryer when we got back to the room).  We ate lunch after that and then Tucker and I went back to the hotel to avoid getting any wetter than we already were.  For dinner, we went to a nice seafood place and Tucker slept like a rock under the table. In fact, one time he slid out from under the table, stretched, and then put himself right back under my chair. :) 

Sunday's plane ride was not quite as enjoyable as Thursdays.  Tucker still did a great job going through security (and ignoring another small dog), but we discovered that not only were we not in bulkhead again, but we were in the middle seat of a three person row in the "butt" of the plane.  I had a larger older gentleman on my left and good-sized younger woman on my right.  Oh, and did I mention that this plane was even smaller than the first?  Thankfully, Tucker did really well and stayed curled tightly at my feet for the majority of the flight.  We hit pretty steady turbulence for a while, and though he wasn't thrilled about it, Tucker also did a great job of handling it. 

So, overall, I'd say the weekend was a great success - the conference was fun, the people I was with were great, and my puppy was well behaved and didn't have any accidents in the airports or hotel!   

Being pitiful in the cemetery.

Posing at the end of the conference.

Presenting was hard work... so we took a nap. ;)

The plane ride home (before the other passengers boarded).

Visiting the grave of Edgar Allen Poe.

Toads and Great Danes and Blood Drives, oh my!

As the title might imply, Tucker had a marvelous encounter with toads a few nights back.  I was walking by the "boiling spring" with some friends and he spotted one on the sidewalk.  After following it as it hopped for a few steps, he decided to taste it.  He picked it up, Uncle Derek popped his head and he dropped it, and then he licked his lips and looked down at it as if to say, "Ewwwwww."  Then he slapped it.  Let's just say it was one angry toad.  We proceeded to the "boiling spring" and Tucker got to listen to the toads sing, which warranted several intense head tilts. :)  He continued to try to "taste" frogs, though he decided every time that they were icky. 

My friend Kara had her Great Dane in town this week, so Tucker got to play with her, which he thoroughly enjoyed.  We finally figured out that we can close all the gates to the baseball field across the street, so they actually had room to romp around safely.  They had such a good time, and it was so amusing to watch a lanky 10 month old puppy goof around with a big ole Great Dane. 

Yesterday I did something I never thought I'd do - I gave blood!  One of our associate provosts passed away on Tuesday, and while the blood drive was originally scheduled to help defray the costs of her blood transfusions, they chose to continue to hold it in her honor.  Before I came to GWU, Dr. Price was part of the English department.  So, even though I didn't know her terribly well, I felt like I should go to support my English professors who were mourning.  I took Tucker with me as moral support (I'm terrified of needles) and while I assumed that it would be no problem passing him off to a friend when my turn came, Tucker had other ideas.  He refused to settle down, and it got to the point that as I was lying on the chair trying not to pass out I had to get someone to call my old roommate to come get him.  I don't know if he was just bored or if he really thought something was wrong with me, but whatever the reason, he was NOT a happy camper.  (Thankfully, most of the faculty and staff in the waiting area seemed to believe he was just upset about me and were willing to let the bad behavior slide.)

On a better note, Tucker was really good for me last weekend when my friend Suz and I went out to Outback.  So good, in fact, that the waiter didn't even know he was under the table until we got up to leave!  (Also, when we walked in the bus boy said, "It's Tucker!"  He is apparently a student at GWU, but it was still fun to have someone off campus recognize him. :) The couple across the aisle from us also recognized him from church, and asked a lot of questions about his training.)

As I believe I have mentioned on this blog before, not everyone loves Tucker (hard to believe, I know).  However, I discovered Tuesday the one thing that makes everyone want to be friends with the future Leader Dog... armed robbery!  We had an armed robbery on campus Tuesday night, and although the police department was on scene almost immediatley, they were unable to apprehend the subjects.  So, everyone wanted a guard dog. :)  Obviously, Tucker is in no way aggressive, yet, enough people have jumped at the sight of him on campus, that we were willing to bet he would be a nice deterent.  Unfortunately, the feelings of anxiety flowing through campus apparently made Tucker feel a little on edge too, and when I took him out to pee at about 11:45, he saw a shadow, and decided to let loose with the most ferocious string of barks you've ever heard.  My GRD threw open the door to her apartment thinking Tucker had located the fugitives, and several people in the dorm apparently had similar reactions.  :) 

This pic is from last week, but this is pretty much what we look like right now.  Enjoy. :)