Continued from the previous page, because there are so many sweet pictures of these girls! These photos were taken in our house and yard during 2020 while we did a lot of sheltering in place.

PLAYING & TRAINING

Holly, age 3, is usually the one who instigates any play indoors or out. Don (18 months) doesn't stay engaged long and Casey, getting a little older at 8, usually ignores the "kids" except when she's teasing them with a ball.

I showed some photos of Don and Holly sharing a ball on the previous page. Here are some more pics of them playing:

Holly on left, so happy when Don will play with her  (1-29-20)

Holly's playing solitaire with the red tug toy because Don's 
not responding to her hints to play! He can be a party-pooper.  (9-4-20)

Holly and her favorite stuffed puppy that she mouths; that's hers alone (Don would destroy it).

 Neither the yellow ball nor the blue "octopus" lasted very long as tug toys!
I threw them away after several surgeries. (7-13-20)

The two rope toys and red Kong tug are still in service.  Don left, Holly right.  (7-25-20)

Holly's imploring me to throw one of the outdoor toys for her to chase (before she was on
restricted activity for elbow dysplasia and removal of a bone fragment).  (4-3-20)

The sturdy blue Jolly Ball is fun both inside and out.  Don on left, Holly on right,
with about a 20-pound difference in weight between them now.  (6-4-20)

When Don was in guide dog training from September, 2019 to April, 2020 the girls often watched and learned the same cues and words for them (some of the names were different from their pet puppy training).

Here they are all in a "down stay" and watching me for their next cue:

In the next photo (L-R) Don, Casey, and Holly are patiently waiting until they get the signal to eat their afternoon meal:

One of their favorite cues is what I call the "Wait Game," where they sit or lie down and have to leave a few treats alone until I give them the cue to eat them.

I usually use kibble or dog treats (next photo), but occasionally I'll use people food they like, such as the chunks of watermelon in the second picture below:

 

I can put kibble or treats on Holly's and Don's paws while they "leave it." They will usually look at me until they get the "take it" cue, and they easily wait for a minute or more without even looking at the treats. They have excellent impulse control for young Labs.

Casey is much more impulsive. She won't let me put treats on her paws. She usually stares at the treats while she's waiting and will sometimes grab them before I say "take it." The look on her face in the next picture is typical of her! I highlighted the treats on the bed:

CHILLING OUT

All three of the dogs know how to relax! Here are some photos of them at rest:

Above and below:  Holly chillin' in her recliner and on a doggie couch  (July, 2020)

We have the same soft, thick comforters on both the master king bed and guest queen bed.

The dogs love the comforters as much as Jim and I do! Casey even snuggled up in the smaller one when it was on the way to the washing machine one day:

 

Holly napping on the guest bed; we usually have a sheet, fleece throw, or
blanket on top of the comforters when the dogs are up there.  (2-21-20)

Holly and Casey are on the left. Getting on beds was a new pet perk for Don after we adopted him; 
he wasn't allowed on any furniture while he was in guide dog training.  (4-19-20)

DRESS-UP

Before we got Don we occasionally put bandanas on the girls when they went on our local Hounds About Town training walks but I was inspired to make a bunch of bow ties for Don when I saw other SEGD puppy raisers posting pictures of their pups in bows (the girls) and bow ties (the boys).

When I purchased some of the designs for Don's bow ties, I got enough fabric for bandanas for our girls -- and for a few face masks for me. Here's the collection of bow ties and bandanas so far:

Two small double bows, two paisley bandanas, and the
Hounds Around Town bandanas were purchased; I made everything else.

Holly naps next to one of Don's bow ties and a face mask for me.  (4-15-20)

Here are some other photos of Casey and Holly in various bandanas, including an SEGD Walkathon award:

Holly-Holly models one of the two Walkathon bandanas.  (7-30-20)

Above and below:  pretty Casey-Girl on her 8th birthday  (8-15-20)

 

Casey stands by 40 bales of pine straw we got in May.
(We got another 40 bales delivered after that load.)

Casey (L) and Holly pose nicely for a Labor Day photo shoot in the back yard.  (9-7-20)

Holiday photo shoot with Casey and Holly (above) and
Don, Casey, and Holly (below) in their holly print accessories. (12-25-20)

All three dogs tolerated my photo shoots with them wearing the lion's mane I purchased before Halloween. Here are the girls:

Holly as Lion Princess (Casey in background)

Above and below:   Casey as Lion Queen

I love that lion's mane on all three dogs!

DOG BOOKS I READ IN 2020

I don't believe I've mentioned this yet in the web journal, just on Facebook. I heard of several good books about working dogs this summer. Jim got them on Kindle so I could read them on my phone.

Forward Together is an interesting book written by SEGD Regional Manager Christie Bane with details about advanced guide dog training. I wish it had been available before Don was released from the program. It wouldn't have changed how I did his basic training but I would have more fully understood the significance of some of the cues and protocols as I was teaching him.

Thunder Dog is the true story of a yellow Lab trained at Guide Dogs for the Blind who safely guided his visually handicapped handler down from the 77th floor of the World Trade Center's north tower just before it collapsed on 9-11.

No Ordinary Dog is the true story of a U.S. Navy SEAL team member who participated with his military working dog, a Belgian Malinois, in hundreds of missions against terrorism, including the top-secret Bin Laden raid in Pakistan in 2011.

  

A Dog Called Hope is the heartwarming account of a severely wounded special forces warrior who finally found hope with a black Lab service dog who was trained by another veteran at Canine Companions for Independence. This was my favorite of these four books, partly because of the information included about the puppy raiser and how much this dog impacted his life, too.

I also started a book recommended at PuppyCon in February, Animals in Transition. It's a very detailed book about how animals think, act, and feel. I have it in paperback and still haven't finished it. It's like a textbook, not an easy read.

THAT'S A WRAP FOR 2020!

In most respects we'd just as soon forget this year. The COVID-19 pandemic changed life as everyone around the globe knew it, and 2021 is going to start out the same way.

Fortunately, there are two vaccines that have been approved in the U.S. to provide about 95% immunity against the virus, so there is some hope that life might return to some semblance of normal when enough people get vaccinated.

Unfortunately, distribution is slow, only a few people have been vaccinated so far, and there are the anti-vax people who refuse to get the shots. Worse, the virus is mutating already and no one knows how effective the original vaccines will be against the new variants.

It's a deadly game of wait and see how long it takes for the world to get herd immunity against this insidious virus. It won't be long before half a million Americans have died from it.

Stay tuned for the 2021 journal . . .

Happy trails,

Sue
"Runtrails & Company" - Sue Norwood, Jim O'Neil, Casey-Girl, Holly-Holly, & Dapper Don

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© 2020 Sue Norwood and Jim O'Neil