Quampapetet

I love all the photos! Such sweet boys and girls.

 

Dog collars. Ha ha - I already have two and I don't have my dog yet. ;) Love the diamonte collar.

 

The organization I volunteer for makes Martingale collars to raise funds. I have two Disney ones. We are making a bunch of Disney Cruise ones right now.

 

I just got a sewing machine so I can learn to help make them. Gotta have styling dogs, right?

Caution: dog collars are addictive!!! I can't even begin to count how many my girl has had over the years! :o Nothing will be different with my new puppy, either! ;)

If you don't want to be an addict, stay off Etsy and online pet shops like Muttropolis!!

At the last minute in Panama, our friend wanted to do a land tour with Bill. We hadn't planned to get off the ship, so the ship's rep didn't get Pedro cleared. I stayed on board with him while the men went on tour. That is when the drink incident happened, and also when that annoying man was bothering us. It all worked out in the end.

 

The security staff didn't have their act together in Costa Rica or Jamaica...and we had to correct them, but that was minor. All in all, things went smoothly...but next time, we may bring a square of sod with us.

 

Ah, gotcha. I was trying to figure out why I got confused and thought it was your husband's! Just remember that the dog doesn't have access in public when not with your husband - it might be different on a cruise ship due to the circumstances, but in the States only your husband has the right to have the dog with him.

Which security staff do you mean and what was the issue?

I would recommend artificial K-9 grass, as you could get into issues trying to bring live plants onboard the ship.

I got her a red collar with diamanté (the DH is going to have a fit!) just for the occasion! And a new toy, which no doubt will last about 5 minutes! You will have a photo!

The collar sounds great! I am looking on Etsy for a birthday collar for my puppy's first birthday (not until June), but probably won't be getting any bling. Aruba is a lucky pup!! I am planning on being there with my pup for her first birthday! :)

TIME ZONES.......not my favorite thing to deal with. And, when we have to change the clocks......DON'T ASK!!!

 

Amazing, how you all know me so well!!!! :rolleyes::mad:

Clocks change this weekend! Don't stress!! ;)

They told me that this spot was the only place they could put his potty box. It's not that inconvenient. It's right by the secret doors.

 

Pedro loved the canal today. He is currently sleeping next to me. Today after trivia, which we won, his leash got tangled as I was grabbing my cane, and a drink fell over and spilled on him. Then the glass fell on him and he let out a little yelp. He got skittish, so I quickly got him out of there. There was also a man who approached him from behind me and he let out a bark, which is totally out of character for him. Then the man kept egging him on, which annoyed me... So, I tried to keep Pedro away from him as best as I could. This was the first person on board that he did not like. I kept Pedro on my lap for the rest of trivia. Waiting for Bill to get back from his tour.

 

Tomorrow is our private tour in Limon, Costa Rica. Will report back then.

 

Cindra

I thought the dog was for your husband? I am confused!

I hope your pup is okay after the drink accident!

Well, it's finally warm today. We've been in South Florida for a few weeks in our tiny RV escaping the cold, (we thought.) Had some very frigid nights,even below freezing, but we've stayed warm and cozy.

 

Have been working at keeping up with all the black dog hair everywere inside. I keep laughing when thinking what Cindy said, that she and John joke they probably have hairballs from ingesting it, breathing it...it's EVERYWHERE.

 

I told Raylene this morning I might look into shaving her before our next RV trip. (She knew I was kidding.) Tomorrow we may take her to see the Manatees at Homosassa Springs.

So glad my dog's have hair instead of fur!! :D I could never deal with dog hair everywhere, over everything, etc. It is bad enough when my older girl is losing her hair from the chemo, but I think even that is not comparable to dog fur!

Glad you're having better weather!

Cruise was great! Everything went well. Except they left the potty box grass in a plastic bag in the middle of the box. Duh! Did they think it would jump out of the bag and spread itself out? So stupid me spreads it out herself. I was so dirty I had to go back and shower. Everything else was great.

Must've been that rare Mexican Jumping Grass!

You know how I feel about dogs......these shows encourage the wrong kind of caring as far as I'm concerned. My mind and heart always goes to the adorable and lonely dogs who sit in shelters looking for someone to love and adore them! Off my soapbox.

 

I wish ALL dogs could be loved and spoiled! If I had the land, I'd adopt them all and be known as the "crazy dog lady!"

Show dogs aren't loved any less than other dogs. Show dogs are imperative for keeping every breed going correctly - you don't want to be breeding poorly-bred dogs to each other or you will ruin the offspring and cause major health problems and issues, which in turn will ruin the breed generation after generation. Good service dogs come from well-bred dogs, especially show dog champions.

Don't give in to the myth about shelter over-population, either. Shelter dogs (and cats) make good pets, but so do well-bred dogs. I get dogs from long lines of show champions as my service dogs (never use a backyard breeder or puppy mill - only hobby breeders who show and champion their dogs out of love for the breed and breed to better it!), but I also would do the same if I was just getting a pet.

A Portuguese Water Dog is the Working Group winner at the Westminster Dog Show. :)

I saw that! He is a famous show Portie, winning over 200 times! Too bad he didn't win the whole show.

Adorable. My next Service Dog will definitely be some type of allergy resistant dog. I'll be too old to put up with all the suffering that my allergies cause from my amazingly, wonderful Lab.

 

But, I can NEVER see my life without a Service Dog in it.

A Poodle, perhaps? Mini or standard?

I know exactly what you're saying. CCI didn't even have to ask what I was going to do with Brenda when I applied for a Successor Dog. They knew I would NEVER part with her!

They are part of us!

Ah yes Quam - thanks for clarifying the US time zones! It wouldn't do to get Aunty Roz all confussed now would it! LOL! ;)

 

And I'm glad your new girl is a cuddler .... :D

 

Just watched the news and they're saying Boston having snowiest month in the city's history! Yikes! Over 2000 flights cancelled ...they'd better stay in sunny Florida! :D

Nope, can't be confusing anyone, even Roz! I mean, especially Roz ... yeah, that's what I meant! ;) :p

I am glad my pup is a cuddler, too!!

I hear Florida is not too warm right now, either....

Reminder: Coral Princess - 4pm US time - from Port Everglades! :). It will be about 9pm here in the UK.

That's Eastern Time, to clarify. The US has four different time zones. It can make calling from one coast to the other a bit confusing!

I'm worrying about Cindy, John and Wexler getting off their ship (today, right?) and having to fly back to Boston. Wonder if the airport is open after the latest blizzard.

They're probably hoping to get stuck in the warm weather instead of the feet of snow and sub-zero temperatures! :p

She's so cute - I could cuddle her from here! :D

She does like to cuddle, too; the day I flew home, I spent about a half-hour cuddling her to say goodbye! :D

Here's a pic of the curly head hair (topknot)! She got a haircut later that week. She is playing with her Pluto toy in this pic.

Just a point of information (for Cindra for future reference), did you know you can type info into the form 7001 yourself, print it out and take it to the vet? The USDA has a PDF online you can save to yor own computer, with fill-in blanks.

 

Saves time since the USDA certified vet just checks the info (vaccine number etc) against the records you bring, then signs the form.

Interesting! My vet still fills it out by hand with a pen, so I didn't know about the computer version. I bet those who have to read them prefer that over vet (doctor) handwriting! I will be going to a different vet place when my puppy comes home to me, so it will be interesting to see how they do it. (I haven't found the new vet yet, as I might be living in a different area of the state soon.)

Thanks for the info.!

Beautiful dogs!

 

I wish CCI would open up their breeding program to more allergy resistant dogs, other than Labs. They're amazing dogs but their hair is insidious for allergies. Lab hair can find it's way into places that will shock and surprise you!!!! :eek:

Yeah, it is REALLY nice not having to deal with dog fur everywhere!!!!!!! I don't think I could handle that.

Quam, will you be able to keep your retired girl with you or she live in a retirement home with other senior dogs?

You couldn't pry my girl from me if you killed me!!!! :p She is mine until the end. ❤

It certainly was a pleasure - Portugese Water Dogs - they are so beautiful and I imagine their coat is so soft and snuggly? It's amazing the different breeds - before I started this journey, I just thought black or yellow labs. How wrong was I!

Their hair is pretty soft, yes, and definitely snuggly! Both mine have wavy hair, but the breed can also come in curly hair. The puppy actually gets pretty curly on top of her head when her hair is long - it is pretty cute!

Yes, there are lots of breeds, large and small, used for service dog work! Such a wonderful thing!

That's interesting about the potty van - who would know!

The only way I knew was I heard about it from another handler, who only knew about it because they happened to automatically be at her gate one time. I think IAADP should make an announcement about it to members.

It will be a transition for you - how old will your new pup be when she comes to work with you?

Yes, it definitely will be quite the transition! Even just working her with basic commands and a few tasks I called her the wrong name a few times. And one of the task commands has changed ("stair" instead of "step" to go down to the next few stairs, as I need help with going down stairs), so I have to remember that. Working with a different dog will be quite the change, as will going back to having an energetic young dog (but at least this one loves to play fetch). The puppy is also going to have a big transition from the trainer to me, which I didn't go through last time because my trainer lived close enough for my girl to live at home with me during the training process.

I am not sure how long the training will take - it partly depends on how long it will take her to learn certain tasks as well as how long it takes for her to finish growing for the mobility harness sizing and training. I am looking to seeing her again in June for her first birthday ... and I am going to order a doggy birthday cake! :D

How is your big girl doing - keeping well I trust. :) I know exactly what you mean about how short a time we have with our four legged pals, it's not nearly long enough is it?

She is doing well, all her blood work on Friday was good. There was one treatment we couldn't do while away because our vet there ordered the drug, but the pharmacy didn't receive it in time. I gave her the oral back-up treatment instead and we started where we left off this past Friday.

I wish dogs lived at least twice as long as they do!

Oh, and when I had a layover in the Atlanta airport, I used their service dog potty van service. I would definitely not recommend it if you have a short layover, as it took twenty minutes just for the van driver to come to the gate of my inbound flight and then it was a long drive to the potty area (just some grass on the side of the road), but the plus is he drives you right to your outgoing flight gate! There are elevators or stairs to use, depending on your abilities, and I needed the elevators. The vehicle was a regular van, and I don't believe there was a wheelchair lift/ramp in the back (but I could be wrong, since I didn't go behind the vehicle). It also really needed a good vacuuming of all the dog fur on the floor (so gross!). The driver was nice and helped with my carry-ons, which was nice.

If you want to use the service, I recommend you ask one of the guys who push airport wheelchairs for passengers. They will make a phone call. I don't know if you can talk to someone in advance to request it or not, as doing that might eliminate the long wait for the van. The airline must give him a list of all service dogs (and possibly emotional support dogs) and their flight information, as he had a long list print-out that included my name and gate info. I had to sign something before he took us out. We went out through a gate door and onto the elevator just inside of said door. When we got off the elevator, we went outside onto the tarmac where the van was parked a few steps away. It was pretty interesting driving on the tarmac, dodging planes and luggage vehicles and other stuff! When we got to my outbound gate (actually, a gate a few gates away due to there only being an elevator at certain gates - if you can do stairs, you can do any gate), we went inside to an elevator and exited through a gate door into the terminal. He would have walked me to my gate, but I needed to make a pit stop of my own, so said goodbye to him near the bathrooms. I did be sure to give him a tip!

So, it does take a while (not something for those quick 45-minute layovers), but you don't have to go on the trains between terminals or walk between far gates, so that's a big plus!

A cell phone photo for your viewing pleasure. :D

Well, I'm home from my long trip that went by too fast! The last several days of my trip were spent where my trainer lives so I could spend some time with my puppy in training. It was wonderful! And boy has she grown!! She is seven months old and nearly as tall as my current service dog (who is now starting the retiring process). Interestingly, her black color has a brownish tint to it compared with the black on my current service dog, but you really only notice it if they are right near each other or if my puppy is in a sunbeam. I have decided that I will get her mobility harness made in black leather (as opposed to off-white and tan like my current service dog's harness, or any other brown shade they are made in).

I got to work with my puppy on basic commands and a few tasks, plus joined my trainer and her in public. I got to have a good, long snuggle with my puppy on my last day, too.

It was a good trip, but bittersweet knowing it was my current service dog's last one. She showed me on the trip that she is ready to retire now, though. I love this girl and really wished dogs' lives were a lot longer!!!!

Quam, you would be surprised how many people stopped to watch wex potty and to take pics. Like they had never seen a dog poop before.:eek:

 

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That's crazy! As far as I know, nobody has photographed my girl while she was pottying on any of our trips, including cruises, and most people who want to take a photo at other times ask first.

When Morey was in the hospital I brought Brenda and Horton to visit him and some moron brought an "in tact" pit bull to visit someone else. That dog would have killed one of my babies if the jerk didn't have him on a "CHAIN", NOT a leash, rope or any other tether but a CHAIN that you'd close a steel fence with. I left my dogs in with Morey, closed the door, walked down the hall and told the guy that if he didn't remove his dog I was going to call the police. He didn't say a word and walked out the door and the next time I saw the dog it was in his truck with the windows rolled-up!

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I have seen a dog on such a chain before, in the pet store. It is apparently some status symbol thing. I think it looks stupid.