Catching up!

Hi all, I'm sorry its been so long since and update. I've been out of town a lot, which means Jethro goes to a sitter! being at a sitter is a really good thing for guide dogs in training. they learn to cope with transition, they learn that rules are the same wherever they go and they learn that there is a whole other scary world out there to cope with. Jethro can use all of that! he just turned 6 months old and is starting adolescence. I hate teen age boys!!

Jethro went to visit a puppy raiser in Austin who has some great experience not only with guide dogs, she is raising her 4th, but also with German Shepherds. She also has a crazy menagerie of all kinds of critters, including a cat named Buddy, who shall we say is "special". Jethro LOVES Buddy! he loves Phantom, http://phantomstales.blogspot.com/ their guide dog in training and Floyd, their therapy dog, and he even probably likes Lila the dachshund (although she barely tolerates him). There is Cassidy, the shepherd too. not too mention the giant turtle and all the other cats and a huge bird! Jethro didn't know what he was in for!! By the time i picked him up, he was used to all of it and happy as a clam. Even if he Sharon was ready to kill him for throwing a hissy fit in her office!! bad puppy!! no bark!!

After the first round of puppy sitting we had Jethro home long enough to take care of some necessary business. we had him neutered! He was pretty good about the whole thing, he whined some, and was a little groggy from the anesthesia but overall he bounced back pretty good. And even though he was required to wear the cone of shame (SQUIRREL) because he refused to leave his stitches alone, he flew around the house like nothing was the matter. he didn't care that he pounded the back of our legs with the evil cone, or knocked stuff off the coffee table, or moved furniture or sliced the back of my ankle. he was perfectly happy with the cone!

Right at the end of his confinement we sent him back to Austins so i could go on another trip. He loves going to Sharon's and he got to swim in the baby pool, he really thinks hes a lab, and check in with all his pals and Buddy his favorite cat. He really doesn't understand why the cat at home doesn't like him as much as Buddy does!

We are all back to normal now and he is fully recovered and we are back to training all over town. his work is really coming along nicely even though he is still so young. its really hard to think of him as a young pup. last week he weighed 64 whopping pounds!! he now is the biggest dog in our house, and the youngest! he's a full 2 inches taller then ruby!!

The hard work begins now. we need to start teaching some of the finer work, so off we go for a new adventure!