Puppy New Year!

Here's to ringing in the New Year with your best pals! Our wishes for a happy and healthy 2010 to all of our friends!

Rubber Chicken In A Bikini

I can't not devote a post to Christmas 09's favorite toy. Scrambled to get your paws on a Zhu Zhu Pet? So sorry. You missed the boat. WE have Rubber Chicken In A Bikini. An instant favorite.



The attention to detail, quality, and sheer glamour of this gal is insane. This is one ridiculously first-rate Rubber Chicken In A Bikini.



But don't be fooled by her jaunty swimwear and impeccable pedicure. She's a bad egg. No matter how my little Ruby innocently gnaws, the whole thing plays out like a lurid chapter in a dime store novel.







Complete with accomplice.



Three times have I run frantically through the house toward the sound of screaming bloody murder...only to find it was Rubber Chicken In A Bikini.



Set us back $2.98. Worth every penny.

Happy Holidays! Love, Ruby & Spock

Finishing Touches

Trip To The Salon

I love taking Ruby out in public. It's fun and challenging, we both learn something new each time, and I get to meet and speak with a lot of people. But as I mentally plan our outings, a few fill me with utter dread. Right smack up there at the top of the Terrifying List – the trip to the salon.

What? Getting a haircut, you say? Seems easy enough, no? Think about it for a minute. Imagine the potential horror show of a puppy in a beauty salon. I don't mean those dainty little furballs tucked in the armpits of starlets and socialites. I'm talking about handling forty pounds of adolescent Lab while I'm wrapped in that plastic poncho which might as well be a straitjacket, inches away from people who really REALLY care about INDIVIDUAL STRANDS when they get their hair cut. Look, if you had Edward's scissorhands flying around your head, would you want Tigger at the next chair?

I enjoy avoiding disaster when I can. And I've mentioned before, the best advice for raising service puppies is, "Set them up for success." This goes for raisers, too. I don't want my nerves bouncing down the leash. Ruby has been a handful lately, so I knew that we were not quite ready for the overwhelming atmosphere of one of those large and busy chain salons. Luckily, my stylist, Selma, recently took space at a new salon with individual rooms. When I made my appointment, Selma very kindly asked if I would like to bring Ruby before I could even suggest it. Selma is an animal lover and a saint.

When we entered the salon, Ruby tried to pull me down the hallway. We're working on this, so each time she'd pull, I'd stop. But as soon as I'd stop, she'd poke her snoot into a room. She startled a woman getting highlights; we quickly moved on.

We were a little early, so as we waited, Nosy caught the show in the room across the way.



When Selma was ready for us, Ruby got overly excited and started jumping around as I expected. Selma knew not to pet Ruby and she gave her a chance to investigate the room. Even though it was private and we closed the door, Ruby found everything inside fascinating.

As I sat down and Selma and I chatted about my cut, my chair slowly started to spin on its own and made a full circle; Ruby, of course, had crawled underneath to explore and taken me for a ride.



(I'm not sure what she's looking at here, but it might be a poor, defenseless lock of hair.)

Yep, she scarfed down some hair. As soon as we caught her doing that, Selma swept the hair aside. Ruby chased the broom. That's when Ruby was relegated to the other half of the room. At first she was indignant at being out of reach of the excitement, but eventually she calmed. Very, very proud of her for being able to settle herself at a distance from me.



(Not thrilled with the magazine selection, guess she's an Angelina fan.)

With Ruby finally chilled out, we got in the swing of things...then the UPS guy knocked at the door. I silently (mostly) swore at his timing, then hopped out of the chair and prepared for the worst. But when Selma opened the door, neither Ruby nor the UPS guy paid the other much attention. After he left and I sat back down, I glanced over and noticed Ruby nibbling at the package. I told her to leave it; she did.



Ruby's at my feet while I blow dry my hair every morning, so I think she found the sound familiar and comforting. When we got to that part, she just sat there eyeballing me. Maybe she was just enjoying how ridiculous I looked.



Thanks to Selma's infinite patience and good humor, the outing was a success. And I got a fantastic haircut! At the end, I tried to get Ruby to stay still for a second so I could get a shot of the two of them. Ruby cooperated...



for a second.

OK, Wrapping's Done

Holiday Shopping

While we were in that furniture store, we happened upon some dog beds. I thought the Broncos one would be cute for watching the games with dad (even though he's a Jets fan), but Ruby had other ideas.



A dog who knows what she wants. How could I refuse this face?



She got comfortable...



and stayed that way.



So, we bought Ruby the bed that she had picked out.



However...the bed smells AWFUL! It was wrapped in plastic so we couldn't tell, but when we got it home, the chemical smell of the foam was strangulating. We thought airing it outside would help, but no luck. Don't be disappointed, Roo. Santa knows you've been a very good girl and his sleigh just might make an extra stop in Maine on his way to our chimney...

Sal

Ruby Relaxes as Light Dances

Oh, The Injustice

Where Ruby is allowed to go:



Where Kiva is allowed to go:



Ruby insists this is downright unfair.

I've tried to explain things to her. "Look, lovie, sometimes you are allowed places that she can't go, and she is allowed places that you can't go." But there's just no reasoning with puppies.

Lunch: The Abbreviated Version

It started out serenely enough, like this...



and this...



until this...



inexplicably hurled itself off the table.

Sometimes, when they're twitching in their sleep, little yellow puppies are having riotous dreams that the heavens open up and big, buttery, chicken pastry meteors crash into their worlds.

Sometimes, dreams come true!

Looks like we'll be needing a little more work on "leave it."

All In The Family

A few weeks ago, a friend in the service dog world sent me a link to a fantastic video. She knew I'd be very interested for two reasons. One is that Ricochet (aka Rip Curl Ricki) is a truly amazing golden retriever who was to be a service dog, but became a SURFice dog – click the video below for her inspiring story and for a fun and wild ride!

The other reason? She and Ruby are related! Their shared lineage is through Ruby's mom, Bridget, but it's easiest to just say that in human terms, young Ricochet would be Ruby's "great-aunt!"

Ricochet is a shining example of the many phenomenal service dogs in training who, because of certain traits or tendencies, ultimately wind up following a different path. They may not become service dogs, but they contribute to their communities in ways equally as profound. Just like Rip Curl Ricki, these change of career canines excel in so many ways; they help to raise awareness, assist in fundraising efforts, and many become therapy or facility dogs, skilled companions, search and rescue, even avalanche dogs, just to name a few.

I asked Judy for permission to post her video and we are delighted to raise a paw and high-five "Aunt" Ricochet!

Enjoy!



www.ripcurlricki.com
www.puppyprodigies.org

Ramblin' Past The Ranges

Tuckered-Out Thursday

Cold, cold morning with flurries on the way. I'd love nothing more than to snuggle back in for a few hours, but I have a lot to do and many hours before I see bed again. (Shout-out to my pillow. I miss you.) So let's hand it over to the Roo Crew, starring Ruby's sister, Racine, living the dream.



Thanks to Joyce for video of the Tinies.

Santa's Little...Helper?

Well, we set up the Christmas tree this weekend — I really don't know how we ever managed on our own before Ruby came along! Her standards are exacting:

• Confirm varietal excellence



• Supervise installation crew



• Approve materials



• Verify stand is to code



• Inspect trunk positioning for precise verticality



• Micromanage clean-up



Well done, Ruby! In fact, she did such a great job, we let her choose the first ornament to hang on the tree. She snooted around in the box and came up with this one. We thought it was a very good choice.

Ruby On Rails

Ruby's a good car traveler, so I really didn't expect to have any issues on Denver's train system, the light rail. But I took a bag full of extra delicious treats just in case!

Before the train took off, we took a walk up and down the narrow aisle, passing people on the way. One mom felt badly because her daughter reached out and pet Ruby without asking permission. I laughed and said that Ruby reached out and gave the little girl a few sniffs and that Ruby didn't ask permission either!



We got underway and Ruby didn't show any uneasiness with the movement. She just sat and looked around a little, maybe noticing the tops of buildings flying by in the window.



When I saw this next shot, I got a little choked up, but in a good way. She looks so much less like a puppy here. She's beginning to look like...a service dog.



Ah, but she's still a puppy! We moved around a few times and she kept trying to burrow under one of the seats.



We peeked underneath and figured out why. She had hunted down an animal cracker!



The line ends at Union Station; Ruby will give her tour in another post. Since the train was already waiting at the station at the beginning of our trip, it was cute to see her watch it pull in.



On the ride home she was wiped. So was I!

Thankful For New Friends

What a lovely surprise to wake up to on this sunny Thanksgiving morning -- we were very honored to receive this award from our wonderful friends across the miles, Murray and Clive in Ireland! Murray is a not-so-little man who brings us all big smiles and tales of adventures with his awesome pal and assistance dog, Clive.



I am giving thanks for so very many things today and the community of my new online friends is certainly a huge part of what I am grateful for. In the spirit of this award, I'd like to pass it along to five blogger friends who have welcomed and supported Raising Ruby (the new blog on the block!) and whose warm stories and photos I really enjoy:

Khyra's Khorner
Sierra Rose
Becky's Blog Spotlight
Tails of a CCI Puppy
A Doggie Life

I started Ruby's blog to help spread awareness for service dog organizations and to serve as a resource for those who may be thinking of raising a service puppy and are curious as to what it entails. Thanks to all the support and friendship we've received, we have been able to reach more people than we ever could have hoped for in such a short period of time.

A Tailwaggin' Thanksgiving to all of our friends and have a great weekend!

How To Eat Texas Taffy

Technique K: Anchor treat with one paw, fine-tune position of treat with toes of other paw, gently tear treat into manageable strips. Chew delicately.


Technique R: Let deck do all the work. Devour.

Wishing lots of treats and a Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Furniture And Toys

The couch, coffee table, chairs, pillows, shoes, and I, have been very fortunate. Former Puppy Kiva and Current Puppy Ruby have never shown much interest in chewing on anything but their own toys. I attribute part of that good fortune to the fact that they're provided with a ton of toys, especially stuffed squeaky ones, in baskets all around the house. To prevent boredom, I switch the toys around and add to the stash frequently.

The flip side to this constant Christmas morning is that whenever they see something "stuffed" they immediately think it's for them. I know they're able to discriminate -- when I claim a toy for myself in the house (like my little stuffed teddy from Etsy), they leave it alone, even though it's within snoots' reach. But I've noticed when I bring Ruby into a store, all bets are off, so we're working on that.

Of all places, a furniture store recently provided a couple of good stuffed toy training opportunities. As soon as I saw those two little dogs I knew she'd make a beeline for them.



I told her to "leave it" but she went straight for 'em. I tried to get her attention back, aaaaand...



she knocked them down and started to take one in her mouth. You can't see my face but I have to cop to the fact that the sight of this pile just cracked me right up. Giggling, I told Ruby to "drop it" and she did.



So we backed up, waited a bit, and composed ourselves. Then I put her in a sit, gave her a treat for that, and we both attempted some restraint.



This time we were more successful. She sat and checked them out, but didn't try to take off with them. Although, needing to have the last word, as soon as we stepped away she turned around and gave those rotties a piece of her adolescent 6-month-old mind.



Continuing on, we easily made our way through the store, practicing all kinds of maneuvers and cues,





till we came upon a lounging tiger with a delectable, dangling tail.



Ruby went toward it, and being in a public place, I just kind of instinctively held back the leash. But I know I need to trust myself and my dog. As long as it's a safe place, I want her to make her own choices. So I gave the leash slack and let her have a moment to sniff, but before she could chomp a tiger on his toe, I told her to sit. She did.





Which isn't to say that she wasn't still interested in it,



but she showed self-control, which made me really, really proud of her. Because seriously, that toe and tail were totally tugworthy!