Mr. Raiser, Ruby, And The Conference Call

Last week, Ruby accompanied me (Mr. Raiser) to work. It's always great having her with me; everyone in the office is interested in her progress, and she did very well, staying under my desk most of the day. At noon I had a conference call and while I was on the phone, Ruby discovered there was a fly in my office. She was extremely interested in the fly, and while she is excellent with, and would have responded to, the command "leave it," I really could not "give it" since I was leading the call. Ruby chased the fly around my office, creating a small (big) ruckus and I was quickly hitting mute in between sentences to try to silence the crashes. Eventually the situation resolved itself when the fly met an unfortunate demise.

Thank you, Ruby, for performing a great service and preventing the fly from interrupting the workflow for the rest of the day and perhaps the next day also.

Two Liver Brownies, Please. With Liver Sauce And A Side Of Liver.

Special Delivery

Ruby received her first mail the other day! A sweet little package arrived with an even sweeter gift inside:


This adorable charm is from the folks at Fetching Tags. It does look very fetching on our girl, doesn't it? It's just her style.


Many thanks to Jen at Fetching Tags for a dear gift that I will someday string on a silver chain. It will forever keep little Roo close to my heart and remind me of all the wonderful friends we've made along our journey.

A Little Pupdate

Well, hello there!



It's me, Kiva. I figured it was time to pick up the slack and post a quick update on the Squirt.

But as long as I've got the keyboard, first things first. This is important. Somebody, please. Where can a dog can get a good mini-bagel in this state? Back east, they always used to bring me a special mini-bagel on Sunday mornings – crisp and chewy, warm and fresh. Ahh, I could smell it as soon as they pulled in the driveway. I love Colorado, but boy do I miss that mini-bagel. Any ideas, please email me. I could really use a little nosh.

Now about our Roo. She's just a little guy but pretty strong for her size. She's still young and gets herself all kinds of excited about being outside.

So Ma and Pa Raiser (now that I live in the country, I can use the vernacular) got her this odd little snoot-loop called a "Gentle Leader."



HA HA! Ahem. Just kiddin'!

If they had tried to loop my snoot like that when I was a pup, I would have bucked like a bronco and refused to wear it! But Roo took to it like a duck to water...or like me to water! So far, she doesn't balk when they put it on her, and it's made a huge difference on our walks.

You know, I'm staring down 12, a bit of a mature lady, not quite so energetic as I used to be. When all four of us go for a walk, Pa and I had to keep stopping every few seconds when Roo would pull and Ma had to redirect her. Start stop start stop...it was very exhausting for an old gal like me. I've got a touch of the arthritis plus I'm missing some of my original parts. But now Roo hardly pulls at all! The Snoot Loop is awesome! Two dewclaws up!!!



Like Ma says, "Good Girl, Roo!" And from one very good girl to another, you've earned it, pal!

Guest Post: Riding The Shuttle (Part 2)

An outing about town with a service puppy in training is generally an always an adventure; this is what makes it fun. It is also always a learning experience for the puppy and the trainer. After the previous trip downtown, the following weekend Mr. Raiser (me) and Ruby suited up for another trek into the big city. This time we were to join up with 11 of Ruby’s classmates. Did I hear someone say challenging?



That’s Ruby, patiently sitting on a bus, riding down the 16th street mall, with 11 other dogs on the bus! She did pretty well with all the distractions: dogs and flip-flopped feet!

Ruby’s got a thing for her own kind…she’ll walk right past humans eager to pet her or distract her from her work, but the four-legged hairy creatures always get her attention. We’re working on it, and in the end, the day downtown with her classmates was a good experience. You have to give a puppy credit for trying really hard to focus, especially when tied to a rail with all of her buddies in a row:



We finished the day with a visit to the Platte River. Another successful outing under most challenging circumstances!

Asleep On The Job

We know we've done a disappearing act lately, but her young paws and my old eyes have been taking a much-needed break from the keyboard and the screen. (Well, except for this, we're eagerly following the hunt!) Miss you all and be back soon!