Treats

We've had a lot of visitors and house guests recently, which is a treat for us. It's also a treat for some lucky dogs.


I'm sure you'll wonder why I'm telling this story, but...

In her later years, my grandmother rented an upstairs apartment in the house of a young couple who lived on the main floor. One day, I arrived for a visit and found my grandmother inside the vestibule sorting the mail. There were two piles – one pile with a copy of the Victoria's Secret catalog on top, the other stack was topped with an AARP magazine. I asked Grandma whose pile was whose. I remember how she started to laugh, she just got a kick out of the thought.

This pic brought me right back to that moment.


Thank you to Kiva and Ruby's Grrrandma and Grrrandpa for the yummy treats...and for the memory of my own Grandma from so many years ago!

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!

Riding The Shuttle (Part 1)

A few weeks ago, we took Ruby to downtown Denver to get some experience riding the 16th Street Mall Shuttle. We didn't realize that the following weekend, her puppy class was to take the very same outing. It was interesting to see the contrast of how she behaved on her own and in the company of her puppy cronies. I'll take this one; Mr. Raiser will tell you about the group trip in a second post.

16th Street Mall is a popular downtown Denver tourist destination. It's a traffic-free, pedestrian-friendly strip with 16 blocks of shopping, restaurants, and entertainment. Since cars aren't allowed to drive down the Mall, free shuttle buses run continuously, making stops at every intersection. It's a great training area for a young service pup.

While we waited at the shuttle stop, we practiced adding some "distance" to the "sit" command – I would walk to the length of the leash in different directions, then return without her breaking the sit. She did extremely well.





Shuttles come very frequently so we weren't waiting long.



I had her sit until the doors opened and she boarded really politely, no problem at all.



The shuttle was pretty busy since people got on and off at every block, so I had her practice both "down" and "sit" as space afforded it.





I was really pleased at her focus, because there was a lot going on – constant movement, noise, people talking, shifting places, etc.

Taking public transportation with a service puppy in training guarantees you an audience – people are constantly asking questions. I encourage these dialogues, because I believe that service puppies are in public to educate as well as be educated. I was especially happy that Ruby did not break her position even if I was talking with someone, because she sometimes takes that liberty. It's as if she's thinking, "Hey, Mom made a friend, that must mean it's my friend now too, so I better go over and say hi!" But not this time. She was an awesome little ambassador.

We disembarked and set off for a little loose leash walking, which, as you all know, is not her strong suit in the great outdoors. But she must have been in the zone, because she walked nicely, with minimal pulling. Who was this dog?





So, surprisingly, she was much more focused and calm that day than I thought she would be. We had fun wandering along, you never know who you'll encounter walking down the street.



Really. You never know.

2 kangaRoos

Having A Heart-To-Heart

Ruby, now that you're a year old, the time has come to discuss the birds and the bees. We understand the temptation. But please stop chasing them. Especially the bees. We know you think they're your friends, but trust us. They're really not.

Ruby's First Hotel Room

Ever since Kiva came into our lives nearly 12 years ago, all our vacations have been dog-centered. She's traveled with us to 21 states, criss-crossed the country a few times, and has frolicked everywhere from mountain meadows covered in wildflowers to cool, coastal beaches.


Kiva n' Me, Outer Banks of North Carolina, 1999

Kiva's an excellent traveler – I always say that of the three of us in the car, she's definitely the most well-behaved!

We wanted to make sure Ruby is at ease on long car rides and staying in unfamiliar places, so we planned a weekend getaway to Steamboat Springs, CO. May is my favorite month to travel with dogs because most destinations are still off-season. No crowds, cool enough for dogs to hike and walk around comfortably, and very easy to find pet-friendly places to stay at reasonable prices.

Cabins are great fun and would've been our first choice, but for this trip we wanted Ruby to experience a regular room, so we chose one of the typical chains.

We definitely had a lot of practice having Ruby wait to enter/exit through doors,



and calmly walk down hallways.



Ah, that exciting moment before you first open the door to your room. Will we have a good view? What kind of amenities will be provided? Maybe there's a shower cap!



Ruby dashed in and immediately rubbed against the bed, I guess to mark her territory,



and Kiva claimed her spot.



Years of road trips with a dog means you don't expect the super-deluxe room. For the most part, you get what they give you. We had called and booked something a bit larger (they knew we were traveling with two dogs) but when we arrived, they said pets were not allowed in the room we booked. That's fine. When you're with the pooches, you just roll with it.

If you've ever traveled with a dog, you know that in this setting, their keen sense of smell is both hilarious and frightening. They find certain spots to be very...intriguing. 'Nuff said. We don't even want to know.



Kiva is particularly concerned with hygiene when we travel. She felt the bathroom might've been somewhat suspect. And there's Ruby finding another...spot.



The "view" was of the pool, which, being May, was thankfully deserted. But when we arrived, she did see some kids splash around. We couldn't believe it, because we thought it was pretty chilly, but I guess kids don't care. If there's a pool, they're in it!



All in all, it was totally fine for our purposes and both Kiva and Ruby made themselves at home right away. I would have liked the larger room because we always eat meals in our room with our dogs, we never leave them alone. But that's ok, we were all pretty cozy.