Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Day 1 - Meet Barbara!

This is Barbara. She's a yellow Labrador Retriever born on January 9th, so she turned two months old today! She's still small, only ten pounds, but she'll grow quickly.

Barbara has become a temporary member of my family. Why temporary? She's being raised for the organization Guiding Eyes for the Blind to become a guide dog. All of the puppy raisers for the organization are volunteers.

For about 14-16 months, she'll go through her pre-training with me. She has to learn how to behave around people and other animals, house manners, and commands. When she returns to Guiding Eyes at the end of her time with me, she will hopefully go into their training program to become a guide.

She will be the first dog I've ever raised, and I'm looking forward to the challenge.

All I knew before today was that I was receiving a yellow Labrador Retriever from the "B" litter. Guiding Eyes for the Blind names all of the puppies in a litter starting with the same letter. The first litter of the year is the "A" litter and it goes alphabetically from there.

Barbara was the puppy assigned to me, and so our project begins!

When she arrived here a few hours ago, she met the two cats she'll be living with. They aren't sure what to think of her yet, but she's fascinated by them. They're Siamese cat littermates (siblings from the same litter), and they're a little over three years old now.

I plan to share Barbara's progress as she begins her journey to become a guide. Every day, I'll post at least one photo of her to show how fast she's growing, and share a little bit of what she and I are doing in her pre-training.


11 comments:

  1. Barbara is adorable! She will grow up so quickly. I am raising my 5th puppy for Southeastern guide dogs which is out of Palmetto, Florida. Good luck to you and Barbara, it is an amazing journey! Just so you know puppy raising is extremely addicting!

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  2. Barbara, you are adorable!!! So nice to meet you!! Guess what? You have the same bday as my mom (she's alittle older, though heehee)!! Looking forward to following you on all your adventures!!

    lotsa licks,
    Miley

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  3. Good luck to Barbara -- she sure is a cutie!

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  4. Barbara is so cute!!! You'll be so glad you decided to write a blog. She'll grow so fast, you won't believe it and photos are all you'll have to remind you that she was once so tiny.

    I am raising my first puppy for the South African Guidedog Association. Kengi is nearly 5 months old and so far I can say it's one of the best experiences of my life. It's not always easy, but already I have been so rewarded in this process - just by how wonderful he is. Enjoy every day.

    All the best,

    Adrienne and Kengi

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  5. Welcome Barbara! She is so cute. I am currently raising my 8th puppy for Guide Dogs for the Blind. It is an amazing experience and I wouldn't trade it for anything. And welcome to the blog-o-sphere. :D

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  6. So Cute! My name is Erin and I'm raising my fourth puppy for the Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind, in Smithtown NY!

    We always love finding new PR blogs to read!!

    Have fun with her!

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  7. What an adorable little girl! Welcome, Barbara. It's nice to blog-meet you. Can't wait to hear about all your puppy raising adventures with her- she is one cute pup. Its great to find another puppy raising blog. My name is Lauren, and I am also raising my first dog (for Guide Dogs for the Blind). His name is Don and he is 10 months old.

    Looking forward to reading all about Barbara!

    Lauren and Don

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  8. She is so cute!!!! I raise for GEB too and I have my 2nd pup right now (Dahlia). Barbara is a Yuri puppy adn Yuri was raised in my region. Have fun raising!!! :)

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  9. she's adorable :) I'm a teen raiser for GEB, and I'm raising my second pup, Pepe. We have a blog,too! Can't wait to see more pictures. Have fun with her!

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  10. This puppy is named after my Mom, Barbara, who is 86 years old and lives in Endwell, NY. She was so very pleased to receive the blog, the news and all the pictures of her little namesake. Thank you SO much for raising her. My mom is a special lady that has always given to others her whole life, and so I thought a Guiding Eyes puppy would do the same thing!

    Thanks! Carol

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  11. I'm so glad that I clicked on the link for your blog! I saw that you commented on my early socialization pictures of Barbara's litter and thought I'd check out your blog. I loved that litter, although I was a bit prejudiced as it is a Yuri litter, who is the same father to my puppy, Frito. :) Keep up the wonderful blogging - you are doing a great job with Barbara!!

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