Sunday, September 23, 2012

Monday, September 17, 2012

For our most recent Monday night meeting, we all went to the Towne Center Shopping Center in Jacksonville. We met at the Dick's Sporting Goods store.

 
 
We had a few potential puppy raisers attend the meeting and each one was given a puppy to work with. After a few announcements, we began some obedience work.
 
 
 
 
 
After spending some time by the sporting goods store, we all walked the puppies down to a really beautiful little area of this outdoor mall with wooden walkways and bridges, ponds with fish and turtles, and fountains. On the way we passed a life-sized statue of a jaguar. The puppy raisers all made sure to stop and let their puppies experience this odd, smell-less, stationary "animal".
 
 
Bella likes the jaguar!
Joy checks out the fish.

Matthew is sniffing things out..

OK, what the heck is THAT?!

Pax is enjoying the scenery.

 When it started to get dark, everyone began making their way back to Dick's where their cars were parked. Another great puppy raiser outing!

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Rain, Rain, Go Away

You know how sometimes things just don't go according to plans?? Well, that was our last Monday night meeting on August 20th. Maggie Zellner had made arrangements for all of us to go to a Jacksonville Suns baseball game with the puppies. Fun, right? Baseball....hot dogs....popcorn..... But alas, it was not to be. A huge thunderstorm blew in that afternoon and totally ruined our plans. The game was cancelled. :( So....we met at our usual spot- the parking garage at the Avenues Mall. We worked on some obedience in the garage for awhile, then went indoors and worked on climbing steps and getting on and off the elevator. There is also a group of kiddie rides at one end of the mall that provides great exposure for the puppies. It was still good training for the puppies, but maybe not quite as fun as a baseball game!

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Saturday Outing, August 11, 2012

Yesterday our group had a morning outing at the Orange Park Mall. We met in the parking lot and chatted while everyone arrived.




  It was very hot, so we hurried indoors as soon as we could!

Bentley does a good sit at the mall entrance.


First, we stopped in the food court and had a meeting.


Thresa gave us the sad news that we are losing puppy raiser Jim, of www.duketheguidedog.blogspot.com. Jim and his wife Joy are moving to New Mexico, where Jim has been offered a new job. Jim's puppy, Duke, will be staying with Thresa until a finishing home can be found for him. We were very sad to say goodbye to Jim!

Maggie Zellner reported on her recent visit to Southeastern for puppy raiser day when Patience was matched. She showed us a beautiful photo of Patience with her new owner, Vinnie, and herself and gave us an overview of what happens if you are lucky enough to get to go to a puppy raiser day. It sounded like a wonderful experience! Thresa also presented a plaque to Carol Pangborn on behalf of her husband, Roger. Roger was Patience's first puppy raiser before he passed away.

Some ideas for upcoming outings were discussed. Thresa is hoping to have us meet at the Jacksonville Suns game on Monday, August 20.


After some discussion of other ideas for future outings for the puppies, we divided into two groups and did some obedience training in the mall. Everyone switched puppies for this exercise to give the puppies a chance to work with someone new. We walked around the mall for awhile.


After some practice with mall walking, we headed back to the food court for some lunch.  


Pretty in pink! Bella and puppy Joy enjoy some girl bonding time.
After lunch, everyone said goodbye to Jim and Joy and wished them the best in their new home!


Jim, Joy and Duke

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Our Group

Hi everyone! We are a group of puppy raisers for Southeastern Guide Dogs in the northeast Florida area, led by Area Coordinator Thresa Shaver. Our members are:

Laura Zellner, raising Bentley, 1E12 (Laura also acts as our assistant Area Coordinator)
Maggie Zellner, raising Caesar, 94PD11
Ann Lewis, raising Muffin, 92PD11
Taunnie Novak, raising Matthew, 4R11
Mary Ann Myers, raising Lucy, 5R11
Mary Jones, raising Florida, 4T11
Tracee Samuel, raising Pax, 1B12
Jim Lowe, raising Duke, 3E12 
Vicki Wyckoff, raising Gordon, 4E12
Allison Yeh, raising Joy, 5E12

At our last meeting on Monday, July 22, we met at Bird Island Park in Ponte Vedra Beach, a really beautiful little park located just behind the Ponte Vedra Beach Library.

Waiting to get started
Heading off to the park


Our special guest for this meeting was Jen Gerrity from Southeastern. We began the meeting with some obedience training...




....then Jen discussed the new turn command and answered questions on various issues the raisers were experiencing with their puppies. One common problem is scavenging. Jen borrowed Gordon to demonstrate the proper way to keep your puppy from being a puppy vacuum cleaner.

Jen borrows Gordon to demonstrate




Our wonderful group! Back row L-R: Thresa and Roxie, Taunnie and Matthew, Mary Ann and Lucy, Vicki and Gordon, Ann and Muffin, Joan and June, Allison and Joy, Mary and Florida, Jim and Duke, Laura and Bentley
Front row: Maggie and Caesar, Jen Garrity from Southeastern holding Bella, Tracee and Pax