Bliss - our Boulder Guide Dog for the Blind Puppy!
Despite being a military brat (and moving every couple of years), I was fortunate to have puppies/dogs in
my life at various times growing up. Plus most of my siblings have dogs. Due to a variety of issues,
we've never taken the puppy plunge ourself ... although my youngest son Kyle had asked about getting a dog.
One of his baseball teammates has raised a puppy for Guide Dogs for the Blind -
here's the local Boulder chapter.
The Mom is an enthusiastic advocate for the program (she's on her 3rd puppy!) and described how you
get an 8-week old puppy, raise it for a year (lots of training!), and then you have to give it back (sob/cry/sob/cry) ...
and it goes to "Doggie University" for several months, and if it does well, is then paired with a
blind person.
Kyle was excited to do this ... even after I asked/said a bazillion times if he was going to step up to do
the work associated with raising a puppy, especially one that requires extra training. Her assured me he'd
try his best, so I said "OK" ... and then after some "discussion" (not everyone else in the family was as gung-ho! ;-),
we attended some meetings, had our house inspected, and upon returning from a week long trip to California,
drove straight from the airport to pick up Bliss. She's one of 4 puppies from the same litter - they named 'em all starting with "B." Bliss was born on June 13th, 2018 - more info here.
Kyle with Bliss the day after we brought her home on August 7th, 2018
Bliss grows up fast - she weighs in at 15 (Aug 7), 30 (Oct 13), 45 (Dec 30), 55 (Mar 10 & May 19) pounds
I think Bliss likes Kyle and vice-versa ... ;-) link to closeup
Bliss taking a nap (listen to her snore!) ... with Dad about to take one also - she's a lot of work!
August 19th, 2018: Bliss goes flying off our back deck onto the grass - it's SuperDog! ;-)
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Bliss does like running around on the grass!
September 4th, 2018: Bliss loves to LEAP off the patio onto the grass
I actually took the picture (and the one above) by myself. A bit of a challenge as one has to have the camera framed & focused with flashes ready to go ... and use
the handheld remote to fire it. And oh yea, one semi-cooperative puppy ... some kibble helps incentivize her. LOL she grabbed the camera strap after the last shot and started dragging it around the yard! ;-)
October 11th, 2018: Bliss first big outing as she spends half a day at Kyle's High School - funny writeup Challenging for me to to take this picture with my iPhone as she is ALL BUSINESS when in uniform
Bliss at 4 months
Bliss on August 7th and October 13th, 2018 - a LOT bigger! ;-)
October 14th, 2018: First snowfall!
Needless to say, Bliss had a BLAST running around in the snow!
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November 11th, 2018: More fun in the snow ... but gotta pee first! ;-)
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Bliss grabs a pine cone - she knows she is being "bad" ... ;-)
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And runs off with the pine cone ... but then looses is mid-stride! ;-)
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A Boy and his Dog having fun in the snow
My Mom sent this hilarious card to my wife for her birthday! ;-)
One year old Bliss is now a "young woman" ... wearing "Big Girl" underpants to absorb blood
A Boy and his Dog
As you can imagine, the standards to be a Guide Dog for the Blind are high (as they should be) ... and turned out Bliss was not quite good enough to make the cut - darn! So she was "Career Changed" ... and while GDB was debating what to do with her, out of the blue, they asked if I was would like to keep her ... which is highly unusual. Since our youngest had just gone off to college, we are looking forward to transitioning to be "Empty Nesters" ... so we just could not take on that responsibility.
However, some neighbors (who I actually didn't know that well but are a great family) had always been super helpful when I was training Bliss, especially their 9 & 11 year old girls. So when I called up Michelle, the funny conversation went something like this:
Alek: "HEY, I have a question for 'ya about Bliss."
Michelle: "Oh we love that girl, do you need some help with some more training?" (but wondering why I am calling her! ;-)
Alek: "Welllll ... not quite ... but would you be interested in having her as your dog ... permanently!"
Michelle: LONNNGGGG silence (she is British and later said she was "gob-smacked"! ;-)
Michelle: "Our whole family loves that girl - are you serious Alek?"
So after some paperwork, Bliss has a new home. We are delighted that
she ended up with a wonderful family in the neighborhood as it's such a win-win for them and Bliss ... and us too (!) since we get to see her periodically which makes us feel like "Grandparents" ;-)
