Author: Kay

Snow, day 3

We don’t get a lot of snow here. Yesterday marked day number three. It was predicted to be a mixture of rain and snow but the rain didn’t get the memo. Close to sea level we had plenty of snow, mixed with plenty of wind.

I’ve shown you this old tree before, in various seasons. Here it is, yesterday morning, before the wind blew in with another storm.

Our weather station took a beating overnight.

Field trip for the puppies

I’ve introduced you to Hadley, the puppy that the local Puppy Pilots group is training for Guide Dogs for the Blind. She is one of two pups the club is working with. Rolanda, the other puppy, is shown above with Claudine, the volunteer who’s raising her. Rolanda is 11 months old.

Hadley and Rolanda were taken on Monday to the Sequim Fire Department for exposure to emergency personnel and equipment. Rolanda, above, is allowed to explore a breathing tank as well as gear that fire personnel wear.

Fireman Brent suited up and allowed the pups to investigate him in his gear. Not only is the safety gear loaded with unfamiliar smells and sights, the breathing apparatus emits a variety of sounds. Dogs can react to unaccustomed things and Monday’s exposure was valuable training.

Rolanda, here, and Hadley, to the right, both loved Brent with or without his gear.

After the “who are you?” sniff test Brent picked up each of the pups to get them comfortable with this different sort of handling. Hadley gets a lift, above. Kim, on the right, is one of two women who are jointly raising Hadley.

When they are partnered with a blind person, a guide dog needs to take all situations in stride, especially emergency events that can stress people and animals to the limit. Kim and Hadley, above, will climb into an aid car, or ambulance, to check it out.

Members of Puppy Pilots took turns walking the pups through the aid car and around the fire station. Pat walked Rolanda above.

Rough metal steps with open grating at the station gave the dogs good experience walking on unfamiliar surfaces. Many things about these stairs can give a dog pause. Rolanda did very well.

Most dogs aren’t exposed to the great breadth of experiences that humans take for granted. It takes a special dog to walk in stride with a human as we go through life.