Lots and Lots of Play! (by: Carlo)

Courtesy of one of Nick's puppy raisers, here are some videos of Gerrit and me playing at Dillon Beach before Gerrit headed off to college!

In this video, Gerrit and I are playin' with Hope. Gerrit is the one out in front, I'm the big one sort of lagging behind, and Hope is the one that looks nothin' like us...

This next video is of Gerrit and his bestest buddy, Nick. I was snoozing by this time...

Sending the Clown off to College (by: Carlo)

Well, the little clown, Gerrit, is off to college. He already wrote about what happened before we took him to college, so I'll tell you all about what happened after!

After my pal turned in Gerrit, we (the puppy raisers and pet dogs) headed back to Dillon Beach. I gotta admit... I was relieved to be heading back. When we first got to CCI, I was a little worried that my pal was sending me off to college... AGAIN! College was ok and everything... but, it just wasn't for me... and I sure as heck didn't wanna have to go there again!

The reason we were going back to Dillon Beach is cause we were all going camping! When we got back to our camp site, the people ate dinner, played a game, and commiserated on having turned in puppies... while us pet dogs slept. I sure was tired! Between playing in the sand dunes, watching a bunch of photo shoots of Gerrit, and stressing out about thinking about going to college again, I was one tired doggie!

The people were tired too cause they didn't even play their game all that long. My pal and I retreated to our huge 6 person spacious tent. Even though we had lots of room to spread out, we cuddled next to each other. My pal was feeling REALLY sad because she was missing Gerrit. I've gotta admit... I was missing the little crazy clown too. But, I did what I do best and comforted my pal, and we soon both fell asleep to the sound of slight beach breezes rustling the tent.

The next day, we all went to the beach to play. It was so much fun! And, the perfect way to spend the day after sending the little clown off to college!

Off to College (by: Gerrit)

I did it!!! I'm off to college (aka Advanced Training)! And, boy oh boy what a send off it was!

First, as I already wrote about, we had a Big Dog party last week. Our party was so happening, it even made the news! Check it out: "College Next for Service Dogs". If you look really close, you'll see me... I'm the very first dog they show when they squeak the toy. The squeaking toy made me very happy!

As if that wasn't super duper cool enough, this Friday (before I went to college), my puppy raiser took me and Carlo to a place called Dillon Beach. A bunch of my doggie buddies and their puppy raisers were there too!

Dillon Beach had these HUGE sand dunes that were so much fun to play in. We rolled... and frolicked... and ran... and pounced! It was the best! Here is a photo of me, Nick, and Idelle posing in front of the sand dunes...

And, here's a photo of us wearing our shades under the sun umbrella. Yeah, we're gonna make quite the cool crew in doggie college!...

Late in the afternoon, we all headed over to CCI. And, guess what? We got to play there too! By the time my puppy raiser took my official matriculation photo (which is the photo at the top of this blog entry), I had played so much that my tongue was just about hangin' on the floor. You know you've had a good time when that happens!

My puppy raiser then took me to the "turn in room". My puppy raiser was told that my kennel mate is going to be a pup named Storm. I was really hoping that my kennel mate would be Nick, my bestest buddy in the whole world. But, I've met Storm before... and loves to play! Cool!!!

Before the CCI trainers took me to my room to get settled in, my puppy raiser gave me a big hug and told me to be a good boy. She also told me that know matter what happens, to always be my happy clown-like self. No problem there! That's easy to do!!! Well, I gotta go... I gotta clown around with Storm!

PARRRRTTTTYYY!!! (by: Gerrit)

Friday night was our Big Dog Party!!! It was a party for all of us Big Dogs that are heading off to doggie college NEXT FRIDAY!

There were lots and lots of people and dogs at the party... cause everyone in our chapter of CCI was invited. There was even a guy there from the news filming us!

The part that I didn't get is that even though it was a party... us Big Dogs still had to have class! First we had distraction training. We all had to stay in a down position while the trainer tried to distract us with all kinds of cool looking and sounding toys. Talk about tough! Then, we had to go to all of these stations and do different commands. Each station had written commands posted on the fence. Our puppy raisers had to read all of the commands and then give us the commands... and we had to do 'em all. So, for example, a station might have been something like: Jump, Off, Heel, Jump, Off, Down, Side, Let's Go on Right. There were a ton of stations and it was sort of tough. But, because I'm a Big Dog, I knew all of the commands and my puppy raiser said I did really well!

When we were done with class, the real party started! Each of us Big Dogs got special treats... and the puppy raisers all ate ice cream. The puppy raisers talked and talked and talked. It was nice laying on the grass while the puppy raisers talked... but, I was really wishin' they would finish talking and eating ice cream so the real REAL party could start!

Finally, the puppy raisers were done with all of their gabbin' and eatin'... and we got to PLAY! What a parrrtty! Oh boy oh boy was it fun! As soon as I was released, I ran around looking for a toy to play with. When I couldn't find one, I grabbed the nearest thing I could find... a CCI cape! I grabbed it and ran... tempting all of the other dogs to chase me! They chased me... but, didn't try to take the cape away from me cause well... we're not supposed to play with our CCI capes. Oops! Soon, I found a errrr... more appropriate toy... a ball! So, I dropped the cape, grabbed the ball and took off running!

I finished the party off by drinking about a gallon of water. I would have had more, but my puppy raiser yelled, "Gerrit, stop tanking!". It was the best party EVER! I can't wait to go to doggie college! I hope we all get to party there!

Nick's Photo Shoot (by: Gerrit)

The other day my bestest buddy in the whole world, Nick, came over to our house! We got to play outside for a bit, and then my puppy raiser brought Nick into her photo studio to do a photo shoot of him.

My puppy raiser wouldn't let Lucky, Carlo, and Me into the photo studio to watch. She told us we had to stay out cause the room was too small... especially for us 3 clowns who would want to just goof around. Like we would do that... ;-)

So, we were good dogs, and stayed outside the room. Well, Lucky was a good dog. Carlo and I did our best to mess with Nick from outside the room. Hee hee! First, I peeked into the room...

Then, I grabbed a toy and Carlo and I both peeked into the room...

And, finally, we took a step in and dropped a toy on the floor for Nick...

Staying outside the photo studio sure did turn out to be fun! I can't wait for our next victim... I mean model... to come over!

My Stepping Stone (by: Gerrit)

This weekend we made my stepping stone! My puppy raiser has made a stepping stone for all of the CCI dogs she has raised [Side note by Lucky: Ummmm... aren't you forgetting someone?]. Oh yeah! AND she has made one for Lucky.

Anywaysssssss... today was all about ME and MY stepping stone! It was lots of fun making my stepping stone! Carlo laid on his bed and watched as I put my paw in the cement. Lucky stayed in the house and hid. She likes her stepping stone now that it's done, but she wasn't a big fan of making it. I think she didn't like it cause the cement felt funny. It was cold and really squishy between my paw pads. My puppy raiser made me stick my paw in the cement a few times cause we kept messing up. Every time we messed up, she wiped the cement off my paw and we'd start all over. I didn't mind so much cause heck... I love attention... any kind of attention!

After we did my paw print, we carefully designed my stepping stone with green and blue glass chips... and a heart! My puppy raiser said the heart was cause she loves me, the blue was cause I'm a boy, and the green was cause that was my color when I was a puppy. When us CCI pups are first born, we are assigned a color. The color is based on the order in which we were born. My color was neon green... which means that I was the 4th puppy born! This helps the breeder caretaker keep track of all of the pups in a litter. Of course I didn't really need a color to distinguish me cause I've got my special wish spot between my eyes! But, I do think I look pretty dang cute in green. Here's a photo of me wearing my neon green collar when I was a puppy...

The grand finale of my stepping stone was when my puppy raiser wrote my name in big letters on it. The stepping stone is out in the garage right now drying. I can't wait until it's all dry and we can put it out in the backyard with all of the other doggie stepping stones! I feel like I've just made the Hollywood walk of fame!