River Time!

We’ve had Marni’s brother Thomas staying with us for a few days. It’s made for an interesting time for our household! The two of them have enjoyed each other immensely!

Buddies

Thomas, Walker, and Marni

Marni and Thomas

Thomas and Wally

Nice sit stays!

Thomas and Marni

All pooped out!

Today is their 4 month birthday! The II14 litter was born on November 27, 2014. We celebrated at the river. A new experience for these two pups!

For Marni, it was a dream come true! For Thomas, I think it was more of a nightmare. 😦

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The bluebonnets are starting to bloom. Not full bloom yet, but we got a few pictures anyway —

Thomas

Marni and Thomas

Thomas

We’ve enjoyed Mr Thomas – Marni is sure going to miss him!

Happy!!

Electra seems to be enjoying college life !

I guess training is going well so far!

She has had all her x-rays – hips and elbows are good!!!

Yay for my girl!

Meeting the Sponsors

Marni, and Electra before her, were sponsored by Classic BMW in Plano, Texas. This means that Classic BMW made a generous donation to Southeastern Guide Dogs for naming rights for a puppy. The owners of Classic BMW, Eric and Lee Maas, and all of their staff at the dealership, have been gracious supporters of Southeastern for quite a long time. Marni is the seventh pup that they have sponsored!

Marni was named in honor of a long time employee who died of cancer a couple of years ago. All of the employees at the dealership were anxious to meet this little girl. (She dressed in her St Patrick’s Day finery!)

Eric and Lee Maas

The original Marni’s boss and friend

Miss St Patrick’s Day!

The Classic BMW racing team

Checking out the shop

Marni got the grand tour and made lots of new friends. She thought that they were all some really fine folks and she’s looking forward to more visits!

Thank you Classic BMW for all that you do!!

Social Time for Marni

Marni made the big trip to Dallas this week and had a couple of busy days. She learned about stairs at Nanny’s house.

These were a bit of a challenge for her. Especially coming down! But she did conquer them and was quite proud of her abilities!

Then it was off to Puppy Kindergarten for some play time with sister, Mandy – brother, Thomas – and buddy, Denson. Along with a little bit of work.

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The JOY of pups!!!!

A Birthday Party!!!

Our dog Walker just turned 8 years old. In dog – or human – years – whichever way you look at it, he’s about 56ish years old. Little ones always want to know this!!!! Walker has 2 brothers who live fairly close and we try to get them together at birthday time to celebrate. Marni got to join in the celebration this year along with CCI pup, Miguel. They made the most of it!

Walker, Challenger, Honor

The Wonder Boys! Walker, Honor, Challenger

Challenger, Miguel, Walker, Honor, and Marni

Miguel and Marni

Honor, Miguel, Walker, Marni, Challenger

Walker, Challenger, and Honor are all Career Changed pups from Southeastern Guide Dogs and as pups were part of a prison program called IMPACT. We were weekend raisers getting the pups from the prison on weekends for socialization. It was an incredible program for dogs and inmates – and an eye-opening experience for us. SEGDI discontinued their IMPACT involvement a few years ago. I cherish the time that we were involved with it. Challenger is a working service dog, Walker is a Therapy dog and Honor helps raise pups for Canine Companions for Independence. They are all three Wonders!!

And they still enjoy time together! We pulled out the pool for some water fun. And all the dogs got to enjoy some yummy birthday frosty paws!! A great day all around!

My Sweet Nana, Rhythm

Rhythm is the heart and soul of this household. Her quiet energy  creates a calm for wild pups.

I couldn’t do it without her! Thanks my sweet girl!!

Walking the Walk

A beautiful day for a walk along the river! The Paluxy River that runs through Glen Rose.

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Not much activity on the river, but plenty on the walk. Lots of folks out walking – with strollers and skateboards and fishing poles. Barking dogs and golf carts whizzing by. Squealing kids on the playground. Whew! So much to take in!!

Next stop – to meet the librarians!

Marni will be spending lots of time with these ladies!

And we end the day with a romp in the pasture with the big dogs!

And now she’s all tuckered out —

Night, night!

Marni’s 1st Day on the Town

Marni’s welcome to Texas has mostly been about rain and cold, mud and snow. But today was relatively nice so I decided some time out and about was called for. Off we went to the town square in Glen Rose. A pretty busy place during spring break. Marni got to visit with quite a few out-of-towners. She likes being a meeter/greeter!

Charles and Juana Barnard

The Somervell County courthouse

One of the locals

Learning about dinosaurs

It turned out to be a nice introduction for Marni to all the wonders of town life. Motorcycles, big huge 18 wheelers, plenty of traffic with honking horns, boys throwing a football. A good beginning for our little guide dog in training.

 

Marni Meets Snow!!!

Joy! Joy! Joy!

Now is the Start ……….

of a new life in Texas for Marni — and a new adventure for us all!

Sit and stay

ignoring distractions

meeting the donkeys

the guineas

waiting nicely

Mr Jingles and Buddy

Meeting Wally

Marni fits right in!

with Big boy Walker

Marni seems to be a quite confident young lady and I believe she will welcome all the challenges that come her way. Looks like it’s going to be a fun year!