Hi Guys!!
So I know its been about a year since I have updated this blog. Sorry. Lots have happened in the last year, Roscoe was Career Changed and his owner is incredible. He works at Guide Dogs and takes Roscoe to work like I took him to school. How great is that? :) I got to go to my husband's guide's graduation in November 2012, I got to meet Pat, Roscoe's owner. He was so kind and let me hold Roscoe for the entire graduation and tour. Roscoe was so happy to see me. He jumped up and gave me the biggest hug. It was the hardest thing to leave him knowing there is not a chance of me getting him back. It was heart breaking but it was sweet to get the chance to see him and know he loves his new dad. and I found a new love of Portland with my (then boyfriend) now husband.
Alfie was such a good puppy all through training. and I can't imagine him not being a part of my memories. I am so glad I got to be with Alfie and pour my heart and soul into a sweet dog.
Alfie graduated on November 9th 2013. And we got to go to his graduation, it was the most incredible experience I have ever gotten the chance to have in my life. I got to meet the reason I started raising, a blind person who needed another soul to gain their mobility, a very humbling experience that has changed my life forever. His name is Donny and Alfie is his first Guide. Donny lost his sight in a brutal attack on August 2nd 2011 exactly two years before I got the text saying that Alfie, My sweet, cuddly, playful companion had passed all evaluations and classes and was waiting to receive his blind person with perfect compatibility. We waited 3 months for Donny to surface and become Alfie's partner. (we had started planning Alfie's escape thinking that he would never get a companion. To which got a few laughs when we told a few staff members about our elaborate plans ;) It was bitter sweet to officially let Alfie go into the loving arms of Donny and his family, I could not have found a better mat had I searched the entire world twice.
We got to stay in Pat's house, he was out of town but made sure I got to see Roscoe. His house was so clean, and nice, the back yard was beautiful and everything was perfect.Portland, again, I would love to live there, the city is a confusing master piece and its exquisite. Powell's book store is a wonderland knowledge and imagination. and we have turned The Original Old Spaghetti Factory into a grand tradition after graduation.
Lots has happened in this last year; I graduated from high school, searched three months for my first job, got my first job, got proposed to, traveled with Luis and we got married in July, visited Arizona for the first time, (Scottsdale is AWESOME!) I quit my first job, and am currently continuing a search for another one, I have gained an unhealthy obsession with the Buffy the Vampire Slayer series (Thanks to the hubby)
I hope one day to raise more guide dogs, but not for a while and not until Luis and I have a place of our own. Thanks for keeping up with my vague descriptions of my incredible journey with my wonderful guides. I want to take a minute and express my indebted gratitude to Guide Dogs for the Blind; I am so grateful to Guide Dogs for the experiences I got to have and people I have met while raising, my best friends and my wonderful husband and true love, Luis Lee and also my soul mate Roscoe to male black lab. I have been introduced to people who are so trusting, giving and helpful and have saved my life, people who trust other people to just chill in their house for a few days but have only met with one time. I will forever love Guide Dogs and the experiences they have bestowed upon me. I will always be a raiser and I will always be an advocate to them. I am sad to take a break but I will always be involved with Guide Dogs. I am proud to be a puppy raiser.
They have a saying at Guide Dogs; "It takes a community to raise a puppy." But I think they're wrong, you see, I think it takes a puppy to make a community rise. <3
