LJ idol, week ten, Tennyson's journey
Tennysons journey
Hello, welcome to the kennels at the San Rafael campus of Guide Dogs for the Blind. Before we go on with our tour of my day here at GDB, allow me to introduce myself.
My name is Tennyson, a male yellow Labrador who is being trained to be a guide dog for someone who is blind. This is what my trainer Brenda tells me.
As you can see on both your left and right there are lots of kennels for the many dogs here in training, being bred, and guides that are on vacation. There is even an area just for the mama dogs and their puppies.
Come with me in here. This is the play area for my set of kennels. We sure have lots of toys here, right? Lots of bones, stuff to climb on, other dogs to play with, of course.
Hi Nando, what ya doing? I'm showing all these nice folks where we live.
Oh, I hear the sound of food being dished up for breakfast. Would you mind if I run off to get my meal? Of course you are welcome to come along.
Everything us dogs need is housed in the kennels. A vet office to take care of our health is one of the things they have here. I know that most dogs do not like the vet but they teach us that the vet is really a nice place to go. And I really believe that is true. I even get treats when I go there. There is the place where the puppies are given to the new families that raise them. I am not fond of puppies but oh well, let us move on.
Now that I have eaten and relieved myself lets go back to the play yard so you can meet some of my dog friends.
Wait, what is up? I hear someone coming that is unusual. Hmmm, where are we going? They are talking about me getting a bath? I wonder why I need a bath; it was not long ago that I last had one. Oh well, that is fine with me. I like getting a bath and after they are done I get rubbed down with a towel and brushed all nice. It feels good to be clean.
Do you like this bath set up? All I have to do is climb these stairs here to get into the tub. The water is warm and they use great stuff that smells nice to get me clean. Ah, they are cleaning my ears and trimming my nails. Something special must be up. I remember now that Brenda was talking about a new class of people coming to school to get dogs. I am not totally sure of what this means but she was happy and sad at the same time. This also reminds me that I have not seen Brenda in a couple of days. Wonder where she is?
Ok, now that the bath thing is over lets try again for the play yard.
What now? EW, I am getting a new collar to ware. I wonder why? Being all spiffed up like this really makes me wonder what is going on around here. If anything happens just follow me along to see what is going on, ok?
Oh boy, I hear Brenda. I hope we are going for a walk. Yes, she is putting my leash on. I hope we are going to the car to take a ride. I love the car. I am not big on turning but hey, I can sit up and look out if nothing else.
Hey Brenda, the car is the other direction. Where are we going?
This building has a lot of neat smells. I smell people I do not know. I hope I get to say hi. I hear other dogs too, is that Nando I hear?
I like this room that I am in with Brenda. It has one of those desk things she tells me about that I can lay under. YAY!
Wait, Brenda, where are you going? She just left me here alone? I hope she is not gone for long.
Good, Brenda is back and she brought a new person along. The lady is smiling at me and just sat across from me. She seems to like me. She has a leash like mine. Wonder why? Brenda just let me come out to say hi to the lady. How wonderful it is to meet someone new. I'll greet her in my usual way of putting a paw on her lap and giving her lots of kisses. She loves this. I am a happy dog for sure now.
Brenda just let the lady put that other leash on me. Why did you let her do that Brenda? And now she is taking me away? Brenda? Where are we going?
EW, I like this room. I see this bed, is it for me? Oh no, guess not since the lady just corrected me for trying to get on the bed. Better remember to not do that again. I hope Brenda comes back real soon to take me with her because I really do miss Brenda.
Is this dinner that the lady is feeding me? Neat, this lady must think I am something else to feed me. I like her. Wonder if this lady is one of the people Brenda talked about as we walked around town? She talked all about people who cannot see and how I was being trained to help them go places. I love going places so learning to do all those things like stopping at curbs and going around things has been fun.
Brenda has not come back and now it is dark. The lady is letting me sleep on a nice bed next to her bed. I like this. I remember doing this with my first mama. Wonder how she is doing?
Noise, the lady is awake and is reaching down to give me pats on the tummy. I love that. She is feeding me breakfast too? This is right on. And off to go outside, yes, I do need to go. Still no Brenda though. But since this lady has fed me a couple of times I guess I will give her a chance.
The lady is putting my harness on. I love it. I hope this means that we are going for a walk.
Yes, there is Brenda, but I think for now that I will hang with this new person. We are even getting on something big to go for a ride. YAY!
***
Oh hi, I forgot that you had been following me around. It has been quite a while now with me being with the lady I now know as Mary Beth. She is one of the people who are blind. She seems to be able to see a bit which is ok I guess. Mary Beth likes to take pictures of me. I love getting my picture taken. We have been to lots of places. I take Mary Beth to the stores that Brenda took me while we were together. We went to the big city. I like that kind of stuff. All those people to avoid, birds to ignore, and such wonderful smells. I have shown Mary Beth all the neat stuff I can do and we have really come to love one another a lot. I wonder if we will be together forever?
Oh yeah, we even went to this place with a whole lot of trees. I had a hard time containing myself as we walked around the trees and things. Mary Beth had to remind me a number of times to do my job of keeping her safe. That was lots of fun even though I did get into trouble.
***
Ah, a new day, breakfast has been served and we have been outside. Wait, Mary Beth is putting all her things on the bed. What is up with this? She just put a bag on the bed and is putting all the stuff in it. Why? Now she is even putting my things in it too? Wonder where we are going?
Mary Beth is dressed all nice. There must be something special about today.
Oh boy, lots of people I don't know to sniff. Let’s see what I can get away with. EW, I smell my first mama. Yes, there she is. Mary Beth is letting me say hi, how cool. It is great seeing all the people I know all in one place. And now we are getting pictures taken, oh what fun for me. I like showing off.
My first mama seems sad. I wonder why? Mary Beth is happy but nervous? What is up with that? I am meeting all sorts of new people and hey, I even got presents just now. Come on Mary Beth, let me check them out.
My first mom is holding my leash as Mary Beth walks away. Come back, don't leave me here. Oh wait, I can see Mary Beth outside, ok, this isn't so bad.
We are now going outside to Mary Beth. It has been forever since I was at her side. Let’s see if I can knock her over. Mary Beth would not let me do that, darn. There are sure a lot of people staring at us up here. We must be special. I will just sit here looking all cute for the people sitting down there. I will even show off for the dogs sitting out there.
Whatever that activity was is now over and my first mama is hugging me and saying good-bye. I don't want her to leave but I do love Mary Beth and want to stay with her.
All our things are being put into a car. Neat, there are other dogs in the car too. Mary Beth seems excited over this one dog. She just introduced herself as Sunset. What a nice name. Mary Beth just told me that Sunset is her retired guide dog. Wonder what that is?
Oh how tired I am and finally we are getting out of the car. I really want to stretch. I am not sure of where we are though. What a neat smelling place this is. Mary Beth says this is home now. What fun, I have my stuff, Mary Beth, and that dog Sunset to be with. Is this that forever place I was told about? I do hope so.
***
Well, maybe you should go now to where ever it is you live. I have enjoyed telling you how I met my forever mom. It has also been fun sharing with you how I learned to be a guide dog. I love my job and my mom. The place I live is great and the many adventures I have had are beyond words.
I hope that one day we meet again. Thank you for coming along on this journey with me.
This is me, Tennyson, with my forever mom Mary Beth and her friend who came from really far away to see us.
Here I am taking a nap on the bus while mom and I were still at GDB.
This is my week ten submission for LJ idol,
therealljidol. We were given an open topic this week. Thank you for reading.
Hello, welcome to the kennels at the San Rafael campus of Guide Dogs for the Blind. Before we go on with our tour of my day here at GDB, allow me to introduce myself.
My name is Tennyson, a male yellow Labrador who is being trained to be a guide dog for someone who is blind. This is what my trainer Brenda tells me.
As you can see on both your left and right there are lots of kennels for the many dogs here in training, being bred, and guides that are on vacation. There is even an area just for the mama dogs and their puppies.
Come with me in here. This is the play area for my set of kennels. We sure have lots of toys here, right? Lots of bones, stuff to climb on, other dogs to play with, of course.
Hi Nando, what ya doing? I'm showing all these nice folks where we live.
Oh, I hear the sound of food being dished up for breakfast. Would you mind if I run off to get my meal? Of course you are welcome to come along.
Everything us dogs need is housed in the kennels. A vet office to take care of our health is one of the things they have here. I know that most dogs do not like the vet but they teach us that the vet is really a nice place to go. And I really believe that is true. I even get treats when I go there. There is the place where the puppies are given to the new families that raise them. I am not fond of puppies but oh well, let us move on.
Now that I have eaten and relieved myself lets go back to the play yard so you can meet some of my dog friends.
Wait, what is up? I hear someone coming that is unusual. Hmmm, where are we going? They are talking about me getting a bath? I wonder why I need a bath; it was not long ago that I last had one. Oh well, that is fine with me. I like getting a bath and after they are done I get rubbed down with a towel and brushed all nice. It feels good to be clean.
Do you like this bath set up? All I have to do is climb these stairs here to get into the tub. The water is warm and they use great stuff that smells nice to get me clean. Ah, they are cleaning my ears and trimming my nails. Something special must be up. I remember now that Brenda was talking about a new class of people coming to school to get dogs. I am not totally sure of what this means but she was happy and sad at the same time. This also reminds me that I have not seen Brenda in a couple of days. Wonder where she is?
Ok, now that the bath thing is over lets try again for the play yard.
What now? EW, I am getting a new collar to ware. I wonder why? Being all spiffed up like this really makes me wonder what is going on around here. If anything happens just follow me along to see what is going on, ok?
Oh boy, I hear Brenda. I hope we are going for a walk. Yes, she is putting my leash on. I hope we are going to the car to take a ride. I love the car. I am not big on turning but hey, I can sit up and look out if nothing else.
Hey Brenda, the car is the other direction. Where are we going?
This building has a lot of neat smells. I smell people I do not know. I hope I get to say hi. I hear other dogs too, is that Nando I hear?
I like this room that I am in with Brenda. It has one of those desk things she tells me about that I can lay under. YAY!
Wait, Brenda, where are you going? She just left me here alone? I hope she is not gone for long.
Good, Brenda is back and she brought a new person along. The lady is smiling at me and just sat across from me. She seems to like me. She has a leash like mine. Wonder why? Brenda just let me come out to say hi to the lady. How wonderful it is to meet someone new. I'll greet her in my usual way of putting a paw on her lap and giving her lots of kisses. She loves this. I am a happy dog for sure now.
Brenda just let the lady put that other leash on me. Why did you let her do that Brenda? And now she is taking me away? Brenda? Where are we going?
EW, I like this room. I see this bed, is it for me? Oh no, guess not since the lady just corrected me for trying to get on the bed. Better remember to not do that again. I hope Brenda comes back real soon to take me with her because I really do miss Brenda.
Is this dinner that the lady is feeding me? Neat, this lady must think I am something else to feed me. I like her. Wonder if this lady is one of the people Brenda talked about as we walked around town? She talked all about people who cannot see and how I was being trained to help them go places. I love going places so learning to do all those things like stopping at curbs and going around things has been fun.
Brenda has not come back and now it is dark. The lady is letting me sleep on a nice bed next to her bed. I like this. I remember doing this with my first mama. Wonder how she is doing?
Noise, the lady is awake and is reaching down to give me pats on the tummy. I love that. She is feeding me breakfast too? This is right on. And off to go outside, yes, I do need to go. Still no Brenda though. But since this lady has fed me a couple of times I guess I will give her a chance.
The lady is putting my harness on. I love it. I hope this means that we are going for a walk.
Yes, there is Brenda, but I think for now that I will hang with this new person. We are even getting on something big to go for a ride. YAY!
***
Oh hi, I forgot that you had been following me around. It has been quite a while now with me being with the lady I now know as Mary Beth. She is one of the people who are blind. She seems to be able to see a bit which is ok I guess. Mary Beth likes to take pictures of me. I love getting my picture taken. We have been to lots of places. I take Mary Beth to the stores that Brenda took me while we were together. We went to the big city. I like that kind of stuff. All those people to avoid, birds to ignore, and such wonderful smells. I have shown Mary Beth all the neat stuff I can do and we have really come to love one another a lot. I wonder if we will be together forever?
Oh yeah, we even went to this place with a whole lot of trees. I had a hard time containing myself as we walked around the trees and things. Mary Beth had to remind me a number of times to do my job of keeping her safe. That was lots of fun even though I did get into trouble.
***
Ah, a new day, breakfast has been served and we have been outside. Wait, Mary Beth is putting all her things on the bed. What is up with this? She just put a bag on the bed and is putting all the stuff in it. Why? Now she is even putting my things in it too? Wonder where we are going?
Mary Beth is dressed all nice. There must be something special about today.
Oh boy, lots of people I don't know to sniff. Let’s see what I can get away with. EW, I smell my first mama. Yes, there she is. Mary Beth is letting me say hi, how cool. It is great seeing all the people I know all in one place. And now we are getting pictures taken, oh what fun for me. I like showing off.
My first mama seems sad. I wonder why? Mary Beth is happy but nervous? What is up with that? I am meeting all sorts of new people and hey, I even got presents just now. Come on Mary Beth, let me check them out.
My first mom is holding my leash as Mary Beth walks away. Come back, don't leave me here. Oh wait, I can see Mary Beth outside, ok, this isn't so bad.
We are now going outside to Mary Beth. It has been forever since I was at her side. Let’s see if I can knock her over. Mary Beth would not let me do that, darn. There are sure a lot of people staring at us up here. We must be special. I will just sit here looking all cute for the people sitting down there. I will even show off for the dogs sitting out there.
Whatever that activity was is now over and my first mama is hugging me and saying good-bye. I don't want her to leave but I do love Mary Beth and want to stay with her.
All our things are being put into a car. Neat, there are other dogs in the car too. Mary Beth seems excited over this one dog. She just introduced herself as Sunset. What a nice name. Mary Beth just told me that Sunset is her retired guide dog. Wonder what that is?
Oh how tired I am and finally we are getting out of the car. I really want to stretch. I am not sure of where we are though. What a neat smelling place this is. Mary Beth says this is home now. What fun, I have my stuff, Mary Beth, and that dog Sunset to be with. Is this that forever place I was told about? I do hope so.
***
Well, maybe you should go now to where ever it is you live. I have enjoyed telling you how I met my forever mom. It has also been fun sharing with you how I learned to be a guide dog. I love my job and my mom. The place I live is great and the many adventures I have had are beyond words.
I hope that one day we meet again. Thank you for coming along on this journey with me.
This is me, Tennyson, with my forever mom Mary Beth and her friend who came from really far away to see us.
Here I am taking a nap on the bus while mom and I were still at GDB.
This is my week ten submission for LJ idol,
therealljidol. We were given an open topic this week. Thank you for reading.