Bishop

At the end of June, a new set of puppy raisers and sitters were nearing the end of the prepuppy classes, which means that they were ready to do their very first sit with a GEB puppy. Depending on each persons' needs, they were matched with either younger puppies still in need of raisers or they borrowed older pups currently on program. Frito was sent to spend two weeks with Maria & Robert, potential raisers who have two older, smaller dogs that needed a gentler dog with experience with small dogs. Cue Frito! While Frito was vacationing in Brooklyn, I got to puppy sit the cutest (and noisiest!) eight-week old German Shepherd named Bishop.


Julia did puppy daycare for Bishop while I was at work and got this adorable picture of Bishop:


Some additional photos of the little man:

Poster Dog

I think Frito should be the poster dog for Guiding Eyes for the Blind - she loves to pose and looks pretty snazzy next to the GEB logo. :)

Food & Drink

I am pretty certain that whoever named Frito's litter was hungry and thirsty at the time. Several of the pups came away with food or drink names, including Frito and her sister, Fanta, who is also being raised in the NYC Puppy Raising Region. Fanta spent approximately one week in downtown Manhattan on a puppy sit with Krissy so we got the sisters together to play. They had a great time playing together and for some reason, I craved orange soda and corn chips afterwards...

Happy First Birthday, Frito!

I really cannot believe how fast time flies. My darling Frito is one year old! Only a few short months and she will be leaving me to hopefully become a guide dog for the blind, although I will be happy with whatever career she decides on.

Frito looks pretty dashing in a birthday hat:


Julia got Frito a cupcake from Crumbs (i.e. the greatest cupcake shops in NYC) and we lit a candle for her to blow out. Frito got embarassed from all the attention and asked if I would blow out the candle AND eat the cupcake for her - I was happy to oblige with both requests.


Julia, Ashley, and Ophelia (Frito's BFF) got her some pretty awesome gifts for her birthday.


Happy first birthday to my Frito Burrito!!

Memorial Day Hike

For Memorial Day this year, Frito and I decided to get out of the city for part of the day so we took the Metro North train up to Katonah to meet up with Michelle, who is raising Dina, the German Shepherd that swapped with Frito a few months ago.

Here is Frito in Grand Central Terminal for the first time:


Waiting for the train can get boring so what better time to put my hat on Frito for a silly photo:


The seats on the Metro North trains are a bit closer together than the ones on the subway. I initially had some difficulty figuring out how I was supposed to get Frito underneath the seat and out of the way, but with a little trial and error, we got ourselves situated.


Michelle and Dina met us at the train station and then we were off to do some hiking. If you look real close, you can see Dina way far up ahead and Frito trying her hardest to keep up - woods and the uneven surfaces were a new concept for Frito whereas Dina goes hiking on a regular basis.


Dina is absolutely gorgeous and completely at home in the woods!


We made it to the top of the mountain!


Frito absolutely adores Michelle - I caught this super sweet picture of them.


Two beautiful girls who will hopefully one day change the lives of two people:


The way down is always easier than the way up!

Stay!

One of Frito's best skills to date is her ability to hold either a sit stay or a down stay at impressive distances and with a variety of distractions. One example is when she was on a puppy sit in Westchester County with Michelle, who took Frito to a music conservatory and had Frito down stay on the stage while Michelle walked to the back of the music hall.

(Blurry picture but if you look real close you can see the yellow blur that is Frito in the distance)


More recently, Frito and I practiced a sit stay outside in my neighborhood. I live near a Jewish history museum that has several different monuments and fountains outside. One fountain in particular is very long and narrow and right at Frito's level. You can hear the water trickling down the fountain, which could potentially be distracting. Frito held this sit stay while I walked around the fountain - twice! What a good girl!

Hot weather has arrived!

Frito was born at the beginning of summer in June, but this summer is truly her first experience with extreme heat, something that NYC is not short of this year. Living in NYC is challenging when it comes to finding ways of keeping your dog cool and occupied. Fortunately the area dog parks have pools/watering systems of various designs to at least give the dogs a chance to exercise and keep cool at the same time. Unfortunately, at the beginning of summer, the parks department can be a little slow at turning the water on so I was forced to improvise in the meantime.

Frito wondering what I am doing with a water bottle...


Attack of the water bottle!


I accidently dropped the water bottle on the ground and suddenly the tables turned and it was the water bottle being attacked. Note the tooth marks on the bottle - whoops!


Several days later, the parks department finally turned on the water at one of the dog parks. Frito had never been in water other than the rain, of course, and when she has been bathed. She was not sure what to make of it at first, but was soon running and jumping through the water.


Wet labrador retriever = happy labrador retriever. :)