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Aullwood farm baby

Posted on May 21, 2011 by Donna Black-Sword

 Saturday, March 14 2011.  A bit rainy last Saturday at the Farm Babies Festival at Aullwood Farm, but if you were wearing sensible shoes and proper rain gear, then you would have got along just fine.

Wish I were one of those kind of people.

But no matter. In the end I didn’t actually sprain my ankle and with enough hairspray in the coif, I was able to repel the rain as if I were wearing a motorcycle helmet. My excuse for forsaking all my scout leader training (Be prepared!)?  Well, this was the day after Micron’s turn-in at CCI and my humble brain was still processing things. Yeah, I’m going with that. It sounds more robust than just another over-40 moment, I think.

Looks like Bullet’s down for a nap.
The energizer puppy, however, is still going strong.

Aullwood stationed our CCI booth in a great spot, under the shelter of a hack berry tree and deliciously downwind of the kettle corn guy.  Yaxley and his fellow fuzzy friends, Bullet, Julee and Bonnie, spent the day giving out free puppy hugs to all who stopped by. 

This was Yaxley’s first big public outing. When we showed up to help out at the CCI info table, I said we would only stay as long as the pup could handle things. At the first sign of the puppy equivalent of a meltdown, I would take the little feller home. The little delicate flower that he is and all.

You’re kinda missing the belly, kid, but this’ll work too

So it seems the first to give out were my poor hapless feet in those idiotic sandals. But the puppy? Still happily building his new fan base.  Then I start to worry about how bad my hair actually looked. A hand drill wouldn’t even break through that hairspray force field now.  So, Yax my love, ready to go?  No. No he’s not. Things to smell, kids to lick, grass to eat.

We lasted right through to late afternoon, that little stinker. We only left when we did, because I was getting nervous about having to walk the half mile back to the car in those flippin’ shoes.  Gettin’ out while the gettin’ is good, you know.

Bring ’em on!  Is that all ya got for me?

Before we left Aullwood, we did take a quick tour of the barn so Yaxley could enjoy a full sensory 3-D experience in odor-rama.  A little horse road apple here, some sheep stuff there. Again, I know this fragile little guy isn’t ready yet for the big time. We’re just shopping for smells, not rubbing noses with anybody here.

Except the pig actually. OK, so we’re rubbing noses with the pig. I didn’t see that fella until he stuck his juicy, quivering snout from the fence slats. Alrighty then, checking Kissed a Pig off the new experience list. 

Apparently, I’ve underestimated the confidence level of this little yeller feller. Yaxley has walked into every situation with tail held high and nose in the air. 

He’s up and ready for the next adventure. Food Lady, he says, I’m so bored. Let’s go do something!

Comparing who smells more delightful when wet.
Dog or alpaca? I say either is an acquired taste, so to speak.
Bullet poses in the herb garden at Aullwood

I kinda like the smell of wet dog in the morning

The lovely Julee takes a much needed break

 

Oh yeah, at the Farm Babies Festival? There were for real
farm babies there too. A pair of adorable eight-week-old kids
that we though were badly bred poodles at first glance.
Trying to get a serious portrait type shot of Bullet.
Realized later that he’s resting his dog bum on that rock.

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Posted in Aullwood, fundraising, Yaxley. Bookmark the permalink.

Working for kibble

Posted on November 6, 2010 by Donna Black-Sword

It’s not hard to make Micron a happy dog. He is, by nature, a glass half full kinda guy. He finds most things in life are pretty good (naps, belly rubs, fresh bowl of water) and other events are wonderful (car ride, getting attention from the Starbucks girls), and then he has his ecstasy moments (I gotcher smelly sneaker!). 

But what is true euphoria for a dog? Anyone lucky enough to have a food motivated dog knows. Both these dogs know when mealtime is around here. We keep things on a tight schedule, because honestly, I really like to keep the #2’s on schedule too, if you know what I mean. So when 7:00 rolls around, there’s some serious restlessness in the household. After the bowl is licked to a shine, Micron will run to the nearest person to give his thanksgiving for the nouvelle cuisine. “Food Lady!” he says, “You’ve outdone yourself again. That was the best bowl yet!” His tail wags so hard that the tip is touching his sides.

It probably doesn’t need mentioning that this dog is really, really easy to train.

But hey, everything comes with a price, doesn’t it? This pup has to work for his daily kibble. In addition to his service dog training, he is an ambassador for CCI. We make the occasional public appearances and work at CCI booths to raise awareness of this amazing human services organization. Let’s look at a couple of our fall outings.

Aullwood Apple Fest



Micron and Bullet.
They’re not exactly manning the booth, 
but dogging the booth doesn’t sound right, either.

 One of my very favorite local events, the Apple Fest at Aullwood Audubon Center & Farm. I love being outdoors on a beautiful fall day with the smell of wood smoke in the air. Apple butter is cooking in kettles and apple pie is baking in the dutch ovens over an open fire. Puppy raisers Jerry and Jerri manage the CCI booth at this annual event. This year they brought their 17th pup, Bullet. Seventeenth puppy. These guys are pros in the CCI puppy raising business –my heroes and mentors.

Also working the booth for crowd control was pup in training, Karsen, and COC Fergo, the big sweetie.



Babe magnet, Bullet


We get a lot of traffic at the CCI booth over the two-day fest. Really, it is essentially non-stop. It’s a great opportunity to allow the dogs to learn calm greetings and talk to folk about the work that CCI does. We answer questions while the pups work on their fan base.


A firm handshake and good eye contact.
I was especially looking forward to this as it would be Micron’s first contact with farm animals. I learned from experience that the goats are not a really great first step as far as livestock goes (sorry, Inga).  A goat will stare a little too long before they go all freak out on you. So we started with just walking around to get exposed to some novel smells.




Hi sheep thing. Nice to smell you.

 

First we met a gentle, old sheep, which went really well. A sniff, sniff and we moved on. Next was the barn.



Hogs, mini whinnies, an alpaca, and a couple of calves. Nothing we can’t handle. It’s all good. We can check farm animals off the New Experiences list for CCI.

I just got my head around that sheep thing
and now there’s this?



Apple butter a’cookin’.



Aullwood Farm is a good family visit anytime, really. It’s an educational farm for kids to learn about livestock and agriculture. For folk within driving distance of the Dayton area, check out the farm and the adjoining nature center and gardens. Always time well spent.

Micron poses in the herb garden



Jungle Jim’s Fall Festival


Micron and Julie

We spent a chilly afternoon at the Jungle Jim’s International Market. Definitely hoodie weather, but much better than sweating it out on a hot summer day. Micron met up with pups in training Owen and Julie for an afternoon Meet and Greet. Julie is nearly five months old and quite the crowd draw. Owen is 18 months and will be matriculating at the November 12 CCI graduation ceremony in Dublin.

Julie was adorable, Owen was professional and Micron was, well, you can see from the photos. Micron was his usual self.



What is Owen thinking?  Probably don’t wanna know.

  

Julie and her adorable head tilt



I’m one of those unfortunate people who turns into an idiot when a camera is in my hands. All manner of squeaks, clicks and meows come from me in an attempt to get a dog to lift their ears and look at the lens.

I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t get the occasional reward, such as that puppy head tilt of Julie’s. Just look at that adorable mug. She brought back some wonderful memories of Inga as a pup (sniff).
Long time puppy raisers Steve and Bonnie facilitated the CCI booth for this event. Jungle Jim’s is an eclectic shopping experience, sorta like an amusement park in a grocery. We decided to try out some shopping after working the CCI booth. It was our first time at the place and we found we needed a map to find our way around the international marketplace. Micron did a wonderful job exploring with us, but we knew it was time to put a cap on things when he dropped onto the floor in England and fell asleep. It was a long afternoon, the poor fella.

  

It was a bit chilly out.
Julie provides a hand warming service.

Micron Dog and Jungle Dog.
Maybe just me, but I prefer food with less personality.
And self awareness.
Do they ever get to be “dogs”?
Questions we get as puppy raisers from concerned dog lovers. Is it all work for these dogs?  Do they have to wear their capes all the time? Don’t they ever get to be “dogs?”
Of course they do, people. We undress these fuzzies, give the Release command and stand back. But you know, it helps to have a visual sometimes. The Gold Rush Champions chapter of CCI put together an excellent video that will relieve some of those working dog worries. Talk about time well spent – if you’re a dog lover, you won’t be asking for these four minutes back. 
Check out the video at:
 Do service dogs get to play?.

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Posted in Aullwood, CCI, friends, fundraising, Inga, Jungle Jim's, Micron, service dogs. Bookmark the permalink.
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