We Cruised with Cricket!

Yesterday, Cabana and I got the special treat of meeting up with Becky and Cricket! Becky and I knew each other through our mutual blogs, but we had never met in person before. Since Becky was in the Bay area for other reasons, I was so pleased to take the opportunity to meet face to face.


We met at the Guide Dogs campus in San Rafael and let Cabana and Cricket get to know each other in one of the free run areas. Here's Cricket telling Cabana the secrets of being a fantastic working dog.


We stopped at a cafe in San Francisco on the way to the airport since Becky was heading back home that evening. It was great to chat and get to know each other, although we both felt fairly well-acquainted already because of our blogs. What an interesting phenomenon of our era that we can make friends with people across vast distances and find commonality in our interests, families, and love of dogs!

Challenges That Must Be Met

I went to the grocery store today for a "real" shopping trip, and unfortunately, Cabana still had issues with the refrigerated sections. It's quite embarrassing really, trying to coax this puppy to come along and get out of the middle of the aisle. We definitely attract our share of attention, which isn't what we want. Of course, everyone is very nice about it, but I just feel a bit silly.

Here's Cabana on a pier at SB Lake, one of my favorite walking routes.

The weather has gotten very nice for the past few days, which is a mixed blessing. Nice weather is great, but when it's rainy or cold, there are much fewer distractions (other people, other dogs, off-leash dogs). This morning, people came to SB Lake in droves. Cabana gets a bit ornery when I don't let her play with passing dogs, especially if they show any sign of wanting to play with her.

Oh boy, I have my doubts about this pretty little puppy, whether she'll be one of the 66% who make it as a working Guide Dog. If she does, I know her new owner will love her so much--she's such a smart and sweet dog. But everyone in my puppy raising group says that Cabana is the toughest of the bunch. Coupled with the fact that we are first timers who don't quite know what we're doing yet, the stats aren't favorable. All we can do is our best, and I'm definitely trying.