CANINE CREEK®
Dog Wash & Pet Boutique

Where dogs would shop
if they could drive... ™

CANINE CREEK
Dog Wash
& Boutique

Darby, Our First Girl

Hi, My name is Darby.... (April 2003)
I am just a little more than four months old, but I'm extremely smart and (dare I say it) the cutest yellow Labrador on the planet. I was a bit of a "puppy handful" for my first foster family, so now I am living at Almosta Ranch with my new foster parents and five other big dogs. I like it here, except for one thing...... they really should call it Puppy Boot Camp. My new parents are pretty cool, but they sure do have a lot of rules. Sit, stay, down, leave it, don't bite, kennel up, drop it. Sheesh! Well, OK, so I guess all the rules aren't so bad. As you can see in the photo at left, I am learning STAY pretty well. And, how about those pretty California poppies in the horse's pasture? They sure do make me look good. If I behave myself, maybe the GDA staff will consider me for next year's fundraising calendar...... :-)

(HEY, what's up with this crate thing? I promised not to chew on the rug again!)

Darby Settles In
It took no time at all for Darby to make herself at home. In fact, she immediately made a new best friend.... our black Lab named Brando. Does that name sound familiar? It should, as Brando was our first guide dog puppy in training. It turns out our very mellow (i.e. lazy) fellow was not cut out for the rigors of guide work and, after nearly 3 months in official training, was dropped from the program. We were quite upset that he didn't make it, but (admittedly) relieved to have our boy home again. So, he is now a pet with a new career as a registered Therapy Dog, and the official ambassador to all the new guide dog puppies who come to live with us. Thanks, Brando, for teaching Darby the ropes. (Just don't teach her how to be lazy!)

Another New Experience (May 2003)
The timing of Darby coming to live with us wasn't the best...... we received the call from Guide Dogs only a week before our scheduled two week vacation. Fortunately, the head of the puppy raising department was able to find an experienced puppy foster family to take Darby for two weeks. Although Darby was just starting to figure out her new home and pack, she was shipped off to spend two weeks with a nice couple and their two dogs. Turns out Darby was not phased at all by this upheaval. She got along well with everyone and handled it beautifully. As of mid May, Darby is now back at Almosta Ranch, and learning quickly. Good thing, too, as the annual Guide Dogs of America Open House & Obedience Puppy Trials are right around the corner on June 7th. If you're in the Sylmar, CA area that day, you are welcome to drop by the Open House from 11am to 4pm. Please come and cheer for Darby to win her puppy class! If you can't make it this year, keep an eye on Darby's page to see how she did.

Darby's Big Day (June 7, 2003)
It seems like Darby just came to live with us, and the next thing you know, the annual Guide Dogs of America Open House & Puppy Trials were upon us.

It was a beautiful spring day, and over 120 puppies in training from all age ranges came out to compete. The prize? The title of Top Dog in their age group for the year, the dog's name on a brass plaque in the kennels, and lots of enthusiastic appreciation from the crowd. And, speaking of the crowd..... this was the largest turnout for Open House in GDA history, with many thousands of attendees.

The photo above shows Darby with her dad, Bill, navigating the open staircase in perfect form, while a group of captivated Girl Scouts look on. Great job, Darby!

After the stairs, Darby breezed past some funky looking animals (lamas, ducks and other barnyard pets), ignored the balloons, stood nicely for her vet check, and sat quietly during the crate test. But, we won't mention the raw hot dogs..... those swinging links on a string were just a bit much for this 6.5 month old puppy to ignore. Overall, there were about 25 dogs in each age class. We're not sure exactly where Darby placed, but we'd guess she made the top half of her class. That's not too bad, considering she was competing in the 6 to 10 months old age group, and puppies with much more experience and maturity.

Here is Darby with her yellow Lab pal, Jamie (on the right), who is about 4.5 months old. Aren't they the cutest? Jamie did very well at puppy trials and, in fact, even WON for her age group. Congratulations to Jamie and her hard working puppy raisers, Bob and Kathy for earning Top Dog status for Under 6 Months for 2003.

We had a wonderful time at Open House and met a lot of nice people, including some far away puppy raisers who are fostering Darby's sisters and brothers. The silent auction fundraising tables were great this year -- they are always my favorite. Bill had to drag me away from the tables, but not until I'd dropped $390 on miscellaneous gift baskets, dog toys, and collectibles. Oh well, it was for charity, right? ;-)

Where did the summer go? (October 2003)
It seems like just yesterday that our little puppy was "helping" us plant trees, keeping the pesky gophers on the run in our garden, and swimming after frogs in the pond. In the past few months Darby has grown a lot, been out and about, and has enjoyed many new experiences, including the Ringling Brothers Circus, Disneyland's California Adventure, and one very strange day at the Red Bull Flugtag on the Santa Monica pier in Los Angeles. For those of you not familiar with this event, the Flugtag is a friendly competition where hand-made machines (bizarre hunks of junkyard scrap), are flown (hurled) into a large body of water (off a very high pier into the cold ocean) by a team of people (weirdly dressed) who obviously have had too much Red Bull before breakfast. If you ever want to test a puppy's tolerance to large crowds, strange costumes, and more noise than your average heavy metal concert, this is the place to go. (And, lest anyone think this event is just crazy California behavior, you might be interested to know that the Flugtag originated in Austria in 1991.) Darby handled the Flugtag flawlessly.

Puppy Public Relations ~
A Dog's Duty
Now that the Dog Days of Summer are gone, and Darby is maturing into a polite young lady, we have been spending more time on public relations tasks. In October, we were invited to be guest speaker at the Bear Valley Springs Women's Club luncheon and, a few days later, at the BVS Men's Service Club dinner. Darby was the hit of these Halloween theme events in her student propeller hat (see photo above), and I got a chance to polish my public speaking skills. Large groups are tough for me, but talking about our involvement with this worthwhile charity always puts me at ease. :-)

GDA Las Vegas Golf Tournament & Charity Banquet (November 2003)
We were honored to be among a very (very) small group of Guide Dogs of America puppy raisers who were invited to attend the annual fundraiser at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas. There are over 300 hard-working puppy raiser families volunteering for GDA, and only about 10 are invited to this event each year, as ambassadors and hosts to the 1,200 charitable people who come from around the country to donate to GDA.

The golf tournament, held on a Friday with 288 people playing simultaneously in a shot-gun start, was reported to have brought in over $100,000. Darby and 2-year-old breeder dog Loree (right) enjoyed the beautiful day on the course, as they silently cheered on the golfers. (Well, OK. They might have looked at the resident ducks more than once, but they didn't go after them!)

The banquet held on Saturday was even more successful, with dozens of donations ranging from $1,000 to well over $100,000. The generous check presentations went on for quite some time, and the pot continued to grow as we enjoyed a fabulous steak and lobster dinner. I lost my mental count after a glass (or two) of wine, but I would guess that at least half a million dollars was donated that evening. WOW. Given that GDA is run entirely on private donations and the work of volunteers, this money will go a long way in helping many people over the next year. It was great to have been a part of something so special. (Thank you, GDA staff, for inviting us.)

November 18, 2003 ~ The week after the above photo was taken at the Flamingo Hotel waterfall in Las Vegas, Darby celebrated her 1st birthday. Happy Birthday, Darby....

How Time Flies....
(April 2004)
I can't believe it's been five months since I last updated Darby's page...... the time passed so quickly. After the Las Vegas fundraiser in November, we really squeezed a lot into our schedules. There was Thanksgiving, the annual Holiday Pot Luck luncheon at the GDA campus, and a house full of guests at Christmas. In January 2004, Bill and I decided to open a new pet-related business, which took up every waking moment during the next couple months. In April 2004, Darby helped us to launch the opening of Canine Creek, a Self Serve Dog Wash located in our lovely little town of Tehachapi, California. Also in April, Darby made the annual visit to Mrs. Hinkle's 3rd grade class at Cummings Valley Elementary School, where we were presented with a large jar of change..... money saved and donated by the children to Guide Dogs of America. We are very lucky to know teachers like Mrs. Hinkle, who is not only educating the adults of tomorrow, but also encouraging them to be charitable to those who are less fortunate.

The Big Day Is Upon Us
(May 15, 2004)
As much as we like the folks at GDA, we always dread receiving the letter from them stating "turn in day has arrived". On May 15, 2004 we made the 2-hour drive to Sylmar for the Turn In Luncheon..... a day of mixed emotions where we say a tearful good-bye to our puppy-in-training, share stories with other puppy raisers, and hope for the best as our charge starts a new life without us. It's painful letting go of a dog that you love, but it helps to remember that the 18 month commitment you made could literally change someone else's life. Darby is smart, loyal, and has a wonderful sense of humor..... a little imp in dog fur. Our household will certainly not be the same without her. The photo at left is the last we took of Darby before she entered the training kennel, where she will spend the next five months learning her trade. Bill is holding the yellow "puppy in training" jacket that will now be replaced with a leather harness and a professional guide dog trainer. I'm behind the camera, wearing a big smile, and a pair of dark sunglasses to hide my puffy red eyes. Good luck, Giggle Girl. We love you!