Movie and Vet Appointment

Yesterday night Ellie went to the movie theater to see Where The Wild Things Are.I wonder what they're all looking at?

Ellie checking out the picture of popcorn pieces on the door. She wasn't fooled. They sure look real though!


She was very good, though she didn't get much sleep. It was a little noisy :) She woke up whenever there was a dog barking, but didn't care at all when the people howled.

I personally didn't care for the movie, I don't know what she thought......



Late last night she threw up a big wad of sticks. It was tightly bound and sort of the size of a pinecone. We brought it to the vet when we went today but they didn't think it was really related to her cough. I kind of wonder how long it had been in there though. Poor girl!



At the vet's they did an exam and the vet listened to Ellie's heart and lungs but didn't hear any crackling or wheezing. The drew some blood and are doing tests which we should hear back about in a few days. "I'm ready to go now, Mom......" She doesn't love the vet's office, but wasn't as scared as when I took Barrett.

We're going to be giving her Doxycycline for 14 days to see if that knocks her cough out. I'm expecting it will. Her cough is not at all like Barrett's was, she only coughs a couple times during the day whereas he would do it all the time. And he got depressed from being sick but she's doing fine emotionally. So we'll see how that goes.

The vet's office had this cute little award from NEADS in their waiting room for donating their services for the prison pups.

Today Ellie also did some Thanksgiving shopping at crowded Whole Foods. She did very well of course. While her prescription was being filled at the Target pharmacy I took her to see the Christmas display. I found this little singing and dancing monkey that she was just great with! Curious, but also looked at me for direction. What a good girl. She knew it wasn't a toy for her.

She's exhausted now from the ordeal at the vets and sleeping it off.........

Food Bag Fun

Having Ellie full time takes a lot more food than only the weekends. So I recently picked up some food and put it in her food container. I gave her the bag and she had lots of fun! This is a great toy for those dogs that don't swallow little bits. Ellie is really good about that. She loves how it smells.......NEADS provides food, vet care and training for the puppies and their raisers. We provide toys, treats, and the pup's crate. I've run into someone before that thought that as raisers we should be paid to raise a puppy, and certainly not have to pay for toys and treats. I think that's silly, I feel very fortunate that NEADS pays for food and vet. I know they are one of the few service/guide dog organizations that does this. In fact, I have yet to find another one that does. I read that Guide Dogs for the Blind gives you a $250 reimbursement on vet care, but I think that's annual, not each visit. Am I right?
Beyond that, I think it's just up to the raisers to provide the finances for the pups. Does anyone know of other organizations give any type of reimbursements? Just curious :)


Ellie's going to go see the vet tomorrow about her cough. We'll see how that goes. Later today we're going to finally see Where The Wild Things Are before it disappears from theaters :) I'll be curious to see how she does with the howling......

Mall Trip!

Today Ellie went to a large mall. Our local mall is tiny and unpopulated, so it barely counts as a mall in my opinion. So this was her first time going to the Holyoke mall at Ingleside, a pretty large one.I know, this is a pretty bad photo......But I wanted to show the huge American flag hanging from the ceiling.

She did admirably, ignoring the smells and paying attention to me. There were all kinds of things she was exposed to, like see-through railings with moving people down below, strong scents, crowds, some puppies at a pet shop, steep stairs, beeping, people cooing "puppy"! etc.Ellie in Sears

Ellie was curious about the people moving down below, but wasn't quite as enamored by them as by the puppies in the window. I did manage to get her to look at me quite a few times though no prolonged eye contact. She is pretty distracted by dogs, though I can imagine that she would be more fascinated by these running and playing puppies than by other dogs.

We went to a shoe store where Ellie got to see some mirrors. She was very good.Going fast!

A so-so "go under". She sometimes forgets about the second half of her body.

She slept the whole way home so she isn't tired anymore.




Today when I was refilling her food container I told her to take the little bits and she didn't want to. She was scared of the container! After I encouraged her a bit she did eat the kibble, but she's going to have to eat in that container for awhile so she gets used to it.

Update and Pretty Pictures

Today Ellie went to the dentist's office with me. She was very patient and didn't mind the various sounds, though she was curious. It was great exposure for her.

She's still coughing and it's been getting a little worse in the last couple of days. Romeo's cough lasted for about 3 weeks so I'm not worried yet. Other than the cough she's perfectly healthy and is growing up to be a big girl! (Sort of :)
Here are some pretty pictures to look at because this is a short and boring post.

Since many of you liked the crazy picture of Ellie in my last post, here are some more cute action shots though none quite as fun.....

Incoming!!!


Ellie taking off


Labby face!

Dancing dog! She's actually playing with some moss she decided to pick up when she was having a frisky moment :)

Checking out the wall and showing off her beautiful coat....

Classic Ellie.