Ester

Our "little" puppy is little no longer.  She weighs in at 45 lbs and according to the Seeing Eye coordinator "needs to thin out"  Whoops.  First time puppy raiser mistake, my bad.

Ester is almost seven months now.  Just like with parenthood, each phase is different and each stage comes with its own pros and cons.  Yes, she's not as fierce with her teeth, or needing to pee every half hour.  Take her for a walk however, and you discover her strong disposition to pull (a much needed attribute of a Seeing Eye dog) and her need to put every thing on the ground in her mouth.  Exhausting.

We went to puppy club this week and she was "tested" in order to secure her vest.  This vest is a big deal, as she wears it officially when we're out and about, in order to make her more visible as a future working dog.  Truthfully, she failed the test.  She was too concerned about playing with the dog next to her, or getting attention from the coordinator, that she wasn't obeying her commands.  Still, she acquired the vest, if only out of sympathy.  So not only do we have some commands to refine, but we also have to get her used to wearing the vest.  God help me.

I'm hopeful for the next few months.  We're nipping the counter surfing as best we can, and trying to keep papers off the table.  That old excuse about "the dog ate my homework" could really be used by my kids.  My vacuum cord has been eaten and replaced, Nelson's camera flash has been repaired and the walls are finally in the process of being patched.  Yes, she is the cause of all three.  Would I change any of it?  Likely not.  She is the love of our lives.  It doesn't matter to her what our moods are, she is ALWAYS happy to see us.  Things will get eaten and chewed, only to be replaced or repaired.  Accidents will occur because someone left open a gate, or forgot to take her out.  Big deal.  She's going to change a life for a blind person.  REALLY change it.  When I think about how much she's changed OUR lives in just a few short months, I'm speechless at the potential she has to affect her person just by guiding them around.

You can't put a price on that.