A Post from Judi. Lafayette Reservoir!

Reyna woke up this morning with more than the usual vim and vigor that is normal. She was into everything and playing roughly with all of her toys, we decided that the best thing to get rid of this excess energy was a walk. Phil, Darcie, James and I took Reyna and Cody to the Lafayette Reservoir. Well James wanted to run so he ran ahead with Cody, Reyna was beside herself with all the smells and what I call "dogs gone wild" after putting her in a sit 5 times and making her wait until I was ready we finally managed to come up with a nice loose leash walk. We were walking along just fine trying very hard to avoid tiny barking dogs on retractable leashes but our biggest problem was a family behind us with two kids one on a skate board and one on a scooter. The scooter person would come up right behind us and I am talking inches and stop wait for her family and then do it again, the skateboard person would just go up and back. Reyna was a real champ she never reacted to any of it, the noise or the kids or the scooter and skateboard. We finally stepped to the side because the whole thing was really annoying and the family walked by and asked me how the training was going. I wish I could have come up with a good comeback. Anyway the rest of our walk was good, the reservoir walk is a good learning place for older puppies because of all the smells and dogs and just people around. No one asked to pat her which was nice although most people don't have any control over their dogs, we finally ended up walking a distance behind a gentleman that was training his two German Sheppard's to ignore dogs. We almost made it to the car after dodging strollers, bikes, scooters and skateboards, and our last few feet encountered a man with a huge Mastiff type dog on a retractable leash telling it to leave Reyna alone. Reyna was a gem and paid no attention to him and kept right on walking, it made me a little nervous but she just walked right through it. So now we are at home with a very tired girl, I think we are both going to take a nap.

Judi

A post from Judi! Reyna on Vacation.

Reyna went on vacation with the entire Rowe family in August to The Feather River Park Resort in Greagle CA. Feather River Park is a resort dating back to the 1920's and all the cabins are real log cabins.

The Rowe family has been going for 25 years. Reyna was a welcome addition to our cabin everyone who knows us stopped by the porch to say hi and give her a pat.

She was always good with her greetings. Reyna spent time at the lodge and at the pool, she also spent time splashing with Cody and the grandchildren in the creek that runs behind our cabin and in the Feather River.

She took a long walk everyday through the woods and into town, on one of our walks there was a very persistent loose dog that was following us but she looked back a couple of times and kept on walking on a loose leash. Reyna visited the Greagle Store which dates back to the 1800's and we bought groceries and walked around through the town.

Reyna was also part of Hot Dog night at the pool she sat between two 2 year olds while they ate their hot dogs and never made any attempt to even sniff them.

We were all so happy to have Reyna on this vacation because the entire family that she has met through various social functions was there not only to play and talk to her but to say goodbye. We are all sad to say "goodbye" to our girl she has a special place in everyone's heart, but we know she is going on for a better purpose and for that reason the whole family is proud of her. We all love you Reyna.

The Entire Rowe Family.

A post from Judi "All Girls Weekend!"

Reyna and I went on an "all girls weekend" to visit with my friend Annette in Fresno. Annette lives in a "co-housing" community. Everyone helps everyone else out; there is a community kitchen and everyone can participate in making dinners or you can choose to eat in your own home. There is a community garden which Reyna and I explored, plus we got to meet lots of interesting people. Reyna and I were invited with Annette for dinner at someone's house on Friday night. Reyna was perfect even though there were three cats in the house. Lots of the community dogs took an interest in her but she was on her best guide dog behavior. It was really hot so we devised a relieving plan that included going out at 5 in the morning (Reyna's idea) and during the day only walking in the shade or on bark along the side of the walkways. Saturday was an all day trip to Huntington Lake east of Fresno...it was warm at the lake so I set Reyna up with her on little umbrella shade area she could lay under it and still have a full view of the lake and all the people going in and out.

We did several walks into the lake to cool off and Reyna loved the water she really didn't want to swim she wanted to play and look for rocks.

Several dogs went by us including a black lab that was loose with out his people and she completely ignored him! (Good Girl). Back to Fresno and the heat 105 yuck and dinner. My friend has a cat Reyna was interested in her but we came up with a plan that Reyna had the run of the house during the day and Jade could be out at night. Saturday night there was a big celebration dinner in the community room for one of the residents I decided to leave Reyna at the house because the area was so crowded and being held outside, plus very hot. She was great in the house no worries and was happy to see us when we got back but she had all her toys with her so wasn't that concerned. Anyway back to Walnut Creek and Mia's birthday party on Sunday...Reyna was really happy to see all the grandkids and was happy to be back in her own spot. All in all a great weekend for everyone.

A post from Judi!

A few weeks ago, I took Reyna to San Francisco. We went to Pier 39 first and it was so crowded it was hard to maneuver. Reyna got a little stressed with all the people walking so close to her, but she never stopped walking. Once we got out by the sea lions she could hear them but couldn't see them. They were barking and she didn't know where it was coming from, plus there was a really large boat warming up its engine to take off. When we finally got close, she was a little reluctant because of all the different noises and people crushed around, but once she could see things and put a visual to the noises she was just fine. We kept praising her and telling her how good she was doing. She really enjoyed watching the sea lions!

We then walked out by the water and we just stood there and enjoyed the view and let her relax. We then walked back on to the pier and she stood next to the big merry go round while Mia and Darcie rode on it. She was great.

But this is really interesting, she would refuse to get ahead of Mia in her stroller, it was almost like she was protecting her. If we got behind or ahead she would speed up or just wait for Darcie to catch up. Reyna was always touching Mia with her nose just to make sure she was okay. We had lunch and she was great...and then went to the Aquarium. It was soooo crowded but she was just wonderful! She was so relaxed and she just laid down and looked up at the fish.

On the last level there were touching exhibits. James was walking her from place to place and I made a trip to the restroom because he wanted to keep her. On my way literally fighting my way through the gift shop, I almost tripped over a working guide. I touched his arm and said hello, but he was very shy Indian man. He was there with his family and he said he had his guide for about two years. I think he said her name was Evelyn. By the time we got back with Reyna, he was gone. I looked outside but couldn't find them. Anyway, we went on down to Fisherman's Wharf and a stop to look at the submarine and liberty ship.

After that we started heading back to the car. Over all, most people were respectful of her working and just looked, but other people did not understand. One Chinese man would not stop "clicking' his tongue at her while we were eating, even though I told his English speaking daughter she was a working dog. Anyway, Reyna was a very pooped puppy last night. Oh and we had no relieving or surface issues :) We wanted to get on the streetcar but they were so jammed I thought it would be a very bad experience for her, so maybe something to be done on a weekday. All in all I think our trip was a huge success!

Off to San Luis Obispo with Judi

Reyna's week with the Rowe family was pretty exciting, not only did we celebrate her Birthday at the Cheesecake Factory on Thursday March 25th, we took Reyna on her first overnight with us to a Hotel. We left Saturday morning to drive to San Luis Obispo with Reyna very comfortable in the back of the car and James crammed into the backseat with all the luggage. We stopped three times, each time letting Reyna out to stretch and relieve, but she wasn't interested in the relieving part just walking around.

Once at the hotel Embassy Suites, we chose a room on the third floor. I wanted Reyna to experience the elevator which had glass walls. She was wary at first, but she never balked about going in. We had big room where she made herself comfortable with her toys.

The next thing to do was go on another big drive, poor Reyna more time in the car...but she was great, still no relieving. Once we got back she finally found a spot she liked and that's where we ended up going for the rest of the trip. Reyna was perfectly behaved when Phil and I met with the event coordinator for Embassy Suites, we were looking at the big event rooms for our Porsche club meeting in May. The event rooms were being set up with a Pirate Themed Dinner and there was lots to see. We then went and had appetizers and drinks in the courtyard of the Embassy she was so well behaved everyone came by to see her and comment on what a good girl she was.

Then off to Tahoe Joe's for dinner, once again the perfect dog under the table. She walked back with James to the hotel. When I got back we took a picture with the pirates and she wasn't real sure about that because there were about six people telling her to sit at the same time...I think the pirates had too much pirate juice and their costumes were full of feathers and bells and lace so she was not sure of the whole thing.

After dinner Reyna had her dinner and I took her down to relieve again but no luck.....but guess what at 1:30AM someone NEEDED to go out. I had a cold nose in my face but even though I was groggy I couldn't believe Reyna she knew exactly where to go to get to the elevator, she was making all the turns and sat directly in front of it. We went out she gladly relieved and we all went back to bed. Sunday was a long drive home but first we stopped at the Harmony Glass Blowing company in Harmony CA. Reyna was fabulous never went near any of the displays or even tried to smell them. What a good girl!

Home again Miss Reyna was sooooo worn out she slept all day on Monday. What a good traveler.

Reyna’s Adventures with Judi!

We had a pretty quiet week until the weekend. We did a long walk on Thursday with Cody and Reyna was very well behaved. She didn't react to bicycles going by or cars coming up behind her. She is still interested in the water flowing in gutters and did kind of her hoppy thing, but we negotiated that a couple of times and then it was over.

Saturday was our big day in Broadway plaza. We went shopping in Macy's stopped at the makeup counter. She was perfect - she just laid down at my feet, then on up the the Bra department where we both decided that nothing looked right as you can see from the photo.

Then we went over to Nordstrom to the hosiery and shoe department From the pictures you can see she was a big help with the shoes, even trying to suggest a pair but once again no luck.

We then went out and sat by the fountain for a while always lots to see and plenty of activity. Then we went on up the street to the Sprint store, so while crossing the street, a skateboarder went right by us and Reyna had no reaction. Yay! Then we went back through Broadway Plaza. There were lots of dogs and kids out, but she was great. Sunday we went walking around the Layafette reservoir and she was just fabulous. We had soooo many dogs going by and she had no reaction to any of them. She was interested and looked at them, but she was not trying to meet of them. It was a start and stop walk because of the babies, they both wanted to get out and walk beside their strollers and Reyna was very good about just slowing down and keeping pace.

Ok, so if this wasn't a dog distraction I don't know what is. We were walking up the last hill and there was two girls with a stroller and a very small, tiny dog on a leash and two cats in the stroller. One cat on top and one inside the stroller, plus a big pit bull puppy who was really interested in meeting Reyna, but Reyna was so good she just walked on by. Then on to the park were she sat quietly while the babies played for a while.

So then we went home to change and then went over to my brothers where everyone just loved Reyna! She had her best house manners and went out to the back yard were we let her relieve. She played so well with the kids out there and she never got over excited. She just kind of enjoyed being on the grass and was enjoying the weather. Dinner was inside and she just laid at my feet and then after dinner I found her a quiet spot away from all the foot traffic and put her in a down stay, which even my brothers Pug could not get her out of.

Then we went home with a VERY tired puppy. She was so tired when we went to bed she just flopped on the floor and didn't move in the bedroom even when Cody walked around her and got in her Favorite spot. But I noticed this morning that she was back in her spot and Cody was on the other side of the bed......anyway that's Reyna’s Adventures for the week with the Rowe’s. WE sure do love her.

School Preparations. . . A post from Judi!

Reyna is going to start going to school with James, so Judi is slowly introducing her to everything associated with that, inculding the bus ride. Here is an update from Judi:

Just thought I would let you know how our trip to the bus went. Had a little of everything....lots of cars going by both ways. Reyna was really good. She sat with James and his friends. There were the two kids with James and then there was a group of kids who were really out of control. We avoided the group that was out of control. Reyna was great when the bus came. She walked up and looked at as if she was ready to get on with James. (Not yet, but soon Miss Reyna!) We walked back and encountered a huge truck and trailer. I put her in a sit on the corner to watch it because of the noise. Two bicycles went by and she had no reaction to them. Yay!

Yay ! A Post From Judi

I would like to add how wonderful Reyna is around babies and little ones. She has been so good and patient with both of our Grandchildren 18 months old. They now practice telling each other to sit, and go to her bed. They point, say her name and tell her to sit. She is a wonderful addition to our household and as a first time raiser, co-raising her was the best decision.

(Reyna laying on the grass with her puppy coat on)

She has been pretty lazy this weekend with the rain but very busy watching Grandchildren run back and forth. She has taught them not to leave food on the floor for her, and to give gentle pats. They lay down next to her and talk to her, and their favorite thing to do is take turns locking themselves in her crate. She finds this very amusing.