About me (and my dogs)

I'd definitely describe myself as a dog person. I'm fascinated by literally everything that has to do with these amazing creatures. As far as I'm concerned, I'll never know enough about them. I'm sure that from week to week, each topic of interest in my posts will change dramatically.

I'm creating this blog with the primary purpose of logging the progress I'm making with my currently 5 month old Golden Retriever, Bradley. I'm in the process of training him to be my guide dog. I have little experience in training dogs in general, let alone such advanced training like guide work. It's probably the biggest challenge I've ever accepted and it's well worth the effort. There are two benefits to keeping a public blog about this journey:

1. Documentation to prove that a service dog has undergone extensive training, while not necessary, can always be helpful. Service dogs don't need to be trained professionally, but the more independently the training is done, the more you have to make sure you dot your i's and cross your t's.
2. I'm not one for following through when I loose interest in or get too stressed by something. Losing interest in this endeavor is not something I intend to do, but I know it's going to be a difficult process. A public representation of our efforts will definitely help keep me accountable.

I'm sure I'll blog about things other than Bradley's training progress though. I really do hope to keep subject matter at least loosely related to dogs though. I intend to keep my personal life uninvolved if it's not relevant to dogs.

I live with my husband and our two dogs, our sons. My husband's name is Joe and he's amazingly tolerant of my obsession with dogs :) You already know about one of our dogs, Bradley. He's a great puppy. You wouldn't believe how mature he is for a puppy- and a Golden Retriever puppy at that! Our other dog is an 18 month old Papillon named Louie. Louie's a total momma's boy. He's the true definition of a lap dog. He's a big dog in a small dog's body. I know that phrase is insanely over used but it's so appropriate for Louie, regardless of how cliche it sounds.

We're in the process of finding a retired Greyhound to adopt. I'm so excited about adopting one. Of course, I'll keep you updated.

Let's see if I can figure out how to add some pictures of Louie and Bradley :)