A Groovy Day at GDA

The annual GDA Open House fundraiser is always crazy good fun, but this was my first time in attendance with a dog of my own, so it was even more chaotic. This year's theme was "Back to the '60s" which, as you can see by the photos I've posted, afforded all sorts of goofy opportunities. The clever event planners outdid themselves this year, posting signs like "Drool is Cool," "Puppy Power," "Mellow Yellow," and my personal favorite, "Black Lab is Beautiful."

Lomax and I participated in the "puppy trials" distraction/obstacle course, and while we didn't place, I feel pretty good about how we did. Lomax is so distracted by other dogs that I was concerned he would...well...explode into uncontrollable wiggling, I guess. But I was able to rein him in fairly well and he took on the most difficult challenges (including getting on and off a bus filled with blacklights, loud psychedelic music, incense, rabbit furs and another dog) with relative confidence. It was the easy things -- you know, distractions he couldn't possibly care less about when I'm out working him in the real world, like water -- in which he suddenly took interest. Ah, well. The trainer who's been keeping in touch with us said yesterday that Lomax looked the most mature she'd ever seen him, so that's great news.

The South Bay puppy raiser group works the "Puppy Kissing Booth" every year. One dollar for the privilege of receiving a puppy kiss is a pretty good deal, but Lomax was especially generous with l'amour. Here's Bob, getting his money's worth.

And of course, these events are always a good time for family photos. Here's Lomax with his beloved brother Liam (on the left) and sister Kandy (on the right -- who by the way is going in for the last phase of her breeder evaluation, woo hoo!).



The day went so quickly, I didn't even have time to watch the guide dog demonstration or wander around and look at all the silent auction packages, which are always fantastic. So I did my part by purchasing a comfy GDA sweatshirt, enjoying the tri-tip sandwich lunch as well as the Girl Scout bake sale booth, and buying a raffle ticket for the "Spend a Day With a Guide Dog Trainer" program. Lomax, meanwhile, gave kisses until he was all kissed out.

Grateful to have spent the day with my little man and all of our puppy raiser friends, at least one of us slept very well when we got home.