Graduation

Pictures Below: Baja just before sneezing :-); Handsome Baja in his breeder Bandana (with me)

Baja was presented as a breeder last Saturday, and I flew down to California with OMSI to present him and meet his breeder-caretakers (BCs). I flew to Sacramento on Friday morning. The people at security were very friendly, and I talked to one of them who was interested in applying for a hearing dog for her daughter. My flight was delayed an hour, first because the prior flight arrived an half hour late and then because there was a problem with the cabin lights. I was very proud of Mr. OMSI, who took the whole airport/flying experience completely in stride. I was not quite sure how he would react since he has shown some sound sensitivity in the past, but he was perfect and acted like being in the airport and flying were completely routine. Actually, he was very good the entire weekend (besides some hormonal behavior)...my little Punk is growing up into a nice dog!
Picture below: Hemet (L), and Baja (R)
The BC for Baja's dad (and Jaba's dad), Hemet, picked me up from the airport and we went back to her house for a couple hours before driving to Santa Rosa. So, OMSI had his first swimming opportunity since he was a little puppy. At first, he watched the other dogs leaping into the pool after toys with a shocked expression on his face. Then he started running around the pool looking at the toys being thrown in. After watching the other dogs jump in several times, OMSI just leaped in after. I guess he didn't feel the need to start small and wade down the steps...he just jumped right in from the side of the pool, and then promptly sunk for a second and came up flailing. He finally splashed his way over to the stairs and climbed out, and then jumped right back in after another toy. He seemed to have no fear of going into the water, even though he really couldn't swim. He got a little better by the end, and the next time he went swimming (Saturday after we got back from Santa Rosa), he could even go a little way without splashing. I'll post a video of him swimming when I get it uploaded. He definitely has potential to be a dock jumping dog like his daddy!




We drove to Santa Rosa for the Friday night Reception where I met Baja and his BC. He was very excited to see me and looked as good as ever. I spent the night at Baja's BCs house, and got one last night of snuggling with Baja (now that he's a breeder, he can sleep on the bed :-). He and OMSI played very well together (Baja avoided OMSI as a puppy). Saturday we went to the CCI graduation, and I got to meet Baja's latest "date" Pala. Sadly, Blaze and his BCs were not able to come. I had found out a little while ago that Baja's current BCs are moving to Oregon, and I was able to meet the couple who are going to foster Baja and possibly become his new BC if he gets along with their current dogs.
After graduation we went to see a couple of Baja's litters. The first, Shira's "Z" litter, is 4 weeks old and absolutely adorable. The girls' names are Zeeda, Zalia, and Zaida, and the boys are Zale, Zico, Zolo, Zinji. Kashi's "D" litter was the second litter we visited and they are one week old. The girls are Danica II, Devi, Davielle II, Darlan, Davida II, Dulce, and Dee II. They boys are Darius, Denver II, Drake IV. This was the first time I've been able to visit any of CCI's litters and it was a lot of fun. I really hope some of these puppies come up to Washington to be raised!
I spent the night on Saturday at Hemet's BCs house, and OMSI got to swim for the second time. It was dark by the time we got home, and OMSI wasn't too sure about jumping into a dark pool (the pool lights weren't working). But, after a few minutes he took the leap. Sunday morning I went back to the airport for the flight home, and got to sit by another Puget Sound raiser who had just turned-in a dog. Again, OMSI was perfect in the airport and on the flight.