Guide Dogs of America Open House 2009

One of our favorite events of the year is coming up next weekend: the Guide Dogs of America Open House 2009.  We’ve attended the last two GDA open houses held in Sylmar, CA.  Two years ago Stetson participated, but didn’t place in the puppy trials.  Last year Stetson was “in for training” and Derby was only a few weeks old (I didn’t even know that I was going to have Derby at that time).  Once again I’m without puppy at this years open house so I’ll be a non-participant at the puppy trials.  However, there are many other fun activities going on at the open house.

GDA Open House 2009

What: Guide Dogs of America Open House 2009
Where: GDA Campus, 13445 Glenoaks Boulevard Sylmar, CA 91342
When: Saturday, June 14th, 2008, 10:45am – 4:00pm

Here’s some info from the GDA website:

For more than 60 years Guide Dogs of America has offered blind and visually impaired people independence, confidence, and companionship in the form of a furry best friend- for free.  Once a year, visitors are invited to tour the 7.5 acre GDA facility, see a guide dog demonstration, and observe puppies-in-training as they maneuver through and obstacle course of distractions.

Admission and parking are free!  You might want to bring some extra cash just in case you find something you’d like to bid on at the auction.

Try to get there early especially if you’re coming from Orange County like me.  Last year we caught a ton of traffic and ended up missing the Guide Dog demonstration and later found out that the Guide Dog used during the demo was our pal Dustin.  Also, the main events start to wind down around 2:30pm.

Here’s a schedule of events:

• 11:30 – 2pm – Puppy Trials
• 1pm – Guide Dog Demonstration
• 2:30pm – Silent Auction Closes
• Tours (every 30 min), Raffles, Food, Merchandise
• All proceeds go to GDA.

Tuesday is our Orange County GDA group meeting and we’ll be practing for this weekend puppy trials.  If you’re interested in joining us our meetings are held the second Tuesday of the month at 6:30pm at:

Peralta Recreation Building
115 Pinney Dr
Anaheim Hills, CA 92807

We plan on heading up to GDA bright in early and hopefully we win one of the baskets at the auction.

Have you been to GDA open house before?  Are you going this year?

Stetson Missed This Years Puppy Trials

…but I missed the Guide Dog Demonstration We were late for the Guide Dogs of America open house this year and we missed the Guide Dog demonstration. I felt even worse about missing the demo when I heard that our friend Dustin was one of the dogs in the demonstration. Everyone told me he did really well and lucky for me Joanna and Camry took a short video of Dustin and posted it to their blog.

Lucky for me we did get a chance to check out the other activities at the open house.

The Puppy Trials

The puppy trials are my favorite part of the open house and I was hoping to take Stetson through the event. Unfortunately, Stetson was in the kennels and I didn’t even get a chance to see him. I did get a chance to snap a few photos of the contestants and obstacles in the trials.

Puppy trials began at 11:30am. Here’s what you need to do when you arrive (a reference for next year…hopefully I’ll have a puppy I can enter):

1. Check in at the Entry Table when you arrive.
2. Listen for your number to be called to start the obstacle course (10 numbers will be called at a time).
3. Return your number to the Entry Table to receive your participants ribbon.
4. Announcement of Puppy Trials

First Place winners of each age group will have a permanent place on our Top Dog Plaque, which will be displayed in the kennel building. Stetson’s brother Stuart finished first in our age group last year.

In the picture below do you see the obstacle to the left? Those are hot dogs on a stick and marshmellows. This little yellow lab has his eye on the prize, but he successfully avoided those little wieners.

The first time I introduced Stetson to stairs he was horrible. He liked to pull and run up the stairs even when I told him to heel. However, after a lot of practice Stetson became a master at the stairs. This yellow lab looks as thought he’s mastered the stairs as well.

Last year Stetson successfully ignored the ducks and llamas. The duck is actually on the right side outside of the picture. Sorry for the lousy picture the shadows were not treating me well in this photo.

Some of the other obstacles the puppies have to navigate are basic commands in the grass, walk through a pile of wood chips, simulation of a dining room environment, vet check, and sitting quietly on the bus.

Other Stuff Happening At Open House

For small donations they have food available including a bake sale at the Girl Scouts booth. The regular silent auction has tons of great baskets and last year we bid on several coming home with a basket full of cat products (my mom loves cats). This year nothing caught our fancy and we didn’t bid on any of the baskets. There’s also a children’s auction.

We also went on the GDA campus tour this year (I was hoping to catch a glimpse of Stetson in the kennels). We toured the grounds and the dorms, but didn’t get to go in the kennels

There’s also a raffle that included some great prizes. I think the coolest prize would be to “Spend A Day With A Trainer”. Unfortunately I wasn’t paying attention and didn’t get a chance to buy any raffle tickets.

There’s also a puppy kissing booth and several booths with GDA and other merchandise.

If you missed the Guide Dogs of America Open House then hopefully you’ll visit next year. I plan on going and hopefully I’ll have a new puppy to take through the puppy trials.

Guide Dogs Of America Open House Reminder

A short while ago I wrote an article about the Guide Dogs of America Open House. I just wanted to remind everyone that the GDA Open House will be this Saturday from 10:45pm to 4:00pm. It’s a fun event and there are lots and lots of Puppies In Training walking around. Some of activities I remember from last year were the puppy trials, guide dog demonstration, raffle, auction, and dog/puppy merchandise.

If you have a working Service dog or a puppy in training they are welcome to this event. However, all pets and career change dogs must stay at home.

GDA Open House Schedule

• 11:30-2pm – Puppy Trials
• 1:00pm – Guide Dog Demonstration
• 2:30pm – Silent Auction closes
• Tours (every 30 min).

Here are the details for the GDA Open house:

What: Guide Dogs of America 60th Anniversary Open House
Where: GDA Campus, 13445 Glenoaks Boulevard Sylmar, CA 91342
When: Saturday, June 14th, 2008, 10:45am – 4:00pm

In our May meeting we had practice puppy trials during our monthly meeting.  Unfortunately, Stetson was already In For Training, but I did get a chance to snap a couple photos.

The first photo is our group going through basic commands.  During the puppy trials you have to do most of the basic commands including “Sit”, “Stay”, “Come”, and “Down”.

The second photo is a simulation of the vet check station at the puppy trials.  Your puppy has to walk up steps to a table then gets checked out by a vet.  In this situation they look at the ears, eyes, mouth, paws, and nails.  In general they are making sure your puppy is accepting in being handled by a stranger.

This third and final photo shows Nyah about to walk over an obstacle.  Your puppies need to be able to walk over all kinds of surfaces.  Last year I remember Stetson had to walk across I believe it was that popcorn they use for packing boxes.  In this image Nyah has to walk across dog food.  This situation is probably more difficult then the obstacle she’ll come across at the puppy trials.

There are many other obstacles at the trials including a bus, farm animals, and other crazy things (I think there were hot dogs dangling from strings last year).  I’ll let you find out the rest of the obstacles by attending the open house.

This is the 21st annual open house and Guide Dogs of America’s 60th Diamond Anniversary.  I’ll be there for a good part of the day.  I hope to see you there too.