Zip’s Dog Blog (2.0)

Guiding Eyes is on Twitter and I’ve added them recently to my ever growing Twitter list. My first post from them was
their request for Puppy Raisers pictures of the youngsters in the program. I wanted to blog it immediately as several
puppy raisers do read here but alas I didn’t get to in very timely so it’s a few days old now. What I did manage
timely was to visit with the Guiding Eyes belated Holiday party so that I could demonstrate a little of my skill but
mostly so Dad could tell them how much I mean to him. When called to talk he left me behind and strolled to the end of
the hall using his antiquated cane. “Tap…tap…thunk…tap…tap” is a far less friendly sound then the pitter
patter of Guide paws. He asked if anyone wanted to pet his cane before extolling the many virtues and shortcomings of
the cane. It’s really a tremendous tool he says which only magnified his level of praise for me when he explained how
much more efficient, warm and wonderful I was in doing all the tasks of the cane and more. Soon afterwards but not
soon enough for my liking he called me to a heal and we were the team again to explain the benefit. It was good fun
and there are some great people there many of whom we got to speak with at length. Puppy raisers are an incredible
group so to those of you reading here or telling others about it – thank-you for raising pups to become Guides for
people like Dad. Thanks particularly to people like Bill LeBlanc and Pat Graham for giving us invitations to join the
local Puppy Raisers and share company with so many excellent and welcoming folk.

That morning we had a good walk before the meeting and as we did the Framingham loop not too far from our home it meant
we had no sidestreets and thus an easy job for me. Frequently when we take this loop I like to ask Dad if we can jog
and he almost always obliges. Now I have to tend the icy patches carefully, keep tight within reason to the road side
and of course be attentive to the branches and other hazards for his trusting gait beside me. Sure we officially
understand that Guide School does not encourage us running together and it is only in carefully selected locations we
do this. That said, Dad was listening to a book on his Victor Stream and so as I slowed up he paused the player to be
sure he heard the footsteps of the jogger ahead of us which had caused me to slow our pace. He gave a hearty “Good
Morning” to the jogger who wished us the same and asked if Dad wanted to pass. Dad explained that he thought so but
hadn’t ever done such so just wanted to give a heads up and with that he gave me the “Hop-up Quinn” which I readily
took and moved out a bit to have room to pass as I picked up the pace. Apparently having not looked at us, the man was
a little surprised by us and asked Dad if he was blind and then clarifed with “totally blind?!?” He then laughed to
himself as we were passing and moving onward. When Dad asked about the laugh he explained that he expected a little
ribbing when he got home to his wife and explained that he had been passed by a blind man and his Guide Dog that
morning on his run! Not something which happens to folks very often I guess…but look out when Quinn is around.
Freedom!!

I suspect some of you are curious about the title so I’ll catch you up to date on some of our activities. Dad has his
Bardic appreciation and one aspect is apparently the birth date of Robert Burns, the Bard of Scotland. So on Monday of
this week he donned his kilt, had a few folks over to the house and shared a toasting with his new Quaiche as well as
Haggis and home-made Scottish Oatcakes. Surprisingly almost everyone tried the Haggis and generally all liked it.
Tracy’s Oatcakes were also well appreciated and thanks to Lori Pigeon for donating not only an as yet unused towel kilt
but some very well appreciated “Haggis cookies” which are a commercial Oatcake for appreciating the Haggis. Next year
there’s a crock pot Haggis recipe from Teresa which will get some serious consideration.

Tuesday we headed out to Ye Olde Commons for the Will and Rowan Bardic which was an excellent evening and great way to
wrap up the Burns celebrations. Rod drove us out, dinner with Cathy and Rod was fun and then the fun of many too
rarely seen friends and plenty of good music. It’s a good warm up for the Spring Bardic here at our home on March 20
so get your invites if you haven’t already and come appreciate how strange my Dad and his zany friends prove. Rumors
of Haggis Jacobian are dubious but not denied as of yet.

We’ve had a lot of other adventures already in the new year but I’d rather close by sharing a tale of my dedication.
We aren’t talking about Greyfriars Bobby work here but I still think I’m fairly impressive. Many of you are already
aware of my legendary aversion to water. Thus in the deluge of rain from recent days it may interest you all to know
that I leash lead Dad to the step that goes onto our new, mostly finished, porch. The rain deflector on the roof is
one of the missing items and as such the water drips rather heavily at that point – at least when a weird January
monsoon is rocking Nashua. Leash leading is harder because you can’t push on a rope as the saying goes and so Dad only
really knows I’m leading when I’m pulling and thus has to interpret a slack leash more carefully. Still I need to be
precise in showing him the step so imagine the annoyance and frustration as I stand with my head directly under the
drip so he can figure out I’ve stopped, tap the step and then make the step up safely. Only after he does this can I
move out of the drip which I so dislike. Now that’s loyalty and dedication!

Thanks for still reading along with me, hello to Jessie a young lass getting ready for her trip to Guiding Eyes in
July for her first Guide Dog. At the young age of 17 she’s done impressively and is really excited about getting to
read this blog from the early start way back at Guide School to present. Hopefully we can help her prepare a little
and later she can bring her pup into our home state!

Be Well!
the Mighty Quinn

Well this is a tired Quinn finally getting a few moments on the blog after keeping folks updated a little from the
Twitter account. Let’s start with a link for you in which you can catch me flirting with an NECN reporter who loved
the waggin’ tail prowess of this Golden Lab:

http://necn.com/Boston/Health/2010/01/11/Study-involving-blind-patients/1263244960.html

We spent all day Monday at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and that meant leaving home at 4:45…so I got an
early breakfast after a long day Sunday. This meant I spent much time sleeping though obviously I found the energy for
the meet and greet with NECN. Fortunately while Dad talked to the doctors I got to sleep most of the time. It was fun
leading him all around the hospital which is huge like a mini-city. I really grasp the concep of elevators well and
could find them almost anytime much to the delight of people around me. My memory of where we’ve been was solid so I
led Dad out and about to the cafeteria, the outside, the lobby and the offices with Quinn confidence. It was a solid
bit of work and many took notice and talked to Dad about it. Still my main goal was getting rest and that was in short
supply until now. So enjoy the video and forgive my brevity please.

Sunday was cold and I spent most of the pre and post game tailgate in the car which was warm enough but boring.
Leading into the game was fun as usual but three hours of sitting in the cold isn’t enough fun for me even with
multiple blankets. People kept coming over to say hi to me and Dad would have to continuously reset my blankets. I
wouldn’t have been anywhere else but it sure would have been nice if the team had shown up so I could have been
surrounded by many happy folk not to mention a belly full of Charlee Bears. Last tailgate of the year though so now an
offseason of missing some of those friends.

Today was back to karate and some normalcy but I’m still not fully recoverred so I think I’ll get some rest and be
sharp for tomorrow’s morning walk. Good work by Dad who has kept it up so far this new year. In fact gameday morning
we did a jog around the neighborhood as I thought it was cold enough to warrant the double time Quinn work approach.
We almost have Dad back into pre-holiday shape!

ttfn,
The Mighty Quinn

The last entry was entitled WBZ and Beyond. At that time I thought the Beyond was the rest of our travels but that’s
not quite it I guess. The most recent buzz involves some interesting repurcussions from Dad’s medical world. He gets
migraines on occasion where normally the on occasion part means once every other month or so. His recent neurological
episode has seemingly increased that dramatically with him having to grab his migraine meds, lay down and lose an
entire night at a rate of roughly twice per week. This isn’t so good but is probably his brain healing a bit from the
impact of the neurological episode of his mysterious condition. There’s a quote Dad loves that says something about
keeping the keys to your happiness in your own pocket and not in someone else’s pocket. As such he has explored every
opportunity to better understand and potentially impact his situation. We took a trip to Beth Israel Deaconess over a
year ago to meet with a Migraine Specialist doing research and wanting to have Dad be a subject. The notion of that
work is the impact of light in migraines and pain. Dad has absolutely no light sensitivity and as such his pupils do
not react to light and are generally exceedingly large. When a Migraine is starting or his risk for it begins to rise
tremendously his pupils constrict and can actually pulsate even though there’s no shift in lighting. This makes for an
interesting neurology in general but all of that is getting way too indepth for my Canine Comprehension anyhow.

The salient point is a major release is coming from the study and Dad has already done an interview with Scientific
American (last night) and will be heading to the hospital to film a short piece with New England cable News on Monday.
His part will be small as will sadly be mine though I bet I do charm Latoyia Edwards! The benefit is that this might
expand the work of Dr. Rami Burstein and help him get funding for further exploration of Dad’s brain. It also puts
Dad’s name out there for a lot of the medical community which can often lead to other connections of merit for his
unique neurologicalcondition.

Well that’s enough about Dad for me. Our morning walks have remained vastly intact here on day 9 of the New year and
it continues to be fantastic. yesterday morning we even hit the woods near the house and Dad let me have a full puppy
spaz out in the silent snowy wonderland of the woods at 56:00 a.m. This snow stuff is plenty of fun when you get to
romp in it as opposed to having to fight the salt off your paws armed only with a tongue (blech) or Dad carrying a
towel for tha tpurpose. Still nothing clears them like a rinse and that just isn’t easy in the winter. I think I have
Dad convinced that prancing in fresh new snow is a rinse of worth though!

Patriots Playoff game at Gilette Stadium on Sunday. Temperatures are reputedly going to be in the teens so I’ll have
my coat and a few blankets ready for the excursion but I’m going since it’s sunny and above single digits. Dad better
be ready to keep me warm with lots of Charlee Bears. I wish the Pats could see me catch my football since with my
jukes, speed and catching ability I’d be Brady’s new favorite receiver until Wes can return.

Last note in my disjointed Beyond post is the New Year’s Eve viewing of “Up” with Tracy and Jennifer. The dogs in the
movie have collars which let them talk and this is supposed to be a marvel. When they get their own blogs they can
come talk to me. Still the movie, albeit farcical was touching and enjoyable. I wonder how many balloons it would
take to lift Quinn off the ground and I wonder how much I’d rather keep my four paws on the ground except when I leap
under my own power to catch a toy!

Be Well and…I’ll be hunting Ravens on Sunday!
the Mighty Quinn

Hello and Happy New Year one and all!

Firstly best wishes to poor Wes Welker who is often called a Labradour Retriever by Tom Brady and others. That was a
particularly awful injury for a guy who deserves far better. I hope he can tend his injury and be back to full form as
quickly and safely as possible.

Aside from the Wes sadness my New Year is going reasonably well. We had a snowstorm all weekend that didn’t drop
ridiculous amounts of snow but just kept snowing which means no walking Dad into plows…or more specifically no
walking with Dad until the plows are done threatening us to a game of chicken in which we either hit the snowbanks or
lose badly.

As Dad mentioned we are getting a resurgence of our walks though he’s slacked it into the afternoon twice on me.
I’ve been an enthusiastic four paw drive kind of dog and with his new boots I feel comfortable pulling him along if he
slacks a bit. We went to Alec’s Shoe store in Nashua where I have some friends and where you can find the best shoe
store in all of New England…at least for my money…which as you know is usually spent on Charlee Bears and toys.
Thanks to John Normande for the help and if you go you should ask for him and tell him you know the Mighty Me! He’s a
hiker and had some good information for us and ultimately kept Dad’s feet toastier even if he did slip into a size 14!
Why should that be of concern to this blog you might ask? Imagine you have to curl up at his feet in small spaces and
that his boots just got a little bigger? Yikes!

Curling up can be challenging in the winter anyhow. yesterday we rode the bus back from karate only for me to find
that sitting was rough enough. The floor was wet, snowy, muddy and generally not QUinn appropriate. I sat the whole
ride and used Dad’s knee and my chin to hold myself up at many points. Yuk! At least I conned a quality grooming from
him as a result.

Anyhow the focal point of this quick post is that for many you have seen or will see my WWBZ piece which has been
airing intermittently on TV 4 out of Boston as well as TV 38 out of Boston. It’s a 30 second spot of Dad talking about
Pats and me looking keenly at the camera and at Dad. The camera guy was of courseholding my squeeky football so he had
my attention! if you see the piece and like it you should drop them a note at:

http://wbztv.com/contact

Evan made the piece and he gets credit for such notes dropped which is good since he was really good to both Dad and
myself. I hope you do get to see it and if it ever becomes possible to connect to it online I’ll make sure to post a
link like I did with the PSA from Foxboro.

I’m getting a video library and Dad says this may increased with the advent of the 2020 Vision Quest. I’ll keep you
updated but I hope he won’t expect me to type MORE than I already manage! I’d much rather be out playing…speaking of
which…

Be Well and Go Tug with a Friend!
Quinn the Mighty
www.zipdogblog.com

I’m sitting down with a good cup of Coffee after just finishing an Everything bagle courtesy of House Mate Jen. I’ve
got the wireless headset and blue tooth keyboard going so I can spend the early morning of the New Year resting on the
couch and addressing a few things on the very first To Do list of the year. I’m in a very appreciative mindset this
morning as I feel energized from spending some time out walking in the not so brisk winter morning with the Mighty One.
I’ve been a little negligent over the holidays in getting our morning walks and one of my points of emphasis is to
resume this despite the weather and other assorted challenges. We didn’t do anything grand, just a two mile stroll but
it was invigorating and Quinn had clearly missed the regularity of the early morning walk. As the cold weather arrives
it became easy to just let them slip to later in the day and then to simply when needed for the outside routines of
shopping or whatever. I want those to be the bonus walks and for us to have a morning routine because there’s
something particularly exhillerating to getting up and getting that morning walk before the rest of the homestead and
much of the world is stirring. Quinn agrees though the hard part is convincing him there’s some relatively quiet play
‘reward which satisfies his playful nature and doesn’t wake anyone else too early. It reminds me of the quote that
Dogs are the Gods of Frolic which came across Quinn’s Twitter account a day or so ago.

Speaking of Twitter, I was walking along in the early morning quiet and had my new blue tooth (thanks Santa Tracy!) and
listening to the twitter posts. Erik had a link up to an article so I clicked away and read this while walking along:
ErikWeihenmayer Check my interview with the Seeds and Fruit blog:

http://www.seedsandfruit.com/

I find it an amazing world that while walking around in this winter wonderland, and the sound of freshly fallen snow
(silence?) is something which absolutely still reaches me deeply, while being able to easily navigate both Twitter and
then web pages to listen to things of interest to me… well it’s amazing. It was all so seemless and symbiotic with
Quinn navigating the various snowbanks plowed poorly due to cars left on the street or plows sloppy with impending
snowstorms giving them sooner chances to clean up again anyhow. Then again maybe it was the New Year’s Eve
celebrations which impacted their work with a sloppy rush job but ultimately Quinn was perfect and our work together
left me the ability to praise his wagging form while listening and learning.

I had just finished reading Erik’s book with Paul Stoltz entitled “The Adversity Advantage.” It’s a rather worthy read
in my mind with emphasis on how well we as humans can respond to adversity in a positive fashion. Specifically it
suggests the use of harnessing adversity which is something I’d heard in Erik’s talk previously and for which Quinn
feels rather proud to be known as Adversity each trek. I learned a few things of merit and better still it inspired me
inseveral ways such that I’m eager to spend a little time this morning coordinating some plans and schedules for my
immediate future. I generally am very motivated though a little inspiration is always a good thing just the same.
Better still a few insightful and inciteful thoughts on how I may enhance some of the approaches to this is always a
good thing. Anyone up for the read would have a ready discussion partner if you wanted to grab a coffee, tea, mocha or
whatever and talk about it. I might even negotiate such with a little wine and a hot tub soak out on the sea porch
where the Winter scene enhances such discussions. Of course I’m usually rather interested into quality discourse so
this isn’t a stretch but the book is one of many good focal points. I absolutely believe it will help me enhance my
preparations for the 2020 Vision Quest which has begun to gain momentum steadily. Curious or interested in how you
might help, drop me a line or schedule a chance to talk.

All that said, it’s Quinn’s blog and I’ll surrender it to the lad with only the added notion of my very best wish that
you’ve all come through the Holidays or Holly Daze with an appreciation for the season and all it’s meritorious
aspects. I wish you a very promising and happy New Year in which you make progress towards many things which enhance
and enrich your lives and the lives of those around you.

Be Well!
Randy
& the Mighty Quinn