Growing Up Guide Pup - Week 32 - Duck Pond

Sometimes we need to pinch ourselves. Ricki is such a great dog. She is chilling between Amie and I right now sleeping on the floor after a long day away from home. I am still in awe of how quickly Ricki is adjusting to everything we throw at her. After her reaction to the pigeons in week 29, I was sure she was going to be losing focus and making for another entertaining episode of mistakes. She sure showed me wrong. She didn't lunge on the leash, and miraculously turned into a bird distraction pro. it was as if she had been to the Palo Alto Baylands a million times. What in the heck brought on the dramatic improvement? It really is beyond me actually. We threw the kitchen sink at her with this episode. There must of been a thousand birds around the pond. The aviary mosh pit we exposed her to was nothing more than a yawn for her. I guess we can move on cautiously and focus on other issues now? What?

Enjoy our latest episode!

Growing Up Guide Pup - Week 31 - Teeth Brushing

As we continue with the show, the constant challenge is figuring out what to talk about each week. We ask ourselves all kinds of questions. Should we cover training, or an outing? Should we try to cover a outing that incorporates training at the same time? Should we answer some questions from our fans? Should we go back and review progress Ricki has made on certain aspects of her life? Should we talk about the things Ricki is not doing so well with? And of course, should we simply update everyone on what we feel was the most important event of the week. These questions are always in consideration.

I enjoy the challenge of making this series, and also the freedom I have as the sole producer, and intellectual property rights owner. It is very liberating for our creative control, and I think will be a important factor in the long term for growing our series. Amie and I now are facing the challenge of where do we take this series next. It is growing on a slow, but steady pace. We think it has something to offer not only to people who raise service dogs, but also anyone who likes watching content about dogs.

So enough already with my ranting. This week was a review of progress, and we addressed a question about teeth brushing. Enjoy!

Growing Up Guide Pup - Week 30 - Ball Distractions

This episode was completely spontaneous. We went in with no plan. It was a fun challenge to figure out creative ways to distract Ricki and work her through her ball issues. At times, she was a star and did great. Other times, she just couldn't help herself and went after the golf ball. I think we will give her every opportunity to work past this issue. That is if she want's to please us. Her personality seems to be of that nature, so I have my hopes up. We have seen the difference between dogs who strive to learn and please, and dogs who do not. Aaa..humm..cough, cough.... Eli.

Here is our latest episode. Week 30.

Growing Up Guide Pup - Week 29 - Pier 39

This week was awesome. We met up with working team Seth, and Bamboo. We met them at fun day this year when we were shooting week 25. Bamboo is a four year old black lab female, and has been teamed up with Seth for a couple of years. The first thing I noticed when we first met is she is a little dog, but has big time working ability. I filmed them working the crowd at Pier 39 this week, and couldn't believe how fast, and efficient they were. In fact, they walked so fast that I couldn't even keep up. I swear a jog was the only way I could keep pace. They both have a very, very fast gate which blows me away when you see how little Bamboo is. She was not much bigger than Ricki who is still growing and will probably be bigger.

Ricki continues to have bird distractions, and we showed how much it is affecting her. It will be really interesting to see if we can work her through these issues as they will most certainly be a deal breaker if she can't adjust. Please enjoy our latest episode, and feel free to follow us on Facebook. Our fan page is Growing Up Guide Pup.

Matt

Growing Up Guide Pup - Week 28 - Fire Station

This week is my favorite episode thus far. We combined two important elements this week at the Mountain View Fire Station. We made available some training for Ricki, and the exposure of a cool location. Whenever a day can hit two birds with one stone, it is cause for celebration because they always make for an interesting watch. The results of this weeks shoot seemed to work better than I thought possible.

We got to show a cast of different dogs all amongst a setting of different distractions. My favorite had to be guide pup Cash and his hilarious reaction to the fireman when it tried to get close to him. Check out our web series if you are a fan of service dogs or dogs in general.

Growing Up Guide Pup - Week 27 - Rickey's Restaurant

This week has to be one of my favorites. I feel like it has everything. It covers an outing, some training, and even has a taste of humor with me dropping a piece of steak by Ricki's nose at the restaurant. As the show continues to evolve, we continue to improve our approach of video blogging with a twist.

I think it's funny how the episodes continue to get longer, and longer each month. The first couple months we had videos under 3 minutes. Then I felt lucky to get them under five minutes. This episode almost cracks the six minute mark. Ok, ok....enough is enough, they won't be any longer than that. Uhhh, actually I have no idea where things will go. I just keep going with my gut. As long as the video constantly moves forward I am happy. It seems we have more information every week resulting in longer episodes just by natural progression.

Anyways, here is our latest episode shot at Rickey's restaurant.

Make a $30 PVC Steadicam

Over the last year I have received numerous requests to make my $30 steadicam out of pvc rather than cast iron. So this video was my answer to those requests. I must say the the pvc version is a few pounds lighter, and it performed pretty well. I think the cast iron version is perhaps a little more stable, but considering the weight savings, it might be worth it.

This video pits plastic vs metal. Judge for yourself which version is better. To learn how to make your own version, click on the annotation i provide towards the beginning of the video.

Chappy

The Chap is Back With Lucious on Tap

My brother and I made this video to challenge my audience. This video is retro, and we performed to the song "Mame" from the late Bobby Darin. I used the "gurilla spot light" from a previous ChappyShowcase video to illuminate the set. Also, a fog machine doubled as hookah smoke coming from yours truly. "I like making videos that challenge my fans to unsubscribe" as my buddy Hester McLester once said.

Growing Up Guide Pup - Week 26 - Obedience Course

The 20 year anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act was a few weeks ago. We managed to film it, but had not managed to squeeze it into an episode until today. Redwood City put on the event, and we went representing Guide Dogs For the Blind to help raise awareness.

Amie is doing a great job speaking as an ambassador for the guide dog puppy raiser, and I'm really proud of her. Not only is she doing what she has always done, but now she has the duty of hosting the web series and helping me come up with content each week. It was only a few years back when she would refuse to even let me film her in our home movies, but over time she has let her guard down and slowly come around to a point i didn't even see coming. I guess that is pretty much a given, if you are in my life, there is a chance you will end up in front of the camera in some way or another. Week 26 and our second episode with the new format below.

Growing Up Guide Pup - Week 25 - Guide Dog Fun Day

This week represents the premiere of several important steps in the evolution of our series. Number 1, it is the first time we filmed at the campus for Guide Dogs for the Blind. And two, we revealed the upgraded format of our show. I am really excited to see where this Ricki journey will take us, and don't see us slowing down.

When we first started this series, we were not sure if anyone would even be interested in watching. It was our way of keeping a video diary of the weeks events more than anything. I can't believe we now are into our sixth month with this thing and it is only getting better.

Special thanks to Guide Dogs for the Blind, Rendezvous, and Template Digital with their generous collaboration in helping make the series the best it can be.

Our latest episode is below.
Matt