Saturday, January 28, 2012

Our New Class

At the end of last semester I had an empty period that I needed to fill.  My counselor suggested that I become a Teacher's Assistant (TA) to the teacher of my choice!

I guess I'm not the normal student though, because instead of choosing the teacher I wanted to TA for, I chose the class.  And I took Carrie into consideration as well!

I ended up deciding on a Physical Education class. The teacher there loves dogs and is really great about letting me work with Carrie as long as I have finished whatever she needs from me. I thought that it would be the perfect class for Carrie to get used to all sorts of new distractions!

I won't be able to take pictures in this class though, but I will always include random ones :)


So far, the students in the class have been square dancing- not super exciting. But it has still been excelent for Carrie because I have been able to work her around their loud music and all of the students dancing.

I am also in charge of recording their mile times. This has been great for Carrie because she has always been a little excitable when people run past her. After just one week with the class, Carrie is no longer phased by them.  She is already able to be on a down stay while countless kids run by her.

I am super happy that I chose this class and I look forward to working Carrie around all of the new distractions that come with it!
Tomorrow, they begin Volleyball! Can't wait to work with her during THAT!


Friday, January 27, 2012

So Excited!

The other day, I was bored so I was checking out craigslist. You never know what you will find on there.

Anyways, while I was looking through the pet section I found a post by a woman in our area who was offering FREE pet photography! 
She posted some pictures of her work and they were really good!
She wants to gain experience and so she was offering a free session to the first 10 people to email her!

I was number 6 so tomorrow she will be stopping by my house to take pictures of the animals.
I am looking forward to seeing what she gets!

I think Carrie is excited too :)

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Phase Report!

Puppies raised in our group:
Noe is still in phase 8
Harlene is in phase 4! Good Girl Halrene!
Weston is in phase 0

Jamaica  in phase 0.
Hanalei's Littermates:
Halette is still in 8

Other Peoples' Dogs:
Luigi is in class to graduate next weekend! Good boy Luigi!
If you have a dog that you would like me to post the phase report for please comment on this post with the puppy's name.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Wordless Wednesday

This is the face that gets me through those long days at school:


Monday, January 23, 2012

2 Years Ago, Today...

We attended the graduation ceremony for my first Guide Dog Puppy, Fairfield.  It was an amazing experience and I am so happy that they make such a great team!
Happy Anniversary to Fairfield and his partner!
Fun Day 2008

Graduation Day 2010

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Working in the Rain

This week our area finally got some rain! It has been dry so long that I'm not even entirely sure that Carrie has had the opportunity see it.
So this morning, I took the opportunity to specifically work her out in the cold and wetness.


She did pretty well. She didn't seem to mind working in the rain all that much.  Actually, it made her a little hyper. She would be walking perfectly for a few minutes and then all of the sudden do a little bunny hop and start wiggling!

It was cute but it shows that we do need more work with it. I am not too worried though as this was technically her first time working in the rain and I'm sure after a few more times the novelty of it will wear off.

Friday, January 20, 2012

Hanalei Update!

Hanalei's new owner sent me a letter that made me cry.  I thought I would share it with all of you :)

She is really good about sending us nice little updates about how Hanalei is doing. It is nice to get little texts throughout the month that say things like "Lei says hi" or "Hanalei opened the door perfectly today and she...".

All I can say is that I am so happy with how everything turned out for her! I know that she is where she is meant to be and doing what she is meant to do. That cataract was a blessing in disguise.
"Leidy Bug"

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Phase Report

Puppies raised in our group:
Noe is still in phase 8
Harlene is in phase 2
Weston was not pulled for breeder and is in phase 0

Jamaica was not pulled for breeder and is in Phase 0.
Hanalei's Littermates:
Halette is still in 8

Other Peoples' Dogs:
Judy is off the phase report this week.
Luigi is still in phase 8
If you have a dog that you would like me to post the phase report for please comment on this post with the puppy's name.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

10 Month Day!

Wow! I cannot believe that my baby girl has grown up so fast!

At 10 months Carrie has pretty much learned all of the basics that she will need later for formal training.  From here on out we will be mostly doing touch-up on her commands and going on more difficult outings.
This month, for Carrie's 10 things I thought I would list things that she has learned and what she needs to improve on. It will probably be long (Hey, 10 things is a lot!) so feel free to skim ;)

1. Carrie has learned how to "sit", "down", and "stand" on command.  Now we have to work with her on doing them a little faster. She seems to think that as long as she does it, it's okay. She tends to do her commands in slow motion.
2. She has learned the appropriate way to greet new people. Of course, knowing what's right and doing it are different things! She will occasionally get a serious case of the wiggles- she doesn't do this with everyone and I still am not sure what triggers it. So in the next few months I will be working on getting her to greet everyone calmly.
3. Carrie has gotten over her fear of cars! Yay! When I first got Carrie she was SO affraid of cars. She wouldn't get into them or walk around them and when a loud one went by she would startle. From now on, I will just continue to work with her around them so that hopefully when I send her back, her car issues won't come up again.
4. She has learned to "Go to Bed". She will officially go to her bed when told and lay on it until you let her know it is okay to get off.
5. She has learned how to stay on a tie-down for long periods of time. This one has been extremely useful when I take her to school with me. It is something we stress from a young age with our puppies and I can happily say that she rocks at it :)
6. Carrie has learned how to dependably "Do Her Business" on command. We have, and will continue to, work with her on all surfaces.  I hope to eventually get her down to 2 bowel movements per day (she's at 3 now). It isn't all that important but it would be easier!
7. We have also been teaching Carrie to walk on all surfaces. For many dogs, different surfaces make them uncomfortable. Carrie is no different but the things that make her uncomfortable certainly are! While many dogs dislike walking over grates, Carrie has no problems with them. Her dislike is for pine needles. So we will be working on her with pine needles from now on.
8. Another important thing that these puppies have to learn is food refusal. Carrie has to be able to walk by tasty things on the ground and not pick them up. I think the best place to work on this stuff is the High School. There are a lot of messy kids at my school. We have come across just about everything from gummy bears to entire pizza slices. She does well but is still a bit distracted by it. I hope to eventually have her to the point of not even looking at it.
9. Carrie has learned that she shouldn't try to make friends with every other doggie she comes into contact with. I am actually rather impressed with her in that she isn't one to usually be dog distracted. I do want to get more work with this though just to make sure she is dependable.
10. Lastly, I have tried to maintain a positive training experience with Carrie. I try to keep everything as fun for her as possible unless she gets too excited. I have had loads of fun with her. She is a happy girl and she likes to work. She is good in public and has the drive needed for a working dog. The last 8 months have been so much fun and I am excited to see where we will be in a few more. No matter where she is or what she is doing I will always be so proud of her!


Monday, January 16, 2012

A Good, Long Walk

Yesterday, Bev was having a little bit of trouble adjusting to our house.  She was kind of nervous and skittish around the other dogs (with the exception of Carrie). We decided to take them on a walk together so that she would hopefully realize that our dogs really aren't that scary.

She did great on the walk! We put her and Carrie on long lines and the rest of the dogs were off-leash.  The walk ended up being around 2 1/2 miles.  This is about the normal length we go with our dogs but you could deffinately tell Bev wasn't used to it. She spent all of her energy in the beginning and by the end she was pretty slow.




After the walk she was SO tired! She slept it off for the rest of the day :)

I think it was just what she needed to get her energy out and to get used to our other dogs.  Now she is much more relaxed around them and is able to be in the same room without hiding behind the couch.

Now to work on her fear of the vacuum!

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Bev Comes to Visit

Last night we recieved a phone call from our leader asking if we could puppysit one of the dogs in our group.  Apparently the couple that has been watching her for the last week is "no longer able to have her in their house" (...?). So, since we can never say no to puppy sitting despite the circumstances, we drove to pick her up.
So far Miss Bev has been really good here! At first she was a little nervous coming into another brand new house- and this one has 4 other dogs! But she has already settled in and is having a blast playing with Carrie. 



If you can tell from these pictures, she is a tiny little girl! While Carrie weighs around 60 lbs, I would be surprised if Bev weighed more than 45 lbs.

And even though she is a few months older than Carrie she deffinately has lots more energy! We will be taking her on a good, long walk later today to try and wear her out.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Phase Report

Sorry this is late! I have had the flu :( hopefully it's over now though!
Puppies raised in our group:
Noe is in phase 8
Harlene is in phase 1
Weston is in Breeder Evals

Jamaica is in Breeder Evals
Hanalei's Littermates:
Halette is still in 8. Hopefully she will be matched when the new class comes in!

Other Peoples' Dogs:
Judy is in phase 4
Luigi is in phase 8!
I thought I would ask if anyone would like me to post these updates on any other dogs. If you have a dog that you would like me to post the phase report for please comment on this post with the puppy's name.