Monthly Archives: August 2010

Busy Week for Banta & Casey

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It has been a busy week with the girls. They have made progress on restraining from trying to constantly play with each other. This sure helps make life easier. They have a ways to go but if they continue at this rate it won’t be too long until they can hang out together most of the time.
Tuesday:
Casey did a first for our household on Tuesday. I was working on preparing our back deck for to be stained so I had Casey on the deck with me and Banta was hanging out in the backyard down below. Well, Casey decided that she wanted to play with Banta and I had the stairs blocked. This left the spaces between the railings and she is still small enough to fit though. The deck is about 5 1/2 feet off the ground and Casey jump down! I was a bit paniced but she landed fine and didn’t miss a beat in instigating play with Banta. What a brave girl. Banta was afraid to jump out of the car for a long time.
Wednesday:
Banta continued her class with the GSLDTC (Greater Salt Lake Dog Training Club) on Wednesday where she is practicing staying calm and paying attention around other dogs. She is doing really great. You can’t tell that she has a problem with dog distractions most of the time and she really enjoys the class. We get lots of practice healing and long sit and down stays. Stays use to be one of her weaker skills. Now she can do a 5 minute down stay with dogs all around her with no trouble at all.
Thursday:
We had a big regional puppy raiser meeting at Cabelas with 22 puppies in training there. We must have been quite a sight on the South side of Cabelas. Both girls behaved very well. Casey got to say high to two of her brothers. She certainly remember them. Banta got to show how she has improved with her dog distractions and Casey joined the other young pups by stopping for an unscheduled poop as all the dogs were healing around in a big circle. Casey also got her jacket that night for quick socializing trips into stores etc. So the four of us went inside Cabelas for a short excursion. Casey did good. I carried her part of the time. 
Friday:
Banta went with me for my last physical therapy treatment for the bursitis in my hip. It is hard to believe that the week Casey came I was having a hard time walking. Now my hip is totally back to normal. Banta was perfect at physical therapy. She knows just what she is suppose to do, just lie down and wait for me.
Saturday:
This was a busy day as Saturdays often our. Banta went with Bill to Lowes and Home Depot to buy a new weed wacker. We all went to the Library and Casey got some good opportunities to socialize with children. She did really really good. She sat nice and calm while they gave her attention. In the evening Banta went with Bill and I to Tooele to celebrate his mom’s birthday. Casey isn’t ready for this yet so she stayed home and my friend Lisa came by to play with her, feed her and take her for a walk.
Sunday:
Banta went to church with us and hung out with me in Primary. I was substituting on the piano. In a week or two Casey will be ready to come to part of church. This afternoon the four of us went for a walk around the block and Casey made it the whole way without needing to be carried. Banta is such a great mentor for her on walks. She helps Casey learn that barking dogs are not a big deal. Banta enjoys having her along too. At the start of the walk, Banta was done relieving first and she didn’t want to go with out Casey. They are both learning not to try to play with each other on walks but to just enjoy the outdoors together.
It has been a good week. The girls are getting use to each other and the routines. I’m starting to get a little bit done besides take care of puppies. They are so cute together.
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Cabelas

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Tonight our CFR (Community Field Rep) was in town and had a meeting with three puppy clubs together at Cabelas. Casey got to see two of her brothers. She thought that it should be play time.We did some obedience stuff and while we were practicing “lets go” all the young puppies, including Casey, had to poop. We also worked on food protocol stuff and Banta got to be the center of attention for part of that. Casey got her jacket after the meeting so we took a quick trip into Cabelas. I carried her most of the way just to make sure she didn’t have an accident.

Puppy Cuddling

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Banta and Casey are just sooo cute together. When I see them together I can’t help but think back to almost a year ago when we first got Banta and the couple of days she overlapped with Apex. There is so much that is similar in their interactions except that the big dog is yellow and the little dog is black. Casey has gained a lot of confidence in the 12 days that we have had her. Banta has done a great job of mentoring her.

Casey 3 Months Old & Banta Back Home

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Casey is three months old today. It is hard to believe that she has been here for more than 10 days already. She is climbing up and down stair like a pro now and hasn’t had an accident for more than 3 days. She is a funny, sweet girl. When Casey is playing with her toys she makes the oddest noises. It sounds like she is unhappy but when you look at her she is happily chewing on a toy. Her favorite toys are a half chewed dental dino and a small piece of nylabone that Apex sculpted from a much larger bone. She loves to sleep on her back with her legs spread wide. I’m guessing this is at least partly do to it being summer and still warm.
It is good to have Banta home from her puppy swap. Sounds like she was a good girl other than setting up a racket in her kennel. She is quiet at home other than when I take Casey out for a walk without her. I wonder if she thought she was missing out on something fun and thought she out to let everyone know how she felt. Banta definitely has opinions about things and isn’t afraid to share them. We better get her on another swap before she goes back to GDB and to a household that she hasn’t been to before. Banta went with me to physical therapy today and she was so good. She took a nap while I was treated and did my exercises.

First walk around the block and the Church BBQ

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The four of us (Bill, Me, Clifford and Casey) went on a walk around the block this morning. Casey did very well but got a little overwhelmed about half way because of too many barking dogs. Clifford helped to give her more confidence. She settle out in a little while and enjoyed her walk until she got tired and Bill carried her the rest of the way home. Then we sat on the grass in the shade and enjoyed the pleasant weather. 
Casey went to her first church activity tonight. It was outside so we thought it would be a good socializing opportunity for her. She and Clifford got lots of attention, especially from kids. One little boy in particular who’s nick-name is KC spent a lot of time sitting by Casey and petting her. She did really well and handled all the people, sounds and smells easily. She got a little cold and tired and one point and crawled into Bill’s lap for a few minutes. Then she was ready for more adventures. Toward the end I pulled out a couple of toys for Casey and Clifford to chew on. Only trouble is they both wanted the bone. They kept looking for opportunities to steal it from each other. Casey may be small but she has no trouble asserting her opinion.

Puppy Swap

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Banta and Clifford have swapped places for the weekend. Banta was due for a swap and Clifford’s raiser will be getting a new puppy to add to the household a couple of weeks and wanted to see how he would do around Casey.

 We let Clifford and Casey play a few minutes ago and it was fun to watch. Casey has grown in confidence in the week she has been with us and she held her own with Clifford who is almost a year old and three times her weight. A couple of times Casey latched on to Clifford’s tail. Clifford didn’t quite know what to do, so he went around in circles trying to get her to let go. Mean while Casey is going around in the same circle with her mouth firmly on his tail. It was hilarious – two black labs following each other around and around, a big one and a little one! They enjoyed munching on ice cubes together in the kitchen afterward to cool them down.

Banta was headed to the county fair tonight so I’m sure she had a fun adventure seeing all the animals and people. We miss our little blond girl but it’s good for all three of the pups to participate in the swap.

Casey’s Two New Adventures

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Today Casey went to the vet to get her 12 week old vaccinations. She did good though she cried when the needle went in. We were pretty sure that she had an ear infection and that was confirmed. Casey now has medicine to clear it up. She weighed in at 19.8 lbs.
Banta spent the day at work with Bill. He has been spending most of his time in the lab lately and she tends to get cold. Maybe we need to get another dog bed just for work. So she can snuggle into it instead of laying on the hard lab floor. Bill has a sweater that he lays down for her and that helps.
Tonight was our annual swimming party for puppy class. I thought that Banta would do pretty well and wasn’t at all sure that Casey would even get in the water. Boy was I wrong. I think Casey was the first puppy in the water. I was so proud of her. There was no sign of a the shy side of Casey. She did great and enjoyed it very much. Banta never quite got the hang of it and spent most of her time socializing. We had lots of dogs, from a couple of pet dogs & career change dogs to a working guide dog and 8 puppies in training. Everyone has so much fun. Both the girls are now very tired and sleeping soundly now.

Casey’s First Outing

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Today we had an extended family photo for my family so of course our two girl pups were included. We did it at my sisters house so Casey had her first car ride since she got home from the puppy truck. She was not happy about riding in the car. We put her in her kennel in the back and she was fine until we started moving. She didn’t complain the whole way there and on the way home she quieted down sooner. I’m sure that a few more trips in the car and she will be doing just fine. 

Casey enjoyed exploring my sister’s yard and Banta was excited to see the family faces of my family. She especially likes my dad as he usually plays tug with her. We also did a few photos with just Bill and I and our two girls. I’m looking forward to seeing the photos and I’ll post at least one here after we get to see them.

Casey was ready for a nap after we were and she curled up in Bill’s lap. In the afternoon we drove to Provo to help my niece move. We use to live in the same house so it was fun to see old neighbors and introduce Casey to them. We brought two kennels for the girls to relax in while we were busy and they were both little angels. It has been a busy day for her but she handled everything just fine.

Relieving Challenges

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We had a bit of a breakthrough with relieving today. Yesterday afternoon through this morning Casey did almost half of her relieving in the house. Most of the time I took her outside to our traditional relieving area on the drive way she showed no interest in relieving. She didn’t have any accidents on the carpet so the clean-up was easy. Today it occurred to me what the problem might be. Yesterday on one of her first trips to the relieving area a big souped up pick-up truck roared by and scared Casey. She didn’t seem to be over-reacting to cars going by now but my Dad commented that she seemed a little nervous out there and she never really relaxed. The clincher was when I finally took her inside and put her in the x-pen she promptly squatted and peed! So after discussing it with Bill we decided to move Casey’s relieving area to the backyard. It has worked wonders. She has relieved every time we have taken her out now and only had one accident. That was when she paused for a moment while playing tug with my Dad. Yahoo! It is a relief to have that back on track.

Casey Arrives on the Puppy Truck

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Today we met our precious little Casey. We thought she was going to be a yellow lab until she got off the truck. You just never know for sure until they hand you that little bundle of fur. She was born on May 23rd so she will turn 12 weeks this weekend. Her parents are Jay (donated to GDB by AGBN) and Noleta. She is part of a litter of 6 puppies with 3 males and 3 females. Two of Casey siblings are being raised just South of here. Casey also joins two half brothers in our puppy club, Joe & Joshua. I’ve been so proud of Banta. She has been so good with Casey, being gentle with her. Casey doesn’t have Banta’s natural confidence.