I was so pleased to see that Dune was in phase 7 on this week’s phase report. Just one phase to go until she is ready to be a guide dog. Way to go Dune! We are proud and happy for your progress.

Here is the basics of what Dune is learning in phase 7.

I think daring could be Dune’s middle name. She loves new adventures, going places, meeting people. Not much phases her. From the beginning Dune was always ready to learn and do new things. She learned to do the stairs in our house in record time. Some pups take weeks to be willing to try the stairs, Dune had them mastered in hours.

When we went to the State Fair, though cautious she was curious about the animal. (Except Dune wanted nothing to do with the pigs.)
There was only one thing that she really struggled with. We went to a museum that had a Plexiglas floor as part of an exhibit. She was determined that walking on it was a bad idea. The other pups were more easily persuaded but not Dune. With a lot of work we got her walk across it, but she wasn’t happy about it.

Yeah for phase 6! I had myself mentally prepared for another phase 5 this week. Sometimes when a dog jumps a phase they are in the same phase the next week. I even stayed up until the phase report came out a 2 a.m. this morning. Bill was working late so I decided I’d read my book for book club (The Rent Collector) and wait for it to show up. I’ve been paranoid to do that because last time I tried to see the phase report in the middle of the night with Zodiac something went wrong with my access and I didn’t get to see the report for a couple of days. Here is a short description of what Dune is learning in phase 6.

Phase 6

Dune had an older brother (puppy in training #6) Zodiac the first 4 months that we raised her. She looked up to Zodiac and wanted to be just like him. Even though the were opposite in color and gender they were so much alike in other ways. It was amazing how many times when Dune was young that she would be laying in the exact same position as Zodiac, a duplicate of him.

It was fun when the tables were turned and Dune was the older pup and Emma (puppy in training #8) was the one looking up to Dune and wanting to be just like her.

This week Dune has progressed to phase 3! Yeah! It was so good to see her progressing again. We will probably never know why she spent two weeks in phase 2 but on to bigger and better things for our girl. Here is the short version of what she is learning in Phase 3.

Phase 3

Looks like I need to add phase 3 long version to my to do list along with phase 2.

We knew right away that we had our hands full with our new puppy Dune. Maybe it was the trauma of flying in cargo but Dune was the noisiest puppy we have experienced. She knew she didn’t want to be in the kennel and she let us know.

The first few nights we didn’t get much sleep because she was so demanding. I just kept reminding myself that if we gave in now we would really have a battle on our hands. It was tough to tell when your message went from “I want out of here” to “I need to pee” or “I just pooped in my kennel.” I kept a flashlight by my bed and moved the kennel to the side of the bed so I could check on her without getting out of bed. The first night was almost none stop cacophony. But each night after that it got better.

This week’s phase report came out this morning and Dune is still in phase 2. Not sure if this is a sign that she is struggling with the training, if her trainer didn’t report or if something else came up and she didn’t do much training this past week. The 4 other dogs who were in phase 2 last week all jumped to phase 4. So while I hold my breath for more news on Dune (no news until next Thursday is a good thing), here is another page from Dune’s puppyhood book.

“All the rest of our puppies have come on the puppy truck but Dune came via Delta airlines. It was January and winter driving makes puppy deliveries by puppy truck too unpredictable. There were an unusually large number of puppies born so Guide Dogs need to send puppies by air so they could get them to homes in the wintry states of Utah and Colorado. Dune traveled with another young puppy, a black lab male named Eagle.”