Our local cub scout pack has a tradition of going to a local nursing home called “Our House” each December to decorate their Christmas tree and sing carols with the residents. As part of my job as the cub scout committee chairman for our pack I go along. So Yakira came with me. We all had a good time singing. One of the boy’s mother is a rather talented piano planner and I put together carol books so we would know the words. The funniest part was when one of our boys picked “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” to sing. I had never really paid attention to the words before. So there we are singing about Grandma being dead with a bunch of old “grandmas”. They seemed to enjoy the song anyway. Maybe they enjoyed the humor of the situation.
Tag Archives: puppy in training
Bringing Home the Tree
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| Yakira in the parking lot |
My family has the tradition of going into the mountains to cut down our own Christmas tree. We like to go the Saturday after Thanksgiving. There wasn’t much snow down in the parking lot but it got deeper as we climbed the hill to our favorite area to find a tree. Yakira had a great time. She got a little cold when we got off the beaten path and the snow was deeper than her legs. I sat down on a log and picked her up, cuddling her inside my coat until she warmed up. Meanwhile Bill got our tree cut down and headed off to help Eric and Danny get their tree down the hill. Our tree is rather little because we put it up on a trunk. This keeps the tree from being too tempting to the puppies. But my sister’s house had 16′ ceilings in their living room so their tree is much bigger and is hard to get down the hill. I was really impressed by Yakira on our trek back down the hill with the tree. She just plugged her way along, keeping a steady pace until we got back to the car.
After the trees were all back to the cars we ate baked potatoes with chili, hot chocolate and other yummy treats. Yakira was very tired after her tromp through the snow and slept on the way home. She loves to put her chin in the notch in the folded up seat in the back of our station wagon.
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| Yakira sleeping in the back of the car |
Phase 3 & 18 months old
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| Casey – photo by Lisa Thompson |
This week’s phase reports came out a day earlier because of the Thanksgiving holiday. Our CFR (Community Field Representative) is on vacation but our club leader used her connections to find out how Casey and Radison are doing. They are both is phase 3! Way to go girls. Here is what they learned in phase 2: In Town and Responsible Lead
- Body Handling Acceptance
- Kennel Adjustment and Routine
- Wearing the Harness
- Pattern Training Progression
- Planned Distraction Route
- Up Curb Exercise #2
- Physical Agility
- Responsible Lead Session
- Obstacle Course Progression
Now what she is learning in phase 3: Preliminary Testing
- Preliminary Obedience Testing
- Obedience and Distraction Training
- Preliminary Blindfold Testing
- Difficult Distractions
- Body Handling Acceptance
- Guidework Training
- Pattern Training
- Up Curb Excercise #3
- Physical Agility Programs
- Obstacle Course Progression
Today is also Casey’s 18 month birthday. It is hard to believe that our little sweet girl is a year and a half old. It looks like Casey is probably in the same string as her brother Crosby, Radison, and Snickers who all went back on the truck at the same time as she did. Keep up the great work Casey!
Phase 1
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| Casey – photo by Lisa Thompson |
We got the phase report today and Casey is in phase 1. Now Casey is really learning how to be a guide dog. In this phase they cover:
- Food Reward and Clicker Techniques
- Obedience Responses & Teaching focus around distractions
- Formal Obedience
- Food Refusal Protocol
- Socialization
- Body Handling Acceptance
- Introduction to the Harness
- Treadmill Training
- Pattern Training
- Up Curb Exercise #1
- Developing Physical Agility
- Dog Agility Walk
- Back Up Chute
- Obstacle Course
I’m so excited that Casey is getting to learn all these things. I can’t wait to see the next phase report.
Three Months Old
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| Yakira on a quilt |
Today Yakira is three months old. She has been with us for a whole month and it is hard to believe that it has been that long already. She is such a smart little girl. In someways too smart. She makes connections sometimes that are not intended. Yakira is a very oral puppy and she likes to not only put her mouth on you but she likes to clamp down with her sharp little puppy teeth. I’ve been working do redirect that biting to toys but instead she has learned that if she bits me I will give her a toy and play with her. Opps! So now I’ve got to work to teach her another way.
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| Yakira sleeping on the quilt |
Phase 0
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| Casey with a couple of her favorite ropes |
We finally got the phase report for this week this morning. Casey is on it in phase 0. This is the phase were they do health screenings and kennel socialization. It probably seems pretty much the same as what she has been doing for breeder evaluations. For Casey she is probably just finishing her recovery from being spayed and is waiting to be assigned to a training string. She has probably been assigned a kennel mate by now. I wonder if she is sucking on her kennel mates ears?
Waffle Update
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| Waffle in pink sunglasses |
I was so excited today to see an email from Waffle’s new raiser. I not only got one email but Claraliz replied to all the emails I have sent her and she also send me three photos of Waffle! Yeah!!! She is doing good and seems very well adjusted to her new life. She is still having some fear issues but is making progress. Within just one week we have gotten photos of Apex, Banta and Waffle. What more could a raiser want? Well maybe a webcam that would follow Casey around so I could check on her anytime I wanted.
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| Beautiful Waffle in her Halloween Costume |
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| Waffle sleeping on her back with her new siblings |
Yakira is 12 Weeks old
I took Yakira to the vet today to get her next round of vaccinations. She weighed 22.4 pounds. Just three weeks ago she was 15.6. That is some good growing girl. She has learned so much since we got her almost four weeks ago. She has lots more to learn but she is doing good. We also stopped by JoAnn to get some glue sticks for my candy project. She was so excited to see people and especially kids. Thank goodness for Gentle Leaders so I can redirect her without having to give her a big correction.
Yakira gets her jacket
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| Yakira taking a snooze in her jacket |
Big milestone today with Yakira, she got her jacket. We had puppy class at the South Towne mall today and so she needed her jacket for that anyway. But she did so good. We went to a quiet corner of the mall and all the dogs practiced recalls and go to bed. She did great on recalls and almost did as good on go to bed as at home. She did better on that than some of the older dogs. Nothing wrong with Yakira in the smarts department. She is plenty smart. The challenge is figuring out how to communicate in a way that she understands. She was so cute in he little jacket. And she walked through the food court like a little pro. I forgot to take my camera so no pictures. Today is the last puppy class where she will be the youngest puppy. The Millars are getting a second puppy on the truck on Thursday, a lab/golden cross with the letter “S”. There other puppy, Santini is now the oldest puppy in the group since Cobb got career changed. Santini is just a week or two older than Waffle. Boy they grow up so fast.
Halloween
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| Yakira in her Halloween costume |
Last year we had Banta’s farewell party on Halloween so I made a couple of orange and black ruffles to go around their necks to celebrate the season. So this year I pulled one out to put on Yakira for the day. It was big but it worked fine anyway. We set up a couple of x-pen panels so she couldn’t get to the door when the trick or treaters came. She so enjoyed waiting there to see the kids come by. Yakira got lots of “oh how cute” comments from the kids. It was a fun evening.
telling family tales 