Life Lately

This semester of school has been very busy and demanding for me.  Unfortunately, that means that keeping up with the blog has fallen low on my list of priorities.  This kills me because I do not want to neglect to record all of the firsts and fun things that Moray is doing and learning. Just a few of the things that Moray has done in the last few weeks:

My sister got married two weeks ago which meant a 14 hour road trip.  Moray was dropped off along the way to spend the week with a friend, fellow puppy raiser, and blogger, Katherine.  He had a fabulous time and barked at me in opposition of going home for 15 minutes after we got back in the car.  A little attitude is starting to shine through in my opinionated, but still sweet boy!

My sister and new brother-in-law

 

Moray and Katherine

Moray turned 6 months old.  

Photo credit: Becca

Photo credit: Becca

Moray is now attending three classes a week with me.

First day of chemistry class.

He has also started going on more public outings, and we are adding more time and upping distraction levels.

College visiting with my and my friend.

First visit to the "real" mall.

Grocery shopping at Whole Foods.  Go check out this post to see Dante at the same age, same place!

Advanced Training Report!

Last week I finally received Dante's first full training report.  I have been relatively calm about it for the last few weeks, but the day and morning before it popped up in my inbox, I was a little crazy.  I was road-tripping the day it came, which potentially meant 14 hours in a car with little to do but obsessively check email.  I'm happy to say it came by noon, and I exercised enough self control to only check twice before it came.  Ha!

 Dante has been assigned to his trainer, and has been working on the "hold" command (to hold something in his mouth).  He is still working all commands ambulatory, so has not been introduced to working with a wheelchair yet.  There are two sets of behavior charts: one good behavior, and one bad.  All the boxes in the good (eg: attentiveness, loose leash walking, etc.) were checked except "calm" and "interacts appropriately with other dogs."  The not-so-good chart had anxiety, assertiveness/dominant, barking, growling, hackling, and rough play with other dogs checked off.

They noted that Dante's distractibility and fearfulness are both low, and a moderate amount of energy was marked (which I was surprised that it wasn't marked as high).

The comments made by his trainer were: 

Dante has finished his initial medical and temperament testing and begun training.  He showed prey/chase drive on the temperament test, and we will continue to monitor him for this concern.  He is responsive to correction and easy to motivate with praise.  He barks and growls while displaying large hackles during play with other dogs.  We are using a long leash when playing to be able to make corrections for any inappropriate behaviors.  He is hard to manage when brushing his teeth, and we are working on this in training.  He cradles well and is good for nail trimming during our grooming routine.

 While Dante's report could have been better, a lot of the time things that have never been an issue while with puppy raisers will pop up during advanced training, so just the fact that his report did not surprise me is good in my books!  The only thing that I did not expect was struggling with brushing his teeth.  Dante has always been high-energy, and hard to keep under control while playing, but I suspect being in a new place and probably slightly stressed has played into that.  He looks like he is doing well interacting with people, and is eager and easy to train.

The areas of concern with Dante are definitely legitimate, but I know his trainers are working and striving toward his success as hard as I'm sitting here hoping.  I may have had my doubts, and this is still far from graduation, but Baby Boy!  You've made it through your first report!  Know that your raiser is still cheering you on, and again wondering if I can make it two more months till your next report!

A Day in the Life

6:57 am: practice commands

7:09 am: favorite time of the day #1

7:11 am: post-breakfast happy dance

7:17 am: harass the cat

7:18 am: forcefully stopped from previous task; chew time

8:58 am: class #1

10:31 am: water break

10:35 am: gone for walk; ignored dead mouse

10:46 am: found some stairs

11:00 am: class #2

12:30 pm: going home

12:49 pm: waiting for Hannah to put her stuff away

12:54 pm: second favorite time of the day

12:56 pm: post-lunch happy dance

1:03 pm: raid toy bucket

1:42 pm: locked up

3:43 pm: released from the box

4:16 pm: FINALLY!

5:09 pm: water break

 
5:32 pm

5:45 pm: threw temper tantrum in dressing room because he refused to "down." You can see who won that battle

6:37 pm: third favorite time of the day

6:39 pm: post-dinner happy dance

8:35 pm: pre-bedtime nap

1,000 Words

Lookin' Sharp

There has come a point in a puppy's life when they are Ready.  Ready to take on the world.  Not that they do not like outings and new places, but it becomes a need.  Canine Companions puppies are bred for confidence, and thrive off of adventure.  It has happened with both my puppies; a light switch turns on, and they are ready for adventure.  Now!

The other day, I was overwhelmed with school, and couldn't seem to keep my focus on one thing long enough to make any progress before I was distracted by something else that needed to get done.  Moray was also getting restless, so I gathered some books, packed a couple things for Moray, and we headed to Barnes and Noble.

 Barnes and Noble is located at an outdoor mall, and is nice and quiet during the day.  The few times I have taken Moray out, he has proven himself to be fantastic at settling and being still and quiet, and he was here as well.  After two hours of studying (Moray sleeping), I ditched my stuff in the car, and we took off to explore, and practice loose leash walking.  

While keeping a loose leash still takes a lot of focus from both of us, I had so much fun with my gorgeous boy.  He has such an innocent awe toward the world, and it is So. Much. Fun. to explore with him.  One of my favorite things about puppy raising is watching them learn and take new places in.  Moray takes everything in stride, and loves every single minute of being out and about.  

While all Canine Companion's puppies possess intoxicating levels of cuteness, not much is sharper than a jet black lab pup in a trim, blazing yellow vest.

 

 

 

 

Update!

Yesterday I was pleasantly surprised to get my first update on how Dante is doing in Advanced Training.  I will not receive his first training report for another month, so while this was just a generic email sent to all puppy raisers who recently turned in pups, it was still nice to get something.  

In the last three weeks, Dante has made it through his preliminary temperament testing, a thorough health exam to clear him to continuing in training, as well as a field trip.  He has been assigned to a trainer (I will not know who until his first report), and has been working on proofing the 30 commands he learned with me.  

While it is so, so, so hard to not get minute by minute updates on Dante; right now no new is good news.  Dogs in Advanced Training (or the puppy program for that matter) can get released at any time, so no phone call from CCI today means he is doing well enough that they want to keep him tomorrow.

I miss that little Firecracker like crazy, but am also very excited for him.  Now to start counting down to his first real training report, and not die of impatience before it comes!

Our "last hurrah" of an outing -- SeaWorld Orlando, the day before Turn In.

Updating

Life around here doesn't look like it is going to calm down any time soon.  Hence the lack of blogging.  Unfortunately, it has fallen down on my list of priorities, which I hate, but for now is just how it is.

I have many, many thoughts still swirling in my head about Dante and turn in (has it only been 2 weeks?!?).  I am not a self-proclaimed writer, but I need to write to get my thoughts straight for my own good.  These I have chosen not to write on the blog because I do not like to feel that I have to justify my feelings, and while I hate to feel that I leave "loose ends" on here, that is just the way it is for now. 

Now on to Moray!  Although I hate to have a lag in blogging, it almost feels right in this case -- a kind of "reset" to Everything Moray.  

Moray is such a sweetie!  Oh my!  Do I love this age!  He now responds to not only his name, but "Hey Gorgeous!" as well.  ;)  The last two weeks have taken some adjusting for him too.  Since he arrived in June, he has had at least one, but up to four other dogs in the house all the time.  

It feels so serene around here with only one puppy.  So far, he has amazing house manners.  Having a puppy that (so far) ignores anything inappropriate in the house, and only goes for his toys is so weird.  I still stand in awe that at 4.5 months, he is better in the house than a certain Golden we all know-and-love was when he turned in at 20 months!  I know it won't last long.  The Terrible Teens are just around the corner, but it is nice to have hope!  

We have been in school full-force for a month now.  I have a very full schedule with co-op, homeschool classes, and class at the community college.  It will be a few months before Moray can keep up with that, but he is making good progress in his training.  

I always hate to compare puppies, but it is hard not to note the differences.  Moray is not nearly as high-energy as Dante was, and he is learning to settle very well.  He came to co-op on Friday for the first time.  We meet in a church, and it is pretty calm with not that many people, and he did fantastic.  Slept or played with toys the whole time.  The only complaint one could have was the noises he makes in his sleep, but if that is it, it is the least of my worries!

We are getting ready to head into "big boy status" as 5 months is less than two weeks away.  This means wearing the "official" Canine Companions Puppy in Program vest, and going on public outings.  He is ready.  Moray has grown a lot in his commands and maturity in general.  He gets so serious when his vest and gentle leader go on.  It is so adorable!  He loves to work, learn new things, and go to new places.  Not much else you can ask for!

I do not have much to say about these, other than that in writing this post I have realized just how few pictures I have of this cutie.  Moray loved his first visit to the grocery store to learn about carts though!