Birthday, what?

On April 14, 2014 Moray turned one year old.  I guess I could say how I can't believe he's a year already, but the truth is, he's now fourteen months.  Yes, FOURTEEN MONTHS OLD.  Where has the time gone?   I seriously want it all back.  My time in months left to raise Moray can now be counted on a single hand.  Where did this 20-week-old-swimming-in-his-big-boy-vest go?

Just shy of 5 months

Moray can be a little slow to catch on to things in some areas, so while it seems progress goes at a snail's pace sometimes, days like today come where his behavior is impeccable on an outing that is several hours long in a crowed mall, and I never had to use a single piece of kibble to regain his attention.  Wowza! It hits me that he could have NEVER done that even a few months ago.

13 months old

Moray Man, as he is affectionally called in our house, has been such a joyful puppy to raise.  We have had our ups and downs and drama, but he is so happy and willing to please.  He has now mastered 29 of his 30 commands (still perfecting that last one), and many of his outings are old hat: i.e., it take some work to find new and challenging places for him to work.  

We have a couple things that we are still working through, and sometimes I get overwhelmed by "how much he can't do," and pressure to check "x," "y," and "z" off my list of Things to Do Before Turn In.  Sometimes *I* just need to step back and look at the long road already behind us and, for once, take my cue from Moray to just live here and now, enjoying every moment on this puppy raising journey, because before we know it, he will be of to his next greatest adventure.

Nutcracker

Moray had his very first trip into the city last weekend when he came with me to see the Nutcracker ballet downtown.

I am so proud of this boy and the progress he has made in his training.  Moray is a little on the softer side, and we have taken outings pretty slowly over the last few months to keep things light and positive; visiting the same few places many times until he is completely comfortable before moving on.

In everything we did that night from "hurrying" between parked cars, to staying calm and focused with lots of people around, he did fantastic.  He saw lots of people in layers of clothes and bundled up, carriage dogs, horses, and trollies.  He got excited at the horses, but was rock-solid and confidant the entire night!

 

One thing I was especially thankful for was Canine Companions' choice in vest color.  No, I have not always been a fan of bright yellow, but having a black dog in a poorly-lit venue gave me a new appreciation for that.  Moray stayed close to me as we wove through people, and stood still when we stopped.  I do not think he got stepped on a single time.  It sounds like a little victory, but for Moray, that could have put him back into being hyper-vigilant in keeping his eye on his surroundings instead of me.  We have been working hard on his calmness and focus in public so this outing really showed me just how far he has come!

The ballet was a little over two hours with one intermission.  Moray was very still and good under my seat most of the time.  He got just a little antsy in the last 15 minutes, but when we got up to leave, many of the people around us exclaimed they had no idea a dog was in the theater.  By far the best compliment any puppy raiser can get!

Dante is in the Building

Outside the FedEx Forum

This past weekend Dante got to experience his first professional sporting event.  

One thing that should be noted is that not every puppy should be brought to such a busy venue.  Dante is very confident and I am not that into watching basketball, so I knew I could spend the whole time really working him, and could leave if he got overwhelmed.

The most annoying thing in the world fun part was before we even got in the building.  We were standing on the sidewalk while our friend went to go get the tickets.  This is when the parade of security started.  I don't really know why they were obsessed with us, but it seemed like they were just excited that they finally got to use what they had been taught on how to treat service animals.  We were the lucky recipients of this "enthusuism."   

Enter Security Guard #1.

Security #1: "Is that one of those service dog?"

Me: "Yes, he is a service dog in training."

Security #1: "Are you gonna take him inside?"

Me: "Yes, I am."

Security #1: "In to watch the game?"

Me: "Yes."     

Security #1: "Well, before you go in we are going to need to check and verify that, and will need to see and document all of its paperwork and stuff."

 Now I am getting a little annoyed.  The thing about service dogs and dogs in training, is that fully trained service dogs do not need to have any kind of identification.  Puppies in training do, as we go on the goodwill of business owners. This arrangement can get a little messy, because people generally don't get the difference between the two, so it leaves me in an awkward spot of having to comply, but still educate, so that the next service dog team that comes through their doors is not met with the opposition that "the last dog had ID, so you should too."


Security Guard #1 walks away.  Three minutes later Security #2 and #3 come over.

Security #2: "This is the service dog, right?"

Me: "Yes, he is in training."

Security #3 looks at his vest: "Ok, can I see his paperwork."

Me: hands over ID card and tries to educate them.

Security #3 proceeds to read the entire card front and back, and then...PEOPLE!  She copies every. single. word. on that card onto her little notepad. "11703...this is his tattoo number?"

Me: "Yes, do you need to see it in his ear?"

Security #3: "No.  (reads my mom's name) That's you?"

Me: (points to my name right under my mom's) "No, I'm Hannah"

Security #3: "OK.  Oh, this card is expired."

Me: "No it is not. It doesn't expire until August when I return him to Canine Companions."

Security#3: "Oh, I read it wrong.  Can I see you tickets?"

my mom hands over my ticket.

Security #3: "This is your ticket?  You are sitting in this exact seat?  And you're gonna have the dog?  In this exact seat with you?"

Me: "Yes."

(The funny thing is, I only sat in my seat for about 15 minutes.)

Security #2: "Ok, thank you." 

Security Guards #2 and #3 walk away.  My mom, Dante and I go to sit on a half wall to wait for the rest of our group to come back.  And then... Security Guard #4 comes over.  We are still OUTSIDE the building.  He starts the same thing as #1, and I tell him we did it all already, at which time Security #3 yells to him that she "Got it all already."  "Ok," he says, and walks away.

We get through the actual security, and make our way inside, where another plethora of security are heard radioing about "the dog in the building."  Add in the dozen or so (literally) screaming people because this is the last place they expect to see a Retriever, and we have made quite the entrance.  

Now we can get to how Dante did.  He was a rock star.  This dog is amazing.  We took a few minutes to sit and take it all in, and he was great.  We sat in our seats for a little, but it got too loud for him, so we spent some time at a table in the hall/concession area, and walking around with some friends.  It was a lot to take in, and aside from a few distracting moments, Dante did fantastic.

One thing about this crowd is that there were no drive-by petting attempts (petting while walking by, without asking), but full on trying to embrace him, and running up head-on with outstretched arms.  This was probably the busiest place Dante has ever been, so I said no to all questions about petting and to everyone else who didn't ask.  

 By half time, Dante was starting to wind down, and we decided to leave on a good note and while he was still doing well.  So proud of this boy and the situations he has proven he can handle!

 

View from our seats | People watching | Watching from our seat

Spring Time

 Dante and I took advantage of a beautiful spring day today, and got some pictures in-cape.  Enjoy!

The tongue...

Smelling the flowers...

...Eating the flowers

Goofball :-)

Look at how small his cape is getting.  He weighed in at 29.6 lb. at the vet yesterday!

How can this NOT make you smile?

Dante Working

This video is not the greatest, but it shows some of what Dante knows.

Some things to note:

• In the very beginning when I ask Dante to "dress," he start scratching.  he always itches when I first put on his collar/gentle leader/cape.  It usually takes him a good half hour to completely ignore them.  ;)
• When I tell him "release" from his kennel, he hesitates.  Dante LOVES his crate and sometimes is reluctant to leave it.
• Dante will sometimes try to read my mind and will go from a "sit" to a "down" over and over again just to see if he'll get praised.  We are still working on this one ;-)
• He just learned "shake" this week and loves to do it.  He will try to get everyone to do it with him, and now we're working on doing "shake" only on cue.  I guess that's not totally a bad thing!
• Dante got up from his "down" before I asked him to.  If I walk away too quickly he will do this, but I think he is still doing really well for his age!
• If I drop the leash before I tell him "here," Dante will always pick up the handle of the leash before coming.  I'm still not sure what to do about this. 

Dante also knows "drop" (whats in his mouth), and will do it with pretty much anything except socks ;-) he know to "wait" for his food until given "okay."  We are up to about 45 seconds for this. 

Overall, I think Dante is doing really well with his commands.  We still have a lot of "fine-tuning" and "cementing" to do that will come with age and practicing everywhere.  

Around Town

 I have been trying to get Dante out to new places about every other day, so when my mom and sister said they were going to take her senior pictures, Dante and I decided to tag along.

We live in a really cute town, and this was the perfect opportunity for us to see it better and for Dante to explore as well.

They started at the library.  Since Dante is too young to take inside, we walked around some, but mostly just watched the world go by.

I loved the benches outside because Dante could lay under them and I could still see what he was licking doing.

 After the library, we headed into the historic part of town.  Dante got to practice his stairs, and I was amazed, yet again, that he went up and down open-backed stairs AND the very steep steps of an old train!

We got to hang out on the porch of an old log cabin:

Dante also got to experience the train up-close:

Of course he had to crash some pictures too! 

We were out for about an hour-and-a-half.  It was the longest I have ever taken Dante out, and to say he was tired is an understatement!   He was out cold within a few minutes of getting home.  "A tired puppy is a good puppy" - Mission accomplished! ;)