T Minus 5 Days

The countdown for Lil' Mr. Moray's arrival is on.  Friday at 8:50am is the scheduled time of his plane landing at our city's airport. 

I have been trying to warn Dante that he is about to be de-throned.  Hehehe!  I think he is going to love having a little brother for a few months!  

Preparations for Moray are almost through.  Last week I was on a trip with my church youth group, and my mom picked up a bag of puppy food, and a couple other things.  Yesterday, Dante had puppy class (here, we pause for a picture from yesterday's class).

CCI puppies Young and Dante waiting for instruction on what to do next.

Since we attend class at a pet store, we had Moray's I.D. tag made and picked up a few more baby puppy toys.  Our Puppy Program Manager said Moray's paperwork and puppy starter kit are in the mail, so aside from a few things that have to be puppy-proofed, I think we are set.  I have started reviewing the puppy raising manual, and it is a good refresher.  

That awesome moment when toys you were going to buy anyways are on sale...

Because sometimes I have to flip through the manual just to find this cartoon to reassure myself that Dante is not the only one...

  I am sure many of you are curious to how the blog is going to be handled.  First of all, yes, I am going to continue blogging about raising Dante, and now Moray.  This leads to some inevitable changes as "Days with Dante" is a little too, umm... Dante specific (something I should have thought about last year).  After many going backs between the pro's and con's, I have decided to keep everything on one blog.  While there will be some design changes going on over the next little while, our URL (www.dayswithdante.blogspot.com) will remain the same.  That is our PSA for the day, so just bear with us if things are a little funky in the next week or so.  ;-)

I think you can probably tell the excitement level over here is going up day by day.  Thankfully, I'm channeling that into extra training time with Dante, working on cementing his last couple commands, and rereading some good puppy training material :-)  Only five more days until there will be THREE CCI puppies in this town!

Let's be Clear

I am a puppy raiser.  That means that I do not get to keep this dog that I raise, train, socialize, and take with me nearly everywhere I go.  Oh, and I also love him.  Very much.

I have had many people imply that they think I may not love this puppy because I can give him up, but never so bluntly as today.

I made a quick stop at Petco to get some High Value Treats for Dante.  Since it only took me five minutes, I left him in the car with my sister and just ran in myself.  The cashier was asking me about my dog and such, and I told him about Dante and how I was raising him for CCI... my typical spiel.  He asked about what I do in training and such, and I said that I have him for about 18 months, teach basic house manners, commands, and socialization before I give him back to finish training and hopefully be place with someone who needs him.  "So you don't get to keep him?"  He asked.  "No I don't, but someone needs him more than I do," I replied.  "So I guess you don't get attached to him.  I am a real dog lover and could never do something like that to my dogs.  It must be sooo hard on the dog emotionally to just be ripped apart from the one person he loves."  I wish I could say that I educated him on how CCI puppies are so well monitored and how we make sure that they are comfortable with different people and in different houses, and how each of the dozens of people who are involved in their lives loves them to pieces, and they have the most amazing lives of any dogs I have ever heard of.  But I was caught off guard by his bluntness, and was at a loss for words, besides a small amount of defensiveness.  I said something along the lines of how much I do love Dante and that he would do great, and also stressed again that he has an important job to do.

Even though in hindsight I know I could have said something better, I now have thought through it and have an answer for the next person who asks.

But I am writing this to make something clear: I love this puppy with all of my heart.  Yes, we butt heads at times, but when Dante leaves, he is going to take a big chunk of my heart with him.  And as I have said before, that's okay.  You know what?  I am a huge dog lover too.  I have always had a soft spot for Goldens especially.  To be a puppy raiser you have to be a dog lover - more specifically a puppy lover.  But first and foremost you have to be a people lover.  It is the only reason you can give them away, because someone needs him more than I do, and - as much as I am leery about it - will love him as much, if not more, than I do.

Puppy Class

(This is LONG.  I debated weather or not to post all of this, but decided it was best to be honest about it. So. . .)

I have not written much about Dante's puppy classes.  Being in an area where I am the only raiser has been a little challenging.  I really miss not having a group, especially having such a great group with GEB before I moved.  Now don't get me wrong, I have great support from our Puppy Program Manager and always get my questions answered, and I have found great support through all of you fellow puppy raiser bloggers as well.  There are very few organizations that would allow me to raise without a group here, so I am so, so thankful for CCI, and truly am grateful to be part of such an amazing organization.  But it is still hard at times not to have someone face-to-face.

We have attended three different puppy classes with Dante over the last few months.  We tried to avoid having to go to a pet store, so the first two were private classes.  The first trainer was good, but Dante ended up being the only puppy in the class.  And even though the trainer's philosophy was consistent with CCI, he didn't really know what to do with us since we did things slightly different, and being the only ones there was hard for a few reasons.  First, it didn't give Dante any socialization, and second, it didn't help us trying to just handle our differences quietly.  So, I think it was mutual that we moved on.

The second class was pretty messy.  My mom and I set it up to observe a class before we signed up.  The class that we saw was pretty good, so we signed Dante up, making sure to explain how we do things to the instructor to make sure she was comfortable with us.  The information we got on the class was vague at best, but we didn't think much of it.  It turned out that they did absolutely NO positive reinforcement.  It was not clear at all when we signed up.  You don't know how hard it was to watch the other owners yank and correct their pups into position, and not say anything.  Those poor pups had no idea what was expected of them.  So, we made it through the class trying our best to work Dante quietly, and decided to stick it out because Dante did need the socialization with other puppies, but knew that signing up for another one was not an option.

We spent a couple weeks trying to avoid going to Petco.  Its a long story about that.  But anyways.  We met with the trainer at Petco in our neighboring town, and LOVE him.  He is a former K9 police officer and his philosophy is spot on with CCI.  It has been so refreshing to go to a class where I actually take really good information home, and not just socialization for Dante.  

Dante graduated from his first class there last week.  We always get there early to get Dante settled and ready to work on time.  This week there was a couple with two Great Danes.  I know they are huge, but had never met one in person.  Oh my, I am glad they were so well behaved! ;-)  We decided to let Dante greet the older one (the other was a newly rescued puppy and a little rambunctious).  The Great Dane was so gentle and good with Dante!

Getting ready to greet:

Bragging moment: D's focus on me :-)

I LOVE when other pet owners initiate good, polite greeting where both pups have high standards of behavior :-)

Being our last week, we had a lot of fun with an obstacle course to work through.

Loose leash walking through the cones:

Dante is not a huge fan of the tunnel:

But he made it through (with lots of treats)!

One of the other puppies, Bandit's, mom is a pastry chef and made amazing treats for the puppies:

I only let Dante have a small one and took the one with his name home (which he has been getting little pieces of it everyday for the last week).

"Please release me!!!"

"I don't know how much longer I can 'wait'!"

We ended with some playtime with Bandit  The first two weeks Bandit was really hesitant about Dante, but they have grown to love each other and play really nicely.

So thankful for a such a great class for Dante!

Miscellaneous Ramblings

I am sorry that I have not written in a while.  It has been one of those weeks.  Dante is at that age where he can be quite a pill.  Honestly, I have not been wanting to write because I didn't have very many positive things to share, and it is not my point to highlight or dwell on Dante's troubles, so I thought it best to keep shut.  I know he just needs time to grow out of it, but a few times per day, he heads to his crate because I need a good amount of "no puppy" time.

Right now, Dante is sprawled  out on his back at my feet sleeping - finally.


Some things this week:  Dante took another trip to Petco and got to see a really friendly ferret.  It was so funny to watch them because the ferret was not the  least bit afraid on Dante.  They followed each other back and forth along the glass.  They were so cute!

Dante also got a "big boy" collar.  His little one was starting to look so funny on him, and he was almost grown out of it.  At over 40 lbs. I am surprised it was strong enough to hold him.  I swore that I would not buy a personalized collar, because I want to remind myself as often as possible that he is not mine, therefore, was just going to keep a plain blue one on.  But my mom and sister talked me into it.  It is brown, and I think it looks really nice against his fur.  

Okay, okay!  It might have a small floral design, but you cannot tell from afar, and it was on sale (I also have a plain brown one that looks nice).  I think Dante is secure enough in his manliness that he can pull off a few flowers!  ;-)  He is looking SO grown up!

Booties

The last week has been getting pretty warm.  It has been in the low 90's and I know over the summer it will get well over 100.  Dante has already been showing that he is uncomfortable on the hot pavement, so we got some booties for him.  You really just have to watch the video...

On another funny note:  Dante has been h-o-r-r-i-b-l-e about chewing and playing with his leash, so my PPM suggested we get some "bitter apple" to spray on it.  We took Dante to Petco today, and were just going to buy one, but the lady who worked there told us to try it on him first.  We went through ALL (6 or 7) of the products they have and Dante just licked it up with a wagging tail.  We eventually found one he didn't like, but he keeps us laughing hard!

Question: Getting Out

Dante is pretty high-energy.  When he first came, I thought that getting him to new places every other day or so, would be enough to keep us busy, but not overwhelm him.  After three or four weeks, I realized that I really needed to start taking him out every day. 


Since we are not supposed to walk more then a mile-and-a-half at a time, it has been really challenging to tire him out.  When I walk him down the same road more then twice, it gets "old" to him.  He really needs to work his mind at the same time in new places.  I try not to walk him down the same streets more then every couple days (there are a lot of sidewalks here), and getting on busier streets, but it will still take him over an hour of running (he really does run the whole time) afterwards in the yard to wear him out.  


This last week has been especially hard to try to think of new places to get him to.  What makes it harder is that we have only been here three-and-a-half months, so I can't think of anywhere else that is dog-friendly that we can bring him.


We have been to the parking lots and fronts of a ton of stores; the town-square; walked around the outside mall; two different parks where we even watched baseball practices and tennis matches; Petco; outside garden centers; and a number of other places.  I only have one month until I can start bringing Dante in public, but until then, where are good places to take him?

The Happiest Place on Earth...

PETCO!  Okay, honestly I'm not a huge fan of pet stores because you never know what you're going to run into there.  But, the one near us is usually pretty quiet, and Dante just finished his shots last week, so I figured today would be a good time to bring him for the first time. 

Since this was Dante's first time inside any type of store, I wanted to keep it fun.  Not focusing on any commands, but just letting him explore. 

I wasn't really sure what to expect from him, so I was pretty amazed at how well he did.  He was very interested in all the smells and sights, but he never went crazy or seemed overwhelmed.  Even when we stopped to check things out, it was fairly easy to get his attention - if only for a few seconds. 

A few weeks ago during a frustrating moment with Dante, I made a deal with him (if you believe you can make deals with dogs (-; ), that if he would behave himself and listen to me then I would take him to pick out his own toys.  Dante held up his end of the deal, so he got to pick out a toy.  And wouldn't you know, it has a squeaker.  This dog loves his squeaky toys, and walks around so proudly whenever he has one!  I'll never forget the moment Dante first figured out his toys squeaked, and he hasn't stopped since!

My mom also found a bone-shaped Kong, and I think he will love that.

I thought that Dante would be hesitant to walk on this floor, but he loved it, and after walking and pawing it for a few seconds. he made himself right at home!

The fish only held his attention for a few seconds...

...But I think he wants to change his food.

Dante got to greet some people (and hopefully potential puppy-raisers)! 

It was almost impossible for him to hold a "sit" on the floor.

Dante LOVED these, and was trying to sniff all the way to the top!

 We ended up staying longer then I expected (talking to a trainer there, but that's a whole other story), but Dante settled really well and we left on a good note.  And now I have one pretty pooped puppy on my hands, and I think that means we had a successful outing!