Short, Sweet, and...Fun!

I have been writing on this little blog for over two-and-a-half years.  Not only has it been a place for recording and remembering my journey of puppy raising, but it has also been a means by which I have "met" many wonderful people from across the country who also are hooked on this volunteer gig.  Over the last year especially, there have been several people who I originally met because of this blog that I now consider dear friends.

My parents, Moray, and I recently headed up to Missouri to visit a college.  While we were there, we had the privilege of meeting up with Lisa and her Canine Companions puppy in training Liza!  They live a couple hours away from where we were going, but graciously agreed to meet up with us!

We first met up at a castle that touts to being haunted.  It was a fun place to work both pups together!  Liza is a complete sweetie!  She is so beautiful and dainty, and she and Moray hit it off instantly and were completely in love.  When Moray meets new dogs, he usually just tries to play with them.  Not these two.  They worked very well together, but just wanted to be together and would lean over and steal kisses every chance they got!

They not only fell in love in one day...

Uh oh!

...but also got married...

...and honeymooned! ;)

We went up stairs...

...and down stairs.

We worked on various commands like "up"...

...and jump.

And although no ghosts were seen, it was soon time to head out!

Pretty Liza!

"Let's go!"

We headed to downtown Springfield to walk around some more, but also got to spend time talking to people all about Canine Companions!  Of course Liza and Moray were excellent representatives!

Soon it was time for a water break!  Its good to have polite puppies who don't mind sharing!

After some dinner where these two smooched under the table...

...We switched puppies and worked through some basic and advanced commands and obedience!

"Jump!"

"Jump" and "under" and more kisses!

Liza does a "let's go!"

Handsome boy if I do say so myself!

"Down" of different surfaces.

Liza mid "heel"

They even practiced holding "downs" and "stands" with major distractions -- each other!

Another stop for rest for the pups and some dessert for the humans, and we had to make our goodbyes.

Lisa with Moray and Liza and I

Moray was out cold on the way to our hotel that night, and I would put money on the fact that his good behavior the whole next day was due to the pure fun and excitement he had!

Sleepy head!

It was such a fun day spent with dear friends, and I know I can speak for Moray when I say he was exhausted all the way home!

**Most photos here were taken on Lisa's camera by herself of my mom**

Puppy Outing

This weekend we finally got together for an outing with fellow Canine Companions puppy in training, Hardy.  Everyone has had an extremely busy summer so far, so it was nice to finally connect!

We all met up at Lowe's so that we could practice various commands and also let the puppies practice working with other handlers besides their raisers.

Dante also got to tag along since Lowe's is a pet-friendly store!  Unfortunately, I sprained my ankle on the 4th, so I spent the whole time working with Dante, and he got to show off his wheelchair work and advanced commands.

There was lots of passing around the leashes so that puppies and humans got to work on various skills.

Hardy executing a "sit" and Moray doing a "jump" on a grate.

Hardy does an "off" for the newest (almost!) puppy raiser of our group

Moray with Hardy's raiser

Dante opens the fridge!

Tight spaces? No problem!

Moray and Hardy are both super sweet boys and get along so well.  When we took a break and were all talking together, they laid down nose-to-nose together and were so sweet!  It is always so fun and encouraging to get together with our friends and fellow puppy raisers!

Shaping Up

One of the most important things when training a puppy is consistency.  This applies to every aspect of everything you ever do with your pup: consistently doing body handling, consistently giving them their required 6+ hours of kennel time per day, consistently having the same expectations for good behavior.  

I have had a busy, busy couple weeks, and Moray has not been getting public outings as consistently as he is used to.  I took him out for the first time in a little while the other day, and realized he was rather sloppy in his public behavior.  That is no fault of his own; it's just the way life is sometimes.  So today we headed out for some "get your act together" work.  ;)  

Target is usually our go-to for a low distraction outing where we can practice various skills.

 We started out just walking around and making sure Moray could keep a nice "heel" position no matter how fast or slow I walked.  He prefers to trot wherever he goes, so this has been one area that we have had to work hard on through his whole life.  Because I do have to keep on him for heeling, loose leash walking has never been a skill that seems effortless with him.  But he does well as long as I keep 100% focused on him, so I'll take it!

We did some distraction work by walking back and forth down the dog food isle without sniffing anything!

Moray got to practice commands including "up" on different surfaces!

 We also practiced distractions with balls.  Poor Moray was such a good sport while I bounced them around and over him, and rolled them past and into him (gently!).

I pulled out a hula hoop, and Moray was a little unsure of it, but with the help of some treats, he performed some commands in it, walked through it, and walked next to me while I carried it.  It is important for a future service dog to be comfortable while their human carries anything from grocery bags, to bulkier items too!

"Down" in the hula hoop!

 We had a little fun with a skate board too!  

While this smiling boy is super cute, as many fellow shopper pointed out, its not all fun and games as all of these seemingly common exposures are super important for his training to make him a confident and well-rounded pup who isn't afraid of anything!

May Graduation Part 2

We headed to Canine Companion's Northeast Campus on Long Island Thursday after brunch.  we had called them the week before asking if they offered tours before the graduation ceremony on Friday because the actual ceremony is held at a hotel and we really wanted to see the campus.  After hearing that we were puppy raisers from another region, they said we could get the "real" tour if we came Thursday, hehe!  That turned out to be perfect since we planned to stay the night there and see my aunt and uncle Thursday night anyway.  

We got just a little lost and ended up on 42nd Street.  It has been years since I've been in New York City, so it was fun to drive through anyways.  Moray slept the whole way, but (spoiler alert!) he *may* be back to work the city in the fall!

I would be lying if I said I didn't tell Moray more than once that he "better be on his best behavior!" Puppies will be puppies, and sixteen hours in the car over the last 48 hours didn't help him out much either!  But to his credit, he did very well and I was proud at how hard he tried...even if puppy brain took over a little!

With the infamous Woodstock!

It was really neat to tour the Northeast Region and see the similarities and differences compared to the Southeast.

Kennels! Don't remember the names of these sweeties.

Anyone know Nation or Maddie's raisers? Sweet girls!

Medical room

Some Advanced Training Dogs playing

Am I the only one who finds CCI's walls so amazingly inspiring?! Haha!

After our tour we got to see my aunt and uncle and meet sweet Hickory who they had been matched with.  We also got to sit in on the graduates' last lecture which was such a cool insight into the "other side" of CCI.  It was so neat to see this side of excitement, reception, and joy after only ever being on the side of tears and saying goodbye to the puppy you've raised and loved for 18 months.  To see and meet many of the new teams and families and hear about their stories from the last two weeks was an amazing experience.  I guess as a puppy raiser you have to imagine so much of what your dog is doing in Advanced Training and during Team Training that it was neat to see it become real.

Lecture time in the cafeteria. 

Hey Hickory!

I always find it fun the watch the difference in graduate dogs and puppies in training.  I get complimented on a daily basis about how well behaved my pups are.  Don't get me wrong: both Dante and Moray had/have pretty great public manners, but seeing the mature dogs who have had such extensive professional training side by side with puppies is so much fun for me.  And of course, being there Thursday, Moray was the only puppy in yellow until we went to the play yard, so I definitely had the little whippersnapper, haha! After the lecture wrapped up and we were talking together, we asked about taking Hickory and Moray out to the play yard, and one of the trainers looks at Moray and says, "Absolutely.  This one really needs it, huh?"  Oh Moray!  You try so hard to be a good boy, but sometimes you just need to run it out!

Levine! 4 months old and the only pup out there smaller than Moray my peanut!

Moray played very nicely the entire time, and ran hard, and I mean h-a-r-d for 45 minutes with other dogs who were graduating and a few puppies in training.  

We went out to dinner nearby, and Moray was excellent.  About 15 minutes into our meal, a group of puppy raisers, graduates, and supporters of CCI came in and sat a few tables away along with at least six other CCI puppies and dogs.  This was the first time Moray has ever seen other dogs in public (besides puppy class), and he did amazing.  He perked his head up as they all walked in and got settled, but never tried to get up or bring attention to himself.  He soon rested his head again, completely ignoring them, and went to sleep.  He was one tired pup and slept soundly in yes, our third different place in three days!