Bye Again

Feels like he's barely settled back in and now Alfie's off again...

What was that?  Off where?

This time, it's just for routine tests.  All future guides must pass eye exams and x-rays.  The way the scheduling worked out, today was the best day for Michelle to pick him up for his appointments in San Antonio next week.  Due to the holiday, though, those appointments are pushed back to Tuesday and Wednesday...so, we won't see him again 'til next Thursday.  All the same, it sure beats the alternative, which would be me driving him clear down to San Antonio for 2 early morning vet visits...bleah!  Thanks, Michelle, for taking him!!

While he's gone, he'll be staying at the Dominguez Pawsitive Approach unit, along with their dogs (Petey, for one!)  It'll be a good experience for him I'm sure.  Have fun, be good, and get all A's on your tests, Alfie!  In the meantime, I get a little break from puppyraising...time to relax!

Halfway?

Well, it was just about 7 months ago, on the day after Thanksgiving 2009, that this little character entered our lives...and has been keeping us busy ever since!

Remember what a cute puppy I was?

Since then, Alfie's grown into that leash and collar a bit...

Look how much bigger I am!

...and, we hope, he's also growing into the role he'll eventually fill as a guide.

Need help crossing the street? 

Now, add 7 more months, and we'll be looking at January 2011...and guess who's scheduled to head in for his assessment?

 

Ummm...who?

If all goes as planned, Alfie will join a group of 5 others (including buddies Petey, Bob, and Celia) somewhere around the beginning of 2011.  They will be evaluated in many areas, both to make sure they're ready for Advanced Training and to give GDTx the information they will need to make appropriate client/dog matches.  After the assessment, the dogs will either go directly to Advanced Training, return to their raisers for a few months until an opening is available, or possibly even wait until the next assessment in certain situations.  Of course, though I don't even want to think about it, there's also the possibility that puppies could be released from the program if it's determined that their temperament or health is not ultimately suited for guide work.  However, I anticipate good things from all the puppies I know!!!

So we're somewhere around halfway!  The second half, in my mind, is actually the most fun.  Of course there are always challenges and I know enough to expect the unexpected.  But basically, by now you've got a nice, social, well-behaved dog who's house trained and reliable anywhere you might like to take him.  For the time that remains, you get to polish his skills, smooth down rough areas...and enjoy him.  Time flies way too fast!

Lovin' life as a guide dog in training!

Friday!

That's when Alfie comes back! Life has been fun and busy with my brother's family visiting last week (cool!!), and Petey leaving us to return to his raiser. Looking forward to seeing "my" puppy soon...

An Afternoon Walk

Petey and I have been walking a lot lately....want to come along? Here he's doing a good job of sitting and looking up at a branch overhead (sorry, not pictured!)

Here, I'm getting his attention with a treat and "Watch me!" The reason? We're getting ready to pass a little boy...distracting for Petey. He did just great though!

UNTIL this...which, by the way, was totally my fault! We passed the little boy and I let my guard down, starting to focus on what was coming up. Rats! Of course that was just the moment the boy whipped out a ball and started tossing it up in the air, resulting in the reaction below...

I'll pay closer attention next time! Soon Petey's focus was back on me, and on his work. He knows his stuff pretty well. Here he's sitting right at the edge of the curb...good boy.


Here he's finding me a trash can. Good dog!

In the video below, Petey faces down the "goose of doom." In all fairness, I've got to tell you that so far every single dog I've walked in our neighborhood is initially freaked out by this goose lawn ornament. When Petey and I walked up to it at first, he froze...waited a few seconds...(I was talking casually to him, trying to show it wasn't a big deal) and then suddenly sprang back to the end of his lead. So here I'm trying to get him to make friends with the nice goosey but as you can see he's not buying it!

In the end, he was willing to walk past calmly, which is really all he has to do. Good job!

That's all folks! Happy trails!

Petey's Hidden Talents

Petey makes me laugh...really, how comfortable can this be? 

...zzz...

Sure, you've taught your dog to "sit"...but can he do it sideways?  How about sideways AND in his sleep?  I think Petey ought to win some kind of award for this.

...zzz...

Whew, you wouldn't believe the nightmare I just had...

Someone taking pictures of me while I slept...

Back to School

...for an afternoon, anyway!  And look who's with me...

Yes, that's Tracy's puppy Celia.

Monday, the kids and I had the opportunity to share about GDTx with a great group of crossing guards at Highland Park Elementary.  Thank you so much to Ms. Fosdick, the other teachers and parents, and most of all our terrific audience.  We really enjoyed it!!

When I originally set up this appointment, I had no idea when the puppy swap would be, what puppy I'd have then, or what he'd be like.  As it happens, our presentation was to be outdoors, in an area near a playground and tennis courts...full of difficult distractions for a pup like Petey.  While I'd love to take him there just for training sometime, I felt that speaking and helping him to behave at the same time would be a bit more than I could handle.  After checking with Michelle, I got the OK to borrow Celia as my "demo dog" for the day, in Petey's place (remember her from our mini-swap?-- see March 2nd post.) 

I like how her whiskers catch the light!

As it turned out, at the moment Celia was staying with the Pawsitive Approach unit at Travis County Jail.  So that's where I actually picked her up from.  She definitely remembered us, and was as sweet as ever.  I arrived early, thinking I'd walk her for a while before our appointment to calm her down.  What was I thinking?!  Celia is the definition of "calm."  After our "calm down" walk she was so exhausted she just wanted to flop over and take a nap, poor thing!   She was perfect during our talk, and afterward too when I allowed the kids who wanted to come pet her.  Thank you Officer Mullins for letting us borrow her!

Can't believe you ditched me for Celia!

In the meantime, Petey and I continue our work together.  With practice, hard work...and, yes, liver...I think we're making progress!

Double, Double, Toil & Trouble...

To paraphrase one of my favorite authors:  By the pricking of my thumbs, something stinky this way comes!

Smells like a witch's brew to me...but to Petey it's heavenly.

So, to explain...I was talking to supervisor Michelle about how Petey's been basically a great dog, but then from time to time something startles him into barking.  And with his size comes a BIG SCARY BARK...not good in public!  So we're doing a lot of stuff to help him realize that the world is really okay, I've got things under control, and basically there's no need for him to worry.  But as Michelle explained, I need some extreme high-value treats in my pocket to save for those moments...something to get his attention back onto me from whatever it is he's concerned about.  To me, that means one thing:  LIVER.  At just $1/lb locally, it's much cheaper than prepared dog treats.  The drawback is that you actually have to cook the stuff yourself...bleah. 

It's pretty easy...just rinse it off, boil it, cut it into bite size pieces, and dry it out in a slow oven.  Warning to readers:  if you do this, a)Your whole house will smell like liver; and b)Your dog will love you forever (of course he does already!)

The outcome?  It seems to be working!  We went on 3 walks today and Petey got many compliments in stores on how well-behaved he was.  I'm sure it also helps that he's getting used to working with me...but the liver sure doesn't hurt anything!

No, Petey, driving the car will not earn you extra liver...

"PeteyLEAVEIT"

...That's his new name.  Or at least, that's probably what people thought at Town Lake yesterday!

Petey and I take on the hike and bike trail...watch out folks...

I'd been warned that my biggest challenge with Petey would be on walks.  At an immature 7 months, he still reacts instinctively to moving objects and it's up to me to anticipate these temptations and be proactive so I don't wind up at the end of a broken leash.  My thought was that for our first walk, I needed to take him somewhere with lots of distractions so I could figure out just what I was dealing with.  At the same time, we needed to be away from traffic.  So the Zilker hike and bike trail, winding along by Town Lake, was perfect. Loaded down with joggers, baby strollers, dogs, birds, and squirrels, it was sensory overload for the Petester. 

The outcome?  Pretty much exactly as I'd been told.  Petey has a great "watch me" and responds well to "leave it," just as long as you use those cues before he gets engaged in whatever's distracting him.  If you'd been behind us, I'm sure you would've thought me a bit obsessive with the PeteyLEAVEITs, but it seemed to work.  We successfully negotiated a big party with balloons bobbing in the wind...joggers...even flocks of pigeons clattering away at our approach!  Our proudest moment was when we calmly passed a little boy and his dad feeding crumbs to a flock of rowdy ducks, geese, and swans.  Hooray!!

We DIDN'T chase these tempting birds...

Our most embarrassing moments?  Pretty much every time another dog came within fifty feet of us!  Petey would tense up and let loose with a volley of barking...sigh!  German Shepherds have a reputation for being vocal, and he's no exception.  It's something he has to stop as a guide dog, that's for sure!  The sad thing is, the barking gave everyone the impression that he was a wild beast of some sort, not the goofy guy he really is.  In fact, even when he was behaving perfectly, people gave him a wide berth! 

I can't help it that I look so intimidating...

After lots of obedience work and many LEAVE ITs, we finally succeeded in passing another dog without barking...a big victory for us, and a nice note to end on.   You better believe he got a lot of treats and praise for that!

I'm really trying my best, honest!

For Pete(y)'s Sake

So...who's this handsome fella?

No, Alfie hasn't had an extreme makeover!

...Meet Petey!  Lockdown's over, puppy swap's on, and Petey just arrived from the Pawsitive Approach program this afternoon.  As you can see from the pictures, he's a beautiful, black, long-coated German Shepherd.  What you might not guess from the pictures...he's almost exactly the same age as Alfie (7 1/2 months), despite being close to twice his size!  So, yes, he's very much still a puppy.

Alfie left us for his swap home in Fredericksburg last Friday.  While I very much needed and enjoyed a weekend off my puppyraising duties, I was more than ready for Petey's arrival by the time he came.  Somehow, going for a walk just isn't anywhere near as much fun without a dog by your side! 

Puppy swap is a great part of the training program, since it multiplies the types of different experiences and training opportunities a puppy can encounter.  Working with a new handler in a different home and changing work environments, the puppy learns to accept all these things and take them in his stride...so important for success as a guide dog!  Of course, Petey's had many training walks in various locations already, but living in an ordinary home for a month or so will be a totally new thing for him.  And YES, we'll miss Alfie...but he'll be back...and in the meantime we'll definitely keep busy with Petey.

As you can see, he's already doing his best to worm his way into our affections.  I wanted to get a picture with us both in it so you could get an idea of his size and he took the opportunity to give me a big kiss...just look at that sly grin on his face!

Heh heh, let's see if we can get her to forget the doodle...

Interestingly enough though, I can already see a few similarities between Petey and Alfie.  Both of them are the super-alert type, quick to pick up on the slightest noise or movement anywhere in the house.  Both are very focused on their people.  Petey gives me the impression of a much more submissive, cautious temperament than Alfie, but of course it's his first day so perhaps that will change as he gets settled in!

His favorite thing so far?  Playing with Katharine!  He'll grab a toy and race around to get her to chase him in the backyard...so full of puppy fun!

I think I'm going to like it here!