Bright Sunshiny Day

Sunshine...blue sky...we just had to walk outside today!  After all, it's important for Alfie to understand that all his walking "rules" apply just as much out on a walking path as they do on city sidewalks and inside stores.  Of course we practiced obedience work too, like sit/stay...

...and down/stay.

I wish I could say that Alfie ignored the beautiful roadrunner gliding ahead of us due to his excellent training, but that wouldn't be quite true...

He did ignore the roadrunner, but I'm pretty sure he just didn't see it in all the tall grass ahead!

More excitement ensued when we found that, due to recent rains, our normal route was flooded!  Alfie was definitely game for forging ahead...I tried to explain that fording river crossings probably wouldn't be in his job description as a guide dog.  So it was back to the alternate -- dry -- route.  Overall, Alfie did great, walking on a loose lead, paying good attention (for a puppy!) and not getting distracted by all the new smells.  Good job Alf!

There's nothing like getting outside for an afternoon!

...And Now, the Bright Side

As if to get even with me for sharing about all his shortcomings, Alfie has shown marked improvement in his manners over the last couple of days.  Granted, he still has a mischievous streak about a mile wide, but by limiting his freedoms and giving him more work to focus on, we've seen a noticeable difference.  Yay!!

I thought it'd be fun to share his training progress too.  At 13 weeks, here's what he's learned so far (some of these are kind of obvious, like knowing his name, but when I make a list it always makes me feel better to list as much as possible!!):

• Alfie
• come
• watch me
• fetch (well, okay...I can take no credit for this; as Tim put it, Alfie came with the fetch software already installed; we just linked the behavior to the command!)
• sit (which is really a sit-stay, until released; we're working on that part!)
• go free (release command)
• down (really down-stay, again, a work in progress)
• wait
• off
• leave it
• go busy (the all-important potty command!)
• heel (not too good at this one yet)
• find the seat (his newest achievement, where he indicates a place I can sit down)
• go to bed

Yesterday Charissa and I took Alfie for a training walk to Walmart and he did beautiful-
ly.  We were so pleased!  I didn't think that New Year's might be a busy shopping day, but it was.  Alfie did quite well in the noisy crowds, even when a little group of teenagers insisted on following behind him for a while howling!  Yes, really!!  We just ignored it and went on.  To Alfie it was just part and parcel of the great new experience and he didn't give it a second thought.  He probably thinks it's normal for people to walk around howling now!  But the best part was when we went to check out.  Even in the express lane, we had to line up behind several others, so I put him in a down to wait.  We had been standing there, chatting and waiting for several minutes when a girl in the next line over glanced down and gasped to see Alfie.  She hadn't even noticed him at first, he'd been so unobtrusive!  That was my proud moment for the evening, as you can imagine!

You see, I can be very good when I want to be!

Carpe Canem

...that's just a little Latin for you, translating roughly to "Sieze the Puppy"! That's all we had on our minds Friday as we drove up to get Alphini. Here he's saying goodbye to his breeder, Dixie Moore of Dixie's Doodles.

Thank you, Dixie!

The rest of the weekend passed in a sort of blur. Those of you who've been through the 8-week-old baby puppy stage will understand! Alfie settled in to his new home quickly, and in fact, we're having to remind him that he doesn't actually own the place!

There's so much for a new puppy to learn. So far, Alfie's hardest adjustment has been sleeping in the crate. He cries every time we put him in, which is normal at this stage, but the good thing is it's getting a bit less each time. He's had no "accidents" in the crate, which is terrific. Can't say the same about the rest of the house!

We're in that hectic stage of the game where every time he eats, wakes up, plays...basically any time he does anything...we have to take him out to "go busy"(guide dog code for potty)...then write it down on a chart to help us keep track of his schedule. He's really getting the idea that when we take him out to his spot and give the command, he's supposed to do his business. Eventually, he'll catch on he's not supposed to do that indoors! For his age, I think he's doing just fine.

Alfie was already used to wearing a collar, but now he's got to get accustomed to a bigger collar with a tag on it. He spent most of the first day trying to scratch it off, but finally reconciled himself to it. Now we're working on walking on the leash.





"Heel" is still a ways off in the future! At this point, we're just happy if he gets the basic concept of walking in the same general direction. I was at church working on Saturday and had the idea that we could use the long narrow hall to help us with that.



...Seemed to help! All that hard work wore him out and he had to take a nap.

Sweet dreams!

Alfie is an intense, eager little learner. Luckily for me, he also seems to be quite motivated by treats (the good and smelly ones, that is!) We taught him "sit" using the treat as a lure and now he'll do it on his own, even offering a "sit" when he wants something...outrageously cute! He's also learned his name and "come." Today I'm starting to work on "down."

We've been spending some time each day on grooming, too, not so much because he needs it but to get him used to the routine. He sleeps through most of it so that's nice!

Alfie's also been on a couple of outings with us already and so far he's taken everything in stride, a real trooper.



Now if only I could catch up on my sleep...