City Outing

At the time, I thought Kolby was a big boy at a mere age of five months and he would certainly handle a day-outing at a Museum in the city, complete with parks, a dock, water, geese, and boats. This was Kolby last year at the Museum. 

And he didn't prove me wrong that day, he certainly acted like a big boy and there were no concerns nor naughty stories to report. What I didn't realize was the sheer magnitude of taking it for granted that he was only a mere five months old. Both of my puppies have been excellent outing puppies, and I am very grateful. How many times can I roll the dice and get this? Shall I stop while I'm ahead? (kidding - challenges can be equally as rewarding). 

Yesterday I returned to the same Museum with our sweet friends for a day outing, but this time included going on a docked 1889 Tug Boat, walking through a slew of people at a festival, and riding the Light Rail for the sake of the experience in training. 

We had hoped to recreate some photos that were taken a year ago; to showcase the growth of our pups. But the exhibits where we were planning to do this had now been replaced with new exhibits. So, we had to skip that idea and just start over. 

Kolby was happy when we chose to stop for lunch, as he was able to take a mid-afternoon snooze. He got some attention from a table nearby, but was quick to keep looking at me while the lady was petting him. Kolby does this a lot, and even strangers pick up on his perfect eye contact on me while he is getting love from others. I am not sure what to take away from this. He came with amazing eye contact, but sometimes his look is more like, "Eeek, should they be doing this? I'm kinda working." and then his look also seems like he's saying, "Hey, look how awesomely-calm I am being. Cookie, please?" and then finally his look can say, "Really? I know I'm cute, but I was s.l.e.e.p.i.n.g."

The Light Rail ride was great because the Light Rail that we had taken Haddie on was in a city the opposite direction of where I usually live my life, and my days are getting rather short with Kolby to make the trek. So to have this experience for Kolby at a time when we were with friends and already out was perfect.

Like Haddie, Kolby acted like he had been there before and just settled at my feet. In fact, he settled at my friend's feet and used her cute Converse as a pillow. I am sure that his rides on the floor of our RV to go on camping adventures has helped him with the sway and movement of the Light Rail, and the many different noises compared to a car. He has rode a mini-transit bus last August, so perhaps he remembered subconsciously that trip too. Regardless, I am glad to have squeezed in this experience before he leaves to California. 

To get to our parked car, we chose to walk through the Wooden Boat Festival and Race arena where it was packed with athletes, booths, food, and live music with people enjoying their interpretive-inner-dancing-self. I looked down at Kolby and saw him wagging his tail, mouth open, tongue hanging out in a smile, as if he too was getting his inner-dancing-self into rhythm. I really believe he is a music-dog having been next to the piano weekly supporting my students in piano lessons. He just seemed so happy about his day that it made all of us smile and laugh; which just egg'd him on. 

Our day was not complete just yet, and Kolby maintained being out and about in public and on the go for 11 hours by the time we returned home. Upon leaving the city we were meeting my husband in a different town to sign papers on a new car. Although the leg work of finding the car and getting the bottom pricing complete had been done by my hubby the day prior, the paperwork part became equally as long. Nothing is fast about purchasing a car. 

We added another four hours onto our day and Kolby laid at our feet at the desk. When we got up to shake hands and go to the finance room where the signing took place, the salesman (who had come to the pow-wow after we had already been seated) was genuinely surprised that we had a dog under his desk. I found that a great sign as Kolby passed the "blend into the room" test. While we were signing the papers, my kiddos and Kolby remained in the lobby and about every Salesman had to stop by for some Kolby loves. My kiddos said he was great and loved the attention. 

Stopping at the grocery store for some much needed last-minute dinner toss-togethers, and we were pulling into the garage at 9:00p with a very happy puppy and puppy raisers who had lasted 11 hours on the go. 

Kolby proved that he can handle life outside of the house, and I am happy that he is headed to Santa Rosa with another grand experience under his collar. He has proven to me that he is a mellow-guy that can hang with people wherever they choose to go. The bottom line will be the choice of Kolby. While he will go wherever we go without protest or bad manners, he will need to choose if that is what he wants to do in life. Work or Change of Career. His choice. And I support either. 

LOVE YOU, KOLBY!!! Thanks for an incredibly relaxing, entertaining, and busy day. 

Kolby's Girlfriend

She is seven days older, about half his size, twenty pounds lighter, blonde and beautiful, and they have been in love since the day they met, March 13, 2013. 

Helaine and Kolby are headed to Santa Rosa in mid-August to begin their next Chapter with Canine Companions; Advanced Training. They have adventured to many different outings together, they have spent time at our house playing with "Purple Ball"; which they quickly figured out how to mutually hold at the same time, and they have been in weekly class together more times than not. They are the best of friends. 

Knowing that the two will be on campus together makes it more exciting to think about their next journey. Will they be training together? Will they be close to each other's kennel? Will they get to play in the yard together? Will they feel confident and strong knowing the other is there when their people are not? Will they Graduate together? 

In a perfect world, we would see them Graduating on the same date, to a single man and a single woman who meet during Team Training, surprised to find out that they are from the same city, and they instantly start a friendship-turned-relationship, get married, and live happily together ... all for the sake of our two puppies being now "married too" and living together for the rest of their long lives. 

Screech! Okay, back to reality. 

When Kolby returns to his birth city, I will not only be saying my Goodbye to my favorite boy, but I will also be saying Goodbye to a very dear friend. Helaine has been a sweet puppy that we have had the joy of watching grow from a wiggly, green eared nugget, to a strong, wise, and well mannered puppy. 

She has spent multiple nights at our house with her puppy raiser, we have seen her meet the next puppy that her Raiser will be raising for Canine Companions, we have seen her perform her best and work through new skills, my son and daughter had the privilege and joy of taking her to Fair last year, spending time on the bench with her, walking her through an Evaluation Course, and giving her lots of love. She is part of us, even though she was not our puppy to raise. 

Family. This crazy thing called "Volunteer Puppy Raising" is not about one puppy, but about many. And the funny thing is, there is always enough room in one's heart for all of them. 

Kolby's Girlfriend Helaine. I wish her lots of love and plenty of magical wishes for a fantastic journey. 

Love you, Helaine. 

So proud. 

Godspeed. 

Back from Prison

Kolby has been in the Puppy in Program Prison Program with Canine Companions for the last nine days while we have been on a dog-free camping trip. The Prison Program is extremely well run, and for Kolby to have undivided attention 24/7 in his training, he just up'd his readiness for Advanced Training at the Santa Rosa campus of Canine Companions; which happens in exactly. one. month.

I don't really know all that took place while in prison, and obviously I have never met the person that was responsible for Kolby, but I do know that this prison is extra attentive to the training of their puppies in program. Not only do the men who were chosen to be part of the Puppy Program have secured the trust of our Contract Trainer for their dog training skills, but they are also in a military prison which adds an entirely new level of commitment, rules, and guidelines.

I received a written report from the person in charge of Kolby and I was pleasantly surprised to get this third party view of my Mister. "The first thing I noticed is how well he knows his commands (at least compared to other visiting puppies). Kolby was very attentive. He's a very good boy and is welcomed back anytime."  That certainly made me feel good!! Because really, that is the reason why I chose to put him in the Prison Program while we were on vacation. I thought he was getting lazy and not very sharp. I think that mixing up training environments is good for puppies, as it helps them stay fresh and always on their toes learning (don't worry, all the Puppies in Program have plenty of "down time" to just be puppy too).

The area that Kolby needs continued work on is his Recall; meaning when playing out in the big, fenced prison yard, he doesn't always want to return to his handler when told to do so. I will need to practice this more thoroughly in different settings (insert my parent's acre fenced yard) because in my backyard, he will come to me on the first call. The distractions are no longer new and exciting at home, apparently. We will get this under wraps before his college due date. I will also be chatting with our Contract Trainer for more specific training options to get more trustworthy behavior from Kolby in this area.

Kolby came home very tired. He lived in a small trailer with four prisoners, and three other Puppies in Program who were all very young (under ten months). While he didn't go on outings outside of Prison, he did attend the dinning hall for his Handler's meals, the outdoor gym, and an office with a Parole Officer. He received great care and I am so thankful for the experiences that he received. Also, it is kinda nice to know that Kolby gave love and confidence to someone who is in need of getting his life back to positive. I like that Kolby has a history of prison life; not many pups can say that.

About the post's photo. I was working right here on my computer when my son said, "Hey Mom, look at Kolby." I turned around to see my sweet pup dressed up. It is not the "easiest" to dress a male puppy because the outfits of choice are somewhat limited. No boas, dresses, skirts, fluffy hats, etc that I see floating around Social Media of female Puppies in Program. So when I saw this, I had to snap a photo. Kolby was very calm and let my son "play dress-up" as if Kolby has done this daily of his 18-months with us. Kolby is ready for a future little girl or boy who would love to play dress-up with him upon Graduation. Just sayin'  ....

Glad to have my Mister back, but thankful for the experiences he had the last 9 days.

Too fast for me

Time is speedy and I am trying to catch it long enough to get caught up on blogging. But alas, I am finding it impossible and I just have to start on something!

Mister Kolby has had a lot of entertainment, new and old experiences, and a lot of fun the last month. I will do more justice to blogging upon my return from a week's vacation to our little slice of heaven on earth.

Kolby is currently at a Puppy Sitter's and it will take me a few days before my mind eases and I truly can relax and stop thinking about him more than a dozen times in a day.

Puppy Raising is really like having kids; when you go on a date with your husband, and all you can think about and talk about are the kids. This puppy is definitely personality-plus, and so to just send him off to his own vacation away from me and not think about him, is truly impossible.

Until I return to blogging, I will leave you with a series of photos that I took on the 4th of July. I think the photos are self-explanatory in some of his personality traits. From Hound Dog to Regal back to being funny all in a matter of minutes.

Love Mister Kolby!!!

 

Camping Kolby 2014

We broke out the RV from storage and went camping for a quick two night trip. It is always fun to get-away for the weekend with the kids while school is still in session; the short weekend trips are just enough to boost the energy and make it to the end.

We went back to the first camping adventure spot that Kolby had last year about this same time. He was only a mere four months old and he did fantastic. A year later and he continued to shine in behavior.

4 months

16 months

My girl fetched him a walking stick early in our adventure, and Kolby carried that stick everywhere we walked. He was so proud of that stick, as if he had won an award for being the most handsome and wisest puppy-ever. High stepping with tail wagging; he was certain that everyone was coming out of their RV's and Tents to take a look.

The dock is a favorite place to snap photos and a great training tool for Kolby. It swayed just enough for Kolby to need to be okay with it, and the water under neath was a good distraction too. Thankfully, it was not an issue and we enjoyed a long while soaking up the sunshine and hanging out with boaters going in and out of the lake.

At one point Kolby decided that he just wanted to give me some love for taking him camping, and he crawled right into my lap and kissed my face. He is such a good dog. Whatever his path will be, he will shine.

As the sun grew more intense, the water was looking awfully good to Kolby as he inched closer and closer to the edge. I think if I had approved, he would have gladly jumped in. Call me uneventful, but I didn't want to then have a soaking wet dog lounging in the dirt and pine needles back at camp, nor in our RV. I will save that for another time; whether with us or his forever family.

Kolby enjoyed his spots in the RV where we asked him to maintain a Down. He had amazing self control and did fantastic sleeping on the floor with blankets, not in his crate, for the weekend. A first that we tried and he succeeded. Yay - one less thing to pack on our road trip to California later this summer.

Kolby is definitely a camper!

New Phone, Kolby loves, not so much.

So there is a little trend in these two posts, but this is the end of new-somethings. I have been working with a severely cracked, old phone since the end of last summer, but finally it was my time to upgrade. My husband ordered me a free iPhone 4s from Apple and it was scheduled to arrive the Monday after Easter.

My excitement was long in the making for this new device and all of my close friends and family were surely aware of it too. Hard to miss when you can't do much with a half broken phone; the looks alone was obvious that I was certainly disadvantage in this department of life.

Monday came and I stayed home all day for that package, except for the ten minutes it took for me to run to my girl's school to retrieve her at the end of her day. Of course that was the exact moment the UPS delivery man decided to swing by. Sad that I missed him, but even more disappointed when I found that a signature was required in order to receive my package. The note on the door said that I had three options: wait for another delivery attempt the next day, go down to the UPS hub after 5:30p this same day, or sign the back of the sticker that had been on the door and return to the door for the next delivery.

I was teaching piano lessons in less than an hour, my only option was to try again the following day. So I signed the note and put it on my entry table to affix to the outside of the door in the morning. I did not have any plans for the following day, but I had opted to put it out "just in case".

But the next morning came and I was sitting at this exact spot doing work for my volunteer role for our Chapter of Canine Companions when I heard the ripping of paper wafting from the living room. I quickly got up and turned the corner to find Kolby thoroughly enjoying rough play time with the UPS sticker.

Nooooooooo!!!! Are you kidding me?! That was just plain naughty, Mister. No sugar coating that whatsoever!

I taped it back together, all of it, and put it way up high so it couldn't be bothered by Clifford: aka Kolby. Hours passed and I was making myself lunch when I heard the rumble of a truck turning in my cul de sac. I ran to the living room window to see the tail end of the brown UPS truck passing my house.

I am seeing a trend. Is this a sign that I should not have an iPhone?

I grabbed my flip flops and UPS tag and chased the truck down the street. Luckily it had stopped at my neighbors house about four houses down, but clearly he was not planning to stop at my house. Ignoring the fact that he was grossly mistaken, I sweetly pointed out that I wanted to be sure I didn't miss him today and showed him my tag. He got back into his truck and hunted down my package. Once in my hand, I still opted to forgive him for passing me by, just thankful that I had my phone, and walked back to my house.

And then - it was play time. Of course, Mister Kolby was my first subject. Can you tell that he was thoroughly impressed and approved of my new upgrade?!

New phone, Kolby loves, not so much.

New Car, Kolby loves

We used to have a Rav4 which was great for transporting our dogs and kids' stuff and everything else. But because it was a mini-SUV, it wasn't really "that" large. So when we decided to switch things up and go with the Prius V, we really analyzed the cargo room.

Long story short for a blog that is not about selling cars, we have fallen in love with the Prius V and have not regretted our choice. We will see what we think about giving up the 4-wheel drive come winter, but other than that, we don't feel like we have lost any in the way of cargo space.

Kolby is a tall fella, so if he can fit in the back comfortably sitting up while traveling, then I am pretty confident that future Canine Companions puppies will be able to as well. The most fun has been seeing Kolby love the car as much as we have.

Many, many times, after a full outing, he will not get out of the car. He is too comfy to move and will literally just stay put while I put all of his gear away and whatever else that needs to come in from the car. And then I will tell him it is time to get out and he will just stay there. So much so that I had time to get the camera on this particular day.

Before anyone worries that he is being disobedient and needs to work on that, when I use my firm voice versus the "ohhh, you are so darn cute let me give you some love and snuggle your mug" voice, that I am guilty of using in these adorable moments, he stands up and let's me unhook his seat belt and he hops out.

New car, Kolby loves, that's a good thing!