Leave It

I was skimming Facebook last night before bed and saw an adorable video of Kolby's sister, Kira (who is also black and is Kolby's twin - Ha, I know...the entire litter are Kolby's twins), being raised in Southern California. Her Puppy Raiser is an amazing photographer and videographer who can capture a dark colored puppy with perfection. Totally jealous of her skills.

She posted a video in much better quality of Kira choosing to eat the food, or not eat the food. Kira was a rock star and chose not to eat the food until it was given by her Puppy Raiser. It made me beam that Kolby's sibling was super smart, so I wanted to test out Kolby's skill of Leave It this morning.

While the video is not of amazing quality, I think Kolby rocked the assignment and is of amazing quality. Take a peak at 13 week old Kolby.

Sidewalk Walk

So, it has been 11 days of tummy trouble for Kolby and we are finally back to happy!! The social outings have been a little dampened during this time while we waited patiently for his belly to figure out how to get back to normal. With the help of CCI Vet Clinic, our fabulous Trainer, and our amazing personal vet, Kolby has the correct meds and the trouble disappeared instantly. Aaaamazing.  

Today I had plans for a store-outing, something like a Drug Store or just one section of a toy store at a big box chain. But as the sun was actually glimmering behind thin clouds, I dumped the interior walk-about for some fresh air. Finally. Fresh air without dodging raindrops.

We walked about 45 minutes on the sidewalks of a new strip mall in our town. It was quiet. The concentration was on moving vehicles, the noises of nature, all-things-litter (man, there are a lot of scraps of junk e.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e - things you don't notice unless you are puppy training), variance in surfaces, and keeping pace with a loose leash.

I had mixed up the Wait command with Haddie - using it more as a Stay or don't move command, when in actuality, according to our region's trainer, it is a command that makes the pup not move past a threshold. Whereas Stay is where the legs can not move. The implied Stay for Sit is all four feet need to be planted. The implied Stay for Down is that the forearms shall not lift off the ground.

To tell your pup to Wait, it means that you do not want them to move to the next room - but they are free to move about the room you expect them to remain in. I am still learning how to train this one. It is slow goings, but I am determined Kolby will know the correct command of Wait.

I was using Wait for Haddie instead of the "Leave It" command. Wait for her food, Wait to eat a treat, Wait before fetching her ball. All of those are actually Leave It's.

So today I worked on Leave It with Kolby and litter. He was amazing (only because we worked on Leave It last week with kibble on the floor, on my lap, on my hand, on his toes, on the chair - yeah, we were home a lot last week). Kolby gets Leave It at our house, I'm glad to see him transfer it to the real world this morning. Notice he is sitting on the chocolate wrapper we found littered on the sidewalk. That's one way to do it, Kolby, just sit on it!

Our crosswalks have bump-circles that protrude out from the cement and creat a great surface for Kolby to walk on. He was just fine. And he sat on this bumpy surface too and waited for his reward.

Shopping carts, rolling doors, huge trucks, high pitched machinery, and a jet black crow that cawed obnoxiously were all sounds that Kolby took pause to hear and observe, but was fine to continue after he had a chance to watch. He is so adorable. Hear a noise? He will Sit and observe. Reminds me of a wise-old-man. Just sit and watch the world; taking it all in. Better than the flip side of flipping out.

I think one of the things that I am not used to is Kolby's lack of Hurry while in public. I will command, and offer him every opportunity to get this accomplished, and he has no interest. That part makes me nervous to venture into stores. A dog that goes because you said, even if they don't feel like they really gotta, is a dream. I had one of those last time (wink). You say the word and she would do it. Every. Single. Time. and. Quickly!!

I enjoyed my fresh air quiet sidewalk walk with Kolby. He is full of cute expressions that make the morning start so perfectly.  I enjoy seeing life through his young eyes.

An adventure for the rain

For as beautiful as the weather was at the beginning of our week, the downpour of rain came in for the last half of the week. Yawn. Yucky weather really adds a level of creativity to puppy socialization. Not that puppies can't enjoy some wet on their fur, and Raisers put up with the smell of such combo, but it is not the excited "Yeah - Let's go on an outing!" scenario that many of Raisers get to enjoy in other parts of the country with cooperative sunshine.

Many times throughout our 20 months of attending classes has our Trainer mentioned Mall Sitting as a perfect puppy social outing. Just sitting. Nothing fancy, nothing extraordinary, nothing stressful, nothing intense or command-worthy.

The assignment of Mall Sitting:

*Hurry the dog outside
*Walk the dog inside
*Sit at the first available bench
*Sit, Sit, Sit, (reading is optional) and let the puppy observe while he/she is voluntarily sitting, standing, or doing down - doesn't matter so long as the puppy is behaving verbally and watching his/her tongue.
*When puppy shows signs of chilling out and being comfortable in his/her environment, then the assignment can commence.
*Pick puppy up, go outside, and command a Hurry.

We did this scenario today and it took ten minutes for Kolby to go from standing, to sitting, to doing an Under and Down by our legs.

Assignment completed.

We stayed longer than that - observing people ourselves - Ha! - but we were happy that he kept quiet, he kept checking in with his amazing eye contact, and he did not show his tongue during any part of our outing (minus the yawn). He did not solicit attention, nor lunge on his leash at adoring fans.

While strollers passed and groups of people with squeaky sneakers, high heals, and loud kids, not one person asked to pet the puppy, they made comments about the puppy, but did not ask to pet the puppy. That was fine for now and set the outing up for even greater success (he didn't have to learn more than one thing at once - acceptable greeting in a new, busy, loud environment). We are working on baby steps and that was the perfect set-up. Thank you, Public!

Per usual after outings, Kolby is now passed out on his bed on top of his toys.

Remember This

Kolby turned 12 weeks today and our three month old puppy is an official Rock Star. Warning, I am so darn happy that I will freely admit that I am going to brag.

Last week, Kolby walked into Puppy classes speaking and he had a lot to say, so it took a good while before he silenced. Let me rephrase, he was barking because I never once gave him the Speak command. He would look at me and bark. After chatting with our Trainer and getting the entire class working on Speak and Quiet, and having one on one homework about this matter, we focused on his voluntary voice all week. 

Since Saturday Kolby is now 95% Quiet all. the. time. It is night and day difference. Case in point, we walked into class today, and he was silent and remained silent. Yes!! I am thrilled. 

We have gone on outings, and he has been silent. We have gone on outings and he has also accepted his Gentle Leader. If you have been reading along, you will remember that last week Kolby was Schooled about putting on his Gentle Leader. He was a bucking bronco when I tried to put it on him. But - no longer. He has graduated to the Medium sized Gentle Leader, so today it took about five tries to get the correct fitting (that is soooo hard to do!). He was such a gentleman the entire fitting and remained a gentleman while wearing it. Insert applause here. Thank you. 

I noticed today when we were in our first store that it felt like Kolby was gliding on his leash. It felt identical to just dragging the leash on the floor. Kolby does not pull, lunge forward, or lag behind. I had to pass the leash around to my kiddos for them to feel. It was awesome!!! He was wearing his Gentle Leader too. Happy Dance for Kolby!

I really, really, really do not want to compare Haddie to Kolby. But I am so over the moon about this topic, I just have to. Haddie was best on her Gentle Leader, but even that would not always stop her from pulling. If she was determined about something, she would just pull and not care if her nose was being pulled sideways as a result. Thankfully we got this under enough control before Turn In, but it was by far her biggest struggle through Raising from day one. 

I am seriously crossing my fingers and toes that Kolby has the no-pulling trait down naturally. I will make sure we do everything we can to keep it this way. I can imagine him 80 pounds one day, and we absolutely need this gliding on leash thing to stick!!

Class was amazing. My son worked him for the first half, I worked him the second half. Kolby sat when my son would come to a stop. He held a very long Stay command as directed by our Trainer. He was not distracted by the other puppies, and he glided through class on his leash. Before Kindergarten class had started, Kolby sat in a heel by my side watching the older puppies work in their class. He sat and watched for ten minutes. He only broke his sit twice, and I didn't even ask him to Stay. He volunteered that part. Have I mentioned that Kolby loves to sit (wink), it is true. 

To end the perfect day, we swung into my friend's house on the way home (she lives 5 minutes from class). She has three cats and two adorable children and a very nice husband. We put Kolby in his kennel in their kitchen and let their three cats hang out with him. Kolby didn't care, the cats were a little leery and not so sure about the black shadow in the box, but all was fine and it was a perfect experience for Kolby. 

And he didn't bark. Or whimper. 

Remember This - today was a great day in the life of puppy raising Kolby!!

Kolby with Sweet 16

My sweet 16 year old niece adores Kolby.

It is mutual.

Kolby knows how to give the flirty look with his puppy-dog eyes that get all the ladies swooning over him.

Oh, Kolby! You have got it made!!

Haddie's First Report

It finally came. With no substantial information about Haddie since February 15th, when we said our goodbye, we finally received her first training report late this afternoon. It was a bit worrisome at first, because our friends had received their report, and I had not. I was wondering if it was a sign that a phone call would be placed to us tomorrow about a release, or if we were caught up in an email malfunction that we had been warned about.

It was about twenty minutes after Happy Dancing for our friend's pups that had received their great report did it dawn on me that perhaps our report was in my hubby's email box. Sure enough, it was.

Whew.

Quickly sending the attachment to my computer from our iPad, my son and I rushed to my computer to get the attachment. We couldn't wait to read the report, and we read it out loud to my daughter who didn't move from the couch; she was rightfully feeling a bittersweet emotion about getting the report. While she wants Haddie to graduate, she is also wanting to have Haddie live in our city with our dear friends. I totally get my girl's emotions and feeling the tug for both outcomes.

Haddie is doing fantastic!! She had nothing checked in the negative boxes on the form ~ and that list is really long!! For that, I am super excited. If there were items marked, that does not mean the pup is headed for a Release. They can have negative marks and still be in the program. But to have nothing marked just makes me feel good.

That is not to say that Haddie won't choose to act negatively in the future. She still may be riding the College Freshmen High and hasn't settled into boredom. Or, she may never exhibit those signs. Just wanting to keep it real and taking the good for the moment, while not being fooled that things might change.

Haddie went on one Field Trip with her trainer to Barnes and Noble. My insert to this reading was a Huge Smile as my dear friend and I took her to B&N when she was tiny and we chatted for two hours in the comfy chairs while Haddie had to chill out with us. Thank you JENNIFER for helping her be so outstanding at B&N. The report states: "We went on one field trip this month to Barnes and Noble. She encountered grates, an elevator, and stairs. She did very well and had no trouble with anything that we encountered."

One of the working-on sections the Trainer typed was that she is working with Haddie to accept nail trimming. This made me sad, because I know the story. Haddie was Perfect with nail trimming since about four months old. She struggled when she first came home, but we quickly got her used to the idea and she would lay calmly in a craddle to get her nails trimmed without any struggle. She was easy and it was a dream to trim her nails weekly.

And then, during class last November, I agreed for a volunteer (who was trimming many dogs that night) to do Haddie's for me. But unfortunately she clipped too short and Haddie was not happy. Since that day Haddie struggled with nail trimming. Ohhh, we were so close too. I know she can't be perfect, but I was so proud of her ability to hold so still during allllll the months prior, and to have her freak out just months before Turn In was sad. Sigh. I am praying she gets this under control and realizes that she can handle it like she once did.

The Biggest surprise is that she is listed as a Potential Breeder. Wow. I really thought they would have taken her out of the running very quickly. I say this because she has had skin issues on her tummy and under her arm pits. I thought her allergy/chemical makeup would take her out of the running to Breed. Glad that it has not so far. Perhaps it was entirely environmental and the warm California sun has cleared it up and she's no longer showing signs of whatever it was (never did figure out the cause). It never bothered her, it just didn't look "very pretty" (but how many times are they showing off their belly in public? Ha!).

The final statement: "She is progressing nicely with her skills."

YES!! Nicely done, Haddie Rosa!!!

Silly Puppy!!

Kolby has a silly side. He can be so clumsy and rambunctious that you can not help but smile and laugh at him. Thankfully, so far, he has pulled out the sillies when we have been enjoying time at home, versus in public. I am sure with his personality, his comedic routine will come out for the world to enjoy at one point during this Puppy Raising Adventure.

When Kolby plays, he really plays. He loves to do somersaults and enjoys rolling on his back and pedaling his four feet into the air while his ears are pinned to the floor and the whites of his eyes show more than his beautiful, dark colored pupils, and his teeth sparkle and his soft pink tongue is just so adorable against the black fur contrast.

And briefly speaking of ears - Kolby seems to have long ones because I have never seen a dog chew on the tips of their own ears like Kolby does. He will tilt his head to the side to get the floppy ear into his mouth before rolling to the carpet securing the ear to the floor while he continues to chew - or - he will put his ear into his mouth and "take it for a walk".

Silly Puppy!!