Parade

      Jet accompanied me to a local fair and parade on Saturday.  We only stayed long enough to watch the parade.  We did not choose to go through the carnival or exhibits.  I made this decision based on how timid he tends to be.  I want to carefully choose his outings and make them positive for him.  He did AMAZING at the parade.  I initially thought about this event because it's a really small town and the parade is pretty low key.  I didn't expect there to be anything super scary for him.  However, it ended up being one of the loudest parades I've ever been to.  The firetrucks started off by running their sirens and honking the entire parade route.  There were also 3 marching bands.  Those noisy little cars that beep and honk.  Motorcycles.  Flag teams (and on a very windy day that creates quite the racket).  Horses.   Horses. More horses.  A cow. And lots of people walking behind him.  In order to keep his anxiety under control, I made a plan before I got there.  I know that he gets anxious if people are crowding behind him.  I thought a parade would be okay because I could sit and he could sit right in front of me, therefore blocking the people behind him and he could watch the parade like that.  Also, I chose a seat that was about 10 feet back from the street and there was a large grassy lot behind us in the event we needed a stress break.  I purposefully did not go right down to the area that is super crowded with nowhere to retreat to if need be.  I really didn't care about seeing the parade, I just wanted him to have a good experience.  He ended up really enjoying the parade.  He ended up lying down and staying that way for the entire parade.  He looked up and watched some things, but didn't show any signs of anxiety at all.  I was so proud of him!

Working through fears

      Ever since Jet first set foot on my porch, he has had a piece of my heart.  He takes a bigger and bigger piece of it every single day.  I love this dog so much!  With that said, I have to try to keep in mind he is not mine and remember why I'm raising him.  And that means I have to stick with working him through his timidness and fears.  I think it's safe to say he HATES things behind him.  I've tried lots of things to work through this and will continue working, but I would love suggestions from other puppy raisers who read my blog, or anyone else for that matter.  Our latest "workout" was with toys.  I rubbed them up and down his back and tried walking behind him with them making noises in my hands.  He didn't like it much.  But, he did pose for a picture for about half a minute!

"I HATE this thing!  I'm uncomfortable!"

Here's his panicked look..."Oh, no, she's going to walk around me again!"

Then, we practiced some "leave it" and self-control with food.  He does really well, but didn't want the food near him.  I think he was afraid he might cheat!

These pictures took many, many tries.  He didn't want the food near him and he finally backed himself into a corner to hold his stay.  This was as close to an outline as I could get...not as good as our friend Kolby!

And finally, some beautiful fall pictures I was able to take.

Rainy Night Fun

    Sometimes rainy nights turn into the most fun evenings with the puppies!  Tonight was one such night.  I didn't get to take the dogs outside because it was downpouring, then I was making dinner, and now it's almost dark.  But, we had a good time playing inside.  We played Hide and Seek.  He was good at finding me, but has some work to do with waiting for me to call for him.  We practiced jumping on an elevated surface and doing a Sit and Down while up there.  Then, he practiced carrying things around for me.  He tends to carry them for a bit, and then just drop them whenever the urge strikes him rather than when I've asked.

"I'm up here.  Now what?"

Just keeping watch over the fall decor!

Just ignore all of the laundry drying!

Who can resist this face!

Enjoying the fall weather on Monday

A Study Buddy

    We have been really busy learning around here!  Unfortunately, I haven't taken pictures of any of it.  I'm just not good at remembering my camera lately.  Jet is learning and maturing every day though.  He is up to 43 pounds!  He's a tall broad boy!  One thing that Jet is struggling with is having people walk behind him.  I've noticed it in a variety of situations.  So, we started off at home working on it in a Sit/Stay situation.  I put him in a Sit/Stay and tried to walk in a small circle around him.  Having wood floors proved to be a disadvantage for what I was trying to do because he simply slid his bottom in a circle in order to keep me in front of him.  But, we practiced and practiced and I can now walk in a circle around him and he keeps his bottom in place.

    We have now moved on to having someone walk closely behind him as we are going for walks.  At first, he would have NOTHING to do with this!  He would NOT turn around and walk facing forward.  In fact, it wasn't just his head stretching around to look behind him....he would have to turn his entire body around.  He didn't want another person or dog behind him.  Period.  End of story.  Finally, after a few long walks, he will walk calmly with Husker (the little yellow lab puppy I introduced you to a while back) and Husker's people walking behind us with minimal checks over his shoulder to see what they're up to.  I love having Husker to practice with.  It's teaching Jet to work around other dogs and Husker is getting good training as well.  A win win situation!  I'll try to take a picture of the little buddies in the next couple of days!

Happy Labor Day!

     We have had a crazy busy week around here!  First off, I'm excited to announce that my husband is starting a new job.  We have taken a huge leap of faith and he's going to try working for himself as a home inspector.  We are going to be more crazy busy in the coming weeks as he gets started...he will go to school, get licensed, doing a lot of start-up tasks, etc.  Very stressful, but exciting.  This weekend, Jet got to go along for some more shopping.  Last weekend it was furniture and office supply stores, and this weekend it was some random stores to get Pat some professional looking khakis that will hold up so he can crawl around on roofs and in attics.  Not an easy task!  But, Jet was very patient.  And a great example for a couple of people who made it quite clear they didn't approve of him being in the store with me.  :(

    It wasn't all work on this holiday weekend, though.  Jet got introduced to the lake.  He LOVED it!  As soon as he saw it he was bouncing up and down wanting to jump in.  Since it was incredibly busy we made him stay on a long rope to play.

Furniture Shopping and Pouting

     Jet is a very quick learner about things.  And one thing that he has recently learned is that when I say "Let's Get Dressed" that means he gets to go with me.  He LOVES going with me!  And he now thinks he should go with me each and every time I leave the house.  However, as good as he is, he just doesn't fit into my kayak and so he didn't get to go last night.  So now, when he realizes I'm not planning to take him, he sits and pouts.  He gives me puppy dog eyes.  He backs himself into a corner rather than gets into his kennel like I ask.  And once he's in his kennel, he stares at me very longingly for a minute before he huffs, groans, and slams himself onto the floor to pout.  He's very dramatic.  If assistance work doesn't work out for him he has a future on the stage.  :)

     He also showed his irritation yesterday while furniture shopping.  We are looking for some office furniture...not real exciting for anyone.  He did really well with his manners in the stores.  But, when he'd get tired of standing in one spot looking at one thing, he'd do his little huff (quietly at least) and flop very dramatically onto the floor until it was time to move along.  He fits right in with our kids!  He hasn't realized yet that, just like with the kids, we're not interested in his full time amusement and entertainment.

Beautiful night on the lake

He was showing me how he could balance just fine on the front...pretty good considering the kayak was wobbling back and forth while he was sitting there.  

To Cabela's we go!

    I have been excited all week to take Jet out on his first outing as an official puppy in training, cape and all.  (Even though I still haven't found the time to call about a smaller cape.)  Unfortunately, we had school open houses every night this week so it wasn't until tonight that we got to really do anything fun.  Pat "needed" to go to Cabela's and I thought that was a perfect opportunity for Jet.  I have been very mildly worried about him being a bit timid.  He tends to be a little bit whiny and clingy to me.  But, he appears to be outgrowing it.  Tonight, he showed me he wants to work.  He was willing to do anything I asked.  I didn't push him too much as far as commands.  I mainly just let him explore while maintaining an appropriate loose leash.  He was naturally very curious about the animals.  Some other things he "noticed" were the giant waders.  He kept sniffing at them and then looking up as if he was confused as to where the top of the person was.   He liked looking at the water under the bridge and the fish.  And he saw himself in a mirror down at his level.   The only problem area I noticed was he didn't like people walking behind him when he was sitting beside me waiting for Pat.  Other than that he was very patient and confident.  I forgot how many people are curious when you have a smaller puppy.  I talked to several people about assistance dogs and answered lots of questions.  Smaller puppies must seem more approachable than larger dogs because it had been quite awhile since people had asked so many questions like that with Churry.  We finished up the evening with a stop for ice cream before we headed home.  He did a really good job of not sniffing and licking the floor in there.  Enjoy the pictures, even though they are poor quality because I forgot my camera.

Enjoyed looking at the fish

This exhibit was the most interesting for him.  There were several smaller animals very close to him.

This is the only whimper of the night that he let out.  He quickly quieted down when I corrected him and I didn't hear a peep out of him again.

Some simple commands to show off for the lions and elephants.

He did an excellent job of leaving stuff alone on the ground.

This was a perfect obstacle for him to practice on.  It's a rocky ramp to try out hiking boots on.  

He was very cautious, yet confident going up and down the strange surface.

Giving me 5.  He was willing to do whatever I asked him to try tonight with very little coaxing at all.

Practicing a short stay.  He's looking at me, don't worry, I didn't walk this far away from him in a crowded parking lot!