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Nothing to fear

Posted on December 23, 2012 by Donna Black-Sword
I am a Eukanuba puppy, says Euka the puppy.

Wake up, Euka. We’re here.  Euka blinks her eyes and looks out the car door to see what today’s adventure might be.  She’s slept soundly during our road trip to the regional center for Canine Companions for Independence, but the the sights and smells have snapped her to attention. Discovering new stuff is caffeine for puppy brains.

I slip on her working girl cape and gentle leader while she’s still in the backseat of the car, then lift her out to explore. A moment is needed to evacuate the puppy hydration tank before we step inside the center. This is her first time meeting so many other CCI puppies outside of her litter and I’m prepared for the excited response her quick little puppy brain will command of her agile peanut sized body.

Ha ha, just kidding y’all. I really did think I was ready for her puppy reaction, but that was just me being silly.

Hi! Hi! Hi! Hey! Hi!, says Euka.  Hi! I’m Euka Don’t! who-are-you-do-you-like-to play-piranha-attack-i-sure-do! i’ll-go-first-and-debone-you-rawr!

Oh sure, the girly girl gets some slack for being a ball of electric energy driven by a two month old random puppy thoughts. But let’s work on some self-control here. I walk her aside and give her a few minutes so she can observe the room and process all this activity going on around her. Euka’s a clever girl and it doesn’t take long for her to understand that all the older pups are in a calm Sit or Down. She wants to play, but senses the mood of the room is different. I realize we’re working on a puppy timer that’s about to ding. I’m looking forward to starting the training session to get her moving again.

The CCI trainers have stations set up pretty much like the local session earlier this month (Time to ramp it up) with the Ohio Four. This time around is kicked up a notch and offers more distractions with new dogs and a different venue. Euka experiences a second wave of excitement to see that littermates Everett, Ella and Emma are here as well.  A sniffed greeting among the siblings assures all is as it should be and we all move on to the challenge stations.

On the left is Everett looking rather confident after stepping up and onto a novel surface. In the background is Ella on the balance beam following the lead of her puppy raiser, Maggie.

Other training stations are designed for the older puppies and we find we needed to tweak things just a bit to ensure that the session ends on a positive note.

A Sit or Down is an implied Stay for a service dog. Fully trained, a service dog understands that he is to stay in place and be alert for the next request of his handler. Some of the stations were designed to build on the foundation of this behavior.

A young pup is introduced to this, then the puppy raiser increases the duration and distractions over the next few months.

And as nothing should feel weird under service dog’s toes, or even his furry butt, there are novel surfaces about for the pups to perform Sits and Downs. Here on the right we have Euka going for extra credit by sitting on the station sign and the plastic sheeting, the little over-achiever.

Oh! But what’s that jingle we hear, puppies? Could it be? Look pups, Santa Claus showed up  to introduce you to the novelty of a traditional myth sporting a full beard and fuzz trimmed clothes. That right kids, even Santa is part of your training today.

But let’s pause here a moment and think this one through. How many photos have you seen of a screaming kid propped up on Santa’s flocked knee?  I’m not talking just miserable, but the kid is out and out scared spitless and possibly a little swampy in the knickers. What brings this about, do you think? The fella’s generous facial hair or the victorian era fashion sense perhaps? The wafting essence of Stranger Danger? It’s all a bit heavy for some kids to process.

So what about an adult dog that has never encountered such a thing before? Lookit, a highly trained service dog is just not a fella that is gonna raise his hackles and startle bark at big, bearded men. So we start now.

Heyya Santa! Heads up there, big guy! We gotcha a puppy alert, code blue & yellow!  The Ohio Four pose rather nicely for an adorable portrait of calm repose. What’s that you say? How did we do it? How many people did it take to make this happen? Oh, merely just a few experienced puppy raisers at hand, plus a professional CCI trainer. Pretty helpful that Santa is a puppy raiser too. Yeah, and that squeaky toy to get all four pups to at least face the same general direction.

From the left is Everett, Ella, Euka II and Emma.

Santa does love puppies. But we knew that already, didn’t we?  Euka gets a extra lovin’ squeeze from the jolly old elf.

Four puppy noggins, so many things to discover. From a curly beard to shiny boots to flashing Christmas lights, and just what is in those boxes anyway, it took a few shots to get these critters all looking one way.

But look again to see what’s missing here.

Discomfort, fear, lack of confidence. Right, stuff like that. Not a snippet of negative response. A fine gift indeed to the puppy raisers of the Ohio Four.

Here at the Sword House we wish a Merry Christmas and a happy holiday season to all of you. Be safe, enjoy renewed family time and make some new memories, y’all.

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Wordless Wednesday: You’re gonna need a bigger bowl

Posted on December 19, 2012 by Donna Black-Sword

To paraphrase the words of Chief Brody, you’re gonna need a bigger bowl there, Euka my love.

Now look at the photo again.  The relaxed posture, the closed eyes. If this were a video, you’d see the dream twitches, too. Yep, the chick fell asleep in the empty water bowl.

I give you your awww moment of the day.





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Wordless Wednesday: A dozen, give or take.

Posted on December 12, 2012 by Donna Black-Sword
These guys are less than impressed with
this Gregorian phenomena.
Tell us when it’s Food O’clock, they say.

Yeah, so it’s 12-12-12 today. The last repeating number date of the century, they say.  We’re not going to be alive to see the next one, they say.  Do something remarkable to mark the date, they say.

Aargh! Like I need one more thing to add to my To Do list. Stop pressuring me with this stuff, will ya?

So how ’bout it? Today at 12:12pm on 12-12-12, what were you doing? Anything special that you’ll remember forever and ever?  Something you’ll tell the grandkids when they visit you years from now?  Hey, Grandma, they’d ask with shining eyes. Tell us the story again of what you were doing at 12:12pm on 12-12-12!

[sigh] Ok, here’s my story. I was driving between P&G offices with one hand on the wheel and a Jimmy John’s in the other while trying not to get caught speeding.  Don’t try this yourself, of course. It’s a learned skill best left to the experts. By experts, I mean crazy people who spend their lunch hours in their car driving between offices.

Relax, relax.  I didn’t have any dogs with me in the car. And that, my friends, is the remarkable thing about today for me. I spent five whole hours without a dog.  Pretty rare, that.

So here ya go: at 12 mins,12 secs after 12 o’ clock on Dec 12th, the time will be 12:12:12,12/12/12 & 12 days before Christmas.

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Time to ramp it up

Posted on December 9, 2012 by Donna Black-Sword
Everett & Ella invent TubeBall, a new puppy game. It’s a little hard to explain because the rules keep changing depending on who has the ball.

Fergo, my friend, you know how much I love you, I say to this handsome black dog. Just because you’re you.

But the old fella just looks up at me with those soulful brown eyes. Eyes that have seen puppy after puppy pass through his puppy raisers’ home. Eyes that have known love and can return deep affection without a word being said.

Eyes that are now looking deep into my own and saying “Cookie?”  He nudges my right front jeans pocket.  The magic place that dog treats come from.

Alright, you handsome fella. I have to give in to his sweetness. There’s just nothing else to be done about it.  Just one. I need the rest for Euka’s training today.

Fergo and I, we’re old friends. A CCI release dog and beloved pet of Emma’s puppy raisers. We once took Fergo on a vacation road trip with us (see Ten Ten in Penn) when his folk needed a puppy sitter for a week. You know, nothing is as bonding as traveling in an RV together. After a solid week of shared residence in a six wheeled rolling house, everyone inside has experienced, and shared, the complete toolbox of emotions. And have revealed all hidden personality traits. Ah, but Fergo was a doll the entire road trip, the best dog in the house. I do love this big sweetie.

But today’s about working with the E’s and exposing them to different experiences. The dog treats in my pocket are currency to pay the young Euka for a job well done. I’m hoping to be broke by the end of the afternoon.

Along with Euka, we have littermates Everett, Ella and Emma. A few minutes of playtime is an excellent idea to get some of the puppy heebie jeebies out.  Run puppies! Run!, we encourage. As if they need it.  A handful of dog lovin’ neighbors pop by with their kids to help with socialization. Well, so far so good. Easy peasie. Ok, now it’s time to psych ourselves and get down to business here. Put on your working faces puppies, this is serious stuff now.

Many of the training stations are similar to the experiences the E’s had with their breeder caretaker and so won’t be the first time they seen such things. But repeated positive experiences as their growing puppy brains develop will help them as they continue to encounter the new and different that crosses their path.

On the left, Euka and Emma are walking on a wobble board. As working dogs, they’ll be asked to walk across different surfaces. A service dog can’t try to avoid or move around an unfamiliar surface, so confidence here is a requirement.

The photo at the top of the post has Everett and Ella in a tube during playtime. As a training exercise we put the pups in a Sit/Stay at one end, then called them through to the other. An enclosed environment is another situation that we want them to be comfortable with. Think about air travel; there’s not much room at the feet of an individual traveling with their service dog by airplane. That’s indeed some tight quarters in the cabin, for both man and beast, so we want the pups to know that it’s still safe when in a space that surrounds their body.

Moving along, we reach the ramp station. Can the pups accept this surface, one that will have them exposed above the ground?

Everett says it’s a cake walk. He doesn’t just strut up the thing, but does it with a frisbee in his mouth, the little show-off.  C’mon girls, he taunts. Bet ya a dog cookie you can’t get me up here!

Hey you girly girls! I got the frisbee and you don’t!  Emma has a look on her face like, I’m gonna pound him.

The girls, of course, rise to the challenge of their brother. He is in possession of the frisbee, after all. And that just won’t do.

Ella is next up the ramp, giving the thing a close inspection before she makes it to the apex so she can smear her brother and claim her victory prize.

We clear the deck chair of the distraction of now rastlin’ puppies and give Euka her chance to explore. And the usually fearless Euka surprised us by needing some encouragement. We tried with a dog cookie a couple of times, but it wasn’t until Everett came tearing back up the slide (Comin’ through! he yells) that she found her motivation. Yep, the spirit of competition. With Everett standing at the top, wagging his tail, Euka looks at him with a Like heck you are expression and charges to the top to pound him.

Aw, this ain’t nuthin’, says Euka. Try to gimme a challenge next time.

Emma has at it like she’s done this all before, too.

Well done, little pups!  And with a renewed sense of purpose and control, we then move on to a photo shoot of the four to bring their first training class to a successful close.

Wanna take a guess? How many puppy raisers does it take to get four eleven-week-old puppies to sit nicely on a lawn swing. Ha ha, y’all. No, it’s not twenty, but thanks for thanking that. Actually, I’m not gonna tell you because it’s too embarrassing.

But I will admit that Fergo was a huge help as a photographer’s assistant. The big sweetie.

Fergo helps to set up the E’s for their photo shoot.

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Wordless Wednesday: The Ohio Four find their groove

Posted on December 5, 2012 by Donna Black-Sword

For those that recall our first ill-fated photo shoot of the Ohio Four at Like Cub Scouts Tanked on Mountain Dew, I am just filled to bursting with pride to show you that we can indeed get these little squirrels together in one photo.

Sure, they’re older and wiser now after three weeks. Heck, we all are. And we puppy raisers of the Ohio Four have been working hard to find our groove with our new charges. Each one unique in personality, temperament and energy level.

From left to right – Ella, Emma, Everett and Euka at eleven weeks old.  Being raised for Canine Companions for Independence.
 





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