Heel!. Stand!...Sit!...What?

Week 3 of puppy kindergarten went well as Dylan strutted her stuff while Chris had her heeling.

(Sorry, the video I took of Dylan heeling would not upload.)

Dylan's intestinal issues seem to be passed, (insert pun here), as we have continued to increase the amount of dry food in her diet.  Now the trick will be to switch her back to chicken and rice.  She is up to 14 + pounds which is about 10 pounds less than her litter mate, Diego.

At 12 weeks, her obedience training is going well.  Sit and Stay are the best so far.  Down, Stand and Come need work.  When guide dogs work with their eventual owners, they are not supposed to sit when they come to a stop.  Every move is by command.  So working with Dylan while heeling, I come to a stop and she sits.  I gently lift her backside up with the command, "Stand".  She sits again, I lift her up again with the command, Stand.  She finally stands and then I give her the command to sit.  Of course she doesn't, so I have to give a slight jerk on the leash.  She then sits and looks up at me as if to say, "what the.... make up your mind".

No school on Monday as it's a holiday.   Hope everyones Labor Day is a fun one.

Lambs eat oats...Pro Choice is their choice

We made the one hour trip up to Slymar and the one hour trip back to Long Beach without too much hassle.  Saw the vet at GDA, a very nice man, who somewhat confirmed what we suspected.  Right now, Dylan is not a chicken and rice kind of Lab.  She may be one later, but for now, we are switching to Lamb and Rice.  GDA is very strict on what their dogs eat and Purina Pro-Plan is their food of choice.  Luckily, they make a Lamb and Rice puppy food so we have officially switched.

Dylan really stressed out about going to the Vet.

Still stressed

Not so much now.  I think she's smiling.

Stopped at PetSmart and got her food and then home.

Ah, on our way home.

Kind of a one trick puppy if you ask me.

One Step Back!

Looking for the lost ball!

After our third puppy kindergarten class with Dylan, things seemed to be progressing nicely.  She was back on her regular food.  She had taken over as the alfa canine as Maggie completely ignores her and Bailey would let Dylan do just about anything.  Then she started again with diarrhea.  Back on her Prescription I/D food and more calls to the GDA vet in Sylmar.  In talking with another owner,  she had a puppy who was allergic to chicken.  Dylan's regular food has chicken as its base.  So today, we are taking Dylan back up to Sylmar to see the vet to try and find out what's going on with her dietary track.

It's gonna be hot in Sylmar.

Not much is routine about Dylan

After three weekends, Dylan seems to be settling in to a routine.  Up early, we take her outside and she 'gets busy' then rushes to the kitchen knowing she will be fed.  We are working on getting her to sit and wait once her food dish is placed on the floor.  Sitting seems to be no problem as she starts sitting the moment I pick up her dish from the kitchen counter.  The waiting part is a bit difficult for her.  As I mentioned before, Labs are voracious eaters.  Dylan is no exception to this rule.  Then it's romper time with Bailey.  But before that, she needs to 'get busy' once more.  We have learned that pups don't empty their bladder, so multiple trips outside are required.  Then it is no holds barred play time.  Out again for 'Big Busy' and then time for bugging Maggie, who wants nothing to do with Dylan.  Back to Bailey who is more that ready to rumble and finally, nap time.  This takes about 2 hours in the morning.

Play time about through

Out for the count!

This weekend was special as our niece Kelsey came to visit from Morgan Hill.  On break from Chico State, she spent a week down south and got up close to Dylan.

With Dylan's intestinal track seemingly back to normal, we're starting to re-introduce solid food and hoping for her to begin gaining some weight.  As much as her routine is important to us, we also have  begun to find our rhythm with Dylan.  We'll see how long this lasts!

Dylan on the Mend

Now that we have Dylan on Prescription Diet I/D her stools have been firm and formed.  I know that many of you were worried, as we were, about her health.  She is back to terrorizing  Bailey and running around like a Lab puppy.  She is very thin, even though she is wolfing down her food, seems like none of it was being digested as it was just squirting out her backside.

We have been working on her downs and comes and if nothing, she is a smart Lab.  Catching on rather very quickly to commands.  Of course she also tries to pick up everything including any shoes or flip flops that are left out.  NO commands are a little more frequent.  And, in reading the handbook that came with Dylan, I learned that if she decides to make you her chew toy, just yelp loudly and she stops.

Nice having a puppy that comes with a handbook.

One of those Selfish Thursdays!

Thursday is my golf day.  Now, I really like Thursdays.  So today, I woke up early, showered and as I am exiting the shower I heard a scream, "Dylan just threw up in her crate".  Oh no!

We have been battling diarrhea since the second day we picked up Dylan.  Switched her diet to chicken and rice.  It got better and then it got worse.  This was a new twist.   Well, today it got four times worse; four bouts this morning alone.  Our fear was Parvo, a disease that can kill puppies.

But to make matters even more fun, Chris has been battling sciatic back pain and it has reared its ugly head as well.  I was in a quandary.  What to do?  What would you do?  Chris already had an appointment to visit to see her back specialist.  She was in pain.  Dylan was sick and getting busy all over, thankfully outside this time.  And I had 3 guys counting on me to fill out a foursome.  So we called GDA and of course their vet is off this week.  "She'll be back Saturday".  This could only mean one thing.  My buddies would be going off as a threesome.

After speaking and getting permission from GDA, we took Dylan to our vet.  GDA is very particular who treats their dogs and I can understand that.  They are a huge investment for them and we are their caretakers.  After gathering a sample of goo, he headed over to see Dr. Bang, pronounced Bong.  He is great.  He got us in right away and gave us assurance that it probably isn't Parvo, but since she took her vaccine just a few days ago, a test could result in a false positive.   I got Dylan in her cradle position and she went right to sleep.  Got us some meds, Science Diet food, and instructions on what to do.  All for a $100, which we will be reimbursed for by GDA.  We probably will be taking Dylan up to Sylmar on Saturday.

So Dylan is resting comfortably.  Chris, after seeing her Dr., is resting comfortably.  Me?  I'm itching for next Thursday.

Does this sound selfish?

Probably!

Out in Public

After Monday's class, Dylan received her new Puppy in Training vest.  Her first vest fell off as it was way too big.  This one is altered slightly, but fits the bill.  With her second round of heart worm medicine completed, we can now take Dylan out for short trips.  Chris and I went to Starbucks and took Dylan along with us.  We were told (warned) that guide dog puppies in training cause quite a commotion.  The guidance we received was to ask the person, people...horde, to stop just a second and let us get our puppy settled.  One at a time and sorry, but no, you can't pick them up.  Our goal as puppy raisers is to socialize the puppies in many different scenarios.  Well, Dylan was quite the hit at Starbucks.  People were very respectful and Dylan was great.  

Our first voyage into public was a success.  

Dylan, steppin' out.

Being good and staying on her blanket.