The Devoted Dog- Part 3, Training Weekend

Jason's large family headed north and joined our even larger family for a weekend of training, fellowship, and fun!

Upon seeing each other again, Timber happily rolled over and welcomed a good tummy rub from Jason.  She let him love on her awhile, but then she was right back at Jeremy's side.

Our daughter taught Jason how to make his own hands-free paracord leash.

What was intended to be a weekend to teach Jason how to scent train Timber, turned out to be a wonderful Type 1 Diabetes Retreat for both families.  Both of our families have lived with diabetes for several years and have established habits and routines.

I've been to Type 1 support group meetings and have many friends who also deal daily with the disease.  But to spend almost three days living together with another Type 1 family was an enormous blessing.  There was time to discuss so much that a family living with this condition deals with everyday that no one else can quite understand-- emotions upon initial diagnosis, transitioning primary care from parent to son,  watching them make mistakes, the scary lows and troublesome highs, managing supplies, and of course what to eat.  And cooking together was just fun!

Another highlight was seeing my son not be alone in his battle.  For once, he wasn't the only one in the room who had to check his blood and give a shot before he could enjoy popcorn with his movie on the big screen. Watching the boys compare numbers after a meal of Dreamfields pasta and enjoy a scrumptious Samoa cookie that was practically carb free (with no artificial sweeteners either) was just plain fun for this Mama.

Saturday morning, Jeremy gave Jason a step-by-step instruction on scent training.  After doing a session with Timber, he brought in Henry, our nine month old DAD-in-training to demonstrate.  This gave Jason a visual of what he was hoping to accomplish with Timber.

That afternoon, the dads, boys, and dogs went to town to work on Public Access.  Although Timber has good manners, it's important that the family be trained what to expect of her in public and how to handle certain situations.  Lunch out, a stop at the meat department of the grocery store, and some ping-pong at our Rec. Center provided great opportunities to work on what to expect of her in public settings.






 On Sunday morning, after a last scent training session between Jason and Timber, the families said good-bye.  The devoted little dog jumped into the mini-van and rode away with her new person.

Here are links to the other parts of Timber's story. Part 1 part 2.

Growing up!

Puppies have been growing SOOOO fast!!!!  Last Sunday they turned four weeks old, and really turned a corner in their maturity.  We are beginning to see personalities showing in different individuals and they are really beginning to look like little dogs!!  Super excited to see how this litter turns out, they are looking fabulous so far!

Growing up is such hard work!!

I know it's in here somewhere!

I'm watching you...

Future shed dog?

Snuggles...

Papa Bailey loves his puppies!

HA!!

Coffee and cream...

I've got the ball!

Spring Babies

Springtime means new life and babies.  On Sunday, Duty Dogs welcomed a new litter of puppies.

Icy, the dam

We've been eager for this breeding between Chilbrook Dreamlover (Bailey) and Chilbrook Black Ice (Icy).  Dog breeding is a wonderful study of genetics.  In order to get chocolate and yellow pups, both parents have to carry the gene for each color (remember the Punnett Square from high school biology?).

Bailey, the sire

Our other Mama dog, Jackie, does not carry the gene for yellow, so all of her litters have only produced black and chocolate. 








 BUT, Icy carries the gene for all three colors, so we finally have some Bailey Juniors!

Puppies started arriving on Sunday afternoon, catching us by surprise.  We weren't expecting them until the end of the week.  Although it was Icy's first whelping, thankfully it wasn't ours.  We knew how to jump into whelping mode and quickly got the new Mama situated in the whelping room.  Her first pup, a black male made his appearance shortly after 3:00 and the last, a yellow male finished up the pack five hours later.  No complications to report from this whelping.  WHEW!

The final tally was seven little bundles of sweetness-- three blacks (2 male/1female), three yellows (2 male/1 female), and one chocolate female.

As we expected from this sweet tempered dog, Icy took right to being a Mama.  She's so devoted to her pups, it's hard to get her to come out of the whelping box to take a "break" and get a stretch.  Mother and babies are doing fine.


Puppies will be available at the end of May.  Contact us if you're in need of a pup to train for service work.  But you better hurry-- they're going fast!

Major

Major, our almost 7 month male black lab, has been progressing fast in his scent training.  Passionate about food, he loves his training time. Recently, he has begun checking us for the "low" sent.   He will come over to one of his trainers and smell them.  If he finds the scent he will get an excited
expression and begin to paw our thigh.   This checking without being asked is a HUGE part of being a Diabetes Alert Dog (DAD).  The job of a DAD is to constantly be in tune with his diabetic and always on the alert for that "low" scent.  Major's checking in with us often is the beginning of that amazing duty he will one day serve his diabetic.

Recently, our diabetic came up from his room and sat on the couch.  Major jumped up from his "place", went directly to our son and began excitedly smelling him. Then Major alerted him by pawing, just as we have trained him to do.  A quick finger poke revealed that our son's blood sugar was below the safe range.  It was Major's first live alert and a very exciting moment for all.

We are happy to see that Major's training has made sense to him, and he is beginning to apply it practically.   Though he still has a lot of training ahead of him, we are confident he will make an amazing DAD for some fortunate person.

Basic Training Begins

We’re so busy training puppies, that there’s just enough time for the rest of life—cooking, cleaning, and schooling!  But, we have a lot to share that’s transpired in the last month of our puppies’ lives.

We left via Yosemite.

Cody, just outside of Yellowstone.

Three weeks ago, we traveled one thousand miles from California to Wyoming with eleven dogs and six children. That experience has its own blog post in case you missed it.  Needless to say, it was an experience we won’t soon forget!

A pit-stop in Nevada

Since then, we’ve settled into our new location in Cody, Wyoming and hit the ground running!  Basic obedience training began two weeks ago for each of the puppies who were just at the 10 week mark.  It is so rewarding to train a smart dog!  

We have a training rotation in place to rotate all of the future service dogs between our four lead trainers.  This allows each of us to concentrate on one or two dogs each week (depending on the trainer) and really develop a connection with that dog.  Then the next week, we rotate dogs so that each dog is experiencing a different handler and their different training mannerisms.  Although we all as trainers have a consistent method of training, we are each unique in our particular style.  This gives the dogs the opportunity to adjust to different personalities and respond appropriately.

A junior trainer ready for action.

Always ready for training.

As I worked with my charge today, a sweet chocolate male who reminds us of his Papa Bailey, I was quite pleased with how well he had “come”, “sit”, and “down” mastered.  We worked on “stay” and he picked it up so quickly and eagerly.  These dogs are so eager to work and pick up basic obedience readily.  As with child training, consistency and kindness accompanied with firmness are key elements to successful training.

Kindness and Consistency are Key for children and dogs!

From Yosemite to Yellowstone

Recently our family of eight took a road trip-- and brought our eleven dogs.  Leaving California via Yosemite National Park,
we traveled to Cody, Wyoming arriving through Yellowstone National Park.

As if traveling with six children didn't already require tons of forethought, throw in nine puppies!!  The two groups complemented each other nicely however, both requiring about the same amount of time between pit-stops.

Pit-stop outside of Yellowstone

Somebody had a birthday along the way!

Since all 19 of us couldn't fit into the blue van, we drove two vehicles-- the van and the truck pulling a cargo trailer with all the stuff!!  One extra-large crate of puppies went in the truck and two crates of the same size went in the back of the van.  It actually worked perfectly and the puppies traveled marvelously. 

We began crate-training the puppies at night a few weeks prior to our trip, so they would be comfortable in their "dens".  This proved valuable, because there was very little whining heard from the puppies (nor from the humans-- they were NOT in crates) for the entire 1000 miles.

Pit-stop in Nevada

We stopped every two hours for a stretch break and potty stop.  We tried to avoid places where other travelers would take their pets for a "break" to keep germ exposure low for our puppies.  Since most of the drive was very rural, this wasn't hard to do.  Thankfully, we didn't have a single messy crate to clean the entire trip, although we were prepared with rags, paper towels, and plastic bags should the need arise.

Pit-stop in Wyoming

Something smells good. . .

Of course, we had to camp along the way.  It's hard enough to find a motel that will accomodate our large family, without throwing in eleven dogs!  The KOA in Cody, Wyoming was especially hospitable.  In addition to their lovely grounds, free pancake breakfast, and very low fee, they let us check-out late in the day without charging us extra.  The kids and dogs had a great time!

Pit-stop at a park in Idaho.

We were so proud of the dogs-- they weren't a nuisance at all to any of our neighbors, although we certainly attracted attention and visitors wherever we went!  It felt like the circus was rolling into town!

HAPPY!

                             Needless to say, we were ALL very happy to roll into Wyoming!