Tioga

7 months

  This sweet girl is a stocky black lab we acquired through Kellygreen Labs in Nevada. Growing amazingly fast, she will soon reach the age of 8 months. Tioga has caught up to Bailey and Jackie (find out more about them in earlier posts) in weight and stature. She is on her way to being a beautiful dog. 

3 months

Tioga has learned many tasks to keep her busy, some of which are: basic obedience, scent training,  bringing the meter (a diabetic's blood sugar meter), and we will soon start her on getting a juice out of the fridge on command.

Tioga has also gone many places in public such as the Feed Store, grocery store, clothing stores, schools, a huge public event, and many others. Last week she even went to the Civil War!  She didn't even flinch as the cannons boomed, but the little boy in a funny hat did startle her. She has done very well at all of the places she has visited.  Her attitude has always been one of complete calm, surprising for such a young dog. She stays under control and is such a good girl when young children run up to pet her without asking.  This young dog is 'bomb proof'!!  Nothing bothers her.  A pan could fall next to her during a deep sleep and she would barely open her eyes. 

Tioga is a sharp girl that we are very proud of. She loves to work and is very happy to do whatever is asked. This girl is a great dog and we are very proud of her.

cuteness

 ball guard

Stay

Tioga's afternoon

Cuddle time

This afternoon we took our five month old black lab puppy Tioga to town. She accompanied us to our local feed store and the local library.
      At the feed store, she met an energetic ten month old puppy, a wary cat, a rabbit, and a host of new smells.  All of this was very new to her. She had never been to the feed store before. Most young pups would find this very frightening. Tioga, however, has had quite a few socialization experiences in her short life. These outings and her laid back temperament have worked in her favor as an up-and-coming service dog. She stayed by our side the entire time, never acting up, (although, she did get a bit nervous around the cat.:)We are very proud of her.

Reading

 These outings are critical in a service dog's beginning. There are many things that will come up in a service dog's life. If she is not prepared, for them they will come as quite a challenge for her. She MUST be prepared for anything that might come her way, and be ready to face it with grace and composure.

Waiting