Working-K9: Sandis' Blogs

Sunday, January 31, 2010
Power Paws walk '10

Yes the weekly weekend festivities have begun once again! This weekend was the power paws walk. I unfortunately didn't get to go this year. My human can't take both Atlantis and I to events like this, apparently we are quite the handful and as you know my human has small hands. So this year Atlantis went. She needed the outing and I enjoyed the peace and quiet at home.

Atlantis did get to see her half sisters at the event, Brea and Davidia. My human got to see her friends from the Arizona Goldens group. Atlantis came home with several bags stuffed with goodies and samples after using her puppy cuteness to win the sympathies and generosity of the vendors at the event. Yes I taught her well!

Atlantis even wore my backpack to the event. It didn't fit her quite as well as it needed to but it stayed on. She just needs to fill out more and gain a little more weight then it'll fit properly. You'd think her wearing my pack would bother me but you know; it didn't. I never liked wearing it anyways and if Atlantis wants to carry all the supplies I'm all for it. Takes a load off my back, literally!

After the event the humans and dogs wandered down the road a bit and found a nice sub shop to each lunch before heading home. Apparently Brea kept laying her head on Atlantis and Atlantis isn't fond of being a pillow for anyone or any dog so there was some kicking and shoving but not bad. Davidia, being the smart one, slid under the bench and away from her half sisters and all those human legs and feet.

To view some photos please Click Here

Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Whack-A-Pup

It's probably my favorite game. One I have played with each and every pup my human has brought in to our home to watch or train.

It all started back when I was rather young and in the obedience classes at petsmart. Many of the dogs in class with me were smaller than I was and they were constantly in my face or chewing on my tail. This was totally annoying and something I refused to allow. So I started lifting my paw and with one quick and accurate swing I'd send the little pups tumbling away. It was great fun.

The tradition continues in to the here and now. I have evolved my technique a bit over the years. For starters I don't always use my paw anymore. Sometimes I simply use my rock hard skull. Other times I use tools like all you silly primates out there. That's right, even I can use tools and I'll use whatever is handy.

My favorite tools are the pups own toys. You see the pup thinks I'm gonna play with him/her. Then in a flash I snatch the toy from the pups grip and whack it across the head with the toy! This really confuses the pup and often the younger dog will stop and ponder the situation for a few moments which, in turn, gives me ample time to whack the pup again and again and again! Muhahahahaha Oh what glorious fun it is!

Monday, January 11, 2010
I don't wanna be clean

"You smell like a dog". I hear this frequently from my human. Of course I smell like a dog, I'm a dog. While this is a very obvious fact to my human she still insists I don't need to smell like a dog.

This is an issue we've had since I first came to live with my human and is an issue I don't see us resolving any time in the future. The facts are pretty simple. I like to be dirty. There is nothing, other than belly rubs of course, better than a good ol' roll in the dirt.

I need my morning dirt roll; my after breakfast dirt flop; my post-nap tumble, my post-errand roll in rocks; my pre and post dinner dust baths and the all important just before bed gettin' down and dusty. Ok so there are probably a few more in there during the day but you get the idea of my average daily routine.

Once a month my human insists I'm cleaned and stay clean all day until the following morning. Oh it's horrible I tell you! For several hours all I can do is stare longingly out the window towards the dust-bowl of a yard as it yearns for my return.

Even when I'm let out to potty I'm supervised and my human will stand right next to me to make sure I remain in an upright position. She actually stands there and waits for me to relieve myself. I get no privacy.

Atlantis oddly enough doesn't seem to mind the whole bathing process. In fact she seems to actually enjoy it. She's either a total nut or just a suck-up. I haven't decided which is more likely yet.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Davidia

Christmas time has come and gone and once again it was a time for puppy fun! This year my human and I celebrated the holiday with not only Atlantis but Davidia as well. I'd like to think I was in full control of the pups the entire time but with a one year old and a six month old running around I couldn't keep up with the perpetual motion and boundless energy of the pups. In fact I gave up rather early and let my human take charge.

She tried and actually didn't do to bad. The pups were a bit of handful even for her. Atlantis and Davidia, who is her half sister, didn't always play nice together. I didn't like Davidias' constant need to be in my face so I kept my distance and only played with Atlantis. So maybe the three of us did dash about the back yard a few times together but for the most part my human had to keep us all separate.

Feeding time was especially challenging. I get a little testy when food is being served, and that's putting is very mildly. Atlantis takes forever to eat and rarely finishes her food so I have to be kenneled while she's taking her sweet time at the food bowl. Davidia on the other hand became frantic around her meals and would inhale her food. She didn't even chew! So she couldn't be out while Atlantis ate or while I ate. I couldn't be out while either of them ate. To top it off my human only has two kennels so to keep feeding time friendly only one of us ate at a time and since my kennel was being used by and being peed in by Davidia, we'll get to that part later, I couldn't use it so I was often put in the pantry to wait my turn.

Now Davidia is young and a lot of her urination problems are due to her age. She tended to submissively pee every time my human approached her kennel to let her out. Wait let me rephrase that.. approached my kennel which Davidia was using. No worried about my kennel bed, my human did remove that before Davidia was dropped off. It didn't seem to matter how well my human controlled her fluid intake; the pup peed in the kennel and all over herself every time she was put in the kennel. My human spent a lot of time cleaning the kennel and mopping the tile floor. The pup wasn't allowed on any carpeted surfaces.

As long as my human monitored us all closely we all did very well together, even posed for a few photos. Dividia actually seemed to enjoy having her photo taken once she understood the stay command a little better. When all three of us did get along it was great. Atlantis and I still helped as per our service dog training and Davidia tried to mimic our tasks but didn't seem to really grasp the concept. That does come with time and maturity.

Once Davidia gains some of that maturity and better bladder control I know she'll be welcome to come and stay again sometime.

Wednesday, December 23, 2009
It's that time of year again.

A slight nip in the air, my human dashing out shopping then wrapping presents, yes it's that time again. It's Christmas time. This also means it's time for my human to take me from place to place looking for just the right spot for photos. Every where we go everything is so well decorated and pretty.

This year however I didn't get to pose with Santa. Atlantis got that honor. Don't feel bad for me though, I don't mind one bit. Those of you who know me know how much I don't like humans in costume. It all started years ago with a human dressed as McGruff the crime fighting dog and it went down hill from there. Let's just leave it at that. Suffice it to say � I don't like humans in costumes.

Atlantis didn't have any issues with Santa. She loved him and apparently Santa really likes puppies too. He petted with played with her awhile. His helpers even joined in the fun. I would call them elves but they were way too tall.

I on the other hand found a nice bench which had been all decorated for the holiday and posed for my photo there. That's right, in my photo I'm the center of attention, no upstaging by a guy in a red suit.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009
My Prot�g�

Sorry I havent posted much lately. My human has been working a lot and it's hard to get her away from work long enough to let me use the computer. However this hasn't been wasted time either. My little understudy Atlantis has taken to my tutelage quite nicely and has developed a myriad of new skills.

Ok ok so maybe my human has been helping in her education a little. Now that Atlantis is a tad older and learning to focus on a task for longer than mere seconds she is being a far more useful service dog in training. She's opening and closing door, this includes the fridge, turning lights on an off and of course retrieving items. She's also slowly getting the concept of giving an item or payment to a cashier at checkout.

All that said, I have been teaching her far more important tasks while my human sits quietly working for hours on end. She has all but mastered the task of running in to the office, pushing my humans' keyboard in then running away. She has learned to flop down nest to my distracted human and gently nudge her chair away from the computer desk. I've also been teaching her to "shake your booty" a favorite trick of my humans and it always gets her attention. And let's not forget the all important "spit a rock in my humans lap", again it's a distraction technique and while my human is working she needs to be distracted.

Maybe what I'm teaching her isn't exactly what you'd call a service dog skill but I'm sure these skills will come in handy at some point.

Wednesday, December 10, 2009
I really need to go!

99% of the time I have no problem holding my bladder until my human is up and dressed. Every now and then however I just can't hold it. This one particular morning I really needed to pee and I kept telling my human that she needed to get up, but she wouldn't. Or maybe she couldn't. When she's that tired she really has a hard time getting up.

Being a service dog I could easily let myself out at any time. However I'm also trained well enough to know that I shouldn't do I please. So after begging and licking my humans hand she finally rolled over and opened her eyes to gaze upon my worried face.

Here I thought she'd get up and open the door for me but she didn't. She said something I didn't quite understand but I was pretty sure I heard the command to open the door. So I approached the door and looked back at her. This time I knew I heard it right; yes she was giving me permission to let myself out.

One second later I had the door open and was trotting down the hall and out the doggie door. Oh what a relief!