I make my bed ...

Do I look like I'm happy?

Fall leads to Winter

In preparation for the onset of Winter, Kurth has made it clear that he appreciates the finer things in life by curling himself up into the tightest ball on the down North Face jacket in the heated seat. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm, warm happy thoughts!

Sweet dreams my friend.

Kurth – Graduation Night.

Kurth at Play.

BIG news....

first nail trim.

See.

Not that exciting.

Things tend to become a little bit monotonous at this point. Train the puppy, walk him around the block, let him play outside. Repeat. A couple times each day. Place in kennel for the evening.

If it should happen that something photo worthy occurs or a particularly cute occurrence is witnessed, I'll keep you all in the loop! Otherwise, enjoy the lack of excitement :)

Kurth Sits, Downs and Twirls!

Almost video on demand.

Not quite, though.

I've now got video of Kurth demonstrating sit, down and twirl.

I'll explain why twirl is twirl (and not spin) in a bit.

Gotta get to school.

Video posted soon!

Don't jump ship!

There's a rule that I often break in training. I know better...however, I don't DO better. When you go into a training session with a plan, you are supposed to stick to the plan. You don't change the plan mid-plan. Well. I Did.

I know in my last post I said I was going to teach Kurth to spin and that I had some time. This wasn't at the top of my list of things to do. Then I caught him chasing his tail in his crate and decided to capture it. I was supposed to be working on sit. But no. There I was, jumping ship, taking the spin. All I can say is that Kurth is now a very capable spinner, but his sit is lagging. And all I can think of is this training session that I had with Angie and Gabor in which Gabor was just moving, moving, moving and Angie was just trying to figure out how I could get anything done with the mess I'd created. (I managed, but a mess it was!)

I promise video soon.

I'm going to go work on sit and down right now. Really. Or this could get very, very complicated!

Into a routine?

Well, not quite. We were hitting a stride there for a few nights during which it seemed like Kurth might start sleeping for six hours or more. But we've regressed. We'll see what the week brings!

On a different note, Kurth got his first round of vaccinations today and an "All's good!" from the vet. He weighs 14.1 pounds. YIKES! He's going to be big ladies and gentlemen. At least I can see his waist now.

Tonight is his first night of Puppy Life at Canine Craze. After watching the previous video, I'm sure it comes as no surprise that he knows how to sit and down...I just haven't had time to video tape and post. You'll just have to trust me on this one, the boy is doing fine in his training. My next big task will be to teach him to spin or twirl, but I have some time to work on that.

I'm sure there will be more interesting news soon.

Why is it important for a service dog to acquire skills quickly?

Because it is one thing to intend to have a service dog and another thing altogether for a dog to acquire skills that are service dog oriented. Much like it is one thing to intend to rob a bank and another thing altogether to actually put on a mask, holster a gun and walk into the bank demanding money.

Paws & Effect is the first service dog agency in Des Moines, Iowa. With that, there has been a great deal of time invested in educating the community about service dogs and service dog access. The thing that distinguishes a service dog from a pet dog is that they have acquired three distinct skills which can offset a person's disability.

One of the easier skills to teach a dog is to open a door. First, the dog must learn to back up. Here is Kurth at eight weeks and one day.

Here is Tag, another dog in our program, with his puppy raiser, Todd, opening doors and utilizing the skill backing up.

Seven uninterrupted, silent hours in his crate!

And then Kurth had a potty break, went back into his crate and promptly fell asleep! I think he finally figured out that his crate is a really peaceful place with warm, soft bedding. It is a great place to relax and ponder the day. Or enjoy a dog toy with frozen baby food.

Puppy jail?

Nope! Kurth had his first experience with daycare at Canine Craze and enjoyed it quite a bit.

Kurth slept for six uninterrupted hours last night.

Enough said.

Lucky Boy!

Kurth is very fortunate to have friends in the neighborhood. Marianna came over with her dog while we were out and Kurth had the opportunity to make a new friend; tonight I wandered over by Marianna's and Kurth was able to play with both of her dogs. Of course, I intentionally walk by Karla's home because the alternative would be to intentionally avoid it and it seems that it will be challenging either way.

So Marianna and I shared tears and pondered such philosophical issues as whether it is better to lose a friend quickly or lose a friend slowly. We haven't resolved this, we're fortunate to not have too many experiences one way or the other. We agree that it was too soon to lose Karla, no matter the circumstances.

Anyway, I noticed that Kurth is developing a waist, his pudginess is slightly reduced. He sure does relish his meals, so I'll have to be pretty diligent about the amount of food he has the opportunity to consume!

Good thing Eric got that sound clip when he did.

Because Kurth has now adapted nicely to sleeping in his kennel. Granted, not for particularly long periods of time....he settles in, sleeps for about three hours and then barks to go out. I like this arrangement because Kurth has yet to eliminate in his kennel which means I've yet to have to scrub his kennel out. However, it would be lovely to get more than two hours of sleep in a block (which would explain why Eric and I never had children...)

Anyway, trick of the trade: filling Planet Dog toys with baby food and then freezing them. I'm using the raspberry right now and as Kurth grows, he'll get the strawberry and artichoke. Baby food is available at Big Lots on Merle Hay for a mere $.30 a jar. Can't be beat. For now, he is enjoying Sweet Potato Casserole and, in a different meal, Peaches. Can't say the boy is neglected for his regular meals, either, as he get's Merrick Puppy Plate.

All of this might explain why he's so large. We'll skinny him down, though. I promise. I'm good at that!

Introducing Kurth!

I've done this a time (or six!)

Tonight would be Kurth's first night of Puppy Life at Canine Craze. The first night is puppy free, it is just for owners...and, having done this a time (or few) before, I always skip the first night. Instead, we are working on "down" and "sit." I exclusively clicker train so, in the manner in which clicker training happens, you have to capture the behavior or body position and then give them a reward (in this case, food.) Kurth is VERY food motivated. He's learned that lying down and sitting make food appear and he is rather pleased with this development in his universe. My goal for the week is to get sit and down on cue as well as hand targeting so that I can post a video by the end of the weekend.

It is always good to have goals! We'll just see what happens.

Living vicariously through the puppy....

Let it rip, Buddy! I bet there are any number of us who would find great relief in barking, howling, screaming and crying. For the better part of the night. It can be a lonely, lonely world and we don't always get to be with our friends and family.

Eric took a sound bite on his iPhone of Kurth having a bitter moment (or 30 minutes worth of them) in his crate. Unfortunately, Blogger won't let us post sounds unless they are somehow attached to a video. If you catch Eric, however, feel free to ask him for an instant replay of Kurth's capabilities. He has range and power. Good thing he's cute!

One door closes and another opens.

Or, more aptly, where one blog ends, another begins. As the Dog Swap (http://dog-swap.blogspot.com) officially ended today, we embark on yet another journey, although this one will be a journey taken in our hearts and souls instead of the roads of the U.S. and Canada.

People tend to be curious about how service dogs are trained, how the process unfolds, how the magic is created. And we really try to respond to these questions, shed some light on the decisions we make, the choices that mold the final outcome for any dog or recipient. Often our decisions are made on impulse (You're trading Tag for a pit bull?!? And letting some actors raise and train him?!?), others are more thoughtful (I can't think of any right now, but when I do, I'll come back to this point.)

Sometimes we know exactly where a dog will be placed. Moose, who left today with our friend, Steve Hirsch, will become a Pet Partner with American Humane's Denver Pet Partner Program. Eric and I grew our roots and our wings with Denver Pet Partners and it means a great deal to send a dog back into the program that gave us so much inspiration.

Other times, we start a service dog and watch the story unfold, letting circumstances guide our decisions. Forming relationships with the local chapter of the National MS Society to honor a puppy raiser's contribution and hopefully placing a dog through them; meeting with the Office of Veteran's Affairs and starting discussions because we have a dog that would make a wonderful match for somebody with PTSD. Some decisions are made because we want to capitalize on a dog's natural disposition; other decisions are made because they just feel right.

Most of the members of this unique community will never meet each other in person. But their efforts come together over and over again, influencing so much of what happens behind the scenes. It is apparent that our newest addition, Kurth, is going to bring a large group of people together. With that, many people will be interested in how it is we got to this point and have expressed an interest in watching Kurth develop into a service dog. We bring to you, another blog!

Paws & Effect was anticipating another service dog puppy this year from Formaro Labradors in Indianola, Iowa. We had a puppy raiser all lined up in Eric Olmscheid, an education manager at the Civic Center, our paths having crossed subsequent to one or more of my impulsive decisions. Eric graciously stepped down from receiving the puppy that would arrive in September, allowing me to raise and train the puppy we now call Kurth.

Karla's family is coming over this afternoon to meet Kurth and, I hope, join us over the course of the next two years as we see how the story unfolds.