Training Report

I know I have been a slacker on posting lately. So today it was a must! I was driving around town checking my e-mail on my phone every second to see if the phase report had come yet. Finally around 2:30 it came, and this is what it said.

Focus 4S45 M 10

You are probably wondering why I posted a pic of a puppy vest (Rye`s actually) and a leash. Well I thought about it and what made Focus who is today was done with theses two simple items. Every day, by my side, I would put Focus` jacket on, hook up his leash and we would go many new places and more complex as he got older. He was a handful in the beginning but calmed down a lot by the time he went back. I miss him dearly and I know that he could sit in 10 for a few months before finding his perfect match, but I hope he finds it before the holidays!

As for Ryder, he is getting bigger by the day (about 40lbs now) and is such a good boy. He attends high school with me daily and is simply amazing. He is only four and half months old, but he acts like a mature 1 year old. He has had no fear reactions to anything that I have noticed/seen. He is the perfect puppy, just need love to make him happy. He is calm in general, does not need walks, happy to be lazy all day, and just loves being with you. I could not have asked for a better puppy! I will try to post pictures of him this weekend if I get around to it, but I certainly had to post the news of the day!

Katlynn & Ryder

Big Day!

Today was the day that all teen puppy raisers look forward to, bringing your puppy to school! Ryder got to accompany me to all 3 of my classes today and in each class when I was walking out I got comments like, "wow, I did not even know there was a dog." Those are the comments I love to hear especially since Ryder is only 4.5 months old!

I was a little nervous about him relieving while walking from class to outside, but he proved me wrong! He had no accidents and no big problems, sure he tried to eat pieces of paper, etc, but what puppy does not do that?! I am so proud of my little boy that he could handle a crowded high school with no problems and while being on a flat collar! I hope every day goes just as well!

Katlynn & Ryder

Flying

My boy Focus, is now in 8!

Ryder in my backyard looking mighty cute!

Have a good weekend everybody!

Katlynn & Ryder

Fall Colors

Our neighbor has this beautiful tree and around this time every year all the leaves turn this red/yellow color and it is a perfect picture spot! Ryder is now 4 months old, which means no more lunch feedings! He is almost there with being trusted in vest, potty wise, but besides that he is an awesome little guy!

2011 Calender Photo?

Focus is in phase 7! He`s only been in training for about a month and he`s 70% done! I am so proud of him and hope he keeps up the good work.

Off to puppy meeting in an hour, hopefully he will be a star!

Katlynn & Ryder

Advancing Boys

Ryder has been growing and maturing like a weed! As you can probably tell from the pictures he is in a medium vest. He got is 16 week old shots today and he weighed in at 35lbs! He has gained 11 pounds from his 12 week shots. The vet estimated him to be about 80lbs when he`s full grown.

He is getting more and more trust worthy in vest and can go in a store for about 15-20 minutes before we start to worry, we are down to about taking him out every hour or so to relieve rather then ever 20 minutes at home. He sleeps through the night great and has not had an accident in a while.

He is a very good little guy in stores, despite the garbage mouth, which we now use a halti to help out with that problem. I hope I will not have to use it very long, just use it to get him out of the "eat everything in sight" phase. I plan on taking him to school in the next couple of weeks, and I am excited to do that! I know he will do great behavior wise, but I am still a little concerned about the relieving issues, since he is not 100% trust worthy.

Our lives have been pretty boring, we got two new puppies in our group, Keno and Gordie. They are both very cute and Gordie seems to be quite the handful! Our club is back to all puppies again except Patrice (8-9 months old?) and Morgana who is going back in October, and Tahoe who lucked out on not getting recalled! Good girl Tahoe. :) I am excited to watch all these guys grow up and hopefully all become guides one day!

Ryder enjoying the fall colors and sporting off his medium jacket!

I think this picture really makes him look tall.

I got the phase report yesterday and Mr. Focus is in phase 5! I am so proud of him and hope he gets to become a working guide. If not, that`s okay too, maybe another job would suite him.

Have a good weekend everybody!

Katlynn & Ryder

Slowly but Surely

I was very surprised to see Focus in phase 2, because since he has already been through breeder evaluations he should be in 3, but I guess 2 is better then a career change call. I do not have any pictures, but I plan on doing a Ryder post this weekend!

Katlynn & Ryder

Focus Has Arrvied

In training that is! After being at the campus for about a month and being evaluated for breeding and living in the boarding kennels, he made his way into the training department. He was not chosen as a breeder because he had a small case of heart murmurers, but not bad enough to be CC`d.

I am so happy he was placed in the September string, as I was getting anxious to see his name on the phase reports and watch him fly through them!

Focus 4S45 LAB M 1

Good luck Focus! I can`t wait to see you in harness someday, if that is what you decide.

Katlynn & Ryder

Off To The Sitters

Well Ryder is off the the sitters today for the weekend because my family and I are going camping and since he has not had all his shots, we decided it was not best for him to go. So Kelsey with Tahoe so kindly agreed to take him for the weekend which I really appreciate! I know Ryder will be on his best behavior, as he is at my house. He really is an easy going mellow little guy, I just love him and his temperament.

We finally have gotten over him dieherra, we changed his food to Pro Plan and that did the trick, we have come to a conclusion that the science diet puppy food is just way to rich for their little bodies to digest. He has been sleeping through the nights for a couple weeks now, which is great! He is growing like a week, his legs are very tall, so we think he is going to a big gentle giant like Burgess was. I am looking forward to spending the next year with him and taking him to school, which I probably will sometime in October.

For now, I leave you with this adorable face.

Katlynn & Ryder

Hello To Ryder

Today was Ryder`s first puppy meeting, which means we say the hello poem! The hello poem is a tradition on our club that we do with all new puppies as well as we say a goodbye poem which of course is the least favorite. Even though Ryder was in a crate most of the time because my CFR did not want him on the grass because he had not had all his shots and it was a dog friendly area where we met. 

Ryder behaved himself pretty well, barked in the crate for a few minutes before laying down and going to sleep. After saying the hello poem I got my scholarship award for raising DeSoto. Our club gives scholarships to any teen raiser who has had a dog graduate as a guide or breeder, to be used toward college. Now I know it was more then six months ago that DeSoto graduated but I just got around to finishing his album, maybe I should start Focus`s album? 

On another note, my CFR almost gave me a hear attack when she asked if she could talk to me about Focus. I said sure what`s going on. For the 30 seconds it took for her to respond, my head was filled with ideas that he was Career Changed, chosen as a breeder, and many others. But as it turned out she just wanted to tell me that he was neutered. I am actually kinda happy he was not chosen as a breeder because I think with all the energy he has working would be a better job for him. She also said that since they already have a lot of dogs in for training he probably will not show up on the phase reports for a month or so. So now he is in the boarding kennels recovering from his sugary and having a great time!

Katlynn & Ryder

Ryder Update

Sorry guys for the lack of posting! Since I got Ryder I really have had no time to sit down and do a good update. So today I finally did and I have a lot of info over the week in a half I have had him. He is such a mellow puppy, does not mouth on people, not really a chewer, sometimes a good little walker, and has slept through the night 4 nights in a row!  He has had about 3 accidents in the house or kennel some of which being my fault, but most of the time he can go for an hour or so without going potty. 

Ryder`s first night home, exploring his surroundings and all the toys. As you will see later in this post he has grown a lot! 
His first weekend was spent at home and just running around outside. This picture makes me laugh because I have one of just like it only it was Focus and he was a little bit older. 

Sorry this picture was supposed to be at the end of my post, but it ended up being right here. This is a picture of Ryder`s name embossed on my leash, something I mentioned in my last post that I had done at Fun Day. I think it looks really good. I would have taken a picture of all 3 names, but you would have not been able to see the embossing. 

Last Friday, we went up to the Reno Aces Baseball game. We had it planned for about 2 months, so we knew we would have a puppy. We went there knowing we might have to leave if Ryder was freaked out by all the noise but he ended up sleeping through the entire game! We left in the 8th inning because we knew the fire works would be way to loud for him. Overall I was very happy with how he handled it and only being 2 months!

Ryder right when he got there, before he settled down and went to sleep.

This weekend my family and I went up to Lake Tahoe as a last outing before school kinda thing. I decided to take Ryder. We just shopped around at the Heavenly Stores and it was great. Ryder walker 50% percent of the time and was carried the reset. I was really happy with him, he had no accidents, no major issues in the stores, and just behaved himself. 

Ryder in the North Face Store. 

As you can see, he is such a bad dog while at dinner. 

On Sunday the day before school we went shopping up at the summit mall. We were maybe there 3 hours but since it`s an outdoor mall it`s easy to potty a dog. He was very good while I bought shoes, clothes, and my favorite purchase a Macbook, which I love! 

In this picture he looks a lot bigger then he does in the first picture! Why do all puppies have to grow up so fast?! 

Katlynn & Ryder

P.S. On a Focus note, he will not show up on the phase report for a while because he is in breeder evaluations. So when GDB decides to breed him I will know, or if they neuter him he will just show up on the phase report.