Snow Day!

With our usual routine on school days, I get up at 6:00 feed Ryder, take him out to go potty, and then go back to bed till 7:00. When I took Ryder out, I was shocked at the amount of snow we had! Carson City usually gets a few inches but we have a foot and it`s still snowing! I immediately went in and turned the news on to see what was happening with the schools. It first said that they were still in session just late starts, but around 7:00 it was confirmed no school!! I am very excited as this is my second snow day ever!

Ryder last night when it started to snow.

This morning, pretty deep huh?

Snow face! Ryder loves the snow and played for hours with the neighbor dogs.

After hours of hard play, he is sleeping on his bed.

Katlynn & Ryder

5 Months

Believe it or not, Ryder is 5 months old and about 45lbs! We have been nothing fun, just going to school and regular shopping trips. Ryder is a pretty amazing dog, he never pulls, eats stuff off the ground and he always wants to please. He goes to high school daily and does awesome.

Today my family and I went up to Reno to go shopping for the day. We went to a lot of stores and Scheel`s (bigger then Cabela`s) which is a crowded store with lots of stuffed animal displays, holiday decorations, and a noisy environment. Ryder handled it like a champ. Ryder is such good dog I can`t explain it!

Since I have been lacking in the picture and posting department I took some photos of Ryder at Scheel`s.

Ryder in front of an animal at Scheel`s.

Ryder and my little sister in Scheel`s.

Katlynn & Ryder

P.S. Focus is still hanging in 10 looking for his forever match hopefully.

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