I will no longer be updating Iron Guide (see below). Instead, I am now writing at my new, personal blog. Though that will be about some of the newer things I'm doing in life, if you want to see updates about Louie, Lester, and now Dusky, add me on Facebook -- there's enough ridiculously cute pictures to go around.

I got Lester back from the Pringles on Friday. Heidi mentioned that he'd been barking up a storm both in his crate and on tie-down, which rather worried me since he hasn't barked in weeks. But, he didn't bark at all with me, so I was hoping it was going to be a false alarm.

Well, that is, he didn't bark at all until today. When I went to go take a shower and left him crated, he barked and cried for a good straight forty-five minutes.

Heidi thinks he just regressed in a new situation.

Sigh.

Labels: Lester

Permalink | Written at 9:25 PM | Post a comment | 2 comments | Trackbacks

I'm in Berkeley giving a talk for Amazon. We're here for recruiting and it's just a total blast: talking to smart young engineers, meeting up with old friends, giving a fun little talk, etc.

Lester is of course far too young to come with me. Depending on their progress, they can fly after 5-6 months -- but Lester isn't even four months yet and still has a ways to go. Louie, for example, flew with me a couple times to Los Angeles when he was ~8 and ~10 months old and got rave reviews from everyone: stewardesses, fellow passengers, and even airport security.

Security, however, did require some fancy acrobatics: I'd have Louie walk through the metal detectors first, put him into a sit-stay -- pretty tough if you consider all the fuss in the security lines -- and then walk in after him. Because he'd inevitably set off the metal detector with his collar, the TSA folks would always have to pat him down. After awhile, they just started calling out for "puppy patdowns." =P

Past security and in the plane, Louie would just curl up under my seat and immediately fall asleep, even through take-off and landing. I joked that he was just like my carry-on, except much cuter. Only once, when I picked a seat too close to the engine, did we have a problem: Louie got scared by all the rumbling and vibrations, and was visibly trembling all through take-off. As soon as we were in the air and the seatbelt sign came off, we moved to the front of the plane and that took care of that.

As soon as the plane landed and passengers in front of me got out, we'd make a beeline for the exit. Being cooped up inside an airport and a plane for five hours without a potty break is just asking for trouble, so I'd head straight out of the airport, have him relieve, and then go back and get my bags and take care of anything else.

All this would obviously be far, far too much for Lester. He doesn't know stay, has only about ~2 hours of bladder control, hasn't even been in buses, and is very much still the wriggly little puppy. That's totally fine for his age and he'll be OK in a few months, but, at the end of the day, airports -- let alone airplanes -- would just have too much going on for him to handle.

So, instead, Lester is staying with puppy sitters, the Pringles, for the week. Especially with me, puppy sitting is actually a really important part of the training: because my dogs only really interact with me, it's important for them to get exposure to other people and their handling techniques; they really need to learn to listen to everyone, not just me. In either case, the Pringles watched Louie at nearly exactly the same age, so I'm actually really anxious to hear what they think of Lester.

Labels: Lester, Louie

Permalink | Written at 2:59 AM | Post a comment | 0 comments | Trackbacks

Just got a message from Heidi. Louie has just one more (final) test to pass before he becomes a breeder! From the sounds of it, he's passed all his temperament and obedience evaluations with flying colors, and now is just waiting on a physical heart examination.

Dogs do sometimes fail this one, unfortunately.

One of the dogs I puppy-sat before I got Louie was Orca, a yellow Labrador raised by Tom and Marilyn. Orca has been by far the model of best behavior I've ever seen in a dog -- she's been my reference point for every other pup I've had since. Instead of WWJD, I have WWOD: hm, Lester, that's no good, Orca wouldn't do that.

Orca did great at everything else back at school and seemed destined for greatness, but this exam ended up surfacing a heart tremor. But, Orca was just so good, Guide Dogs couldn't let her go. So, instead of becoming a guide, Orca now works with a Guide Dogs advisor in Colorado as a "doggie ambassador," showing people what these dogs can do and working to improve awareness and acceptance out there.

I'm so proud of my not-so-little boy. That totally makes my day.

Labels: Louie

Permalink | Written at 2:31 AM | Post a comment | 0 comments | Trackbacks

Although I still haven't gotten my PowerBook fully functional yet -- no iPhoto, no pictures -- I was able to get a few uploaded through my work laptop. Here's Lester in the tub, purposely trying to look pathetic to guilt me out of his bath,




and here he is, afterwards, much cleaner and much fluffier.

Labels: Lester

Permalink | Written at 2:11 AM | Post a comment | 1 comments | Trackbacks

Sometimes, Lester gets confused.

No, not about where to go pee or whether my blanket doubles as a pee pad. That was so last week.

This time, it was about whether to go pee, poop, or both.

To make a long story short, today, Lester and I went by Redmond Town Center to pick up a new hard drive for my dying Powerbook. Before we went into the store, I gave him an opportunity to relieve. No big deal, right? He's been getting 6-8 potty breaks a day for the past month. Standard practice. Knows it like the back of his, er.. paw.

So, we get out of the car, walk over to an empty parking spot, and I stand around, yawning and trying hard to not look bored, while he circles around (and around) trying to find an acceptable pee spot. He must have circled around at least ten times before finally deciding on a spot. He leaned forward as if to pee, then, no, changed his mind, and decided he was going to poop instead and crouched down. Nope. Back to peeing. Lean forward. Nothing. Poop? Yes. Crouch down. Really this time.

What's with all the leaning and crouching? You see, if he's crouched down, his butt points down, which means he can poop. If he's leaned forward, his penis points at the ground, which means he can pee without getting it all over himself. If he's crouched down, his penis points straight up.

So, crouching down, all ready to poop. Ready... set... go! Wait, what? Why are you peeing? Woah, woah. You're peeing! Wait a second, you're peeing right into your face! Eeeeewww.

Disgusting. More than you can imagine. But, for you, my readers, there's a silver lining. Why? As soon as we set foot back in the apartment, Lester was thrown into the tub, dunked in water and given a major scrubdown. His efforts to frantically scramble out of the tub being unsuccessful, there are many, many (very cute) pictures of him looking very forlorn and depressed and many more (cuter) pictures of him looking like a big poof-ball of fur afterwards.

They'll be up as soon as I revive my PowerBook. It's currently in a suspended state of major heart surgery. Don't ask.

Labels: Lester

Permalink | Written at 3:24 AM | Post a comment | 0 comments | Trackbacks

A few people, including my mom [!], have come up wondering if everything is OK between Frank and I. So, now, I'm worried that my post wasn't sufficiently clear and that people are getting totally the wrong impression.

Really, everything is good. We had a rough couple weeks, but we're back in the green now. Frank and I are and have always been on the same page. (As much as humanly possible for two very passionate, very driven, and very goal-oriented people.) We may not always agree, but we do always respect each others' opinions. My post was just an amusing analogy that had popped into my silly head, and in no way some kind of profound, covert commentary on the state of my team or our managers.

I thought that I'd added enough hints and (bad) jokes to make that clear, but I guess I was wrong. I had, for example, very carefully and very consciously inserted "(understandably)" into "Frank, our manager, went home (understandably) very grumpy." I totally understood his position and my post was in no way intended to reflect on him. I just found the parallel between human behavior and puppy training amusing and wrote an entry on it. Nothing more, nothing less. I guess that wasn't totally clear though. Sorry about that.

All this reminds me of my 10th grade English teacher, Ms. Yamaguchi, from whom I learned more about writing than any other (living) person. (If you allow dead people, that would add Victor Hugo and Fyodor Dostoevsky. Or their translators, at the very least.) Ms. Yamaguchi, summarized in two sentences:

"I don't care how clear you think it is. If it's not clear to me, it's not clear."

Take a moment to internalize that. She's not being mean or self-centered. She's saying, as a writer, your first and only responsibility is to your reader. People write to communicate, and regardless of how well you thought you communicated, if the other person doesn't think you communicated well, you didn't communicate well. Period. If your reader doesn't understand you, then it doesn't matter how beautiful or articulate you thought it was, your supposed masterpiece was a waste of perfectly good trees.

I guess in my case it was a waste of electrons.

Now, all that said, let me return you back to your regularly scheduled programming. Enough talk of these boring humans. Where's Lester? He's sleeping under my chair. My toes are cold, so I've got them stuffed under his (very warm and toasty) belly. The little joys of having a dog. :)

Labels: Lester

Permalink | Written at 3:23 AM | Post a comment | 1 comments | Trackbacks

Louie made it to Phase III! And he's still in the breeding program! Brewster and most of his pals are there with him, although it looks like Artemis and a couple others were held back in Phase II. They're meeting up with a new pup, Silvana, who's been in Phase III for four weeks.

Puppy	Breed	Phase	Breeder Watch	Group
Artemis	Lab	2		GPS
Beethoven	Lab	2
Binny	Lab	3	yes
Brewster	Lab	3	yes	GPS
Fresca	Lab	2
Frontier	Lab	3
Louie	Lab	3	yes	GPS
Naoka	Lab	3	yes
Nyland	Lab	3	yes
Rae	Lab	3	yes
Silvana	Lab	3
Sport	Lab	3

I'll post later on what it means to be in Phase III and being held back in a phase. Lots of dogs get held back, and, although it sucks, it really means that Guide Dogs sees real potential and is trying to work through some issue with the dog. If they didn't see potential, the dog would obviously be dropped from the program.

Still very much rooting for Artemis.

Labels: Louie

Permalink | Written at 8:40 PM | Post a comment | 2 comments | Trackbacks

Lester and I are working from Tully's in Bellevue Square again. In the past four hours or so, at least seven or eight people have struck up a conversation with me about him. I'm going to be writing that FAQ I've long been joking about soon. =P

Lester was sleeping but has now woken up and is now just keeping tabs on the situation from underneath my chair.

Labels: Lester

Permalink | Written at 6:17 PM | Post a comment | 0 comments | Trackbacks

Heidi has been out of town so I just got my Louie update. He still has the family jewels, but is still in Phase II along with all the other pups. I'm a little worried that he's been there for three weeks now, but he's there with all his buddies, so I guess he's not falling behind.

Puppy	Breed	Phase	Breeder Watch	Group
Artemis	Lab	2		GPS
Beethoven	Lab	2
Binny	Lab	2	yes
Brewster	Lab	2	yes	GPS
Fresca	Lab	2
Frontier	Lab	2
Louie	Lab	2	yes	GPS
Naoka	Lab	2	yes
Nyland	Lab	2	yes
Rae	Lab	2	yes
Sport	Lab	2

Unfortunately, it looks like two dogs have been dropped from the breeding program: Fresca, and our own Artemis. Artemis was a great dog, so I'm still very much rooting for him to make it as a guide. Go boys!

Labels: Louie

Permalink | Written at 9:14 PM | Post a comment | 0 comments | Trackbacks

It's been a busy weekend for Lester. On Friday night, after work, he went to Palace Kitchen. On Saturday, for dinner, Pagliacci. Today, for lunch, Delfino's and Jamba Juice in University Village. And, after lunch, he went to the Apple Store also there, which was surprisingly dog-friendly. The security guard even offered him a treat! I obviously had to decline on Lester's behalf. It's for his own good, really.

All in all, Delfino's was by far the most interesting. Anil and I were seated outside, and Lester was laying down under my chair (mostly), which meant that he was in plain view of every passerby: in other words, everyone coming out of the nearby Barnes and Noble, the stores next to the restaurant, etc. I'd guess that, out of the 100+ of people that walked by us, you could hear at least 75% oohing and aahing over him. Of that 75%, I'd say a good half asked to pet him. Because Lester was rather excited by all the fuss -- he knows when someone is talking about him -- so I had to decline most of them. I normally make exceptions for small kids (unless Lester's just going absolutely bonkers), so I let two little girls pet him. A thirty-something guy came up right after them and asked if he could pet Lester, but I had to say no -- he went away looking a little jealous. =P

The big thing coming out of today, at University Village, is that I think Lester is wary of people walking alongside him or crowds along a sidewalk. Walking from Delfino's to Jamba and back, he seemed to get worried whenever someone was walking behind him, looking back time and time again, slowing down and sometimes even just stopping. I saw hints of the same thing when we were in downtown going to Palace Kitchen on Friday, so it looks like that's something we'll have to work on.

Anyways, and now, we're off to the Guide Dogs meeting. Busy weekend indeed.

Labels: Lester

Permalink | Written at 5:21 PM | Post a comment | 0 comments | Trackbacks

The last couple weeks have been rough for my team. Last Thursday was especially bad. Frank, our manager, went home (understandably) very grumpy. After he left, the team got together to make a mailing list, make-frank-happy-again-interest@. Brett and Jim worked late into the night yesterday to finish a couple prototypes they thought would brighten his day. I spent a few hours teasing out a timeline of events and writing up a post-mortem on the whole mess.

On the drive home at 4am, admittedly a bit delirious, I started thinking: if we were all just a bunch of cute little puppies, what exactly just happened?

The big, big thing about training dogs is making sure that what you're actually teaching is what you think you're teaching. Dogs are smart animals, and they'll soak up everything you teach them like a sponge, but they'll soak up everything, for better or for worse. If you try to teach them not to jump up on people, but let them greet you after coming back from work with a big leap, they'll learn that, hm, you clearly didn't really mean that bit about not jumping up on people. Yelling "no! no! no! no!" when you see them trying to chew up your expensive, imported rug? They'll just figure out that they can ignore you unless you repeat something ten times. Repeating a command because you think he didn't hear you? No, you're wrong, he really did hear you -- he's just ignoring you. Without consistency, without enforcing every command you give, he'll learn that he only needs to listen when he wants to. A great example of all this is my mom, who did the "no! no! no!" thing all the time with my family dog. (This was true the last time I was in Los Angeles at least. She now claims to have gotten better.) Koji, who listens just fine to me, would just start eating directly off her plate if she got distracted with the TV or something.

So what happened here? Frank got grumpy. Team pulled together and worked like crazy to try to make him happy. If Frank were a puppy, doesn't that just teach him to get grumpy more often? It's classic positive reinforcement.

Here's proof that something is very much at play here. I'll be the guinea pig and psychoanalyze myself. We did some pretty cool stuff on Thursday. Ignoring the pain of working like crazy for right now, that's just great. Ignoring the pain of my also being there so late, that's especially great for me because, for the past several months, I've been trying to restructure the team to encourage more such cool stuff. (I'm sorry for being so vague, but I obviously can't get into what it means for a project to be "cool" on this blog.) And, subconsciously, something must have clicked. I was joking to Brett that maybe I should just start blowing a gasket, completely randomly, every so often. Maybe that would make people work on cool things, just to calm me down? Brett thought I was joking and just laughed.

So, fine, yeah, I was just joking. That'd be pretty evil, otherwise. And, although I'm not the manager, I suppose there can be such things as pointy-haired tech leads. *shudder*. Regardless, like I said, I'm generally a pretty calm fellow. It takes a lot to make me angry. I don't know if I could throw a fit with no good reason, even if I actually tried. I'd probably just bust up, laughing uncontrollably halfway through.

Anyways, I'm going to hope we're not all just a bunch of cute little puppies in training. For so many reasons.

Although, apparently, if we were all puppies, unnamed persons on the team think that Frank would be a Shih Tzu. Why? Apparently, they normally appear cute and cuddly but can kick your ass when they're mad. And, also, apparently, they start balding early. I don't see the connection. Do you? =P

Labels: Lester

Permalink | Written at 5:21 PM | Post a comment | 0 comments | Trackbacks

I spent many days trying to get these pictures, so I hope you folks appreciate them.



I see Lester waking up every morning, doing the trademark-Labrador double-stretch -- long stretch of his front legs, then repositioning his torso forward, stretching out his hind legs, and then promptly toppling over, misbalanced -- while letting out a huge, face-stretching yawn, and it just totally makes my day, day after day. Unfortunately, it's damn near impossible to capture on camera: I'm usually half asleep at the time, and, even when I've been ready with a camera, the whole thing lasts all of two seconds. But, I finally got it! Enjoy.

No animals were hurt in the making of this picture, but one dog was made to take many naps over and over again. Like he minded.

Labels: Lester

Permalink | Written at 3:17 PM | Post a comment | 1 comments | Trackbacks

After Starbucks, Lester and I took a much-deserved (and much-needed) play-break. I haven't yet found his all-time favorite toy (like orange juice bottles for Louie), but he definitely likes a good game of tug. He might even like it a little too much.

Anyways, after Starbucks, Lester and I strolled back home for what was supposed to be a half-hour break. A few romps and a couple games of tug later, we were well past forty-five minutes. Ah, well, what can you do: Writing reviews for annual promotions, raises, etc.? Cute puppy? Even if I'd seen the time, you can imagine the mental balance tilting back and forth: cute puppy, or writing reviews, writing reviews, or playing with cute puppy? Playing with cute puppy. But, forty-five minutes in, I noticed a little red splotch on Lester's bed. Hm. That's odd. I didn't stop tugging but I gave Lester a quick once-over, saw that he was still in one piece and everything in its rightful place, and promptly forgot about it. That is, until a few minutes later, when I won that match of tug -- surprise, surprise -- and saw another couple red splotches on the toy. Blood. Crap.

We stopped playing right then and there. I checked him over again, palpating everything, quite thoroughly, and again found nothing. I checked his mouth. Still nothing. Figuring that if the tug toy had blood on it, he might have accidentally bitten his tongue or something, I got his towel and felt around with that in his mouth. Seeing that it did, I flipped him over, opened up his mouth and looked around. I looked for a whole minute and when I was just about to give up, I saw this.



A little hole where is front tooth used to be. Of all things! Of course, I didn't quite see so nice and clean a picture. Despite all the desensitization training we do, Lester isn't happy at all with people poking around in his mouth. (Let alone for a full sixty seconds.) Eventually, he did calm down and I was able to snap off that picture of his mouth. And, just for posterity, that picture of him looking rather grumpy.

It's a little early for him to be losing teeth. I think he'll have that toothless grin for awhile.

All in all, phew.

Labels: Lester, Louie

Permalink | Written at 5:12 PM | Post a comment | 0 comments | Trackbacks

Today, instead of going to work, I went to Starbucks. It's been a crazy few weeks, I have huge backlog of reviews I need to write for our annual promotions cycle, so I'm hiding out where no one can find me. I sent out an email titled "Kushal WFS today" and that was that. (It's not nearly as cool as my "Kushal WFBA today" email a year or two ago, but what can you do? That time, Rob and I went to a bowling alley that happened to have Internet and "worked" from there. I'm sure we actually did read a few emails between our games.)

This is Lester's first time in Starbucks, with all its coffee smells, friendly people, and interesting floors. Even before walking in, I could hear people whispering "Ohhh!! He's *sooo* cute!" In line, I had at least two or three people come up to me asking about him. After we sat down, the guy next to me and a couple sitting in front of us struck up a conversation about guide dogs, their training, and so on. After settling down (and licking the floor clean around me), Lester was generally pretty well-behaved except for a couple times when he realized that someone was talking about him and he wanted to go over to say hello.

...

It's a few hours later now. I discovered that you actually had to pay for Internet at Starbucks, and was actually considering it, before I remembered that Tully's had free WiFi. So, here I am now at Tully's. As loyal as I am to the Starbucks Java Chip frappuccino, the drinks here at Tully's aren't half bad. The crowd here is a bit older, and only three people have come up to me so far. Lester's behaving far better.

Labels: Lester

Permalink | Written at 4:45 PM | Post a comment | 0 comments | Trackbacks

I wouldn't want to deprive anyone of their Lester fix. =P Here's the little fellow, settling down for one of his many naps.

Labels: Lester

Permalink | Written at 1:01 PM | Post a comment | 1 comments | Trackbacks

I'm running out of funny euphemisms to say that Louie is still in one piece. Suggestions?

Anyways, I got my Louie status update on Thursday. He's still in Phase II along with Artemis, who is also intact, but it looks like Brewster has been dropped. The GPS meeting is today, so I'll find out what happened. That sucks. Never mind, Brester is still there. I'm being dumb.

Puppy	Breed	Phase	Breeder Watch	Group
Artemis	Lab	2	yes	GPS
Beethoven	Lab	2
Binny	Lab	2	yes
Brewster	Lab	2	yes	GPS
Fresca	Lab	2	yes
Frontier	Lab	2
Louie	Lab	2	yes	GPS
Naoka	Lab	2	yes
Nyland	Lab	2	yes
Rae	Lab	2	yes
Sport	Lab	2

Guide Dogs for the Blind calls Phase II "A Dog's Introduction to Guide Dog Training." It's primarily about the instructors getting a feel for the puppies -- what makes them tick, how hard they're willing to work, how well they've been already trained -- and the puppies getting a feel for the harnesses and coursework.

Using the reports we send back, notes from the group leaders and advisers, and their own experiences, the instructors back at Guide Dogs try to understand what motivates every individual puppy. Does he appreciate strong, happy praise? Or does that work him into a frenzy? How distracted is he? Hm. He listens to commands but can't even sit straight around overly friendly people. Does he need special collars and handling? I just learned about it right now, but they use something called martingale collars with most dogs.

In addition to the humans getting a feel for the dogs, the dogs also get a feel for what they'll be doing for the next few months. They're introduced to the harness, allowed to sniff and examine it and become accustomed to it on their body. Once they've gotten a feel for it, they're taken in for their first official workout: the treadmill! Here, the instructors identify each dog's gait, guide-work commands are first introduced (e.g. "hopp-up"), and the dogs are trained to walk straight forward at a consistent, steady pace.

After that comes the fun. Obstacle courses! In day-to-day real life, obstacles are everywhere: people, cars, light poles, etc. Ultimately, in a few months, the dogs will learn to alert their partners to an upcoming obstacle and walk around it. I've never seen one of the Guide Dogs obstacle courses, but I wouldn't be surprised if they're something like the ones we used for soccer ball-handling drills.

Labels: Louie

Permalink | Written at 12:46 PM | Post a comment | 2 comments | Trackbacks

Every month, each raiser submits a status update on their puppy. It contains a checklist of possible (mis)behaviors and summaries of obedience training, socialization training, and general progress. Here is Lester's report for January. You can compare with Louie for the corresponding month, on the right.

UPDATE: To clarify, this is Louie's first month, from last January, compared against Lester's first month. This is not Louie in school right now. I've had several people come up to me, looking very concerned. Everything's totally fine! No worries!

Puppy Name: Lester Raiser Name: Kushal C. Breed Tattoo #: 49L3 Leader Name: Heidi H. Date of Birth: 2006-11-02 Club Name: GPS Age: 3 months County, State: King County, WA CARE Dog food brand and type: Purina Pro Plan Number of 8 oz. cups per meal: 1 Meals per day: 3 Vaccination(s) this month: DA2PP Has your puppy been spayed or neutered? Yes NO Are you using flea control? YES No If other than Frontline/Advantage, please specify _____ Are you giving heartworm medication? YES No If other than Heartgard, please specify: _____ Do you have any concerns about your puppy's health? Yes NO Please describe any concerns: _____ Has your puppy been seen or treated for a medical problem? Yes NO If yes, please list reason and any medication prescribed: _____ HANDLING AND TRAINING Type of collar you are using: FLAT Training Head collar Other _____ # of puppy handling sessions per day: 2 # of training lessons per week: 4 Please rate on the following scale how your puppy is doing each of the following commands : 0=not introduced 1=will not do 2=does occasionally 3=does 1/2 the time 4=does most of the time 5=does all the time Responds to: Name 4, Sit 4, Down 1, Stand 0, Let's go 4, Stay 0, Okay 4, Wait 0, That's enough 4, Kennel 2, Come on leash 0, Come off leash (only in an enclosed area) 0 My puppy will relieve: on command ("Do Your Business") YES No; on any surface YES No; indoors YES No; on walks without my permission YES No SOCIALIZATION: Average number of socialization outings per week 8 Week One 1 _____ 2 _____ 3 _____ 4 _____ Week Two 1 amazon.com (5x) 2 Grocery (2x) 3 Restaurant (2x) 4 GPS meeting Week Three 1 amazon.com (5x) 2 Grocery (2x) 3 GPS meeting 4 Court Week Four 1 amazon.com (5x) 2 Grocery (2x) 3 Restaurant (2x) 4 Vet Did your puppy participate in puppy sitting or trading this month? Yes NO Puppy Name: _____ Tattoo #: _____ Date: _____ CONCERNS - Please check appropriate box for concerns Physical/Health Issues Weight Appetite Eyes Ears Limping Skin/Coat Fleas/Ticks Dentition concerns Chronic drooling Frequent relieving Vomiting Diarrhea Coughing/Sneezing Itching Internal parasites Other _____ On medication People Reactions Hackling Posturing Growling/Barking Mouthing Nipping/Biting Fearful Submissive Keying x Solicitous Odor Reaction Type _____ Object Reactions Stationary objects x Objects in motion x Strange/Unusual objects Noise Reactions Thunderstorms Fireworks x Loud noises Other _____ Traffic Reactions Type _____ Dog Reactions Hackling Posturing Growling/Barking Fearful Submissive x Dog distracted Fence fighting Rough play Other Animal Reaction Type _____ Surface Reactions Grates Slick Floors Stairs Other _____ Behaviors x Relieves indoors x Relieves on outings Licking/Chewing on self Car-sickness x Barking/Whining Destructive chewing Digging Toy/Ball obsession Food protective Food obsession/Foraging x Garbage mouth Filth eater Poor kennel behavior x Poor crate behavior Poor tie down behavior Excessive sniffing x Mouthing/Grabbing Jumping on people Jumping on furniture Mounting people Mounting objects Chasing cars Charging out doors Pulling/Lunging on leash Poor obedience x Separation anxiety Other Please describe any concerns checked above: * All in all, Lester seems like an active, mischievous but normal puppy. He seems to "prefer" to relieve outside (i.e. even when he really has to go, he'll try to hold it until he gets just outside the door), but will still occasionally relieve indoors. Although much better than before, his crate behavior still leaves something to be desired: he'll occasionally cry and bark, and sometimes try to "dig" himself out of his crate. He's very dog- and people-distracted, and also very curious about moving (flying leaves) or unusual objects (leaves that are, say, rotting) and loud noises. Please list an accomplishment or improvement seen in your puppy this month: * Freezing during walks. Like Louie, Lester sometimes just froze up while walking and refused to budge. Some combination of encouragement and corrections have now pretty much reversed that problem. Now, when he gets excited, he tries to run ahead! It's not that he pulls, but just that he has to walk fairly quickly to keep up with my normal pace, and sometimes when he gets excited, he starts running and forgets that he's on a leash. * Mouthing. Initially, Lester frequently attempted to mouth people and clothing. Now, he at least understands that he shouldn't and generally does not. In the past week, for example, he's only tried to mouth me once. * Stairs. Lester will now go up and down most kinds of stairs! He never really minded going up them, but was a bit scared hopping down (the big, scary) stairs. He no longer minds going down either. Raiser Comments: _____ Current Jacket Size: Small New Jacket Size Requested: N/A Leader Comments: _____ Follow-up by Advisor Requested: Yes No Advisor Comments _____

Puppy Name: Louie Raiser Name: Kushal C. Breed Tattoo #: 462H Leader Name: Heidi H. Date of Birth: 2005-11-15 Club Name: GPS Age: 2.5 months County, State: King County, WA CARE Dog food brand and type: Purina Pro Plan Number of 8 oz. cups per meal: 1 Meals per day: 3 Vaccination(s) this month: Has your puppy been spayed or neutered? Yes NO Are you using flea control? YES No If other than Frontline/Advantage, please specify _____ Are you giving heartworm medication? YES No If other than Heartgard, please specify: _____ Do you have any concerns about your puppy's health? Yes NO Please describe any concerns: _____ Has your puppy been seen or treated for a medical problem? Yes NO If yes, please list reason and any medication prescribed: _____ HANDLING AND TRAINING Type of collar you are using: FLAT Training Head collar Other _____ # of puppy handling sessions per day: 3 # of training lessons per week: 7 Please rate on the following scale how your puppy is doing each of the following commands : 0=not introduced 1=will not do 2=does occasionally 3=does 1/2 the time 4=does most of the time 5=does all the time Responds to: Name 4, Sit 3, Down 2, Stand 2, Let's go 5, Stay 0, Okay 4, Wait 3, That's enough 4, Kennel 4, Come on leash 2, Come off leash (only in an enclosed area) 0 My puppy will relieve: on command ("Do Your Business") YES No; on any surface YES No; indoors YES No; on walks without my permission YES No SOCIALIZATION: Average number of socialization outings per week 4 Week One 1 _____ 2 _____ 3 _____ 4 _____ Week Two 1 _____ 2 _____ 3 _____ 4 _____ Week Three 1 _____ 2 _____ 3 _____ 4 _____ Week Four 1 amazon.com (5x) 2 GPS meeting 3 Fred Meyer 4 _____ Did your puppy participate in puppy sitting or trading this month? Yes NO Puppy Name: _____ Tattoo #: _____ Date: _____ CONCERNS - Please check appropriate box for concerns Physical/Health Issues Weight Appetite Eyes Ears Limping Skin/Coat Fleas/Ticks Dentition concerns Chronic drooling Frequent relieving Vomiting Diarrhea Coughing/Sneezing Itching Internal parasites Other _____ On medication People Reactions Hackling Posturing Growling/Barking Mouthing Nipping/Biting Fearful Submissive Keying Solicitous Odor Reaction Type _____ Object Reactions Stationary objects x Objects in motion Strange/Unusual objects Noise Reactions Thunderstorms Fireworks Loud noises Other _____ Traffic Reactions Type _____ Dog Reactions Hackling Posturing Growling/Barking Fearful Submissive Dog distracted Fence fighting Rough play Other Animal Reaction Type _____ Surface Reactions Grates Slick Floors Stairs Other _____ Behaviors x Relieves indoors x Relieves on outings Licking/Chewing on self Car-sickness Barking/Whining Destructive chewing Digging Toy/Ball obsession Food protective Food obsession/Foraging x Garbage mouth Filth eater Poor kennel behavior Poor crate behavior Poor tie down behavior Excessive sniffing Mouthing/Grabbing Jumping on people Jumping on furniture Mounting people Mounting objects Chasing cars Charging out doors Pulling/Lunging on leash Poor obedience Separation anxiety Other Please describe any concerns checked above: * Objects in motion: Louie seems to get really excited by the wind and especially with flying leaves; I usually just gently correct and keep going. * Relieving indoors and on outings: this has improved dramatically in the past week with only one accident in the past three days, but the current problem is that, on his potty breaks, Louie tries to relieve immediately after getting outside and without command. As far as I can figure, he understands the "do your business" command (since he relieves almost immediately after the command on all surfaces so far) and also has the physical ability to hold it (since he doesn't relieve on the way out), so I just need to get him to wait until he gets the command. I've tried a few things, but right now, I'm trying to correct, put him into a sit to reduce the immediate urge to relieve, and continue walking to his relieving area after a minute or two. * Garbage mouth: this seems to be something Louie has picked up in the last couple days, and something he didn't display before. It doesn't occur very often, but Louie will occasionally pick up various small items either laying around in the house (e.g. feathers from down blanket) or in his relieving area (e.g. pine needles). I allow sniffing in both cases and it's hard to notice when in addition to sniffing he's also picking up an object (especially in the dark while relieving!), but I'm trying to be as vigilant as possible and correct for this. * Mounting people: Louie will try to crawl onto my lap if I call him, but, so far, I only gently reposition him off me and am not otherwise correcting this at all. It seems like a good thing that he's so happy to be around people, and I figure it's something he'll grow out of if he's not rewarded for it. Please list an accomplishment or improvement seen in your puppy this month: * Freezing during walks: initially, Louie would occasionally squat down and refuse to move another step, but this seems to have pretty much gone away. As far as I can figure, this was a combination of worry and stubborness -- he would freeze not only in new situations (and appear very distracted) but also in common situations he didn't like very much (e.g. going on a potty break on a cold night). Ignoring him and just continuing to walk in the latter case, and some standard coaxing (e.g. getting down to his eye level, higher-pitched voice, calling his name) in the former case seems to have solved this problem. Now, Louie nearly always walks alongside me without either pulling or falling behind. * Car riding behavior: Louie would originally constantly cry and fidget while riding in my car, but has for the last few days happily remained in a down position for entire (~20-30 minute) rides. His original crying seems to have been due to sliding around in the crate I was using, but this problem has gone away after I let him ride on the floorboards themselves. While initially riding on the floorboards, however, he would try to sit up and move around the backseat, but consistently enforcing the down position seems to have gotten across to him that he needs to remain in that position all the time while on the road. Raiser Comments: _____ Current Jacket Size: Small New Jacket Size Requested: N/A Leader Comments: _____ Follow-up by Advisor Requested: Yes No Advisor Comments _____

Labels: Lester, Louie

Permalink | Written at 12:16 PM | Post a comment | 0 comments | Trackbacks

Despite how badly I've been slacking on his training, Lester has still been learning a few things. On the way to Roti yesterday, Brett was absolutely amazed that Lester sat on command. He even made me make Lester get up, walk him around, and then give him a command to sit, just to see if he really would do it. (He did.) Apparently, it took Brett two years to teach his dog that. =P

Sit is totally not guaranteed yet, but he does sort of know it. Assuming nothing too exciting is going on, Lester probably listens 60% of the time. (Of course, "exciting" currently has a very broad definition. Pebbles count.) He's been slowly transitioning over from hand-placed sit -- where you pull up his head with one hand, tuck in his butt with the other, and say "Sit" at the moment the butt hits the ground -- over the last week or two. According to Guide Dogs raising guidelines, this is right on target: puppies should begin advancing to sit on command anywhere from 3-4 months. Lester turned three (months) yesterday!

He also seems to generally understand "That's enough", "Let's Go", and "OK" to the same degree. I've only recently started with food-induced recall (glorified "Come"), and haven't started at all with "Stand," "Stay," "Wait" or "Kennel." I'll talk more about that later, but, for now, let's just say "That's enough" is the funniest: basically, say, if they're chewing on their favorite toy or playing tug or something, given the command, they're not only supposed to stop everything immediately but also spit out their toy to the floor. It's actually not a negative thing, and, believe it or not, they actually do spit them out. Really!

More on all that later.

Labels: Lester

Permalink | Written at 3:26 PM | Post a comment | 0 comments | Trackbacks

Just got back from Roti in Queen Anne. (One of the best Indian restaurants I know in Seattle. Highly recommended. Try the butter chicken, as spicy as they can make it.) Jim, Brett, Kaushal and I met up with Rob and Sagarika, who were already there.

Coming out afterwards, we were all just standing around talking. We were mostly just admiring Lester, except Kaushal, who hadn't seen Lester in a week or two and dared to wonder whether Lester was losing his cuteness. (The nerve! =P) Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a couple guys approaching, sounding slightly drunk. I didn't catch it at the time, but one of them was talking about Lester. He came up within a few feet, and bent down to pet Lester.

"Please don't pet him right now."

[Brief pause]

"Not actually," the guy retorted, getting up.

[Long, awkward pause]

"Wait, what? What did you just say?" I think I was wondering. Partly out of shock, partly irritation, I think I just stared the guy down. He didn't back down either, staring right back at me. This continued for a good 10-15 seconds, before Sagarika (or someone, I don't remember) interjected, "He's a service dog. He's training to be a guide dog."

That brought back my better manners. "Yeah, he's in training", I said, pointing to the green jacket. The guy mumbled something and walked off to catch up with his friend.

Who knows what would have happened had Sagarika not said something. Brett was joking that he had my back, but, the guy wasn't much bigger than me -- I could have totally taken him. Anyways.

I'm just being grumpy. I've been averaging 4-5 hours of sleep for the past few weeks. I'm going to concede defeat and just call it a night.

Labels: Lester

Permalink | Written at 11:53 PM | Post a comment | 2 comments | Trackbacks