Tyanna and her Mr. Octopus want wish you a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I am off to spend some time with my friends, and Tyanna will be staying home with my parents next to the fire...her new favorite place. :)

Quick Update

Sorry for the lack up updates guys! Unfortunately, it will continue to be slow for awhile. I had surgery today, so there won't be much to blog about. Tyanna is still doing great. She has proved to me that if she were to get CC'd, she would definitely make an excellent therapy dog! tyanna has been my escort all day. she sleeps by my bed, and when i wake up, she rests her head on my edge of my bed. then if i get up to go to the bathroom, she walks me there, waits until i come out, that walks me back to my bed. such a cutie, and so nice to have!!

I hope everyone has an amazing holiday. Give your pups a holiday kiss from Ty and I!

"The Letter"

Tyanna's recall letter came today, with a date of 8/1/2008. She will be turning in with her other intact littermates at the North Central Regional Center of CCI. I really do not know how I feel....excited for her, and extremely sad at the same time. We still have lots of time though!

EDIT: I looked at CCI's website, and the official day for turn-in is AUGUST 16, 2008! 244 days left...

Introducing the "Leave It" Pro

She cracks me up sometimes. She takes every command so seriously, and her way of doing "Leave It" makes me laugh. So, finally, I decided to video it so you guys could get your laugh in for the day!



We have gotten a TON of snow lately...almost 2 feet! When it was fresh, it would come up to Ty's hithers. At first she was really confused, and didn't like it much, but now she's obsessed...as you can see from the photos below....






Last weekend we went on some Christmas shopping adventures. After leaving the first store (it was an outdoor mall) she did her business. At first I was really mad at her, then I realized that it was an outdoor mall and she probably does not know the difference yet. So I corrected her, and hopefully it won't happen again! Other than that, she was an angel!

On Friday I went to Borders with her, and the employee asked me what kind of disability I have....surprisingly that's not the first time! I don't take offense to it at all, but it does humor me that people think I would be using a 7.5 month old puppy as an assistance dog! Not much has been going on around here lately. She spent most of the weekend with my parents because I was out of town visiting my friend at college for Friday night, then yesterday I went to the Jonas Brothers concert (and met them!!). And for all the Jo Bro fans out there...




HAPPY TRAINING!!

Puppy's first Christmas

Alright, so I was thinking of things to get Tyanna for Christmas, and I thought about a Jolly Ball. What do you guys think of them?

CALLING ALL HELP!

Alright guys, suddenly Tyanna is not responding to "release". I know, weird, right? Like I put down her food, tell her to wait, then say RELEASE! and she doesn't budge. She'll sometimes go take one piece of kibble and waits to see what happens. Frankly, it's getting pretty annoying. Any advice?

Winter Wonderland

Yes, it's that time of year! Chicago's first major snow...and Tyanna is having a blast! I was out shopping at an outdoor mall with her when it started to downpour snowflakes, so we rushed home in order to beat it. I wasn't quite sure how she would react, but needless to say, I released her from the car and OFF she went! Running around has proven great fun, as well as the occasional belly slides resulting from a far too vigorous labby shuffle....all in good spirits though!



Ty is now soundly exhausted and napping her on her bed....


The Blogger video was taking too long, so I did it through zippy (click the picture):

Now she thinks she's an angel...

...but she's only an impostor

Puppy's First Thanksgiving

Happy thanksgiving guys! Hope you and your pups have a great day!

My dog thinks she's a human. For real.

I got off for break on Tuesday, which means I pretty much had no homework over the weekend and Monday. This gave me an opportunity to spend a lot of time with Tyanna, at least more than I usually get. I love my girl so much, and I'm starting to realize how hard turn in is going to be.






Ty thinks she's a masseuse. Either that, or she likes being a warm blanket. The human in the picture is my friend who has known Tyanna since day 1. She came with me to the airport when I picked up the little chubby puppy, and they adore each other.


On Saturday she went with me to a college visit. She was during the opening session, but during the student session I started to get really sharp pains (I had surgery over the summer), and I started getting really stressed out, which made Ty really stressed....which means that it wasn't a good 30 minutes. After that session ended, I took her outside and we went for a short stroll, and got ourselves together. We went to one more session and she did great. My mom and I then went on a tour of the campus, and Ty stayed with my dad and casually strolled around. Because she is still a puppy, the day was getting a bit too long for her and I didn't think taking her on the tour would've been good. I could tell she was starting to near her breaking point.

Today I went down in the city with my friend to go shopping, so she stayed home for most of the day with my mom. Tomorrow she has a 'play date' scheduled with a CCI grad who lives a few streets away! This should be lots of fun for her, and a great learning opportunity, as well as a nice way to burn her energy before Thanksgiving dinner!

Enjoy your holiday!!!






EDIT: The blogger picture thingy wasn't working, so I had to use photobucket to upload the pics. Click on the thumbnails to see a bigger version!

Her colors seem to be everywhere...

WORKing dog

Today Tyanna went with my mom to work. I had a very good report. My mom said that she heeled beautifully in the halls, and held down stays like a pro. It was a relief to hear this because I have been worried about how Ty listens to other handlers.

I'm working on trying to get Tyanna to come to school with me once a week or so, some of you may have gotten an email. A big THANK YOU goes out to all of those who offered advice!

Ty's diarehea has gotten a lot better. She has to finish her set of pills, but is now down with her perscription food, and will start back on her normal diet tomorrow.

There's not much else going on...

Back to the Vet

So, Tyanna has diarehea AGAIN. She got into some deer or rabbit droppings at the park, so she is on a strict diet of Hill's prescription foor (half a can 2x a day), and nothing else. No treats, no nothing. The poor girl is starving! A half can is NOT much food....she also has to take a pill every 12 hours with some cheese (she likes that part A LOT).

Last night was when it got really bad. Somehow (and i have NO idea how) she escaped from her crate, and she had an accident on the floor (not on carpet, thank god!). She then RAN upstairs and got my mom (i sleep with my door closed). My mom said that she was doing circles next to the bed really really fast, and as soon as she got out of bed, Ty dashed downstairs and to the door. When my mom opened the door she bolted outside and had really bad diarehea...poor baby! She's laying low right now on her bed, just relaxing. I hope she gets well soon!!

What a weekend!

Ty had a very busy weekend with me! I will try my best to remember the details...

On Friday she went to the play with me. It turns out my headmaster was 100% okay with it, and I didn't even have to do any begging. That's always nice! My school is a small, all girls private school (180 girls), and the performing arts center (where the play is held) only fits 100, so I had a lot of confidence that Ty would do well...and she did! She was absolutely fabulous. She held her down-stay the entire time, and fell asleep after about 10 minutes of watching the play. At intermission I had to help with selling concessions, so I put her in a down-stay, and dropped the leash so I could handle the money better. She didn't budge (even when a trash can was rolled into her by accident) or even try to lick crumbs off the floor. After the play was done, we made our exit, and so many people were shocked to find out that there was a dog in the audience!

On Saturday, she accompanied my friends and I to the mall. We got some dinner, checked out some stuff in the Apple Store, and looked at a few clothes in a new clothing store that was just put in. Again, she did fantastic. I'm so proud of her, and how far she's come! Unfourtunatly, I forgot to bring my camera to the play AND the mall, and I forgot my phone at home when I went to the mall, so my friend took some pictures with her phone:





Today has been pretty lazy for the most part. I was going to bring her with me to DSW to find some shoes, but she has been pretty tired today...and I can see why. So I decided it was best for her to have some crate time, and take a nice long nap. O! I almost forgot! My friend and I made homemade peanut butter dog biscuits on Saturday, and that was really fun, and Tyanna loves 'em! Alright, I gotta go finish my homework...

EDIT: You can see Ty's new gentle leader in the pics. I love how it barely shows up...so much better than a blue strap across her face!!

Gotta work the puppy magic...

I have been trying to convince my head of school to let me bring Ty to the fall play, since they won't let me bring her to school. I haven't heard back yet, but I'm praying that its a yes! Has anybody done this type of outing with their pup? How did it go?


10 Weeks

busy busy

i'm probably not going to be able to do a real update until saturday....so here's a baby pic to hold you over!!

My big girl is getting bigger!

I took Ty to the vet on Saturday, and she officially weighs 46.1 pounds!! That's only 2 lbs lighter than her mom, so we'll see if she grows much more...

Lets see, not much has been going on with us. Today we went to Walgreens and the guy at the cash register thought she was a graduate dog, and was trying to hand her the gum that I bought (CCI trains their dogs to "Up" onto the counter and take the item). It was funny because she sat just there wondering what she was supposed to do. She was good though, and didn't jump.

Tyanna STILL has not barked ONCE. Has anyone encountered this before?

She FINALLY learned "stand" today!! I don't know why, but it took her FOREVER to learn how to do this command, and it finally clicked to day (with three spoonfuls of peanut butter....).

Pictures soon, possibly the weekend!!

GOOD LUCK TO CORDOVA!! SHE IS ALMOST THERE!!!

I promised...didn't I?

Okay, so the promised update...again! haha, i've been doing that a lot lately!

Alright, back to last saturday. There was a Graduate/PR workshop for all the chicago-land raisers/grads. It was SO much fun, and SO informative!!! I met TONS of people, and lots of other teen raisers...none of which blog, though. Sadly, there were no pictures taken by me, as i was trying to save my batter for the Fall Out Boy concert that night. There were A LOT of dogs there, and they all behaved beautifully! Ty got so many compliments from the trainers...I'm so proud!!!

Okay, so Saturday night was the FOB concert, so Ty stayed home with my parents while I was freaking out and yelling out for PATRICK!! Ah, we got spots at the barrier, which was pretty much amazing. It was probs the best day of my life. aldkjfdkfj i miss it so much! FOB is from my town, and this of course means we know all about them, have met them, they are in our yearbooks, etc, etc, so its so much fun to see them back home.

On Sunday, Pete Wentz did a signing. I brought Ty along, and she did GREAT while we waited in line for 2 hours. This was my second time meeting him, but I really wanted Ty to meet him so I could have something to pass along just incase she gets matched with a FOB lover!! There were no pictures allowed, but Pete signed her collar, and was totally interested in her, and was asking all sort of question...even took a CCI brochure!!

Her autographed collar:


While in line, completely ignoring all the trash and food on the ground:


Today we went to PetsMart to get a new collar because I don't want her wearing the autographed collar, understandably :). Instead of our traditional blue, we picked out a pretty purple. I know, I know, purple is not the best with blue and yellow, but I am so sick of everyone calling her a boy!!! Everybody I have encountered with her automatically thinks she's a boy because of her blue collar. Hopefully that problem is solved!!

Yesterday she went with me to Borders to pick up Cobra Starship's new album, Viva La Cobra! She was great, and we ran into a CCI graduate dog who happens to live around the corner from me (we have never met). Everyone in the store was so confused about what was going on because we were so excited to meet eachother and was making the line very interested....

Hope all the puppies are doing well out there!!

Happy Training!

Just so you know what I'm talking about:

Fall Out Boy:

Pete (resting bass on shoulder) and Patrick (holding up the guitar) are in the middle.

Quick Pupdate

I can only do a quick update right now, because I have to get homework done. If I can't do a longer one tonight, expect one soon.

The convention yesterday was AMAZING, and I learned so much!!! My mom watched Tyanna while I was at the Fall Out Boy Concert, then today I took Ty with me to meet Pete Wentz himself....more to come!

As promised....

Okay, here it goes...the big update!! Senior year has been crazy so far, so I apologize for my lack of updates. Things are starting to settle down now, though, so hopefully I will be able to start posting again on a regular basis!

Overall, Tyanna has been doing wonderfully! She was weighed on 10/2, and was 38.2lbs! Yes, small for a 5.5 month LGX! By now I'm guessing that she weighs about 43lbs. She is now eating 3 cups a day!

On 10/3, my friend's mom brought her new cockerpoo puppy over, named Tinkah. After practicing some sit stays and self control around the crazy puppy, I released Tyanna to play with very close supervision, as the puppy only weighed 7 lbs! Most of the play time consisted of me holding Tyanna, and Tinkah swatting at her nose.

Ty went with me to dinner again on 10/5, and did very very well! She has really good manners when she is out in public, so far at least! The next day she went with a friend and I to the Verizon store. She was SO good! She stayed in a perfect down-stay when asked, even when a man came up to her patting his legs and calling her over to him. I was so proud!!



On Columbus day I went to visit a college, so Ty stayed with another CCI volunteer. The volunteer said she did excellent, and played very well with her other dog, which was very good news!

On 10/12 she went with me to the bank. Again, she did fantabulous! They didn't even realize there was a dog in the building! That is always music to a puppy raiser's ears!!

This Saturday there is a workshop for all puppy raisers and graduates in our area...and I'm really excited to meet some new puppy raisers and graduates as well has having Tyanna evaluated by the CCI trainers!!! This should be really fun, and I'm totally excited! Later on Saturday I'm going to the Fall Out Boy concert, so she will be home with my parents. Then on Sunday, Pete Wentz from Fall Out Boy is doing a signing at a local guitar shop, and I may bring Tyanna along, depending on how I'm feeling about the whole thing. What a good picture that would be for her baby book....

O yea, and remember that bed that I got?? SHE LOVES IT! Actually, SHE ADORES IT! It was definetly a good choice, and she was definitely ready for a new, bigger bed!! In some other news, I had bought a Nylabone bone for her, which she literally destroyed over 1 weekend of chewing (now granted, I probably did not buy a strong enough one for her). Anyways, I sent the half eaten bone to the Nylabone headquarters, and they sent me THREE free products! A Dino Dental Chew, A Wolf Size Durable Bone, and a Barb-b-que Steak Shaped Chew (all non-edible). And she loves all three of them!! So I am very happy, and impressed with Nylabone customer service! If you have had a problem like this, send the product back to Nylabone (the address is on their website), tell them the age of your dog, its weight, and breed, and they will send replacements!! Yay! Gotta love free stuff!!!!

We also made a trip to Michigan this past weekend to visit family. We stayed at my Aunt/Uncle's house with Ty, and she was the perfect house guest!! She was also great in the car, and was so easy to travel with.

Anyways, I will update after the convention and tell you all how it went!!!

PS - the pictures were taken with my phone, so excuse the quality!

I know I know...

A BIG update coming soon...I promise!!

Updates Updates

Not much has happened in the past week. Today Ty went with me to my crew team's meeting, and she did EXCELLENT. She didn't fall asleep, but she stayed in a down-stay the entire time. YAY!

After the meeting, my parents and I went to dinner at JP McCarthy's restaurant, but we ate outdoors because it was Ty's first restaurant experience. She also did amazing. There were TONS of kids running around and she didn't even budge. Even when our waitress came with hot pizza she stayed in a sit.

I just got word that there will be a puppy raiser and graduate convention near me on October 20th, and I'm SO excited!! I can't wait to meet everyone and their dogs!!

BIG GIRL VEST!

Now that Tyanna is 5 months, she gets her big girl vest! It FINALLY came today in the mail! She automatically looks so grown up. It's hard to believe this day is here....it seems like yesterday I was tossing and turning the night before I was going to pick her up, thinking about all of these milestones we would reach one day. Time flies.

Last week Ty went with me to a high school volleyball game, the beach, and an 8-year-old's soccer game (where a grad CCI skilled companion was!!). She will be going to another vball game this friday (I'll try to remember to get pictures!) Here are some pictures from the last week!!

I Can't Believe Some People

I just got back from my walk with Tyanna,
and we encountered a very frustrating situation.

Around the corner from us lives a skilled companion
graduate team. It is such a joy to see the dog out,
and chat with the family about CCI.

While out on our walk, we ran into lady walking her
dog (I am familiar with her, as I see her out all the
time, and she knows Tyanna is a puppy-in-training).
Like a normal 5 month lab puppy, Tyanna acted very
enthusiastically when she saw this lady and her dog.
Anyways, we got talking, and the lady told me: "This
dog will never make it, she could never be a working
dog." That comment drilled a hole in my heart...but I
know I can't listen to her. But, it gets worse.

She continued to say that she feels sorry for the
skilled companion that lives around the corner because
he is a "robot dog". She told me how he never gets to
be a dog, and is only used as a tool. Her evidence was
that the family didn't let the CCI dog play and greet
her dog while out. I nicely explained that a working
dog's attention must be focused on his handler, and
working time is not play time. I also educated her in
the process of choosing a graduate dog: how the dogs
absolutely LOVE what they do, and when they are
working, they are the happiest. She continued to
differ with me, telling me this dog has no life.

It was so frustrating! I remained calm and cool, and
tried to politely educate her, but she would have none
of it! Has anybody encountered this situation before?
How did you handle it? I see her lots, so I think I
will have to do some more educating in the future, and
I want to make sure I do it properly.

Thank you for listening to my ranting!!

Just for comparison's sake

This picture was taken almost 2 months ago....


This picture was taken today...

...and honestly, she doesn't look that much bigger! She IS bigger, and her face has deff. matured, but I think she has hit a plateu in her growing spurt. Plus, the vet said she's gonna end up being a small girl: only about 52 lbs....which for a lab, isn't much!

Here she is doing "shake":

Squeaky Clean!

This is Ty's new obsession...Mr. Crab. Sadly for him, it's the norm to be dragged around the house (usually while running) by a claw or leg...

Now that Ty has all of her adult coat in, I can really tell the difference when she has a bath, as she did today. Her fur is so SOFT, and light! When she had her puppy fur, it didn't really matter because puppy fur IS soft and light! I just can't stop petting her! She feels like she went to the salon and got blow dryed!!

Just though I'd let you know...

The Shopping Pup

So, a few days ago, Ty destroyed her first toy...a key labrador trait. It was a toy that she has had since the day she arrived, so it was about time. Some of her other toys were getting a little dirty too, so I decided to take her to the pet store to pick out a few new ones (as if she doesn't already have a trillion billion toys!). I hate wasting money on toys that she ends up not liking, so I literally allowed her to do the choosing. I released her from all commands, and we walked down the isles. She stuck her head into the shelves, and chose her first (the hard part was getting it away from her). Then, we decided to walk by the hanging toys...she took one off the display, and once again, I hate to fight for it, just to pay. Luckily, she didn't splurge on the super expensive ones...my kind of puppy :).



On another note, we have been giving her a bit more freedom. We have left her alone for up to 3 hours gated in our kitchen while we are out of the house. So far there have been no accidents, or chewed articles. Plus, it's nice to come to the door and see a puppy waiting on the other side of the glass, instead of in a crate!

Love Overdue...

I can't tell: either Ty thinks she's a human, or my friend thinks she's a dog.


I know, I am LONG overdue for a post! School started on the 28th, and ever since that day life has been CRAZY!

Lots of things have happened in the life of Ty, but I will try to remember most of them.

Last Wed. she graduated from puppy class! She will start basic obedience this Wed...very exciting! I really need to start her baby book so I can put her diploma in it. She has really been learning a lot, and is responding very well to all of her commands.



I've taken her to the train station twice to pick up my dad (who rides the train to work). I havn't taken her on the platform yet because of the extremely steep, open stairs, but we stand on the footbridge above the tracks and watch the train pull in. She remained in a perfect sit-stay! Wasn't even phased by the loud noise!


This is a very old picture...I couldn't find any recent ones!

My friend has a chocolate lab puppy who is exactly 1 month younger than Ty. Last weekend we slept over at their house (yes, a puppy sleepover!), and Ty did wonderful! They played well, and it was nice because she was completely exhausted the next day! Nothing bettern than a tired puppy!

Tyanna will turn 5 months on Thursday. In the North Central Region of CCI, this means that she gets her "big girl" cape - the one with all the patches and stuff on it - it's actually more like a vest with buckles. Anywho, you get the idea. I will post a picture when it comes! Now that she is 5 months she is allowed to go into public venues like stores, movie theaters, etc. YAY!

We also have a new treat system in our household. We use Bil Jac liver treats (her fav) for "hurry", Bil Jab peanut butter for training, and Old Mother Hubbard buscuits for "kennel" (I like the crunchy biscuits because they help keep her teeth clean). We bought small portions of each one, because we are trying to figure out what she likes best. DOES ANYBODY HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS FOR TRAINING TREATS AND BUISCUITS?! Alot of the containers were packaged so tight that she couldn't smell them, so it was hard to judge. Has anyone tried the science diet bucuits? And just for the disclaimer - she doesn't get a huge number of treats like it sounds.....we like to keep our girl nice and lean!




Over the past few days she has developed some gunk in her eye, so we have been flushing it, hopefully it will get better...or another trip to the vet it will be!

Oh! And she went on a road trip with me and the fam to go visit some colleges! She did GREAT! She was an AMAZING traveler, and it couldn't have worked out more perfect! We put down the seat next to me in our station wagon, and put her foldable crate there with the door open. She usually was half in, half out.