It's nice to be leash in hand again...

Side Note: This was supposed to be posted yesterday, so all of the "todays" refer to yesterday, Sunday.

This weekend was a very fun, and exciting for both Tyanna and I. Saturday morning she was at home with my parents, but Saturday afternoon lent itself to a first: rollerblading! I live near the train tracks, and all along the tracks is a paved bike path called the Green Bay Trail. Luckily, Tyanna practiced very pristine leash behavior and there were no problems! We went with my friend who also likes to rollerblade, and between the three of us, we got some great looks from passerbys :). Tyanna also proved to me on this little adventure how much she has improved her dog distraction. I saw a golden retriever coming up, so we went on the side of the path and I put her in a stay just in case she decided to pull. Needless to say, she remained sitting, gave some great eye contact, and with the exuberant golden got near (and actually started licking her face), she didn't move a muscle!!!!! I was so EXCITED!! She also did wonderful with all the bikers and big loud trains passing!



Her cape "issues" have also improved a ton. I decided to try the next size up on her (a large) to see if she had grown into it yet. The large is still a bit to big, but she takes to it a whole lot better so I'm thinking that the medium was too small and must've been rubbing or hitting her somewhere that she didn't like. So I guess that I'll keep her in the large even though she looks a little silly. It's not too bad though (she's wearing the L in all the pictures).



Today we went to Target and practiced lots. There must've been some unattended wild child in the store because there were crushed cheetos everywhere we went! Luckily for me, Tyanna has an EXTREMELY low food distraction and she walked over them without even noticing. We also practiced some "unders" and I put her under a table with crushed cheetos, straws, and ketchup packets (she didn't get any food on her), and ignored it all!



Tonight for dinner she went with me to a small restaurant in town. Luckily, we got a corner seat so I just let her sleep in the corner and didn't make her squeeze under the table or chair. She took a nice snooze for the 2.5 hour meal, and didn't even wake when two pieces of chicken fell on her leg :).



Now she is home and resting! I have been letting her sleep next to my bed on a tie-down lately because she has reached the age allowed for this. So far, no problems! It's nice to wake up to your puppy :). Woo! Long post...again!

One more thing: Today my family was putting dishes into the dishwasher and Ty was in the way, so my dad opened the dishwasher door figuring she would move....nope, instead she just laid down flat. Funny girl.

Basking in the Sunlight

Who wouldn't want to be a puppy?


Tyanna is back, and pretty exhausted. She did a lot of traveling and switching yesterday so I definitely understand.

Suzanne called yesterday and told me that Ty had been tested at the vet and she was still in heat. She said that it would still be 100% okay for her to come home, otherwise, I could pick her up next weekend. We have a very ill family member right now, so I told Suzanne that we would stick to the original plan of Tyanna coming home with Madison because we weren't exactly sure if we would be able to make the 6 hour drive down to Ohio the following weekend. Anyways, our only provisions are that she must stay leashed and have no big outings in the next 3 days...after that, we're back to normal!



It was pretty snowy last night driving to South Bend, so both Madison and I were a little late, but it ended up working out just fine! We met in a PetsMart to make the switch. Needless to say, Tyanna was excited to see me, and I was excited to see her! When I first saw her Madison had her in a sit, but once she was released it was wiggly reunion time! She got a great report from both Suzanne and the Warrens, which made me happy :).

After getting kisses from Ty, I gave her to my dad and got to hold Andros, Madison's new puppy! HE IS ADORABLE. I wish I had my camera (I forgot it!!) because this is one of the cutest puppies...EVER. He's gonna be such a handsome boy when he grows up!

Our families chatted a while, took some pictures (which I will post once Madison e-mails them to me), and bought some last minute dog food. It was so cool to meet another raiser my age, and I definitely with that I had more that lived closer to me. Madison and her mom were some of the nicest people, and I hope we will cross paths again!

On our way home we stopped at Panera and Ty nicely stayed under the table. My dad wanted to "test" her, so he dropped a chunk of his sandwich next to her head and she didn't even budge! After a few minutes, she actually turned her head away from it! Good girl!



When we got home, Tyanna knew exactly where she was and started to get super happy. When we got inside she kinda froze, and just looked around. She wasn't quite ready for bed yet, so we practiced a few commands, and you can definitely tell that she stayed with 5 professional trainers for 3 weeks ;). She is still in "adjustment mode" and figuring out her new schedule. It's so nice to have her home!!!!!!!

WOO! That was a long post! Sorry! Congrats to anyone who made it all the way through ;) !

SHE'S BACK!

My baby is home and doing great! She's still adjusting to being back in the house, doesn't quite understand the whole thing yet! As soon as we got out of the car she knew exactly where we were and just about flipped out. So excited!

There is a bit more to the story, but I will fill you in on all the details tomorrow...I'm exhausted!

Needless to say, the trip was a lot of fun, and meeting Madison was a blast! Andros is ADORABLE...check out her blog for pictures! I will openly admit that he is a cuter puppy than Tyanna was! SUCH a cutie!!!

HORRIBLE commercial.

While on YouTube I found this commercial "about guide dogs"...but it is anything but that. I was absolutely amazed that a company would run such an ad. I encourage you guys to write to this company (I sure will!) and educate them about raising guide dog puppies and guide dogs in general and how this commercial is NOT comical.



On a lighter note....I PICK UP TYANNA TOMORROW!! I am meeting Madison (who just turned in Conover and will be picking up Andros II) in South Bend to make the exchange...I'm SO excited!!!!

Home Again

I just got home from an amazing time in California and thought I'd write a quick update.

Ty comes home in FOUR DAYS!!!! YAY!! I can't wait to have my girl back! WOO! I received a quick e-mail from my PPM a few days ago. It wasn't much, she told me that Tyanna adjusted well and she has no concerns about her! YAY!!

Gotta unpack...

Skilled Companion Team Shea and Mercer

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=3933064n

Sniff, Sniff

I miss my girl!

On The Road

Posted from a blackberry...excuse errors.

We just dropped off Tyanna at the NCR kennels. She seemed to adjust well. She will be getting a roomate later in the week which will be good for her. The trainers are going to work with her a little bit each day which will also be good.

I saw Stafford and Conover. I didn't get pictures because Conover was getting groomed and Stafford was practicing down stays. It was a really cool scene-there were about 15 dogs all in down stays waiting their turn to br groomed...this was part of their preliminary testing. Both of your boys looked great!!!!!

I'm already missing my girl...

The plans..

Alright, Tyanna is scheduled to be at CCI tomorrow, which means I am missing school (yikes!) to accompany my mom down to Ohio. Looking at the calendar, I wont get my baby back until the 26th (aroundish..). This is going to be weird!!!

Madison - I will try to get a picture of Conover for you!

:(

Our blogger female pups must really be in sync! Tyanna went into heat today...

We are still figuring out our plans to get her down to CCI. I'm going to miss my baby SOOO much!! Three weeks without her!! Well, one of them I'll be in California on spring break, so hopefully that will help ease the pain :).

Does anybody know how regular females are? I know their heat cycles are on a 6-month cycle, but do they stick to that? Ty's turn-in date is exactly 6 months away, and I'm praying she wont be in the kennels...

LOTS of progress

Sorry, no pictures...

After a long conversation with my PPM, she decided that I should try a prong collar with Ty. At first I was very hesitant because Tyanna is so soft, but I decided to at least try one with her at the pet store and see how she reacts. It turns out she's not as soft as a I thought she was! I don't like using the prong, but it has really worked. Tyanna is a brand new dog. The goal is to teach her what behaviors we want with the prong, then wean her off it. Her distractibility wasnt horrible before, but it was something that needed to be fixed. Needless to say, this isn't "the easy way out"...I will still be working with her and continuing our PetsMart sessions weekly. But, so far it has proven to be a good tool.

This weekend has been a busy one for Ty. Yesterday and today she ran a bunch of errands, including some firsts. Yesterday was her first time in a grocery store and today was her first time at The Container Store. She did wonderfully in both! Hopefully I will get some new pictures of her soon to post!!