Saturday, April 30, 2011

13 things for 13 months

Dembre is turning 13 months tomorrow. Can you believe it? He's grown up so fast and I still don't know where the time has gone. Soon we are going on vacation and after we get back I'll only have about 3 months left with him. It hurts to think that in August Dembre leaves and then there will be about 6 months of waiting to find out if he's going to become a service dog. If he passes every test and learns every command then comes graduation :D In the midst of turn-in and training there will be another puppy in my home and another chance at handing over an amazing dog to an amazing man, woman, or child with a disability.

you've got to admit that he's a handsome boy :D
  1. Dembre is so grown up. We went shopping this morning and he trotted along like a perfect dog. He got a little nervous once, but I am so proud to see him progressing
  2. I only have 2 more commands that need to be fully installed in his mind. He isn't very good at stand so I need to really work on that. And I just introduced "Out", which tells Dembre to go out of a door. It feels weird. He knows way more than he doesn't know
  3. No matter how I try to not admit it. I only have 3 more months with my wonderful puppy. During the next 3 months we have a lot of work to do. Places to visit; sights to see, commands to work on, all this to make a well rounded dog.
  4. Dembre has learned to communicate very well. He listens well. He reads me like a book.
  5. We have been enjoying a lot of time outside in the nice Spring weather.  It has been really fun taking him out on long line
  6. Dembre loves playing with Pepin (pet dog). They get along great. He also likes the baby goats.
  7. I think that with his personality Dembre has a good chance of passing, but a lot of puppy raisers think that their puppies will make it and they don't. I know that there's a large chance that he won't pass, but I hope he does
  8. Even though he is over a year old Dembre still likes to be goofy when he's not in public or sleeping or in a training session. I hope that doesn't get him released.
  9. I think that Dembre will be ready to turn-in in August. He needs me right now, but by the time August comes around he'll be ready for AT.
  10. In public Dembre is still impressive. My PR friends and I have noticed that he gets a little nervous and stressed in public sometimes, but he still responds to commands quickly and doesn't try to avoid things directly.
  11. When we first got Dembre my mom thought that he was calm. That is partially true. He is not usually a goof ball, but he can be. 
  12. Dembre loves his life. He doesn't let much of anything get him down. I love that about him.
  13. Now that Dembre is 13 months I expect a lot of him, but he still is given room for fun and games. He spends a lot of his life in a "down" and doesn't always no what to do with himself when he's not in a command. He's come a long way from when he was a little puppy, but I still have work cut out for me :D
~Elijah & Dembre

8 comments:

  1. He looks so big and I am sorry he has to go back in August. Happy 13 month day Dembre!!

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  2. Happy 13th month birthday! He sounds like such a fun dog to be around! How much does he weigh? He looks really big! There is a pretty good chance that Joe will be headed back to guide dog school in August as well. It seemed like such a long time away till you said that you only have 3 months left with him!

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  3. He's only 59 pounds. A lot of the dogs in our class are 60 to 70. Good luck with Joe! Do you only have them for a year? You got Joe last summer didn't you?

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  4. Really?!? He looks a lot bigger! Joe is 69 lbs and looks small to me (of course my smallest pup was 75 lbs and my biggest topped out at 95 lbs). Yup, I only get about a year with my pups. Joe will be turning 1 on May 17th and will either be going back in the August or September IFT group. I picked him up the end of July last year. Dembre is such a handsome boy!

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  5. Is Joe a Lab mix? He's very handsome :)
    At CCI we get our dogs for 13-18 months. Most PRs have their pups for about 15 months. I hope that Joe makes it through guide school :)

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  6. Joe is a full lab! He is a black and tan lab, they are pretty rare but they have the coolest markings! Joe will be going back around the 15 month mark. Hopefully both our boys will make it and go on to help someone who needs them!

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Elijah and Hobart