Hobart's Progress

Hobart is learning so fast. He's gotten the hang of stand, kennel, roll, and heel pretty well. He knows sit, down, shake, here, let's go, hurry, off, lap (I'm pretty sure), wait, and his name. I'm happy at present, because he's four months old and learning more every day. He has one more month to prepare for going in public and I intend to get him ready. He's doing really well on housebreaking and he's learning to walk nicely on a leash. Hopefully I'll be able to do a good job and get him to graduation (or maybe being a breeder). I just hope I do well.

Meanwhile, Hobart's nose is turning brown. It's weird, but I haven't seen any yell CCI dogs that don't have brown nose by six months. It's cute on most dogs, but it's strange when you're used to a black nose!
~Elijah & Hobart II

Hobart's Training

I have learned a lot already raising Hobart. He is a smart little cookie and he picks up on things very fast! I have to make sure he's not outsmarting me! He's also a little cocky! I have to correct fairly hard to get him to respect me. He likes to explore! If I look away he will be off wondering around doing as he wants! But then again he's really sweet! I got to go to puppy class with him for the first time last night. He did well. There were twenty other dogs so he wasn't interested in obeying at first, but then he did really well. I was reminded by a PR friend that I need to enjoy this stage as much as possible and not try to overwhelm him with to many commands. When I first got Dembre I completely overwhelmed him with command drill and it didn't help a bit. Hobart is learning quickly, but he still has a chance to develop at a fairly normal rate. A basic command a week and correction for inappropriate behaviors makes for a pretty nice pup!

He is a wonderful little pup and I am so excited that I get the privilege of raising him!

~Elijah & Hobart II

Progressing

Hobart is learning quite quickly! He is one smart cookie. He's responsive and very intuitive! I love it! It's so cute to see him "sit" on command! It's amazing how much they can learn at such a young age!

fast asleep

snoozing with such a comfy pillow!

Sorry! I've been really busy and I haven't had time to get a REAL photo shoot! By next week there will be better pics!


~Elijah & Hobart II
P.S. I found Hobart's sister Haddie's blog. She will be arriving soon! Please stop by and follow their blog!!!! Paws for Independence 

P.P.S. Thanks to all of you for following! 9 new followers in a week! We're doing great! Thank you so much!!!!!!!!!!

The Night Before (commands)

Today my Mom got pictures of Dembre and I doing all our commands!!!! I'm super excited about tomorrow and I thought I'd share these pics with you! Please pray for me as I prepare to say goodbye.

I am still so proud to be part of a miracle and can't wait to get number two! The BIG post will come tomorrow night! And I hope you all have the chance to read it!!!!!!!!

Down

Shake

up

sit

jump

lap

off

jump

stand

visit

turn

roll

dress

kennel

~Elijah & Dembre

1 Month of Details!!!!!!!

why can't I just have my little puppy back?

I'm preparing to say goodbye to this little puppy

Was that really so long ago?

I've been really busy recently and in the midst of that I've been trying to work on Dembre training and prepare for turn-in. Today we got the notification that we're supposed to send in Dembre's health records and RSVP for the PR workshop. Our family's trying to plan out how exactly we're going about turn-in. My parents don't want to take the younger children all day, but they want them all to come to turn-in and the graduation ceremony. I feel STRESSED! It doesn't seem like I can keep up with how fast things are going. I am still trying to line up sponsors for the next puppy. The worst thing is I don't know exactly how it all goes so I feel uninformed and rather nervous. I just want things to settle down. 1 month... 1 month... That's all that's left :(......... :) I don't know what to think. It's not even as much about turn-in as it is about preparing for turn-in. I have to gather vet records, send out letters, think, do brush up training, mentally prepare, set up Dembre's final booster shots and...... SO many other things! I want peace!

Why does time fly?

~Elijah & Dembre

Mission Complete (First full weekend out in public)

Good dog!

Dembre sitting in a skywalk in downtown Akron

Dembre did GREAT for our conference this last weekend! He didn't have any accidents (which was exciting, because at home he was showing signs of a UTI). Dembre listened well, maneuvered well, and sat patiently while he got attention from many, many people! It's hard to be bored when you have a dog at your side! I could hardly walk from one side of the convention center to the other without someone asking to pet Dembre. He was good and didn't have a big licking problem. He acted pretty comfortable and relaxed most of the time. I met a former PR, who had raised for Pilot Dogs Inc.. It's always fun talking to fellow service/guide dog raisers! We stayed with my grandparents, who live in a house overlooking a very nice river! Dembre had lots of fun swimming in the river and playing on the rocks. I can tell he's happy to be home, though.

~Elijah & Dembre

Heel = Left, Side = Right

While working with Dembre, I realized that it is very hard to teach a dog which side is your left side and which side is your right. Dembre can now do a beautiful heel, but if I turn a 180 he thinks that my right side is my left side. My PR friend, Mary Beth, told me that I should try to work with just "Heel" or just "Side". So I'll proceed working with only "Heel" and hope that he learns that way.

~Elijah & Dembre

Six for Six

Dembre turned 6 months yesterday! Wow, It's hard to believe he's already a half a year old. Sorry I haven't blogged in awhile. I've been really busy with school. Here are the six things:

1) Dembre can now officially go anywhere. For this last month I've tried to make his outings short and non-stressful. Now he can go to bigger, busier places.

2) Dembre will get neutered in a couple of weeks.

3) Dembre is coming along with his "up's", "jump's", and "under's".

4) I will continue to teach Dembre a variety of new skill's

5) I think it is time for Dembre to graduate his large blue Airline Crate for our giant breed wire crate.

6) I can't believe how fast he's growing up. Last fall I started thinking about the possibility
of raising a service dog puppy. I researched and thought and researched and thought. And then in April I asked my parents. They agreed and we put in an application at CCI. Before then I had considered raising a dog for Pilot Dogs Inc. or another organization, but my mind always went back to CCI. The Puppy Program Manager looked over our application and we set up a date for a phone interview. We had our interview on May 21st and at the end of that interview the Puppy Program Manager told us she'd love to have us as puppy raisers. We were shocked that she had just said "Yes" and then I heard the best part. "We have a puppy named Dembre, who is supposed to come in on the 28th are you up to getting a puppy that soon?" Our answer "YES" . And that's how it all began.

WOW!

The day when Dembre will get his official CCI vest and be able to go in public draws near. I am working desperately to get him ready. Every day a on and off leash heel practice. I've worked on "Sit", "Down", and "Shake" are commands that I now expect him to do on command with no body cue or visible treat. I think I'm almost ready, maybe.

Four for Four

Dembre is turning four months!

1. Dembre is learning more every day. He is working on about 15 commands presently. "Speak" is the only one that he isn't doing to well in.

2. Only one month until Dembre gets to go out in public. He will also get his official CCI vest. That ought to be interesting. He's excellent on leash and gentle leader though and overall pretty calm. (I need to practice commands a lot in this next month.

3. Dembre has entered is independence stage and is driving me kind of insane. (Yes, I do love that puppy, but this is always my least favorite stage in a puppy's development)

4. He is almost completely housebroken and hasn't had an accident for two weeks and I'm starting to feel ready for going out in public

Dembre Update

Hi all,
Dembre is now 28 pounds, WOW! He is learning more by the day. He is now perfect at sit, shake, hurry, here. He's still struggling with his "downs" and his "kennel" is pretty good. Now when his cape and gentle leader go on he calms down and does an almost flawless "let's go". I can't believe that I've already had him almost 2 months. Here are a couple of pictures of Dembre practicing commands. (the backround is our piano)

Just Plain Puppy

I guess I have to realize that Dembre is still young. For years I have done work with rescue dogs and I had to train inapropriate behaviors out of the dog, where as in Dembre's case I just need to take it a little easier and shape his original personality into the type that will fit CCI's standard. He is learning, but a little more slowly than I would like.

Training

Today Dembre and I did quite a bit of training. We worked with the cape and gentle leader some and we also worked on sit, down, shake, side, heel, and let's go. I got a couple of pictures.