Cuddles

He is such a big puppy, but he somehow can still fit in my lap all curled up. I love it.

Other blogs

I must confess, I have a new addiction.
I can't stop reading blogs! Willy is the first puppy I have ever trained, and it is so interesting to read about other puppy raiser's adventures and experiences.

My favorite blogs are the ones written by the blind people, though. I got all teary eyed reading http://sixftover.blogspot.com/ and http://blindgirl.net/, because it really hit home that these puppies are going to be angels for someone. It is going to suck when Willy leaves me, but I know that it is so worth it to help someone regain their freedom.

If anyone knows of other blogs that I should follow, please link me!

Escaped!

I put Willy to bed around 3 am today (We are night folk around here, which is just fine with GDB. I guess they need puppies who are used to all sorts of schedules. Luckily, Willy is very easy schedule-wise.) I went to bed and was awoken around 7 am to the sounds of creaking floorboards above my head. At first, I assumed it was just my neighbor, who is very loud next door. As I woke up, I realized that this was definitely coming from my sewing room upstairs.

I freaked out a little, because my first thought was that someone had broken into my house. I knew I had put the pup in the kennel and locked the door. Cautiously, I tiptoed out of my room, only to discover the kennel door wide open and my dog nowhere in sight.

Up the stairs I went, moving slowly so that I could see what he was doing before he noticed I was there. I was really hoping that he was being a good boy and playing with his toys, but no. He had somehow gotten a hold of my makeup bag and was gnawing on a makeup brush, surrounded by the remnants of another brush. I was so disappointed. He knows darn well that he is not allowed to chew on things besides his toys, and he is very sneaky about it. He will ignore and refuse them when I try to set him up, but the second he thinks I am not watching, it's a whole other story.

Luckily, he didn't notice me there and then he got the scolding of his life. I don't think he is afraid of anything, least of all scoldings and corrections, so it really ticked me off that he looked guilty for two seconds and then  ran off and started leaping around the house. He thought it was a game! I'm going to have to talk to my group leader, I don't know what to do about him. He's so sneaky. I don't even know how he escaped, I am positive that I locked the kennel door. Dang super smart dogs.

Out and about

I'm pretty excited that Willy is finally old enough to take to lots of places. I can trust him not to potty without command, for the most part. Every now and then he really just can't hold it and will go without being told to, but never inside.
I've been taking him to a variety of stores and restaurants. I took him to the library the other day, and he didn't seem to mind any of the new smells or sights.
He also had a blast running around my parent's yard and was very good with my five year old niece. She helped me with some training. We worked on ”sit”, ”stay”, ” come”, and ”down”. She was more than happy to be a distraction for me, and he did surprisingly well!

The playground

I took Willy to the playground, so that he could get used to different surfaces. He did just fine with everything from wood chips to sand and even weird grated steps and things.
The only thing he was scared of was the picnic table bench. It was strange and full of weird holes, so I set him on it to see what he would do. I'm not sure if it was the surface itself, or the narrow bench, or the fact that he knows he isn't supposed to stand there, but he didn't care for it at all. I tried to get him to walk a little, but he was not having it. I'll have to come back to narrow walkways later on.

Whoops

Apparently, I am terrible at posting blogs. Willy is 5 months old, and is a very well behaved trainee thus far. He knows all of this commands, but is still very easily distracted and doesn't hold his commands for extended periods of time.
I think those are things that you are supposed to work on a lot in the next few months. Usually, you train the same dog for a full 15 months, but I will probably only have him with me until mid September. Willy is part of a special program where a high school student in Utah raises a guide puppy for school credit. I know we have to part ways in the end, anyway, but it is kind of a bummer to have someone else finish his training halfway through. What a cool school project, though! I wish my school had that kind of program when I was  in high school.

Anyway, here's Willy napping. (I was practicing focal points.)

And Willy relaxing around the chinchillas (who he is very curious about, but he never scares them.)

And finally, some random shots. (I was practicing capturing him in motion.)