Invention of the Flexi-Belt

About two weeks ago I stumbled on the best puppy training discovery ever. I shared this idea with fellow club members, and a few have adopted it for their own. It's time to pass on the trick to others.

You'll need two items you probably have laying around your house: a flexi leash and a belt.

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If you cannot tell what's going on in the picture, I threaded my belt through Kyle's flexi leash to create a "flexi-belt." Now Kyle has 16 feet of freedom. My hands are free, but I can reach him whenever needed.

Almost instantly, I've seen a marked improvement in Kyle's house behaviors. His barking is deceasing, and there's no way for Kyle to run "lab loops" through the house. Plus, we can practice stay and come while I go about my daily tasks.

Kyle is a pro in public and reasonably well behaved at home. With our last two months together, my goal is to get Kyle's house manners to the same stellar level as his public manners. I've tried other methods of directing Kyle, but the smarty pants always finds a way around them. (For example, he'll carry 20 feet of long line in his mouth just so he can run.)

The true test this weekend was one of our many road trips to visit my sister. Since Kassie only sees Kyle every other month or so, she is a great judge of his growth. The verdict: Kassie repeatedly complimented Kyle on his improved house manners. It's working!

I challenge other puppy raisers to try the flexi-belt while working on house manners and basic commands. Afterward, leave a comment and let me know if it works for you. Also, if you have any fun puppy training tricks that you've developed, I'd love to hear them.

Through the Camera's Eye

While Kyle and Kasie were busy chasing each other around Kasie's yard, I snagged a great shot of the two of them. However, as I zoomed in on the picture, I noticed there was something wrong with the image. Can you catch it?

(Kasie is chasing Kyle while he runs off with her tennis ball.)

Needless to say, I put my camera away long enough to take the tennis ball and hide it on top of the fence. Oops! Note to self: clean up non-GDB toys from a yard before letting Kyle free.

Have you ever caught your puppy doing something on camera that you didn't notice in real life? Please tell me I'm not the only completely clueless puppy raiser.

Autumn Training Walk

Kyle loves to go on walks. During the week we only go on short jaunts, but Saturdays and Sundays Kyle and I try to get out for a several mile long walk.

A couple months ago, my CFR recommended working on neighborhood walks because that is where most of guide dogs' formal training takes place. Since Kyle has mastered loose leash walking and is rarely distracted, I've started throwing in obedience exercises on our walks. Last Saturday my friend accompanied us, so Kyle and I actually got a few pictures of our work together. I'm so proud of the progress my boy is making.

One of our favorite destinations is a fully fenced, huge field behind a local church. In the past, Kyle has refused to play without a K9 friend and sat at my feet. Thus, I've taken Sugar there to play with Kyle several times. However, this weekend Kyle ran and played by himself for the first time. Progress!

(Kyle and I walking across the field. You can only see part of it in the picture.)

Since we don't have a fenced yard, Kyle and I don't have many opportunities to practice off leash recalls. This field is the perfect place to do just that.

(Kyle about to get a kibble for his perfect come.)

After a bit, I just let Kyle explore the field. He loved greeting all of the dogs that lived in yards on the other side of the fence.

 (Kyle sniffing the fence of a yard with a beautiful black lab in it.)

The field has a sand volleyball pit where three children were building a sand castle. I worried that Kyle would plow into them and their project. He impressed me by dancing around them to say hello but not getting too friendly.

 (Kyle sitting on the edge of the volleyball pit. I love this picture of Kyle's face.)

This isn't the best shot of us, but at least I got an updated picture with my boy as we were leaving the field.

 (Kyle and me sitting in a bunch of autumn leaves.)

On the way home we snapped one final picture to show Kyle's great loose leash walking. We enjoy our excursions together! Someday I'll get someone to take pictures of all of our other training spots.

(Kyle happily trotting alongside me through a neighborhood.)

Middle of the Night Adventure

In Kyle's nine month post, I mentioned that he has complete freedom in my room at night and has never broken my trust. My sister Kassie was here for the weekend, and her dog Boo also slept free in the room. Since Boo and Kyle basically ignore each other, that didn't change Kyle's routine much.

However, last night Kyle was acting weird. I woke up in the middle of the night because Kyle was pacing the floor. He never stirs from his dog bed until morning, so that caught my attention. I got out of bed to comfort him, but he wouldn't settle down. Since I was intent on sleeping even if Kyle wanted to be awake, I finally resorted to tying him down at the head of the bed.

I don't know how long that lasted before Kyle started crying...literally. He whined really loud over and over. Kyle may be a barker, but he isn't much of a whiner. Several times I patted him and rolled over, but he wouldn't settle. After a bit Kyle jumped on me. Because he was tied down, he couldn't get on the bed all the way, but Kyle's front paws landed right on me. That move finally broke through my sleepy mind and startled me awake. I realized something was wrong with Kyle.

The moment I got out of bed and grabbed Kyle's leash, he calmed down. When I opened the bedroom door, he ran down the stairs and stood at the front door. That is when I realized that I had left it unlocked. I had a slight panic attack and was hesitant to open the door. Was whatever upset Kyle on the other side of my unlocked door?

I calmed myself and decided to head outside. After all, Kyle could protect me, right? Whatever! If I ever get attacked, all I think Kyle would do is jump on the person and lick them. He is just that friendly.

When we got outside, Kyle pulled me to the grass and went to the bathroom immediately. Kyle had normal "business" right before bed, but now he was sick. Poor little guy! I felt like a jerk making him work for so long to wake me up so that he could do his business.

There is a point to this long story. I am so proud of Kyle for not having an accident in the house. When I ignored him over and over, he could have given up on me, but he didn't. I've often wondered how strong Kyle's house training is. Now I know. There is no need for me to worry about him having accidents. Way to go boy! He seriously amazed me.

I still cannot figure out what triggered Kyle getting sick when he was healthy at 11:00 pm and sick at 4:00 am. Thankfully, he seems a little sleepy but otherwise fine today. He even went to church with me and seemed happy to be out and about.

Since I've been bad about including pictures with my recent posts, here's a cute one Kassie snapped on her phone last night. This is not staged. Kyle voluntarily positioned himself this way in my lap. He was chewing his bone, but then he started falling asleep like this. Silly boy!

(Kyle lying in my lap on his back with his hind legs splayed. One front leg is hanging down his torso and the other is hugging my arm. His back is twisted in a weird way.)

P.S. I woke up the morning and realized that I forgot to lock the door when I came in from Kyle's bathroom break. It's a good thing nobody tried to break in last night.

Discovery Academy

Saturday our puppy club gave a presentation at Discovery Academy, a residential treatment school. In addition to our puppies, we had two career changed dogs, two puppies from other clubs, and one working guide at the presentation.

The presentation started with a sweet man sharing his story of how he became blind, how blindness affects his life, and the benefits of working with a guide dog. He brought goggles, blindfolds, and braille cards to make everything more interactive for the kids. My favorite part of the presentation is was when he took a short walk with Mariah, his guide, to demonstrate how they work as a team. Whenever people ask me how I can give my puppies up, I just want them to see a team working together. Their unity makes my loss completely worth it!

(Mariah is a 3 1/2 year old yellow lab. She and her partner are just starting their demonstration walk in this photo.)

During the presentation we spread all of the puppies among the teens who were watching. At times Kyle just relaxed, but he really enjoyed himself after on student decided to let Kyle climb into his lap. Kyle rarely turns down the opportunity to cuddle.

(Kyle is completely flopped over on his back with his tongue hanging out. The student who is holding him is scratching Kyle's belly. Spoiled dog!)

After the presentation, students grouped around the dogs. We explained training techniques to them. Kyle and I demonstrated how to play tug and how to do a food induced recall. The students then had fun doing these two things with him. For the most part Kyle was on his best behavior until the exact moment another raiser decided to snap a picture of us.

(Kyle jumping up and putting his front paws on me. We are making progress with this bad habit, but it isn't curbed yet.)

Kyle wasn't the only puppy getting tons of attention. Each dog was thoroughly loved on Saturday. For my sister, I have to highlight one puppy in particular. When Katherine, another raiser in my club, found out she was getting a female yellow lab with a B name, I hoped she would get a puppy named Becky. Becky is my sister who raised Mesa (and I was the co-raiser). Well, Katherine ended up with Breeze, but Breeze has a sister Becky who went to a nearby club. I got to meet Becky on Saturday. These pictures are for my guide dog raising sister who shares her name with an adorable puppy. :)

(Becky being loved on by five kids at once.)

(A closeup of Becky's face. I love that she always has such a goofy grin. This is a dog who knows how to enjoy life.)

After the meeting I had the chance to hang out and visit with people from my club while Kyle played with his friends. I love this puppy raising group!

(Kyle sitting next to Spike. Spike is a handsome red colored lab!)

(Kyle staring up at the camera with his tongue hanging out of his mouth. His head looks huge at this angle.)

(Finally, Kyle worn out at the end of the meeting. He is ready to call it a day.)

Visitors Galore

While Kyle has almost impeccable manners in public, his behavior at home still leaves something to be desired. He doesn’t have any destructive habits (thank goodness), but he does like to jump on people, mouth people, and bark when he is being ignored. Since I live alone, these are hard habits to work on. My friends and neighbors are stepping in to help though.

A few days ago, Katie came over for a visit before we headed out to lunch. Kyle is getting much better at not bouncing everywhere when I answer the door, so Katie’s visit was the first time I let Kyle off leash with another person here. Kyle knew that Katie needed some puppy love and laid his head in her lap. Really, who doesn’t need puppy love every now and then?

(Kyle with his head in Katie’s lap while she looks down at him.)

After a while, Kyle did something that amazed me. He wandered off to the side of the living room and entertained himself before falling asleep. That is a first! Kyle always wants human affection and never settles if not contained by a leash, tiedown, or kennel. Yea for major progress!

(Kyle and his red Kong lying off to the side of the room.)

The next day two other friends, Liz and Luke, stopped by to show off their new pet. Never fear, Kyle was back to his old antics. For some reason he is always on his worst behavior around Liz and Luke. Sigh! Thankfully they have seen him work in public and know that he can be wonderful.

Liz has a Russian tortoise, Clyde, for a classroom pet. While we were roommates, I loved to play with Clyde, but Clyde never loved to play with me. He preferred to hide in his shell and pee on me. Now that Clyde is home again for another summer, it was time to get him a female friend…Bonnie. Is it possible to call a Russian tortoise friendly? If so, Bonnie is. She is the opposite of Clyde. Bonnie climbed up to my shoulder to have a look at the world and stuck her neck out farther when I petted her head. The best part is that Bonnie never even considered peeing on me.

Kyle’s reaction to Bonnie was hilarious. At first he pulled to the end of his tiedown to get a look at her.

(Kyle straining on his tiedown with Bonnie a few feet away.)

When Bonnie started to head toward Kyle, he turned into a chicken and hid around the corner of the couch. Liz, Luke, and I had a great laugh over that one. Silly Kyle!

 

(Kyle is hidden around the couch corner while Bonnie crawls toward him.)

After a bit Kyle decided that maybe Bonnie wasn’t dangerous after all. His curiosity nudged him out of his hiding place, but he still didn’t want to get too close. Instead, he chose to just stare at Bonnie.

 

(Kyle has his ears perked up and is intently looking at Bonnie while she continues creeping his way.)

Finally, I picked Bonnie up so that Kyle could give her a good sniff. They touched noses and became friends. I was impressed that Kyle didn’t even try to lick his new friend. He earned a few brownie points for that.

(I’m sitting on the couch holding Bonnie while she and Kyle touch nose-to-nose.)

Yesterday, a seven-year-old neighbor girl and her five-year-old friend asked to play with Kyle while I visited with the older sister. Kyle’s favorite people are kids, so he was in his glory. Eventually I taught them how to play tug and Kyle got a good amount of play time in. When it was time for them to leave, I told my little neighbor that she is welcome back to play any time she can see me and Kyle through the front window.

She took me up on my offer and came back twice last night. My young friend even helped me carry in my groceries so that I could hurry up and get Kyle out to play. I love my new neighbors and neighborhood! Kyle is going to get plenty of attention here.

To add to Kyle’s socialization, two of my college friends, and their three daughters (ages 6, 4, and 2) got here at 11:00 last night. They are on a trip to visit grandpa and made a half day stop to visit me and meet Kyle. They don’t have a dog, so at first the girls were scared of Kyle. However, before they went to bed the two oldest, H and E, were cuddling Kyle on his dog bed.

Kyle had breakfast before any of the kids came downstairs. When he saw them, he was ready to play for the day. However, his barks sent them running with hands over their ears. H, the six-year-old told, me that I really need to teach him to be quiet. You’ve got to love children’s wisdom. Anybody out there have any ideas how to teach a dog not to bark for attention when he is on a tiedown?

After I reassured the girls that Kyle was just saying good morning, the girls clamored for his attention. He was one well loved puppy today. They gave him all his toys, played tug, petted him nonstop, helped me measure his lunch, and fed him. They even enthusiastically took him out to do his business and proudly announced that he was peeing.

Kyle was the center of all the day’s activities. The girls wanted to walk Kyle before they headed down the road for their grandpa’s house, so we decided to take a quick hike to a local waterfall. The girls’ energy didn’t hold for the duration of the hike, and with three adults, three kids, and a puppy, there weren’t enough big people arms to carry all the little people. We might not have made it to the waterfall, but we had a great time playing alongside the stream.

 

(H, Kyle, me, E, my friend, and M standing in front of the stream. If you look closely, you can see sister number four who is due to arrive in September. I love her name—Amanda.)

I am a firm believer that kids and dogs belong together. H proved that once again. She asked to walk Kyle, and since he had his gentle leader on, I decided it would be fine. Boy was it ever! Kyle trotted alongside H like she was the one who always walked him. He even kept a loose leash. I have to admit that I was astounded to watch a six-year-old girl who has rarely been around dogs and a six-month-old puppy work as a team. I adore that girl and my boy!

 

(H walking Kyle down the trail with a loose leash. I love her red pigtails paired with Kyle’s wagging tail! This is a picture of pure happiness.)

When we stopped for a break, I had to get a front shot of the happy duo. If you look closely, you can see that H is missing some of her baby teeth. We had a great conversation about how she and Kyle are both working on getting adult teeth right now.

 

(H smiling at the camera while Kyle smiles with his tongue hanging out of his mouth.)

In the entire time my friends and their girls were here, Kyle didn’t try to mouth a single one of them or jump on anyone. I was so proud of him because I really wanted the girls to have a great dog experience. They sure did! In fact, Kyle was such a hit that we are going to visit them on their farm in Idaho in a few weeks.

Never fear, this isn’t the end of the chain of company. Why was I worried about getting Kyle help with house manners again? Next weekend I will be hosting one of my sisters and possibly my mom and grandma. I love visitors, and so does Kyle!

On a side note, I took Kyle to the vet yesterday. He now weighs 42.2 pounds. That means he gained 5.1 pounds in 19 days. The Tylan powder and change in dog food along with adolescence are definitely working to make him a big boy!

Going Green

In the spirit of coordinating all of Kyle's accessories, he is going green. A fellow club member makes beautiful green leashes, so I asked her to make one for Kyle. Today she brought it to our club meeting.

 (Kyle modeling his green leash and gentle leader in front of flowers.)

In addition to his green leash, Kyle also got a green gentle leader. For the past week and a half Kyle has done wonderfully in his halti. He walks perfectly and self corrects any bad behaviors. However, the poor boy still hates it. Any time we pause for a second, he starts rubbing his face on my legs or the ground. Since the gentle leader has less fabric on the dog's head, I asked to try one of them on Kyle for a few days. Right now the verdict is that he doesn't mind it as much (though he still rubs sometimes), but the gentle leader isn't quite as effective. We'll rotate the halti and gentle leader for a few days before making a final decision.

(Kyle giving me an annoyed look because I made him pose for too many pictures. His matching leash, gentle leader, and vest sure look nice though.)

Kyle has been a real trooper as we have run several errands. Now he is contentedly sleeping at my feet in the public library while I type this blog entry.

(Kyle lying on the library floor. He opened his eyes when he heard the camera, but he is out cold now.)

The day after I got Kyle I brought him to the library for one of our first outings. His behavior that day and today are drastically different. The first time we came he tried to solicit attention from everyone who even looked our way, and today he is just taking everything in stride. I'm proud of Kyle's progress. Way to go!

First Puppy Club Meeting

Wednesday evening our puppy club met outside a local public library. With the addition of Picassa, Kyle, Breeze, and Jacinda to the group, we are up to 11 puppies-in-training and one in harness training in Oregon. That makes for quite the group!

Kyle loved meeting all of his new puppy friends. When we showed up he was bouncing all over the place trying to introduce himself. Thankfully after a couple minutes he calmed down and happily laid between my feet.

(Kyle lying between my legs and looking off in the distance.)

Since we had all the dogs together for the first time, a good potion of the meeting was spent trying to get a group picture. That was a hilarious undertaking. All of the pictures on my camera have at least two dogs and their raisers doing funny things. Thankfully a friend got a good shot. We didn't include all of our raisers in the photo, or we wouldn't have fit. Instead, we just have one raiser holding each dog.

(Back row: Spike (MLY), Meade (MBL), Picassa (FYL), Mara (FBL), Peanut (MBL); Front Row: Mosley (MYL), Kyle (MYL), Christina (FBL), Sugar (FGLD), Breeze (FYL), Jacinda (FBL))

At the end of the meeting Kyle got a Halti. The poor little guy hates it. In fact, if he could speak I think he would tell us that it is worse than a cone of shame. However, I love it! Until last night Kyle pulled on his leash in all directions and tripped me frequently. Now he walks with a perfect "J" in his leash (when he isn't trying to rub against my leg to get the Halti off).

(Kyle is sporting his new Halti with a pout on his face. This is the first time I have seen him flatten his ears back for anything. Hopefully he adjusts quickly.)

Now that Kyle walks sanely on a leash, I cannot wait to start taking him on more outings! Stay tuned for upcoming adventures.