Wow, about two months since I last blogged?
Sorry about that. School, life, Lila, etc.
Well, since a lot can happen in two months, I've got quite a few updates for you all before life with Lila starts to really pick up.
Lila is now four months old. She's been going on lots of walks and is starting to calm down a bit. (We might have to take them at night or early morning now that it's getting really hot.) She's been signed up for obedience classes, and has just started to loose her baby teeth (found one in her food bowl this morning).
I signed her up for obedience classes at PetSmart, which start on May 21st. Oh boy, this first class is going to be tons of "fun." As I was looking through the required materials for the class, I found several things that contradict how Pilot Dogs wants their puppies to be trained.
The trainer asks that nylon collars or harnesses be used; Pilot Dogs asks that the dogs wear training (also known as choke) collars when working obedience. The tainer asks that we buy small bite-sized treats for rewards; Pilot Dogs asks that their puppies not be given food rewards as this will not be feasible for their future career. Pilot Dogs also requires two commands to be modified for their puppies - come (come to the person, walk around behind them to their left side, heel, and remain standing) and heel (ribs in front of the handler's leg and hips behind the handler's leg). And then, I will probably have to miss a class for vacation.
So, yeah. I'm pretty positive the trainer is going to hate me in that first class. But, at the same time, I'm very excited in a very sick way for that first class. I just wanna see how all this is gonna play out.
And, speaking of vacation, I'm trying to get my parents to let me take her with us. Wish me luck.
Once we finish obedience classes, we'll get to start taking her pretty much anywhere we go. For the first time, I'm really excited for my senior year in high school. Although, school MIGHT get to be a little bit annoying when I'm trying to get to class and every person and their brother wants to pet her and such forth. No matter, it'll still be fun.
But, for now, life with Lila is still relatively calm. That'll be gone in few weeks. Or, if I'm lucky, months.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
Clowning Around
Lila is such a dork.
This morning, we went through the standard routine - get out of the cage, go outside to use the bathroom, and then come back in for breakfast.
When I sat her bowl of food down on the floor, she didn't start eating. This concerned me at first because whenever she's been feeling icky, she's not as enthusiatic towards her food.
Instead, Lila looked at her food. Then she looked at me. Then she looked back at her food, and then looked back up to me.
Confused, I talk to her. "Go on, honey, eat your food."
Lila looks back at her food, then to me one last time. She looks back to her food for a few seconds, picks up one of her front paws, and hovers it in the air for a second...
And she brings it down on her food bowl, spraying a handful of kibbles over the kitchen floor. She looked back at me, and I could swear she was laughing.
And she then proceeded to eat her food off the floor.
Oh, what a clown.
-Kaylyn
This morning, we went through the standard routine - get out of the cage, go outside to use the bathroom, and then come back in for breakfast.
When I sat her bowl of food down on the floor, she didn't start eating. This concerned me at first because whenever she's been feeling icky, she's not as enthusiatic towards her food.
Instead, Lila looked at her food. Then she looked at me. Then she looked back at her food, and then looked back up to me.
Confused, I talk to her. "Go on, honey, eat your food."
Lila looks back at her food, then to me one last time. She looks back to her food for a few seconds, picks up one of her front paws, and hovers it in the air for a second...
And she brings it down on her food bowl, spraying a handful of kibbles over the kitchen floor. She looked back at me, and I could swear she was laughing.
And she then proceeded to eat her food off the floor.
Oh, what a clown.
-Kaylyn
Sunday, March 28, 2010
Spring!
Spring is here!
The sun is shining, the temperatures are rising, the birds are singing, the grass is green, and the plants and trees are coming back to life!
I love spring - love it, love it, love it. I've started walking Lila now that its getting nice outside. The first few walks, we didn't go more than a block or so since she didn't know how to walk on a leash. Once she learned, though, those walks exploded into a range from a little over to a little under a mile each time we walk.
We took one such walk yesterday, and I taped it. It's mainly me rambling, but you get a lot of video of Lila.
And, so you all can see how much she's grown... Remember the photo I took of her the day after we got her - the one next to the Pilot Dogs bag? I took another one of that, since she's reached three months of age and has been with us for a little over a month now.
We also had a nice little "breakthrough" last night too. It wasn't a breakthrough per say, but it is evidence of her growing up some more. Normally, she'll go into her cage, yap once or twice then go to sleep when we put her up at night. About three to four hours later, she'll start barking again to be let out to go to the bathroom. And the timing works out so that she is pretty much always barking at 5 AM to be let out.
Last night, I stayed up rather late, and never heard her bark once after she quieted down for the night. When I got up this morning, my parents told me she didn't bark at 5 AM. She slept through her normal wake up time right until 7 AM! Oh, how I love her growing up. It makes a full night of sleep much easier to get. haha
-Kaylyn
Monday, March 15, 2010
First Month Reflections
Oh my, it's been a bit since I've had a new post.
Saturday marked our first full month with Lila. When we got her, she was almost two months old, and weighed about three and a half pounds. Her fur was soft, and her tail was nothing more than a stub. She couldn't hold her bladder more than an hour or so, and didn't know how to walk on a leash.
The progress she's had in just a month is amazing. She now weighs almost eleven pounds (she had a bacteria buildup and a parasite, which I will focus on later), and her hair is becoming more wiry and her tail is growing longer. She can now go about three to four hours without having to go outside, and is walking very nicely on a leash now. She now settles down into her kennel almost immediately. Some days there is crying, others there is none at all. She's not making it entirely through the night yet. Accidents are becoming less and less in the house.
However, despite the progress, we've had a small down side. My father bought her food while he was out one day. It was from the same food company, but the kibbles were different. He told me the food was the same, and I never checked to see if he was right. Because of that, we had to switch her food rather suddenly, which caused a bacteria build up in her intestines. After a few days, she wasn't getting any better, so we took her to the vet. They also found a parasite, which was probably why she was a tad skinny. She's now on medication for both, which is almost out now.
As far as socialization goes, we've been walking around the neighborhood a little bit more now that the weather is warming up. She's met several dogs and some of our friends and acquaintances in the neighborhood. And the distance of our walks is increasing quite a bit too. She's been to a couple horse barns around town - Twin Oaks Farm and the Louisville Equestrian Center, and has been to the houses of some of our family members.
I've not been focusing on teaching her commands just yet. She knows sit, come, off, and drop, but those were taught through everyday things (every time she would sit on her own, I'd say "sit"), and that's how I'll be "teaching" commands until her attention span increases some.
I'm starting to doubt that I will ever be disappointed by how Lila progresses. She learns so quickly and preforms her known commands very well for a two month old puppy, so I can only imagine how she'll be when she "grows up" some.
-Kaylyn
Saturday marked our first full month with Lila. When we got her, she was almost two months old, and weighed about three and a half pounds. Her fur was soft, and her tail was nothing more than a stub. She couldn't hold her bladder more than an hour or so, and didn't know how to walk on a leash.
The progress she's had in just a month is amazing. She now weighs almost eleven pounds (she had a bacteria buildup and a parasite, which I will focus on later), and her hair is becoming more wiry and her tail is growing longer. She can now go about three to four hours without having to go outside, and is walking very nicely on a leash now. She now settles down into her kennel almost immediately. Some days there is crying, others there is none at all. She's not making it entirely through the night yet. Accidents are becoming less and less in the house.
However, despite the progress, we've had a small down side. My father bought her food while he was out one day. It was from the same food company, but the kibbles were different. He told me the food was the same, and I never checked to see if he was right. Because of that, we had to switch her food rather suddenly, which caused a bacteria build up in her intestines. After a few days, she wasn't getting any better, so we took her to the vet. They also found a parasite, which was probably why she was a tad skinny. She's now on medication for both, which is almost out now.
As far as socialization goes, we've been walking around the neighborhood a little bit more now that the weather is warming up. She's met several dogs and some of our friends and acquaintances in the neighborhood. And the distance of our walks is increasing quite a bit too. She's been to a couple horse barns around town - Twin Oaks Farm and the Louisville Equestrian Center, and has been to the houses of some of our family members.
I've not been focusing on teaching her commands just yet. She knows sit, come, off, and drop, but those were taught through everyday things (every time she would sit on her own, I'd say "sit"), and that's how I'll be "teaching" commands until her attention span increases some.
I'm starting to doubt that I will ever be disappointed by how Lila progresses. She learns so quickly and preforms her known commands very well for a two month old puppy, so I can only imagine how she'll be when she "grows up" some.
-Kaylyn
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Breakthrough!
She gets it! She understands that you go outside to potty!
When I came downstairs this morning, I was playing with her and Gummi, when she trots off to the door to go outside. I go to see what she's doing, and she starts pawing at the door. I open up the door, and she trots right down the stairs, to the grass, and goes potty!
Oh my goodness, such a good girl! See what I mean by she learns quickly? It's been two weeks on the day. It took Gummi quite a bit to learn that (granted, Gummi was older, and from a shelter...). I think I'll start the bell trick. My friend has her dog trained to that, and when we took her to the vet on Wednesday, she started talking to us about bell training her. When she told me that she wanted to go out, I started thinking about how hitting a string of bells would be much better than scratching at a door for a potential guide dog. I'm gonna try to get that set up as soon as possible.
I didn't get to blog about her first vet trip - when we got home it was late, and I still had some homework to do.
Lila was very good during her first vet visit. She didn't act scared, was very curious, and didn't make shots or anything into a big dramatic fuss. Vet had us start her on her heart worm medication, which she chewed down on like it was treat (though it was awfully chewy, and took a bit to get down). I felt kinda bad the next day though. I got up early Thursday morning in order to finish some of the previously mentioned homework. Dad got Lila out just as I was coming downstairs and took her out and everything. I got my breakfast and coffee, and went back up to my room. She came running up a few minutes later, and started hoping up on my bed. I told her to get off and sit (I'm not letting her up on any furniture on her own will - only when I allow it), and then went to pick her up by her scruff. I completely forgot that she had her shot there, and it was still a little sore. She started crying, of course, but she quickly forgives. Thank goodness.
I believe we are taking her to visit my Grandmother today, also. She's already getting used to car rides and many visits to new people.
-Kaylyn
ETA:
I found a string of bells and hung them on the door. Throughout the day, I've been ringing them whenever I took Lila out. When I was sitting at dinner just a short while ago, I noticed Lila scamper off to the door. She looks at the bell, a little unsure, and then kinda scratches at the door. She gets a little more confident, sticks her paws on the door (she can't quite reach the bell just yet), and RINGS THE BELL. LESS than a DAY, and she already knows it. Little miss is so darn smart, and I absolutely love her to death.
When I came downstairs this morning, I was playing with her and Gummi, when she trots off to the door to go outside. I go to see what she's doing, and she starts pawing at the door. I open up the door, and she trots right down the stairs, to the grass, and goes potty!
Oh my goodness, such a good girl! See what I mean by she learns quickly? It's been two weeks on the day. It took Gummi quite a bit to learn that (granted, Gummi was older, and from a shelter...). I think I'll start the bell trick. My friend has her dog trained to that, and when we took her to the vet on Wednesday, she started talking to us about bell training her. When she told me that she wanted to go out, I started thinking about how hitting a string of bells would be much better than scratching at a door for a potential guide dog. I'm gonna try to get that set up as soon as possible.
I didn't get to blog about her first vet trip - when we got home it was late, and I still had some homework to do.
Lila was very good during her first vet visit. She didn't act scared, was very curious, and didn't make shots or anything into a big dramatic fuss. Vet had us start her on her heart worm medication, which she chewed down on like it was treat (though it was awfully chewy, and took a bit to get down). I felt kinda bad the next day though. I got up early Thursday morning in order to finish some of the previously mentioned homework. Dad got Lila out just as I was coming downstairs and took her out and everything. I got my breakfast and coffee, and went back up to my room. She came running up a few minutes later, and started hoping up on my bed. I told her to get off and sit (I'm not letting her up on any furniture on her own will - only when I allow it), and then went to pick her up by her scruff. I completely forgot that she had her shot there, and it was still a little sore. She started crying, of course, but she quickly forgives. Thank goodness.
I believe we are taking her to visit my Grandmother today, also. She's already getting used to car rides and many visits to new people.
-Kaylyn
ETA:
I found a string of bells and hung them on the door. Throughout the day, I've been ringing them whenever I took Lila out. When I was sitting at dinner just a short while ago, I noticed Lila scamper off to the door. She looks at the bell, a little unsure, and then kinda scratches at the door. She gets a little more confident, sticks her paws on the door (she can't quite reach the bell just yet), and RINGS THE BELL. LESS than a DAY, and she already knows it. Little miss is so darn smart, and I absolutely love her to death.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
She's Amazing
It's official - 'Lil Miss is a natural.
On Friday, I took her to my barn, where she had her first contact with horses. No nipping, no barking, no growling, no nothing. She was a little intimidated by Toby, the obnoxious stray that is now the barn dog, because he is overly loud whenever another dog shows up, but she wasn't scared of him. She got a little closer to a couple of the horses' hind ends than I'd like, but that was because I thought the leash was shorter than it was so she got a little close on my part, and because of a little resisting on the leash on her part.
Lila also had her first grooming appointment on Saturday, and it was also our first week together. When we dropped her off, the woman who I spoke to about her grooming needs before we got her recognized me and snatched her up in an instant. When we got her back, she had nothing but praise for her - and a cute little bow in her hair. Of course, I didn't get any pictures with her in it before we left to go to a family dinner, and she had ripped it out by the time we got home. Oh, Lila...
But, I am continually amazed at what a natural she is at what Pilot Dogs consider absolute essentials in a seeing-eye dog. As we've had her at home, I've noticed she's got a very confident attitude. She'll go right up to my seventy five pound, two foot tall mutt and have absolutely no fear at all, but, at the same time, she's not aggressive towards her. Lila's not food or toy posessive either, and you can take them away at any time with no issues at all. And to put it all to boot, the little girl learns quickly. By the second day with us, she had learned sit and come. She's now preforming sit pretty much one hundred percent of the time, come is about eighty percent, and she's learning stay and quiet.
And she's also learning how to walk.
She had her first "walk" today. We really only walked about half a block, but it was her first time out on the leash. "Working position" is to the person's left and slightly ahead of them, but not pulling on the leash. The only adjustment to get her in working position was putting her on my left side. She hardly ever pulled on the leash during our short walk, and she was always slightly ahead of me. We had a few sticky spots where she would just sit down and refuse to move, but those didn't last long and she continued right on as normal.
At night, she's starting to quiet down much faster, along with not barking the minute she gets in her kennel. Like I said, she learns fast and is improving quickly.
Our big event for this next week is her first vet visit with us for her second set of puppy shots on Wednesday. Oh boy. This shall be fun.
-Kaylyn
On Friday, I took her to my barn, where she had her first contact with horses. No nipping, no barking, no growling, no nothing. She was a little intimidated by Toby, the obnoxious stray that is now the barn dog, because he is overly loud whenever another dog shows up, but she wasn't scared of him. She got a little closer to a couple of the horses' hind ends than I'd like, but that was because I thought the leash was shorter than it was so she got a little close on my part, and because of a little resisting on the leash on her part.
Lila also had her first grooming appointment on Saturday, and it was also our first week together. When we dropped her off, the woman who I spoke to about her grooming needs before we got her recognized me and snatched her up in an instant. When we got her back, she had nothing but praise for her - and a cute little bow in her hair. Of course, I didn't get any pictures with her in it before we left to go to a family dinner, and she had ripped it out by the time we got home. Oh, Lila...
But, I am continually amazed at what a natural she is at what Pilot Dogs consider absolute essentials in a seeing-eye dog. As we've had her at home, I've noticed she's got a very confident attitude. She'll go right up to my seventy five pound, two foot tall mutt and have absolutely no fear at all, but, at the same time, she's not aggressive towards her. Lila's not food or toy posessive either, and you can take them away at any time with no issues at all. And to put it all to boot, the little girl learns quickly. By the second day with us, she had learned sit and come. She's now preforming sit pretty much one hundred percent of the time, come is about eighty percent, and she's learning stay and quiet.
And she's also learning how to walk.
She had her first "walk" today. We really only walked about half a block, but it was her first time out on the leash. "Working position" is to the person's left and slightly ahead of them, but not pulling on the leash. The only adjustment to get her in working position was putting her on my left side. She hardly ever pulled on the leash during our short walk, and she was always slightly ahead of me. We had a few sticky spots where she would just sit down and refuse to move, but those didn't last long and she continued right on as normal.
At night, she's starting to quiet down much faster, along with not barking the minute she gets in her kennel. Like I said, she learns fast and is improving quickly.
Our big event for this next week is her first vet visit with us for her second set of puppy shots on Wednesday. Oh boy. This shall be fun.
-Kaylyn
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Eight Weeks Old!
'Lil miss turned eight weeks old today! And she had another bath today.
Potty training makes her stinkeh. Baths are gonna be pretty frequent until she gets that down then, I would suppose. And, on a grooming note, I'm gonna end up moving the PetSmart grooming trip to the weekend - probably Saturday. I need to get tags for her and her own food and water bowls and such forth, so I can shop while she gets groomed.
Lila also climbed the stairs to go upstairs on her own today! She was never confident about them before, and would sit and whine at the bottom to be picked up and carried up them. Then she started to consider, but would only get her front paws on the first step. And then she climbed them today! So that makes things a tad bit easier on me.
Today was also her first time alone for an extended amount of time. She was on her own for about half the day, and was with mom the other half. She's unintentionally getting a somewhat gradual transition from being held all day to being in her kennel. And, speaking of kennels, she's getting a little better about going in hers at night. She's still resistant, but the resistance isn't lasting as long. And she isn't crying as soon as she goes in now, and the crying is also lasting for a shorter amount of time.
Overall, everything's getting gradually easier on us. Now, we've just got to get potty training down and everything will be much easier because then I won't have to be watching her 24/7 to catch accidents about to happen or have to ask my Mom or Dad to hold her while I go do something.
That's about all for now - not a very eventful day today.
-Kaylyn
Potty training makes her stinkeh. Baths are gonna be pretty frequent until she gets that down then, I would suppose. And, on a grooming note, I'm gonna end up moving the PetSmart grooming trip to the weekend - probably Saturday. I need to get tags for her and her own food and water bowls and such forth, so I can shop while she gets groomed.
Lila also climbed the stairs to go upstairs on her own today! She was never confident about them before, and would sit and whine at the bottom to be picked up and carried up them. Then she started to consider, but would only get her front paws on the first step. And then she climbed them today! So that makes things a tad bit easier on me.
Today was also her first time alone for an extended amount of time. She was on her own for about half the day, and was with mom the other half. She's unintentionally getting a somewhat gradual transition from being held all day to being in her kennel. And, speaking of kennels, she's getting a little better about going in hers at night. She's still resistant, but the resistance isn't lasting as long. And she isn't crying as soon as she goes in now, and the crying is also lasting for a shorter amount of time.
Overall, everything's getting gradually easier on us. Now, we've just got to get potty training down and everything will be much easier because then I won't have to be watching her 24/7 to catch accidents about to happen or have to ask my Mom or Dad to hold her while I go do something.
That's about all for now - not a very eventful day today.
-Kaylyn
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