Living the working life..

On friday we took Tandy to our weekly Mom to Mom group, as we will every Friday. He is to sit by my feet and be ignored by the kids, learning his life as a working dog. I like him in his little coat!







Tandy is starting to look like a man dog now! I think i can actually see him grow! He sure likes to cuddle. Last night the kids were gone for the night and Thomas and I had the whole house and dog to ourselves. Tandy is so calm and relaxed when the kids are gone/in bed. Lets just say he got lots of attention and when we came home at two am from dancing we let him out and wore him out a bit so we could sleep in! We are learning the tricks of owning a puppy and figuring out how to acquire sleep and quiet time with him safe in his crate.







Today we went as a family to zellers, while one adult took care of the shopping the other handled Tandy and made sure he did his down and sit and stay commands in the store. Luckily no one stopped us, though we do get a ton of looks and wide eyed amazement from people and of course people in the distance are always "oohing and ahhing!" Other then a difficult walk with him fighting me for some reason today and getting all weird and frisky he is doing great and listening well.

We are not alone..

I can't believe how many different puppy raising programs there are out there, i never thought about it until i started this blog. Getting comments from other raisers has led me to find tons of other puppy raising blogs, its amazing to think of all the dogs that are trained each year to help so many people with so many different issues. Its so fun to read and see what they all do different. While our pup has one set of "rules", like no jumping up other service dogs are trained to jump up to get things for their owners who might not be able to reach there themselves. That is one example, i am sure there are more and it is so cool to read and think about. I love that dogs are smart and helpful and that i get to be part of this learning process with a puppy.

In fact yesterday i took Tandy to the drugstore again, i think this was his 3rd or 4th time and he did exceptionally well (okay i keep saying this!) but seriously, he actually stayed down while i walked a way a bit and walked a heel beside me in the cramped isles, even with all the people there, (note to self, 6pm is busy in the drugstore!). Anyway, i felt like such and accomplished puppy raiser, one guy even asked me "Do you train dogs?" I told him i am raising the puppy, but it made me think, maybe i could be a dog trainer some day! Hahaha, oh god, if you ever knew me before Tandy you will be laughing your ass off right now!!

In Monday's class they told us we can now go to the mall, or in the grocery store for a few minutes (not buy anything with him yet!) So i think when i go to the mall i will get my son to take a few photos so we can remember those moments, Tandy still smallish in his purple puppy coat!

(the picture above has nothing to do with the blog entry, but i like to have a photo everyday of him!)

How can he be so cute?

Play date!

Tandy had a play date yesterday with my aunt's dog Hopi! It sure was a new learning experience for me in dog behavior and such. While dogs bark and growl and hoot while hanging out, their tails were a waggin' and a good time was had by both i think! It was very difficult for my son to capture a good picture of both dogs at once!




And while yesterday i was sad and unsure of my daughters relationship with the puppy, today i go to the kitchen and discover the picture here. She was telling Tandy "You are a good boy and i am a sick girl", (she has not been feeling so well lately) and she was petting him and kissing him! So another lesson for me, that i should remember always, just when things seem like they are not working out and i feel inadequate at this, they turn around for the better and we are one step ahead!

Puppy madness!

These last few days have been pretty rough with puppy around here. It could be the fact that it is winter and we are couped up or life with a puppy is not settling in as well as we thought. Either way we love Tandy and he amazes us, even if he insists on chewing through our walls or biting my youngest child all the time. My daughter is having a rough time with the puppy actually, she is jealous of him, like a new sibling taking her time away from me i guess, plus she has this nutty excitable energy that makes Tandy want to chew her up to bits! Its difficult at times dealing with the two of them! But this too shall pass quickly and we will have learned from it in the end. I didn't just want to report the nice cute stuff, i want to remember it all in the end.

On another note we are trying to frequent the public areas more, we had another attempt at the drugstore, it is so close to our house and we can walk there with Tandy and make him tired on the way! We also brought him to our mom to mom group where the kids and adults were really good at ignoring the cute puppy under the table and he was able to sleep for most of it! He is a bright little guy, and was born to work!

(in this picture tandy is focusing on me while learning to ignore the treat in my hand, and doing very well at it!!)

Action shots!

Outings!!

Last Friday we attempted a trip to the drugstore with Tandy. Our first public outing, dawning the purple coat we bravely entered the drugstore, walked in excitedly toward the back of the store and did a few focus and sit commands, walked to the cash chatted a minute with the cashier and out we went! It was as hectic as i thought it would be. I have to do it more and more now to get him used to it, hopefully he will be less excited every time! He is a strong guy! But i am stronger and i am his leader so he has to do what i say!

We drove to training class again tonight, the picture with the two pups is Tandy and Tawny his sister, they ride to class together, it is quite difficult to capture a good picutre of puppies!

The other pictures above were taken by Kale 8 years old, i thought they were pretty good, captured Tandy in his home here with us! He looks so wise in the closeup...well i think so!