Once again I am playing catch-up with you. The past 4 months have been a rush of training Nicholas, returning to school and working long hours.
First things first. Nicholas is now 7 months old. He has progressed by leaps and bounds in the last 3 months. From being a hyper, unruly puppy to the (mostly) well behaved juvenile he is today. It was a long road to get here, but I am pleased with the progress he is making.
January
Well, early January seemed to be a turning point for both of us. I don't know what happened, but the 2nd week of January Nicholas just seemed to "get it". It was almost as if a switch had been flipped in his little head that said "Hey, this is what she wants me to do!" It was like night and day: no more mouthing, no more biting, no more chasing the cats, no more pulling on the leash. It was a nice change. Yet at the same time it was a little scary. I keep looking at him and thinking "You look like Nicholas, but who are you and what have you done with my puppy?"
January was also when Nicholas finally became "street-legal". He received his final round of vaccines and was able to accompany me to more places. This was also when his self-control kicked in. This was a good thing because 10 days into the new year, I was scheduled to come in for jury duty. I was a little apprehensive about how Nicholas would behave, but I had noting to worry about. He was such a trooper, chewing on his Nylabone and Kong or sleeping at my feet in the jury box. It was amazing for the 3 days we were there everyone would call out "Hi Nicholas!" and ask me questions about him the the Puppy Raising program. While we didn't make the final cut for jury duty, Nicholas made me very proud.
At the end of January he finally got to meet my sister. She flew in from New York where she lives and stayed with us for almost 2 weeks. He was his active self, but did behave when she was around. He even came with me to the airport to pick her up. Nicholas also attended his 2nd GDA Graduation and this time it went much, MUCH better. While he did want to socialize with the other dogs, I made sure to keep him focussed on behaving. We had been working on having him settle down and after 15 minutes or so, he sat down next to me and watched the people go by. Well...actually I sat on the ground and he decided my lap was comfier than the concrete so he sat on me during the ceremony.
February
February was pretty mellow. Nicholas passed his second round of Puppy Kindergarten and moved on to Basic Obedience with the older "kids". Nicholas has some difficulty settling in because many of the puppies in this class are the same ones from Puppy Kindergarten and he just wants to play with them. Also, since he is an early riser the 7:00pm-8:00pm class is just a little past his bedtime and he gets a little grumpy towards the end of class.
The Orange County Puppy Raisers did a group outing in Newport Beach in mid-February. Since Nicholas wasn't yet 6 months old, he was not able to attend. Instead, we went to San Diego and exposed him to a park full of people.
Balboa Park was host to the 1915 Panama-California Exhibition this later became known as the first World's Fair. It covers 1200 acres and is home to a wide variety of gardens and museums, as well as the world's largest outdoor pipe organ at the Spreckels Organ Pavilion. On most weekends the park is full of people having picnics, playing fetch with their dogs and strolling through the gardens. It seemed an ideal place for Nicholas to get exposed to the public.
Once we got to the park, we headed for the Japanese Friendship Garden. The cherry blossoms were just starting to bloom and the entire park was a contrast of deep green and pale pink. Nicholas got to practice his sit-stays and down-stays. He was fascinated with the koi fish and had a much better experience with them this time!
After that we went to the Embarcadero where we walked along the water and visited the tribute to Bob Hope and the USO. Nicholas got to practice his sit-stay while I took his picture.
March
March was spent working on more basics. Nicholas has a naturally fast gait and it is hard for him to match my speed when I slow down. If we are out somewhere and he has the goal of going places and "working" then he is fine. However, walking around the neighborhood he tends to speed up and walk fast. He also likes to sit facing away from me while doing obedience. Both of these are issues we need to work on as well as his distraction with dogs. Whenever Nicholas sees another dog, he really wants to go and play. This is a distraction for him and one that I think we will be continuously working on.
This was also a month of many vet visits. Ever since switching to the adult blend of the ProPlan food, Nicholas has been plagued with stomach trouble. Usually just soft stool or diarrhea. Every 2-3 weeks since January I drove up to the GDA vet to have him checked out. He was always active and never lethargic and all his tests came back negative for parasites. We had settled into a pattern: Nicholas would get sick, we'd go see the vet and he'd be placed on a bland diet of chicken and rice for 7 days. He'd recover and would continue eating the ProPlan food. After 1-2 weeks, he would get sick again. The entire process repeated itself 3 times. The 3rd time he was actually vomiting. Once again he was placed on bland food for 10 days and recovered.
This time, however, Nicholas had his food changed. Instead of being on the Shredded Chicken food, he was switched to the Shredded Lamb food. I am pleased to report that he is no longer getting sick and has put on some weight. While still tall and lean, he is now much healthier looking with a little layer of fat beneath his skin. :)
Despite what people think, being a Guide Dog puppy in training isn't all work. Nicholas LOVES to run and fetch. Once a week we go to a recently closed school and toss his Kong Zinger around. As a Guide Dog pup, he is not allowed to play with tennis balls so tossing a ball for him to fetch is out of the question. That is why the Kong Zinger is such a treat for him. The little rubber rings bounce, zoom, zig-zag and always keep him on his toes! It is such a joy to watch him run across the field after them!
He is always such a tired puppy afterwards!
Stay tuned for more upcoming adventures of Nicholas - Guide Dog Puppy in Training!
For more information:
Balboa Park: www.balboapark.org
The Japanese Friendship Garden: www.niwa.org
Salute to Bob Hope and the Military: http://www.portofsandiego.org/public-art/view-the-art-directory/778-bob-hope-tribute-by-eugene-daub-a-steven-whyte.html
January
Well, early January seemed to be a turning point for both of us. I don't know what happened, but the 2nd week of January Nicholas just seemed to "get it". It was almost as if a switch had been flipped in his little head that said "Hey, this is what she wants me to do!" It was like night and day: no more mouthing, no more biting, no more chasing the cats, no more pulling on the leash. It was a nice change. Yet at the same time it was a little scary. I keep looking at him and thinking "You look like Nicholas, but who are you and what have you done with my puppy?"
 |
| Doing his civic duty at the court house. |
At the end of January he finally got to meet my sister. She flew in from New York where she lives and stayed with us for almost 2 weeks. He was his active self, but did behave when she was around. He even came with me to the airport to pick her up. Nicholas also attended his 2nd GDA Graduation and this time it went much, MUCH better. While he did want to socialize with the other dogs, I made sure to keep him focussed on behaving. We had been working on having him settle down and after 15 minutes or so, he sat down next to me and watched the people go by. Well...actually I sat on the ground and he decided my lap was comfier than the concrete so he sat on me during the ceremony.
February
February was pretty mellow. Nicholas passed his second round of Puppy Kindergarten and moved on to Basic Obedience with the older "kids". Nicholas has some difficulty settling in because many of the puppies in this class are the same ones from Puppy Kindergarten and he just wants to play with them. Also, since he is an early riser the 7:00pm-8:00pm class is just a little past his bedtime and he gets a little grumpy towards the end of class.
The Orange County Puppy Raisers did a group outing in Newport Beach in mid-February. Since Nicholas wasn't yet 6 months old, he was not able to attend. Instead, we went to San Diego and exposed him to a park full of people.
 |
| Nicholas isn't a fan of organ music. |
 |
| Those are some BIG fish! |
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| Nicholas and his new friend Bob Hope |
After that we went to the Embarcadero where we walked along the water and visited the tribute to Bob Hope and the USO. Nicholas got to practice his sit-stay while I took his picture.
March
March was spent working on more basics. Nicholas has a naturally fast gait and it is hard for him to match my speed when I slow down. If we are out somewhere and he has the goal of going places and "working" then he is fine. However, walking around the neighborhood he tends to speed up and walk fast. He also likes to sit facing away from me while doing obedience. Both of these are issues we need to work on as well as his distraction with dogs. Whenever Nicholas sees another dog, he really wants to go and play. This is a distraction for him and one that I think we will be continuously working on.
This was also a month of many vet visits. Ever since switching to the adult blend of the ProPlan food, Nicholas has been plagued with stomach trouble. Usually just soft stool or diarrhea. Every 2-3 weeks since January I drove up to the GDA vet to have him checked out. He was always active and never lethargic and all his tests came back negative for parasites. We had settled into a pattern: Nicholas would get sick, we'd go see the vet and he'd be placed on a bland diet of chicken and rice for 7 days. He'd recover and would continue eating the ProPlan food. After 1-2 weeks, he would get sick again. The entire process repeated itself 3 times. The 3rd time he was actually vomiting. Once again he was placed on bland food for 10 days and recovered.
 |
| Sick Nick. |
This time, however, Nicholas had his food changed. Instead of being on the Shredded Chicken food, he was switched to the Shredded Lamb food. I am pleased to report that he is no longer getting sick and has put on some weight. While still tall and lean, he is now much healthier looking with a little layer of fat beneath his skin. :)
Despite what people think, being a Guide Dog puppy in training isn't all work. Nicholas LOVES to run and fetch. Once a week we go to a recently closed school and toss his Kong Zinger around. As a Guide Dog pup, he is not allowed to play with tennis balls so tossing a ball for him to fetch is out of the question. That is why the Kong Zinger is such a treat for him. The little rubber rings bounce, zoom, zig-zag and always keep him on his toes! It is such a joy to watch him run across the field after them!
 |
| Flat Nicholas after running at the park. |
He is always such a tired puppy afterwards!
Stay tuned for more upcoming adventures of Nicholas - Guide Dog Puppy in Training!
For more information:
Balboa Park: www.balboapark.org
The Japanese Friendship Garden: www.niwa.org
Salute to Bob Hope and the Military: http://www.portofsandiego.org/public-art/view-the-art-directory/778-bob-hope-tribute-by-eugene-daub-a-steven-whyte.html
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