Puppy In Training

A lot has happened the last few days/weeks in my puppy training life. Exactly two weeks ago I received a call from our Orange County GDA group leader asking me if I’d like to puppy raise another Guide Dog. I was a little hesitant, but excited at the same time. If you’ve been following my blog then you know I decided to raise Derby from the “D” litter and picked him up last Friday.

Derby’s been great since I picked him up. The last couple days he’s done really well at my office (and of course he’s a hit with all of the employees). He also sleeps through most of the night (exact opposite of Stetson)…a few whines and moans here and there, but usually he falls asleep very quickly. He does really well at “table up”, is starting to wait at doorways, and has actually gone over to and waited at the back door to go outside twice already. YAY FOR DERBY!

Stetson Career Changed

Just this afternoon I found out that Stetson has been career changed. I was caught totally by surprise…I worked really hard with Stetson and thought he had many great qualities that would help him become an excellent Guide Dog. I was so overwhelmed when I received the call I was pretty much tongue tied. I have several questions I’d like to ask our puppy manager Louise to try and find out exactly what went wrong with Stetson. Did he really not want to work as a Guide Dog?

I do have mixed emotions about Stetson not making it as a guide dog. I was really looking forward to his graduation and meeting his blind partner. I was excited that he was going to help someone get around in their daily lives and be a constant companion. I had dreams of him doing great things in his life…the good thing is we had a back up plan and Stetson will still get a chance to use his training and help people.

Stetson The Therapy Dog

Stetson the Therapy Dog has a nice ring to it! I always wanted to train Stetson best I could. We attended every training class offered by Tammy (Puppy Kindergarten) and Ramona (Basic Obedience). In total Stetson finished 2 puppy kindergarten classes and 4 basic obedience classes. Stetson and his buddy Dustin both received their Canine Good Citizen Certificate back in February. All of this training including the socialization Stetson has gone through makes him a perfect candidate as a therapy dog.

Our group meeting a couple months back focused on what to do if your dog is career changed. One of the options from this meeting was therapy dog training. I learned a couple important points:

1. There are different therapy dog programs - depending on where you and your dog would like to visit might determine what program you should get involved with.
2. READ - a program where kids read to your dog.

There’s additional information on our Orange County GDA group website on career change opportunities including therapy dog certification. Several of the dogs in our group already have their therapy dog certification and over the next couple weeks I’ll try and find out which certification will best suit Stetson. So…the journey continues for Stetson!

In a couple weeks time I went from a one dog household to a three dog household. Tomorrow I’m going back to Sylmar to pick up Stetson and while I’m sad he’s not making it as a guide dog I’m happy to have him back home.

We got all the votes in, there were several great contenders for “D” puppy names (Derby, Dublin, Duke, Denali, Dodger, Dante, Darwin), and the final name is “DERBY” my next Guide Dogs of America Puppy In Training!

Picking Up Your GDA Puppy

I was very excited to pickup Derby and invited a couple friends to help document the occasion with video and pictures. When I went to pickup Stetson I left two hours early and got to Sylmar an hour before pickup. I had to sit and wait for a little over an hour. This time I left an hour and a half early and arrived a half hour after schedule pickup. I guess traffic can be unpredictable. It was driving me crazy going only 5 mph up the 5 freeway. I guess I should have taken the 405…

We finally arrived and Louise, our puppy program manager was going through orientation and I think stalling till I arrived (sorry everybody!). We filled out our paperwork and got our puppy packages (bowl, brush, collars, toys, tags, etc.).

Finally down to the kennels to pick up our puppies. Unfortunately, the video camera ran out of batteries and my digital camera broke, but I do have some pictures with my brother’s camera when I got home on Friday. My friends Erin and Traci took a few pictures at GDA with their cameras too, but I haven’t seen them yet.

Derby, Puppy In Training

Here are the first few pictures I took of Derby when we got home:

Derby sitting by the fireplace

Derby on the bathroom tiles

Derby with Linus sitting on the couch

Derby looking like a Sharpei

Derby has a lot of loose skin around his face. I’m sure he’ll fill that in over the next couple months. In the picture above he looks a little like a Sharpei.

I’ll try to get some of the pictures from GDA up on the site when they become available to me.

I hope everyone else in the “D” litter had a good weekend!

I finally chose a puppy name for little “D” puppy. Sorry it took so long, but our Puppy Program Manager at Guide Dogs of America was on vacation for the past week. I submitted my list of potential puppy names to GDA last Friday and got word back today on what names were available.

Puppy Names

Just last week I found out and decided to raise a puppy from the “D” litter for Guide Dogs of America. If you’ve been keeping up with my posts then you’ll see a whole slew of suggested names in the comments area of the following post: How To Name Your Guide Dog Puppy. I also added alphabetical lists of puppy names to the right sidebar and to the top navigation bar of this blog (I plan on removing the links on the side, but will most likely leave a link in the top navigation).

My first dogs name was Stetson and if you read my post How To Name Your Guide Dog Puppy then you know the story about how I came up with his name. Stetson is a hat and a cologne. Some suggested Drakkar as a suitable “D” puppy name and liked continuing the cologne themes. However, it appears that most people liked the hat theme and wanted to go with the name “Derby”.

After many votes and name suggestions from many different people I compiled a list that included the top 7 “D” puppy names:

1. Derby - 9 votes
2. Dublin - 7 votes
3. Duke - 6 votes
4. Denali - 5 votes
5. Dante- 5 votes
6. Dodger - 4 votes
7. Darwin - 3 votes

My vote was for “Derby” and I’m glad the majority agreed with me. However I did like each name on this list and wouldn’t mind using any of the names for my new puppy in training.

Early this morning I heard back from our Puppy Program Manager and the name “Derby” was available. I quickly emailed back and said “YES” Derby is the name I’d like for my new puppy.

Tomorrow I get to pickup Derby and I’m very excited. We get to see Anne and Jim, Joe and Janet, and their new little puppies…Dutch and Dexter. I’m bringing my camera and a camcorder to capture some video.

Thanks everyone for your help with all the puppy name suggestions!

For a list of puppy names in alphabetical order take a look at this page:

Puppy Names

For a list of popular puppy names take a look at this post:

Popular Puppy Names

I almost forgot to write a short post about the 14th Annual Dawg Walk, Pet Faire, and Dog Adoption Event right here in Mission Viejo, CA.

This sounds like another great dog event located pretty close to my home here in Irvine, CA.  I first heard about the DAWG walk from one of our Orange County GDA members at last months group meeting.  At that time I didn’t know I was going to raise another puppy for GDA and was planning on attending this event.  As it turns out I’m raising a puppy from the “D” litter and will pick him up this Friday and may not be able to go to the DAWG Walk, Pet Faire, Dog Adoption (unless I can find a puppy sitter for a few hours).

Here are the details about the event straight from a newsletter I received:

The 14th Annual DAWG Walk, Pet Faire & Dog Adoption Event

On Saturday, June 28, 8:00 a.m. – Noon., the City of Mission Viejo Animal Services Center has joined the Dedicated Animal Welfare Group (DAWG) for an exciting event that animal lovers of all ages enjoy: The 14th Annual DAWG Walk, Pet Faire & Dog Adoption Event.

DAWG is a charitable, non-profit organization that raises money to pay medical costs for sick and injured orphaned animals in our community and at the Mission Viejo Animal Shelter allowing that shelter to remain pro-humane.

The staging area will be at the beautiful Thomas R. Potocki Conference Center & Soccer Fields in Mission Viejo, (27301 La Paz Rd. off Marguerite Pkwy. across from Commerce Center), and the DAWG Walk will take place on the scenic Oso Creek Trail, adjacent to the fields.

If you participated in past years, you know that over 40 businesses, animal rescue and pet and wildlife organizations are represented, and the event includes entertainment groups (flyball, agility and disc dogs, sheriff’s mounted patrol and their horses), music, refreshments, contests and prizes. The June morning temperature has proven to be perfect for both K9s and their people (and the scenic Oso Creek Trail will be in full bloom)!

What: 14th Annual DAWG WALK,PET FAIRE & DOG ADOPTION EVENT

When: Saturday, June 28, 2008, 8:00 a.m. to Noon (Booth setup begins at 7:00 a.m.)

Where: Potocki Center and Oso Creek Trail in Mission Viejo, 27301 La Paz Road (off Marguerite Parkway) at Potocki Drive

I hope it’s not as hot as last weekend. This event sounds like a lot of fun and I already know several of our Orange County GDA members plan on attending. As for me, I’m not quite sure yet. It will only be little “D” puppy’s second day at my house and unless I can find a puppy sitter (might not be too difficult) then I will be staying home with little “D”.

By the way, for those of you who are waiting for an update on “D” puppy’s name I called the puppy department at GDA, but our puppy program manager is in England right now and I won’t have a final word on his puppy name till this Thursday. I know….the suspense is killing me too.

Hopefully I can make it out to the 14th Annual Dawg Walk, Pet Faire, And Dog Adoption this Saturday.  If you attend let me know how it goes in the comment section below.

Everyone who reads my blog already knows that my puppy in training, Stetson went in for formal guide dog training in Sylmar, CA about a month and a half ago. During my time with Stetson the number one question everyone asked me was “Isn’t it difficult to give your dog back when it’s time for him to go to formal guide dog training?” Stetson was my first GDA puppy in training, but I knew it would be difficult giving him up…and it was.

Now the main questions I get most is “Have you heard anything about Stetson?” and “How is Stetson Doing?” Friends, family, and myself are all interested in his progress. I’ve heard from other puppy raisers that the majority of the first month is to check his physical health, so really not too much is going on.

Formal Guide Dog Training

Stetson just sent me his first postcard to inform me on how he’s doing in his formal guide dog training. I was so excited I brought the card with me everywhere I went. I wanted to show all my friends and family how he was doing (that’s why postcard looks all crinkled…it was in my pocket the last couple days). Here’s the card:

I’m not the greatest with the camera and that pictures pretty blurry. Just in case you can’t read it here’s what Stetson had to say:

Dear Dad,

How are you doing? I’m great! I’m learning how to walk with a special black and white harness on. Boy do I look handsome! Next we will be learning right and left turns. Hope you are doing well. Take Care!

Wags & Kisses,

Stetson

I’m so proud of that boy!

I’ve heard that Stetson will write postcards about once a month. I can’t wait for his next one and I hope he’s still doing well with his training.

Is your puppy in formal guide dog training? If they are I’d love to hear how they’re doing.

While we’re still on the subject of puppy names I did a little research on some of the most popular puppy names. After looking over several most popular puppy names lists I noticed only one name (for males) beginning with the letter “D” inside the top 20. “Duke” was listed as the number 10 most popular puppy name. Duke was one of the puppy names I sent to GDA for approval for my “D” puppy. “Dakota” was listed as the 11th most popular female name.

I did notice that Max was number 1 on most of the lists I found. When I picked up Linus from the shelter Max was the first name my ex-girlfriend wanted to name him. At the time I thought Max seemed like a very common name and didn’t really want to name my new puppy Max. I guess I was right since Max is number 1 on the list

Top 20 Most Popular Puppy Names

When I think of the puppies in our guide dog group the majority of the names do not show up on the top 20 most popular puppy names list. It seems that our group goes with more original choices including names like Noelani, Houston, Naomi, Ulie, Journey, Cash, Stetson, Nyah, Dustin, Verrina, Darla, Paisley…etc.

Two names I do remember from our GDA group that I see on the popular puppy name list are Bailey and Buster.

A couple of our newest GDA puppies in training:

Violet

Here’s a picture of Violet chewing on her bone. Violet is a female Golden Retriever from our Guide Dog group. Violet’s puppy name was not on the top 20 puppy name list.

Ace

Here’s a picture of Ace. A male yellow Labrador Retriever from our Guide Dog group. His puppy name did not make the top 20 puppy name list.

Puppy Names Honorable Mention

These list vary quite a bit from year to year. I just wanted to list a few other names that showed up on some lists, but not others.

When I was a kid I always wanted to have a dog named “Jake”. Number 2 on the list. I have another friend who told me they’ve always wanted to get a yellow Labrador Retriever and name him “Bailey”. Number 5 on the list. You don’t always have to choose one of the most popular names. My friends son, who really likes dinosaurs named his puppy Tyrannosaurus Rex. They call him T-Rex or Rex for short.

Here on puppy in training we have a large list of puppy names sorted alphabetically. If the most popular puppy names don’t suit your taste then take a look at our alphabetical list of puppy names. I’m sure you’ll find a name that fits your personality.

Most puppy names seem to have some kind of meaning to there owner. What did you name your puppy and why?

Have you ever wondered how Guide Dogs of America names their puppies? I’ve probably talked about it before here on my website, but I just wanted to go through the process again. I always thought the guide dog organization named all of their puppies, but that is not the case.  I got the chance to name my first puppy and came up with the name “Stetson”.

Where did I come up with the name Stetson? One of my cousin’s friends was actually the guy who rode the horse in the stetson cologne commercials. We used to call him the “Stetson Man”. I remembered and decided that would be a good name for my first puppy in training. I think the new “Stetson Man” is Matthew McConaughy.

This is a picture of “Ace” chewing on a toy in my office at work. If you noticed his vest he’s a GDA puppy in training (I puppy sat him for 10 days this month). As you might have guessed “Ace” is from the “A” litter.

How To Name Your Guide Dog Puppy

There are a few rules you have to follow when naming your puppy for Guide Dogs of America.

1. Guide Dogs of America assigns a letter to each litter. For instance, Stetson was from the “S” litter and his siblings were Salem, Stuart, Skylar, and Sukie.
2. The name can’t be the same as a current Puppy In Training, current Guide Dog, or current Breeder.
3. It also can’t be a funny type name. For instance, the manual says please no guide dogs by the name of “Popcorn”. Guide Dogs of America are usually pretty lenient. Before getting Stetson I submitted a list to Louise our puppy program manager, and she let me know what names were available/appropriate.

If you are having problems coming up with a name I’ve added a list of puppy names here on the Puppy In Training website. You can also get great ideas for puppy names by consulting your friends and family.

If you have any names you’d like to add to the list on this website please send me an email or leave me a comment in the comments area below.

Why Are We talking About Puppy Names?

So why are we talking about puppy names? As many of you know my original plan was to wait and see how Stetson did with his formal training before making a decision on when I’d raise another puppy.

Well…there’s been a change of plans. Yesterday our group leader gave me a call letting me know that a male yellow Labrador Retriever needed a puppy raiser. He’s from the “D” litter and I already knew that our friends Joe and Janet (they raised Buster and Trooper) were raising “Dexter” from this litter. I also found out just hours earlier that our other good friends Anne and Jim (they raised Hogan and Dustin) were going to raise “Dutch” from the same litter.

As I said earlier, I wanted to wait and see what happened to Stetson before raising another puppy. I was a little hesitant at first and needed to make sure I had a puppy sitter for a couple vacations I’ve already planned this summer. However, the opportunity to raise a “D” puppy with Joe & Janet and Anne & Jim was something I just couldn’t pass up.

Puppy Names

This is where I need your help. I have a few names I’m already considering for my little “D” puppy, but I wanted to consult with you, my blog readers. Here are a few names I like:

• Denali
• Derby
• Dash
• Dublin
• Dodger

Nothing is set in stone yet. I really would like your opinion on puppy names that start with the letter “D”. Please add your favorite “D” name to the comment section below.

My plan is to submit my list of “D” names to Louise on Friday so please let me know as soon as possible your favorite “D” puppy name.

…but I missed the Guide Dog Demonstration :(  We were late for the Guide Dogs of America open house this year and we missed the Guide Dog demonstration. I felt even worse about missing the demo when I heard that our friend Dustin was one of the dogs in the demonstration. Everyone told me he did really well and lucky for me Joanna and Camry took a short video of Dustin and posted it to their blog.

Lucky for me we did get a chance to check out the other activities at the open house.

The Puppy Trials

The puppy trials are my favorite part of the open house and I was hoping to take Stetson through the event. Unfortunately, Stetson was in the kennels and I didn’t even get a chance to see him. I did get a chance to snap a few photos of the contestants and obstacles in the trials.

Puppy trials began at 11:30am. Here’s what you need to do when you arrive (a reference for next year…hopefully I’ll have a puppy I can enter):

1. Check in at the Entry Table when you arrive.
2. Listen for your number to be called to start the obstacle course (10 numbers will be called at a time).
3. Return your number to the Entry Table to receive your participants ribbon.
4. Announcement of Puppy Trials

First Place winners of each age group will have a permanent place on our Top Dog Plaque, which will be displayed in the kennel building. Stetson’s brother Stuart finished first in our age group last year.

In the picture below do you see the obstacle to the left? Those are hot dogs on a stick and marshmellows. This little yellow lab has his eye on the prize, but he successfully avoided those little wieners.

The first time I introduced Stetson to stairs he was horrible. He liked to pull and run up the stairs even when I told him to heel. However, after a lot of practice Stetson became a master at the stairs. This yellow lab looks as thought he’s mastered the stairs as well.

Last year Stetson successfully ignored the ducks and llamas. The duck is actually on the right side outside of the picture. Sorry for the lousy picture the shadows were not treating me well in this photo.

Some of the other obstacles the puppies have to navigate are basic commands in the grass, walk through a pile of wood chips, simulation of a dining room environment, vet check, and sitting quietly on the bus.

Other Stuff Happening At Open House

For small donations they have food available including a bake sale at the Girl Scouts booth. The regular silent auction has tons of great baskets and last year we bid on several coming home with a basket full of cat products (my mom loves cats). This year nothing caught our fancy and we didn’t bid on any of the baskets. There’s also a children’s auction.

We also went on the GDA campus tour this year (I was hoping to catch a glimpse of Stetson in the kennels). We toured the grounds and the dorms, but didn’t get to go in the kennels

There’s also a raffle that included some great prizes. I think the coolest prize would be to “Spend A Day With A Trainer”. Unfortunately I wasn’t paying attention and didn’t get a chance to buy any raffle tickets.

There’s also a puppy kissing booth and several booths with GDA and other merchandise.

If you missed the Guide Dogs of America Open House then hopefully you’ll visit next year. I plan on going and hopefully I’ll have a new puppy to take through the puppy trials.

A short while ago I wrote an article about the Guide Dogs of America Open House. I just wanted to remind everyone that the GDA Open House will be this Saturday from 10:45pm to 4:00pm. It’s a fun event and there are lots and lots of Puppies In Training walking around. Some of activities I remember from last year were the puppy trials, guide dog demonstration, raffle, auction, and dog/puppy merchandise.

If you have a working Service dog or a puppy in training they are welcome to this event. However, all pets and career change dogs must stay at home.

GDA Open House Schedule

• 11:30-2pm - Puppy Trials
• 1:00pm - Guide Dog Demonstration
• 2:30pm - Silent Auction closes
• Tours (every 30 min).

Here are the details for the GDA Open house:

What: Guide Dogs of America 60th Anniversary Open House
Where: GDA Campus, 13445 Glenoaks Boulevard Sylmar, CA 91342
When: Saturday, June 14th, 2008, 10:45am - 4:00pm

In our May meeting we had practice puppy trials during our monthly meeting.  Unfortunately, Stetson was already In For Training, but I did get a chance to snap a couple photos.

The first photo is our group going through basic commands.  During the puppy trials you have to do most of the basic commands including “Sit”, “Stay”, “Come”, and “Down”.

The second photo is a simulation of the vet check station at the puppy trials.  Your puppy has to walk up steps to a table then gets checked out by a vet.  In this situation they look at the ears, eyes, mouth, paws, and nails.  In general they are making sure your puppy is accepting in being handled by a stranger.

This third and final photo shows Nyah about to walk over an obstacle.  Your puppies need to be able to walk over all kinds of surfaces.  Last year I remember Stetson had to walk across I believe it was that popcorn they use for packing boxes.  In this image Nyah has to walk across dog food.  This situation is probably more difficult then the obstacle she’ll come across at the puppy trials.

There are many other obstacles at the trials including a bus, farm animals, and other crazy things (I think there were hot dogs dangling from strings last year).  I’ll let you find out the rest of the obstacles by attending the open house.

This is the 21st annual open house and Guide Dogs of America’s 60th Diamond Anniversary.  I’ll be there for a good part of the day.  I hope to see you there too.

Last week we talked about Linus A Shy Timid Dog and his training. This week we’re going to continue updating you with the things we worked on in training class to help make Linus a more confident dog. Hopefully this will help anyone else out there who’d like to work with their shy, timid, or nervous dog.

Linus’s Week Before Training Class

A couple things I might mention that may be effecting Linus’s normal behavior is my puppy sitting duties. The past couple days I’ve been puppy sitting two dogs. A 14 week old yellow Labrador Retriever and an 11 year old Miniature Poodle. I wasn’t too concerned because in general Linus gets along with dogs in his own house.

Yellow Lab

The 14 week old yellow Lab is Ace and is a puppy in training with Guide Dogs of America. Ace came over on Monday and Linus was not immediately thrilled. I could tell Linus was not afraid, but more overwhelmed with Ace’s energy level. After about 5 minutes Linus decided it was time to play and would just knock Ace down as Ace sprinted around the house (he had the zoomies).

I can tell Linus doesn’t like it when Ace barks. I’m not too sure what it is he just kind of looks at me like: “Do we have to have another one of these little puppies?”

Miniature Poodle

Linus is afraid of Quincy the Mini Poo. Quincy only stayed over for a couple days and did not like Ace at all. Ace wanted to sniff Quincy’s butt, but Quincy wanted no part of Ace and just barked or growled at him. As soon as Quincy started growling Linus decided he would just ignore Quincy the entire time he was at our house.

Good thing for Linus Quincy pretty much just ignored him as well.

How To Train A Shy Timid Dog - Week 3

Even with all the distractions of new puppies and older dogs Linus performed quite admirably at week 3 of training. Once again our goal is to try and integrate Linus with the group. He doesn’t seem afraid of the other dogs at all. He seems more concerned with everything else around him including other dogs, basketball players, tennis players, racketball players, bikers, and families walking through the park.

• After talking about how our week went we worked on our heeling to get the blood flowing. Linus and I walked at the rear of the group and followed all the way. While walking by the basketball court Linus got scared by an errant basketball and kind of shuddered. We were advised by our trainer to constantly praise and give Linus treats during our walk around the court to try and keep his mind off of all the activity happening around him.
• Sit, Down, and Stay. We worked on these commands near the basketball courts. Linus and I stood further off to the side and worked our commands.
• Sit, Down, and Stay in the grass with treats littered everywhere. Linus and I were part of the group during this exercise. He did a great job during these exercises.
• Formal Recall. We worked on formal recall in the grass. Basically just like last week…have your dog in a Sit-Stay walk about 20 feet away from your dog and call his name. This time Linus wasn’t too enthusiastic about coming. He slowly trotted over to me and took his sweet time. He looked a little concerned with all the other dogs watching us. We did it a second time, but this time I showed him a handful of treats then ran from him. Slight improvement, but still not much enthusiasm from Linus. I need to work on this exercise with Linus with distractions.

All in all I think it was a successful week. Linus has met some new friends (Ace and Quincy) and hasn’t acted aggressive with either of them (although he is just ignoring Quincy). And during class he’s becoming more a part of the group.

If you have a shy, timid, or nervous dog let me know what actions your taking to try and build your dogs confidence.