The DashBoard

Termination

2009-08-25T09:28:00.000-07:00

Dash has been terminated from the Dogs with Wings Service Dog Training program. Actually, all of her siblings of any age (14 dogs) have been terminated. It isn't specific to her or related to her abilities or lack of abilities directly. The organization has had issues with some of the older dogs of her parentage and at the same time has had 11 new puppies from their in-house breeding program who have demonstrated that they are tried and true service animals. So with limited resources in staff and space, they've decided to cut their losses with this crew and move on to dogs who are more likely to be successful. We were offered Dash as a pet but our busy family is unable to keep a pet who has never been left alone and has not been kenneled. They will be finding a home, hopefully with young children and a mom at home, as Dash is very patient, loving and protective of children. She will make a wonderful pet.

So here ends Dash's blog. I hope you've enjoyed hearing about Dash's journey as a service dog.

Having Supper

2009-08-24T10:11:00.000-07:00

2009-08-24T09:55:00.000-07:00

Me and my girl

Exhausted

2009-08-24T09:42:00.000-07:00

My girl had another balloon job in a town far away (near Lac LaBiche). We took a long drive and when we got there the smells were AMAZING. I've never spent so much time sniffing before. While trucks and strange cars raced around, I enjoyed the shade. I met a number of friendly stray dogs, and met many people unfamiliar with service dogs. Eventually I got very tired - so tired that I fell asleep in my water bowl. It might have been shielding for the distracting smells!

Vacation

2009-08-08T09:13:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been home a week now, but my vacation really was spectacular. Mom keeps saying that I came home "sleek, slim, and sedate". I guess all the playing with Schooner and trips to the off leash park were good for me! I hope I can go back sometime soon! My girl brought me back a new stuffed bull. I can't wait to dig into it, but she says it's for supervised play only. Sigh.

Our training this week was in Ikea. My girl says that for once I wasn't the class clown. I'm very good at escalators and elevators, so it wasn't difficult for me. My "up sits" are getting very good on the left side, but I have no idea what they mean when they ask for it on the other side. When they give the "up sit" command I need to sit right close squashed up beside them, touching their legs. Sometimes they move farther from me and say "closer" and I slide into position again. It's always worth some good kibble and makes them quite happy, which makes me happy!

But now, my bone is waiting...

Rodeo Pup

2009-07-30T20:15:00.000-07:00

My girl is off to the Strathmore Heritage Days Rodeo this weekend, so to get in the spirit I tried on a cowboy hat. They all thought it looked pretty good!

Have a great long weekend everyone. I bet my vacation is going to be spectacular. I get a built in buddy who lives just off the off leash park. Can life get better than this?

On the Bus

2009-06-28T19:42:00.001-07:00

Last week my litter had our bus class. We practiced getting on and off the bus with grace. I didn't like going under the seat too much, there were bars in my way. I did managed to do it but I preferred to sit in front of my girl. There were lots of loud noises on the bus. Fortunately I don't care about those. We did a few difficult down-stays. We all lined up in a row and the end dog did a down stay until their person called them. They expected us not to play with all the other dogs in the row, but come directly to our person. Not everyone had time to do that at the bus station, so afterwards we all lined up in the office with our jackets on and did more down-stays so everyone got a chance. I did well, but truthfully, I the other dogs were distracting, as I just want to play. We did get a chance to play afterward and I met Gidget.

At the Fire Hall

2009-06-04T16:43:00.000-07:00

Today, I went for a fantastic romp in the off leash park, something we haven't done during the day for a long time. I often go in evenings with Dad now. We played search and rescue and I "found" my girl hiding in the bushes a bunch of times, that was fun! Then we went off to a really noisy place. They said it was Fire Hall 17 in Castle Downs. I met some of my fellow puppies in training and the fireman introduced us to all the interesting noises in the fire hall. The man wore a funny suit, smelled like smoke, and talked really funny when wearing his breather, but I couldn't resist licking his masked face when he came to greet me. We also got to walk up and down the long grates in the floor too. I don't mind that sort of thing, but it doesn't feel great on the paws.

When I got home I was so tired. I know this is not my blanket, but a corner was dragging on the floor off the sofa, and it just fell on me, really! Well, I had to wiggle quite a bit to get it to fall just right, but it did, honest! It's really not my fault!

Socks

2009-05-29T09:46:00.000-07:00

After Clipper and I did demonstrations at a school, I decided to try one of the tricks he did.

Agility

2009-05-29T09:23:00.000-07:00

I've been so busy playing in the yard and attending puppy classes that I haven't had much chance to post. My girl and her mom take so many pictures of me, I can hardly keep up, and typing is pretty hard on the paws.

Here we are playing great games in the yard. It's my second favorite game, after fetching balls, and I often jump over the obstacles even when I'm not told to. Since this video they've moved the weave poles closer and closer and now they're in a straight line.

Here's a pic of me and my brothers and sisters after a hard puppy class. We always finish with Puppy Yoga, which is my favorite part. It just feels so good!

Somet imes I just get tired.

Pull

2009-05-01T08:48:00.001-07:00

OOPS, I uploaded the wrong video (after Dash lost interest). Here's the new first time video!

Today my girl taught me a new trick after I brought her a sock this morning. She put the sock on the end of her foot, told me to 'take it' and then 'pull'. She eventually tied a piece of scrap sock with a hole to the drawer and then told me to 'take it' and then 'pull'. I did really well for it being my first time.

Presentations

2009-04-30T08:44:00.000-07:00

Today I'm going on a field trip. I'll be at a senior's home in Morinville. Yesterday I had an all-day field trip! I went to Bon Accord Community School. My girl didn't take any pictures, but I got to speak to and show off all the stuff I've been learning to 10 classes for 25 min each. It took all day and I was pretty tired, but it was fun. I know they understood my tail wagging message pretty clearly, as they all petted me everywhere. Some of the preschool class even put their fingers in my ears and mouth, but I didn't mind. Most kids had never seen a service dog before, but some had uncles or parents that are or have used one.

Trash Dog

2009-04-30T08:40:00.000-07:00

I'm not wearing my cone anymore, and my stitches will be out shortly. Maybe subconsciously I miss it. Or maybe I just can't resist getting into trouble. You'll never guess what trouble I got in today. I confess, the tissues in the garbage were too tempting.

Rock Fishing

2009-04-22T13:48:00.000-07:00

Today my girl and her mom glued together the rock inukshuk they have had at their front door since they moved in. First they washed the rocks (they have gotten really dirty over the winter) and I helped out. I went rock fishing in the bucket of water they were using.

Day After

2009-04-17T17:12:00.000-07:00

My girl took me to the vet yesterday to get spayed. I hurt now and I have to wear that cone. I hate that cone, I can’t do anything with it! I find it really hard to chew on my bones while wearing that thing. I’m very tired today and slept most of the day. Yesterday I wasn’t feeling too good and was finding it hard to walk. The worst thing of all is that I can’t go to the dog park for the next two weeks! I least I can go for walks.

Bed

2009-04-14T15:09:00.000-07:00

My girl Charis caught me doing something different today. She had put my bed up on her bed so that the Roomba could do it's job. I was so tired after today's puppy class with Pilot, Gunner, and Skye so I went and jumped right into my bed. I'm usually allowed in my bed, but never on her bed...

Now after all that commotion I think it's time for a snooze...

Dead Bull

2009-04-10T12:35:00.000-07:00

In the past couple of weeks I have lost my favorite toy- my stuffed bull. My girl was quilting and doing her schoolwork by video one day when she peeked on me to see what I was doing she found me chewing on the stuffing of my bull. A picture is worth a thousand words they say... This bull has had a new shirt, a few holes patched and is finally retired from service. Unfortunately that means I just lost my favorite toy!

Since then my girl has tried to get me to play a few new games, the latest one being catch.

Roomba

2009-03-25T18:43:00.001-07:00

It's taken me a while, but I'm pretty used to the Roomba now. Here I am, relaxing with my ball while the Roomba does it's thing. I've even let it run into me. Sometimes though, when Mom is getting dressed, I'll turn it on from the docking station...then it turns around and chases me into a corner and I don't know what to do! Normally though, I only turn it on when I'm told to.

Mom thinks it's great. What's better than getting a dog to work your robot!

A Day in the Life of Dash

2009-03-23T14:28:00.000-07:00

Did you ever wonder what a day in the life of a service puppy is like? It’s a busy day. It’s really hard to get all those naps in!

When I wake up, it’s 6 am, and I REALLY have to pee. When I come in, I can relax again and get back to sleep until Dad is finished with his shower, around 6:30. Then Dad feeds me ½ c of kibble and I watch him read the news on the computer. Sometimes he has cool pictures to show me, but I’m still pretty tired. Before he goes to work, he puts me back to bed and I sleep until 8:30 or so.

I let Charis have her breakfast and get ready for school, but then it’s time for her to play with me. I get kibble for ‘sit’, ‘stay’, ‘down’ (lie down), ‘raise’, ‘off’, ‘stay’, ‘get the keys’, ‘get the coins’, ‘get the ball’, ‘get the toy’, ‘leave it’, ‘shake,’ and ‘push’. By then, I’m so worn out, I need a nap. After a couple hours of sleep, I’m ready for lunch. After lunch I’ll play with my toys, a bone, my stuffies, and that wears me out too, so I have another nap. Most days, I have to go do something, like go to the mall, or the park, or the library, but don’t worry, if I miss my late afternoon nap, I’ll just make up for it later!  And I like to sleep in the car anyway. If we are at home in the afternoon, I normally get another training session and play lots of games like Hide-and-go-call, fetch, off leash walking in the house/backyard, and other games. Fetch is my favorite

In the evening, I like to watch TV and snooze in front of the fire. I like being nice and cozy warm and am a wimp outside and play the three-legged dog when it’s cold. They like to keep me awake during the evening so I will sleep at night by either taking me for a walk. Usually I don’t have trouble sleeping at night, as long as I have a play session around 8:30 or 9:30. I usually go to bed at 10pm. Occasionally I get up and down during the night, but it’s really unusual for me to need to go out to the bathroom.

For food, I get 3 cups of kibble during the day, and sometimes, another ½ c at bedtime. At meals, I get ½ cup and the other ½ is saved for training, games, and going out. I get cheese at the off leash park, to make sure I come! Any kind works best - I’m a pretty hungry pup!

To be fed, my food is laid out while I ‘sit’ and ‘wait’. Then Charis gets me fresh water, while I keep waiting. Then when it’s ready, I’m told to ‘eat up’. It takes a lot longer to wait than to eat up!

Playing at the Office

2009-03-10T10:41:00.000-07:00

This morning my girl took me to the Dogs With Wings office to play with the other big dogs and to get a new halti, my old one was getting small and hurting my nose. I had fun playing with Everest and Capper. After we where done playing we went to Home Depot to walk around. I was very good with walking beside my girl and leaving Everest alone. We worked a little on stay but mostly just walking.

Here I am, sitting side by side with Everest while my girl flashed the thing she calls a phone at our faces. He's just a little bigger than me!

At Wal-Mart With Pilot!

2009-03-05T07:59:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, my girl took me to Wal-Mart to get some groceries and to meet up with my brother Pilot (He's wearing the orange halti and the blue lead, I'm wearing red)! I didn't know that I was going to meet him. I was very happy to see him but I knew I couldn't play as we both had our service jackets on. After a few sniffs, both of our girls had us practicing loose leash walking (walking beside you without pulling on the leash). Pilot did a sit-stay which sparked an idea in my girl's mind. Play a game of “Doggie in the Middle” where one puppy is in a sit-stay while the other dog practices loose leash walking around them as a distraction. It worked well, it was hard not to look at my brother walking all the way around me but I was very good and looked at my girl instead.

After playing a number of sit-stay and down-stay games and practicing a lot of loose leash walking my girl got the courage to drop the leash while we where walking right beside Pilot.

If I did run away (which I didn’t!!) she knew that I would go to the other side of her to visit Pilot. After Wal-Mart my girl took me to another store where she didn’t use the leash (she had it in her belt loop) the whole time. This afternoon is puppy class at the mall and Charis hopes I will do as well in the puppy class.

Look at us, two little aisle guard dogs.

After that entire excursion, I was so tired all I wanted to do was to play with my bull and sleeeeeeeep!

Sick Day

2009-02-22T20:18:00.000-08:00

Last night I got very sick, I think I ate to much bark at the park. I woke Charis and her parents up five times last night. Now they are giving me a new thing for supper, rice. It's very sticky and it can get a little difficult to eat unless Charis puts some water in it.

Everyone will admit the nicest thing to do when you're sick is lie in bed and relax. Sometimes if feels so good to just roll up in a little cocoon and get all warm. My girl thinks this picture is very funny and calls me a "Hot Dog" (I don't know what that is but it doesn't sound good!). She wrapped me up in my bed to carry me to the living room.

A VERY Long Day

2009-02-21T20:07:00.000-08:00

Wow, I'm SO tired right now, I'm half asleep already! This morning, my girl took to to Terwilligar Off Leash park to play with Pilot and Sierra. I had such a good time and I wasn't as hyper as I normally am, even when we first came. After the long walk, they took me to Wendy's and then Shaw Conference Center for Missions Fest (to see the balloons we made and to walk around and visit some of the booths). There was quite a few kids to meet, two were especially noteworthy and they said they would pay money to have videos of them! One was a little toddler in a big fluffy pink snow suit who was petting me very gently on the ear with her little hand. I greeted her which resulted in a little squeal of delight and more petting. Then she and her mom walked on a little ways, but the little girl look back at me and came back for another round of petting. This happened three times and the last time she waddled sideways away to her mother. By then we had a little crowd all giggling.

After walking outside a set of doors from the little girl, we found a little boy who was about one and a half years old who wanted to pet me too. He held out his hand for me to lick just like Charis had showed him and after a little kiss he did a jumpy dance and a happy scream. After that happened many times his father told him to give me a hug so they could go. To this little boy giving a hug meant sticking his head out (which I licked followed by more screams of delight). Then we all had to go... *sigh*

We met another service dog from PADS (Pacific Assistance Dog Society) with his partner. I was sleeping soundly so Charis went and talked with the lady for a few minutes. She had just gotten this dog because her other service dog had retired. I woke up very suddenly and gave one little woof to announce that there was another dog in the vicinity. After that I was too tired to bother trying to play and went right to sleep. Lots of people petted me while I slept, which felt great. On the way home, Charis introduced me to another new thing, the Bus. Big thing, very noisy and wiggly, but I just slept. Mom was wondering if she would have to carry me home from the bus stop! As soon as I realized this was our block my tail shot up in a happy little perky way and we pranced all the way home very happily. I'm going to sleep well tonight.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

This morning Charis was taking silly pictures of me. She likes pulling my fur and ears into all sorts of shapes. Here is what she came up with:

When I go to the off leash parks I meet lots of different dogs of all shapes and sizes, I met a pug. I don't want to be a pug, their legs are too short and I like to run fast.

After that I met an Afghan, with their sleek long face. They can run fast with their long legs, but I think they are a little big for me, I don't want too be that big. At least not yet.

On the way back I met a German Sheppard, with their perky ears. Their legs are long and they're not to big but they don't like kibble very much...I just don't understand that.

.....There is something fundamentally wrong about not liking kibble as much.... so in the end, I think I'd rather just be a lab.

Ok all dogs raise their paws if they want to go to bed.

Maybe I'll just be a gorilla instead!

Around Town

2009-02-20T09:38:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Charis had a big balloon job for Missions Fest doing balloons. She doesn't normally do decorating however she likes doing this job. I was helping out Charis with the balloons, I was good all day, all eight hours we were at the Shaw Conference Centre. I didn't even mind the balloons when they bounced off of me and I didn't even try to eat the balloon scraps (ok just once at the end). Charis was proud and all the volunteers who know I was there really liked me. I mostly relaxed under the table while they made a ton of noise inflating balloons with helium right beside me. Charis did have me do one fun thing, run really fast up a single flight of stairs, and then we came right back down again! It was a good race, Charis was slow, but I let her win anyway.

On Tuesday Charis took me to the Royal Allberta Museum for a few hours. I only barked at the wolves but I didn't bark when Charis played the sounds of the cyotes barking and howling. The big bison and ploar bears didn't even bother me. Charis let me go down a penguin slide meant for little kids (and puppies too!) it was so much fun, I went twice! Once with Charis and once by myself with her waiting at the bottom. By the time we left the museum I was so tired that I napped at every exibit.

For now, I'm going to have my morning nap, have lunch and then it's off to the off leash park with the big Dogs With Wings puppies. This is going to be a fun afternoon.

One of the latest tricks I'm trying to learn is how to open doors. The house has the kind of handles where you push down and then open the door, instead of round knobs. Charis doesn't like me jumping and I think she doesn't want me to learn this trick. Sometimes she says I'm too smart for my own good. I wonder why because this morning I thought it was great when I opened the front door!

Home Again

2009-02-16T10:50:00.000-08:00

For 10 days, I got to go on vacation to a wonderful new home. We did many different things, while my girl was at an international balloon convention in LA. I went to a park many times and even to a school for the first time and had a lot of fun with the kids petting me. Unfortunately now that I'm ready to play everyone's sick, but I don't mind catching up on my sleep too. Here's a sick daddy and sleepy puppy.

For those of you who don't know, my girl is a professional balloon artist (you can find out more at http://GracefulBalloonArt.com). She found out about Dogs With Wings by doing balloons at their silent auction fundraiser two years ago.

Off Leash Park

2009-01-30T08:50:00.000-08:00

This week my girl took me to a new place where there is all sorts of dogs of every size shape and colour! Some of the big dogs scare me a little especially if there is more than one. When I'm in the middle of playing, Charis calls me sometimes, and if I run back, she gives me cheese. I love cheese!! Now I can be running away form her to play with another dog, be called, and come running back to my girl. This only works if its not with my siblings, especially Sierra (we like playing to much). Charis was scared of me running away the first time but has gotten over it because I come so well. She's taken me to a puppy park almost every day this week. It's so much fun and I get so tired.

On Wednesday I met up with Pilot and Sierra at a different park and had a blast with all the little dogs. There wasn't many bigger dogs there but I liked playing with the beagles and my siblings the best.

Here is a video of me playing and there is a post on Pilot's blog about it too. Found at http://pilotingwings.blogspot.com/2009/01/more-fun.html

If you look really close, you can see the big cream hairy dog steal the mitten on the way by!

Blog Post

2009-01-27T15:26:00.000-08:00

Here I am working on my blog, if you look close, you can even see the first picture of my blog. My girl should have opened a text window so I could type too (what was she thinking??)!

We just finished playing my favorite game, Hide-and-Go-Call. Since I was always with them, I didn't know how to 'come' very well, so we started playing this a few weeks ago. It's kinda like hide-and-go-seek but not quite. Mom goes off into the bedrooms while Charis is in the living room/kitchen and then Mom calls me. I go running all the way to mom (who sometimes hides in clever places like behind doors or in the closet) and then she gives me kibble. Then I wait for Charis to call me. Then I go running all the way to Charis. When I sit nicely Mom calls me and we do that over and over and over again! I love it, it is so much fun, and I get lots of kibble. Sometimes Dad and others play too, then it's very exciting trying to find who has the kibble next!

Bath

2009-01-24T20:24:00.000-08:00

I get a bath every other week on Saturday night. This is my 4th bath and though it doesn't make me happy, I don't mind the water and suds. They give me lots of kibble so it's ok. It's a big sink for a laundry room, but it doesn't have much room for my tail anymore, so soon I'll need outdoor baths! After my bath, I get to sit in front of the fire to dry off and warm up. I love being so cozy. Apparently my brother, Pilot, likes the weather cooler, but I could move to Hawaii. When they have their shower, I like to sit on the warm bath mat and get all steamy.

When they washed my towels and blanket, I got to sit and wrap up in my blanket. Then later, I fell asleep all cuddled in it. Yup, it's a pretty good life here.

Charis' note:
Ok I have to brag... Today we took her to West Edmonton Mall for a walk, No other reason, just a walk. I put the haltie on and expected to have her wear it for about 10 minutes until she pawed at it or gave some other indication that it was bugging her. I was just taking it as it came. Blowing all of my expectations away she walked (quite well..ish.. with some pulling) with her haltie on for an hour and a half through the crowds without any signs of it bothering her at all. It was the day before Chinese New Year and on Saturday - Crazy Busy! WOW!!

Fun week

2009-01-24T08:32:00.000-08:00

What the parents do on Saturday morning but kiss in the kitchen? I think all kisses should involve me but how else do I get up there but jump? Then Dad picked me up (I normally hate that but this time I was really relaxed) and I almost fell asleep between them. Then my girl took that big black thing and flashed in our faces.

This week has been busy for me, between playing, going to the mall, puppy classes, Charis' balloon job, and a few meetings, I've been swamped! Luckily they give me tons of time to sleep.

On Thursday was my first class with half the litter. Pilot, Gunner and I were there with Maria and Eddy. After being in meetings all morning I was so excited and kept jumping on everything!! That seems to be my new trick for the week but my girl doesn't like it much. No fun. My haltie walking has been doing well, I hardly even paw it anymore. I need to meet more dogs though, I'm so excited when I see one that it's hard to concentrate on what I'm supposed to do.

I heard that Charis is planning to take me to the off leash park with some of my brothers and sisters. I haven't gone to the dog park before (Charis is scared of me running off!) but I think it will be fun.

This morning when I went out I tried a classic trick: Lick the Frozen Metal! Now my tongue is very sore and I keep licking my mouth. I'll be more careful what I lick outside. * muffled whimper *

Haltie Fun

2009-01-21T08:18:00.000-08:00

My job this week is to get used to wearing my new Haltie. It's been no problem, as I'm used to wearing my Santa suit. I didn't have any trouble with my new jacket...it's light and airy feeling compared the the Santa suit. Plus, when I'm wearing it, I get lots of kibble. I didn't used to like getting brushed either, but now it makes me fall asleep. Here I am being brushed by my girl, all sung with my haltie on... snoring. Apparently, one of the requirements of adjusting to somthing is that you have to be awake, but I don't think so.

Second Puppy Class

2009-01-17T09:45:00.000-08:00

Last night at Waggin' Tails the aviation litter had their second puppy class. I had a great time with my brothers and sisters and we practiced "come," loose leash walking and we all got halties. It was so weird the first time I wore my haltie, they laughed as I tried to knock it off with each step. They keep putting weird things on me. First the bandana, then the Santa suit, next the snow boots - which I didn't bother me at all, I was grateful that my feet weren't so cold.

A Hard Day of School

2009-01-15T16:34:00.000-08:00

After I waited for a long time (I usually just nap) for Charis to finish her school work, I couldn't wait any longer to play my favorite game with her "Hold The Bone While I Chew It". But my girl still had to finish school. We've come up with a number of solutions to this problem. I can play Pillow, Book-holder and Cuddley Toy. As you can see, her school's really hard.

Big Girl Jacket

2009-01-14T11:44:00.000-08:00

I was very excited yesterday because I got to go to the Dogs With Wings office! I always like going to the office because I get to play with my big brother Jet. We found out that I'm bigger than my big brother. Now I have a little, big brother! Charis was excited too because she traded my puppy bandanna in for a big girl jacket. It will be more fun to go into public with this jacket and it means she doesn't have to fret so often to make it lie straight.

Protective Puppy

2009-01-13T08:51:00.000-08:00

Hi there!
This is Charis, Dash's puppy raiser. Yesterday while Mom was doing her morning work-out, she was told me of the first time Dash saw her doing leglifts. We've had her for almost two months now and she' s gotten a little protective of Mom and me. Mom was on the ottoman doing leglifts and Dash decides in her little doggie mind that mom's legs are too high and should be on the floor. So what does a little dog do? Barks (not supposed to), puts her front feet on the ottoman (also not supposed to do), and gets a hold of the top of Mom's socks (still not supposed to) and tries to pull the legs down to a respectable height. It made me remember the first time she did that to me. Over the Christmas holidays Mom's side of the family rented a camp for a few days. There was a double bed at the back of the room and a single bunk bed on top of that where I stored my stuff. Dash was almost asleep when I went to put the stuff up, so I stood on the bed (which was a normal height) and Dash gave me a look of horror. A second later she had her front paws on the bed, barking and pulling me off by the socks. I jumped down and start scolding her for her total misbehaviour and she growls lightly at me and then settles down for bed again. Looking back I can almost hear her saying "GET OFF OF THERE!! You're going to fall and break your neck!! GET OFF, and don't get on there again, EVER!!!" Silly puppy. But I'm glad she's protecting me!

Hockey Puppy!

2009-01-11T15:47:00.000-08:00

Hockey Puppy! At our family reunion, a few of us played around on the ice. They were all very careful with my paws, and my feet slid around less on the ice than on the kitchen floor! I even scored more goals than Charis! I loved chasing the puck around and it just fit in my mouth when it was opened as wide as I could...then Charis told me when to drop it in the net! I scored 4 times! I skated faster than the littlest girls and when Charis got tired, I played dog-sled dog!

Shake!

2009-01-11T15:42:00.001-08:00

This was going to be a beautiful picture of me sitting, but just as the picture was taken, I couldn't help it...I needed a shake!

Tricks

2009-01-11T15:28:00.000-08:00

At 3.5 months old, Dash has mastered Sit, Stand, Down, Up Sit, Off (she hears that one enough!) Get the Keys, Get the coins, Get the Ball or toy, and Give, depositing these things in your hand. She will also 'leave it' for items on the floor in a store, kibble on the floor and even on her paws. We're working on Stay and recall (coming when called, despite distractions) and Raise (front paws on things). She waits eagerly, but quietly for her food, which takes her less time to eat than to wait for! She sits quietly to get her collar/leash on to go outside, and sits on a towel at the top of the stairs while we get our coats and shoes off when we come back in. She's doing very well in public and has been to stores, malls, church, and special events many times.

2009-01-11T15:22:00.000-08:00

Relaxing at Gramma's House

2009-01-11T15:18:00.000-08:00

Me and my Charis relaxing.

Play Time

2009-01-11T15:16:00.001-08:00

Uncle Bruce always gets everyone wound up...and I had fun with him too!

Kaylin and Me

2009-01-11T15:01:00.000-08:00

Playing with my favorite little cousins, who love me...maybe sometimes a bit much. Fortunately, I've learned to be a patient puppy. At first, when I would get a little wild and bitey, my family would try to control me by being authoritarian, but I was only getting wilder. Now they hold me till I'm calm and can lick them instead of biting. This really improved my attitude and soon I was much calmer in general. Then I met the little cousins. I naturally knew I needed to be more careful with them, and I quickly learned to be gentler and they quickly learned not to run and flap their arms and get me excited, barking and biting! It was a great Christmas and I had a chance to do many new things!

How I became a Puppy Raiser

2009-01-11T14:58:00.000-08:00

2009-01-11T14:56:00.000-08:00

I'm so comfy!

Santa Puppy

2009-01-11T14:32:00.000-08:00

They're getting me ready for Christmas, but my new Santa Suit is pretty big! You can hardly see my tail!

After two weeks I'm fitting into my Santa suit much better, you can see my whole tail!

Me and Santa handing out presents!

Family Photos

2009-01-11T14:29:00.000-08:00

My first family photos. Nov 27th, 2008

The Dash Board

2009-01-11T14:27:00.001-08:00

They put up a Dash Board at church, so everyone would know why there's a dog at church, and how to best relate to me!

2009-01-11T14:26:00.000-08:00

My first time at church.

Charis' Schoolwork

2009-01-11T14:24:00.000-08:00

November 24th, the first day at my new home. I'm still getting acclimatized, but I sure like sitting on Charis' warm foot while she does her school work. I don't find history dvd's that interesting though.

At the Vet

2009-01-11T14:23:00.001-08:00

I look so little at the vet's office, but I'm 17 lbs now! Before I came to live with my new family, I had a week with the Dogs With Wings secretary, and her older service dog. I thought that his bone looked tasty and after a half and hour of playing with his bone he had enough. I ended up with a cut on my nose and a broken tooth. I'm at the vet to get the root removed.

Mmmmm comfy

2009-01-11T14:22:00.000-08:00

My first night in my new bed. It looks so big!

Dash Arrives

2009-01-11T14:13:00.001-08:00

Dash isn't just a pet, she's a 'service puppy'. On November 23rd, 2008 Dash became part of our family for one year. She was born Sept 15 in Nova Scotia and is a purebred Black Lab.

She is a service dog in training with http://dogswithwings.ca and will become a guide dog, assistance dog or autism dog. You can read more about Dogs with Wings on their website. They're always looking for more puppy raisers in the Edmonton area, so if you want to take one of these cute little bundles home and are willing to commit to loving and training for a year, you are needed!

This picture is of the day Dash arrived at our home. She's just gotten out of the van, and onto the front yard.