Outside in the fall, November

Our hikes have continued. One challenge are the ticks in PA. SSD gave us this essential oil / alcohol / water spray to keep away / kill the ticks, but it doesn't work super great. However, last week we got a real treatment - that stuff that comes in a tube that is supposed to last a month. I'm totally stoked about that, except I think most of the ticks are dead now that we've had a few frosts. By the way, if you've never used one of those tick remover tools, they are so awesome compared to tweezers!

Hamlet sometimes upgrades to large sticks!

Exploring another surface

Yay, water!
(This photo was so fun we decided to post it again, larger.)

Training #1: Get Busy to Let's Go

Hamlet is 5 months old today, and he sure has learned a lot. It is finally time for us to let you in on a few of his (not so secret) tricks! I've tried to organize them in the rough order that he learned them. Here we go...

GET BUSY - The first and most important skill - to pee/poo on command. Daisy started this from the very first day. You observe your dog, and right before they are about to 'get busy' you say it and they will start to associate the command with the action. This is very useful, especially as we come into the winter months and we don't want to be waiting outside in the cold/rain/snow/etc. while Hamlet is deciding whether he actually wants to pee!

HAMLET - He responds wonderfully to his name. When saying 'Hamlet' he is supposed to give the speaker his attention. This didn't take long, especially if you say it in a slightly altered voice (yes, he responds better to a higher pitched or patronizing voice, like many dogs, and much to Jason's agony [although he's getting used to it]). SSD also reccommends using 'puppy, puppy' in a moderate to high pitched voice. Currently if we say this he'll come over to you and sit down -- and be expecting a piece of kibble.

O.K. - I must admit that Hamlet really had some issues with this. For example, O.K. is used during meal times. The dog must sit down and not lunge for the food as you place the bowl on the floor. Then, you give the command 'okay' to signal that they may start eating. Hamlet was so timid/relaxed/lazy that often he didn't respond to the command and would just sit there looking timid/sad/confused. Honestly, he is still a little slow at this. This is so strange, because all of the other dogs will rush to the food and you must work to hold them back!

SIT - This command is very self explanatory, and the first real command that we used the clicker for. When doing a clicker training session, you click right as the dog is doing the behavior that they want, and then the click means they get a treat for a good behavior. In the case of sit, we stood in front of him and waited. (And sometimes waited, and waited at first, but usually not too long because he is kind of lazy and likes to lay down...) As soon as his hips started to rotate as he started to sit down we would click. After he got used to that, slowly lengthen the behavior and would wait to click until he sat and was looking up for a couple seconds. The 'sit' position is great because it is the default good boy wait position in Hamlet's puppy life.

LET'S GO - We use this command to indicate that Hamlet should begin moving and/or catch up to the speaker if he is walking behind them. We use this if he is standing still and we want to move, or if we're on a walk and he is spending too much time sniffing at something. Sometimes he gets a treat for this, and other times just verbal praise. As mentioned, Hamlet is a little lazy, so he has had a tendency to lag behind us on neighborhood walks (dependent on his mood, of course), this command is great because then we don't need to pull the leash to get him moving again.

A few unrelated photos

This was when Hamlet was less than 3 months old! One of his first adventures  -
to Crickfest in Coburn, PA. Many animal distractions...

Extra skin anyone?

Happy Halloween from the headless puppy!

Yet another awkward sleeping position.

Hamlet loves his newly dumpstered dog toys, especially the
plush orange fish.

Who's that beautiful puppy? ... Yes, he stops by for a look when walking by.

4 months... 42 pounds... lots of adventures!

It's true.  Hamlet weighed 42 pounds at 4 months 11 days.  He's huge!! My last dog, Lois, was 45 pounds when she went to advanced training at 14 months.  Hamlet will pass that before he makes it to 5 months.  He already seems big...  I just feel lucky that he's such a sweet, amenable puppy.  He's so easy to handle!

All dogs should have some self control, but it's especially important for a service dog, and even more so for a massive service dog.  That's why we teach him things like the command 'leave it'.  First, we tempt him with something he wants, like kibble.  Then, when he shows that he can resist temptation we reward him with something even better - like cheese!  He prefers sharp cheddar, just like his mama...

Hamlet looks tortured as he resists the temptation of treats on his toes

The Leave it challenge complete!

We've been working with kibble and dog treats for a while, but recently Hamlet has been acing these distractions.  It was time for something bigger... the leave it challenge.  In this challenge, I tell Hamlet to  'leave it', and then I use kibble to spell his name on the ground.  At first, I could only spell Ham.  Then Haml, Hamle, and finally...  Hamlet!  He did it!  And here's the evidence.

Steady Hamlet... you can do it!

Of course, we haven't just been practicing leave it for the last little bit... Hamlet grew so much he needs an EXTRA large crate.  That means I can fit in there too (I being Daisy).  It's cozy!

 Hamlet has also been getting his share of hikes in.  The ticks have been awful, but luckily he's so white that we can see them easily.  His tick repellent makes him smell like a cinnamon roll, but he still hates it.  He loves running outside though!

Hikes!

Hamlet in Rothrock.

Hamlet gets his exercise. Beyond walking a few miles each day to get to school and back, we routinely take him on walks on weekday evenings, and longer hikes on the weekends. These longer hikes are great -- we're out in the woods by ourselves and we let him off leash to explore the world a little more freely. Most of the time we head to our local state forest, Rothrock, which has a large variety of hiking trails. (It is also great for biking, by the way...)

Since he is still a puppy (and in general) we don't let him off leash without a back-up plan! Our strategy: always be equipped with chicken. If we need him to "come" in any situation chicken is his reward -- and he definitely responds! However, we don't really need it on hikes, because he stays pretty close of his own accord. I take that as a sign that he likes us. ;)

(Drinking, err...) Playing in the water

Fall is here, and the ferns are changing color!

Hide & seek

Happiness

More happiness

Tired? ... nah.

Sometimes he'll pretend to be tired. At that point he'll lay down in the middle of the path and kick out his hind legs to rest his full underbelly on the ground. Of course, as soon as we offer a few words of encouragement or praise he is back up and running along!

Super-puppy ears.

Stairs and Sleeping

Hamlet learning the stairs. At first he would sit down
awkwardly and look sad when he got nervous.

The first few weeks we had Hamlet he didn't like stairs. He was small and they were big and steep. We'd just carry him so he didn't hurt himself.

Gradually he became more comfortable, and we carried him down all but the last two or three -- then left some food at the bottom to give him an incentive. We slowly worked our way up to the whole flight in our house.

Now he can handle their size fine, and I think he doesn't mind them so much. However, I think he does take advantage of us a little -- instead of coming down the stairs he will just sit at the top and wait for you to offer a treat. After you put a piece of food at the bottom of the stairs he'll come right down. (He does this, ummm, every morning... haha. I guess that is what you get some times when you use a food-reward system.)

"Do I have to come down?"

Sleeping, on the other hand, was always Hamlet's strong suit. From the first day we had him he always tended to be calm. I know that puppies tend to sleep a lot and there are always cute puppy photos of them sleeping next to cats and such. However, I didn't think that Hamlet would sleep in such strange positions. (And, how often the same strange positions would repeat themselves.) Here is one of my favorites...

The upside-down sleeping puppy trick.

 No one can say he doesn't find his crate comfortable!

The story of the missing bone

Once upon a time there was a marrow bone that Hamlet loved to chew...

And for some reason it had been a couple days since Daisy or I had seen it anywhere! At first I'm never  concerned about his 'missing' toys, as often they migrate from home to school to the car or get left in the backpack. However, for his bone, I was kind of wondering where it went.

This bone was very useful because if we wanted a few minutes to just relax, we stuck some peanut butter in it and let Hamlet have at it. He would lick and lick until he got as much of the peanut butter as he could - and in the process not chew any furniture, carpet, etc.

It was early morning one day, before 7:30 AM, when Daisy felt a strange sensation on her feet. She was standing in the kitchen, starting to make coffee and oatmeal for breakfast. It felt like something bit her, and she rubbed her foot. I heard her make some noise as I was walking down the stairs. And then, to our surprise, she discovered that she was standing in a trail of black ants that crossed our kitchen!

After grabbing some slippers, for limited protection, we took a look under the stove -- and found the bone covered in ants!! Apparently Hamlet had knocked the bone under the stove (hence it went missing) and now two days later we had a sizable trail of ants from our back door through the kitchen. :). We got out the broom to sweep out the ants, and we tossed the bone outside for them as well. Cheers!

Ants found the peanut butter bone.

4 month [1/3]-birthday for Hamlet

Today Hamlet is 4 months old! Daisy and I have had him for almost two months, and my how he has grown! Beyond just growing in size, he has learned so many behaviors and cues. By my count he's almost half way there to the 26 cues that SSD desires on [verbal] cue by the time he goes back to advanced training. Granted, this is the 'easy' half... but he still has made a lot of progress.

In celebration, I'm going to start posting a little more regularly. After some fun photos and stories, I'll write a few posts about clicker training and what commands he is learning. ... I hope you enjoy!

16 Weeks Old!

Wow, I can't believe he is already 16 weeks old! This past Tuesday we took him to the vet for a few shots, including rabies. (He weighed 35.6 lbs! Oh, he is going to be a big one.) After the vet we had a couple hours before the ESC weekly beginner puppy class so we had a puppy playdate with his brother, Shakespeare. Shakespeare's family has a fenced in tennis court-type area, so they got to run around and wrestle and get tired! (When they are tired, puppy class is a lot easier and more calm...)

Here are a few photos from their wrasslin' times:

I think they're sharing!

In other news, there has been a very notable improvement in his house behavior! At first, he wanted to chew on any variety of things. Now, he mostly chews on his 'toys' and spends a little more time just chillin'. (It helps that he walks 3-5 miles a day...)

Hamlet being cute.

Hamlet cuddles with Jason for a nap on the floor.

One of many awkward sleep positions.

Our first week with Hamlet

 He's adorable.  Really, really, adorable.  It's a good thing too, because sometimes he's also really a challenge!

I picked up Hamlet from the SSD kennels on Friday, August 17.  Jason was at a conference in New York City for the first five (yes, five) days that I had him.  It was just me and the baby puppy, which meant he truly had my full attention.

Those first days were tiring, and for some reason I felt a lot like a new single mom.  He had runny poo when I brought him home, and for the first few days we were in and out all the time for pottying.  I have been keeping a log of all his "business" to better track it and thus anticipate it.  It's exciting to have an accident free day, and somehow with Hamlet we've only had two accidents in the first ten days.  Wow!  One of them only kind of counts anyway, as he climbed in the bathtub and then decided that he needed to pee.  Clean up was super easy!

Register to vote with Hamlet!

 For the most part, we've been hanging out at home working on house manners and potty training.  Miraculously, he now sits intently at the door when the urge hits.  Lucky us!  Unfortunately, he also has a rather short attention span and an unquenchable desire to jump on the love seat .  It's actually pretty funny, because once he's up there he just curls up and tries to go to sleep.  He also loves to chew on furniture, but he's getting better.

Last weekend was dorm move-in weekend.  It's crazy, but every fall State College gets 10,000 new residents - the freshman class at Penn State.  Almost all of those students need to either register to vote or submit a change of address form,  so Jason, Hamlet, and I went out to the dorms to get folks registered.  People loved seeing Hamlet, even if he was asleep almost the entire time.

These pictures show one of Hamlet's favorite things to do.  We are trying to discourage it, but paused to document it!  He hops in the bathtub and wants to drink from the faucet.  He gets little dirty paw prints everywhere, but he sure is jolly about it!

Tomorrow (Tuesday) we'll go to Harrisburg for our first Early Socialization Class (ESC).  I'm looking forward to getting some more guidance about training.  With Hamlet there are many things to teach!  First, he has to know to look at me.  He needs to know to walk on a loose leash, to sit, lay down, wait politely at doors, etc.  He already knows "come" which is really fun.  Jason and I reward him mightily with little pieces of chicken when he comes, and he learned so quickly!  He'll run from across the room and then sit in front of us, waiting for his treat.  This week will be very very busy for us, but Hamlet is up to the challenge!

Walking is faster this way.  I've held all my dogs like this
when they were little.

Introducing... Hamlet!

Daisy and Hamlet at the SSD kennels

I've been dreaming of raising another dog ever since I moved to State College.  To give you some background, I started raising guide dogs for the blind when I was 12 years old, and had dogs in training until I graduated from college.  In total, there were eight of them.  The dogs went everywhere with me, and I always loved the challenge of starting a new dog each year. 

Moving to State College meant leaving my old guide dog club behind, and I feared that it would also mean that my days of raising were behind me too.  The organization I raised for, Guide Dogs for the Blind Inc., doesn't place pups outside the western states, and Pennsylvania is definitively not a western state (!).   I looked into raising for an organization in New Jersey, but they wouldn't place pups with a "new" raiser this far from their campus.  Then school got busy and the Co-op got crazy and three years snuck by without a puppy.

Most of Hamlet's litter mates and their raisers.

Hamlet is a lazy puppy - so lazy he won't even get up to drink!

Luckily I met Kindle, a lab being trained for Susquehanna Service Dogs (SSD) by our friend Annabelle.  Over the last six months or so she has helped me learn about the organization, and last week we were finally matched with a puppy - Hamlet came home!
Hamlet is being raised as a service dog, which is very different from a guide dog.  The training is also  different, and I'm learning as I go.  We use a clicker and lots of treats to encourage good behaviors, and there is no negative feedback for him at all.  He's learning very quickly what we like!  Especially when we use special treats that he really loves to eat.

Jason's first try at pottying Hamlet.
He must learn to go on all types of surfaces

He will be with us for 1.5 years, and then he'll go back to advanced training in Harrisburg.  Eventually (hopefully!)  he'll be matched with someone who needs his help.  He'll likely be a wheelchair, balance, hearing, or autism dog.  For now, we're aiming to raise a nice, steady dog who is confident and calm in all situations.  Actually, right now we're just working on getting him to potty in the right place and not destroy our furniture!


I am very happy to have this dog.   Yes, he's a LOT of work right now (he pottied 16 times in the first day!), but he's also a joy.   Jason is learning about puppies and Hamlet is good at making us laugh.  He's still floppy and full of silly puppy.  That won't last for long though... he's going to be HUGE!  I'll write about our first week together in a separate post.