Fall Colors

Photo by Carol Smalley

Barbara is almost nine months old now. She's gotten a lot bigger since the last update! She now weighs about 55 lbs. She's been getting a lot of compliments on how beautiful and how well-behaved she is. Her responses to commands and people greetings are getting a lot better now too.

However, she's fascinated with all of the new autumn smells, so loose lead walking is a challenge right now. Otherwise she's making a lot of progress!

Barbara Works with a New Person

Photos by Carol Smalley

Barbara got to work with a new person, Jody, for this week's class. Jody is a Guiding Eyes puppy sitter for our region. She'll be taking care of Barbara for us for a week soon. Puppy sitters have to go through the same training as the puppy raisers so that everyone involved with the raising of the puppies knows the proper commands and house rules.

The class was focused on keeping a connection with the teams of handlers and puppies.

For our next class, we'll have a more formal one on one session, kind of like a Walk and Talk, to make sure Barbara is where she needs to be in her training and development right now.

New Collar!

Barbara has officially outgrown her collar from Guiding Eyes, so she just got a new green collar.

She is getting BIG.

Class with Another New Pup

This is the newest pup in the region, Gifford. He's a German Shepherd that's about nine weeks old now.

Barbara and me relaxing in the shade

ML (our Regional Manager who runs classes) working with Barbara

All photos by Carol Smalley

In today's class, the raisers had to pretend that they were in a park and keep their dogs' attention on them. Barbara didn't seem to be as distracted by the other dogs as she has been in the past, but she was also worn out from playing beforehand. I think she's definitely making progress. (If nothing else, she's growing up fast!)

Tiring Out the Puppies

Practicing "Heel"

Barbara was tired for this week's class, so she needed some extra coaxing to do some of the commands (little pieces of boiled chicken, a really high value treat). But even if she hadn't been tired, she seems to be settling down during class times a little more. She didn't bark once during class this week!

Why was she so tired? She played hard with her siblings and their friend Jean before class began:

(No Barbara in that photo, but it was too cute not to share!)

All photos by Carol Smalley

Working with Different Puppies

Me working with Jean

Baxter's raiser working with Barbara

Me and Barbara

Photos by Carol Smalley

All of the raisers had to swap puppies today during class so that we could get used to working with different dogs and the dogs could get used to working with different people.

Memorial Day Parade!

Photos by Carol Smalley

Barbara got to watch a parade tonight! She was very good and got exposed to a lot of different things.

Playing with Baxter

Barbara above, Baxter below.

Baxter in front, Barbara behind.

Barbara in front, Baxter behind.

Barbara on the left, Baxter on the right.

All photos by Carol Smalley.

They're both getting big! :) Barbara's still the more playful of the two pups. We don't have another class until June 7th, so we have two weeks to work on commands and socialization with Barbara.

Class with a New Pup

Practicing "Come"

Barbara (black collar), Blondie (blue collar), and new puppy Jean (the only black lab in our class right now)

Blondie (blue collar), Barbara (black collar), and Jean (black lab)

All photos by Carol Smalley

Class was held inside this week because the dogs need to be able to perform in all environments. We practiced "Come," "Sit," "Down," "Heel," "Stand," and a few other commands. Barbara hadn't been feeling well this week, so she wasn't on her best behavior for class, but she's feeling better now and we're working with her on all of her commands.

We have a new puppy in our region, Jean! She's a black lab that's almost a month younger than Barbara and her siblings. It's hard to believe that puppies can grow so fast in one month, but somehow they do!

Barbara Keeps Getting Bigger...

Photo by Judy Olson

Photos by Carol Smalley

Barbara is about 33 lbs. now. She's been going out for hikes a lot, and she gets a lot of complements whenever she's out about how well-behaved she is!

Barbara Goes to the Spa

Photos by Carol Smalley

Barbara went to the Saratoga Spa State Park on Sunday and loved it. It was really hot and humid out, especially for May, so she got to play in the water there. Water is one of her favorite things!

Hiking is Fun

Photos by Carol Smalley

Barbara loves to go to different places to hike and explore. She really likes being outdoors!

Day 43 - Class Outside

Barbara exploring a slide for the first time.

Whee!

Practicing "Get Dressed," where Barbara has to put her head through whatever is presented to her. Here, it's a large collar. Later, it will be her cape and hopefully a harness.

Barbara, Blondie, and Baxter. (It's hard to get puppies to pose!)

Practicing "down" and "stay."

Jolee playing with Barbara, Blondie, and Baxter.

All photos by Carol Smalley.

We got to have class outside this week! The puppies and people all enjoyed it. We were out in the dog run, and along the fence there were different stations. At each station, there would be a sign with a command written on it, which we would then have to do. Barbara did well with the commands. She also began to learn two new commands, "Go Place," which is where she lays on her bed on command, and "Over," which is where she lays entirely on her side.

Day 37 - Adventure at the Canalway

Photos by Carol Smalley

Barbara got to go for a walk with my mom on the Canalway path. She loves being outside and going new places, and we have to socialize her. (Also, a tired puppy is a good puppy, as you can see in the second photo!)

Day 36 - Work and Play

Here's Barbara with our Regional Coordinator, also named Barbara! Regional Coordinator Barbara is teaching us how to do the "stay" command currently. We had a follow-up meeting this week. When puppy-Barbara is older, we'll only have classes every other week.

After our follow-up meeting, it was time for Baxter's meeting, but before that, the two siblings got to play.

Barbara's the one on the right.

Barbara's on the right.

Barbara's the one about to tackle Baxter. :)

She's still the most playful of the puppies from this litter in our region!