Kaline gets back to work

Let's just say I wish I were still on vacation. Now that that's out of the way ...

Kaline was a bit depressed his first day back from Party Central. Then he mostly got back to normal and my faith in him as a baby service dog was fully restored. Our first outing was to Walgreens, and he was superb.

I have mostly gotten his “new” vest (Juno's Petjoy harness vest) to fit right, and he looks really good in it. We practiced the usual things in the store: pressing the buttons for the door, not sniffing things, lots of loose-leash walking around. He only swatted Mom's little pull-cart once, so that's progress, right? At the end we randomly bought some vitamins that are supposed to help you sleep, and I had Kaline carry them all the way from the back of the store up to the checkout line. I even got a terrible video! You can't see the part where I held it out and told him “take it” and he did, but trust me, that also happened.

So that was really fun and uplifting.

Walks this week have been wearing me out for some reason. Soon they're going to tail off for the summer, and while that will be good for my body, it is not good for my anxiety (over income) or, obviously, my income itself. Hopefully we'll get some new pack members soon. In a couple weeks we are adding a new wee Labrador, so that will be lots of fun.

Juno had a nice outing to Red Robin with me and Dad last night, and of course she was perfect. I think she is getting the hang of her new harness (when I talk about her getting the hang of it, I mean that she is positioning herself right and pulling when asked without someone she likes in front of her). Despite the fact that our table really had no under to speak of, the girls one table over had no clue Juno was there until our waiter started to coo at her. (He was having a harried night, and Juno won't respond to that stuff from a stranger, so I just let him do it.) Pretty fun. I love it when people don't realize my dog is there—that's how it should be!

Today at training they were both good. Kaline is finally learning to do a recall without crashing into me or doing a drive by (to avoid the crashing) at the end. Hurrah! He also did really, really nice off leash heeling through this insane pattern Freddie had made up with many weave poles. They both were rock-solid on the recall with distraction—I found a tennis ball, hehe. Oddly, given that Juno is the only one of the two with actual (well, probable) retriever genes, Kaline is the one who really likes balls. So it wasn't surprising that Juno ignored the ball being tossed all along the line of waiting dogs, but I was really pleased that Kaline just looked at it and then looked back at me! Woohoo! When we were working the Labs and Goldens, a little different story, haha. Although with the gun dogs, all you have to say is No Bird and they're like, “Okay, must not chase moving object.”

Hopefully this weekend I'll get to do a lot of work with Kaline—there's a carnival at a local elementary school, we may go to the city, and we'll probably do our usual Sunday morning routine. We also need to focus on his learning positions around me and trying to develop his body awareness ... yeah, I know. Lots of luck on that last one!

Let's face it, I'm tired!

I've been watching a little too much Blazing Saddles in my bits of free time. Fifty bajillion Internet points to anyone who knows what bit of the movie the title of this post is from.

So, we are back on our normal insane schedule, which in a week or two will get just a smidge more insane, whoopee! Thus not a ton of energy or motivation to write, unfortunately.

I also gave myself a flareup on Saturday night, so we didn't do anything that interesting recently. Saturday night was Senior Night for the Stanford men's gymnastics team, so Juno and I went to the meet. It is the first time in I don't know how long that I left a men's gym meet early. This sport gives baseball a run for its money as my favorite, for crying out loud.

Juno and I were sitting fairly high up on one of the bleachers so we could see everything, and there was a lot to see—it wasn't just Stanford and Cal, like normal, but a Japanese collegiate team, as well as club teams from Arizona State and the University of Washington. Stanford, though, has one of the worst main arenas for men's gym of any team. (Iowa is by far the worst, but Stanford is down there. Also, I say main arena because if any team is hosting a conference or NCAA championship, they almost invariably use the larger basketball arena rather than the facility they have regular-season meets in.)

Not only does it have bleachers instead of real seats, there are no aisles on said bleachers. None. So once you're up, you are stuck there. Especially if you happen to be attached to a tall 65-pound service dog. Mentally, I do not do well blocked in, and physically, I was in a ton of pain by the second rotation (there are six). I had not been feeling that great to begin with, but it was the only Stanford meet I could get to so I felt obligated. But that meant I only had a little vest on Juno, because I couldn't take even the pressure of momentum pulling on my arm. Let's just say that when we finally decided it was time to go, it was extremely interesting getting down the bleachers. Thank goodness I had brought Juno instead of Kaline, because at least I didn't have to worry about her behavior as she picked her way through the crowd down the bleachers behind me. Kay probably would have stolen a hot dog or two, or at least kissed several people.

So yeah, I'm still paying for that stupid decision (or series of stupid decisions). The good parts of the meet: We got to see Eddie Penev, among others, on floor, and he's one of the best in the world on that. Everyone was extremely nice to us (especially while we tried to weave down the bleachers). One of the guest services people complimented me on the clarity of Juno's patches and I practically hugged her. That's so what I was going for when I picked them!

Was the meet worth missing a cool SF outing on Sunday with Sonja? Jury is out, just because of the guilt I would have had about not seeing a single Stanford home meet. But with guilt out of the picture? SO NOT WORTH IT. Gaaaah.

Earlier in the weekend Kaline and I went with Mom to the post office and shopping center to train. Post office was a nightmare—a huge winding line of people (two of whom had pet dogs) packed into a tiny inner lobby. Kaline began whining immediately the moment we stepped in. I was stupid for a couple minutes, then realized just how insanely high my anxiety was ratcheting. I asked for a nudge instead of a whine, then booked it out into the outer lobby. As soon as I sat against the wall, Kaline awkwardly but emphatically pressed his chest against mine, eventually working his way into a more comfortable position draped across my lap with his torso pressing heavily into my chest, just the way I need. We stayed out for quite a while before we could go back in.

The shopping center was much better. I had just watched a friend's video of her former foster/SDIT pit bull practicing “under” with various objects, so all through the various stores, I had Kaline do “under” with anything where he'd fit. He was a bit confused at first because it's not something we have worked on lately or very much, but then he got it and was a star. He also retrieved, on command, his In Training tag which fell off his vest and two of those plastic rings they use to hang up scarves. WIN. Another mundane, non-task/obedience but nonetheless very useful command we practiced was “roll” which for Kaline and Juno means to roll onto a hip while lying down. I have been neglecting commands in that category—not a task, not formal obedience, but totally useful—so I hereby resolve to stop doing that and get with the program. Naughty, naughty trainer.

In random cool news, LDS sent us another blue vest. No I did not order it. YES I am keeping it. I already ordered another set of patches. Once it's got all its stuff sewn on, I'll take our current one back to the tailor to get the patches sewn rather than what they currently are, glued. Bleh, glue.

Winter Break Update #2: Kaline and Chief go to Pier 39

Last Thursday, Sonja and I met up in the City to take Chief and Kaline to Pier 39 (among a few other destinations). Our boys were absolutely awesome and we had a great time.

Kaline and I took Caltrain into San Francisco. I wore this big blue jacket with a ton of pockets so I didn't have to carry a bag for him. My little paperback even fit in the pocket so I'd have something to read on the train, woohoo. We were lucky to find a pair of empty seats so Kaline had plenty of room to lie down.

Kaline on the way to the City.

On the train, he showed that he is really beginning to understand the concept of working/not working. The girl in front of us turned around and just started petting him. Normally that's Kaline's cue to be all wiggly and over-social. But he just lay there, didn't really respond to her, and looked up at me! I was very pleased with his response so I only rewarded him, didn't tell the girl off or anything. Later she turned around and stroked his feet, which I thought was odd but he gave the same reaction, or lack thereof. So hurrah.

We met Sonja and Chief at Philz, a coffee shop she likes, then set off for a leisurely stroll to catch the historic F Line to Pier 39. I took off Kaline's vest so he could pee and say hi to the various friendly, calm, off leash dogs who came over. Sonja knows them so I wasn't worried about it, and of course Kaline was glad to say hi and make new friends. It sucked I couldn't take him off leash but there was no fencing and we were right next to the Embarcadero. Chief got to run a bit.

Kaline still pulled, but not nearly as much as the last time we went to the City. That was a relief. I rewarded him for loose leash and for check-ins, which were pretty frequent (score).

The F Line was definitely a challenge for me, just because it is so crowded. Like a moving sardine can. There was barely standing room. However, aside from the crowding, it was a really positive experience.

As soon as Sonja and I got on with the dogs, people got up from the disabled seating so we could sit. I let Kaline get on and go ahead of me, so he could kinda poke people out of the way with his nose and general Doberman-ness. As soon as I sat down, Kaline did a lap-up and stayed there until we were almost at our stop. Two nice tourists blocked for him, after Sonja asked, so that no one would step on him. And when this couple with two little kids got on, the tram conductor called out, “Make sure you keep him”—one had made a beeline for us—“away from the dogs! He can't touch them!” Sonja and I looked at each other with happy surprise and made sure to thank him on our way out.

Pier 39 was also crowded but there was much more space. We had a grand time. Near the bungee jump, we had the boys do a harder version of the stay exercise from IKEA. We left Kaline and Chief mid-walkway and let the waves of people flow around them. Kaline couldn't have cared less about the people, he just wanted to watch the birds and maybe kill a pigeon.

Next stop was Le Beastro, a pet accessories shop that has various items featuring natural-eared Dobermans. (Crazy, I know!) I got a pretty keychain.

Browsing at Le Beastro.

Then we headed to the sea lions, where I fully expected Kaline to get all aroused and end up barking. Well, he was very interested, definitely, but he had no trouble working on watch, touch, etc. I was so happy about that!

I need a hug!

After the pier we went to the Musée Mechanique, which is this warehouse type building next to all the Fisherman's Wharf restaurants. It's full of all this fascinating antique arcade stuff (not just games, but moving dioramas and such). There was this huge creepy mannequin thing called Laffing Sal, which has scared the shit out of many a dog with its demonic cackle. When it turned on, Kaline gave it a stare for a long moment, then got over it. Chief was totally fine, he's done this before. Kay was super about walking slowly through all the games and displays.

The boys with Laffing Sal after she quieted.

 He and Chief even did a stay practically inside a player piano!

Kaline, Chief, and the player piano. I love those things!

For dinner we went to In N Out. The boys were exhausted and curled up together under the table. They were so cute. We hung out there for a long time, till Hendrik came to pick us up.

Sleepy boys at In N Out.

He got me to the train station with perfect timing, and Kaline conked out for the whole ride home.

On the way home.

IKEA!

Let's begin with a disclaimer: I dislike IKEA. You might even say I loathe IKEA. So easy to get lost (getting there, in there, getting out of there ... ), clogged with people, too many tempting smells of cinnamon buns ... I avoid the place.

But there is one thing that must be said for IKEA. If you are looking for a training ground for future service dogs, there is absolutely no better place. (All photos courtesy of Sonja)

Chief and Kaline playing in the car ... shhhh.

This afternoon Sonja and I took Chief and Kaline to IKEA for the first time. Well, it was Kaline's first time anyway. I think both Kaline's and my brains were on fire by the end! We both worked hard. Sonja is an amazing person to do outings with. (I know, should be "with whom to do outings," but it sounds so stilted!) She is incredibly creative about training and creating opportunities for training. Unlike me, she has no qualms about asking strangers to participate in our training. Kaline and I really got a workout being with her and Chief! And it was lots of fun to use the clicker so much, though I ended up having to mooch treats off Sonja after I ran out. (Oops!)

Right as we got in, Sonja noticed a pair of people checking out some furniture. She asked them to call to each of our puppies in turn, after telling them their names; then we rewarded our boys for maintaining their focus on us, not the strangers. I kind of wait for real life situations to happen and then respond; Sonja creates them on her own terms so Chief can always be practicing. Awesome. She also helped me with getting and rewarding Kaline's attention: Instead of immediately trying to get his focus back when he looks at something, I should let him look, and then reward when he looks back to me on his own. Clearly it's a method that works, because Chief is constantly looking to Sonja for direction. I think I got the hang of it as we moved through the store.

Pups in IKEA!

More things we did with strangers: Multiple times, we got people to pet the dogs in vest and rewarded the boys for maintaining their focus (yeah, that's gonna be a theme). We set up the dogs about one stride apart, in downs, and after we stepped over them repeatedly, we had a stranger do it. (They were great.) When we came across three little boys with their parents, Sonja got the boys to come up near the dogs and wave their stuffed animals. Other times we had kids run past and make noises.

Sonja also worked on other scenarios that might happen. She and I made weird noises at the dogs, trying to be a little scary, waved our hands around their faces, pretended to scold them, all kinds of things that grouchy and/or drunk people might do when they see them. We stomped, we jumped around, we made sudden movements. Chief and Kaline mostly just sat there and looked at us like we were crazy, utterly nonplussed. The whole time, amusingly, Kaline kept slithering into downs, both because he was tired from the morning (three pack walks, running around with Juno, short outing to Jan's Deli) and because he had little to no traction on the floor. Poor guy, those cat feet are freaking cute but the lack of hair doesn't help him much.

This happened a lot.

Another thing we did, which sounds bad when you type it, was knock stuff off shelves onto the floor to "surprise" the boys. Obviously, we never did it with anything breakable or that would get scratched up. We're talking mousepads, wicker baskets, plastic baskets, plastic-wrapped whisks. We also banged some metal canisters together. If the pups did startle, it was pretty minimal, and they were quickly able to focus again.

We did "under" at different tables, let the dogs explore the multitudinous surfaces and objects all over IKEA. In various places, we had them practice their actual tasks. Chief retrieved a pouch and returned to settle on Sonja's chest as she lay on the floor; Kaline did lap-ups and even an on-me when I found a long chair just perfect for stretching out on. He worked on touch and leave it as well.

"under"

"lap up"

"on me"

My only gripe with the little man, who did a fantastic job today, was the pulling. Obviously in IKEA, when you are searching out training opps, you don't walk at the nice brisk pack-walking pace. Plus Chief was usually ahead of Kaline. Just for shits and giggles, I might review the Kikopup videos on no pulling and try to do a couple training sessions like that. I have to take my own advice—if what I'm doing (corrections on the prong and rewards for slowing down and giving me attention) isn't accomplishing what I want, and I have given it a good chance, it's time to try another tactic.

In the middle of our outing, Sonja found a secluded corner and we took the boys' vests off so they could have a little wrestle. Sonja thinks it's really important that SDs be able to play and then return to working mode quickly, and I couldn't agree more. They did pretty well, although Kaline can never pass up a chance to take a swipe at Chief with one of his massive paws. I figure when they can finally work side-by-side without losing their focus on their humans, they'll be able to work through any situation! It's so cute how much they like each other though.

The outing was wonderful and we need to do it more ... but oh man, was it a pleasure to put Kaline down for a nap in his crate and grab Juno so we could go to dinner with the parents. I'm sure this will come as a huge amazing revelation to everyone in the world, but puppies are a LOT of work! My brain could kind of turn off once I was with Juno—she knows her job and we just know how to work together. I know someday it will be like that with Kaline but I am so glad that Juno didn't have to retire, and will be here to get me through Kaline's training! Fabulous girl. She looked so pretty in her wide collar with its brand new DogTagArt ID tag.

Training opportunities

Kaline at 16 weeks!

 First things first: Sixteen-week-old Kaline finally got his last set of shots! I am super stoked about this for reasons I don't think I should put on a blog ... If inquiring minds want to know, PM me. He did fine at the vet—was fairly stoic for his DHPP shot, and then wriggled a little about the rabies vaccination. He also (sort of) met Dr. Ulla's beautiful big black and rust Doberman, Anchor. Anchor has some leash reactivity, so they didn't actually get to sniff or anything. Anchor barked, and Kaline got treats for not barking back, and for watching me and ignoring Anchor, and for coming toward me and away from Anchor.

Which leads ever so nicely into what I wanted to write about, training opportunities! I try (unfortunately I don't always succeed!) to view pretty much everything that happens as a training opportunity. It's a lot easier to do when I am carrying my bait bag, so I've been putting that on pretty much every time we go outside. It really helps to see the world in general in a more positive way.

I actually got excited today when I was out with a four-pack in Palo Alto, and saw a woman coming along the sidewalk with what looked like two Chow mixes (or full Chows, I don't know). Clearly they were walking her, and they were staring daggers at my dogs. She saw my dogs and took an extra few wraps of leash around each of her hands.

Practically grinning with delight, I sidled my four off the main part of the sidewalk and right up next to a store's front window. I was ready with the bait bag, all four were maintaining excellent eye contact, and I was just thinking, YES! We are going to have a great reinforcement of how we don't interact with this kind of energy!

Then I realized I'd been standing there for much longer than it should've taken for the dogs to pass us. They'd crossed the street. Drat.

It's so confidence-building to see everything as an opportunity to reinforce what you want from your dog(s). I get happy when we come across barking dogs in cars or behind fences, skateboards on the sidewalk, hissing garbage trucks, creaking buses (or is it busses?), or people using various potentially scary (to dogs) mobility aids. Instead of seeing these things as things to avoid and protect the dogs from, I can see them as a chance to show them how I want them to react—and to show them that when such scary things happen, they're not actually scary, because they mean cookies.

A side note: You may remember that Juno and I won a super-awesome tag from Jen and Elka! Well, I finally got around to doing a wee photoshoot with Juno today. If you like one of the photos more than the others, let me know! I'll probably choose one for the custom tag by Wednesday or Thursday. And yes, the tag will be going on the wide 2HoundsDesigns collar Juno is wearing in the photos.

Some of the photoshoot contenders:

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5

Sunday funday

The dogs got out and about a bunch today. We got up early and walked downtown, planning to meet Dad at the Farmer's Market. On the way, we stopped at Peet's, where we saw Max with his mom, and another dog we know, Darby, a poodle mix. Darby is working on his dog reactivity, so it's great for him when other dogs in training (as opposed to crazy MDIFs—check out this post if you don't know what I mean) come by. He did very well and didn't bark at Juno or Kaline. Max went crazy when he saw me, was glad to see Juno, and told the puppy in no uncertain terms to behave himself, hehe.

After our impromptu doggy meetup, we headed to the Farmer's Market. I vested both dogs and took them through, and I must say, it's pretty tough trying to work two dogs in a slow crowd like that. They did fine, behavior-wise, but we definitely have to figure out some sort of system regarding positioning. It doesn't help that I really want Juno not to sit, in those situations, and I do like it when Kaline sits. It's a tail thing.

We then did a quick in and out at the bagel store—a sit-stay by the door, then a quick loop to the back of the store and out again. Kaline did well at not sniffing and not soliciting attention. Then we headed to Cafe Borrone for some breakfast. I didn't vest the dogs, because we were going to sit outside and I wanted Kaline to be able to go say hi to people. There were, of course, a lot of people who wanted to pet him and love on him. He took a little while to settle down on his mat, partially because of all the people coming to say hi, and partially because just across the way was a little Catahoula puppy!

We met her foster mom after breakfast—the puppy is up for adoption, along with her six brothers and sisters—and found out the little girl is about Kaline's age. She had very similar coloring as well, though more of a blunt face. And a tail, of course. The hilarious thing was, once they started to kind of play with each other (as much as they could on leash and basically under a table), we suddenly noticed how much bigger Kaline's paws were. Overall, he really wasn't much larger than the Catahoula, but his feet were probably at least twice as large!

After a while, Kaline finally settled on his mat, right at the end of it so he was close to his beloved Juno. A couple times he rested his head on her back, but I was never fast enough with my phone to get a picture. Drat!

We came home briefly after breakfast, then headed out again to the Michigan Alumni Student Send-off. Supposedly this event is for the kids heading off to Michigan at the end of the month, but really it's for the alumni to get a much-needed taste of "home." The club ships in Cottage Inn Pizza, breads, meats and cheeses from Zingerman's Deli, and best of all, ice cream from Stucchi's! It's fabulous.

I was hoping this would be sort of a chill-out event for the dogs, but as we drove into the park where the event was held, we saw a ton of No Pets signs. I was so bummed. You've got this absolutely gorgeous big park, and no one can bring their pet dogs! How awful! So the pups had to go vested. No biggie for Juno—I actually think she likes it better when strangers leave her alone. She really doesn't have any interest in them unless they scratch her Happy Spot or they have food for her. Kaline, though, is my little social butterfly and would have loved getting to go schmooze with everyone.

Nonetheless, both dogs did very well. Kaline settled much more quickly at the picnic than at the cafe. It was on dirt, so everyone's gear has to get washed, but hey, it's an occupational hazard. The kids got in a bit more crowd work, and just relaxed with all the people around. We got to do some service dog education, and I even met (in person) someone I had met years ago online when we were both part of a Brad Ausmus-obsessed Yahoo group! That was really cool. I was pretty pleased with how Kaline did, given all the people he wasn't allowed to say hi to, and all the food he wasn't allowed to have. He pawed at his head collar a bit, but that was about all.

And an update on Kaline's neck: The hair loss isn't getting worse, at least. I emailed Maura about it, and she said that fleece-lined flat collars or no flat collar at all would be the way to go. Kaline can go naked at home, but outside a lot of the time he needs to be wearing a collar with tags, so I guess we'll be getting a fleece-lined collar soon. Also coming soon: two spare, magnetic closure, super awesome bait bags! Hurrah!

All the things, and Saturday Class No. 3

Thursday night, Juno was an absolute star. I had the worst lower-body fibro flareup that I've had in a long time, and it started in the middle of a University of Michigan alumni networking mixer. Once it started, I sat down, and that did nothing. To get up, I had to brace on Juno. To get up the stairs, she had to pull me slowly forward. Dad and I stopped briefly to get takeout Thai for dinner, and Junebug had to give me momentum pulling there too. My knees and calves were starting to burn like they were on fire.

We got home, and I stayed on the couch. When I tried to get up again, everything was a million times worse. Dad took Kaline out for his last potty break, and I took Juno, thank goodness. She took tiny, tiny steps to keep pace with me hobbling around. Going down the stairs, she went one at a time so she could support me. I basically crawled back up the stairs, because it was easier to have my knees taking the pressure than my feet. I was kind of wondering about my options for becoming upright when Juno helpfully popped out of the kitchen and braced wonderfully for me to get up. What a fabulous girl. It's days like those when I'm like, "Gawd, I want a BLD!" But those days don't happen that often, and a BLD is very expensive, so at least for now I'm holding off.

Friday we tired the crap out of wee Kaline with three pack walks, back to back to back. After that, he took a big ol' nap, then came to the tdoc appointment with us—in his adorable vest—and after a little bit of being antsy, went to sleep again. How glorious.

Naptime!

 However, by about 7:30 or so, Kaline was fully recharged, so we went on a very long walk (Juno stayed home to beg dinner off my parents). We went to downtown Menlo Park, and Kaline met a ton of people, including two little girls. The girls were all over him, hugging and petting, and I would have said something if Kaline looked uncomfortable (most dogs don't like to be hugged). These kids hugged him, both at once, and he just closed his eyes and leaned harder against them. He looked positively blissful.

Kaline also finally encountered the stone dogs outside this one downtown store. It took a while before he was completely convinced that they weren't real. First he stayed back, stretching out his long neck and sniffing energetically. Then he got a little closer, for more sniffing. He went all over both the stone dogs, sniffing and sniffing. Then, as a final test, he playbowed before them and did his very best to get them to play, even barking and running in little circles. It was pretty amusing.

I took him to the park at the end, and he ran around me in circles, like he was a horse on a lunge line. More hilarity. He slept very well once I brought him home.

This morning we had obedience class. After starting in the back seat, this is where Kaline ended up by the time we got to the park.

Kaline did really well at the beginning, and of course started to lose focus toward the end. Now that I think back, I could just see the gas gauge getting to zero during the remote sits and downs, usually one of his best things. At first he was doing it, and then all of a sudden, he'd go down and he was down. Head on the ground, eyes saying, "Do not ask me to get up again."

I'm staying right here.

We did a lot of heeling work, especially in close with the other dogs. We also did a ton of individual recalls, and even when I dropped the leash, Kaline didn't break once. And that's a tough thing for a baby, to have to hold a sit when he sees all the other dogs running to their handlers. We did a lot of meet and greets with variation with a lovely German Shepherd named Harley (Juno, inexplicably, cannot stand either Harley or his biological brother, Wheeler). Kaline did all right there too—broke one sit when he got greeted by Harley's handler—but he was losing it, so all the sudden recalls started to not be tons of fun for him. He was totally fine when I left him in a down with Harley's handler and went out of sight for a few minutes. Woohoo!

After class, we did our first two-service-dog outing, to Red Robin. I was so nervous. What if they gave me a huge access challenge over having two dogs in the restaurant? What if Kaline peed in the restaurant? What if he suddenly barked at Juno and she barked back? What if he refused to hold any kind of a stay and just made a pest of himself?

Kaline on the way to Red Robin ... I was just hoping he didn't totally recharge by the time we got there.

It ended up being completely fine. Both dogs were very professional. Kaline wore his head collar, so I'd have more control if he started to go for something on the floor. We brought his new mat, which is (I kid you not) made of memory foam and has a super soft blue outside. Juno and Kaline walked in together, and I set their mats up on either side of my chair. I got Kaline settled, with Juno waiting patiently, then gave her the "on your mat" command. Kaline immediately snuggled down in his mat (hey, who wouldn't snuggle into that thing?) and only got up once or twice. I rewarded him periodically for his lovely settle.

And I must say, the staff at Red Robin were fabulous. They didn't ask any intruding questions, or give us trouble about the two dogs. Our server grinned at the dogs but never talked to or touched them. She was so sweet: "Yep, I could tell the little guy is in training—the big one is just cool." They sat us in an area with few other people, so there was plenty of space to put the dogs and have them out of the way of anyone walking.

Needless to say, I was very proud of the kids! Took them to Petco after (unvested, of course) to get some treats and loving up. Yay, our first real Juno-and-Kaline outing was a success!

First vested outing; and the only time I will ever use a Flexi

This morning was super exciting to me, because Kaline got to have his first vested outing! It lasted all of about 15 minutes. Before we left the house, I had to kind of jerry-rig the vest, safety-pinning the long straps up so they don't dangle (obviously, at this point I have both straps as short as they'll go). I put Kaline and Juno's vests in Dad's car—he drove to the Menlo Park Farmer's Market, and the dogs and I walked, to take the edge off Kaline's morning energy.

Kaline models his vest up in my room. Still needs to grow into it a little more!

We met Dad at the fish stand, and he had already completed the shopping! So he held Juno at that end while I vested Kaline and then headed in. We made one circuit of the market, just up and back. I was well-armed with treats, and Kaline was excellent. We wove through the crowds and he was interested, looking around, but anytime I asked him to watch, he did, pretty much immediately. He didn't sniff too much, and only pulled a little to go say hi to people. I was pleased at how he handled the quick up-and-back, and very pleasantly surprised at the fact that no one even asked to pet him, much less molested him without asking. Woohoo!

Dad had to pick up a few things at nearby Trader Joe's, so the pups and I followed him across the parking lot and just sat on a bench outside. I didn't think Kaline was ready to go inside TJ's, but I kept him vested, put him in a down next to Juno, and we just did some quality people watching. People-with-carts watching, even better. I admit, I feared that Kaline would have a cart phobia. Thankfully, he does not. He was very cute. Okay, fine, he's always very cute. But he just looked so adorable and businesslike in his vest!

Good settle, buddy.

We came home for a while, and then Dad started going on about finding somewhere for Kaline to run. Basically he had two ideas, dog park or tennis courts. I nixed the dog park because I will never allow either of my dogs into one; the benefits don't come close to outweighing the risks. Tennis courts got nixed because Kaline is way too young to be running on such a hard surface. Then he suggested the beach, and I thought, "Hey, that's an awesome idea!"

So, if you've known me more than five minutes you know I absolutely hate, loathe, and abominate Flexi leashes. However, when we go to the beach, I make a rare exception. I want the dogs to have a lot more freedom and play than on a normal walk, and it's appropriate for them to have more freedom. I don't want to let them completely off leash, though, because obviously the baby doesn't have a solid off-leash recall, and even if both dogs did, sometimes it's pretty hard to hear right by the ocean. So a Flexi, much as I hate to admit it, is a good compromise.

We ended up at a Half Moon Bay beach and had a lovely time. Juno likes to go walk around in the waves—not interested in swimming or getting in deep water, but definitely doesn't mind getting wet up to about her hocks. Kaline very plainly did not want to get wet. He had a good time running around though and after watching me scrabble in the sand with my feet, he went nuts digging. It was hilarious, because instead of alternating front feet, he tries to dig using both front feet at the same time. So there are frequent faceplants and he ended up with a lot of sand on his nose and in his mouth. A lot of it was in his mouth because he, um, was trying to eat sand. I have a silly puppy.

My goobers!

Wee Kaline on the beach.

Yooooo-no!

Diggin' a hole!

Which one of ...

... these is cuter?

I tried to get photos of Juno and Kaline's pawprints next to each other, cause they're practically the same size. Unfortunately, while Juno leaves beautiful clear prints, Kaline doesn't really weigh enough to do that yet. Ah well! Everyone seems to be pretty zonked now; Kaline is being a more muted pest than normal, haha.

Outdoor play and STACKED PHOTOS!

There are so many gorgeous photos of the puppies from today I just don't know where to start! They got to play outside. I don't know if it was their first time or not, but it must have been very exciting! I tend to view things through my service-dog lens, so as I was looking through the photos, I was full of delight at seeing all the different surfaces and objects the puppies had to explore. There was wood, grass, rocks to clamber over—learning to be comfortable and relaxed on all manner of surfaces is very important. Plus it looks like the pups had a fantastic time.

Chilling in the grass.

Exploring the deck.

Insane cuteness from no-collar boy.

Exploring the rocks.

Exuberance!!!

Additionally, Maura posted the first set of stacked photos! In case the word “stacked” doesn't mean anything to you when it comes to dogs, the term means that the dog (or puppy in this case) is standing squarely, with their back feet far enough back that their hocks are straight and their topline is nice (i.e. not hunched over or way stretched out). It may look easy, but it's really not! Not even with an adult dog—teaching them to stand properly can take a really long time, and getting puppies to stand in the right position, and stand still, is a big task.

Brown collar boy stacked.

Brown collar boy.

White collar boy stacked.

White collar boy.

No collar boy stacked.

Red boy stacked.

Red boy. What a face!

Black girl stacked.

Black girl.

Red girl stacked.

Don't you just love their fat little bellies? Precious.

Kaline's in-training vest came yesterday. I'll post photos once the patches are sewn on—taking it to the tailor tomorrow!