Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Facebook Page

Hi there it's Pinnacle. I hacked my mommy's computer for a little while so don't tell her. Since I am going to be doing so many fun things while I'm a puppy in training my mommy decided to create me my own facebook page so that I can share about my fun adventures. So if you have a facebook page stop by and like my page.

The link is: https://www.facebook.com/PinnacleGdbPuppyintraining?hc_location=stream

my brother Agent has his own page too his is https://www.facebook.com/AndrewGuidedogpuppy

enjoy.

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Photo Shoot

It's been a while since I have posted so I thought I'd give an update on the boys. Agent is loving being back in Bakersfield where he can run in our yard every day. He does good with Pinnacle most of the time, but every once in a while he gets annoyed with him. I try to give him time with just me so that he doesn't get to jealous of Pinnacle. He continues to love to swim and chase squirrels when allowed. I got some pictures of him today just so he could show off how handsome he is.



Pinnacle is continuing to grow like a weed. We are continuing to work real hard with him on seeing the car as something fun and not getting car sick. He is improving. Right now he rides in a crate while in a car and we only do really short drives to keep it positive. So far he hasn't thrown up any and is drooling a lot less so its an improvement. He is learning his commands and how to walk on a head collar nicely right now. Hard to believe he is 14 weeks old now.











Wednesday, May 15, 2013

The Call

I just got the call I had been hoping to get since Malcolm was career changed. Malcolm has been placed with another program. He is now training to be a diabetic alert dog at dogs for diabetics!! I am hoping he will graduate from that program. I will get periodic updates on him while he trains so im excited.

Monday, May 13, 2013

3 months

Last week Pinnacle turned 3 weeks old so in honor of that I will say 3 things I love about him.

1. His cute face. He has the sweetest puppy face ever, and is really good at the puppy eyes.

2. The white spots on him. He has some white marking on him. One on his head, a white stripe on his chest, and his right bac paw has white on it.

3. He really wants to please. He may not always get things quickly and can goof off sometimes while i'm working with him but he almost always tries to make me happy. When he was learning how to do stairs he was nervous at first, but with a lot of encouragement from me he quickly figured them out and now enjoys doing them.


Happy 3 month Birthday Pinnacle!!

5 days with Pinnacle

So last week I had time off from school to study for finals so I decided to go home to Bakersfield and spend time with my new puppy Pinnacle. He was so excited to see me that he climbed over the baby gate to get to me. I spent all last Wednesday working with him. He has now mastered going up and down the stairs in our house, and I introduced him to the gentle leader as well. Thursday our family was going to a concert so he went to his first puppy sitter. I was a bit nervous as he hates being in the car since he gets car sick (he mainly drools a lot), but he did actually pretty good. I'm told he did pretty good for his first puppy sit so I was happy. Friday we had company so he spent most of the day in the kitchen. He also got his 12 week shots and weighs 24 ib. I'm quite sure my arms were ready to fall off from holding him. Unfortunately his tummy didn't handle the shot well so he kept me up all night with diarrhea. Luckily by Sunday he was back to normal.

One fun thing I got to do is take him to his baby puppy meeting. Since he wasn't feeling good my mom went with me too. The meeting was the day after his shot so he was still not feeling well at all. Add that to he gets car sick I ended up covered in drool. I took him potty as soon as we got to the meeting poor boy had loose stools. He was happy to see the other 2 pups there and kept wanting to play with them. At the end of the meeting we discussed with the coleader who is also a vet what to do with Pinnacle about his car sickness. We are told for next couple days to keep him out of the car, and then when we introduce the car again put him in a crate since he seems to do better in that and only go a short distance. Hoping that works and over time we can increase the distance. Sorry I didn't get any pictures of him last week.

Friday, May 3, 2013

the dreaded call

Today I got the call that as a raiser you never want to get. Malcolm was Career Changed for cataracts in his right eye. I am beyond devastated I had really high hopes for him. I have decided to let Guide Dogs see if another program would like him first. If not I will place him with a family. I likely won't know anything for at least a month.

Thursday, May 2, 2013

Last week/Good-bye Malcolm


So it has been almost a week since I turned Malcolm in for Formal Training. To start off we did some lasts with him during the week. He said his goodbyes to my teachers and they all said they were going to miss their "favorite student". I also took Malcolm to see his last movie G.I. Joe and of course he did perfect. On the Thursday before I turned him in for training I took him to dinner with my sister and her boyfriend. We went to Cheesecake Factory since it was his first outing with me so it was only right that I took him there one last time.On Friday night my mom drove up to Fresno to watch Malcolm while I went to the Clovis Rodeo/Dustin Lynch concert (I hd bought the tickets for me and my friend before I knew Malcolm was on the recall for that weekend). My mom said he did great. I had dropped Agent off to be boarded so that I could focus Friday and Saturday on Malcolm. When I got home I let him get in my bed since it was his last night with me. He didn't last long as he jumped right off as if to say no I know the rules mommy no getting on furniture.


Saturday morning my mom and I woke up got dressed and got things loaded into the car to make the drive up to San Rafael. Before we left we went through the Mcdonald's drive-thru to get breakfast. Then we hit the road. That was one of the hardest drives to make. I wanted to cry my eyes out but tried to keep myself together so that I wouldn't stress Malcolm out. After 3 hours in the car we made it to San Rafael. It was about lunch time so we went to the mall across the street from Guide Dogs and ate lunch there. After eating we got back in the car and drove across the street. Once at Guide Dogs we took some pictures of Malcolm and I.

Malcolm and I on the Guide Dog campus. I was giving him kisses

Malcolm got a little distracted by the construction going on (new dorms are being built)

I hate this part 

Malcolm and I on recall day

After pictures it was time to walk over to the kennels and check Malcolm in. That was a difficult walk to make. After handing in his paperwork we had the option to take him to his kennel which we chose to do. We closed the door and sat there with him giving him kisses and hugs. I told him I was proud of him and to do good in training. He even managed to take the bone in his kennel and drop it on my leg one last time for good memories. After that we got up and went to the outside part of his kennel to see him one last time. Unfortunately he saw us and started to bark and throw a fit which broke my heart so we walked away quickly. I'm told he has since settled in nicely which makes me happy. We then went back to the kennel office to pick up my new puppy (see previous post for details on my new puppy Pinnacle).
giving Malcolm a hug goodbye in his kennel

saying goodbye

I didn't want to leave

I love this boy

Every Thursday is phase report day where we get to see which phase of training our dog is in. Malcolm is in phase 0 this week. In this phase he will have his medical exams and is enjoying some fun time right now. After he passes his physicals he will be assigned a trainer. I can't wait to watch him go through the phases.