NINTH INNING STRETCH

Well things have smoothed out a bit.  I pushed him Saturday and Sunday night to relieve at 6 or 7 in the morning.  He did so without any fussing, accidents or whining.  In fact I had to pull him out of his crate to go out.  This is great news as we can now go most the night and simply awake to a early morning.  The success of this is of course is his ability to hold his bladder, but also the timing of drinks before bed.  

Another area we focused on is outside kennel time.  The weather has not been very warm so we have been limited in getting him outside for playtime.  The last few days have been warm enough and we notice that when the warm sun peeks into his kennel he really does enjoy his time outside.   He has not whined or barked of late in the kennel.

He is now 10 weeks old.

REVERSAL OF PROGRESS

Well we had a few really good days with Dean and doing his business.  Yesterday it all fell apart.  He managed to not only pee but also poop in the house.  Then last night I woke at 4:00am to find him soaking wet!  The next time I let him out was 7:00am  he was dry and did his business as expected.  

The good news is that he is going on command very well for everybody in the house.  The problem is that we are back to accidents that seem to come out of nowhere.  That unpredictability is the hard part.  

Is it stress? Is there a physical problem?  Am I worried over nothing?  Perhaps.  

He is doing well other than the business side of things.  He is into chewing ALOT.  We do our best to keep his toys close by and to keep our fingers and toes inside the ride at all times.  He has some predictable behaviors such as waking from his naps and making a beeline for the water bowl.  He also becomes VERY attentive when he hears Ethan lifting the lid to the food container.  

Other areas we are working on are relaxing when we handle him for grooming or simply to calm down.  He is still a puppy and its difficult to get his attention without his energy getting in the way, unless he is sleeping.

DO YOUR BUSINESS

Lynn came by on Saturday and spent a few hours with us.  She clarified a few issues and taught us some skills to get Dean on the right track.

We learned how to manage Dean with his "mouthing" on people, encouraging him to keep walking when its time to do his business as well as what toys he can play by himself vs toys we play with him.

I offered to take Friday and Saturday night shifts and give DeeAnn some rest.  Well it must have been dumb luck but Dean has suddenly become a superstar.  

Normally when we went outside Dean would take his sweet time to do his business if at all, to only do his business inside a the crate or x-pen.  Starting Saturday he has done his business like clockwork when we get outside.  One accident in the x-pen was our fault for not recognizing the time.  In fact Friday and Saturday night he would go to bed at 11:00pm and I took him out after 4-5 hours of rest.

We are really encouraged but still a bit skittish that it will reverse.  So I took Sunday night as well to see if Dean was getting it.  Three nights in a row of success with days following suit.  This has really changed out outlook and are enjoying Dean more and more as we have a greater sense of predictability.  

Dean is a funny confident little puppy and it cracks us up he runs around navigating his world in a little puppy body suit.  He loves to suddenly go bounding like a rabbit toward his water dish or take off from his bed and race around to suddenly return as though nothing happened.  

One behavior that was rather funny was in the middle of the night.  I had just taken him outside and was settling back to bed when I hear this "ding", "ding", "ding"  I look over and see this little black shadow bouncing inside his crate hitting the top.  Sitting on top was his metal food dish.  Each time he bounced the dish would "ding" as it also bounced ontop of the crate. I removed the dish and the "ding" stopped.

IVE GOT EYE FOR YOU

Entropion is a genetic condition in which a portion of the eyelid is inverted or folded inward. This can cause an eyelash or hair to irritate and scratch the surface of the eye, leading to corneal ulceration or perforation. It can also cause dark-colored scar tissue to build up over the wound - petmd.com

Last week Dean went to the Veterinarian to have his right eye looked at.  Lynn noticed that it seemed weepy on club day and from her experience thought it might be entropian.  After consulting with GDB it was recommended that Dean have a doctor visit.



We hope it will take care of itself  over the next few weeks/months, otherwise he might need to have a surgery to address the issue.  This I understand is normal and nothing to worry about, just monitor.

Lynn shared a story about a dog that had entropian and after the surgery was suddenly able to see things much better and became fearful of some people and objects that before were not so imposing. 

THE STORM BEFORE THE DAWN

Its overwhelming!

We are now in the thick of it all.  DeeAnn has had poor sleep for the last 5 days.  She is either waking to take Dean out to relieve, cleaning his crate, or half sleeping listening for signs that he needs to go out.  

There are so many things that sound simple and great on paper but muddle our brains once we try to them into practice.  The guideline is that pups should be taken out after they, sleep, play, drink, and eat.  The reality is that means he would be going out all the time.  Then add the other training which is that if he does not do his business in 5 minutes then he needs to go into the crate for 5.  Repeat, but add more crate time, unless he falls asleep, then wait.  I figured that a simple flow chart would help.  I should add that at some point your faith in prayer and God will be tested as well as constantly fighting the urge to call your club leader for magic advice and understanding.

Dean has also introduced new behaviors that we of course are unsure are normal or should be corrected.  Scratching an ear or neck, resistance to the leash, whimpering and spinning before doing his business, chasing his tail or licking things.  

DeeAnn always says that little kids have little problems and big kids have big problems.  This of course means that little issues we see today will only become worse in the future if unmanaged.  Dean of course also has a specific purpose in life and so we are striving to give him every opportunity to full-fill that destiny.  

Other things such as growling while playing with a puppy jumping up on you or taking a nap on the couch are also not allowed.

And don't forget we are also suppose to be training commands such as "come" "sit" and "stay" and the daily touching in between his toes, ears, and mouth so as to keep him compliant during vet care, and maintenance for teeth brushing and toe trimming.

Our club leader Lynn has been wonderful throughout this process and takes our calls and texts everytime as we attempt to find the rythum and schedule for little Dean.   This weekend Lynn will swing by our home to give us some hands on training and advice.

WE'LL KEEP THE LIGHTS ON

That famous Motel 6 slogan is a great metaphor for the last two nights.  DeeAnn to her credit has been in charge of the nighttime routine.  Dean is learning the routine but it requires much of DeeAnn so far.  Ethan would help but he inherited my ability to sleep through most sounds.  I must say this is so far the most difficult part of raising.  You can’t let your guard down which means the “freedom” to have a puppy exploring your home is a dangerous option.  Even after a he has done his business you still assume he might take advantage of a clean carpet.  The ratio of success is still in our favor but the mental games-manship is not.  Its also incorrect to assume that this puppy is trying to outsmart us or has some master plan of conveyance that we will eventually give into, yet it does feel that way at times.  In the meantime Dean placates us with simple obedience skills
 

HOMEWARD BOUND

I suppose journeys often start both emotionally and mentally well before the physical one, and this was no different.  DeeAnn and I often discussed the similarity of a new puppy to bringing home your first baby from the hospital.  Inexperience rumbles through our heads as we consider each action as brand new and without precedent.  How will he know if he has to relieve himself?  What if he gets sick?  When do we feed him?  And the list of first time unknowns continues to mount.

In reality he snoozed most the time coming home.

The biggest concern we had was the the process of relieving at each stop along the way - Dean did well.  

The trip down to San Rafael took us about 5 1/2 hours but going up it was closer to 8 1/2 hours including dinner.  Puppy Dean is not as well trained as my boys who can do their business in under 5 minutes on road trips!  We will work on that.

So what is Dean like?  Well so far he appears fairly laid back and unfazed by most noises and things about him.  In fact there was a few times that due to a curve in the road and a slippery coat of fur, puppy Dean slid right off his bed and onto the floorboard of the car.  Imagine a dark night on a curvy freeway with a black puppy on a black carpet. After each time we assumed the little guy would be in some state of shock or panic, but instead he remained asleep!

At dinner he laid in Ethan’s lap and alternated between sleep and lazy observation, sprinkled with a bout of hiccups.  The singular time he appeared concerned was the passing of a loud motorcycle.

Over the last few months DeeAnn and Ethan have learned alot about what it takes to create a highly trained guide dog and that translates into addressing and encouraging behaviors as puppies.  There is a gentle balance to exposing puppies to sights, sounds, and smells without inducing fear or introducing problem distractions.  

GDB has recently been breeding puppies to be “softer” which may or may not help us first time raisers. 

So all that to say we are watching each movement and behavior so we can identify areas to work on or praise.  

Physically Dean has some fairly large paws, apparently his sire “Upton” was a larger black lab.  His dam was a yellow lab.  When you look at Dean’s face you see a puppy with a bit more skin draping than a traditional lab, look up Shar-Pei.  The funny thing is that his rear paws are much smaller than the front and when he drinks or eats it is not uncommon to see his front end which is much stronger causing his back end to wobble and fling about like a drunk sailor.  Other times he simply sits his rear suspension down for a rest even though drinking and eating are far more difficult. 

GDB also has a system for identifying the largest puppy in each litter. Dean had a shave on his left shoulder.

Special thanks to Kathleen Fischer, GDB Staff.

After the entire litter is born, we separate males from females. If it is a litter with both black and yellow pups, the black ones go first (it’s the dominant gene). How ever many black males there are, they will get weighed with the heaviest one receiving RS then LS, RH … (Even if there is 1 black pup who is a DOA and 4 yellow healthy pups, the black pup will still receive the RS shave mark with the yellow ones following). Once all black males are clipped, then the yellow males get weighed with the heaviest yellow one receiving the next shave mark. (If there were 4 black males, then the heaviest yellow male would be a DS {double shoulder}). Then we do the same with the girls.
Here’s the shave order:
RS – right shoulder
LS – left shoulder
RH -right hip
LH – left hip
DS – double shoulder
DH – double hip
RSRH – right shoulder right hip
LSLH – left shoulder left hip
DSRH – double shoulder right hip
DSLH – double shoulder left hip
RSDH – right shoulder double hip
LSDH – left shoulder double hip