12 for 12 (from Orent himself)

Orent learned to speak (finally! We have a video below), so this month, the reflections come straight from the puppy's mouth!

1. "Adult Eukanuba is big and crunchy! I love it! I just wish I could have as many individual kibbles as I used to be able to have when they were small..."
2. "I have a sixth sense about when its six pm... because then it's dinner time!"
3. "I learned a new skill. Aggressive visiting is what my people call it. I put my head on whatever body part is near me -- legs, arms, even toes -- and press down and give my best puppy dog eyes. I'm especially good at this at 6pm... did I mention that's dinner time?"
4. "I still love kiddie pools full of water. Maybe this year, I'll learn to be less scared of creeks and rivers!"
5. "I got a new little brother, and he confuses me. He barks at me, but I'm not allowed to bark back. But then one time I got kibbles for barking at him, because I was still learning to speak. Now I get really confused and bark at him, and get told to be quiet. I just don't understand... (shakes head)"
6. "Sometimes when I play with my friends, it's hard to remember to pay attention to my people. But then one time, I actually remembered what "here" meant when we were out in the big world, and I left my friend Buddy and came running. I got like eight kibbles for that!"
7. "Even though I am one whole year old, I still don't understand these things called doorways. Why aren't they good places for napping? How is it that I always seem to end up on the wrong side of the door opening?"
8. "I am really, really good at jumping... except at the groomers, and at home, and into the car, and at my friend's house, and... anything that's not a new thing to jump on. Why would I want to jump on things I've already jumped on."
9. "I am a California dog! This hot weather -- even if my people say it's only 78 degrees, it feels like a million to me. And when it was cold, all I wanted to do was snuggle. Why can't it be a perfect 55 degrees every day, like it is where I was born?"
10. "I am officially agile! I can do nearly everything in the dog agility course, like the tunnel and the triangle... well, except the teeter totter. That one's too scary."
11. "I get distracted super easily these days. I mean, life is just really hard and I've got all these hormones and.... SQUIRREL!"
12. "Nothing phases me... nope, I'm Mr. Chill Dog!"

And now, Orent speaks:

11 for 11

Orent turned 11 months old last week, and here are 11 things we are remarking on right now.

1. Orent has a new "brother" named Brady -- a tiny, 7-year-old papillon/pomeranian mix who barks a lot and has gobs of energy. In comparison, Orent is a silent, slow, dopey dog. The contrast couldn't be more stark. Wherever Orent ends up, let's hope they don't need a dog that moves fast or barks!
2. We're starting to think more about Orent as an actual service dog, now that he has grown into himself. For example, when he pulls on the leash now, its clear he's very strong and we need to get better at Let's Go in case someone needs him to walk patiently by their side.
3. Speaking of being strong... today, Orent pulled me (Kaytee) over. Literally. He was on his long leash, chasing a frisbee down a (soft and grassy... thank god!) hill, and he got up so much speed I couldn't keep up. Next thing I know, I'm flying to the ground and the dog is racing ahead. Fortunately, Max's dad got the dog's leash and I am fine. But man, he got STRONG!
4. He's exceedingly lovey. He'll probably be an emotional support dog for someone, considering all he wants in life is to lean on you and tell you he loves you.
5. He's learning to do more commands without bribes/lures, and responds to corrections, which is a very grown-up dog thing to do.
6. On the other hand, he's scared of putting his vest and gentle leader, and won't do it without bribes.
7. But it's not that simple! It seems sometimes he has two brains -- brain one is slow, dopey dog that doesn't know what commands mean. Brain two gets turned on whenever food is around, and that's when he remembers what commands mean. It's not bribing, per se... it's using food to turn on the light switch that activates the part of the brain that remembers what commands mean.
8. He now officially lets us cut his nails! 
9. He loves to run, and to be chased around. His favorite game is "On your mark! Get set! Go!" which is basically where someone says that and then goes running off in a direction, and Orent runs along beside. This works best when Orent has something (a stick or toy) to hold in his mouth, because otherwise he really wants to carry the leash.
10. He can destroy most toys in less than a day, and some in less than an hour. We've basically stopped buying toys that aren't made out of special (expensive) plastic at this point, because it's just not worth it.
11. See below...

The best compliment yet!

There comes a time in every great service-dog-in-training's life where he or she achieves something no one thought would be possible -- he becomes invisible!

Today, Orent was invisible in plain sight at the liquor store. We stood in an insanely long line waiting to buy wine, and he was right by my side. When we got to the register, the lady said "uh, manager, there's a dog here." and the manager looked right at me and said "what? where?" Hard to believe she missed him, but he was right by my side and she didn't notice him for a few seconds.

I explained that he was in training, and she said "ok, fine". She must've been convinced by his good behavior or something, because she was super skeptical but she let him continue along.

But of course, all good things come to an end. Right now, he's tearing up and down the hallway chasing his tennis ball, making a massive racket that is undoubtedly driving my downstairs neighbors nuts. I bet they wish he was invisible for real!

UPDATE: while I was writing this post, he finished eating the head off his frog friend. This, if you're keeping track, is actually Frog Friend II. Frog Friend I died a slow, painful death as he was ripped limb from limb over the course of several months. Frog Friend II lost his head in less than two weeks! Poor Frog Friend II.

10 for 10

Orent turned 10 months old on March 9th, while we were attending the Puppy-Raiser Workshop. We learned a lot about him at the workshop and have lots to share for his 10 for 10 post!

1. In typical teenager fashion, he has forgotten that "down" is a command he knows. Despite learning it shortly after "sit," when told "down," he sits and looks at you with innocent eyes. Unless there's a bribe like a toy or a treat. Then suddenly the light dawns!
2. Despite last summer's unsuccessful attempts to get him to swim, this weekend he went plunging boldly into the ocean (at least up to his belly!) so there may be hope for him yet!
3. He's super snuggly, and loves to lean (not so good) and roll over for belly rubs (great).
4. He's finally forgotten that once upon a time he got to eat three meals a day, and has stopped looking at us aghast when we come in from a mid-day outing without stopping by the food bowl.
5. He doesn't hate having his nails clipped any more. It's not his favorite pastime, but it's not a fight, either.
6. He's shy of other dogs except CCI dogs. This weekend he met dozens of new CCI labs and retrievers and was ready to play (rough!) with each one from the moment they set noses on each other. Then on the way home he met a handful of new dogs and was shy and submissive around them.
7. He loves to run and has gotten sooooo much faster! He loves to chase down rolling toys, to run for frisbees, and especially to be chased by other dogs. However, despite being faster than he was, he'll never be the fastest dog in the play yard!
8. He likes babies. They make him wag his tail and sniff enthusiastically. I wonder what makes them smell so good!
9. There will never be another toy as fabulous as a stick, in Orent's mind.
10. He performs well for an audience. In puppy class, on outings, and at the workshop, he looked away from distractions, followed his commands, didn't pull on the leash, and was generally a star of the show. On the sidelines trying to be good and listen to the trainers teach the people... well that was another story!

Finally learning...

It feels like we've spent so much time teaching Orent basic skills, like to wait to eat until we say "ok", and to get into the car when we say "car". One skill it seemed like he'd never master is to chill out in public. Whether it was an activist meeting or a trip to a friendly restaurant, Orent was "Mister Pop-Up-For-Attention". It's like he learned that if he didn't settle down, we'd spend a lot of time trying to get him to chill out and lay down.

Well, this weekend, we tried something different. First, we took a road trip all the way to Delaware (why Delaware, you ask? why not Delaware?!?), and decided to eat at Iron Hill Brewery. The wait staff and manager were really friendly about Orent, and sat us in a fairly quiet part of the restaurant, with not a lot of people around, so we could try our new idea - ignore the dog until he learns to settle down, and when he lays down on his own, give him a treat. And... it worked! He was fairly wander-y for the first 30 mins of dinner, but we kept him on a short leash and eventually he got bored trying to lick the floor or follow the wait staff from table to table. He settled down and... much to our amazement... fell asleep!

We were so pleased! Also, the food was good and the beer was better. Hooray exciting trip.

But it wasn't over! We wanted to go to the "museum of the road" or something like that in New Castle, but when we arrived, it turned out to be nothing more than a Harley Davidson. However, it did mean we got to have an impromptu photo shoot. Too bad there were no side cars for Orent to jump in, and no doggy goggles for him to model...

We finished the road trip with an adventure to the Petco in Wilmington, to give Orent a bath at the self-serve tub & hose. Sadly, the grooming area was closed (Orent was not so sad!) so we bought him an "indestructible" toy instead. 

Wanna bet on how long until the toy is destroyed?

PS - Sorry it's been so long since we've written a blog. Life with Orent has become pleasantly routine... but who knows, maybe March will present lots of interesting challenges to blog about. If you want to stay up to date with the week-to-week of Orent's life, like him on Facebook (the link is to your right). 

Bad puppy mommy!

Oh dear, I've been bad. First, I haven't written anything for three weeks! But most importantly, I really failed at being a good puppy mommy today.

I'm trying to give the dog a bit more freedom. I work from home, and he spends a lot of the day chilled out on his bed, chewing his bone. He's gotten better about being left unattended (as long as the bedroom door is closed so he can't steal socks!), so I've been letting him wander the small apartment unsupervised when I'm home more frequently.

This afternoon started out fine. He took up residence in the bathroom, on the rug, in front of the space heater... no trouble there! I guess considering how skinny he is, he just gets cold.

The trouble happened when Max got home. I'd fed the dog around 6:15 as usual but didn't take him outside. When Max got home, we got to talking. Next thing you know, the dog is wandering into the office. I start to pet him and he starts to pee... on the floor... just like that! Oh dear...

So I whisk him outside while Max cleans up the mess. He finds another puddle on the floor and cleans that up. When Orent and I get back upstairs, we realized Orent had gotten into more trouble than we thought in those scant five minutes he was unattended.

Somehow, during the five minutes that Max and I were talking in the office, he'd gone into the laundry room, ate all the spilled kibble off the floor that he'd been told not to eat (repeatedly! dense dog), went into the trash can, got a toy that had been thrown away out, destuffed it, and then set to work on the dryer lint in the trash.

So, bad puppy mommy, bad. No kibble for me!

Also, anyone know if dryer lint is, like, poisonous? He seems fine, and we use good not-too-toxic laundry detergent... I guess we'll find out how much of it he ate tomorrow!

Orent II, Weekend Warrior!

I learned this weekend that Orent is finely-tuned into the weather. When it's too hot or too cold out, he hurries outside to hurry (tee-hee!) and turns to come right back in. But this unseasonably gorgeous weekend (60º! In January!) he has lingered longingly every time we went out for a potty break. Yesterday we got to do a bit of outdoor adventuring, having lunch outside, taking our Christmas tree to be chipped, and romping a bit in the neighbor's yard. But today I knew we needed to do more playing!

So... we started the morning at a bakery I've been wanting to try almost since I moved to Philly. Funny how having Orent gives me an excuse to have all sorts of adventures. Anyway, they were very dog-friendly, even if Orent was a bit restless. See the previous post for photos of that!

Then, we took him to the doggiest place in all of Philadelphia, Rittenhouse Square. It's in the fanciest part of the city, so you see teacup dogs and purebred everything (though I've yet to see a fully groomed Afghan hound, I'm sure that's just poor timing on my part). And you see mutts and pitt-mixes because, after all, this is Philly. Maybe even more than dogs, you see kids, too, playing in the dry fountain all winter long.

Orent meets a young friend