Quite the weather change, apparenlty Banjo was cold. He was found louging on the sofa three times which was not preparing him for the Dane County OccuPaws Training Session this evening. Weather kept us all in the house, so Banjo was a little stir crazy - never good for training.
Three puppies attended along with one guide dog, four trainees, and Toby. One of the puppies is Banjo's replacement. Neva took to him right away; Banjo could not care less.
First, the older dogs practiced DOWN STAY while the puppies attempted to provoke a response that would get the big dogs in trouble. After their teasing, the puppies were put to the test, as much as a ten week old puppy can be tested. It was more like "Follow the Treat".
Guide dog Dale looks on as the puppies (Neva, Sparta, and Sonny) are put through their first training class. View more photos from the training session.
Banjo impressed me tonight. I dropped a treat right in front of his mouth. Without a verbal LEAVE IT or NO, he didn't touch it even though it was right in front of his nose. He actually got up and moved away. Now if he would only leave the trash cans alone.
When the training session concluded, dogs will be dogs. Banjo showed Neva how he really felt about her replacing him at our house. The spunky little girl is a fighter and fought back hard. Her teeth searching for ears, lips, paws, or tail, but catching mostly air.
Lisa experienced Neva's bite first hand and says that she "Bites Hard".
Sonny, who has been out there for about two months, began his preliminary blindfold testing yesterday. 
We attended OccuPaws training class at East Towne Mall. On the way to class we stopped at the Boston Store to say hello to the wonderful employees that took such good care of us during our fundraising the past few weeks. They were very happy to see Neva again.
In class we worked on HEEL and BACK; two things that we haven't even started to work on. We have only had her for two weeks and housebreaking has been our primary objective. Our homework is to have our little black potbelly pig HEELing by the next class. After class we stopped by to visit with Santa and his elves.
Quite the weather change, apparenlty Banjo was cold. He was found louging on the sofa three times which was not preparing him for the Dane County OccuPaws Training Session this evening. Weather kept us all in the house, so Banjo was a little stir crazy - never good for training. 
First, the older dogs practiced DOWN STAY while the puppies attempted to provoke a response that would get the big dogs in trouble. After their teasing, the puppies were put to the test, as much as a ten week old puppy can be tested. It was more like "Follow the Treat". 
Banjo impressed me tonight. I dropped a treat right in front of his mouth. Without a verbal LEAVE IT or NO, he didn't touch it even though it was right in front of his nose. He actually got up and moved away. Now if he would only leave the trash cans alone.
After much anticipation and preparation, we celebrated Barktoberfest at Tyranena Brewery this afternoon. The weather was less than cooperative, at least it wasn't raining. The cooperation of the OccuPaws Volunteers and generosity of atendees "overshadowed" the weather to make a good time and raise money for a worthy cause.
As usual the puppies were the focal point of the event. Three of our newest members (Maddi, Sonny, and Sparta) were initiated by Banjo and the rest of the pack - canine and human. We would have made a lot more money if we had charged people a dollar to switch holding/handling the puppies. 
Settling into our seats to eat brats, drink [root] beer, and listen to the polka band put our more "mature" dogs in close proximity to each other. Slick, Reggie, and Divit were well behaved until my teenage puppy joined them and started causing wrestling with Slick. Reggie, our elder statesman, kept his distance from the fray. He eventually couldn't control his play drive and joined in.
Banjo and I had put in a full day before Barktoberfest even started. The Walk to Cure Diabetes was this morning. We walked the grounds, working the crowd, and meeting a lot of nice people, pets, and mascots. There must have been twenty mascots including Bucky, Scoopee, Maynard, Klement's Hot Dog, and State Street Brat, whose personal guide was interested in volunteering for OccuPaws. 