Walk with Purpose

I forgot to mention that Lisa brought "Cooper" home with her after the eye exams. Pending a trial visit, he may be staying with us for the next few months. Both he and Monte appear comfortable with the new situation. I only wish they were this calm all the time.

Update on Project Monte: Research has begun on how to proceed, but in the meantime I have made a commitment to Walk with Purpose and provide an hour of exercise daily .  I will keep my focus on every walk to maintain good position and keep Monte engaged. This is only fair since I expect him to maintain his focus.

He behaves much better when he is "working", so I will treat each walk as a work session.

Eyes Okay

One dozen puppies were transported to Madison.  There were Labradoodles, Shepards, Poodles, and Labrador Retrievers.

The four puppy wranglers had their hands full.

All the puppies eyes checked out fine.  .

 As far as I know, all the puppies there are waiting for a puppy raiser to love them and train them.

If you are interested, more information is available at Custom Canines.

Temporary Dog?

Given the potentially long wait for a baby guide dog, we are evaluating our options to provide some temporary canine assistance.  Our first choice was our nephew's dog Rex, who has not found his way up to Oregon yet and we have not ventured down to Platteville to provide a weekend of Dog Whisperer training advice.

The most likely option at this time is to raise an Autistic Assistance Dog.  The training is much less demanding than guide or service work, but should be equally gratifying.  And the best part is that it should only take four to six months to complete a placement, depending on the situation.  This should work perfectly with Leader Dogs.  We will know more tomorrow as a group of potential candidates are coming up to Madison for vision testing.  Lisa is assisting with the puppy wrangling and gathering information on the program.  My bet is that she will bring home a puppy in-training.

This morning I heard a great name for a dog, if we get to name it:  Radar. However, the more I think about it, it seems to be a better fit for a guide dog.

Project Monte

Now that Monte is back in our lives, we are overjoyed.  However, let's be honest; Monte does not meet all the criteria that we had established for a forever dog: well-behaved, friendly, focused, relaxed, obedient, cuddly, ...  Don't get me wrong he is very close to perfect, but he has a couple flaws.  He is not the most affectionate nor relaxed.  I can live without cuddly, but he needs to be relaxed.  Every walk around the neighborhood or through the park is filled with bouts of excitability and frenzy when experiencing critters.

Maybe we are ignorant, but we think that we were the best place for Monte because we know his issues, love him, and are willing to work to correct them. However, we have had sixteen months to figure it out.  We tried avoidance and we tried immersion with no success. We have sought advice and assistance from a number of trainers and have not seen any noticeable improvement.    I believe that his behavior has been getting progressively worse.  After his month long stressful excursion, things seem to have gotten worse.

The analysis from supposed experts has ranged from anxious, high prey drive, excited, stressed, high-energy, and just plain crazy.  I am not sure if any one tells the whole complicated story.  I do not think that he will mature out of this issue.

Yesterday we officially began Project Monte.  Our plan is to take the time necessary using every possible means to work through his demons. Step one will be to reread every book that Cesar Milan has written and watch old episodes of the Dog Whisperer to find something to try.  Step two will be a consult with a behaviorist at The Dog Den to identify the cause.

All I know is that we need to help him.  Any and all advice is appreciated.

Free Agents

We have been unemployed for the past month with no indication that another puppy trainee was in our future.  In the past we had another puppy before all the hair was cleaned up.  If that is ever possible; we probably still have hair samples from each of the twenty dogs that have shared our home during the past four years.

Being free agents offers an opportunity to look for the best situation to raise a successful guide dog.  With that in mind, we recently contacted Leader Dogs for the Blind.  Leader Dogs is located in Rochester, Michigan  and they are affiliated with Lions Clubs.  The waiting list for a puppy, once accepted, is six to twelve months.

While we wait for our next baby guide dog (apologize for using the term so often, but I just heard it a few weeks ago and I love it), we are looking into doing some temporary training and puppy sitting.  Our nephew has a puppy, Rex,  in need of some remedial training who we may help out.  In addition, Lisa has been walking our first guide dog trainee, Buddy in the afternoon.. 


Reading through the puppy raiser FAQ, I spotted this item that is important for puppy raisers to remember:

Unlike working guide dogs, businesses are not required to allow our puppies onto their premises—it will be your responsibility to get permission from the owner or manager of an establishment before entering with a puppy.

House Rules

We are now faced with a decision.  What rules should we have in place for our pet Monte?  Knowing that we are pursuing options to start the process over with a new baby guide dog will impact our final decision.  Should we maintain the existing rules?  or  Allow him some flexibility?

Monte returned home with a basic understanding of our house rules.  Not surprising because he was only gone one month and he was still in training mode. He remembers that he is not allowed in the kitchen, unless he is eating dinner or drinking water.  He retreats from the kitchen with just "the look". He remembered that PLACE meant he was to lie down on his blanket. He will WAIT before entering/exiting doorways, crossing streets, and eating his food.

Unfortunately, he also remembers that the jingling of car keys mean we are leaving to go on an exciting adventure, however, now he has to stay home.  This is the most difficult part of transitioning a guide dog in-training to a pet; I hope it is more difficult for us.

The command GO TO BED used to result in Monte jumping in the crate, lying down, and receiving a treat .  Now it means lie down on  pillows next to the bed.  That is his treat.  I doubt that it will ever mean jump up on the bed.  If we give up our bed, then the transition will have been completed and he will have become the pack leader.

The biggest change will be when walking or running in the park.  I trust him off leash and will allow him run free. This will significantly increase his exercise and probably reduce mine. One thing that will not change when walking is our continued efforts to work through critter distractions.  I dread this because no one has been able to assist or offer effective advice.  His one area of weakness is where he will have the majority of his interactions with the public.

Home Sweet Home

Monte returned to our very humble abode Friday evening.

His first twenty-four hours were spent:

1. Exploring his "new" home
2. Playing with Buddy and Kane
3. Being disciplined by Sable
4. Sleeping next to the bed, crate-less
5. Waking up too early
6. Walking to the store and waiting outside
7. Breakfast
8. Napping
9. Greeting the neighbors who were glad to see him again
10. Refresher on our "House Rules"
11. Running uncontrollably in the park
12. Dinner in his ceramic bowl
13. Napping in the crate
14. Refresher on "House Rules"
15. Distributing toys throughout the house

Adios Mantequilla

Although unintended, my post and the related comments created a seemingly uncontrollable situation where it will take an act of God to bring Monte back.

For this I need to publicly apologize to my wife, Lisa. She wanted nothing more than to take care of Monte for the rest of his life. We love him and know him better than anyone; one month ago we told people that Monte would not be a good diabetic alert dog. I let principle get in the way and will never be able to correct this unintended outcome.

I am truly indebted to everyone that supported us. Your positive comments are worth more than the loss of our forever dog. In a crisis, you can identify your true family; we will never forget your kind words.

We are searching for another opportunity to complete our mission of raising a guide dog. We will eventually be successful.
In the meantime if anyone needs a babysitter for their puppy or some training assistance, we are ready, willing, and able.

Hopeful

Unfortunately I was premature in my reporting that Monte would be returning to his home in Oregon.
We are hopeful, but doubtful of a happy ending.

UPDATE:
I formally apologize to OccuPaws for not taking the decisive and corrective action to delete the blog sooner.

Many thanks for the support and offers to pay the fee. However, it is not about the money. If you are so inclined to donate money to OccuPaws, I encourage you to do so. I strongly support their mission and the efforts of their volunteers.

Incommunicado

I have have been AWOL for the past ten days. The obvious reason is that Monte is gone (we are dog-less) and the other is that my computer time has been nil as I recover from a back injury at the racetrack last Monday. I was finally able to put my socks on by myself this morning :-)

As we wait for our next "baby guide dog", we attempted to fill the void by puppy sitting. Our old protege', Abbey, was in need of care so she stopped by for a visit. She arrived Sunday morning and was scheduled to return home on Thursday. Unfortunately for us, she came into season Sunday night.

Anyone that knows us knows that we do not favor females dogs for this reason. The only other time this has happened to us (with Cinder), we were in the car traveling to Beloit before the first drop of blood hit the floor. Less than twelve hours after arriving, Abbey was on her way to Fox Lake.

This afternoon we received some bittersweet news. Monte was not selected for the Guardian Angels diabetic program, but would be available to become our forever dog. We can't wait to see the goofball running through the park like a "normal" dog.

Rarity

In the process of reminiscing, I found this RARE video of Monte behaving well:



to be continued ...

Warning

Maybe I take this too serious or get overly attached, but it always felt like something was missing during the last three day. Because he was missing. Our sidekick, Monte, was not there as we walked through the grocery store, he was not sleeping under the table as we ate, and he is not watching me right now. The oddest feeling was taking a walk without a leash; being dog-less we had to call and borrow our first puppy, Buddy, for a walk to the park.





If we do our job as puppy raisers correctly, when it is time for your canine companion to leave, they take a piece of your heart with them. Therefore I am recommending the following warning be placed on puppy raiser contracts and identification cards:



Warning: Puppy Raising can be hazardous to your health. It is more addictive than any known drug. Eventual separation may cause sleeplessness, malaise, or Atrial Septal (hole in the heart). Symptoms may lessen after repeated attempts. However, the only known cure is complete withdrawal, which can only be achieved if you are heartless.



The one lesson that I am learning from our puppies is to "Live In The Moment." Therefore, I eagerly wait for the next puppy to enter our life and slowly mend my broken heart. Focusing on the moments of joy experienced in the present and ignoring past/future heartache.





Quote on our "Painting for Paws" bowl:

Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.

Going, Going, ...

After being informed of Monte's dismissal last night. We were asked whether we would support Monte going to California to pursue a career as a diabetic alert dog (DAD) or possible search and rescue. After much discussion and a few tears, we decided that Monte would be the forever dog that we have been searching for and help us train puppies. A not so perfect ending, but a great new beginning.









Unfortunately, we found out this morning, despite our gut wrenching decision, that he would be going back to the breeder. Well, more accurately that the breeder had decided to send him to California to start training as a DAD.



He will be picked up in two hours. The wait is unbearable.





... Gone







Good Luck Monte.





Update: After saying our "Good-Bye" and returning home, we were notified that the breeder will let us have Monte, if he doesn't make it as a DAD (Guardian Angel).

Home, Done, Decision

After a brief stay with our trainer, Monte returned to our home this evening. No surprise to anyone, he is no longer a guide dog in training. His vest was pulled and he will be career changed. We have been contemplating this for the last few months, but the decision making process is easier when it is entirely hypothetical.



Do we quit after four failures and keep Monte as our forever dog or give it one more try?