Daycare

With the Stepules - June 2012

Although their property is tucked into the woods far from the road, Wanda gets to play in her own safe little fenced-in area. Here she is with her basketball, and playing fetch with the tennis ball.

One day, Norine & Ed took her with them for a picnic at Elizabeth Park in Hartford. It is the oldest municipal rose garden in the US.. and a beautiful place to spend an afternoon.



Splash!!

The first couple of times we introduced Wanda to the kiddy pool, she wasn't too interested. I thought we might have a defective Labrador Retriever that didn't like the water, but I was wrong. Thank goodness, since she is going to need it this summer!

Here she is on May 28th, 11 weeks old

Mom, why do you keep pointing that thing at me??

 Here she is two weeks later. She has sprouted some legs!!

And of course, we have the drying-off roll on the outdoor bed.

Photo Shoot in the Rhododendrons

This little girl does NOT like to have her picture taken, particularly with the flash. But, she is starting to get used to this, since Momma is a Shutter Bug!! Our rhodies bloomed a little early this spring, and this session was done on May 25th, when Wanda was 11 weeks old. 

She's taking her cues from the Pro!

Thank Heavens for Puppy Sitters!!

I would never be able to raise guide dog puppies without a little help from my friends. Back in 1996, Tara did daycare for Troy for a few months, before it was cool enough to bring him to work and leave him in a crate in the car in the shade. He ended up being a breed dog for Fidelco and he was entrusted to my care for the rest of his life. He was my "heart dog" and we had him until he was 14 1/2 years old. We let him go on November 1, 2010 and I still miss him dearly. Several years later, Arline helped me raise two dog- Inga in 2004 and Titan in 2007. With Victory, I had help from Tricia, Norine, Marge and Doreen, until she was 4 1/2 months old and I started bringing her into the office with me all day. Now with Wanda, Tricia and Norine are sharing the duties. I guess it gives these gals a lot of pleasure to have an adorable puppy around during the day and be able to send them home in the evenings. The puppies get exposure to different settings and are less likely to develop separation anxiety because they are used to being handled and loved by many different people. Everyone Wins!!

Wanda and the Kitties

We have two cats, Ricky and Lucy, who have raised several puppies. I can only imagine what must be going through their minds each time we bring home a new little pup. "ahh, geezzz. here we go again!" Ricky is our scaredy cat, but he figured out long ago that the puppies do not pose a danger for him, since he has many means of escape.. and claws. Puppies are also clueless about ambush attacks. Ricky will hide on the kitchen chair and when the puppy walks by-- POW! He is pretty tolerant, though, and he absolutely loves the older dogs, nuzzling them and grooming their heads with his raspy tongue. Lucy is very patient and she plays with the puppies with "soft paws" but she does not take any guff from anyone and has no qualms about popping a rude pup in the nose with claws extended.

Our cats live indoors and they have access to our screen porch and the back deck. There is a cat door that leads from the porch to the deck and the cats enjoy being out in the open, but they can't get to the yard. Wanda discovered the cat door one day when following Lucy. 

Here she is at 9 weeks old, having made it through the door, but not sure if she wants to come back inside. As she grew, it got a little more difficult, but she would squeeze her shoulders through one at a time, and the rest of her body would fit easily. One day last week, she got stuck and ended up pushing the door open when she was still in the doorway. Now she doesn't fit at all.

Here's Wanda at 10 weeks old, trying to make friends with Ricky.

Notice how he is in a safe spot, where he can scoot up the climber should things get dicey.

Wanda slithers closer.. closer...

and gets a pop in the nose for her efforts.

So, she tries a different approach. She's a thinker!!

Learning to Navigate Stairs

We started teaching her how to do stairs when she was 9 weeks old. We started by carrying her almost all the way up the stairs, then set her down to do the last one or two on her own. That was the easy part. Going down is a lot scarier, but it's done the same way. We placed her one or two steps up from the bottom and lured her with treats. It only took about three days for her to be confidently zooming up and down any set of stairs, including those leading from the screen porch down to the patio. A full flight of stairs with no risers, so they are open in back.

May 17- one day shy of 10 weeks old

There she goes! I think we are going to have to put the gate up!

Wanda comes when called

She has reached the bottom (without jumping off the side.)

Playing with her "Magic Hat"

Visits to the Vet

Wanda had her first visit to Colchester Veterninary Hospital on Friday, May 11th. While we were in the waiting room, I had her on my lap. There were two mature labs and two 5 month old German Shepherd Dogs that were very loud and obnoxious. They were across the room from us, and Wanda remained calm during the noisy wait.  We were attended to by Dr. Rob McLaughlin, who has been our regular vet for 18 years. She weighed in at 12.6 lbs, at 9 weeks old. She tolerated the exam and vaccinations.. she had her first Bordetella (kennel cough) and Lyme vaccine. (She had gotten her first Distemper combo shot while she was still at Freedom.) She glanced back to see what the poke was all about, but was more focused on the crumbled dog cookie. She had loose stool, so I brought in a specimen and it tested positive for Giardia (very common in young pups) and we were given Metronidazole to treat it.

We returned to the vet on Friday, May 25 and this time, there was nobody else in the waiting room. I spent some of the time with some training exercises. We are working on sit, down, touch, take it or leave it and are just starting to work on stay. She did great laying on the floor, waiting patiently.  We brought her into the exam room and put her on the exam table, and the scale showed she weighed 16.6 lbs, a gain of over 30 percent in just two weeks! This time, she got her second Bordetella and Lyme vaccinations, along with the 2nd DAPP combo. Again, she was very relaxed throughout the entire ordeal.
The next visit is scheduled in a month and she will get her 3rd DAPP and Rabies vaccinations.