We're still here!

Ok. I know I told you all that I would probably be bad at updating this thing, but i didn't think I would be quite this bad! No update in 2 months, yikes! You all probably thought I left the country with Zoltan to avoid turning him in next year ;) ok, maybe you didn't but don't worry we are still here!

Zoltan will be 9 months old in 4 days and is doing fantastic with his training. I've recently observed that it takes a lot to truly rattle this young man even in new situations. Yesterday in the midst of frankenstorm (aka Sandy) he wanted to play fetch outside in the yard. I happily obliged him and even praised him for not being afraid. What else you ask, well shopping carts slamming together? Nope, doesn't phase him. Balloons popping? Nope not even that. He is such a wonderful puppy and I have a feeling that when our time is up next November, and he has spent some time being polished by the pros in puppy college that he will make someone an amazing companion.

I promise to try and update with some of our adventures in the next week or so. Tomorrow is Zoltan's first Halloween, and he plans to get dressed up to accompany me to school and the mall. I'm sure there will be pictures involved so I will be sure to post them! :D

Get your motor runnin'...

Well friends, I'm sorry for my lack of updates Zoltan and I were busy planning an epic road trip with my mom. We left last Sunday (August 12th) to head out to California to spend a few days. The reason for our road trip was meet our new found CCI friends and attend our very first matriculation/graduation ceremony in the Southwest region in Oceanside, CA.

We have had an absolute blast seeing our gorgeous country and meeting so many awesome new people! Tomorrow we are leaving to start our drive back home, we are shooting to stretch it out over 4 days so we should be back home sometime late Sunday or on Monday. When I get settled in back home and start school (on Wednesday :O ahhh) I promise to post some stories and pictures. For now, these should hold you over!

Zoltan and his siblings/half siblings. From L-R (front) Yollie, Zhi, and Young and in the back Zoltan and Yarrow

Me and my handsome guy at Lake Arrowhead, CA

Zoltan staring at me while I swim in the pool at mom's friends house

Is He A Good Puppy?

I'm pretty sure if you were to pose that question to Zoltan, his answer would be "well of course I am!!" Obviously I think that Zoltan is a good puppy, and I'm almost 1,000% certain that he thinks he is a good puppy, but it really makes me feel good when other people compliment me on how well behaved he is.

Over the last week Zoltan has been on quite  few outings and he has worked so well. Always being a good listener and standing or sitting (and sometimes even laying) quietly while I have talked to people (along with my mom). Everyone we came in contact with made such nice comments including "he's such a good puppy" or "I love the way he stares up at you when you are talking". On Sunday we took a walk with two of our fellow puppy raisers around downtown Annapolis. I switched dogs with one of the PR's Mike who has an11 month old pup Nyak who was a joy to walk. At the end of our walk Mike switched pups back with me and said that Zoltan is a special guy with a great disposition. It made me feel good to hear that from somebody with a bit more experience than me.

We have been working on introducing new commands into Zoltan's routine and he is having a blast! This boy loves to learn and he is so attentive whenever we are practicing or even working So far we have introduced about 20 of his 30 commands and most of them even have meaning to him which is amazing! Some of the commands that I have just introduced don't have a name yet but he gets the idea of the motion and what he should be doing.

I'm so proud of my boy and the work we are doing together! Zoltan is turning out to be an amazing puppy and he's quite the handsome boy as well!

Handsome boy @ 6 months old.

Mister Zoltan and his sister Zenda

Wordless Wednesday!

Sorry I've been so terrible at updating this last few weeks! Here is a fantastic wordless Wednesday picture for you. I call it "Zoltan and the cone of shame" My sweet boy is almost 6 months old and he underwent the "big snip" on Monday.

He is no longer wearing the cone, but it was amusing while he was!

Wordless Wednesday

I call this "Woe is Zoltan", the poor boy has such a "ruff" life you know. Ok no not really!

He visited his first human doctors office today when I had to take my mom for an EGD, at first I couldn't figure out how he could fit for an "under" underneath of the chairs but then I found the perfect access point and voila! He laid under there the ENTIRE time we were there which was about 45 minutes. He fell asleep an didn't make a peep. I was so proud of my boy!! :D

Side Note: His nails are getting shorter again!! yay!! I'm so excited that nail trimming isn't a HUGE ordeal anymore. It's still somewhat of an ordeal but it's tolerable (for all parties involved) and we can get it done over a day or two!

They grow up so fast!

I'm pretty sure it was just yesterday that we drove over 7 hours up to Long Island, New York to pick up Zoltan from the CCI campus for the North East Region (aka the NER). No? It wasn't just yesterday? I guess that explains why he doesn't have any puppy teeth left and he is now wearing his "big boy vest" and can take trips into public buildings now. *sigh* my little guy is just growing up so fast!! Zoltan is a little over 5 months old, we picked him up at 11 weeks so I guess it really has been a little while since we've had him. Time sure does fly when you're having fun!

Zoltan and I have been working super hard lately on getting better at the commands he already knows and we have introduced a few new ones as well! We've been working on his "heel" and "under" as well as "stand" and my personal favorite "bed", although he's not to fond of  being told to lay on his bed when he doesn't really want to. Oh well, we shall just keep working!

It amazes me how attentive he is during our training sessions. Not only does Zoltan love to work for his food, but this boy absolutely loves it when you praise him verbally. He can't get enough of it so that works to my advantage as well so I don't have to keep shoveling out food like I'm a PEZ dispenser!

In other news, Zoltan has also developed a stubborn streak recently, mainly when it comes to "counter surfing", for you non dog folk that's just means jumping up on a counter, but doesn't counter surfing sound like so much more fun? He wants to see what's up there constantly and he has even successfully knocked food down in an attempt to eat it. Up until this evening he wasn't successful in actually eating anything. Sadly, he got lucky tonight and got part of a turkey wrap which just means we need to be extra vigilant and making sure he isn't popping up to see what he can find.

Until next time!
Stacey and Zoltan

Oh and since I haven't shared any pictures of the handsome boy himself recently, I guess you should look down so you can see his handsome (not so) little face!


Checking out some different surfaces down at the playground.



                                       First outing in a big boy vest at Grandma's nursing home

Vacation and 4th of July!

This week marks a bunch of firsts for Mister Zoltan. It is his first vacation with our family, his first 4th of July and the first time in over a month I have been able to trim all of his nails without him  having a meltdown!! Yayyyy Zoltan!!! :)

First things first. Vacation!! We have a not so fancy trailer at the beach in Fenwick Island, DE. It's a smidge cramped with 3 adults and 4 pups but it is our place and we love it. We stay down for a whole week in July and just relax and do whatever we please. We don't have a fenced in yard at the beach place so everyone has to go potty on a leash or on a longer cable "tie out" if we humans are outside to supervise. 2 out of our 3 girls have some not so nice leash manners and then of course Zoltan kind of has to have nice leash manners so I try to take him for at least 2 walks a day even when we are at the beach place. It's hard down here since there are no sidewalks (just asphalt) so we have to go early in the morning and in the evening so nobody gets their footsies hurt!

Next up, on Wednesday Zoltan celebrated his very first 4th of July! He wasn't even phased by fireworks, cracks and pops throughout the day and in the evening when the big shows put on by the town were making all kinds of boom noises he just laid on the floor and slept. He was tired and I'm glad the noises didn't bother him. On the other hand our boxer mix Penny has an aversion to loud noises of any kind and she spend the evening curled up on the bed buried between some pillows. I gave her a bone with some peanut butter but she wanted no parts of it.

The third (and possibly most important) "first" of the week was that Zoltan let me trim his nails!! He has had serious issues with us trimming his nails almost since we brought him home at 11 weeks old. He would always squirm and try to nibble on our hands or he would whine, cry and bark. It would take forever (I'm talking over several days) to get all nails on all four paws trimmed. A little over a month ago I accidentally hit the quick on one of his nails (which I think was more traumatic for me) but after that he would literally FREAK OUT when I even came near him with nail clippers. He would run and hide under the dining room table. If I was lucky enough to lure him out with some food, his ears were pinned back and his tail was usually tucked under too. My poor boy was scared but I knew I couldn't give into his fear and so we plodded along on our nail trimming journey.

So began what I like to call the "OMG! Nail trimming is so fun!!!" experiment. Two or Three times a day I would take some super yummy tasty turkey or ham and I would break a piece up. Then, I would take out the nail trimming supplies and sit them about 5 or 6 feet away from us. Each time Zoltan let me touch or hold his paw I marked it with a "good!" and then gave him a tasty treat. Slowly we moved the nail supplies closer and closer until I was touching his paws with the clippers while holding them. Again we marked with a "good!" and then he got a tasty treat. A few weeks ago we moved up to trimming a tiny bit of a nail before releasing him to go have fun and then Wednesday and Thursday I was able to trim all of his nails on all four paws!!! I was so excited. We still have some work to do and we need to keep it positive but I'm hoping that he doesn't freak out anymore and we can keep those nails nice and short!

A picture is worth a thousand words

I know that technically yesterday was "wordless wednesday" but I couldn't resist putting this up today. This is Zoltan and his BFF Penny Lane, my 3 year old boxer mix who had ACL surgery 4 1/2 weeks ago. They have just recently started to play again since Penny has been on so many restrictions. They really are bestest buddies. Plus you get the bonus lab in the background, that is Molly my 6 year old black lab :)

Sometimes I forget, but then I remember...

Raising Zoltan is a journey, it's long and it is complicated and sometimes along the way there are things that I forget. They are all silly little things, but they are things I forget none the less.

I think the biggest thing that I sometimes forget is that Zoltan is still just a puppy, a bouncy, fun, energetic, 4 (almost 5) month old puppy. He is usually so well behaved, listens to his commands the first time he is asked and generally just a mellow boy that when he is acting like a puppy I tend to get frustrated. When he stares at me like he doesn't know what "sit" means or when he's zooming around the house with a piece of paper that he stole from the recycling bin I forget that he is still a puppy. I forget that he is not perfect and that he is still in the process of learning.

It is my job to shape him into an amazing dog, to teach him that running through the house with stolen paper is not appropriate and that yes when I ask you to "sit" I really mean that you need to do it right now not in 5 minutes, not after you grab a toy and get to the other side of the room, right now! 

As I sit here and type this entry, Zoltan is laying next to the ottoman of the chair I'm sitting in, sleeping so peacefully that I can't help but remember why I wanted to do this. Sure he is just a puppy right now and sure I'm just paving the way for his future but that's just it, I am paving the way with my love and patience by teaching him the things that will make him a great service dog one day (hopefully!).  I hope that one day Zoltan will go on to help somebody lead a much better life and that they will be able to do things that were one a challenge for them all because I had patience and taught Zoltan how to be a polite, respectful and good young dog right from the very start!

So sometimes I forget, and sometimes I get frustrated but then I remember. I remember that he is just a puppy and I remember that it is my job to keep calm and just laugh because after all he is just a silly puppy!

See I told you all I would be horrible at updating this blog didn't I?! Ok maybe I forgot to mention it, but I promise I'm going to try and do better!

Zoltan is doing really well with his training, and we are starting to add new things into our mix of commands. He has a solid "sit", "wait", "shake", "let's go" (walk beside me...although I do have to correct him for pulling ahead every now and then), "hurry" (this is his potty command) "release" (tells him that he can go and play or do what he pleases...within reason!) and he almost has "down", I'm not entirely sure what his hold up with that one is, and "dress" (tells him to put his nose into his gentle leader and his head through his cape)! Oh and of course "don't" and "no" which much like any young child he prefers to ignore so I usually have to correct him. *sigh* silly puppy.

We are now starting to work on "up" (which tells him to put his two front paws up on something), "off" (tells him to take his paws off the surface!), "drop" and "dress". Once he finishes figuring out his "down" we can start to work on "under" (that means he will go and lay down under a table or a chair, etc.. on command).

Zoltan is so much fun to work with and I enjoy watching him learn (which he loves to do!). Lately he has been testing the waters and pretending that he doesn't know what "sit" means, and he has been throwing a puppy tantrum when I try to trim his nails, although I think we sort of got over that one today with some high value treats (yay!!!).

In other news, my mom and I are thinking about planning a road trip that will take Zoltan back to his roots (so to speak) in California! We are hoping to attend the CCI SW region graduation in August and are planning to drive from Maryland (yikes!!). So if anyone out there has any great travel tips or suggestions feel free to throw them my way :)

See ya soon!

Malls and Walmart and Pools...Oh My!!

Well friends, yesterday and today were busy days for the young Mister Zoltan and I. He is now 4 months old and his manners are just getting better by the day! I am truly impressed every day by his amazing will to learn and the way he just stares at me waiting for his next command. I mean, most of the time when we train I do have a treat pouch attached to my hip, but I digress. He is still a very attentive pup even when I don't have food attached to my body!


We started off our adventures yesterday with a visit to my grandmother's nursing home. She is in the Alzheimer's unit so there is always something interesting going on. Definitely a great way to socialize a future service dog! After that I learned about a last minute conference call that I had for work. I work in retail at Victoria's Secret and I'm in the AIM (aka Associates Interested in Management) program. So I told them I could sit in for the call but that Zoltan would have to come along which was of course no problem since everyone at work loves him!

CCI recommends waiting until the pup is older (around 6 months) before going into the buildings vs. standing outside and working on socialization, but we made sure he went potty before entering the mall and he was pretty tired from his nursing home visit. My call was about 30 minutes long and he sat in the office with me the whole time like a good boy. 

I can only imagine what was running through his head as we went into the mall. Zoltan: "Oh hey look! A person...Oh my gosh it's a pond INSIDE the house!" 

Me: "zoltan, that's not a pond it's a fountain and this is not your house buddy"

Zoltan: "Hey!! Somebody dropped popcorn on the floor for me" 

Me: "Dont!"

Zoltan: "but...but I know it's for me! Let me just try that again" 

Me: "leave it!"

Zoltan: "Ok fine"

When we left the mall, my mom (who was also with us) needed to stop at Wal*Mart to pick up a few things so Zoltan and I accompanied her there as well. While she was shopping I decided that we needed a plastic wading pool for the summer. It's a great way to entertain 4 dogs! Well, 1 of the 4 recently had surgery to repair a torn ACL so she didn't get to partake but Zoltan has found a new favorite activity! "Walks? Hah!" says Zoltan...just let me zoom around the yard and pounce in the pool and then run around the yard.  He had SO much fun.

Today when I came home from work Zoltan got to go for his first "real" walk since he has finished all of his shots and is "street legal" as I like to say. We walked to the park down the street and walked all over different kinds of surfaces. Then we practiced going potty (or "hurry" as we say in the CCI world) on the asphalt. It's much harder then one might think! Zoltan likes to pretend he is dying if you ask him to "hurry" on a funky surface when he can see the grass just mere feet away! Then, this evening we attended our first ever CCI obedience class! We are required to do at least 2 classes per month and I have been taking Zoltan to a class close to home since 7:15 on a Friday night I'm usually at work. Tonight just happened to work out and we had a blast. I think I'm going to take off work a few Friday's a month so we can attend the CCI class instead.

As I type this Zoltan is laying on his back, snoring  and mostly just looking adorable. He really is an awesome puppy and I'm so glad we are going to be able to go on so many more cool adventures in the coming months. :)

Hey, it's me...oh right I mean me Zoltan

Hi! Hi! Hi! It's me Zoltan. Hi! (what's that Stacey? Enough with the "hi"? oh, ok) Anywho, today was a day full of BIG abentures for me. We're at our place at the beach and today we got in the car and went to bunches of places that I got to visit. Stacey and Mom say that new experiences and socialization is super important for me right now, and I don't mind. Nope, I don't mind one bit. They take me to new places and feed me lots of kibble and even sometimes treats when I behave like a good boy! I like it, so so sooooo much. I think I'll let Stacey tell you the rest, I'm kind of tired and I probably wouldn't explain it really good.

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"Yup. I know I'm handsome"

Well, much like Zoltan has said. Today was a day of big adventures for him. We have a beach home in Fenwick Island, DE/Ocean City, MD. We spend most of our time in Ocean City. Anyway, today we decided to take Zoltan with us on some of our adventures. First up we visited a little family farm about 10 minutes from our place where they sell all kinds of tasty fresh produce, flowers, herbs, etc..They even sell plants and seeds so you can grow your own stuff! How cool is that?! I love local produce and I love being able to support it. Zoltan supervised while we picked out some herbs to take home and plant. After the farm we traveled to West Ocean City to check to see if they had something at Bed Bath and Beyond, then it was on to Bath and Body Works to do an exchange. Petco was right next door so of course we had to go visit and finally we stopped in Panera so my mom and I could grab a quick snack. Phew! I'm tired just thinking about all of that again. Zoltan was a perfect gentleman the whole time we were out. I love taking him to new places where he can get used to new things and  meet different types of people. 

"No thanks, I will just stay right here!"

On our way back home we decided to stop and visit our friends up on the beach where Zoltan had an absolute blast in the sand (which he also succeeded in eating a few times). he wasn't to keen on the waves come to "attack" him when he went near the ocean so he happily watched until they came to "attack" and he would back away. Finally we stopped by the community pool on our way back into our place so we could say hi to some more friends.

I know it's blurry but look at that happy face!

Needless to say he is now laying next to me fast asleep, worn and and nice and clean. It's almost dinner time though and I'm positive he won't turn down food!

Welcome to my service dog training advenutres blog!

Hello out there!

I am starting this blog to chronicle my adventures as a first time puppy raiser of a service dog in training. I started out on April 25, 2012 by picking up my first puppy, Zoltan! He is a black labrador, golden retriever cross who was born on February 3, 2012 and he has been an absolute joy so far! I am raising him with the help of my family (Mom, Dad and Brother) as well as our 3 pet dogs (Abby, Molly and Penny).So far, so good!

The organization that I volunteer for is called Canine Companions for Independence (or CCI for short). I would like to say that the views that I express in this blog are solely mine and they may not necessarily reflect the views of CCI.

As a puppy raiser it is my responsibility to provide a safe and nurturing environment for the puppy for the first 18-22 months of his life (or her life). My family and as well as myself are responsible for carefully socializing Zoltan and exposing him to variety of situations along with letting him just be a puppy. We are responsible for training him (he came with a list of 30 commands!) and teaching him to be a polite, well mannered young dog. His tentative turn in time (which is when I will take him back to the organization) is November of 2013. I know that it will be hard to give him back, but knowing that he will go on to help a person who is disabled makes everything I'm doing worth every single second.

CCI provides four types of service dogs 100% free of charge to their recipients. The four types of dogs they provide are:

1) Service Dogs

2) Skilled Companion Dogs

3) Hearing Dogs

4) Facility Dogs

For more information on CCI, their puppy raising program and the types of service dogs they train and provide you can visit their website: www.cci.org

Oh and I guess this blog wouldn't really be complete without a picture of the man himself. Mr. Zoltan!