5th week update on Henry

This is an email we puppy raisers love to get:

September 17, 2015

Dear Puppy Raiser,

We wanted to let you know that Henry, #16112, has been in training for 5 weeks and has completed the first phase of training.  The instructor working with Henry has made the following comments about the puppy you raised.

Some of the things that Henry is doing well at are:

1.       Engaged with the handler and training

2.       Learning early stages of guide work well

3.       Obedience

Some of the things that the trainer is working on with Henry are:

1.       Minimizing his distraction level for blowing objects (ex. leaves)

2.       Heeling

3.       Minimizing  his distraction level for dogs

Along with this update which lets you know how Henry is doing at this point in training we have attached a photo of Henry in harness.  Thank you for raising Henry for our program!  Should you have further questions, please don't hesitate to contact Puppy Development.  You will also receive another update during the 13th week after Henry has completed their 12th week of training.

Henry in harness!

Oh, Henry, please leave those leaves alone!

None of these things are a surprise to me (ack, we worked so hard on ignoring blowing leaves!), but I am particularly pleased that Henry is "engaged" with learning! And he looks happy...

Keep it up boy - you make me proud!

Now is the time...

Almost one year ago, I picked up this little guy from Leader Dogs for the Blind. Future Leader Dog (FLD) Henry seemed ready to take on the world.

FLD Henry, on the day he came home with me.

It was my job to help him get his start. To teach him the proper places to park and basic cues like "sit" and "down." To help him learn to settle and be comfortable and confident in new places, on a variety of surfaces, around diverse people. To encourage self-control and good manners.

I wish I had a nickel for every time I said, "OH Henry!" Like any puppy, Henry presented challenges. Like every puppy, I learned from him, too.

For those of you who helped us along the way, you'll remember Henry's "vocal" stage, and his insanity with blowing leaves. I am proud to say he worked himself through these things, learning quiet, how to settle, and that watching without pouncing is a much better option.

Henry was my easiest puppy to house train; he preferred to go to bed early and sleep late. Like Dutch before him, he learned "leg" - and learned it so well it was often a default behavior when he was not sure what else to do.

I will miss how he kept my feet warm in the morning while I sat and drank coffee with my hubby. I will miss his zany nose when he'd catch a scent during a hike in our woods. I will miss his digging in his doggy-toy box in the evening, Nylabones and Kongs flying across the living room just as the latest episode of whatever Netflix show we're watching comes to a crucial part of the story.

I have my paws crossed that one day Henry will serve to keep someone safe, but I know that his problem-solving skills and deep thinking will carry him far no matter what path he ends up exploring.

Thank you bugger, for a bright spot in a sometimes-challenging year...

FLD Henry, back at Leader Dogs for the Blind, ready for the next step in his journey. 

Dogspeed Henry!

 

How to occupy a puppy

FLD Henry works at his peanut-butter-kibble-filled-frozen Kong.

Working it. Hard.

Skyline troubadour

Troubadour Lee Fitzman picks it out.

We took FLD Henry to the first "Friday Fireside" for 2015 at the Skyline Event Center in Comins. The striking log building, run by the non-profit Economic Development Alliance of Oscoda County, is a "gathering place" for the community.

Friday Fireside is a free concert every first Friday of the month. The January entertainment was troubadour Lee Fitzman. An added bonus was the opening of an art show with the work of photographer Dave Rider, of RTL Images. (For an interesting story about Dave, click on this link: Another Sunrise.)

FLD Henry burst into the Skyline with his usual aplomb. The handful of people already inside didn't mind his exhuberance, they wanted to meet him as badly as he did them. Of course, being the good puppy raiser that I am, I redirected his attention and asked that he be ignored.

At least until he showed some self-control.

FLD Henry looks at me like he is thinking, "Okay, isn't this good enough?"