Update!

While our spring was a little hectic, our summer ended up being pretty drab. We were, however, able to get to Nelson's retirement party and on the train to Philly. If you know me personally, you know that the train trip during training was really bad. This time it was a PATCO train and was much better. Ivy definitely was a hit at the constitution center and even got her picture taken as the President of the United States. Unfortunately, the Liberty Bell Security were not as friendly. Thankfully it had nothing to do with service dogs, they were not very educated on people with disabilities. Also, in June, we had another team from CPL visit with us for a week. Ivy and Austin got along very good and even played tug-of-war a few times.
The rest of the summer was all school and Vet related. Ivy managed to rack up a hefty vet bill with Lyme's and bladder and ear infections. I finally called Dr. Ray to come out to the house for a chiropractor visit. It went very well and Ivy will be getting a visit every 6-8 weeks for maintenance.
Task wise, Ivy has learned several new things. She has mastered pushing my head up when it falls to the side. The only down side is that I sometimes end up with some funky hairstyles. She can now also push the button on my chair to change speeds. In the winter, I have trouble moving my arms because of my coat and often can't reach the button to tilt/recline. I think her being able to do this will make a big difference this winter. The biggest news is, Ivy has finally figured out where the trash can is to throw stuff away! We have been working on and off with this for several months now and usually the trash ends up on the floor or in the toy basket. This week it has actually ended up in the trash can every time. Next weekend is the DASA retreat where Ivy will get to see her friends Winston, Ross, and Lilly. Hopefully we will be able to have one big labrador playtime.

Tagged!

We were tagged a few weeks ago by our friends Linzey and Winston. . . .

Instructions:
When you are tagged, you must list 5 weird things/habits about yourself. Then you tag 5 friends and list their names. The furries (or people) who get tagged need to write on their blogs about their 5 weird things/habits, as well as state the rules of the game clearly there too, then tag 5 more victims. Don't forget to leave your victim a comment that says "you're tagged!" in their comments and tell them to read your blog.

5 Weird Things/Habits about Ivy:
1. Whenever I get excited I have to find something to carry in my mouth and then begin wiggling!
2. I was known in the kennel as "pogo stick" because I would jump waist high off of all fours.
3. I always has to touch my mom when we are on her bed. (usually laying on top of her)
4. If I don't know what my mom wants I'll continually cross her feet.
5. About a half hour before dinner I'll stare at mom and point to my food bowl.

More about our summer (or lack thereof) later.

We did it!!

Ivy and I passed the CGC/TDI test today!!

CGC practice

Ivy is going to take the Canine Good Citizen test April 8th at the Canine Carnival. I thought it would be good to practice loose leash walking on her regular collar. The first day went horribly wrong, the second day we went to Petsmart and Petco and she was at least going in the same direction as me. While today she is much better than yesterday, I have realized a few things:
1. We are so Halti girls.
2. Ivy is going to need a chiropractor visit after this!

Another seizure?

Something very weird just happened to Ivy. I was on the computer and she
was napping next to me, I turned around to talk to my mom and when I looked
down Ivy was having trouble getting up. She was twiching and seemed like
she couldn't get her legs to work, her front paws were crossing and her
back end seemed like they couldn't hold her weight up. My mom got her to
lay down and relax and in a few minutes she was back to normal, just a bit
more mellow. Ivy did something similar in September of 04 when we were
playing ball if you remember. That time nothing was figured out although
it was suspected to be a seizure. She has remained conscious both
times. Since these episodes are so infrequent we are just going to keep an
eye on her for right now.

Hi, my name is no-no bad dog, what's yours?!

Thursday, we went to an obedience class that supposed to help keep your dogs focus on you. Unfortunately, the class just wasn't for us. The instructor wasn't very loud and the stuff they were working on, like sit-stays with no distractions, Ivy can do great. Instead, we will be do our obedience refresher ourselves.
Friday was a Graduate Support Class at CPL. The trainers setup a complicated obstacle course for us to work on. OH MY GOSH, did Ivy act up!!! At lunch she did great, but as we got closer to CPL she started getting whiney. Then, once we got into the barn, she was trying to sniff everything and getting louder with the whining and just would not listen at all!!! When it was our turn to do the obstacle course Ivy did pretty good throughout most of it, her attention was still very scattered but she did follow my introductions until.... the laundry basket full of tennis balls! It took us 7 minutes to tug it a wopping distance of 8 inches! Haha! We did, however, get the award for the most creative because Ivy wasn't tall enough to reach into the drawer so I had her jump up onto my footrest. Of course, once we got to the restaurant for dinner she was a little angel again.

Out of practice

I've noticed recently that some of Ivy's public manners have slipped a bit. Since her surgery in August we have not been going to many places because of her recovery, school, and the weather. So you can imagine the shock poor Ivy had when Christmas shopping time came around! While her behavior isn't horrible or disrubtive, it's just not up to where I think she should be. Her main issue is being nosey. She begins to start sniffing her surroundings and the people close to us if we are in a tight area or stop moving. I believe part of the problem is that I'm reluctant to tell her to "leave-it" because I'm afraid of the persons reaction to being called an "it." (I've had problems in the past) Second issue is reacting to someone who greets me in a happy and enthusiastic way. We had a demo for a Boy Scout troop a few weeks ago and when the troop leader came over to introduce herself Ivy felt the need to wiggle her butt over and say hi. So not good!
This weekend I decided to work with her and see where we stand. We did down stays with distractions both days. She did much better than I thought she would and I'm feeling a bit more confident.