1 year 2 weeks 3 days oldSo, there's been a bit of a setback in getting the new pup. As I've been struggling with a migraine on and off for a week or so now, I sent her an email instead of phoning the breeder again. Email did seem to be her preferred contact method on her website anyway. I didn't anticipate a problem, I had offered to put a deposit on the pup, so she knew I really wanted one of them. In my experience many breeders are rather poor about returning emails, so I rather assumed she had got th... read more »
11 months 5 days oldSo it's been a while since my last post! There are reasons though, so I am sure that you can find it in your heart to forgive me.The main reason it has been so long is......trumpet rally and drum roll......I have a new website, http://www.ozworkingdogs.com.au which I've been doing a lot of work on!! You still can't actually buy equipment on there but we are getting very close! Take a look and see what you think. Of course it's only a start, but I have to start from somewhere. It has t... read more »
10 months 2 weeks oldFor being such a good boy yesterday Knightley had a treat today - what trainers call a 'life reward'. We went to a dog park we had never been to before, which is rather different to our usual one. It has separate small dog/large dog areas, and a muddy little stream running through both fenced in areas. It also has a bunch of pine trees and lots more to explore - simply lots of interest. Sitting down in a massive pool of mud. He ended up being ablack faced, black legged dog. He cer... read more »
9 months 2 weeks 4 days oldKnightley and I had two really great training sessions today this morning. I'd kind of forgotten how much he loves learning new things, and how much he enjoys closing cupboard doors with his nose! We did some work on shaping the new down (cue is flat), and some hand targeting, sits, stays, eye contact and then moved onto closing cupboards, drawers and doors. His tails just starts wagging so happily when he closes cupboards, I think he'd probably do it all day practically! I thi... read more »
9 months 1 week 2 days old Firstly, you may notice that I've played around with the design of the blog. Hope you like the change. Also, there are buttons DIRECTLY under each post where you can tell me whether you liked the post or not and more. Please use these as it will guide me in what I write. I take note of what posts I write get the most hits, but this would give me more direct feedback, as most people don't comment (hint, hint). Things have been very busy, and I was pretty exhausted by my marath... read more »
I can't believe Knightley is 9 months old.... that's 3/4 of a year!! It isn't long at all until he's a year old. If I were a puppy raiser there wouldn't be all that much time left, assuming I was giving him up at a year old like with most programs.It has been a good long while since I have posted many photos of Knightley, so today I went and took a bunch to record his 9 month birthday. All the photos can be enlarged by clicking on them. The main change recently has been in sheer bulk - he has really fill... read more »
This blog post has been written for the 7th Assistance Dog Blog Carnival!My husband and I brought home Knightley as a fluffy and very inquisitive Golden Retriever bundle at the age of 8 weeks in September last year, with the express aim of training him to be my assistance dog. I'd scoured most of the eastern half of Australia looking for a suitable litter, and I rejected 10 other male puppies before finally finding our Knightley, the last puppy to be temperament tested in a second litter. While he's only... read more »
8 months 2 weeks 4 days oldWe took it easy today, apart from a tiny bit of retrieve training. I haven't been feeling well.However, with even the small amount of public access training we are doing it is important that Knightley stays clean - cleaner than a normal family pet. Before I take him inside anywhere we have permission to be (local shops, the airport the other day, the music festival and its venues) I give him a quick brush to collect any stray fur. Assistance/service dogs must have a higher stan... read more »
8 months 2 weeks 3 days oldSo today Knightley, husband and I had a short trip to our local big shopping centre. I just wanted to buy some socks, and have permission to take Knightley in, so we made it a training visit.As I was about to cross the road to enter the building, for the second time now someone thought I was blind and was worried I was about to walk into some cars. I had Knightley in his vest so I guess they just assumed he was a guide dog. Assistance dogs here in Australia are still pretty few... read more »
8 months 2 weeks oldSo the Easter weekend ended up a great experience for Knightley. As I mentioned in my last post, I had intended to take him to the Folk Festival I was attending only on Easter Monday, but instead took him for a couple of hours on both Saturday and Sunday... and did indeed take him again on Monday as he was full of beans on Monday morning and definitely raring to go. There were so many firsts he experienced at the Festival. By the end of Monday applause didn't even wake him up during a... read more »
