Happy Halloween!!!!!

Here is a picture of Helper at the Pumpkin Patch.  Happy Halloween everyone!

P.S.  I took Helper to Lazy Paw Animal Hospital today for her monthly weight check.  She weighs 49.8 pounds!  Since she is already 10 months old she will most likely max out at 60 pounds...a petite girl!

Helper's Friend Rozlynn

This beautiful Black Lab/Golden cross is Helpers' friend Rozlynn.  This pic was taken after play time in my back yard.  She is one month older than Helper. Both girls will go on to advance training together next August in Oceanside, California.   Rozlynn stayed with us for a few days this month while her PR (Becca) was out of town.  CCI encourages us to take each others dogs now and then so they get used to working with various people.  When they have positive experiences in different environments it helps to make them confident dogs.  Hopefully this also reduces the possibility of any separation anxiety when they go to advance training.

Trip to Kroger Pharmacy

I went to the Kroger Pharmacy today to get a vaccination and brought Helper with me.  While we were waiting for the Pharmacist, Helper got a chance to practice the "under" command in the waiting area.  She is getting to be a big dog now and weighs 47.4 pounds.  Yet she was able to get into position under a small end table.  Helper held this position for almost 30 minutes with many distractions...good dog!  This is an important command for a service dog because when they are out in public with their partner they often have to go under a table at a restaurant or under at a desk at work etc.

After we left the pharmacy we walked around the grocery store.  Helper never pulled to get closer to the food shelves and kept her attention on me.  She was perfect!    

Cottonwood Art Festival

This past weekend Marsha (Nessie's PR) invited Helper and I to the Cottonwood Arts Festival so we could practice commands in a very distracting environment.  Marsha was puppy sitting for another CCI dog named Tulah.  Since Helper is just one month younger than Tulah it was a great chance for her to spend time interacting with a similar size dog.  The picture above is of Helper (on the left) and Tulah (on the right) posing in front of another type of animal...iron sculptures of a moose, a Texas Longhorn and a giraff!.

Marsha took the photo above to show the view from Tulah and Helpers perspective.  There were hundreds of people and almost as many dogs attending this festival.  Our puppies attracted a lot of attention because of their beautiful looks and wonderful manners!  They were both fantastic representatives for CCI!  Many thanks to Marsha for including Helper and I in this great learning experience.