See you on the 17th!
Monday, November 5, 2012
Something Worth Posting About......
Monday, August 20, 2012
DOCKER!!
~Katlynn, Ryder, & Docker
Friday, August 17, 2012
Training Internship: Day 10
Well I made it to my last day as an intern at GDB, it was a sad day. I have thoroughly enjoyed this experience and all the friends I have made. The staff was wonderful and in today's 9:30 meeting everyone thanked me and the other intern for all the help we've provided and that we were really fun to have around. It felt good that all the staff was truly grateful for our help.
When I got there this morning I was in K1 with my mentor and we helped an instructor take his dog to the vet for a recheck. The dog was great while the vet looked at her, and we took her back to her kennel and started morning cleaning. Thankfully in K1 we had 3 people and only 3 quads to clean so we all go done really early so we went over to K2 and I cleaned a quad of runs and the community run. All the morning cleaning was done before 9:30 in all three kennels, so we got to community run all of K1. It feels really accomplishing when you get everything done and get all the dogs exercised before lunch, which is often rare. We gave the dogs about 15 min to 'do their business' and handed out enrichment and locked them. That was pretty much my morning. Me and a volunteer who was been volunteering in the kennels the entire time I was here asked me if I'd go to lunch with her over at the mall. We had a great time talking and eating lunch together, and come to find out her Aunt is fostering my "D" puppy's sister so I saw pictures and she is adorable!
I got back to work, collected/cleaned/refilled enrichment and by now it was time to go work with the K3 dogs. I spent the next hour walking/grooming/playing with most of the dogs including Mojito's brother and sister! The hour went by super quick and I was sad to say goodbye to all the K3 dogs I would not see again, especially a golden girl who came in on recall and I came to love her! My mentor and I headed back to K1 to do afternoon meds, and we got lucky there was none! So we went on break and enjoyed talking for the last time.
It was now dinner time, and the dogs were waiting for us! I helped fed/collect/clean the bowls and then we locked the dogs in and started afternoon cleaning. K1 finished early again, so I went to help K2 & K3. That was pretty much my day. One of the CWT's i've worked with a lot gave me a chocolate bar, I was really surprised!
The things I'm going to take away from this internship are the love and care all the staff has for our dogs. The cleanliness & pride they have in the kennels is amazing! If anyone is walking outside and sees poop, they will go pick it up and the kennels are cleaned at least 4x a day. Of course I am never going to forget my blindfold experience, and knowing the independence these dogs bring to their clients, and that is the exact reason we raise these puppies and give them up. I loved working with all the training dept staff, I was so grateful they were willing to take time out of their crazy busy day to train me and show me the ropes. One of the CWT's made the comment "you can't leave now, you just became part of the team and you know the ropes." That really made me feel well and that I did a good job during my 2 weeks. It truly went by way to fast, but I am ready to pick up Mr. "D" and head on home and see my family and start my Senior year of high school! I said goodbye and gave hugs to all the staff and said goodbye to my "favorite" dogs I had come to love the past 2 weeks and I left looking forward to going to Santa Cruz tomorrow and of course meeting Mr. "D" on Sunday!
~Katlynn
When I got there this morning I was in K1 with my mentor and we helped an instructor take his dog to the vet for a recheck. The dog was great while the vet looked at her, and we took her back to her kennel and started morning cleaning. Thankfully in K1 we had 3 people and only 3 quads to clean so we all go done really early so we went over to K2 and I cleaned a quad of runs and the community run. All the morning cleaning was done before 9:30 in all three kennels, so we got to community run all of K1. It feels really accomplishing when you get everything done and get all the dogs exercised before lunch, which is often rare. We gave the dogs about 15 min to 'do their business' and handed out enrichment and locked them. That was pretty much my morning. Me and a volunteer who was been volunteering in the kennels the entire time I was here asked me if I'd go to lunch with her over at the mall. We had a great time talking and eating lunch together, and come to find out her Aunt is fostering my "D" puppy's sister so I saw pictures and she is adorable!
I got back to work, collected/cleaned/refilled enrichment and by now it was time to go work with the K3 dogs. I spent the next hour walking/grooming/playing with most of the dogs including Mojito's brother and sister! The hour went by super quick and I was sad to say goodbye to all the K3 dogs I would not see again, especially a golden girl who came in on recall and I came to love her! My mentor and I headed back to K1 to do afternoon meds, and we got lucky there was none! So we went on break and enjoyed talking for the last time.
It was now dinner time, and the dogs were waiting for us! I helped fed/collect/clean the bowls and then we locked the dogs in and started afternoon cleaning. K1 finished early again, so I went to help K2 & K3. That was pretty much my day. One of the CWT's i've worked with a lot gave me a chocolate bar, I was really surprised!
The things I'm going to take away from this internship are the love and care all the staff has for our dogs. The cleanliness & pride they have in the kennels is amazing! If anyone is walking outside and sees poop, they will go pick it up and the kennels are cleaned at least 4x a day. Of course I am never going to forget my blindfold experience, and knowing the independence these dogs bring to their clients, and that is the exact reason we raise these puppies and give them up. I loved working with all the training dept staff, I was so grateful they were willing to take time out of their crazy busy day to train me and show me the ropes. One of the CWT's made the comment "you can't leave now, you just became part of the team and you know the ropes." That really made me feel well and that I did a good job during my 2 weeks. It truly went by way to fast, but I am ready to pick up Mr. "D" and head on home and see my family and start my Senior year of high school! I said goodbye and gave hugs to all the staff and said goodbye to my "favorite" dogs I had come to love the past 2 weeks and I left looking forward to going to Santa Cruz tomorrow and of course meeting Mr. "D" on Sunday!
~Katlynn
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Take 2: Half A Dozen Puppies
So as you all read yesterday I finally got my puppy assignment! Today in the afternoon, I got a phone call from my leader and got permission to answer as I had a feeling it was going to be news that Mojito was dropped. It's never a good thing when your leader calls you when you have a puppy in training you always think the worst! But luckily it was just the opposite!
Since the Medford/Azul "B" puppy I was assigned to yesterday is over 11 weeks old it had to go out ASAP! I was really bummed until I was told I would be getting:
Since the Medford/Azul "B" puppy I was assigned to yesterday is over 11 weeks old it had to go out ASAP! I was really bummed until I was told I would be getting:
7/8 Lab Golden Cross!
Male
Amador/Tenley
DOB: 6-20-2012
"D"
I saw this litter on the litter announcements at Fun Day and I knew instantly I waited to raise one! Amador is Aniko's brother so it will be really cool to watch this little guy grow up and how he looks/acts like Aniko. So I pray this assignment doesn't change or I will be super bummed! I also wanted a special dog to raise my senior year of high school, as he will be walking with me at graduation! So this guy is super special to me as I have never raised a 7/8 golden and he is related to Aniko!
~Katlynn & Mr "D"
Training Internship: Day 9
It's getting down to the wire, only one more day left as an intern at GDB. I am really sad that it's coming to an end, but so thankful for all the memories I've mad, the experiences I've had, and all the dogs I've come to love.
Today was a pretty usual day at GDB. I arrived bright and early and K3 was just finishing morning feeding so I jumped right on in and collected bowls and started washing/acceling them. Like every morning, I locked a quad of dogs in and headed out to scoop/accel/spray out runs. Once I was done with morning cleaning I headed down to the 9:30 daily CWT meeting and listened in. All the CWT's meet every morning to discuss how all the cleaning is going, if anyone needs help, etc. After the meeting me and my mentor headed back down to K3 to do community run. I love doing community run, most of the dogs are generally well behaved but occasionally you get a "problem child." We filled up the pool for the dogs, and most of the dogs loved running through it, and then proceeded to run up to us and get us all wet! The quad we ran today, had Mojito's brother in it, so it was really neat to see how much he looked like Mo and how he acted. Their sister came in with the weekend recall and is being evaluated for a breeder, so I hope she passes! She is a really sweet and loving girl, nothing like Mojito and his brother who are high energy and act like goofy goldens most of the time! We did community run for a good 45 min and then put all the dogs away, cleaned up the toys, and drained the pool. Once all the dogs were in, enrichment was handed out and we locked them all in, and now it was lunch time!
My smart self forget my lunch on the counter this morning, so I headed over to the mall to grab something and make it back in 30 min! I was successful! I barely had enough time to sit and eat my food before I had to get back to work!
I headed back to K3 to find my mentor and we collected enrichment, and I cleaned all the Kongs and refilled them again for tomorrow! Since there was really nothing to do, me and 3 other people each grabbed dogs and we went for another cemetery walk! The dogs love getting out, especially for long walks. The rest of the afternoon was pretty relaxed I helped write vet checks/meds in each dogs file in the binder and made sure all the other dogs were up to date. There were several career changes today so I made career change tags, and went and brought the dog over to K3 so they could go home with their raisers or get adopted!
It was now food prep time, so I did a food count and scooped all the food, and of course the dogs heard me so they were going crazy! 3:00 came and the dogs knew it! I started feeding the dogs, and then I went on break. I got back and helped lock in dogs so I could scoop/spray the runs. I finished in K3 so I headed over to K2 & K1 and helped them clean. That was pretty much my day! I have really enjoyed this experience!
~Katlynn
Today was a pretty usual day at GDB. I arrived bright and early and K3 was just finishing morning feeding so I jumped right on in and collected bowls and started washing/acceling them. Like every morning, I locked a quad of dogs in and headed out to scoop/accel/spray out runs. Once I was done with morning cleaning I headed down to the 9:30 daily CWT meeting and listened in. All the CWT's meet every morning to discuss how all the cleaning is going, if anyone needs help, etc. After the meeting me and my mentor headed back down to K3 to do community run. I love doing community run, most of the dogs are generally well behaved but occasionally you get a "problem child." We filled up the pool for the dogs, and most of the dogs loved running through it, and then proceeded to run up to us and get us all wet! The quad we ran today, had Mojito's brother in it, so it was really neat to see how much he looked like Mo and how he acted. Their sister came in with the weekend recall and is being evaluated for a breeder, so I hope she passes! She is a really sweet and loving girl, nothing like Mojito and his brother who are high energy and act like goofy goldens most of the time! We did community run for a good 45 min and then put all the dogs away, cleaned up the toys, and drained the pool. Once all the dogs were in, enrichment was handed out and we locked them all in, and now it was lunch time!
My smart self forget my lunch on the counter this morning, so I headed over to the mall to grab something and make it back in 30 min! I was successful! I barely had enough time to sit and eat my food before I had to get back to work!
I headed back to K3 to find my mentor and we collected enrichment, and I cleaned all the Kongs and refilled them again for tomorrow! Since there was really nothing to do, me and 3 other people each grabbed dogs and we went for another cemetery walk! The dogs love getting out, especially for long walks. The rest of the afternoon was pretty relaxed I helped write vet checks/meds in each dogs file in the binder and made sure all the other dogs were up to date. There were several career changes today so I made career change tags, and went and brought the dog over to K3 so they could go home with their raisers or get adopted!
It was now food prep time, so I did a food count and scooped all the food, and of course the dogs heard me so they were going crazy! 3:00 came and the dogs knew it! I started feeding the dogs, and then I went on break. I got back and helped lock in dogs so I could scoop/spray the runs. I finished in K3 so I headed over to K2 & K1 and helped them clean. That was pretty much my day! I have really enjoyed this experience!
~Katlynn
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Half a Dozen Puppies
Am I really on puppy #6?! It's really hard to believe that I will be taking home my 6th guide dog puppy! Time really flies by when your having fun raising puppies!
I waited anxiously all day for an e-mail about a puppy assignment and it finally came!
I waited anxiously all day for an e-mail about a puppy assignment and it finally came!
On Sunday I will be picking up a:
LGXX (3/4 Golden 5/8 Lab)
Male
DOB: 6/1/2012
Dam: Azul
Sire: Medford
"B" Litter
I am so happy I got assigned a cross! I told Mary I would love a cross if there was any in the kennels, but would be happy with a lab as well. Ashley Carol I know will be excited because she raised his dad! This boy is going to be "old" for picking up as he will be over 11 weeks old. I am excited to start again from the puppy stage and watch him grow up!
~Katlynn, Ryder, & "B" Boy!
Training Internship: Day 8
I knew today was going to be a good day no matter what because I was expecting for a puppy assignment and I got to go out with the instructors! I arrived at 8am and went and found my mentor in K2 and I did quiet work with the dogs while the instructors loaded their dogs. I only had about 20 min left before I got to go out with the instructors so I went out and scooped/acceled/sprayed a quad of kennels.
I headed to the training office to meet up with the advisor who was taking me out. He told me I was going to get to observe traffic training! I was kinda bummed I didn't get to experience blindfold work again, but I am thankful I got the opportunity Friday. The string of dogs I went out with, this was their first time being exposed to traffic training. Traffic training consisted of a team (instructor & dog) walking a route in a quite neighborhood, and a GDB car and driver setting the dog up. The setups were: backing out of a driveway, quickly pulling into a driveway, cutting the team off in a crosswalk, chasing the dog in the crosswalk, starting the car and pulling out of a driveway & backing up and re-pulling into the driveway. What I thought was most interesting was when the car was backing out of the driveway if the dog did not catch on they would bump the dog with the car to really let the dog know a car is a bad thing. Of course they did not hurt the dogs, and the dog quickly backed up and was confused as to what just happened! But the dogs need to learn that cars are very dangerous for them and their partner. From here on out the dogs will be worked out in busier neighborhoods and be set up with non GDB cars and every day traffic, until their final traffic exam.
Most of the dogs caught on real quick that cars are not safe to be around and they needed to back up quickly or speed up to the curb, it's the dogs decision to either back up or speed up to the curb based on their intelligent disobedience & what they decide is safe. It was really fun to follow the team and watch the dogs catch on really fast to traffic. After I followed a few teams, I rode in the GDB van with a supervisor who was setting all the dogs up. He explained a lot to me as to why they do this setup and what the dogs initial reaction should be. I really enjoyed going out with the team, they are all so friendly and willing to answer any questions and are just happy to have us interns there.
I got back to campus close to lunch time, and went back to K2 and handed out enrichment to the dogs and locked them in and went to lunch.
Lunch always goes by way to fast, but it's always fun to get back to work! The rest of my afternoon went pretty smooth and normal. I collected all the enrichment in K2 and started doing quiet work while the instructors got their dogs for an afternoon route. My mentor had meetings most the afternoon so I floated between all 3 kennels and in K3 me and 3 other people took four dogs on a cemetery walk. It was a really nice afternoon and not scorching hot like it has been.
All the CWT's had a meeting today, and I got to attend. It was a presentation from a vet tech about how to properly and confidently do an IV bag of fluids for any dog in a kennel. It was very informational and fun to watch the demonstrations. The meeting ended and I headed back to kennels to start scooping food and fed the dogs. The dogs eat in about 1 second and then the bowls are collected and washed. I locked in a quad of dogs and started scooping/spraying out the runs. My mentor asked me to accel the outside center hallway that all the instructors use to train their dogs about overhead and ground obstacles, so I of course said yes and that took me the rest of my time I there this afternoon. I put all my cleaning equipment away and headed home!
~Katlynn
I headed to the training office to meet up with the advisor who was taking me out. He told me I was going to get to observe traffic training! I was kinda bummed I didn't get to experience blindfold work again, but I am thankful I got the opportunity Friday. The string of dogs I went out with, this was their first time being exposed to traffic training. Traffic training consisted of a team (instructor & dog) walking a route in a quite neighborhood, and a GDB car and driver setting the dog up. The setups were: backing out of a driveway, quickly pulling into a driveway, cutting the team off in a crosswalk, chasing the dog in the crosswalk, starting the car and pulling out of a driveway & backing up and re-pulling into the driveway. What I thought was most interesting was when the car was backing out of the driveway if the dog did not catch on they would bump the dog with the car to really let the dog know a car is a bad thing. Of course they did not hurt the dogs, and the dog quickly backed up and was confused as to what just happened! But the dogs need to learn that cars are very dangerous for them and their partner. From here on out the dogs will be worked out in busier neighborhoods and be set up with non GDB cars and every day traffic, until their final traffic exam.
Most of the dogs caught on real quick that cars are not safe to be around and they needed to back up quickly or speed up to the curb, it's the dogs decision to either back up or speed up to the curb based on their intelligent disobedience & what they decide is safe. It was really fun to follow the team and watch the dogs catch on really fast to traffic. After I followed a few teams, I rode in the GDB van with a supervisor who was setting all the dogs up. He explained a lot to me as to why they do this setup and what the dogs initial reaction should be. I really enjoyed going out with the team, they are all so friendly and willing to answer any questions and are just happy to have us interns there.
I got back to campus close to lunch time, and went back to K2 and handed out enrichment to the dogs and locked them in and went to lunch.
Lunch always goes by way to fast, but it's always fun to get back to work! The rest of my afternoon went pretty smooth and normal. I collected all the enrichment in K2 and started doing quiet work while the instructors got their dogs for an afternoon route. My mentor had meetings most the afternoon so I floated between all 3 kennels and in K3 me and 3 other people took four dogs on a cemetery walk. It was a really nice afternoon and not scorching hot like it has been.
All the CWT's had a meeting today, and I got to attend. It was a presentation from a vet tech about how to properly and confidently do an IV bag of fluids for any dog in a kennel. It was very informational and fun to watch the demonstrations. The meeting ended and I headed back to kennels to start scooping food and fed the dogs. The dogs eat in about 1 second and then the bowls are collected and washed. I locked in a quad of dogs and started scooping/spraying out the runs. My mentor asked me to accel the outside center hallway that all the instructors use to train their dogs about overhead and ground obstacles, so I of course said yes and that took me the rest of my time I there this afternoon. I put all my cleaning equipment away and headed home!
~Katlynn
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Training Internship: Day 7
I arrived, and before I could say "good morning" to everyone, I was sent to do quiet work with K2 dogs while the instructors loaded. The dogs are the most crazy in the morning because they just got fed, everyone is coming into work, they are looking for their instructor, and they all have energy!! I did quiet work for a good hour until it was time to scoop/accel/spray runs then I got started on that. I was interrupted while cleaning the community run, because I had to take a break, in order to help with IFT's.
I was excited that I got to help with IFT's. I am not quite sure what IFT stands for but basically every recall dogs goes through this. We had 18 recall dogs to do. There was 3 of us doing this and one of us each took a dog down to the vet clinic, went and visited with the vet and he looked them all over, gave them 3 shots, and nasal spray in the nose. All the dogs I had did really well and were accepting of the vet looking in their ears, mouth, body, and giving shots. Next, the dogs had to go back to the sugary area to get extensive x-rays to determine if they are in tip-top shape to be a guide or breeder. They all got blood drawn, which would be tested for heartworm. Lastly, I had to hold their head and paw while the vet tech put sedatives in their veins, making it very easy to get x-rays done. The x-rays took maybe 5 min and the dogs were taken from the table and put on blankets to be able to wake up. Most of the dogs woke up within 10 min and the 3 of us took turns taking them back to the kennels and feeding them their very late breakfast! The first dog we took down ended up being dropped for a knee or hip issue, I was bummed he seemed like an awesome dog! Overall doing IFT's was a very neat experience, and I was glad I got to be a part of it!
After all the dogs went through IFT's I handed out enrichment to the rest of the K2 dogs, and locked the rest of the dogs in and now I was headed to lunch.
When I came back from lunch I had to hang out in K2 for a few minutes while I waited for my mentor to get out of a meeting. While I was walking up and down the kennel hallways saying "hi" to all the dogs, I noticed a dog we took through IFT's that morning had blood piles in his run, obviously something was wrong with him. Luckily as I was headed out to look for someone another CWT came in and I informed him and he quickly took this dog down to the vet and I cleaned up the blood in his run.
Right about this time the instructors were coming in to get their dogs out for an afternoon workout. I was sent in to help do quiet work with the dogs so they were not being obnoxious while the instructors were loading. Quiet work is usually fun, as you have all the dogs attention and they will do anything for food! Once all the dogs were out for the afternoon, I started washing all the food bowls from the dogs that ate late that were doing IFT's. My mentor had another meeting so he sent me over to K1 to help out. I was happy to see that my favorite CWT was there and we got to walk dogs! I got to walk one of the crosses that looks full golden. I am a sucker for all the crosses and goldens in the kennels down there! We took the 2 dogs on a cemetery walk, and enjoyed chatting.
My mentor was back now, so I went back over to K2 and assisted him. He had me write all the meds on the board and in each dogs' file. I have learned that GDB has their own med lingo. For example a med might read "BFF soak in CHX SID" your right this is a foreign language! It means soak back front foot in CHX one time a day. I have learned to read and understand their lingo and it makes sense in the GDB world. Every dog that went through IFT had a vet form that had meds, ear cleanings, etc on it that we had to record for each dog to make sure it would get done. Now it was time for my break!
We came back and put the dogs back in their run, and now it was time to refill the food bins and start dishing out food. 3:00 rolled around and all the dogs know it's dinner time! We fed all the dogs that were there, collected all the bowls, and then washed them. We gave the dogs their time to "do their business" and locked them all in and went out to scoop/spray the runs.
My mentor had to go work with his project dogs, so we went over to K3 and took them on a quick campus walk. Once we got back and put them away I was sent over to K2 to help with quiet work and then it was time for me to leave. My day always goes by way to fast, and I would love to stay longer. This has been such an experience and tomorrow I get to go out with another team and observe them and maybe do blindfold again!
~Katlynn
I was excited that I got to help with IFT's. I am not quite sure what IFT stands for but basically every recall dogs goes through this. We had 18 recall dogs to do. There was 3 of us doing this and one of us each took a dog down to the vet clinic, went and visited with the vet and he looked them all over, gave them 3 shots, and nasal spray in the nose. All the dogs I had did really well and were accepting of the vet looking in their ears, mouth, body, and giving shots. Next, the dogs had to go back to the sugary area to get extensive x-rays to determine if they are in tip-top shape to be a guide or breeder. They all got blood drawn, which would be tested for heartworm. Lastly, I had to hold their head and paw while the vet tech put sedatives in their veins, making it very easy to get x-rays done. The x-rays took maybe 5 min and the dogs were taken from the table and put on blankets to be able to wake up. Most of the dogs woke up within 10 min and the 3 of us took turns taking them back to the kennels and feeding them their very late breakfast! The first dog we took down ended up being dropped for a knee or hip issue, I was bummed he seemed like an awesome dog! Overall doing IFT's was a very neat experience, and I was glad I got to be a part of it!
After all the dogs went through IFT's I handed out enrichment to the rest of the K2 dogs, and locked the rest of the dogs in and now I was headed to lunch.
When I came back from lunch I had to hang out in K2 for a few minutes while I waited for my mentor to get out of a meeting. While I was walking up and down the kennel hallways saying "hi" to all the dogs, I noticed a dog we took through IFT's that morning had blood piles in his run, obviously something was wrong with him. Luckily as I was headed out to look for someone another CWT came in and I informed him and he quickly took this dog down to the vet and I cleaned up the blood in his run.
Right about this time the instructors were coming in to get their dogs out for an afternoon workout. I was sent in to help do quiet work with the dogs so they were not being obnoxious while the instructors were loading. Quiet work is usually fun, as you have all the dogs attention and they will do anything for food! Once all the dogs were out for the afternoon, I started washing all the food bowls from the dogs that ate late that were doing IFT's. My mentor had another meeting so he sent me over to K1 to help out. I was happy to see that my favorite CWT was there and we got to walk dogs! I got to walk one of the crosses that looks full golden. I am a sucker for all the crosses and goldens in the kennels down there! We took the 2 dogs on a cemetery walk, and enjoyed chatting.
My mentor was back now, so I went back over to K2 and assisted him. He had me write all the meds on the board and in each dogs' file. I have learned that GDB has their own med lingo. For example a med might read "BFF soak in CHX SID" your right this is a foreign language! It means soak back front foot in CHX one time a day. I have learned to read and understand their lingo and it makes sense in the GDB world. Every dog that went through IFT had a vet form that had meds, ear cleanings, etc on it that we had to record for each dog to make sure it would get done. Now it was time for my break!
We came back and put the dogs back in their run, and now it was time to refill the food bins and start dishing out food. 3:00 rolled around and all the dogs know it's dinner time! We fed all the dogs that were there, collected all the bowls, and then washed them. We gave the dogs their time to "do their business" and locked them all in and went out to scoop/spray the runs.
My mentor had to go work with his project dogs, so we went over to K3 and took them on a quick campus walk. Once we got back and put them away I was sent over to K2 to help with quiet work and then it was time for me to leave. My day always goes by way to fast, and I would love to stay longer. This has been such an experience and tomorrow I get to go out with another team and observe them and maybe do blindfold again!
~Katlynn
Training Internship: Day 6
After a great weekend of hanging out and going into San Francisco, I was more then happy to get back to work today! I'm really bummed this is my last week, it all went by so fast and I have learned so much!
I arrived at 8:00am and was quickly sent out to scoop/accel/wash kennel runs. I finished that rather quickly, I am getting used to the routine and know what to do when. Each kennel has weekly and monthly duties and today all the cabinets and drawers needed to be cleaned out and organized & wash the goggles. It was fun getting to go through all the cabinets/drawers, seeing really where everything was and goes. That took me a quick 15 min to do, and then I learned how to really do quiet work with the dogs. Quiet work is walking up and down the kennel hallways telling the dogs "no" or "quiet" to get them to stop barking and we can also use citronella collars if needed, but once most the dogs figured out I had food and was rewarding them for being quiet they quickly caught on to the verbal commands. I got to do quiet work for a good 30 min while the instructors loaded their dogs up for the morning.
I took a quick 10 min break then came back, found my mentor and we did community run with all the new dogs. This was really fun because we had to bring out 2-3 dogs at a time and introduce them or single them out in the center run. Eventually we got all 18 dogs out and let them run around and exercise. They all did very well together and only a few caused trouble. They were all put away and I ran down to the vet clinic to look for meds for K2, and there was one there so I signed for it and headed back to write it on the meds board and make a box for it in the meds cabinet.
More quiet work was needed while all the dogs were coming back from their morning route, so I did quiet work with them till all the dogs were in. Kennel enrichment was on the agenda next, so enrichment was handed to all the dogs, then it was lunch time!
Lunch flew by, and before I knew it I was walking back to K3 to help with vet checks. Vet checks consisted of: getting the dogs out, grooming them, and making sure they had no weird bumps, scabs, etc on them. After we did the vet checks on 2 dogs we took them for a quick campus walk. After the walk, I headed over to K2 to find my mentor and we took dogs to the training office (for stress relief) and came back and collected/cleaned/refilled the enrichment. It was now my break time!
After break, I helped feed all the dogs and collected their bowls and washed them. After dinner we give the dogs roughly 15 min to "do their business" then we lock them in and scoop/spray their runs. We were short staffed yesterday so I got the pleasure of scooping/spraying out all 4 quads in K2 (each kennel has 4 quads). It didn't take as long as I thought and I came back in and was told 2 dogs were CC'd so I made CC tags for their kennels so they could be moved to K3 and adopted out. Since all the cleaning was done in all 3 kennels I got to go home a little early, which is always a bonus!
~Katlynn
I arrived at 8:00am and was quickly sent out to scoop/accel/wash kennel runs. I finished that rather quickly, I am getting used to the routine and know what to do when. Each kennel has weekly and monthly duties and today all the cabinets and drawers needed to be cleaned out and organized & wash the goggles. It was fun getting to go through all the cabinets/drawers, seeing really where everything was and goes. That took me a quick 15 min to do, and then I learned how to really do quiet work with the dogs. Quiet work is walking up and down the kennel hallways telling the dogs "no" or "quiet" to get them to stop barking and we can also use citronella collars if needed, but once most the dogs figured out I had food and was rewarding them for being quiet they quickly caught on to the verbal commands. I got to do quiet work for a good 30 min while the instructors loaded their dogs up for the morning.
I took a quick 10 min break then came back, found my mentor and we did community run with all the new dogs. This was really fun because we had to bring out 2-3 dogs at a time and introduce them or single them out in the center run. Eventually we got all 18 dogs out and let them run around and exercise. They all did very well together and only a few caused trouble. They were all put away and I ran down to the vet clinic to look for meds for K2, and there was one there so I signed for it and headed back to write it on the meds board and make a box for it in the meds cabinet.
More quiet work was needed while all the dogs were coming back from their morning route, so I did quiet work with them till all the dogs were in. Kennel enrichment was on the agenda next, so enrichment was handed to all the dogs, then it was lunch time!
Lunch flew by, and before I knew it I was walking back to K3 to help with vet checks. Vet checks consisted of: getting the dogs out, grooming them, and making sure they had no weird bumps, scabs, etc on them. After we did the vet checks on 2 dogs we took them for a quick campus walk. After the walk, I headed over to K2 to find my mentor and we took dogs to the training office (for stress relief) and came back and collected/cleaned/refilled the enrichment. It was now my break time!
After break, I helped feed all the dogs and collected their bowls and washed them. After dinner we give the dogs roughly 15 min to "do their business" then we lock them in and scoop/spray their runs. We were short staffed yesterday so I got the pleasure of scooping/spraying out all 4 quads in K2 (each kennel has 4 quads). It didn't take as long as I thought and I came back in and was told 2 dogs were CC'd so I made CC tags for their kennels so they could be moved to K3 and adopted out. Since all the cleaning was done in all 3 kennels I got to go home a little early, which is always a bonus!
~Katlynn
Friday, August 10, 2012
Training Internship: Day 5
Wow, it's hard to believe my internship is already half way over! It went by so fast and I have loved every minute of it! All the staff is super nice and love having the interns around to help and do whatever needs to be done.
Today was a pretty relatively calm day. I arrived in K1 at 8am and started washing food bowls, and when I finished dishes, I went out to scoop/accel/spary out runs. While I was in the midst of finishing up my second quad of runs the head of all the CWT's came out and informed me I was able to go out with a trainer and her 4 dogs! I was beyond excited! I have been waiting all week to go out with a trainer, so it ended up being a great Friday surprise for me! I am scheduled on Wednesday to go out again so I got super lucky I got to go out today! I happily relinquished my cleaning to another CWT and headed out the vans to find the trainer I was going out with. We loaded up and headed out to downtown Novato, where she would be working her dogs. It was a good 15 min ride and she asked me if I was a puppy raiser and of course I said yes! I learned she was in her 3rd year of her instructor apprenticeship, and she would be taking one of her exams Monday with one of her dogs she was working today! She was extremely nice and asked me what I was wanting to do with her and I said I'd love to go under blindfold and get a chance to work a dog and she agreed and said all her dogs were class ready and just had to pass a few more exams! We arrived in Novato and she worked the first dog, which was the dog she was taking her exam with and she had to teach her patterning and targets. I quickly followed behind (this dog had a fast pace) and watched every move they made in awe. She explained she goes as fast as the dog feels comfortable working, because the dog needs to feel confident working so she goes whatever pace that is, so it could be a nice walk pace or a fast brisk trot. She had all ranges of dogs! We stopped at the van and put that dog away and played with her a little bit to let her know she did a good job and was getting rewarded for her awesome work! We put her in her kennel and gave her water and next up was my turn with a big yellow lab male!! I was beyond excited but at the same time very nervous because I did not want to do anything wrong and mess up his training. She gave me about a 2 min juno talk (we were very short on time, or else she would have given me a lecture on juno work) and the basics I would need to be able to work him. We got him out and she put his harness on and I grabbed the handle and said hello to him and let him get to know me. She extended out his leather leash and held onto it, and was going to walk behind us to make sure we were both doing our job and was there to give me pointers along the way, and I told him forward and off we went! I was not yet blindfolded, I was walking his pace and he walked me around a seating area, and then walked me back to my path, which is super impressive thinking, and stopped me at every curb and at anything that blocked our path or that I could run into. After about 3 min of walking with eyes open, I told the instructor I was closing my eyes so she knew she had to fully spot me, and the first steps were very scary but as soon as learned I had to trust him and know he was going to do his job and keep me safe and that the instructor was behind spotting too, I got much better walking with him, and walked his normal brisk pace with confidence!. It was an amazing feeling knowing that I could put my life in the hands of a dog I had only known for 5 min. I got the hang of it really quickly to follow him and where he pulls (left or right to avoid obstacles) and if he stops I had to feel for a curb or put my hand out and probe for an obstruction in front, above, or next to me. It was almost a natural feeling to be walking with my eyes closed and being guided by a dog, he did an amazing job. His instructor said it was his first time being working with a new handler let a lone an inexperienced handler like me. I was probably "blind" for about 5-7 min because we did a quick route with all the dogs. It was an experience I will never forget and it now gives me a reason why I puppy raise and say goodbye to these dogs because they go on and become eyes for a blind person and that is something that is a gift they get to have their "eyes"back. She was super happy to see that he could adjust to new people and work like he does with her, he could tell I was new as I didn't fully know what I was doing but we both got the swing of things and learned to trust each other. I had the other training intern take a video of me working him but unfortunately I can't post it because you can hear me saying his name and I am not allowed to say the names of dogs and how they are doing in training. While she worked the last 2 dogs I asked a ton of questions that had built up over the past 5 years of puppy raising and she answered every one of them in great detail and I was thrilled! We also stopped at Whole Foods and she grabbed lunch and assured me she was not stopping there because she wanted their food, but she was stopping there so the dog is exposed to a route that a normal person (blind or not) would do in their life, and also so the dog knows they are working for a purpose and not just working to work in a circle route every time they are taken out.
The time with her went way to fast! Before I knew it we were all loaded back up in the van and headed back to campus to unload and get ready for lunch. I went and checked back in with my mentor CWT and helped finish up community run, put all the dogs away and locked them in their inside kennels and handed out enrichment. It was now lunch time!! We all enjoyed a nice 30 min lunch together & talked, I told them about my very exciting morning and they all shared their experience being under blindfold. As lunch always does, the time flew by! We headed back to K3 and collected enrichment, washed the Kong's, and re-filled them for tomorrow.
The rest of the day was pretty laid back, I ran between K1 and K3 helping with afternoon scooping & spraying down of the runs and doing food prep. After all the dogs in K1 and K3 ate I washed the food bowls and filled some more Kong's for kennel enrichment. Most of the CWT's left at 3:30 and I wasn't due to leave till 4:30 so a night shift staff had me and the other training intern help set up recall decorations for tomorrow and then we went to the other kennels to make sure they didn't need help, so we got to leave around 4!
*On a puppy note, I went and talked to Mary (the person in charge of placing puppies) and let her know I could not pick up a puppy till Sunday and she said she has had to change my assignment 3x now and that she should have my assignment by Wednesday and she will have a male cross or yellow lab ready for me Sunday!
~Katlynn
Today was a pretty relatively calm day. I arrived in K1 at 8am and started washing food bowls, and when I finished dishes, I went out to scoop/accel/spary out runs. While I was in the midst of finishing up my second quad of runs the head of all the CWT's came out and informed me I was able to go out with a trainer and her 4 dogs! I was beyond excited! I have been waiting all week to go out with a trainer, so it ended up being a great Friday surprise for me! I am scheduled on Wednesday to go out again so I got super lucky I got to go out today! I happily relinquished my cleaning to another CWT and headed out the vans to find the trainer I was going out with. We loaded up and headed out to downtown Novato, where she would be working her dogs. It was a good 15 min ride and she asked me if I was a puppy raiser and of course I said yes! I learned she was in her 3rd year of her instructor apprenticeship, and she would be taking one of her exams Monday with one of her dogs she was working today! She was extremely nice and asked me what I was wanting to do with her and I said I'd love to go under blindfold and get a chance to work a dog and she agreed and said all her dogs were class ready and just had to pass a few more exams! We arrived in Novato and she worked the first dog, which was the dog she was taking her exam with and she had to teach her patterning and targets. I quickly followed behind (this dog had a fast pace) and watched every move they made in awe. She explained she goes as fast as the dog feels comfortable working, because the dog needs to feel confident working so she goes whatever pace that is, so it could be a nice walk pace or a fast brisk trot. She had all ranges of dogs! We stopped at the van and put that dog away and played with her a little bit to let her know she did a good job and was getting rewarded for her awesome work! We put her in her kennel and gave her water and next up was my turn with a big yellow lab male!! I was beyond excited but at the same time very nervous because I did not want to do anything wrong and mess up his training. She gave me about a 2 min juno talk (we were very short on time, or else she would have given me a lecture on juno work) and the basics I would need to be able to work him. We got him out and she put his harness on and I grabbed the handle and said hello to him and let him get to know me. She extended out his leather leash and held onto it, and was going to walk behind us to make sure we were both doing our job and was there to give me pointers along the way, and I told him forward and off we went! I was not yet blindfolded, I was walking his pace and he walked me around a seating area, and then walked me back to my path, which is super impressive thinking, and stopped me at every curb and at anything that blocked our path or that I could run into. After about 3 min of walking with eyes open, I told the instructor I was closing my eyes so she knew she had to fully spot me, and the first steps were very scary but as soon as learned I had to trust him and know he was going to do his job and keep me safe and that the instructor was behind spotting too, I got much better walking with him, and walked his normal brisk pace with confidence!. It was an amazing feeling knowing that I could put my life in the hands of a dog I had only known for 5 min. I got the hang of it really quickly to follow him and where he pulls (left or right to avoid obstacles) and if he stops I had to feel for a curb or put my hand out and probe for an obstruction in front, above, or next to me. It was almost a natural feeling to be walking with my eyes closed and being guided by a dog, he did an amazing job. His instructor said it was his first time being working with a new handler let a lone an inexperienced handler like me. I was probably "blind" for about 5-7 min because we did a quick route with all the dogs. It was an experience I will never forget and it now gives me a reason why I puppy raise and say goodbye to these dogs because they go on and become eyes for a blind person and that is something that is a gift they get to have their "eyes"back. She was super happy to see that he could adjust to new people and work like he does with her, he could tell I was new as I didn't fully know what I was doing but we both got the swing of things and learned to trust each other. I had the other training intern take a video of me working him but unfortunately I can't post it because you can hear me saying his name and I am not allowed to say the names of dogs and how they are doing in training. While she worked the last 2 dogs I asked a ton of questions that had built up over the past 5 years of puppy raising and she answered every one of them in great detail and I was thrilled! We also stopped at Whole Foods and she grabbed lunch and assured me she was not stopping there because she wanted their food, but she was stopping there so the dog is exposed to a route that a normal person (blind or not) would do in their life, and also so the dog knows they are working for a purpose and not just working to work in a circle route every time they are taken out.
The time with her went way to fast! Before I knew it we were all loaded back up in the van and headed back to campus to unload and get ready for lunch. I went and checked back in with my mentor CWT and helped finish up community run, put all the dogs away and locked them in their inside kennels and handed out enrichment. It was now lunch time!! We all enjoyed a nice 30 min lunch together & talked, I told them about my very exciting morning and they all shared their experience being under blindfold. As lunch always does, the time flew by! We headed back to K3 and collected enrichment, washed the Kong's, and re-filled them for tomorrow.
The rest of the day was pretty laid back, I ran between K1 and K3 helping with afternoon scooping & spraying down of the runs and doing food prep. After all the dogs in K1 and K3 ate I washed the food bowls and filled some more Kong's for kennel enrichment. Most of the CWT's left at 3:30 and I wasn't due to leave till 4:30 so a night shift staff had me and the other training intern help set up recall decorations for tomorrow and then we went to the other kennels to make sure they didn't need help, so we got to leave around 4!
*On a puppy note, I went and talked to Mary (the person in charge of placing puppies) and let her know I could not pick up a puppy till Sunday and she said she has had to change my assignment 3x now and that she should have my assignment by Wednesday and she will have a male cross or yellow lab ready for me Sunday!
~Katlynn
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