Breeze

03/07: Breeze is fitting in just fine, she and Jake play all day. She is doing well on potty training, still a few daytime accidents, but she is beginning to know when we put our coats on and goes to door. She knows which drawer her food is kept, when hungry, she will go lay her head against it, it is so cute . . . She took right up with our two dogs . . . She already lays by my feet under the computer. I just absolutely LOVE her. Well, we all do. I’ll be sure to keep you posted, she goes next Monday for her final shots, HW med, and fecal check. The staff at the vet just loved her. Words can never express how much gratitude I have for your generosity. I hope she will prove to be very capable both as a companion and an assistant. ~ Sharon (Ohio)

 

03/07: I took her to work with me today, just for her to get used to it. We weighed her and she weighs 27.6. She is so active, she burns a lot of energy. She still hasn’t acclimated to the car ride yet, so I've put an extra crate in there and at least once a day before a feeding we're going for a short ride. She still vomits and salivates heavily, it'll take time. She is learning our routines, and is so funny. Today was the first time I ever saw her show any aggression and that was when our foster puppy stuck his head in her food bowl (which she carries around with her). But she quickly mellowed out when touched on the neck and I put my hand in the bowl. We've had some accidents in the house but on the whole, doing very well. She still tries to counter surf but is learning “off”and “leave it” . . . [later in the month] Breeze is doing beautifully. We need to get her out more, but I'm holding off until next week, she gets her final shots then. Still working on car sickness, this week I took all the dogs out to my Explorer and we had “dog parties”so she would associate the car with good things. She starts puppy classes in 3 weeks. Everyone that has met her says she is just gorgeous and she is. Her ears are very erect now, her coloration just pops. ~ Sharon

 

04/07: Kelsey and I took Breeze and Jake down to one of the lakes that are close to our home. She ran right in with absolutely no fear! She and Jake played, Breeze dug a giant hole in the sand, chased ducks and geese. They were both pretty tuckered by the time we got home. Her puppy classes start next Tuesday, we're still struggling with car sickness.

 

[Breeze] is wonderful, she knows sit, leave it, off, come, working on down, stay. She starts puppy classes & some basic obedience Apr 17. The big thing for this week is working on channeling/slowing down prey drive. She's pretty much got the idea on lead, that when I say “short lead”she is not to chase anything/anybody! Off lead, kind of a bit early, but she knows to look up, sometimes at least slow down, but the pounce and chase go on!

 

. . . Everyone who meets her just thinks she is gorgeous. My vet staff has a very low opinion of GSD’s in general so I'm really eager for them to show them what a "real” GSD based dog is capable of. ~ Sharon, Kelsey and Dale

 

07/07: . . . The training [Breeze] is in now is with SICSA, a volunteer group that I started fostering with 28 years ago. We start with Marly in the fall. So far she is doing great with her basic obedience, just like she did in puppy class. She is the “star”.

 

Her confidence level is MUCH improved. Her new class is all large dogs and her puppy class, no one but her was over 15 pounds. I think it makes a world of difference. She chased off her first “intruder” last week, I was amazed at her! We were outside about 5:30 in the morning, I was sitting on the back step and Breeze was about 10 feet from me, when I saw a very large doe walking straight toward us. Breeze was sniffing around the dog pool (baby swimming pool - I think the deer must be coming up and drinking from it). Anyway Breeze moved, the doe took off running back into the hay field, I thought for sure Breeze would chase it, but NO, she formed a 15 feet semicircle around me, every hair on her body was standing straight up as well as her tail, she was barking, growling but what was amazing was that she kept looking back at me and maintaining her semicircle of protection. I was so impressed by her! I absolutely love this dog!

 

This week we’ve had 2 people come to the door that she didn’t know and she barked, non-threatening (to us, anyway) so I think she’s getting much more confident . . . I’ll keep in touch and advise you of her progress, so far, she’s doing great! I can not thank you enough, you answered a prayer for me and I hope for Breeze and for you as well. ~ Sharon

 

08/07: Photo at left taken with a cell phone ~ Sharon

 

09/07: [Breeze is still in training] but will be going . . . onto remedial classes, from there working towards Canine Good Citizenship Certificate. Marlys also suggests doing some agility work to build up [Breeze's] confidence level, so that will follow in remedial as well. Up until about 18-24 months old we will continue to work toward basic generalized training and exposure, exposure, exposure. Eighteen months is the earliest Marlys would even consider testing her for assistance certification. Breeze probably is about 75 pounds now but hasn't grown much in height lately. She is getting very strong but is still very willing to please us. So far we've always trained in just her regular buckle collar but Marlys is moving her into a “stretch” type collar that puts a gentle tug on her. Loose leash walking is an absolute MUST and she can still be quite the distracted puppy. ~ Sharon

 

11/07: [The photos at left and right] were taken at a Rescue event our group had the end of August. As you can see, she is just gorgeous, confident, calm, absolutely everything you could want in a companion. She sleeps by the side of my bed now. She is learning to pull to help me get out of bed. We are training at Circle Tail (Assistance Aide Program) now and she is coming along well. She is walking well on lead now, we're using a Gentle Leader which has made all the difference in the world. She is a very “soft” dog, just your voice tone will get her immediate attention. Again, I can't thank you enough for your generosity, understanding and I hope we meet all our goals. ~ Sharon

 

12/07: [Breeze] is getting a little more confident. I still have plans to enroll her in a “puppy day care” facility close to the vet's office where I work. She is very well behaved around people, places and things, but other dogs make her a little anxious or defensive yet. It may take me longer to get her certified but she helps me daily in ways I couldn't even imagine. Like when I literally do not feel like getting out of bed, there she is, nudging me and of course we get up and go outside. That alone is a true blessing! She lays in the bed next to my body which makes me feel good, another blessing. She definitely is therapy dog material, she loves people and has that sense of when you are down, she gives kisses and just lays her head on you. I just love her so much. Thanks. ~ Sharon

 

02/03/08: Breeze is doing great, she is moving into the lovely adolescent stage that we all hold so dear. She still always obeys me, but it takes a couple of stare downs if you know what I mean. This week in fact we're starting on turning off-and-on the wall light switch. So far so good, she is very easily distracted so it takes a lot of reputations just like the basics. ~ Sharon

 

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