I bought 2 stainless steel bowls with rubber on the bottom, a collapsible food or water bowl/pouch, 4 tennis balls, a squeaky hedgehog plush toy, 3 bags of Merrick treats, a bag of fruitables treats, invisible boot paw protector, and poop bags. With the dog guides discount, all of this only cost $50 with tax! I wish I had gotten more treats and toys but for now, this is a good start. We already have a few toys and food at home waiting for us.
Here's a picture of everything we bought at Ren's:
After we got back from the pet store we practiced a new skill - steady. This is where you can place two hands on the dog's shoulders and hips to help you balance or stand up from a seated position. Troy did well with this and we practiced "steady" a bit more tonight too. I don't think I will use this often but there are times where this skill will help me a lot.
We also got to play outside in the snow today with all of the other dogs in our class! Troy had a blast and definitely loves the snow. When we were getting in and out of the van on our trip to the pet store all he wanted to do was run around in the snow.
Today was a fun and somewhat relaxing day for us. Troy got to play outside, we went shopping, and practiced a couple of skills but not too many. All in all I think we had a great day and the sound of Troy snoring beside me makes me fairly certain that he also enjoyed himself today ;)
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| He seems to enjoy the hedgehog toy. Yay! |
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| Not sure if Troy's even in this picture. It's so hard to tell 5 black labs that are all relatively the same size apart from each other! I think he's the one sniffing Willow (Willow is the yellow lab). He likes to hump other dogs so that would be my best guess ;) |
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| Cuddling with his brother (Taboo) in the van. Troy's the one with the harness on. |
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| Showing off his Halti. I tried to make it manly... |
Thank you for posting these blogs Kelsey, we are enjoying reading your blogs. We are a first time foster family and our foster puppy is about to leave our family for formal training on Monday (her name is Anik, the sister of Anouk who was referred to in your earlier blogs). Since Anik is our first foster puppy and we are not very familiar with the next steps. It was great to hear about the types of things that you are doing with the dogs during your time at the Dog Guide facility. The timing of this blog for us is perfect as we prepare for giving back our puppy. Our family is also fostering a dog in the breeding program (Yenta). All the best as you prepare to take Troy home.
ReplyDeleteYour daily blog is wonderful - informative and well written. Our family includes a retired guide dog, so it is interesting to learn about the numerous commands used in training. Keep up the good work, Kelsey...
ReplyDeleteWow! we have so many of the same products that you purchased in our stash. The poop bags are our go too, and we have the same invisible boot stuff, which works great (when I remember to put it on). And your hedgehog toy is a mini replica of Rush's favorite toyl He adores the farting sound it makes, and we are actually on our second hedgehog and I have two backups in the closet! I'm sure Rush and Troy are going to be best friends! Do you know who his parents are yet?
ReplyDeleteI have trouble getting Troy to stay still long enough to put the invisible boot on him but hopefully over time ...and maybe with some treats... it will get easier. ;)
DeleteI don't know who his parents are yet but I'm sure I'll find out at grad on Thursday. Oh, and yes. I'm sure they'll be best friends too!