Buddy’s Diary

By Southern Pigskin Staff
SouthernPigskin.com

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January 30,2012- Day 1: BUDDY arrived at Lakin around 9:00 a.m., he slept through our entire meeting and was handed over to me around 10:45 a.m. He slept most of his first day here and was extremely social with the other women in my room. He is very lovable but also is very shy, which is expected. Hopefully he’ll get used to his surroundings soon. He ate his lunch around 11:30 a.m., we started him on ¾ cup of food with ½ cup of warm water to soften it up. He had a very good appetite and he drank about ½ cup of water. He ate his dinner around 4:30 p.m., once again he had ¾ cup of food mixed with ½ cup of warm water and drank less than ½ cup of water.

January 31, 2012- Day 2: BUDDY was awake most of the night, he went to bed around 8:30 p.m. last night and was up and ready to play at 11:20 p.m. BUDDY and I played for about 30 minutes then he fell back asleep until 1:10 a.m., once again up and ready to play for another 30 minutes. He then woke up again at 2:30 a.m. and we played until he ate his breakfast around 6:00 a.m. Then he took naps throughout the remainder of the day. All of his bowel movements are normal but starting to get softer, urinating frequently. Around 8:00 a.m. BUDDY began getting real lethargic and was shivering, so I kept him wrapped in a blanket, I spoke with Ms. Cochran and she advised me to keep a close eye on him and let her know of any significant changes. After he wouldn’t eat all of his lunch and dinner I let Senior Trainer A. Desefano know of the changes in his eating habit. She checked his pulse and after him sleeping almost all day it was still around 155-160 bpm, at that time she let the officers know so someone should contact Ms. Cochran. She then came and got BUDDY to take him to the vet, he has a slight respiratory infection and was put on amoxicillin 2 x’s a day until it’s finished.

February 1, 2012- Day 3: BUDDY slept better last night after his snack. He didn’t wake up until around 3:00 a.m. and stayed awake until 5:45 a.m. then he ate breakfast and went back to sleep until 8:00 a.m. He took his medicine at 8:30 a.m. and napped periodically throughout the rest of the day. He likes to chew on everything, including us. I am in the process of teaching him ‘No Mouth’ but he is a work in progress. He likes to sleep on his back and he loves his kennel. His two favorite toys are a hard blue plastic ball and a green stuffed frog. He also loves his small Nylabone. He has definitely come out of his shell. BUDDY has a very determined personality, he is also very head strong. Today I began 5 minute training sessions focusing mainly on the “sit” command. He is very smart, an absolutely extraordinary puppy. FALLON came over for 15 minutes today, she started out ignoring BUDDY but after 5 or 6 minutes she started acknowledging him.
February 2, 2012- Day 4: BUDDY only woke up twice last night, he is doing very well. He has begun developing a dominant attitude. And has started being really bad with biting us, we have been correcting him with ‘No Mouth.’ However, he seems to not really be responding to it. I will speak with Ms. Cochran tomorrow about any other corrective actions I can take to break him of this habit. FALLON came over twice today for a total of 45 minutes, she enjoys interacting with him and BUDDY really enjoys it also, it seems to calm him down to have another dog around. Also I worked with him for a total of 15 minutes today on the “sit” command; he is very intelligent and catches on quickly.

February 3, 2012- Day 5: With BUDDY having his nightly snack he sleeps pretty much through the night, he only woke up twice again last night. As I said in yesterday’s entry I did speak with Ms. Cochran today and she suggested we muzzle BUDDY because of his biting and aggressive/dominant behaviors. This replicates the actions that the mother dog would perform to correct a puppy’s dominant behavior. It is very gentle, but it is something that dogs can understand on an instinctual level. These are the types of corrections we use within the program, but it replicates natural dog behavior. So, after 4 or 5 muzzles, he did grasp the concept of ‘No Mouth’ and ‘Leave It’. He does catch on real quick. As I said before, BUDDY is an exceptional puppy. I worked with him for a total of 25 minutes today and he now sits on command. Next we’ll begin working on the ‘Down’ command. FALLON came over today twice for a total of 55 minutes, BUDDY and her are beginning to develop a bond with one another. She keeps him from being so bored and it seems she is teaching him “manners”.

February 4, 2012-Day 6: BUDDY has learned how to “sit” consistently on command. I am very proud of him. He seems to learn rather quickly. FALLON didn’t come over today but I worked with BUDDY for a total of 20 minutes. Other than that nothing different has occurred today.

February 5, 2012- Day 7: BUDDY has had a hard time with the “Down” command so Senior Trainer C. Davis came over from 1:00 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. and gave me some helpful suggestions on how to get him to complete the “Down” command. He had his first bath this evening and he enjoyed it very much, I also brushed his teeth he doesn’t love that but he tolerates it. His training is still focused on “Down” and keeping him toned up on the “Sit” command. He slept through the whole nigh from 11:30 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. Other than that nothing different has occurred today.

WEEK TWO

February 6,2012- Day 8: BUDDY began his formula today 3 tablespoons of formula 3 times a day, beginning at 8:45a.m.- 2:45 p.m.- 11:00 p.m. He had absolutely no problem with alternating the formula in between his regular meals. He usually goes to sleep around 8 p.m. and wakes up for his snack around 11 p.m. He knows exactly when his meal times are and he is more than ready for them. He usually sleeps until around 4 a.m. When it’s time for his meals he’ll go and sit in front of the sink because he knows that is where I keep his food. FALLON came over and played with BUDDY two times today for a total of 55 minutes. I also worked with BUDDY for 10 minutes today on the “sit” and “down” commands. He is a very smart puppy and catches on extremely quick.

February 7, 2012- Day 9: BUDDY didn’t sleep so well last night, I am assuming it is because of him having his formula at 11 p.m. instead of his puppy food. So today he is getting his formula at 8 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.- 8:00 p.m. So he can still get his puppy food at 11:00 p.m. FALLON left today so BUDDY won’t be getting any play time with anyone, I’m sure he’ll be letting us know just how tired he is getting of just having us four around all the time. I did work with BUDDY two times today for a total of 25 minutes on the “sit” and “down” commands. He will now sit without being lured with a treat.

February 8, 2012- Day 10: BUDDY got sick this morning around 9:20 a.m. so he was cut down on his formula to only twice a day 8:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. and he still continues to get his ¾ cup of puppy food 3 times a day and his 11:00 p.m. snack. He realized today that he is tall enough to reach our shelves that hold our clothes, so we had to further “puppy proof” our room. I worked with him two times today for a total of 15 minutes we worked on the “sit,” “down,” and “roll” commands. Other than that nothing different has occurred today.

February 9, 2012- Day 11: BUDDY had a little rough time today, he was especially strong-willed today and wanted to show dominant behaviors. It is very important that we work puppies through these behaviors at this young age when they first present, and teach them that they must submit so that they learn early that they cannot challenge their handlers. I asked for the help of Senior Trainer S. Vetromile, and she did in fact succeed with his submission. Afterwards he did calm down and showed no more signs of challenging. I believe he is just getting ‘cabin fever’ and is anxiously awaiting until he can frolic with other puppies in the day room, and socialize with other humans. Since BUDDY is the youngest and smallest puppy we have right now, we must wait for him to grow a bit more until he can safely play with the older, bigger puppies. I worked with BUDDY two times today for a total of 20 minutes on the “sit,” “down,” and “roll” commands.

February 10, 2012- Day 12: BUDDY got weighed today and is an astonishing sixteen pounds. Senior Trainer K. Davis come over today and interacted with BUDDY some, she worked him for about 30 minutes. I worked BUDDY two times today for a total of 15 minutes on the “down,” “roll,” and “come” commands. I haven’t had any problems with correcting him like I previously had. Other than that nothing different occurred today.

February 11, 2012: I worked BUDDY two times today for a total of 20 minutes of the “down,” “roll,” and “come” commands. Other than that nothing different has occurred today.

February 12, 2012: I worked BUDDY two times today for a total of 15 minutes, nothing different has occurred today.

The Paws4People Foundation specializes in training customized Assistance Dogs for two general populations: children and adolescents with physical, neurological, psychiatric or emotional disabilities; and Veterans and active-duty Service Members with Chronic/Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (C-PTSD) and/or Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI). To help support this non-profit organziation including Buddy please help if you can.

Here are three ways to help  http://www.helpkyria.com/donate-or-join-a-raffle/

 

 

 

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