Playdate

Sunday, I took Mango to one of his monthly requirements. Instead of going with what I always have, to my puppy counselor's obedience class, I took him to a puppy play date instead. It was a BLAST! Mango and I both had a lot of fun. At the peak of the whole thing, there was probably 18 to 20 dogs there, all of them playing with each other. Mango found a new best friend, named Jackie, who actually lives in the same town as me!
I got feedback from the puppy counselor as to his behavior, and she was very encouraging. Mango had a great time playing with the other dogs, and was actually really gentle around the little puppy that was there. All in all, I was very impressed with his behavior and it was an amazing experience.

Now, on to pictures!


Mango and Jackie


They had an entire pool filled with ice, which was great because it was very hot and sunny that day. It was just a kiddie pool, but the dogs could both lay in it and eat the ice. Ice is one of Mango's favorite treats, and he fell in love with the pool! There were a couple other dogs more aggressive than Mango that kept taking the pool as theirs, which is how I learned that Mango is much more submissive that I had earlier thought, which is great for Leader Dog training.


Mango playing with some of the other dogs at the event.


Mango playing with the second youngest puppy. He was actually fairly gentile, and that puppy put up with his crap really well! He played with this puppy almost as much as Jackie. She actually reminded me alot of Mango when he was a puppy.



Mango was really enjoying that pool of ice. I really need to get him one, he LOVED it.


Mango and I making a paw-print stepping stone. It was super special, and something I didn't even expect!


We just finished with his paw print. It was really hot, and he just wanted to be out of there!

photos

Mango's getting bigger!

I haven't posted anything about Mango this month...and I'm due for some new pics! Life has just been so busy lately...


Chillin'.


Almost seven months old already, and still growing!

This is one thing I had never expected. Mango is just so much work. I'm finding it hard enough to keep my sanity and to accomplish everyday tasks, let alone update the blog. But it's not his fault, he's just a puppy. He has a lot of energy, and we can't let him play in the backyard anymore because he can't eat whatever plant got him sick. Thus, the poor guy has to live with being inside (with the exception of when he's out in stores or playing over at his best friend Lucy's house~!) without eating the cat or ripping around the house like a mad man. Boy oh boy, it's tough being a dog.

Anyways, Mango hasn't really been making any spectacular progress. My dad came home, and him being the goofball he is he thinks it's okay for Mango to pull on the leash, eat the cat, run around unattended...he doesn't understand that our dog Lance lives by different rules than Mango. Although it did reverse some of Mango's training, he's doing okay. I'm just going to say that consistency is key. It is so much easier for you AND the dog for everyone to live by the same rules.

If you are looking to raise a Leader Dog of your own, from my own experiences I have found that it is much, much easier to raise a puppy with yourself and mayyybe one other person training the dog than trying to have four or five people raise him. It is true that it takes a village to raise a child, but not a leader puppy. If there's anything I've learned, its to keep everything consistent. It is so much quicker and easier, and the more people training the dog, the harder this is to achieve.


Mango visited an elementary school this past Friday! He visited my cousin's second-grade classroom. The kids were so funny, they all wanted to tell me about their dogs. They really behaved wonderfully, however. As did Mango. He behaved amazingly around the kids! He let them pet him and they each got to make him sit, lay down, and catch a treat. He was amazingly calm for a six-month-old puppy (almost seven months old now!).

Mango is calming down noticeably. When he is calm, he is the best dog anybody could ask for. I think that his main problem is the fact that he's not permitted to be fixed, so many of his thoughts are elsewhere. He's distracted and jumpy unless he's had several hours of intense physical activity. It is my firm belief that he would behave so much better if he were fixed.

Well, his ability to be calm even with his handicap is something to be admired. Despite the many obstacles he's facing, I think he's going to make a great Leader Dog.

a look into the past

I am going to start documenting Mango's life (as much as I can remember!) from before I started posting in this blog. Below is the day I picked him up, his second day with us, and his first time up the stairs.

PICK-UP DAY
Today my mom and I took a trip to Rochester to pick up the puppy. We came up with some names beforehand.
Mango
Bean
Pancake
Apple

The two of us had to sit through paperwork and a quick explanation with one of the workers before we could even see him. He's seriously the smallest puppy I've ever seen...10 pounds, seven weeks old. He's a pudge-ball and has an EXTREMELY wrinkly face. For the most part, he's slept all day. He spent the entire car ride home whining and crying, but once he got in the house he was pretty good. It's his first day away from his mom and his brothers and sisters, so of course he's going to cry, poor baby. I had to puppy-proof my room, picking up boxes and anything at all on the floor besides furniture. He's getting into more things than I had anticipated.

I'm exhausted. That dog is tiring! (I never would have guessed how much more exhausting he would become!)
-His name is Mango! It's been decided.

SECOND DAY
I primarily took care of Mango yesterday, but my mom took care of him while I was at school. I came home and she was sleeping, exhausted. The puppy was in his crate, haha.

-Mango went for his first walk today! It was only to the end of our street and back, a distance of about 100 feet. He was scared, crying once we got away from the house. I didn't want to make him scared of walking, because that's one of the things Leader Dogs warns. Don't ever make him do something he's not ready for, or he will be afraid of it forever. I'm just anxious to get started, I don't want to wait!
-I've also found that homework is really, really hard to do when you have to worry about watching a puppy.
-He's already starting to recognize his name, and we're beginning with the concept of "come". He's starting to get it.
-Mango also had his first outing! We went to McDonalds for dinner. Luckily we were the only people there, so I didn't have to worry about other people scaring him. (back then, I let people pet him because they had said it was okay. When he started to get unruly and jump at people because he wanted to be pet, I had to stop. Don't make the same mistake I did; I think it contributed to his habit of becoming excited when people are around, even when he's not on the leash.) He was VERY well behaved...slept on my feet the entire time we were eating. It helped that he was exhausted when we left, though!

STAIRS
We've had Mango for four or five days now, I don't recall. But over this small span of time, he's experienced a lot of new things.
-gives us signs when he has to park
-MUCH better at walking on a leash
-sits while I prepare his food, although he doesn't quite stay sitting when I put his bowl down. He's too excited.
-doesn't cry n his crate at night.
Overall, he's getting used to being here. He's much better than I had expected! (I stated this too soon! He was too young to get into a lot of trouble. If you've never had a puppy, they don't start to become a puppy until three or four months.)

Mango walked up his first set of stairs today. They were carpeted, and there were only seven, but they were taller than he is! He cried a little when he had to come down, I think he was scared. But with encouragement and praise, he did it all by himself! His little tail was wagging the whole time.

growing up

From the first moment I picked Mango up, I had people telling me that he would never quite grow up, that once he reached maturity (six, seven months old) that he would become unruly. Their reasoning stems from the fact that Leader Dog puppies aren't allowed to be fixed. All puppies are potential breeding stock, so they don't let any be fixed until they come back to the facilities once his year in foster care is up.

Personally, I have found the exact opposite to be true. Mango has been fantastic, calming down substantially. It was last Tuesday when I first noticed the change. We opened up our living room, because we felt with him being older and done teething, he would be less likely to chew the cords or destroy the furniture. And you know what? We were right. Now we can trust him without having to worry that he'll run off with a shoe, because even if he does you can call him back and he'll give it to you without a problem. He tends to have less accidents in the house, and rarely goes off running around like a madman. Although he still has problems trying to get at the cats, saying "leave it" results in him leaving them alone and coming to you instead.

Most of the major frustrations have gone away. He's stopped trying to dash and get away from things; he's realizing his place as a member of the family, but he still has to listen. He comes every time you call him, and although he still has troubles being perfectly consistent, all that can be fixed from more work with him. He still tries to jump on people, which is a BIG problem, however I will admit that I haven't been working with him as stringently as I should be. Besides this, however, he's being really amazing.

Although he still tries to eat small things like erasers, he's much, much better at giving these things up. I'm not sure if everyone in the house finally clicked to become totally consistent or if he just grew up, but whatever the case he's becoming amazingly well behaved. His loose-leash walking has hardly any problems, and he doesn't bite or bark anymore. He's finally becoming a Leader Dog.