"A DAY AT THE BEACH"

Patriots obedience class was held at Smyrna Dunes Park, It was his first visit to the ocean.  He walked into the water with little coaxing, when the water reached his belly, he stopped and stood motionless.

Patriot, Quincy and Shirley

After several minutes of watching the other dogs, Patriot took off jumping, running and having a good old time!

Patriot making waves!

He went out far enough that he was swimming, or should I say dog paddling.  I think a good time was had by all the dogs!  Had I known what I know now I would have worn a bathing suit :)

Of course there was rolling in the sand, chasing the waves and more rolling in the sand.  What a day!



            Yaz & Ron, Rusty & Suzanne,

                      Patriot and Bonnie

There's nothing like a two hour car ride with a wet dog.  Patriot, smelling a little fishy, received a bath as soon as we arrived home. 

Two days after his ocean exposure, I took Patriot to a nearby lake to see what his reaction would be.  He was in harness, and thank goodness,  did not make a break for the water. He was content to watch the model boat races and the nearby birds.







          We worked on bird distractions. He did well!



The birds were not too pleased
with him, but I was!


"GOOD DOG" .....pat pat





"HARNESS TIME"

Patriot is now in harness, I don't know if it's a coincidence but, he seems to be doing much better on the leash.  It never fails whenever I pay him a public compliment, his Dr. Jekyll soon makes an appearance, hopefully it won't be at our golf league's dinner :) all kidding aside, he's doing pretty good!


Patriot in harness



 The"find it" commands are some of the latest commands we're working on. 



"Find the door"



"Find the chair"



Recently I've noticed that Patriot is performing the command under/down without being told, I'm not sure that this is a good thing.  Need to ask my "AC" (area coordinator.)

"Patriot doing an under/down"

 The under/down is the command given to the dog to go under the table, lie down and stay while you're eating.  Patriot can be in another room and if I even sit at the kitchen counter he will come and automatically perform an under/down. Hmmmmm, I wish I could get him to be that conscientious about leash management.....but, we're a work in progress!  "Good dog.....pat pat"

"THE BUT HUT"

Patriot's favorite B-day toy

Patriot is now 10 months old and soon will be trading in his familiar blue puppy coat for a harness.  The boy is growing up!  In fact he had his first experience with cigarettes, no not smoking :)  Part of his training is exposure to cigarette smoke, so on his 10 month birthday we payed a visit to "The But Hut."

"The But Hut" is the only area at the VA Center where smoking is permitted, it is an out building away from the main VA Center.  With permission from VA officials, Patriot was granted entry to the "Hut." With a name like Patriot, he was an instant hit with the Veterans, a real ice breaker.


Smoke Exposure

 There were lots of questions: How long is his training? Will he be placed with a Veteran? How much does it cost to get a dog? before I knew it, I was explaining the mission of Southeastern Guide Dogs. 

Watching the interaction between the Vets and Patriot, I found the whole experience extremely moving.


Patriot the Sentinel



Remember Patriots Day, September 11th



By the way, Patriot passed the smoke exposure test.