Search and Rescue at Hersheypark

I had so much fun Satuday! As you all know, I had search and rescue training and this time it was at Hersheypark. I never been searching anywhere but the woods,and my last two team trainings were everywhere but that. You know what though? I love it!

It wasn't a nice day... foggy, drizzly, damp, but it didn't bother me. I was either in my crate nice and warm or working and when I'm working, no temps bother me. I got to do two searches. The first one was in the boardwalk/wave pool area. I had 3 subjects to find. This was a first for me as well because I never searched for more than one person. The first person I found in no time. It was a little funny though. The person was wrapped up in a hammock and I smelled them, but didn't see them. When they peeked out of the hammock, I went crazy! I didn't know what they were at first so I stood my ground and started barking, but when they said my name, I knew it was okay. From there I found my next subject in about 2 minutes. She was pretty easy. The third subject took me a little longer. I found the area, but didn't find them at first. I finally found them on top of a counter. Mom said she was so proud of me cause I found everyone:) I do need to get better at my recall/refind though, but the flanker that was with us said that it will come with time and if we work with subjects that know what to do, it makes all the difference in the world. This time we had a lot of college kids helping which is great that they volunteered, but cause SAR is not something they normally do, they don't know how to engage with me when I find them. Mom said we'll practice with some other members and get better.

My second search was by the Comet/swings/Skyrush. Again, I found my first subject in no time but the second one was a little more difficult, but honestly, it wasn't from something I did. I picked up the scent shortly after finding the first person and I was following the scent when mom called me off of it. I wasn't sure why she did that, but I listened. After that I was really confused and after about ten minutes we did a "call out" to help me find the person. A call out is when the person says my name so I can zero in on where they are at. No, a lost person won't do that, but we use it in training until I get good at finding people. After the call out, I found the person right away, the problem is, I would have found the person way before if mom wouldn't have called me off. What happened was the way the wind was blowing, I picked up the scent downwind and went into the ride area and I was almost to my subject when mom called me out. This was because when they were briefed in the morning, they were told to stay out of the ride areas, so that's why mom called me off. It wasn't really anyone's fault, but after mom followed another person on the same search and saw that they let their dog go into the ride area and find the subject just like I would have, she felt really bad. Apparently that area I could have searched, just not around the coaster tracks. The other trainer told mom that unless the dog is in danger, you let them search the entire area. Poor mom felt so bad cause she messed me up and it wasn't the first time. Remember in the mountains? The trainer told mom she really needs to let me work and trust me. She promises to do that from now on. We're both just learning and that's what these training sessions are for. I did get to do one more motivational search. It took me less than a minute to find my subject and I ended on a happy note which was nice since I did get a little frustrated on my last search.

All in all it was a good day, but boy was I tired and I welcomed the chance to catch up on my rest Sunday. The weather was worse Sunday than Saturday so we didn't get to do anything. We did take a ride with mom to the barn and the grocery store, but we chilled in the car.

Mom said I'll be going with her tonight to visit a lady from church than to Manor Care. I'm looking forward to it and will rest all day so I can make the people happy:)

I fell off the dog walk:(

Yes, you read that right, I fell off the dog walk at agility class last Thursday. Fortunately, it wasn't at the highest level. I couldn't help it. I was so excited and also worried about getting my treat that I was too busy watching mom's hand and not my feet. As I went up the ramp, I stepped to the left and right off I went. Opps! But I was okay:) I had a lot of fun that night and was sad it was our last class. Mom said I was pawsome cause I did everything great (except the dog walk obviously). Our instructor used me and mom for demonstration on sequencing since I did so good and I went through the chute without a problem. Figures class would have to be over now. Well, at least for us. It did continue to the next level, but mom started a new job (Congrats to mom!), but it is for less money so she said we had to wait and see if she could afford classes. I understand even though I don't like it. Mom promised that we will still so therapy work, I'll do search and rescue and we'll do lots of other stuff outside once the weather is nice.

Friday mom came home from work early and took Chloe to Manor Care. I wasn't happy about it, but knew I have to take my turn so next time I get to go. Mom did take us for a walk when they got back and I loved that!

Saturday mom got Megan and picked us up for the ride back. Megan wanted to see us since it was her last visit. She's prego can you believe it? So young:( But it was nice to see her and of course since it's been so long, I pottied all over the driveway from excitement when I saw her. When we got back mom took us for another walk which was nice.

Sunday and Monday we didn't do much. Mom wasn't feeling well and wanted to rest since she started her new job and she didn't want to get worse. She promises that when she's feeling a little better, she'll take us for walks and play frisbee and ball again.

This week there is not much going on. I do know that I have my search and rescue training Saturday at Hersheypark and I'm very excited about it. It's suppose to be a nice warm day so I'll be sure to fill you.

I hope everyone enjoys this nice weather that we're having this week!

Happy New Year!

So how was everyone's new year? Mine was pretty cool. We had a lot of people at the cabin New Year's Eve and at midnight, they shot guns. I love guns! Mom wouldn't let me go outside, but I watched from the window and of course barked at them letting them know I wasn't happy about not being able to participate with them. New Year's Day we headed home from the cabin. As you can imagine, none of us were happy. I was kind of depressed to be honest with you cause at home it's the same ole routine, but in the mountains, it's always something different. Plus, I very rarely have to stay in my crate.

Speaking of routine, yesterday it was back to it. Mom and dad to work and me in my crate. I heard the coffee machine making it's noise and I automatically went in on my own. Mom says I'm so smart remembering the routine after being away so long. What can I say, I am smart:) Last night mom took us along to the barn, but since they were bringing the horse in from outside, we had to stay in the car. I wasn't happy about it, but at least we got to go for a ride. Tonight is our last agility class. Grandma can't go cause of something she's having done to her throat, but mom's friend Theresa is going. She'll probably work with Chloe, but if Chloe won't listen, mom might have her work with me. I don't mind though cause I really like Theresa. Mom said we won't be signing up for the new session though cause she can't afford it. I don't know why... let me see, maybe because she's still paying all my vet bills??? Although I'm sad, I understand. I'm sure mom will still do lots of things with us, she always does.

Well, that's about all for now. I hope everyone is having a good start to their new year and I'll keep sharing my adventures as long as my pals want to keep seeing them:)

Winter wonderland fun

I've been having a blast playing in the snow! We got about 6" and I have been playing in it pretty much nonstop. Yesterday mom didn't play with us, but today she came out and we played for a long time. We had snowball battles, made snow doggies, tried to build a snowman but it was too frozen and we played chase a lot in the field. Mom took lots of pix of me and Chloe playing so you have to check them out. We tried to go for a Kubota ride, but we didn't have chains on the tires and with so much snow, we didn't make it up the steep hill. So we just drove around the field and down the road a little. We spent hours outside today. I would come in from time to time to get a bite to eat for more energy then back out I went. Mom said she's glad cause I'll sleep tonight while her and dad are trying to watch tv.

If you check out my photos, you'll see that my kitty Giz is settling in nice. Mom said I'm good about sharing my space with her. Of course I am cause I like that my kitty is at the moutains with us. We were all a bit unsure how she would be, but she loves it! Smart kitty:)

Tomorrow mom said Pam, Charlie and my friend Britt (a golden) is coming. I can't wait to have someone else to play with. Britt doesn't play as much as Chloe, but hopefully we can get her to relax and have some fun:)

I'll try to update everyone this weekend if I can. If not, our family would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year.

It's snowing!!!!

It's snowing like crazy and I love it! Mom said 6-10" until it's all done. The more the better for me. We even had a white Christmas this year too. Only about an inch, but at least it was white for Christmas.

How was everyone's Christmas? Mine was nice. We went back home Christmas Eve in the afternoon. Dad wanted to be home for Christmas, even though the rest of us wanted to stay at the cabin. We did get to see Grandma and she brought us lots of toys:) You know me though, I destroyed two of them within an hour. I know, I know, that's not a nice thing to do when someone buys me toys, but I just can't help myself. Santa Paws brought us lots of toys too so I guess I was a good girl. We headed back up to the cabin Christmas Day around 5pm. It was nice to get back up there and even nicer when we woke up this morning to snow. Chloe and I played in it for about an hour and I'll be going out again later. Mom said she'll go out to play with us when it stops snowing. We're going to build a snowman and make doggie snow angels:)

I hope everyone had a nice Christmas and got to spend time with their families and get lots of goodies. And if you're have snow, I hope you get to have fun playing in it too!

My kitty is in the mountains with us!

I can't believe it... Gizmo is in the mountains with us! I heard mom and dad talking about it, but didn't think it would happen. When mom loaded us all in the car Thursday, including our kitty, then I knew it was for real. Poor Giz, it was a rough trip up for her first time. We had heavy rain, sleet, snow, wind and fog and it took us lots longer than usual. Thank goodness she had a kitty downer! I kind of like having her here except she steals my spot on the sofa and loveseat all the time. But that's okay cause I love my kitty and I'll share. At first she was really scared so I was a good doggie and stayed with her until she felt safe. That's my job!

As for me, well, it's been so cold and windy that we haven't had the chance to do anything. We've been running around with mom and dad the past two days and we hang in the truck while they run errands. At least we get to go for a ride. I'm hoping this weather soon settles down so we can go running in the woods and do some training.

Check out the new pix mom posted. Some pretty good ones. I'll keep you posted as much as I can.

Second visit

Mom, Grandma, Chloe and I went to Manor Care last night. We saw like a million people again (ok, maybe not a million, but it was a lot). Everyone was really happy to see us and liked the goodies and cards we gave them. I was happy to bring some holiday happiness to them. Our friend Sarah was especially happy to see us and so was Joe. Poor Joe. They put him to bed early and he was NOT happy about it. But we tried to cheer him up and mom let him give us lots of treats:)

That will be our last visit for the year cause we are going to the cabin. I can't wait to go either cause it's been like a month since we've been there. That is WAY too long! Mom said it's suppose to be really, really cold, but I don't mind as long as she lets me play outside sometime. I know mom probably won't come out to play, but Chloe will!

I'll do my best to keep you caught up from the cabin since we have internet. But if not, me and my family would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy and Safe New Year!

P.S. Thanks to my pal Wesley's mom for my pawsome holiday page!!

Country Meadows Christmas visit

Last night mom, Grandma, Chloe and I all went to Country Meadows. Tis the time of year when we put on our Christmas jingle bell collars and take treats and Christmas cards with our pix for everyone. This is the first year I got to do this so I wasn't sure what to expect. Boy did we see a lot of people! We saw about 10 people as soon as we came in. There were a whole lot of people in the lobby just chilling after dinner. It was nice though to catch so many in one place. When we were done there, we did our room visits. They were all very happy to see us and we spent some time with each of them. Our last stop was in a room where the people don't always remember things. The people are always nice, but will ask our names over and over. That's cause they can't remember. I didn't see the hamster this time though, just the cat. I wanted that kitty soooo bad! Mom was a little upset with me cause I pulled so hard one time I almost pulled her off her feet. Sorry mom:( There were a lot of people in this area and of course, I had to potty and I was hot and wanted a drink. But I still took my time and let everyone pet me and visited them. When we came out, mom got a cup by the fountain and gave us both a drink. Then we stopped to talk to our friend Barney on the way out and I was crossing my legs cause I really had to potty! Finally mom said we had to go cause I had to potty and I was soooo thankful to her!

Tonight we visit Manor Care then we are all done with our Christmas visiting. I'll be sure to fill you in. It's mostly room visits here so we won't see quite as many people and won't be overwhelmed in one place.

A different kind of search and rescue

I got to get you all caught up about what I've been up to. I know it's been a week, but poor mom has been so busy and as you know, when I try to type, I just break the keys BOL :D

Last Friday night all the girls came over to play poker. I just pretty much slept under the poker table, but I did show off a little with my opening and closing of the fridge. They really liked that.

Saturday was a VERY busy day for me. Grandma, Chloe, mom and I went to Country Meadows in the morning for a visit and we saw lots of people. We went into a new section that we never visited before. Everyone was in a room with these balls. I have no idea what they were doing with them, but almost everyone of them tried to give me their ball. I know better than to take them though so I just stood there and eventually they stopped. I did get to meet some weird animal in that area. The counselor was holding it in her hands. It was little, had beady eyes and a little nose. She held it down low so I could see it and me and this creature touched noses. Mom said it was a hamster and when we were nose to nose, it was the cutest thing she ever saw. Of course she didn't have her cell phone with her to take a pix. It was a pretty neat "hamster" but I lost my interested pretty fast when I knew I couldn't play with it.

After we were done at Country Meadows, we went to Manor Care. A lot of our residents were in the rec area so we visited with them all in that area. We still had some rooms to visit though. We spent pretty much time with our friend Joe and I'm glad cause I like him a lot. We did get some sad news though. Our friend Miriam, the one who would have her cat Joey come visit, passed away since the last time we were there:( We kind of knew it was coming cause she seemed worse each time we were there. Mom said it's better cause she was suffering. I'm sad she's gone, but glad she's no in pain anymore.

When we were done there, Grandma and mom went to each at Subway then to a thirft shop. Yes mom did some picking. I was hoping she'd find something for me, but no such luck. When we got home, mom made me take a nap cause I had search and rescue training for the first time with the team. It was hard to take a nap cause I knew where I was going when I saw mom getting our gear together. But boy am I glad I did.

It was a night training so it was dark. It was really weird being in this kind of setting cause I have always practiced in the woods or fields, but this time we were at some municipal public training facililty with lots of building, blacktop and vehicles. I actually spent the first hour or two just chilling in my crate in the car cause mom had to do tabletop stuff inside. When she finally came out, we just started with me doing a couple runaways. That's where I watch someone go away and hide then I find them. Easy peazy. From there I went into a building and I immediately smelled someone. Now I had to find them which I think was suppose to be difficult cause the room was set up like a maze and I had to go under and over stuff, but it was pretty easy and I found the person in like 2 minutes tops. After that I took a little break while mom helped flank other people and their dogs. My next search for in a burn building. Not to worry, it was clean with no soot. It was a three-story building, but since I'm new I started on the 2nd floor where the subject was. There were about 6 rooms on the floor, but I found my subject in just a couple of minutes again. The instructor mom was working with was really impressed. I still need to work on my recall/refind, but my search skills are really good she said. One thing everyone thought was funny was that I was the only dog who didn't jump up and go crazy to get their treat from the subject. Me, I sit there and wait patiently for them to be handed to me. What can I say, I'm a therapy dog and that's what I'm suppose to do:) My last search for the night started in some grass area beside a long row of buses. Mom and the instructor were impressed cause I ran down passed all the buses then doubled back. I caught the scent within seconds of the return search I found the bus. I was a little hesitant at first to go up the steps in the bus cause I never been on a bus and didn't know what was in there other than a person. But mom told me to "find" so I did my job and found the person. My last task for the night was going up open grate steps. I'm sure all my pals out there know what it's like for a dog to walk open an open grate so that's why they were having us all practice this. I was second dog to go. The first one took a little while to go up because she was not sure of it. When it was my turn, I all but pulled mom up the stairs. The open grating didn't bother me at all. All the members couldn't believe that it didn't phase me at all. My was so proud of me she kept hugging and kissing me and give me lots of treats. I was happy that I did so good for mom, but I was VERY tired. It was a long day and all the excitement from search and rescue training, I just wanted to sleep. We started training at 6pm and didn't get home until 1130pm. Needless to say, I was asleep in the car the entire way home and was happy that we didn't do anything on Sunday so I could catch up and get some rest. Mom told me that our next training session in January is going to be another one not in the woods. Guess where I get to search? Hersheypark! I'm not real sure what that is, but mom said it should be lots of fun:)

This past week we didn't so much cause mom was so busy. Last night we did have agility and we were fortunate that we were able to go. Dad had surgery (don't worry, he's okay) and didn't know if she would be home in time to take us. I'm glad she was cause it was pawsome! We got to do jumps, which I love! I'm not real big on the chute or tunnel when it's curved yet. I like to see out the other end. Mom said I need to get over that cause in search and rescue there may be times I need to check tunnels and big pipes and stuff like that. I know she's right and I'll work on that. We did the tire jump again and I breezed right through that. Mom has a pix of me standing on the other side before I jumped through it. Her cell phone doesn't take very good moving photos so that's why I stood for her. We did a new thing, the box. We jump up on it then we have to lay down for 5 seconds. I think mom took some pictures of us doing that which she will post eventually. Unfortunately we won't be going to class next week cause we're heading to the mountains. I'd like to say that upsets me, but I can't cause it's been a month since we've been at the mountains and I'm rip, roaring and ready to go!

So now you are all caught up. I think we are doing our Christmas visits at the nursing homes next week. I like doing them cause the people are extra happy cause we give them goodies:)

Well, this has been a long post so I'm gonna run. I hope all my pals are gearing up for Christmas and you better be on your best behavior so Santa Paws brings you some gifts!

Agility? Not too sure about a couple things

Last night we had agility. I to enjoy agility cause we get to do a whole lot of neat stuff... go over jumps, through tunnels, up and over a-frames, but some of the stuff, I'm still not too sure of. We started on doing a double jump and mom said I did it perfect. I stayed and waited until she gave me the signal then I flew over the jumps and hit my target. Mom said I was pawsome. I did good on the new thing we added which was the tire jump. I only tried to cheat and go around it one time. But when I didn't get my treat, I realized through was the only way for me to get the treat:) I did good at the a-frame which we learned last night too. Up and down no problem. My biggest issue is with the dogwalk and chute. We've been doing the dogwalk since the beginning, but it gets higher each week. We have to turn around both ways in the middle. I'm great turning to my right, but not so much to my left. I fell off three times last night. Don't worry, it wasn't that high so I didn't get hurt. But, now I am very hesitant about turing to my left and try to avoid doing it. The more I avoid it, the more mom makes me do it. Mom said I have to pay attention to my feet and then I'll be ok. We're going to work on that with some exercises at home. The other new thing we learned last night was the chute. I love the tunnel, but the chute, not so much. I'm okay as long as I can see through the other end, but when I can't... no go. Yeah, I know, that's strange coming from a search and rescue dog who goes into all kind of unknown places, but there's just something about that chute thing. I was doing better toward the end and the instructor is sure I'll be flying through it in no time. Mom told me last night that I'm doing really good, but that sissy is better than me at agility. Of course she is, she did it before. That just makes me want to work all the more harder so I'm better than Chloe. Yes, I'm competitive, but you all know that. I have to be better than Chloe at everything! Mom said she's proud of me no matter what I do and don't excel at. She just wants us to have fun and even though I'm not crazy about the dogwalk and the chute, I love agility!

Tonight mom has girls over for poker so I'll get to visit with lots of people:) Tomorrow is a very busy day. Country Meadows at 10am, Manor Care at 1pm then search and rescue at 6pm. I better get some rest today so I'm ready for my big day!