Sunday Funday

Yesterday we had a great Sunday Funday around Sacramento! Battier definitely enjoyed the day around town and was a trooper. It was pretty hot....at the end of the day I let her cool off in a fountain before our walk back to the car. 

Brunch at Pizza Rock! 

Republic - a fun sports bar in Sacramento. 

Nex, before it opened for the summer party in the evening. 

An ice bucket for Battier from Firestone Public. 

Checking out the fountain at the Convention Center. 

Taking a break from the long walk back to the car. 

Congrats Shane!

Today Shane Battier won the NBA's Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year award! Congratulations Shane!

For more information check out the link to the Heat's page.

Class

It was puppy class tonight for Battier. It was a nice night in El Dorado Hills and perfect for an outdoor class at the shopping and movie theater area. We worked on downs with the hip flip. CCI puppies need to flip their hips out away from the handler. Battier does very well with this! I'll try and get a video soon. I admit that I work her a lot more on the Heel (left) side, I definitely need to practice more with her on the Side position (right). 

We also worked on "Under" from the Heel and Side position. With the Under command the dogs need to go under an object, turn look at the handler and then exit the same way they came in. For example if a dog goes under a chair, they must come out the same way they went in so they won't get their leash caught. 

We worked on Heel with a loose leash, Battier is a pro at this! She has been since she was a little puppy. I never let the dogs walk past my knee, even on a release or a walk around the neighborhood. They just know the position and I feel it works better that way. When we walked we would stop and the dogs had to do their auto-sits, Battier did very well with this. 

We worked on walking slowly on the stairs. Battier does very well with this and gets a lot of stairs practice every day at our office. 

Battier is repeating "Basic" class again, it will be good for her because we missed some classes after the car accident. Battier looks a lot bigger than only 7 months, but it will be good for her! We still have a long time to be in Riffraff class! 

Salvation Army

Today we went to a very special luncheon for Salvation Army donors. My Dad and our bus company Amador Stage Lines donates buses and money to the Salvation Army. It's another great way to give back to the community. The luncheon today was at E. Claire Raley Transitional Living Center. There was an amazing testimonial from one of the residents. People looking to better their lives and get back on the right track can live at the Center for 6 months to 2 years. This Center is for adults with children.

Battier was pretty popular with the little kids. She did very well with them. Battier does like to lick, something I have been working hard on her not to do. It's tough when the kids fingers taste like chicken from the BBQ! With a "don't" Battier stops.

Hanging out under the table. 

"Doing The Most Good". - Salvation Army. 

Practicing "Up" at the office...that's a BIG bus tire! 

Battier loves to carry things in her mouth. I let her carry my keys (I do not give her any command when she carries things since I know how important the retrieve command in Advanced Training is). This is just good practice! 

Park

Today we went to Ancil Hoffman Park by our house. It has a big grassy area and people walk their dogs at night. It's great for Battier to see different types of dogs other than just Canine Companions puppies. Tonight we saw a Bulldog, Springer Spaniel, a few little dogs, St. Bernard just to name a few. There was also a little boy flying a kite, it was the first time Battier has seen a kite and she did great. She was interested at first at what was flying, but she kept her down and just watched.

It was a very windy day today in Sacramento and this trash can was tipped over. The bag was flying in the wind, but still attached to the can and it was making a lot of noise. At first Battier was wondering what it was. She wasn't sure at first, but she also wasn't fearful which was good. I had her do an "Up" on it a few times and she did it every time I asked her to. 

Here's just one of the views of the park. There is also a golf course and typically a lot of deer walking around. It's a beautiful park :) 

Last night we had another skunk encounter! I took Battier outside around 9 pm and Battier was going "hurry" then she looked up at me and walking down our driveway was a skunk! It put it's tail up and went into a small woodpile we have. Last year we had a huge woodpile that the skunks lived in, but we gave our wood away and there were only a few pieces left. We didn't think a skunk could even fit in the pile. I was so happy with Battier's behavior, when she saw it she just looked at me.

Favorite words.

Battier has a few favorite words other than her CCI commands. Number one has to be "hungry", if I ask her "Are you hungry?!" She'll get pretty excited, look at me and then go to my room to get her food. "Wanna Play?" That's also a favorite along with "cookie". Battier also knows "find your toy". I'm going to keep a list going of extra words that she knows.

Today we played on the tennis court before we watched the Miami Heat play the Pacers...unfortunately the Heat lost game 1, but we'll be cheering them on again on Tuesday!

Grammy came over to watch the game and played tug with Battier :)


 

7 months video

Battier did a few of her commands today while I recorded it. This was dinner time and she was HUNGRY....so she looks pretty energetic here. Battier is very food motivated, but will work just as well for praise.


 For comparison here's a video of puppy #6 Milano (Lawrence II x Chandra) who is now a Service Dog.


 

7 months

The "B" puppies are 7 months old today! Where has the time gone?! We have one year left together since she is schedule to turn in May 2015.

Battier is doing very well in her training. She is definitely one of the easiest puppies I have raised. She can just hang out in the office and sleep, but has energy too when she wants to play. A great on and off switch, it's a great thing to have!

Batman!

Battier's Batman collar came in today!! When we met up with Shane Battier in December I asked him if he had any nicknames. He said his teammates call him Batman. Battier the puppy also goes by Batty and Bats. 

We found the collar on eBay :) Check out the other collars here. 

Battier sure does love her rope toy! I've had this rope since puppy #1 Kedra! I was raising her in 2001! We only play with it on the tennis court, so that makes it really special. 

Tonight we went on a long walk around our neighborhood. We're kind of in the country, a suburb of Sacramento. When we arrived home and entered our gate I took Battier off her leash and let her run in like I do every time. This time as she was running a skunk ran out of a small woodpile that we have! Battier was already running in like she does after every walk, so it wasn't like she was chasing the skunk. I just told her no and "down" and she dropped right down! I was very proud of her! 

Day trip to San Francisco

We had a fun day trip to the Bay yesterday! We went Crissy Field, it's a great beach by the Golden Gate Bridge. It is very dog friendly and we love that all the dogs are very well behaved! Battier of course stayed on leash, but most dogs are off leash and stay right with their owners. One cute little 7 months old Poodle, Terrier mix came over to play with Battier and they had a great time. It was pretty windy out, so you can see Battier's "Bat Girl" ears! 

We also went to Pier 39 and walked around the shops, it was a very busy day on the Pier. We found a sports bar called Players and ate dinner while watching the Miami Heat playoff game. Battier did so well (as always) and the server didn't even notice she was there until we were getting ready to leave. 

There were a lot of seals getting ready to sleep by the pier. Battier wasn't too interested in them even though they were making a lot of noise and definitely smelled different! 

I was very proud of how Battier handled the trip yesterday, I thought she would do great and she did. It was very busy around the pier and she took it all in stride. 

Bat Girl 

Checking out the Ocean for the first time! No swimming this time, we had more errands to do around SF and she couldn't be wet. 

Alcatraz in the background. 

Battier loved carrying her stick. 

Nice day just hanging out in the sand. 

Such a fun day! 

And a beautiful sunset!! 

Seals getting ready for bed. 

Checking out the sea lion statue.