3 weeks left...

3 weeks left with Battier. The time has gone by so fast and she's such an amazing puppy. I was lucky enough to be given this wonderful puppy to raise in December 2013. Battier was born on October 15, 2013 to Tosca II (Golden Retriever) and Orent II (Yellow Lab) and has 5 siblings: Brubeck (New Jersey), Brad (Ohio), Bernie (Atlanta), Beatrice (Dallas) and Bert (Orlando). 

Battier came home in December and never had any problems. She might have had 2 accidents in the house, but as our contract trainer always says...if a puppy has an accident, it's our fault for not taking them out. 

Battier was very easy to train and leaned commands quickly. She is a very food motivated puppy, but also does great without food. I think she gets that food drive from her lab side. 

Battier has never barked, she will not speak. I've heard from the puppy raisers of her siblings that they will not speak either, it's interesting. Battier's mom Tosca doesn't speak either. 

Battier LOVES to play fetch. Her favorite toys are her West Paw toys, Chuck-It balls, tennis balls and stuffed toys. She has a great fetch drive, but also will sit and wait for the release to get her toy. 

Some of Battier's favorite words other than her CCI commands are: 

READY- She knows something good is about to happen. 

COOKIE - Treats are coming! 

ICE - treat of ice. 

FOUL - this tells her to give a hug while someone is standing, she only does this on this command. 

SWIM - time for the pool or lake! 

ARE YOU HUNGRY? - Battier's favorite word might be HUNGRY, she LOVES her food! 

WHERE'S YOUR TOY? - She'll find her toy and pick it up. 

Battier's nickname is Batts. 

Battier has always liked to watch TV, I think sports are her favorite. Of course if animals are on TV she enjoys that as well. 

I've taken over 6,000 pictures of this pretty girl! She's still ready for the camera. 

Battier has been all over California/Nevada: Sacramento, Lake Tahoe, San Francisco, Half Moon Bay, LA, Anaheim, Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage and more in-between. We also flew across the country to Miami. 

One of my favorite trips was our trips with CCI friends and 2 other CCI pups to Disneyland. We had an amazing 3 days! Battier went on a few rides: Jungle Cruise, Small World, Pirates, Buzz Lightyear, Ferris Wheel (non-moving) and the Tiki Room. We walked around and took a lot of pictures! There were characters to take pictures with and of course lots of "fans" that found us around the parks. 

Another fun trip was when Battier was 4 months. We went to a convention in LA where my Dad was the Chairman. They put us in the Penthouse, only 4 rooms on the top of the Westin Bonaventure, the suite was about 2,000 sqft and had 2 floors. It was also on the 39th floor! We had to go to the 5th floor for the "hurry" spot. She was SO good and we never had an accident. We also went Universal Studios when it was closed for just our group! There were only about 500 people in attendance at the park, since the park was only open for our group I felt confident in bringing Battier at 4 months. She was perfect. We went on the tram and then she joined us on the Transformer ride, Universal has kennels at every ride, but the person at the ride said she would be fine. The ride is like a car that goes on a track, but not fast. There's some loud sounds and fire. Battier did great and we have always said that she can do anything if she handled that fine! It was an awesome experience for Battier and Universal was so great with the puppies in training. 

Battier attended to basketball camps that my friend Jason Thompson (JT) put on in Sacramento. There were around 300 kids at both camps and Battier did great with all the kids and basketball bouncing everywhere. The kids and coaches knew to only pet her if I was there and everyone followed the rules very well. 

We've been to a lot of BBQ's with friends, Battier loved partying with everyone. Playing ball or swimming with friends was fun for her. She also would curl up and take a nap. Starting at a young age we would play pong next to her. This was a great way to have her practice her down stays while ping pong balls are going everywhere. She can lay under the pong table and be fine. 

Battier has never done anything bad, she follows the rules because she wants to. She really is the nicest puppy I have ever raised and I've raised some amazing puppies! 

I'm going to enjoy these last 3 weeks. Lots of fun, hugs, love and of course working on her skills to make sure she's the best she can be when she goes off to college on May 15th! It's amazing that there is someone out there that is waiting just for her...I know she's going to make us all so proud of her!