Paz Is Back!

Yay! 

We went to pick Paz up yesterday as she returned from her first trip back to Lackland for training.  We were really excited to see her and she was so very happy to see Kate! We couldn't believe how much she'd changed in just a week! She had grown so much; her legs seemed to have doubled in length, and she appeared to have thinned out a little bit. And Uh Oh, her feet are huge!  

When Paz got home, she ran around exploring and looking for Jed and Ding.  The boys were still boarding at the kennel because we went on a short trip while Paz was in training.  Paz must have had a great time with her littermates while she was gone as she desperately wanted to play!  She ran all over the place, zooming around the backyard.  We found out pretty quickly that her teeth were still as sharp and her jaws had gotten stronger!  When the boys came home from the kennel the next day, all three dogs pretty much picked up where they left off.  Paz is almost bigger than Jed now, but he's still the leader and she seems to respect that. 

As happy as we all were to have Paz home again, we experienced a painful flashback at bedtime!  Paz had been doing great in her crate before she left; she went in easily and didn't put up a fuss about staying there.  That all went out the window at bedtime!  We felt like we were experiencing our first night with Paz all over again.  She whined, cried, barked and howled for almost an hour after being crated up!!!!  It was awful for all of us.  The only bright spot was when she went back into her crate "after taking a break" in the middle of the night; when she went back into her crate she only pitched a fit for about 15 minutes.  Of course, it seemed like an hour after the earlier episode!  Lets just say that nobody got much sleep that night.  The REALLY GOOD news is that tonight, Paz went into her crate easily and only whined for about 1 minute before going to sleep!  The 2 long walks and time spent playing with family and Jed and Ding probably didn't hurt in the efforts to help Paz get to sleep tonight! 

No matter what we're really glad to have Paz home with us again :)

Really quiet without Paz!

It's amazing how quiet and somewhat boring things are this week without Paz!  A little too calm around here.  We are using this time for some short days trips and family things.  That part has been nice; so has sleeping all night long.  That said, all of us are ready for Paz to come home and stir things up! We're looking forward to Saturday!

We Survived Our 1st Drop Off!

It was kind of hard to let Paz go, but we survived our 1st drop off.  Paz was up early today and played hard all morning.  Kate told her goodbye several times before she headed off with friends. After that, Paz was ready to go when we loaded her in the car and set off to turn her in; maybe she guessed she was off on another new adventure!

When we arrived at the drop off site, there were several families with their puppies standing around talking to Dan and each other.  It reminded me of parents getting ready to drop off their child on the first day of school!  Several of the dogs were hanging out with their families; Paz had no such plans.  As soon as we walked up the to group, she was trying to play with the other puppies.  She was a little wary of some of the people at first, but warmed up to them quickly.  It didn't take her long to get her leash all tangled up with some of the other puppies. When her buddy Pfieffer arrived, they both got excited and picked up where they left off a couple of days ago: lots of ear pulling and wrestling before they were crated up!

The puppies had grown so much in just 2 weeks!  I was amazed how much bigger the puppies from the O litter were than the puppies from the P litter, and they are only 1 week older than Paz!  What a difference that one week seems to make in size and development!

After visiting with Dan about Paz's progress over the last couple of weeks, we took off her hot pink collar and crated her up.  She didn't fuss much when we left.  It was kind of sad to leave Paz behind, but she didn't seem to mind.  It seems like we minded it a lot more than she did! I guess that means we're doing our job!!!

When we returned home, we let our older dogs Jed and Ding back inside.  They spent several minutes combing the house looking for Paz.  This is really ironic because all they've done the last 2 weeks is try to get away from her!  

And now it's a week off for all of us.  We fully expect to have to play dog referee for a few days when she returns as Jed and Ding are creatures of habit, and will quickly slip back into their old ways!  They're in for a real awakening on June 27th!  I wonder, will Paz be housebroken by the time she gets back????? 

Pfieffer Comes to Visit!

We had a really fun, very busy day today!  Paz visited a local Walmart today.  Several people commented on her and her vest; they remembered the newspaper articles and TV reports on the TSA puppy program.  Paz explored the entire outside area.  She had no "accidents" and was pretty well behaved so I think she did good job representing the program!

Later in the day, Pfieffer, one of Paz's littermates came over for a visit.  They had a 

blast chasing each other around the backyard and chewing on each other.  They ran hard for at least 45 minutes before they stopped! Both puppies seemed thrilled to have someone who really wanted to play and didn't mind the ear pulling and wrestling.  

After a good nap, Paz attended another soccer game.  You've probably guessed that our family is big into soccer, so this is great place for Paz to meet people and get some exercise.  Kate reports that Paz was wary of the small children who were at the game.  Probably a pretty smart move on her part!

Paz was pretty tired when she got home this evening.  She had a chance to relax for a bit before going to bed!  We're all a little tired so it's going to be an early evening for the entire family!

Into A Pretty Good Routine

We seem to be settling into a pretty good routine now.  Paz is getting used to us and even Jed and Ding are getting used to her rough and rowdy ways!  Paz's day is more predictable: generally she gets up and eats around 7:30 am; plays hard for a couple of hours; takes a long nap; plays hard until she eats at 5:30 pm; takes another nap; and then keeps us all going until her bedtime around 10:30 pm or so.  We're still wondering why things aren't running like clockwork with such a good routine down!!!!  Haha!

Paz is doing a good job with her crate training, although she does bark sometimes for a few minutes when we crate her during the day and we're all here in the house.  Housebreaking is inconsistent.  Somedays Paz has only one or two accidents, and then there are days like today where it seems that she's peeing or pooping everywhere BUT outside... today was pretty frustrating in the "take a break" department!  Paz is making good progress with "sit" and "wait;" she's still not that interested in learning her name.  Actually, I think she knows her name, she's just choosing not to respond to it!  Maybe because her name is often associated with the word no, as in "Paz, No!"  

Our other dogs, Jed and Ding, are finally acting as though they actually like Paz.  They all run around the yard together and they don't get as upset when she pounces on them when they least expect it.  I think Paz is finally learning good puppy manners!

We got Paz a wading pool and she absolutely loves it!  It's been incredibly hot here this past week so she really needs a place to cool off. She not afraid of the hose or the water, and will stick her whole head in the couple of inches we keep in the pool.  The only problem with the pool is that she gets sopping wet and then tries to find a place to dig.  Water + Dirt = 1 Dirty Dog!!!!

Paz loves taking field trips!  In the last few days, Paz has been to a nearby ultimate frisbee course, a soccer game and garden center.  She quit chewing on her vest so she's been able to wear it out and about. She loved chasing frisbees and soccer balls, running up and down stairs, and climbing on landscape timbers and a waterfall.  She wasn't afraid of a passing freight train; but she was scared of a refrigerated floral case!  

Hard to believe it's been a week!

Time really flies when you're super busy and exhausted!  It's hard to believe we've had Paz for a week now. This has been a big learning experience for all of us; it's also been a lot of fun and very rewarding!  Here's a summary of Week 1.

Some things Paz loves: Some things Paz doesn't like:

Chewing on everything Baths

Chasing birds Ear Cleaning

Eating Junebugs outside  Wasps

Tormenting Jed and Ding Vacuum cleaner

Kate

Playing in her wading pool

Ice cubes

Going for walks

Her food

Digging in the mud

Some things Paz has learned:

Hup- she really likes this one!

Wasps are not good to eat

Sit

Don't jump on Jed when he's asleep

The best place to pee in the house is the rug in the front hall

Stairs are a lot of work

Field trips are fun!

Some things Paz has not learned:

Her name- she's thinking about this one

Wait

Easy

Taking a break is an outside activity

Baths are directly related to digging in the mud

Some things We have learned this week:

Paz is really smart

Having a TSA foster puppy is fun!

We're getting better at "taking a break"

Always wear shoes or face the consequences

Paz can jump on the hearth, patio table and coffee table

It's ok to crate Paz during the day, even when we're at home

Jed and Ding really don't need us to referee

Always have a chew toy handy

Don't be afraid to say NO!

We'll probably need a new rug for the front hall...

Crate Training Success!

After just a few nights, Paz seems to have adjusted to sleeping in her crate.  She goes in easily (with the added incentive of a couple pieces of food) and only whines for a minute before settling down for the night.  We're still waking her up about 4 hours after she goes in her crate to go outside to TAB; she goes back in her crate the same as at bedtime.  Yay! A small victory for us all! Paz has a little bit harder time when she's crated during the day.  She whines or barks for a little longer than at bedtime, but she really seems to be adjusting well to spending time in the crate.  Good thing too, because she's really getting rowdy!

Paz also enjoys exploring our land and neighborhood on her leash and long lead.  We have to stop often to get the leash away from her (easier said than done!) but she seems to have a blast chasing bugs, exploring in the bushes and running off ahead of us.  She has a ways to go to master the "easy" command while on the leash!

We discovered today that Paz hates the vacuum cleaner! The first time I used it she hid in the kitchen until I stopped.  Later on, Paz was braver, watching me vacuum while peaking out from behind our couch!  This is the first thing she's been afraid of since we brought her home.

Paz went on her first "field trip" today!  We took her to our UPS Store for a visit.  As

soon as she arrived, she decided to "take a break" on the carpet!  Truly started her trip off right!  After finishing TAB outside this time, Paz had fun exploring the store, meeting the employees and greeting a few customers.  As I said earlier, Paz has a long way to go in the housebreaking area!

We all really enjoying have Paz with us.  Well, maybe not Jed and Ding just yet... Any way you look at it, she keeps us moving and alert, and adds so much life and excitement to our days.  We're definitely sleeping soundly these days!  We're looking forward to all the adventures that fostering a TSA puppy brings :0)

Ready for Day 2!

Hey! We survived the first night!  While is seemed like Paz barked, howled, bayed, whined and cried for hours when she went into her crate, it was actually only for 15 minutes.  Then, amazingly, she went to sleep.  Following the advice of the TSA puppy program specialists, we woke Paz up about 4 hours later to go outside to "take a break."  We're asked to get our puppy to associate the phrase "take a break" with a potty break; somehow "take a break" seems to sound better coming from a big, burly bomb dog handler than "go potty" does!  Fortunately, Paz complied with the request and went back to her crate for another round of barking, howling, etc.  Again, it seemed like forever before she went back to sleep but this time it was only about 20 minutes.  At this stage of the game, I'm hoping the crying time will get shorter! Lucky for us, Paz slept in for another 4 hours!!!!

Paz spent much of her day today exploring our home and yard. We are getting better at recognizing her TAB (take a break) signs, so there have been fewer accidents.  She is still light years away from being housebroken though!  She loved running in the sprinklers and looking for sticks.  

Chewing is definitely her favorite pastime.  Here's a short list of her favorite chew toys:

Nylabones

Hands

Empty milk jugs

Feet & toes

Kong Wubba

Jed's tail

An electric cord (unplugged!!!)

A new rug

People

Sticks

You get the idea.  It certainly keeps all of us in shoes and watchful.  Believe me, her puppy teeth are SHARP!

Paz's 2nd favorite activity today was tormenting Jed and Ding. Here's a picture of Ding, seeking refuge from Paz!

Bless their hearts they are getting very little peace.  We're becoming very creative at ways of giving them a break and still keeping dog peace in our home.  Both of them are warming up to her; it's going to take some time as Paz is already much bigger than Ding and will soon pass Jed up!

We took Paz for a couple of short walks today, partly to get her used to a leash, and partly to wear her out!  It's over 100 degrees here already, so she can't stay out too long.  She is very curious and isn't afraid of anything she's encountered yet. I'm really hoping she spends less time squawking in her crate tonight and that we all get a good night's sleep! Fortunately for our family, I'm off work for the summer and Kate is home and only working part time.  Sounds like tag team puppy watching to me!

Paz Comes Home!

Wow!  

What a wonderfully crazy day!

I had completely forgotten what it was like to have a puppy in the house!

Today, we, along with 12 other families met with Diana Thomas and Scott Thomas from the TSA puppy program for an orientation session.  After learning a lot more information on the goals for TSA foster families, all of the services TSA provides to foster families and their puppies, health care guidelines and some great tips for raising an "athlete in training" we met our puppy!

Paz is a darling, 9 week old, female yellow lab!  She was having a ball running around in a large, shaded pen with her 7 litter mates and 5 puppies from a second litter.  We had no problems putting on her collar and leash and she seemed quite happy to trot off with Kate when it was time to leave.  It took a little while to load the puppy crate, food and supplies provided by TSA into our truck, but when we were done, we all set off for home and a new adventure!

Now to the part about having a new puppy in the house again...

We haven't had a puppy in 10 years.  Our 2 current dogs are getting old: Jed is now 14 and Ding just turned 10.  They are healthy, calm adult dogs who enjoy hanging out in our yard and nice long naps! We have been blissfully ignorant of all of the challenges a puppy (even a really cute one) bring with it!  Time for us to WAKE UP!!!!

Jed and Ding are still trying to figure out what Paz is and when she will be leaving.  At this point, Jed tolerates her and Ding is just terrified of her!  Safe to say their world has been turned upside down by our little bundle of energy! I'm hoping they will make the transition sooner, rather than later, to a 3 dog family

We've made lots of trips outside today hoping to help her learn to be housebroken.  She had many accidents, mostly because we weren't paying attention to her signs; but overall she made a little progress in "taking a break" outside.  Besides learning to "take a break" and acting as dog referees, the next big challenge for us will be crate training Paz.

Overall, it's been a great day.  We spent lots of time laughing at Paz's antics and oohing and aahing over her.  She also had her first visitors; family and friends dropped by to meet and greet!  We're all exhausted now!  Make sure to check in tomorrow to find out how the first night of crated training went!

How it all began...

Tomorrow we will pick up our Transportation Security Administration foster puppy!  We're very excited about bringing our puppy home.  Right now, we know very little about it other than it will be a lab and about 10 weeks old.  Our family will learn much more tomorrow at the orientation!

But how did we get to this point?  In the middle of May, 2009, the local newspaper and TV stations began running stories about the Transportation Security Administration's Canine Breeding and Development Center housed at Lackland Air Force Base.  The TSA needed families to foster puppies who had been bred to enter their National Explosives Detection Canine Team Program when they reached about 1 year of age. For more information on the TSA Puppy Program, visit their website:

http://www.tsa.gov/lawenforcement/programs/puppy_program.shtm

After reviewing the info on their website, we learned we met the initial criteria to become a foster family.  We sat down and discussed what we would rather do: go on a long vacation or commit to the challenges of raising a foster puppy for a year.  By now you've figured out what our decision was!

Not long after turning in our application, we were contacted by Diana Thomas, a program specialist.  She arranged to come out from San Antonio for a home visit with us at the end of May.  We all enjoyed our home visit and learned so much more about the TSA puppy program.  A few anxious days later, we received the good news that we had been chosen to become a foster family!  What a great way for our family to give back to our community and country! But what challenges lie ahead????