Magic's home and some visitors

Yesterday we went to San Francisco to pick up Magic! It was a road trip for Milano and she was very good, just relaxing in the car for the 4 hour round-trip. Milano passed out on the way home.



Akeelah and Hailey also came over for a sleep over. Akeelah is Shawn's puppy so Milano's half sister. She looks so much like Shawn and acts like her when she was younger. Akeelah was also chosen as a breeder for CCI. Hailey is 2 weeks older than Milano, they had a lot of fun playing together!

CCI youtube video

Check out this great CCI video on facility dogs!

Introducing Reese

Here's Milano's friend Reese! She was rescued from the animal shelter last month. She's visiting while her mom is out of town. Reese is settling in, she's getting used to Milano and Shawn, at first she wasn't sure what to think of the dogs. She has a really cute hop when she runs, I'll try to get some videos of them later.

Milano at the Monarchs

Today was opening game for the Monarchs! Milano handled everything very well, she's definitely a 4 month old puppy that acts about 18 months. If she just knew the rest of the commands, she would be ready to turn in ;) Arco is a great place to socialize the puppies. The staff is awesome and most people know me around the arena and if I don't have a dog then I get asked where they are. Since last season I was on a break from puppy raising, people came up to me and said how nice it was to have a puppy in the arena again.

Milano ready for the game, bandana on and pass ready..

Milano in the family room before the game..

Milano at the seats, sleeping..awesome puppy!!...

Milano after the game, ready to go home..

After the game we waited at the practice facility to pick up Reese since the team is going on a road trip to Seattle today. Reese is staying with us until Monday, I'll try and get some pictures and videos of them. Reese is a rescued pound puppy :)

Milano at the horse races and work outs at the gym

Milano has been going out more and getting used to different environments. Over the weekend we went to Berkeley for the horse races. Milano was great, she didn't mind the crowds. There was yelling and cheering, people everywhere and different smells. Milano walked right next to me in a "heel". We went down and got a picture with the a jockey of a winning horse, he was so tiny and he loved Milano. He said something to her in Spanish.
Here's a picture of Milano at the horse races:

Milano has also been going with me to the gym. She hasn't gone yet when I've worked out, but we're working up to it. Today she laid by me when I stretched (and I need to stretch a lot ;) Milano just stayed in a "down".
Here's a picture of Milano on the way to the gym, she was being cute for Cass:
After I stretched we went into the Group X room to visit friends during their workout. Milano was hanging out on the floor until I released her and we started playing, she thought it was great. When she gets excited she she pounces up and down like Shawn. Next time I'll get some more pictures of Milano inside the gym.

And here's a picture of Milano's nights at home...she gets to relax :)

NW May 2009 Graduation

Milano & Makia II They remembered each other! So cute!! Daddy Lawrence II Milano went to CCI's graduation today. She was great! After the ceremony we visited with her sister Makia who came to graduation from Seattle. It was great seeing her, the sisters definitley remembered each other! It was so cute :) They also got to meet their dad Lawrence, it was so nice seeing him. Lawrence is a big, handsome black lab. They took a family picture today, all of them were so good. After the pictures we went back to CCI and let the dog play in the park before the drive home. Before we left Milano took a picture with Ticha's brick :)

Milano's busy day

Have I mentioned how much I love this puppy? She's awesome!! Today was her first basketball game, it was an early game, starting at 11 am. Before the game Milano played on the tennis court with Shawn to get some energy out. Milano then was ready to sleep during the game. She had a chew toy, but she only chewed on it during warm ups. The rest of the time she just slept. The crowd, noises and all around environment didn't bother her at all. After the game we got some lunch before heading back home. For dinner Milano went with us to BJ's, it was great and so was Milano. She walked in and laid down under the table, again she just laid there. She wasn't too tired, but she didn't break her downs, she just kept her head down with her eyes open.

Dinner at BJ's


Happy to be off duty ;)

Milano update

Milano has been a busy girl. We've gone to the grocery store and worked around the different smells and people. The first time we went into the store the shopping cart was a little scary for her, now they don't seem to bother her at all. We went to the gym again yesterday and she was great around the workout equipment. I took her into the locker room and we worked on unders. Milano is such a happy girl, she loves to wag her tail :)

Tomorrow is going to be a big day for her, she's going to her first basketball game. The Monarchs have a preseason game against the Phoenix Mercury and Milano is going to come with me. I'll be sure to take pictures!

Milano's trip to Merced

Milano was a great puppy for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing camp in Merced today. She did really well with her sits and laying down for pets. I'm still working on Milano not licking, but it's getting better. Milano is pictured with her mom Shawn and buddy Caspin.

Milano is 4 months

Milano is 4 months old today! She's doing very well, her commands and manners are coming along nicely. She went with me to the gym today to get used to the equipment. She was awesome! We went in the locker room, up to the basketball court door to watch the guys play, we walked by the ellipticals, treadmills and over by the pool. The gym is a great place for socilization and everyone loves the puppies there :) Milano thinks that the hot weather isn't the greatest, but she's going to have to get used to this, it's not even summer yet! Well, it is a little like summer since I'm out of school until the end of August!!

Milano update

Milano had her last set of shots today! She is now fully vaccinated :) Milano weighs in at 28 lbs. Her wrinkles are showing up more andher ears seem to be getting bigger. She's a great puppy! I'll be taking some more pictures soon and updating her blog.

Dance practice

It is 1:20 am and Milano and I just got home from 24 Hour Fitness where Lisa and her Sigma Kappa sisters are having their final dance practice. I thought it would be a good test for Milano and also a good stress reliever for the girls. Milano again was perfect. She wasn't bothered by the sounds except for one time when there was drumming on trash cans. At that time I walked Milano out the door and she laid down outside the Group X room, once the drumming finished Milano went back inside with me where she laid down and continued to chew on her bone. I haven't been letting people pet her, but I decided that it was a very controlled environment and everyone knows what I do with the dogs and that they have to behave. Milano was loving the attention. Milano is already asleep in her kennel, she's one tired puppy!!

UPDATE: Sigma Kappa ending up winning Greek Sing after all their hard work!

Here's a video of their performance:




My sister was Ernie in the Banana skit..and a drummer in the first dance of part II

Play day!

Milano, Shawn, Akeelah, Luna, Hailey and Gelsey all played on the tennis court! They had a lot of fun running around and playing with the toys. Here are a few pictures of them from today.




Family resemblence..If you think you're seeing double, it's just that Akeelah is Shawn's puppy from her "A" litter with Kittredge. Akeelah was chosen as a breeder this month.

Luna is also a breeder and her puppy is Hailey. Luna and Camden's "H" litter was born 2 weeks before Shawn's "M" litter.

CCI & Build-A- Bear

For the second year in a row, Build-A-Bear Workshop has partnered with Canine Companions for Independence for a special promotion at all stores nationwide and online.

For each stuffed dog (Bearamy Kennel Pals) sold at Build-A-Bear stores or online from May 1 through May 31, the Build-A-Bear Workshop Bear Hugs Foundation will donate $1 to Canine Companions for Independence. They have golden retrievers, black and yellow Labradors ready to be your new stuffed friend.

Last year, the promotion brought in over $60,000 for CCI. CCI has announced this promotion in their April e-newsletter but you can also help spread the word in your area about this special opportunity to support CCI ! (facebook events)

Soccer

It was a fun weekend of sporting events! Today Milano went to her first soccer game. She was so good, again she held her down and wasn't botherd by the people, dogs, cheers and soccer balls. I'm so proud of her!

Milano's 1st Baseball game

Milano went to her first baseball game today at Sac State. She was so good. She walked right up the stairs of the stadium and under the bleacher. She wasn't scared by any of the noises and she just laid down and we played a little eye contact game. I've been working on it, when she gives me eye contact I give her a treat. It's been working really well. I'm going to be taking her to more sporting events to get her used to the sites and sounds before she goes with me to the Monarchs games this summer. Milano is doing great on "lets go" she doesn't forge and she is also doing her auto-sits. I didn't have my camera, I'll take pictures of her next time :) I need to keep my camera with me.

CCI on the News!!

Tonight was CCI puppy class at the Sacramento International airport. What a great class it was! There were two news station filming clips about the dogs. News 10 & 13. The segments were GREAT! Wallis and SD Caspin were stars, as usual. There were a lot of very good puppies there, classes that were held were Big Dogs and Riffraff. People at the airport seemed to like all the cute puppies in the baggage claim area and it was awesome that the airport was so helpful in letting us use their facility.

I sat in on a jury today for a Mock Trial for McGeorge Law School, so Milano stayed with a puppy sitter today. Unfortunatley she couldn't make it to class to show off her puppy commands.

3 months

Milano is 3 months old now (she was on the 19th!) Here's a video of Milano working on: sit, down, shake and bed. We've only worked on bed for 2 days now, but she's getting it. She's very smart :) She has been with me to a few restaurants, school, puppy class, Tahoe, grocery store and friends houses. I can't wait for her to get a little bigger so we can start working on more commands.



Today Milano also got a chance to go swimming in a pool, she thought it was fun! Especially running around all went with Shawn and Caspin. I know she's going to be a swimmer when she gets older :)

Demo at Sac State

Today we did a demo at Sac State. Shawn also came, along with SD Caspin and SD Ron. The class was about service dogs and adaptive equipment. It was pretty cool, there were 5 groups of 8 students and they would come and ask a few questions and get a general overview of service dogs. We focused on telling the students about service dog etiquette and how to not pet/approach/feed a service dog while they are working or "not working" because it is important for the handler to always be in control. Another good point was to always talk to the handler and not to the dog. Overall the demo went well. Milano did her job, which was to look cute ;) Shawn also slept the whole time. Caspin and a Guide Dog that was also there showed how the dogs act on "release", the students seemed to like that, because the dogs really do get to have fun and it's not all work like most people think. The demo went so well that next semester we are going to do an entire class demo just on CCI :)

I forgot my camera! So there aren't any pictures of the event, but I'm going back to school tonight for class and can get some of Milano then.

Play time!!

Milano loves the water already! She's having fun in the baby pool, it'll be fun having her play in the real pool once she gets a little bigger. Shawn and Milano had a great time running around the yard and playing in the pool. They were pretty tired after, but Milano has a lot of energy that she can get out! Tomorrow she will have her 2nd puppy class.

Tennis court play time

Showing Milano the slide
Milano wet after playing in the pool, she loves it already!!
She got it!!
One tired puppy :)
Milano has learned how to play on the equipment!! It was so cute and only took her 2 times before she was climbing on Shawn's favorite slide.

A busy week

This week is going to be filled with demo's!

Here's where we'll be:
Tomorrow- Sac City College Disability Awarness Day
Saturday- UC Davis Picnic Day
Monday- Sac State class demo

I'll be sure to take pictures and update the blog!

Milano is teething

I can tell that Milano is teething..she is chewing on all of her toys, even trying to tear apart the tuffies toys. I had to to put them up for now and those are supposed to be the touhest! Now she's working on a Planet Dog ball, it's really tough! I also have some nylabones for her. She had a bath today and she feels so clean :) She did really well and dried really fast, it's nice having a dog with a shorter coat again!

More photos

Milano had a photo shoot in Davis today. We went out with Shawn and SD Caspin and the dogs had their pictures taken. We're going to try and get them into the CCI calendar! There was a cool statue in Davis that was hands, we put Milano in the hands, it was so cute!! She was the only one that would fit there. Shawn and Caspin did ups on the hands. It was such a nice day, I can't even wait for summer!!

Milano at Sac State

Milano has been a good student at Sac State. Today was her first day at class during the day and her first class using voice, the only other class she has been to has been my sign language class and she's just fallen asleep after chewing on a bone. It was interesting that it took her a little longer to fall asleep today, but this professor is pretty loud. She's sleeping at my feet as I type (I know great student on blogger during class ;)

I need to get Milano weighed, I'm guessing she's about 18 lbs. She is eating very well, all 3 cups a day. So far she knows "sit", "down", "shake", "lets go", "hurry", "okay" and she's still learning house manners. We haven't had any accidents in the house!! She's been such a nice puppy :)

Milano's busy day

Today Milano had a very busy day. It was my first full day back with her since my spring break trip to Mexico. Milano defintiley grew!! A big thanks go her puppy sitters that taught her "down" while I was gone. It's so cute when she does it. So far she knows "sit", "down", "shake", "hurry". Other commands that we have been working on are kennel, lets go, okay, and also having her hold her commands for a few seconds.

Our busy day started out with Milano playing with Shawn. After a good play session we went on a few outings. Milano was able to follow the good behavior of SD Caspin. We went to Old Sacramento and walked around some of the stores. Of course I didn't have my camera on a day that would have been perfect for pictures. Milano was great! There were a few quotes from the public today that are too good not to share. One girl walked past us and said "that puppy is so good, it didn't even bark at me when I walked by"..and then my favorite of the day, a girl being serious saying "I have $10, can I buy your puppy?" she was probably 17. I can't even wait to hear what else people have to say in the months to come ;)

After our outing Milano and I went to school, she again was awesome. She chewed on a bone under my desk for awhile before going to sleep. She is now passed out on the floor, it was a very busy day for her, but she acted like a pro. I'm so proud of her!