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SAMPLE PROJECT RECORD
Below is the actual story from a project record.It is presented here with permission of the puppy raiser as an excellent example of a completed project book narrative.
Nana 470D
October 10,2005
Introduction:
Nana came to our house November 29,2004 for a month long visit as she had been sick with her co-raisers Ellen Goldstein and the Anderson family. The thought of having her stay in one household for a month rather going between two households may not be as stressful for her and her co-raisers. Since receiving her in our household, her co-raisers had their guide dog pups career changed and decided to keep them and felt they could not raise Nana plus their other dogs. From conversations with the Andersons and Ellen Goldstein it appeared that Nana was staying in one household for two weeks at a time. She seemed okay the first few days of the making the exchange between households and then the vomiting and diarrhea episodes would begin. At that time she was eating Pro Plan puppy food and also given Tylan powder in her food.
Family Life
In those first few months we as a family were adjusting to having a new puppy in our household and as well Nana was trying to adjust to our family. We are a family of2 high school teenagers (15, 16 yrs), one college age daughter (18 yrs) and Ed and I so our house is busy with driving to and from activities, phones ringing, friends coming over, etc. At first we were cautious with her, making sure she was with us at all times and giving her lots of positive encouragement even if she had an accident in the house (she didn't quite know at first which door to go to). Ellen had warned us earlier that Nana would try to eat her vomit or stools as if to hide them when she became sick. We have never encountered any episodes of her doing that We continued the prescription of Tylan powder, and her food was changed to lam's Lamb Meal and Rice Formula. Her stools were normal and everything was status quo until one weekend in February. We had her sleeping in a metal crate and there was a blanket underneath the tray in which she had pulled at and had eaten parts of it which had made her sick (vomiting). She was placed on cottage cheese/rice diet to settle her stomach and to make sure that her stools were back to normal. On Christmas she vomited out of no apparent reason and felt like it might have been the excitement of the day and the commotion of presents/paper as she had ingested a small piece of wrapping paper.
It took Nana awhile to bond with us. She isn't a cuddler and she likes her own space as she didn't like us getting too close to her (in her space) for handling exercises/grooming and would often want move into another room or run to the door. Even entering a room with us she was hesitant to d9 so. If I wanted her to do something such as walking downstairs with me she would be very cautious and hesitant to go down especially if I
was expecting her. If I just went down and didn't have any expectations of her going down with me she would readily go down. We do not see this behavior anymore at home.
In April (4/13/05 to 5/5/05) Nana went into season. During this time we feel that Nana really bonded with us as well as trusted us. Since we couldn't go outside we spent a lot of time inside playing, massaging her, working on commands and just being with her that really seemed to help Nana to trust us and be next to us. Today she is confident in our house. She will readily go into a room with us and lie next to us, often times resting her head on our feet and she wants to be with us. Often times when one goes into another room and the door shuts she will nudge the door open and poke her head in or sit right next to the door until it opens.
House Behavior
In the house, Nana has been an exceptional girl. She is a very quiet girl as she seldom barks or whines. During playtimes she will often watch us playing with her toys inside/outside before she engages in the play with us. If she initiates the play she will approach us with her toys. In the house she is calm and the only two times she gets really excited is right before meal times. When friends come over she does best when she is on a leash to greet them and often times needs the sit and down command before she or the person acknowledges each other. This takes several minutes and once she is calm she is able to lie on the floor in a calm manner. When visiting other friends/relatives houses it helps to have her approach the house slowly before ringing the doorbell and then have her sit in a calm sit before entering the house.
Nana has never taken an interest in anything that is on the floor such as shoes, kid toys, papers, etc. She will always seek out her toys to play with. The few times she has sought out my older daughter's belongings is when she has chewed on her things. Our oldest daughter who was away at college when we received Nana is notorious for leaving her personal belongings on the floor. Nana for the most part did really well leaving her belongings alone but the few times she did manage to get into her things were like she had a thought and a plan. Nana would be lying next to us in another part of the house and all of the sudden get up really fast and run downstairs to get something of my daughter's room. Usually when she did this, which has only happened a couple of times we knew she was up to something. If we did not go right after her she would be caught sneaking out of my daughter's bedroom after having eaten a swimsuit, or chewed on a book or a few other clothing articles. With my other two children she has never taken an interest in anything in their rooms.
The last couple of months I have been leaving her home by herself in our living room when I go to pick up the kids at school, usually a 20 minute time span. When left in the house I usually have her lie down before I leave, tell her not to get into things and put her in a stay. She has done really well staying in one room and when I get home she is in the same spot and hasn't moved much.
Crate/Tie Down Behavior
When Nana came to our house as a young puppy she slept in the crate in our daughter's room. She does really well in the crate and never whines or barks when she is confined in there. Also, I leave her in her crate in the morning (approx. 4 hrs.) while I go to work and then come home in the afternoon to take her back to work or do computer work at home. At first her behavior varied from day to day when going into her crate. Some days I would say "kennel" and she would go right in. Other days, she would plant her feet at the top of the stairs and needed nudging to go down the stairs. This summer really helped to have hot days since Nana would spend a lot of time in her crate ("er own choosing) to lie down when in the house. Since she started choosing to go into her crate on her own she now readily goes into the crate when we need to leave her in there.
Since May (when she went out of season) we have been having her sleep on a tie down. We do have her switch bedrooms so she has different sleeping arrangements in different parts of the house. On the tie down she usually sleeps right next to our/daughter's bed and is up at 6:30 am every morning.
Outside Behavior
Outside, Nana continues to be challenged with bark pieces that surround our tree. Often times when going outside to play the first thing she runs to is the bark to pick up a piece to run with and chew on. She is becoming better at listening to the command to "leave it alone" when she approaches the bark but does need constant reminders each time she goes outside. When playing with a toy, Nana will run with it but seems more interested in dropping the toy to pull at the grass. At times she will grab a mouthful~ and then spit it out (once she did ingest quite a bit of grass and later was sick). When she engages in this type of play we end her play outside as she can become obsessed with the grass and run to different parts of the yard to pull at it. Nana is not a high energy dog that loves to run in the yard. Once in a while (maybe once a month) she will run and run the outskirts of our yard for a few minutes before lying in the shade. Her usual play consists of wanting to play keep away with a piece of bark briefly before lying on her back in the shade or playing tug~o-war. Nana is able to go about her play and business and ignores the next door neighbor dogs that are barking at us.
On walks, Nana wears the halti to keep her focused as she can be distracted by new dogs in her environment and want to pull on her leash. When walking in the neighborhood she does not seem phased at all by the same dogs we walk by each day. Also from a distance she will sit and watch dogs if we are at a park.
Relieving
When we first got Nana we did not really have a routine with her relieving schedule and thought maybe this would help her stomach when she was again sick with diarrhea/vomiting in her crate in April. Ed gets up early in the morning so he started getting her up at 4:30-5:00 am so she could relieve (urinate/stool) first thing in the morning. Then she would be crated until 6:30 am until breakfast. Once she developed a somewhat consistent schedule she seemed to be healthy without any incidents of vomiting/diarrhea in her crate. In late June, Nana began staying asleep when Ed got up so he felt like she did not need to get up anymore early in the morning and she has done just fine relieving herself before she eats at 6:30 am. Nana usually has stools 3-4 times a day and now that she is on Eukanuba she often times has stools 2-3 times a day. She usually has a stool right before/or after breakfast, midday 12:30 or 4:OOpm and then right before bedtime. Her bedtime schedule is usually around 9:30-10:00 pm. Recently she has begun wanting to go out with a certain family member. We haven't figured out why she does this and usually do not know which family member it may be but have a thought of whoever she is lying next to in the evenings is the person she wants to go out with. When she doesn't want to go out with a person she will usually plant her feet firmly and not budge or out in the yard she will plop on her back or just sit there. This is a new behavior with her and it may just be hormones kicking in before she comes into season.
Out in public (stores, work, etc.) Nana has never had an accident in her coat. We do have her relieve herself before she leaves home. Once she urinates she can hold it for 4-6 hrs at a time. On a walk she will have accidents with having a stool. If she has a stool before she leaves home she most likely will have another stool 20-30 minutes later if she is walked after breakfast. She will often stop or slow her walking pace down if she is about to have a stool. We have been working on having her sit until the urge passes and then we continue walking (usually we turn around and head back home). We have learned that walking her later in the day rather than after breakfast she is more successful without having any accidents.
Social Outings
Nana loves to ride in the car!! She is really good about sitting/lying on the car floor and is content to look out the window. Sometimes we put the crate in the car to give her the opportunity to ride in her crate while in the car which she does well.
Depending on what car she rides in, she may hesitate in getting in at first. Some days she will readily enter the car other days she will put her front paws in the car and want to be lifted up (this mostly occurs when she gets in our truck) If there is a lot of leg room she will readily get
in. If it is a smaller car she will tend to jump on the seat before getting on the floor.
When entering a new building or a new social situation it is more challenging for Nana as she will tend to pull more on her leash/halti. She will calm and slow her pace to a slower walk after a few minutes. Entering into familiar buildings Nana is much more calmer and knows what to
expect. In addition, participating in puppy class she can be more distracted not so much in the building but when we are out socializing in a new environment.
Fears
Nana does well with all types of surfaces that she has been exposed to such as grated stairs, open stairs, grates, cement, tile floors, wet sidewalks. She will avoid puddles or water running down the street in the curbs. When approaching the puddle/water she will jump over them or try to walk around them. When walking in the neighborhood we can get her to walk by a quiet sprinkler without her taking any notice but when the sprinkler is loud she will stop and back up or walk around it.
In a grocery store Nana does really well in the store until we walk out. If we are carrying plastic bags along with her leash she does not like the rustling sound of the bags. She will tend to shy away from the bags at first but will continue to walk next to the bags while walking out the store.
In September, Nana had her first encounter with a Halloween character that moved and talked in a store. This was the first time she had barked and growled in the store. It was also the first time that I have even heard her growl.
Season
Nana went into heat April 13, 2005 to May 5, 2005. During this time she did stay at our home. While at work she was crated for about 4-5 hours at a time. When we were home she wore panties while out of her crate. Two to three weeks before she went into season she was more unsettled in that instead of lying down next to us she would walk around in circles trying to find that just right spot for her. She also began licking herself more, wanting to jump up on furniture and chewing on things (i.e., blanket on the couch). It is now two weeks before she is to go in season again and she is exhibiting the same behaviors (except chewing on things) and have added a few new ones. We see the unsettledness of just not being comfortable when lying down, licking herself and wanting to jump on the furniture. She also has become picky in who goes with her outside to do her business. If she does not want that person she will plant her feet and just sit down or lie on her back. If it is a person she wants to go out with she will readily go do her business. This has become frustrating for us as it is always nice when we can depend on each other and not be the sole person in taking care of her. It is also frustrating for the person that takes her out at night before bed and is outside for quite awhile with Nana just wanting to sit in the yard.
Grooming
Nana is clam when we are cleaning her ears, combing her and giving her massages. Our biggest struggle with her is cutting her toenails. The first time we cut them she did really well and was calm about it. The second time, I accidentally nipped the nail quick and she became cautious
after that. It then became a long slow progress to get her used to cutting her nails again. When the nail clippers came out or when trying to massage her feet she would often run to the door or into another part of the house. We tried the many suggestions that were given to us by our club leaders and were not as successful as we hoped to be. She had become a strong girl and having two of us with her made her want to struggle with us even more when holding her down. We then took a slower approach of just massaging her feet, and having the clippers out in her line of vision. Some days we would get one nail clipped at a time. Other weeks she would let us clip a few more. It also helped to clip her nails when one person was home with her rather than the entire household. To this day she still has her good days and not so good days when it comes to clipping nails.
Health
Nana has been healthy since she has come to stay with us compared to her first few months of being in Colorado. Changing her diet and giving Tylan seemed to help with her stools and keeping her food down. In January 2005 the prescription ran out and after discussions with Randa MacMillian, DVM it was decided to discontinue the Tylan since she had been having normal stools and was not vomiting. She has become sick a few times but that was when she ingested pieces of a blanket, a part of a swim suit, and eaten an ice cube. Nana used to like to chew on ice cubes and would go to the kitchen when someone was putting ice cubes into their glass. It seemed that when she went into season she could not tolerate ice cubes anymore and would vomit even when given the smallest cube. She has no desire now to go into the kitchen when she hears someone getting ice cubes or even wants one. Another thing we learned this summer was to not give her water right after a walk. When she was given water after her walk she would vomit. Now when she comes home we give her at least 10-20 minutes to settle down before giving her water. We have made the change in her food from lam's to Eukanuba a slow process by mixing her food for a good month and a half before putting her on 100% Eukanuba and so far she is doing well with the Eukanuba food.
In February she went on her first weekend visit. The first night she had diarrhea and an accident. The sitter felt like that he did not read her signs to go out fast enough when she had gone to the door.
In March, we went on vacation for a week. She stayed with the Anderson family (her previous raiser). That week of spring break she had lots of attention from their four daughters and did very well health wise.
In June we went away again for a week and a new person to Nana watched her. Before the week visit we met with Linda so Nana would know who she was. Nana seemed very excited to see Linda when we dropped her off and off we went on vacation. I called Linda 3 days into our vacation to see how Nana was doing and found out that Nana had been sick. She had a few accidents at night and had diarrhea and vomited. Linda had called the vet and put her on a bland diet. Nana had not gotten into anything to make her sick and it might have been related to stress of being in a new environment. We thought that by Nana's appearance she seemed fine and that maybe she handles stress intern ally. When we returned, Nana seemed to be herself.
In July we went on another week long vacation. This time she went to another new household and thinking it might be stress that was causing her to be sick when visiting households we again had her visit the household before she stayed the week. Before she was to visit for the week she was sick at our house as she had ingested part of a swim suit. So off she went to visit while on a bland diet consisting of cottage cheese and rice. During that week she made three changes in households and did very well health wise.
Although our household routine has changed from being home all summer to going back to school/work in August all of these issues have become non-existent since she has been a year old. She also has not had any week long visits Oust day visits) away from us since July and has handled household commotion and stress beautifully.
Summary
Nana is a sweet adoring people dog. Some of Nana's favorite things to do are to ride in the car, go for walks, playing tug-o-war with a tug toy and just being around adults and children.
Out in public she can be exuberant when she meets new people and can calm herself after a few minutes and remain calm when given verbal cues. She does not have a high energy of play and will run in the yard for short periods before engaging in mellow play. Nana responds to commands well and is becoming more automatic with them. She continues to work on "come" both on and off the leash. She appears confident and comfortable in all of the buildings that we have been in. What we have learned from this experience is that Nana is a sweet, mild temperament dog who some days has her own pace. We realized quickly that if we plan ahead when we are going out and give her plenty of time to eat, relieve herself and maybe a walk before going on an outing she is much more successful in the outing. We have felt privileged in being her puppy raisers and wish her much success in her future endeavors.