Kaiya at Halloween and Thanksgiving

Here is a picture of Kaiya in her Halloween costume. She was such a great sport and didn't mind wearing it at all. She sat outside with us while we passed out candy to the kids. I think she enjoyed it!

Kaiya is doing great. We have been with a new trainer for the past few weeks and we are really happy with everything. She is learning fast. One of the things I like about the trainer is that we meet outside once a week. This creates a lot of distractions for Kaiya and she has to learn to work even though there are distractions. At home we work mostly inside so this is a nice change. Once it is warmer, we will work more with her outside too.

I brought her to work this past Friday like I normally do. However, it was a little different of a day because it was our Thanksgiving party. There was food everywhere and she was such a good girl. She would sit next to me and wait to be pet by everyone but she didn't try to eat any one's food. My office loves her. If she ever misses a Friday, people will come to my office and wonder where she is. They pet her all day long and she loves every second of it. They will miss her when she is gone.

This week Kaiya gets to meet my parents for the first time. They are coming down from Michigan on Wednesday to spend Thanksgiving with us. I'm sure they will like her as much as everyone else does.

Vacation

Todd and I are really excited because we leave for vacation next week! We are going to Italy with Todd's Mom for 10 days!!! It doesn't seem real yet but I'm sure it will when we get on the long flight. We have decided to ask friends to watch the dogs instead of paying tons of $$ to have them stay at a kennel. Lexus is going to our friends the Clarks. They have watched her in the past and they really enjoy having her. Lexus likes it because she gets to play with their two dogs. I have asked some other friends to watch Kaiya, the Coys. They have a lab mix and the husband, Matt, really likes Kaiya. We have watched their dog Bell before (pre Kaiya) and I think they will get along. We should hear back from them soon as to whether or not they can watch her. If not, we'll ask another family. Our next door neighbors normally would watch one of they but they will already be watching a dog that week. Three may be a little much.
I know I'll miss the girls while we are gone but it will be nice not dealing with anything for a while.

On a side note, Kaiya started with a new trainer this past Saturday. We meet with them two weeks ago and decided to go with them. I really liked how our first session went. Kaiya did great and he gave us a lot to work on this week. We worked on heel and stay. It was a good class. We will go again this coming Saturday and then be off the next week due to our trip.

Working Dog

Kaiya has turned 5 months! She is growing up so fast :) We weighed her yesterday and she was 35lbs! She is only 10lbs less than Lexus. Before we know it she'll be bigger than Lexus. Watch out! She is already as long as her, just not quite as tall.
A few weeks ago, Kaiya started to come to work with me. She is allowed in on Fridays each week. Everyone loves her! She gets pet all day and loves it. She does really well for being so young. In her job in the future, she will need to learn to lay down when the child is a school. She already does a great job at this under my desk. She takes a nap or chews on a bone. Occasionally she gets restless, but that is to be expected at her age. She is a great dog!

Poor Puppy

Little Kaiya was spayed yesterday. She was so sad and whiny yesterday when I brought her home. I felt so bad for her. She just laid around and didn't want to eat or drink. Today she is doing much better. Her appetite is back and she seemed more like her old self. I'm sure by tomorrow we will be trying to keep her clam so she doesn't hurt herself. Lexus did a great job of letting her rest yesterday but I could tell she wanted to play and didn't understand why Kaiya was not wanting to. It's hard to watch your dog be in pain and not be able to do anything. I can't imagine how hard it will be when I have children!

Doggy Swim

On Saturday we took Lexus and Kaiya to the local Doggy Paddle. This is an annual event Lexington has each year after they close the public pools. They open it up to the local community to bring their dogs and have them swim for the day. The proceeds go to the local dog parks. There were SO many dogs there! It was our first time going and I couldn't believe how many people brought their dogs. It was a great turn out.
Lexus hates the water so we knew she wouldn't go in on her own. Todd drug her in and had her swim a little. She is a good swimmer but she doesn't like it. She had more fun playing with the other dogs on land.
Kaiya was not sure what to do with all the other dogs. She got in the water a little. I think she would have liked to swim if it hadn't been so crazy. She kept trying to hide behind different people. She likes other dogs, but would rather be by people.
We didn't stay too long but we had a good time. They were both sleepy when we got home so after some baths, we had a relaxing afternoon.

4 Months

Kaiya turned 4 months on September 1st. I can tell that our year with her is going to fly by. She has gained a pound a week so far with us. She is expected to be about 80lbs. She is doing very well on her sit and come. She pulls some when on a walk so we are working on that right now. They past few days we have been trying to teach her to shake. This is taking longer than I thought but that's OK because it's not an important command and she has time to learn. We have a long way to go on our training as a whole, but I'm sure she'll get there. She has such a good heart and wants to please. She will be a great friend for a great child someday!
We brought her to church for the first time last Sunday. We are going to start taking her there regularly. It is one place I feel OK taking her since she does not have her vest yet. I look forward to when she has that and she can go everywhere.
I am in the process of finding a vet that will give us a discount since she is part of a non profit. So far no luck. I did find a place that does cheap spay and neuter surgeries. I will probably take her there to do that when it is time. As for shots, I'm still looking.
That's all for now :)

Long Weekend

This weekend is Labor Day weekend and I am looking forward to having an extra day off! It will be good for Kaiya too. She will get three full days of attention :) I am hoping the potty training will be complete shortly and having a long weekend should help. We have only had a few accidents but it would be nice to fully trust her in that area. She is very good at going on command and that will be very important for her future.
I can tell she has already grown since we got her. She will be bigger than Lexus before we know it! I really need to take more pictures while she is in this stage of life. They grow up so fast!
I do have a prayer request. Today I got an email from the director of Blessing Unleashed. She had an accident on Tuesday and broke her arm/elbow in 6 places. She will have to have surgery on it. She has little kids, one who has autism. It sounds like it could be a long recovery and she will need our prayers.
Thanks! Kristin

First Post

I have decided to start a blog about our experience of training a service dog.

I became aware a few weeks ago of a Kentucky organization that needed puppy raisers for future services dogs. It is called Blessings Unleashed Foundation (BUF). You can learn more at http://www.blessingsunleashed.org/. The goal is that these dogs will one day be a companion for a child with Autism. We will train intensively with her and bring her where ever we go once she earns her service dog vest.

After talking with Todd, I contacted the director, Dana, for BUF and was surprised at how fast I was able to get a puppy. Within a week and a half Dana was driving to our house with our new 14 week old yellow lab puppy. Her name was originally Lexie but since we already had a dog named Lexus, we had to change her name. She is now named Kaiya (pronounced Ky-ya). We will have Kaiya in our home for the next 12-18 months.

After only being at our house for a little while, we had a Sunday school picnic to go to. We decided to bring Kaiya to meet everyone. She was a hit! All the kids loved her and they played all evening. She was so tired by the end of the night.

Kaiya is a great puppy and a fast learner. She gets along great with our dog Lexus.

I have already fallen in love with her and I know it will be very hard to say goodbye to her one day, but I am so happy to be in this part of her life. She is going to be with a great child someday who really needs her.