A step in the right direction

I have been trying to upload an adorable photo of Raezor, but for some reason, the photo simply won't load.

That frustration let go of, I must share these things.

Yesterday was a phenomenal success.  We went to the airshow, and she met people of all ages... and children laid down on the tarmac and let her crawl all over them.  Then children laid down and crawled all over her.  People got down on their hands and knees just to receive the sweetness and joy that Raezor exuded the entire day. 
Plane after plane after plane flew over, roared by and thundered along, and the whole time, not a flinch of worry showed on her face.  The A10 raced and careened to and fro... and thru it, she slept.  THAT, in fact, is the picture I wanted to share. 

And HERE it is (after 2 days of trying to upload).

Today, we responded to a search in the woods.  The subject was found before we got there, but it gave us a great opportunity for a new place for puppy runaways ...  but first, to get acquainted with the environment....

Recent road work had created  a TON of soft fluffy dirt.  And with joyful abandon, Raezor pounced time and again, reveling in great clouds of dust that she created.  We laughed uproariously at her and a part of me was slightly jealous that I had grown too old to pounce around in dirt like she did.

Once the pouncing and dusting was over, we took our now red, black and white puppy further into the woods.  The first runaway was ordinary and fun, and she was focused.  The second one, however, made us both proud.  So much in the way of brush and downed trees abounded, that trying to get a clear line of sight for a puppy of only a few inches tall was rough.  So we decided to heck with it, we would try anyway.   My partner ran and called and called and then hid.  She said nothing more until Raezor found her.  Raezor thought she knew right where my partner went.... and she pounced expecting the reward, but alas, no one was there.  From that moment on, Raezor was all business.  She put her nose down, circled around not once, but twice and decided on a direction, for which she received praise from me as she was right.  And then she just worked forward and pushed herself out further and further.  I could read that she just couldn't believe that my partner could be this 'far away' - but she wasn't giving up.  Then she caught air scent and tried to follow that in.  It took some patience and perseverance on her part but soon, she was on top of my partner and the party began.

And so we move forward.  She is going to be a dog that craves challenges, like the one presented today.  And we will be pressed to figure out the right challenges along the way.  Pretty much from here on out, with few exceptions, it will be my partner handling Raezor.  And they are going a step in the right direction.

The Future Looks Bright

My partner has got her hands full, but I think, in the end, this pup will grow into one heck of a dedicated, tenacious SAR dog that won't give up. This is going to be fun.  Raezor has got a head on her shoulders.  You can watch her think things through.  And in her head, there isn't anything she can't do.

She watched Kaeden get up on top of the picnic table.  She watched him get down.  She watched him one more time, and POOF, she was all over it.  Up was easy.  Down was a tad worrisome for her for just a minute.  Then she watched him one more time, and that was all it took.  Down she went.  She added a nifty variable the next time we did it.

She saw nothing wrong with leaping into my arms.  It seemed natural to her.  Too bad I wasn't ready for it!  I didn't exactly drop  or miss her, but it was close and rather comical.  She didn't let it deter her or bother her.  We did it again, and this time I caught her.  Whew!

She has independence down.  I can see this as a huge positive for her SAR future.  She will need it to be out there, looking for the scent of the missing person.  I can also see this as something we will have to direct into that focus.  Right now, if something catches her fancy, she is hard pressed to be redirected.

It is fun though, when she hears the "Raezor COME" command and begins her flight to you.  It is at full speed with abandon and almost no thought to the end result of a stop... somehow she manages to get stopped and she even automatically offers a sit.  She never ceases to impress me.

This weekend will be a big one.  She has 2 days of PR at the Chico Air Show.  What will she get from this experience?
- meeting a zillion people - something she, so far, desperately loves.
- patience at waiting for the next thing to do - something her handler needs to learn too!
- Sounds and sights we could never duplicate anywhere else... jet engines, prop engines, loudspeaker announcements, music, applause, whistles, cheering... you name it, she is in for it!

Expect cute pictures of her with my next entry from this weekend.

Thanks for your support!

And so it begins again

The adventure begins again....  a new puppy in my life, 5 1/2 years after the last puppy, and almost 10 years since the one before that.

So, what are the possibilities?  Search dog is on tap...

Three puppy runaways and I think she may just have what it takes!

We'll See!!