A day in the life....

Each morning I greet the puppies with "Are you ready to go to school"? They wiggle and waggle and bounce around ready for the day to begin. I load them into the crates in the back of the car and they settle in for the short ride to "school".

Once we get to school the pups have a short time to play before training. Also included in the training sessions is grooming. The pups learn to get used to having their nails grinded and also their teeth brushed. We use the battery operated toothbrushes and yummy chicken flavored toothpaste.

After training I feed the pups breakfast. I use a feeding system called a "Weenafeeda". A very silly name but an amazing product. A durable plastic carrier has individual slots for six stainless steel bowls. Each bowl is surrounded by a partition so each pup has a designated area to eat from. I don't like to feed pups in the traditional saucer style bowls because I would always see the bigger puppies eating more than the smaller and I also felt that I was teaching them to gulp down their food. Since switching to this system I no longer have puppies eating super fast.

After breakfast the pups spend the day playing in their covered outdoor play area. They also have a small door leading into the puppy training room. They can hang out in there if they don't want to be outside. It seems they prefer to be outside because that is where they spend the most time. A very dedicated group of people called "puppy petters" come to socialize and play with the puppies. Staff also comes in from time to time for a puppy fix.

It has rained 95% of the time since Olive has joined my family. We have only gotten one day where it was sunny enough for a romp in the field. I brought Rain (mom to the Z litter) out with them for their first real run. She led them around and they ran their little legs off!

After such a busy day the pups settle into their crates and sleep soundly all night long. They are up and ready the next morning for it all to start again!

Molly

First Training Session

Olive is assigned to a college student for her service dog training. She will continue to train with her student until May when the students graduate. Here are a few photos of her very first training session.

Here she is being lured into a "sit".

Here she is learning "up". This command is useful for retrieving items on a shelf or paying cashiers.

This command is called "lap". This command is used for a person who is unable to bend down to pet the dog and would like some close contact. This is also useful for the dog to return retrieved items to a person who is in a power chair that is higher off the ground.

This command, "tug", is used to have the dog open a door, drawer or cabinet. We start out with doors with no resistance (like this little one).

Olive is coming along nicely in her training sessions. She is eager to learn and has a huge desire to please her trainer - both great traits for a service dog.

Introducing.....Misty Mtn's Little Miss Sunshine "Olive"

Olive, formerly known as Ms. Yellow, has arrived in Santa Rosa after a short flight from Seattle. Olive comes to Bergin University from Misty Mountain Labradors. Her mother is the sweet Misty and her father is the wonderful Zeus. Here she is looking out the airplane window.

Olive has a busy schedule ahead of her. First, she is in training to become a service dog. She will ultimately help a person with a mobility impairment. Olive has a very impressive pedigree and her parents both show wonderful characteristics of a service dog. If she turns out as nice as her parents there is a possibility of her becoming a breeder before she is placed as a service dog.

On her "time off" she will try her paws as a show dog! I have wanted to try the whole show thing for awhile now and with this beautiful girl I have finally been given the chance.

Olive was born on the very same day as our "Z" litter so she has settled right in playing with her new friends. Zoe, Zane, Zach, Zipken and Zoom welcomed Olive with wagging tails. Zoe was especially happy to have another girl to hang with!

More to come soon!

Molly