NSD Maverick

Maverick is a fearless and feisty puppy with a lot of confidence and picks up new skills very quickly but does tend to want to be distracted easily in class by the other friends. A great milestone for Maverick is that she is good with her bathroom skills and with the cue “hurry up”. She has been accident free for 5 straight days. Maverick has her bedtime routine solid so after her final potty break she heads straight upstairs to her crate where she there is a handful of kibble. She sleeps through the night and doesn’t cry or bark in her crate. Currently working on not chewing my slippers particularly while I am wearing them! Also if she jumps up we are turning our backs on her and then reward if she stops and sits.

Maverick is very attentive and quick to learn. Her loose leash walking is excellent when we walk in the neighbourhood or when I take her to Walmart or similar outings. She is working hard on trying to keep focus while near her classmates. Her bathroom habits are great and there are has been no accidents for over a month. She is wonderful on car journeys and happily settles in her crate, always doing great overnight. Maverick did very well on Halloween when meeting trick or treaters from behind a gate. We are continuing to try and work on improving her excitable moments during meet and greets, as well as her demand vocalization.

Maverick continues to pick up new skills very quickly and has recently mastered ‘Under’, ‘Chin’ and ‘Step’. She is great travelling in the car even on our drives to Sudbury and is well behaved when we leave her outside the crate with open access as she mostly choses to stay in her kennel. She is extremely tolerant of all the attention given to her by our 6 year old granddaughter. During public outings Maverick is well behaved for the most part but is still working on not barking when I am at the checkout. She is very confident and nothing really phases her but her excitability around her classmates, although improving, continues to be worked on with additional settling practice!

Maverick has matured a lot in the last month and has been working really hard on remaining calm during her meet and greets and she is very tolerant of the enthusiastic attention from my 7 year old granddaughter when she visits. Once she has her gentle leader and jacket on she automatically goes in to work mode and is well behaved in public whether it be in the grocery store, Tim Horton’s, Costco or Home Depot. Maverick is a very confident and curious dog and never seems to be fazed by new challenges. Recently when we went to a hockey arena and she was not scared by the Zamboni or the sound of the pucks hitting the boards and also had no issue with metal bridges or bikes whizzing by on walks along the Grand River.

I am in high school classes and enjoying it! I’m really starting to get the hang of this service dog thing, so my puppy raiser takes me to lots of new and exciting places to practice. I am also learning new advanced skills such as 'back,' 'touch,' 'chin,' and stepping on the perch pot. In class, I practice stairs and different under-footings and work for new and different handlers. This is an important step in preparing me for the next phase of my training. At home, I am polishing up my manners around meal times, guests, and outdoor walks. Now that I have more impulse control, I get to have more freedom around the house and get to sleep out of my crate some nights.