NSD Tilly

Tilly settled into our home easily, forming a fast friendship with her big sister and mentor. She’s a fairly patient, good-natured pup (interspersed with lots of silly puppy moments, of course). She’s impressed us with frequently making good choices around the house such as independently chewing on toys, engaging her sister in a game of tug, or napping. Tilly has picked up on impulse control games and loose leash walking at home and we are working on bringing those same behaviours beyond the front door where the world is much more exciting and distracting.

Tilly is adapting to being the only pup in the household and has continued to demonstrate good house manners, despite having to independently make those choices on her own now. We are working hard on settling in new environments, which usually elicits a few grumbles from Tilly. She also gives “good morning grumbles” after being let out of her crate in the mornings. She’s quite a character while also generally a calm and laid-back pup. Tilly is discovering that people and new places can be a lot of fun, so we’re also pointedly working on her handler focus as we navigate this phase of growing up!

I am now in high school classes! 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.