Behind Every Great Service Dog is a Super Foster Home

Our Raja is with a foster family learning lots of new things before coming to live with us. They have a big task, and a fun one. Being a great foster home is more than liking puppies and their sweet puppy breath... Dagmar, her husband Doug, and daughters Meaghan and Hannah are taking care of the "baby", which is quite a job. THANKS BY THE WAY!!!! He of course is not sleeping through the night, and still potty training, and has no clue about the job that will be set before him when he comes to live with Zaki. They are playing lots of games and training Raja. From the post you can read that Dagmar already has Raja learning to play hide and seek. :)THANKS AGAIN BY THE WAY. One of the things that Zaki does is take off, and not in a "hide and seek kind of way". So although Raja will be simply another safety net, (you can't after all put the safety of a child in the paws of a dog!) He has one heck of a better nose than I, so I will be elated about the help! By the way, have I said THANKS yet??
Dagmar's update:

Dagmar and Raja
I think there will be some snow out here tomorrow. We have done our shopping, and do not need to leave the house if the weather turns bad.
Well, we might have to go out to go potty, brrrr
This morning the ground was white with snow. Raja had a ball. First he was not sure if he should step on it. But with a little coaxing he braved the
white strange stuff. And loved it. He tried to bite it, eat it, roll in it and just romp through it. It was all good.

Our trainer Laurie with Dagmar also Raja and Shadow

He is doing so well. We still have not done too much clicker training. Hannah has been sick. A few days of high fever, and a throat that hurt more as time went on. Took her to the clinic yesterday. Strep throat. Medicine started working late last night and she finally slept for the first time in 3 nights. I told the doctor I am ready for some nice pills too, but he just laughed. Today we went to have Hannah's cast taken off. Meaghan was doggy sitting. Not much training going on there either.
But he learned some things anyway. He drops things on command. Makes playing fetch so much fun. He almost does not jump up for treats. We are getting better. I think I need more training myself. lol
We have expanded our walks. Now we walk much farther, and that twice a day. If you think that makes him tired, you are so wrong. He has an endless amount of energy. He can play and run after is toy much longer than we are able to. He also is getting better at hide and seek. He loves to play it with Hannah. Each turn of seeking is as much fun as the first. He does not get tired of it.
Walking nicely on the lead is what we will have to work on more. He still races forward, lingers back and of course wants to carry his own lead. But for the first week we have made amazing progress I think.
Hope to see you soon. and stay off the bad roads tomorrow.
Dagmar

THANK YOU DAGMAR, DOUG, MEAGHAN, and HANNAH, WE soooooooo APPRECIATE ALL YOU ARE DOING!!!!!!!!

Love At First Sight!!

Raja 9 weeks old

How is it possible to love a little guy so quickly? We don't really 'know' him, and he does not 'know' us either. But we do! It was definitely love at first sight! We have waited over two years for a sweet boy to help with our Zaki, an extra set of eyes and nose to be his best friend.

Zaki meets Raja for the first time!

Zaki was so excited to go get Raja. We all were really! Zaki woke up in the morning and said “Go get my dog??” Raja just followed Zaki around everywhere! Raja also approached Zaki first when Zarek myself and our trainer Laurie walked in the door. That thrilled me!

I was serious when I said Raja just followed Zaki everywhere~

C-U-T-E!

We played with Raja in Jewel's back yard, she brought him from Indiana on the plane, he slept in her lap the whole trip and didn't make a peep. I was a little concerned that Zaki would not understand that we now had to go drop him off with someone else and that he was not coming home with us. The biggest problem on the way home was Zaki wanting Raja right on top of him the whole ride :) !

Ahhhhhhh!
Fortunately, this was not a problem for Raja at all. Zaki was lovin' on him, and he was lovin' every minute of it! You know I was thinking about how much I want to be a puppy... you see they have the unique gift of "shuttin' it down" absolutely any time they want to. Oh, how I would love to have license to do that! :)

Nap Time, I'm pooped!

I have to hit the hay, but will post more tomorrow about Dagmar, Doug, and sweet Hannah - Raja's foster family until he is a bit older and ready to come live with us full time!

What makes Raja a Super Dog Anyway?

Raja taking a nap - Hey being this cute takes work!

He looks like any adorable little puppy you have seen before right? What is it about Raja that makes him so special? What will allow him to tollerate high stress situations, have impeciable manners, and eventually be a partner to Zaki that he can not do without?

Raja is the "pillow" under his sister - only 3 days old

Not only has this litter been bred from high quality dogs in the first place chosen for their genetics, this litter underwent BioSensor early neurological stimulation exercises. "The U.S. Military in their canine program developed a method that still serves as a guide to what works. In an effort to improve the performance of dogs used for military purposes, a program called "Bio Sensor" was developed. Later, it became known to the public as the "Super Dog" Program. Based on years of research, the military learned that early neurological stimulation exercises could have important and lasting effects. Their studies confirmed that there are specific time periods early in life when neurological stimulation has optimum results. The first period involves a window of time that begins at the third day of life and lasts until the sixteenth day. It is believed that because this interval of time is a period of rapid neurological growth and development, and therefore is of great importance to the individual."

Raja's momma Hermione giving the pups the good stuff!

Are you kidding me? We can't wait to hold him!!

We got the news!

I was not expecting to hear that Zaki's pup would be ready so soon. It so turns out that instead of waiting for a North Star litter, a pup was given from a service dog litter by Dr. Jamie Young. The dog was named Raja. It means "King". Interestingly enough, Zaki's name also means "King". So I have decided to call the blog A TALE OF TWO KINGS! Raja is toward the back with the blue collar on . Isn't he awfully cute? He should be flying in on Monday. He will then stay with the host family that will see to all of the basic obedience as well as the socialization of our service dog in training. These pictures come from the breeder and Raja will have on the blue collar in all of the photos, in the photo above Raja is on the right. The lovely part about The North Star Foundation is that the pup will start to bond with Zaki at a very young age and learn his "quirks". This is huge! Zaki can have some erratic behaviors, and an older dog who has not had any experience with Zaki (no matter how well trained) might see the behavior as a threat. The other nice part is that we will not have to leave to go to several weeks of training like all of the other service dog organizations that I have researched require. This was another big PLUS in my book because Zaki does not do well with a change in schedule and an unfamiliar environment can send him into a spiral. We are so excited to work with a reputable service dog organization after so many negative experiences. I will be sure and update often.