Brando Does Vegas!

We've just returned from Brando's first tour of Vegas, and he was a HUGE hit.  Although the original plan was to accompany Steve to the conference he had to attend there, Brando was the star of the outing, as things turned out. We stayed on the 24th floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel, and while toileting was always a challenge (exactly how well can a puppy hold it while walking down a loooong corridor, waiting for the elevator, making his way through the Mandalay's "beach" (read ground) floor level and out the door to the not so near stones and grass?), he performed like a champion.

Brando will turn in for his advanced training in mid-February, and if there was ever any great opportunity to practice avoiding distractions in preparation for that, this was it.  A few times, walking down the Strip in the early evening, with all the crowds and noise and lights, his flattened ears gave me an inkling that he was uneasy.  But he never acted fearful or inappropriately.

And the big surprise and delight of the trip was people's reaction to Brando. CCI puppies often get a warm reaction when they're out in public, but I have NEVER seen a response like we got here.  Everywhere we went, people pointed and smiled and made kissy noises or exclaimed, "What a good baby!" Some burst into spontaneous chuckles, and we never rode in the elevator without once getting warm nods or comments and usually extended conversations.

Steve supposed this meant that Vegas attracted an unusually high percentage of animals lovers, but I have another theory.  It seemed to me that Brando's innocence and cuteness contrasted so sharply with the jaded artifice of the place that it startled people into smiling or laughing. I felt like I was accompanying a rock star.

Here are a few choice moments from our adventures:

Our home away from home

Brando enjoyed all the pharoanic art...

...though that large creature made him a little nervous.

We wish we could take him with us to Paris later this month, but the Vegas Paris will have to suffice.

A pup can get sleepy even he could have a bird's eye view of the Strip.

Yankee Doodle Puppy

Brando and I felt honored today to be a part of the first ever Canine Companions for Independence (CCI) Puppy Precision Drill Team, in its debut at the City of Coronado's Independence Day Parade.

In a nod to the fact that the actual 4th this year falls on a Sunday, a day when much of Coronado has churchly duties, the parade was shifted forward a day. As far as I could tell, the change didn't reduce the turnout much. Orange Avenue was crammed with enthusiastic spectators. And our drill team delivered, in the way of spectacle. For the first time ever, all of the puppy raisers wore a sort of uniform, and our puppies not only were caped but also sported patriotic bandannas. Best of all was our precision marching and crisscrossing and halts at which we ran through a sample of CCI puppy commands: Sit! Shake! Down! Stay! Let's Go!

Veteran puppy-raiser Jim Siegfried employed his best football coach voice and whistle-blowing skills to prompt us. You can't hear the whistle signals on the following video, but they worked just fine in real life.

After all the parading and performings, we wound up at the amazing home of CCI patron Jeep Rice, who once again opened his beautiful home to a horde of frolicking puppies and their puppy raisers.

Brando had such a good time that he's now fast asleep. And I'm dreaming dreams of glory. Today the Coronado Independence Day Parade. Tomorrow: the Rose Parade?

Precision Pups!

Brando, Steve, and I have a special reason to look forward to Independence Day this year. As we did last year, we're going to be marching in the Coronado Parade. But this year, the participating CCI pups will include a puppy precision drill team.

Brando and I showed up at puppyraiser Pattie Urie's house last weekend to learn and practice the drills. We think the whole gang will look very sharp. We have signals to cue us to form two lines, criss-cross each other, then halt and run through a short but snappy set of commands (Sit, Down, Shake, Stay, etc.)

It promises to be a blast. Look for video here, hot on the heels of the big event!

Happy Birthday Brando!!!

He's one-year-old today! And such an obedient fellow, sitting so nicely with his birthday crown. No cake for him, because he's only supposed to eat dog food (ha!), but we did have a party of sorts. Riley and Cassidy, the two 11-year-old Golden Retrievers from next door, have been visiting us for the past few days, while their pack has been off in Las Vegas. Riley and Cassidy are very chill guys. They wag their tails, they smile, and mostly they just lay down and look around, or they nap. But they do lend a more festive air to the patio, and even if they won't wrestle with him and chase him around, as he would like, Brando seems to welcome their arrival every morning.

Only Brando was good enough to tolerate the party crown for long, though Tucker tolerated it briefly.

The game all pups love to play

I believe it's called Try to Bite the Other Guy's Head Off (Not Really!) Here Brando is playing it with Eva, Leslie and Craig's dog, who stayed with us two weekends ago. Brando loooooves this game. But Eva loves it even more. When he would get tired, she would bark at him and scratch his nose to try to provoke her into playing more.

Tucker, who's nowhere near as fond of the game, now that he's a geezer (in spirit, if not in years), just stayed with Eva Saturday and Sunday, while the human members of the pack were in LA for the book festival. But Brando got to go to Benjie's house, another mecca of puppy pleasure.

Progress Report

Brando has graduated from the CCI Basic instruction. Last week he and 5 classmates were tested and our teacher gave Brando 9s or 10s on everything he did -- a solid "A" performance!

He has now learned:

• Sit


• Down


• Wait


• Out


• Let's Go


• Drop


• Here


• Dress


• Roll


• Shake


• Stand


• Car


• Under


• Heel


• Side


• Off


• Speak

We start the Advanced class next week!

Brando Speaks!

I'm so proud of him! We could never get our last puppy, Yuli, to do this (on command, that is.)

Brando of the Desert

Brando ventured to the eastern reaches of San Diego County this weekend, where we gathered with some friends interested in hiking and photography. Tucker came too, and both dogs underwent a startling personality change. This was most pronounced in Tucker, normally a mild-mannered, even timid follow. But when we took him outside of the house where we were staying, he transformed into a Wild Dog, racing through the unfenced open space at 100 miles an hour, heedless of our demands that he rejoin our company. He intruded upon neighbors' properties, met a sleek Doberman named Duchess, fell in love, and (when we finally recaptured him) moaned to be allowed to rejoin her. Brando happily followed Tucker's lead, though was marginally quicker to return. After a few rounds of this foolishness, we took them outside ONLY on their leashes.


We had looked forward to hiking with our friends, and Saturday we happily set off for Palm Canyon (where we were looking forward to penetrating the region beyond the oasis). To our chagrin, we learned that dogs -- even leashed ones -- are not allowed anywhere in the park except on paved roads. I felt both bereft and irritated, as I had checked in my book of dog hikes in San Diego County (Leave Only Paw Prints, Sunbelt Publications) and came away with the impression that the park offered myriad hiking possibilities. Alas I had not read carefully enough. Dogs are only allowed on roads in the park, not on hiking trails. (Apparently, canines scare desert sheep.) This meant Steve and Tucker and Brando and I had to strike off on our own.


We wound up hiking through a section of Rancho Galleta, owned by an heir to the Avery labels fortune. Mr. Avery for the past few years has been commissioning an artist to create sculptures of prehistoric creatures on his land (a big chunk of the town, on which he generously welcomes the public to hike and camp). We decided we think the statues are cool.

What was not cool was the ubiquitous chollas cactus. Tucker got stuck several times, and even Brando (aka Mr. Teflon Coat) fell victim once. We decided probably dogs and deserts don't really mix well. So we won't all be back soon. Still, it was a memorable outing.

Recovered

Brando has totally recovered from his recent surgery. We celebrated the end of the year with our annual beach walk from the Scripps Pier up to 15th Street in Del Mar. Although it took more than five hours, Brando was a trooper, and particularly enjoyed smelling the delicious smells during our stop for pizza at Jake's.

We also began our Basic puppy instruction this past week, and Brando did well, as he was introduced to the Stand and Shake commands. Next up: Heel!

About the only bad thing he's doing is some digging in the yard. This is annoying to us, but apparently, he hasn't gotten that message yet.