Great news

Felix is being placed as a Service Dog and is off to his client in NC today! Woo Hoo!

The next step the client and the dog learn to work together. It usually takes 6-8 months of in home training in the client's own community. Then the team takes a test and they are officially certified. Let's hope Felix is a good fit for the client.

In the home stretch!

From my teachers:

Felix is filmed and ready to go. He has a nice match and will be very appreciated.

This means I am almost ready to go home with my new person. They match our personalities. Then they tape me doing my job and everyone decides if I am ready to go home. I hope my new partner likes a busy boy cuz I like to be active. I can be a great help with all that energy.

Stay tuned for more updates

Felix- Future Service Dog

August Report

I just switched trainers and we are getting to know each other.

I am still working on my tasks and will matched with my new person real soon.

July Update

Another Report card:

Felix has moved to phase 3 and just started some of his tasks. He has a nice retrieve and is good in public.

This means that if all goes well, I will be matched with a client and start to learn tasks to take care of them. I still am voicing my opinion of things and have a lot to learn.

This last phase takes several months to complete. Keep your paws crossed that I continue to do well in college.

Report card from my trainer

Good news. I'm settling in to college life. I'm learning and strengthening my obedience tasks in phase one. I'm a good learner but still crying and barking in my kennel. Not appropriate behavior for a college boy. I guess I still have some growing up to do. We will have updates once a month on my progress.

My brother Flint moved to Leader Dog school. He will help someone who is visually impaired. Wish us both luck!

Dog In Training

Got the news today: Felix did much better on his submission today and passed his retest.

That means I'm officially a Dog in Training! This is the time when PAWS staff decide what job I might be good for. The selection criteria is very high. Not all pups will make the program. In the next few months I am in Phase 1&2 training.
In Phase 1- I work on improving upon the obedience training I already started. The degree of difficulty and more distractions are added to make sure my behavior is solid.
In phase 2 -I will learn retrieving and door opening skills. Most of the advanced skills I learn will be based on these 2 tasks.

Wish me luck on this new adventure.

Update

Note from my teachers:

Felix did well on his temperament test. He did struggle with the submission portion but we will keep working with him on that and hopefully that will improve once he’s settled in. We will retest him in a week. I will keep you posted.