Sponsored by, Bob Fourniadis
Tommy AHEPA
Hey Tommy AHEPA, here! It has been cold here at Camp K9, or at least compared to usual! My trainer Syd
says I get super spunky during the cold weather. She has been setting up playgroups almost every day where
I can play with my friends here in the campus yards. I have a lot of friends that I like to play with, but my
new friend Mickey is my favorite. Once my play time is over, I get right back to training. My training has
been going well, just trying to recover from the zoo. The zoo was tiring, there was s o much to see!
In other exciting news, last week I went off campus with my favorite caretaker, Devon. This was to see if
the transferability sessions I have been working through on campus will transfer off campus as well. I had a
successful training s ession with Devon and did great! My trainer Syd said she was super proud of me. She
can't wait to see my progress continue to move forward. Well back to training I go! Can't wait to update you
all next time! Tommy AHEPA
Hey, it’s Tommy! I hope you guys were as safe as I was during hurricane Ian. I got to leave Camp K9 for four days! My foster family came and got me early before Ian came. I did great during the hurricane and had no fears! Having my furry foster friend helped a lot! I had a great time with my foster family, but I was excited to come back to Camp K9 to see that all my friends were safe. Once I got back, I knew it was time to get back to work! I have been working so hard the last couple weeks on more focus and engagement with my trainer. Sometimes I get super excited outside! There are just so many people, friends, cars, and so many other interesting things going on and I get a little too interested. My trainer and I have been working so hard on my focus, and I have made progress. I also got to go off campus this week to a small park area that had a coffee shop by it. My trainer and I sat outside the coffee shop and settled as people were walking by and drinking their coffee. There was a moment when children ran out the coffee shop and I was SO excited and wanted to say hi, but I was in work mode, and it took everything in me to stay focused on my trainer. My improved focus has really helped me through tough situations off campus. My trainer told me all my hard work is showing!!! I can't wait to get back off campus and tell you guys all about it! -Tommy 10/2022
Guess what!?? I went on vacation this weekend. Well, it seemed like vacation to me. I got to go see my foster family. I had so much fun! I made a new friend and got to go out on a couple exciting adventures.
The most exciting part though was the BEACH!!! I love the beach. My foster family told my trainer that I was an island boy for the weekend.
I will say I did have a couple of fears with some unknown objects that made some strange LOUD noises, but my foster family helped me get acclimated to them a little bit.
I was still a little unsure and was wondering when those objects were going to come alive again, but they never did.
I cannot wait to go on vacation again, but I am even more excited to be back at Camp K9 to learn more behaviors and train with my trainer. 10/2022
Hi friends! It's me, your best brindle boy, Tommy! Wow, so much has happened in two weeks.
First things first, I've been hard at work on my service skills. This week my "stand" has been rock solid. I've also started learning "brace" and I've been working so much on my impulse control.
I was a little confused about "my lap" but you know, I think that's going to be one of my faves when I get it. I'm still a young kid so my trainer knows I can get a little mouthy and whiny when I get frustrated and tired.
My trainer says my endurance is really building up though. I've come such a long way from the beginning of my training when I could only work for 2 or 3 minutes at a time, so that's cool!
In other exciting news, my trainer says I'm ready for higher level public access. I'm not sure what that means, but we did go to this super cool place called IKEA. It was crazy! It was so big, with so many smells and sounds.
The first trip through I was so excited it was hard for me not to pull on my leash, but my trainer gave me a break outside and the second trip through, I rocked it! The most amazing thing about the last two weeks is that I got to go to a foster home for the weekend.
Can I tell you a secret? I'm still trying to figure out how I feel about the whole thing. I haven't had much experience in homes so things like dishwashers and coffee grinders seem scary! My foster family is so nice though.
We played lots of games and I got to hang out in their yard. They said I can come back every weekend so I can show everyone how brave I can be! Alright friends, back to work! XO – Tommy 09/2022
