KAISER'S BLOG

SPRING 2010

Hello everyone!

Its Kaiser boy here - my thanks to Leanne and Katrina for the lovely pieces they wrote about me (see archive). It's lovely to have such good friends and people around me.

As usual HULA have been keeping me busy !!!

A weekend by the sea

After my success in the bronze exam – my friend Karina and I went away for a weekend by the seaside. We headed East for Hunstanton and we spent a lovely weekend by the seaside discovering the Norfolk Beaches. I had not been to the seaside before and it was wonderful – I had a paddle in the sea and the best thing was rolling around in the sand. Karina and I went for lovely walks along the coast and my favourite bit was when we climbed to the top of a sand dune and I laid out in the sun watching the world go by with the sound of the sea in my ear...bliss.

We stayed in a bed and breakfast and I have to say the landlady made us so welcome – we had a lovely room and I made myself at home. We had a fish and chip supper by the seafront and when I returned to the room I fell asleep. Karina awoke me the next morning for a 6am stroll by the sea – I had my long lead on so I could run around and paddle to my heart's content! Next came the highlight of a cooked breakfast provided by our wonderful landlady. Karina explained to her that I can be a bit of a nervous boy but we got along very well and I’m sure I heard her say to Karina that I was the best behaved dog she had ever had to stay there and we were more than welcome to come back...so here’s hoping!

I know that Karina wants me to say a big Kaiser thank you to Steve the Sanctuary Manager for allowing us to go at such short notice – we both really appreciated it.

New friends

My circle of friends is always widening and I would like to say a special thank you to some of my new friends. As you all know it takes some careful introduction and time for me to trust strangers but some very special people have taken the time out to do this:-

Paulune, Emily, Heather, Jenny, Pam & Dave Twyford, & Jo

Because of their patience I now have new friends and this help me no end. Also I get more walks and people willing to throw those tennis balls.

Of course I don’t want to leave out my existing friends and all the staff at HULA that look after me so wonderfully well.

Training classes

I have been working really hard and practising for my silver good citizen award. Angela my trainer says I am doing rather well but of course there are some things I find hard.

There are some very special people and dogs who train along side me and have made Karina and I so welcome in class – we all work together as a team and it’s just wonderful.

Class is hard work but as many of your know the off lead play with all the other dogs at the end is my highlight.

So that I can ensure I get to take part in this I work hard in class. I can be recalled away from distraction, I walk beautifully past other dogs and people, I can do a two minute wait and stay and lots of other things. Sometimes I get to polish my agility technique if the equipment is out. In fact my trainer has asked me to join the agility club – I was very proud to be asked considering when I first turned up to class I was not allowed in as I was a bit of a noisy and untamed lad. That’s all in the past as they say.

Any a big Kaiser thank you goes to Rosie, Ruben, Loki, Bramble, Wilf & Bonnie – I don’t think anyone thought I would be off lead playing with lots of other dogs but it just goes to show… training works !

All change at HULA

As you know I have been at HULA for quite a while (I arrived in April 2007). I have improved immensely but I do still fear some things and we all understand that I do need a very special home.

I have two friends at HULA much like me – Karl & Luke. We are special guys and HULA have worked so hard to make us happy and take such wonderful care of us. Kennel life can be tough; new dogs are arriving and others go off to their new homes. Sometimes the noise level can be high and whilst kennels may be appropriate for the short term they are not the ideal solution for long term guys like my self Luke & Karl.

HULA have recognised this and we have been rebranded – we are now SPECIAL DOGs (I rather like that term!!).

We now have our own rooms and we are not on view to the public at weekends. My new room is just great! I have a comfy sofa with a fleecy throw and I have a radio where I alternate between Radio4, Classic FM & Radio 2 (no, I haven't learned to change it myself - Karina does that for me!). I have a window that overlooks the recreation yard and I have visitors who can come and chill out with me.

Everyone has noticed a difference in me and I’m just so happy and content. Karina comes up when we are open to the public and walks me around so anyone who is interested in me can see me but most importantly they can talk to the HULA staff about their own circumstances and experience, one day there may be someone willing to put in a lot of time and effort to get to know me.

I now have a CV which gives lots of information about me and the three of us are featured in HULA reception which leads me on to my next news...

In the media

As some of you will remember I am no stranger to the media. Debbie kindly did a media interview with me some time ago and recently the local newspaper, the Milton Keynes Citizen, took an interest in me and I am pleased to say that my handsome face was on the front page and there was an interesting article about me on page 29.

As you can see I have been a busy lad, my friend Karina enjoys my company so much so that she lets me come home with her at weekends sometimes. We have a lovely time together and I am rather fond of her sofa and television. We go for lots of lovely walks together and also visit her Mum and friends which all helps with my socialisation and continued improvement.

So I have a lovely life due to the perseverance and care of HULA Animal Rescue.

All for now luv,

Kaiser xxx

JUNE 2010

Hello everyone!

Lots to tell you all and I’m not to sure where to start.

Anyway here goes.. I am so very proud and pleased to tell you all that I passed my Kennel Club SILVER Good Citizen Award on Sunday.

It was a really early start as my exam was at 9am. Karina came up and gave me a light breakfast and we met Jenny & my new mate Monty the German Shepherd. We had a lovely play in the runs together for about an hour, so I arrived at the paddock lively, relaxed and in a very positive mood … until Karina told me it was exam day and gave me a little pep talk outside.

We started the exam and we ran through the following exercises :-

Exercise 1 - Play with the Dog
Exercise 2 - Road Walk
Exercise 3 - Rejoin handler
Exercise 4 - Stay in One Place for Two Minutes
Exercise 5 - Vehicle Control
Exercise 6 - Come away from Distractions
Exercise 8 - Food Manners
Exercise 9 - Examination of the Dog
Exercise 10 - Responsibility and Care

I completed each one and in between exercises I laid with Karina in the Sun. It was a really hot day so I had a paddle in the swimming pool as well to keep myself nice and cool and focussed on the exam.

At the end the examiner said that I had passed, he also mentioned what lovely condition I was in and how well I did. I was presented with my certificate and as you might notice from my photograph I was absolutely exhausted but also very proud ! I think my friend Karina had a little tear in her eye so I gave her a quick kiss. I have a lovely certificate on my wall in my new room.

Its only right that I should say a huge Kaiser boy thank you to some very special people, who have helped me in my journey from an unruly lad from South Wales to a HULA Silver Good Citizen

Angela Wilkins from Dog In Training who gave me a wonderful opportunity to join her classes and has never ever given up on me
All my classmates and their owners – we work together so well and were all rooting for one another during the exam
Steve, Debbie, Caroline, Jenny & Alina who all work at HULA and look after me so brilliantly
Our HULA volunteers who take me out on walks and have taken the time to be introduced to me and get to know me
HULA Animal Rescue for being a very unique and wonderful charity and giving me this chance to be trained and helped and not to of become another nameless statistic put to sleep in the stray dog pound

I know that I am a very lucky lad. I will update you all again soon as I have now joined an agility class and made even more new friends

All for now, thank you for reading my page.

luv,
Kaiser Boy

p.s. even more fame! I'm now featured on the Kennel Club website.

20 JUNE 2010

Hi, my name is Amber and I'm one of Kaiser's new freinds from his classes.

I just wanted to say that Kaiser is such a fabulous dog and working with him is such a pleasure and I love it!!!

I first met Kaiser at agility training where we quickly became friends and now we get on like a house on fire, I started running Kaiser at agility straight away which was really fun and I think everyone was shocked about how well he worked with me especially because I'm only 14 and he can sometimes can take longer to get used to children and teenagers and now I run him every week.

I was so happy to see that he passed Kennel Club Silver Good Citizenship Award and he would have never accomplished it if he hadn’t had the time and effort spent working with him. Well there is not much more I can say really apart from who ever gets to take this wonderful boy home will have a friend for life.

He’s a special boy and deserves a loving home were people can spend time working with him and carry on the training.

Love Amber xxxx