Well, Now that the holidays are over, I figured I would stop by and give and update… As you know it has been way too long since Magnum’s last update.
Magnum is 7 months old. He weighs 92pounds and is such a nice boy. Magnum know his basic commands and loves to please. This month we will be starting to teach him how to open the door. We will place a tug rope on the door to be opened and hopefully he will master this so we can move onto the next command.
Magnum had a great Winter Holiday. HE loves the snow and I will post the pix when I can.
Santa came to visit him, He got a new bed, some toys and a special tug rope…
Check back soon for the next update…
Cross your paws for continued success for Magnum.

As you know, we had Diesel, a 2 yr. old Bull Mastiff also donated to us. Although only after a few months of training it was very appearent that Diesel was not a good prospect for service work. Diesel was a very nice pup. We only had him in the program for a few short months after getting him in May 08. Diesel loved to please but lacked the early socialization that he all service dogs need to be a sucsessful working dog. Diesel is now living the life at the home of a great family in Boise’s North End. He is waking up each day to a new world around him. His new owners have allowed us to use him for future breeding if in fact the breed proves to be a good choice that Genesis would want to raise.

Now, on to Magnum.
Magnum was born on June 8 2008. We have had Magnum now for about 2 weeks. Magnum now weighs 28.3 pounds. He goes to work, church and the store with me. Magnum has gone to the market, the mall, Walmart, the Doctors, and to dinner so far… To my delight, Magnum is adjusting alot easier than I had thought he would…Magnum does well in new surroundings and is gaining new confidence every day. He is now 90% housebroke. Meaning he has had no accidents in the house or on outing, goes to the door to go out, but still needs to be asked to go out from time to time. Magnum is learning comands and has learned how to walk on a leash very nice. He is learning how to sit, wait, give and touch. Bull Mastiffs love to use their feet in the same fashion Labs do. As a result, instead of trying to make Magnum stop placing his paws on everything and everyone, we are using that combined with the command “touch” to set the stage for the work he will learn later. He may have to touch a door to open it.

Some of you may be asking yourself why a Bull Mastiff, Let me tell you…
As a puppy raiser, you learn to evaluate every situation that you are to put your pup in. You gain from every experience you have with your pup. Over the last 10 years of raising pups for Guide Dogs for the Blind, I have learned not to overlook any breed. That all breeds have a potential value in the service dog arena. Just think, The possibilites are endless when it comes to really helping someone that suffers from mobility issues. He could be taught to brace someone from a fall, help someone recover from a fall, open doors, pull a wheelchair, assist with walking by wearing a specially made harness that allows his partner to stay out a wheelchair longer by assisting him in steady walking. Magnum may be able to assist with retrieving objects that fall to the ground and learn to turn the lights off and on, answer the door and get the phone in an emergency.

Our goal is to give Magnum the best chance to become a great service dog thru intese training and consistant guidance and maybe even obtain a few more Bull Mastiff pups to raise/train if Magnum works well. Only time will tell. Please cross your paws for all of us here at GSD.

Please keep checking back to monitor Magnums progress. If you would like to make a donation to GSD to help train Magnum, please feel free to do so. I hope to have some photos up in the next few weeks… We have taken some and are almost ready to upload them.

If you would like to contact Dale or myself about the breed, or Genesis Service Dogs about the work we do, please don’t hesitate… We are open to any questions or comments.
Woof Woof…
Danielle Co-Leader GSD
Magnum Pup in Training