Kiyoko turned 15 months in December, and I just realized that we have had her for a whole year now, as of Nov 25th, 2025. We’ve come a long way from that wee pup from Australia who didn’t quite get the knack of house training to a sweet, mature intact dog who is ready for anything!
Our usual December activities included many hikes and dinners out, along with 3 reading sessions with the kids at elementary school, a dental visit, a haircut, and our flu and COVID shots at the local pharmacy.
We also attended 2 PADS puppy classes, where we worked on hind-end awareness with the CATO boards: shaping the pup to step off the board with only the back legs and trying to get them to step back on the board backwards. The other PADS puppy class was in conjunction with our Christmas get together, so the class was split into two instead of three and was much larger. Handlers and pups lined up against the wall, and we worked on dog distraction by walking past them on leash and then off-leash recalls in front of the line of handlers and pups. Most did OK, if you were far enough away from the bait!
This was Kiyoko’s second Christmas, so with maturity, the hustle and bustle of extra shopping at the malls and other Christmas activities did not faze her, even the blow-up Grinches and Christmas Polar Bears! We had our family Christmas photo taken at Predator Ridge, courtesy of PADS. We watched the Barenaked Ladies perform at the annual CPKC Holiday train that stopped in Salmon Arm, where practically the whole town showed up to join in the festivities. We went to see a one-man comedy show in Vernon, “God is a Scottish Drag Queen” where a foul-mouthed and lovable deity in a power suit with a thick Scottish accent, humorously critiqued humanity and pop culture, while addressing biblical questions. Kiyoko had special accessible seating for the performance while we rolled in the aisles with laughter! And before you know it, Christmas was here! We had Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas Day with my son, my daughter-in-law, her cousin from Australia, my grandson and grand pup. Now that my grandson is almost three, Christmas was very exciting for him, and he had fun tearing open all his gifts, including a few that were not his. Both pups were well behaved, and they shared their dog toys well, except for the occasional toddler toy that had to be removed from Kiyoko’s jowls.
The next day, we drove to North Vancouver for a few days to have a 2nd Christmas celebration with my daughter and her partner. This was different than years past, because usually she comes to our house in the Okanagan. While in Vancouver, we saw the Pink Floyd: The Dark Side of the Moon laser light show at The Dome in the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre. We obtained special seating up front where we had more space for the dog. It was a great show, and it’s good to know that Kiyoko can settle as well as she did with the loud music that sometimes reached 90 decibels.
We also took a hike through Lynn Canyon in North Vancouver, where we crossed the 50m canyon on the free suspension bridge, TWICE. Kiyoko did not have any issues at all, but I, on the other hand, do not like heights, so we did not waste any time getting to the other side, except maybe for a photo of us as proof.
We drove home on New Years Eve from Vancouver, stopped in at COSTCO in Kamloops, and had a quiet celebration, just the three of us, watching the ball drop in Times Square. It was an eventful month with lots of fun activities!
And lastly, we have some news about Kiyoko’s future. She had her GDBarts (Guide Dog Behavioural Response Assessment Test) this month, which, in combination with her eye exam, revealed that she will not be used as a breeding female for PADS but will be going to Advanced Training in the spring. So, we have a few more months to practice her skills and get her ready for school.
Submitted by: Chris Buitinga
