Tails of a CCI Puppy

Successor Service Dog Bright II

2011-11-13T17:42:00.012-05:00

Graduation Day:
It was here...the wait was over...the excitement was overwhelming. Our van of people (me, my mom, my sister, and Team Orson) pulled in to CCI around 9:30am. I walked in to the main lobby area and immediately saw my friend Nancy who was also going through TT to receive her SSD. I gave her a hug and a big Congratulations! Nancy also told me that I would love Bright's new person, Alex, and that the match was absolutely perfect. I then went in search of a trainer...or anyone who would be able to get Bright out for me. Instead, they brought out Buffy first! (Buffy had gone in to the kennels for her heat cycle about 4 weeks before and we were picking her up yesterday as well) I got lots of puppy kisses and hugs from Buffy. YAY!

Finally, they brought Bright out and she looked so beautiful in her new blue pull harness! I think she didn't quite recognize me, until I called out "Pooka!" which was her nickname when she was with me. Then the tail started wagging and she got her happy look. I fell on the floor and gave her hugs and kisses! Then we took a bunch of pictures....

(when they first brought Bright out)

The last one is with my sister...who played photographer!
Then we wandered over to another part of the property and took even more pictures!While we were sitting with Bright, we all noticed that she was constantly searching for someone. She was looking for Alex. Their bond was already so strong that she knew she was missing and wanted to find Alex. Seeing that she was already so dedicated to her new person made me smile. This is what all Puppy Raisers hope for.

After we got to spend awhile with Bright, we were called in to one of the training rooms where they were serving us lunch. Here we were introduced to Alex and her husband Bryan. What a great couple! We talked all about Bright and how TT was for them. I was told that once they saw Bright, they knew that she was the one for them. Perfect! We laughed and shared stories, it was incredible. I gave them the scrapbook that I had made as well as the toys we had bought. I had also made a video for Bright when I was learning how to use a new program.
(tissue alert)

We then got called in to another training room where we had group photos taken. These will go into the video of the graduation and we will also receive them on a cd. The volunteers that create these videos are awesome and I've had the pleasure of knowing them for many years. The videos are done so well and they help us relive all those great moments. I went to talk to Liz, the photographer, and she said that when she saw we had a graduate she was so excited and couldn't wait to tell us congratulations. The CCI family is the best!

After that it was time to head over to the Islandia Marriott for the graduation ceremony. After we got there we were given Bright again to have for the ceremony. Butterflies started fluttering around my stomach as I waited to enter the ballroom where the ceremony was being held. I was nervous because I had been asked to give the Puppy Raiser speech at graduation. This speech is my way of sharing my experience with raising Bright.

The ceremony began and it was different because we were also honoring the Veterans for Veteran's Day. Many thanks to Sam and his Service Dog Gillian for giving a fantastic speech. Then it was time for the Matriculation slide show to start. Butterflies again....but this time because the slide show was created by me, and I wasn't sure how it would go. Everyone loved it though! Phew! Then the butterflies went crazy as Katrina announced me as the speaker. Here goes!

Almost 2 years ago to the day I was sitting where all of you are now and getting ready to turn-in a puppy. It was an emotional day, but it ended on a happy note. That was the day that I was handed a squirmy little 3 month old puppy named Bright II. Katrina handed her to me and I took one look into her eyes and my heart completely melted. This puppy, I knew, was a keeper. A fellow Puppy Raiser walked over and asked to take a look at the new pup in our New Jersey chapter. He looked her in the eye, turned to me and said “this one is special. She’s going to graduate.” And so our journey together began.

As a Puppy Raiser, we are tasked with helping this little puppy learn commands and perfect socialization. Bright however, acted like that little kid in 2^nd grade who declares that they are going to be something important when they grow up and then goes on to achieve just that. Bright declared that she was going to become a Service Dog, because it was what she loved to do the most. Author Natalie Goldberg said, “Trust in what you love, continue to do it, and it will take you where you need to go.” Bright taught herself new things without my help and instinctively knew everything else. I often thought that she was raising herself and I was just along for the ride as her moral support.

You might think that all it takes is one person to raise a puppy. Instead it involves an entire community. Bright learned how to not eat food off the floor from the guy at the prepared foods section of Wegmans. She learned how to patiently stay in a Down and listen to a child read her a story at the local library. She learned how to become invisible in a restaurant and then scare the waitress at the end of the meal by walking calmly out from under the table; the waitress not having any clue that there was a dog underneath. She learned how to do an Up command on many counters at the numerous stores that we visited. And most importantly she learned how to properly behave in any situation.

One goal as a Puppy Raiser is to expose your puppy to every situation or environment possible. Bright took each new challenge in stride. She calmly rode in the car to Rhode Island and Minnesota. She was also asked by Service Dog Orson to go to Disney World, which of course she accepted. I guess the perk of being her Puppy Raiser was that I got to go along too. Did you know that it was a big attraction to see a puppy walking down Main Street in the Magic Kingdom in a pair of yellow booties? How about 2 dogs in yellow booties? Seriously, I’ve never seen so many people video-taping a dog drinking water or eating dinner before!

Each puppy teaches their Puppy Raiser something new. Bright showed me the true meaning of what a Canine Companions dog is – Intelligent, easy to manage, a joy to train, and a best friend who captures your heart and loves you no matter what. She has always wanted to be someone’s extra set of hands and their shoulder to cry on when things get tough. Mary Lou Retton said, “Each one of us has a fire in our heart for something. It’s our goal in life to find it and keep it lit.” Bright has found her “fire” in helping Alexandra in any way she can. I know that she loves what she is doing and that the two of them make an incredible team. So, congratulations to Alexandra and Bright; and Congratulations to every new team that graduates today.

Everyone said I spoke with confidence, but I was up there and shaking I was so nervous! Then the matriculating dogs were honored and the graduate slide show was presented. After that the class speakers were given the floor....and Alex was one of them! Go Team Bright! She and Noah had fun poking fun at the trainers and gave a very lively speech! I guess the one downside for Alex being the speaker was that I had to give my pup up that much sooner. They stayed on stage and Katrina called Bright's name. My mother and I walked up the stage and, emotionally, handed over her leash. Now she was no longer mine, but Alex's and I couldn't have been happier. We clapped and cheered while all the other graduates got their dogs (Nancy was matched with a huge pup named Junior!). Then the graduation was over an it was time to say a final goodbye.

We had all exchanged information earlier and so it was just a matter of giving Bright one more kiss, or one more hug before she went out the door to the newest part of her journey. I was so sad to see her go, but I knew that she was going to get so much love and attention from Alex and Bryan. So we said our goodbyes and made promises to keep in touch. It was bittersweet and worth all the time and effort.

I want everyone to know something though. Being a Puppy Raiser means that your heart breaks a little bit more with each dog that you return to an organization. It breaks, but seeing the end result, and knowing that you helped create that outcome, heals all the broken pieces. It allows a Puppy Raiser to remember why they do what they do. It teaches them that there is a bright spot at the end of the journey. We spend our time training a puppy to be the best they can, and we try to encourage them as much as possible. If you ask a Puppy Raiser why they raise a puppy only to have to give it away again, you will probably receive a variation of the same answer. We do it because we love it, we have a passion for it. All the heartbreak that comes with it? We can deal with that because we know that these pups are going to help someone become independent again, help them become someone that they may never have dreamed possible. We can offer someone hope and dreams and that makes this all worth it.

So finally....congratulations again to Alex and Bright. You guys are a match made in Heaven and I wish you both the best of luck as you begin this new journey together.

At The Beginning

2011-03-30T21:25:00.003-04:00

I always found it interesting how they always say that at the end, you always remember the beginning. Well truer words have never been spoken! As the weeks wind down, I remember that day in November when i picked up Bright. She was a little squirmy thing that wanted to play with everyone. She was handed over to me and I remember my heart melting. This one was a keeper.
Now I think that the ones I want to keep are the ones that are destined for great things. As one Puppy Raiser said that day, "This one is special, she's going to graduate". Tears sprang to my eyes and I had to scold myself and remember that there is a goal to be reached, even if it is very far into the future.

That future is now here! Oh how the time has flown by! That dreaded manila envelope has arrived and so goes the process of turn-in. I think this is the one thing about puppy raising that I dislike the most. Sure, I hate the turn-in day as much as the next person, but I dread the time when that envelope arrives. Its like we can believe that we have all the time in the world to spend with our pups and nothing can stop us. That envelope is like a splash of cold water. A way to remind us that this pup is not ours, and we have to return it in just a few short weeks.

For all you repeat PRs out there, you know what the next few weeks consist of. For those newbies out there? You're in for a bit of a surprise! Once that envelope arrives, time just speeds up. You're in a whirlwind of motion these next few weeks as you get paperwork filled out, vaccinations updated, pictures selected for the slide show. When you finally stop to take a deep breath and prepare, the day of Matriculation is here. Surprise! It snuck up on you when you weren't paying any attention.
So these next few weeks are going to pass by quickly and pull me along for the ride. Bright knows something is different. She knows that there is something coming, but she can't figure it out. This seems to be a trend with my pups. They know something is happening. (Shane ate my cell phone, Tiffany ate my mom's glasses) She has become a bit on the sulky side as if she knows that soon our time together will come to an end and that makes her sad.

So we will spend the next few weeks playing around and working hard on our commands. (She's almost perfect on everything but Speak!) I'm ready for the next few weeks.....BringIt On!!

Introducing....

2011-02-01T22:03:00.003-05:00

Buffy III!

Buffy is the 9th pup I've raised for CCI and I'm super excited to be starting another puppy journey. I still have Bright, and we are still working hard towards her matriculation in May. Like I said before, I like to overlap pups and so today, I picked up Buffy!

Pictures!!

Countdown: 3 Months

2011-01-27T12:50:00.003-05:00

Is it really almost time?

Bright is now 17 months old and the time is continuing to fly past. Was it really over a year ago that she came home with me?
November 2009. CCI November Graduation. That day was a new experience for me, having a pup matriculate and picking up a new pup at the same time. As many people know, I like to overlap my pups. It does take more work, but I find that it's the best way to raise pups. It also helps to have that other pup to snuggle with once your older pup walks away to his/her new life.

And so the countdown begins. 3 months and counting down. Bright, as well as all pups in the NER, are turning in 3 months later than normal. So I have my BrightStar for an extra 3 months. 3 more months of puppy kisses and fun times. 3 more months to get her training correct. 3 more months until I have to give her back.

Out of all the pups that I've raised, she was the one that we did the most with. She traveled all over. To Minnesota, Wisconsin, Rhode Island, and even down to Disney World for a week. The experiences with her have been amazing and she has taught me so much in the time that I have had her. She was another of my "easy" pups and she easily adapted to the environment around her.

Lately I have been working with her on just a flat collar or a martingale. She does wonderfully on either one! Again, an "easy" pup. I wish they could all be like her!

So, 14 months ago I picked up this cute little puppy from NER and together we began an amazing journey. One filled with many new experiences and challenges. We met each one head on and we will continue to work hard. We have a goal to reach: Bright's Matriculation.

So the countdown has officially begun. Time to get ready to receive that turn-in packet. Time to train hard on all her commands. Time to get myself ready to say another goodbye and to send Bright off to "college" with a piece of my heart so she always knows I'm there.........

Tribute to Marvelous Mercer

2010-10-20T13:46:00.003-04:00

A young woman realized that there were many things that she could not do, so instead she wrote stories about how her service dog Mercer could do them for her. Mercer would go ice skating for her, and do everything that she couldn't do. Mercer's stories were published and have warmed the hearts of everyone that has read them.
Sadly, Mercer passed away from cancer at the end of June. He was strong and I know that Shea loved him with all her heart.

The latest version of the Northeast Companion (CCI's newsletter for the Northeast Region) was just delivered to my house this morning. Inside, Shea had written a heart-wrenching tribute to her wonderful friend, Mercer. It touched me so much that I wanted to share it with you all:

"My dear CCI family,
Here is one of those letters I thought I wouldn't be writing until years from now.

As many of you know, me sweet Mercer, born February 15th, 2:10 am, 15 perfect ounces, died of cancer on a weekday in June. I was overseas in Europe - my hero protected me from the pain of seeing him so ill, until the day he died.

After Mercer wasn't there to greet me off the plane, I was told in the parking lot of JFK that he was gone. It was the first time in my entire life where I wanted my world to fade to black. I put my head against the car seat and broke down. "He was my world," I cried. "My entire world."

And like a dear friend would soon tell me, "He still is."
I did then the only thing I could think to do. I started to sing.
Phil Collins - "You'll Be In My Heart." Our song. The same song I would sing to him during thunderstorms, or while he was gently falling asleep in his kennel.
"I know you can hear me," I cried.
And he did.

A week later, on my way to visit a special friend of Mercer's, I turned on the channel of the radio. It was as if the song switched on the exact moment I landed on it.
Disney songs? Never on the radio.
And now, I still see him forming little black circles on my bed, watching me with those infinitely knowing eyes. I know now what he would say to me from heaven.
"Why are you crying?" he'd look at me in bewilderment. "I'm here. And my job is never done. Not even now."

Not even now - I've already met my guardian angel. And once again Merc, you know so much more than I do.
But you've taught me, Mercer. Life is about pulling our head back up from the car seat, and watching the headlights go by you. It's about feeling your heart beating, and wondering if that was a second beat you might have felt with you somehow.

And it's about holding on. Holding on to your collar, holding on to you with all that I am.

Don't think I am letting go.
I love you my sweet boy.

Shea"
Our hearts and thoughts still go out to the Megale family and amazing Shea. Be strong and know that we are all here for you if there is ever anything you need.

Puppy Pictures to Make You Smile

2010-10-15T00:44:00.007-04:00

Not much going on right now as we gear up for the NJ-Chapter's benefit in a week and a half. YIKES! Lots of work to still be done!
But here are some cute puppy pictures that should make you smile! I'll post again (hopefully) when things calm down a bit after the event!

Daniel's Charity Baseball Game

2010-09-28T14:03:00.003-04:00

This past Sunday, CCI was very honored to be the beneficiary of Daniel's Charity Baseball Game! The background story? Daniel wanted to help out other people and decided to host a charity baseball game every year. Each year he would choose a charity and donate all the proceeds from the game to that organization. This year he chose CCI to be the beneficiary!Thanks to our NJ Chapter Public Relations Chair, Jen, for getting us all involved. I believe that she knew the family when she was raising Callie and that's how they learned about CCI in the first place. The game was a "pickup" baseball game between the 11th graders at Daniel's school and the Westfield Police Department. It was a ton of fun and you could see that everyone was having a good time as well.
They had set up some tables which they put auction items on. You could buy a ticket to place in the bags to put in your "bid". Then at the end of the event, Daniel went around picking out numbers and handing out the prizes. It was very well done!
The dogs had a lot of fun meeting everyone and everyone had fun meeting the pups!
Thank you again Daniel for choosing CCI and for inviting us to be there! It was a great event and we had a lot of fun!

Way to go Sgt. Cila & SD Gillian!

2010-09-23T23:42:00.002-04:00

CCI has launched a nation-wide Wounded Veteran's Initiative where they are trying to unite many wounded vets with Service Dogs. The NER recently graduated their first Veteran with SD Gillian. It's a fascinating story from the PR to the day of graduation.

Gillian's PR was a young girl who was diagnosed with a brain tumor at the age of 10. She applied for a wish from the Make A Wish Foundation. Her wish was to raise a Service Dog, and her wish was granted. She received Gillian and it was great to see that Gillian graduated!

Gillian has helped out her new partner, Sergeant Sam Cila, and he was recently interviewed about CCI, You can read the interview here.

Happy Reading and way to go Sam and Gillian!!

Awesome!

2010-09-16T00:34:00.002-04:00

Congratulations to Canine Companions for Independence on the release and start of their new blog! http://blog.cci.org/ is now up and running. They will be updating it with things that are going on across the country. This is a great new step in the direction of new media. Blogging is the big thing today and I know that they learned a lot at BlogPaws this past weekend.

Good job guys!!

The link will be in my links section so that anyone can go view it when they want to know what CCI is up to!

U.S. Open Tennis Day

2010-09-09T20:28:00.011-04:00

Awesome day! Today we had a CCI event at the US Open in Flushing, Queens, NY. Let's just say this....it was incredible!

We left the house today around 9 am and arrived at Flushing Meadows Corona Park around 10:30 am. None of the events started until 11 so we wandered around outside all of the stadiums. Our tickets didn't get us into Arthur Ashe Stadium where the big players were competing, but we had access to all the other courts. We took some pictures once we walked in:I should have known how the day would go when one of the women working the event stood by Bright as we were waiting for the humans to take "hurry" breaks so that she could make sure that no one stepped on her tail!

We then made our way over to Court 11 where the wheelchair tennis was being played. I don't know how many people have seen this being played, but let me tell you...these guys are amazing. One of the guys had his racket strapped around his wrist with a bungee band thingy. The other guy actually had his racket taped to his hand! They were moving all over the court and moving so much faster than I can even run. They put my tennis skills to shame!

Around 12:00 we headed over to the South Gate where there is a really nice fountain. Here we gathered to do a photo shoot. One of our PRs is a professional photographer and Jen has been working the US Open so she knows a LOT of the press people there. It was awesome! I don't know where the photos will show up, but it was really neat anyways! We also had a great time socializing the puppies. As usual, we drew quite a crowd!
Then it was a quick "hurry" break out of the complex and Bright and I had fun and took a picture with the globe and fountain behind her. So neat!
We then headed over to the Louis Armstrong Stadium to see the #1 ranked woman in the world in wheelchair tennis, Esther Vergeer. She's incredible! Her opponent, Florence Alix-Gravellier, gave her a lot of competition, but ended up losing to her in 2 sets, both 7-5. These women were amazing and wheelchair tennis is so neat to watch. After they serve the ball they usually spin their chairs around so that they can get in position to return the ball. I was able to get a bit of video from the match. Just watch how Vergeer moves around the court.

Like I said....amazing!

With wheelchair tennis, the players are given an extra bounce. Instead of having only one bounce's time to get to the ball, the rules are made so that the ball can bounce one more time. This makes sense since they don't have the same movement available to them like able-bodied athletes do. I thought it was a neat little difference and most of the time the athletes didn't need to take the extra bounce, they were just that fast getting to the ball!

While we were sitting and watching the match, we saw that we were being filmed by a cameraman! I think Jen was friends with this guy also and he definitely got a lot of footage of the pups playing with all of us and also enjoying the match.
We left quickly because we were made aware that Anna Kournikova was there doing a photo shoot and autograph session. So we quickly bought a tennis ball and patiently waited in line to meet Anna. The whole time we were being followed around by the cameraman! It felt like we were all celebrities and were in the middle of filming a reality tv show. So cool!

Anna Kournikova was extremely nice and she loves dogs! I think she wanted to take a few of the pups home with her...
In talking to Jen, she said that they were going to do some kind of special or something with the footage that was shot of the pups during the day. Now that would be nice! The cameraman said that he got a lot of great video. Way to go guys!

After that it was time to go...it was already 6pm! As we were headed out we saw a HUGE tennis ball and, of course, the pups had to play with it! It was hilarious watching them jump around the ball. They all wanted to play!
As we were walking out, they had a bunch of workers lined up saying goodbye to people as they left the complex. Well, we knew that we wouldn't be able to just simply walk by, not with the pups around! So another photo opportunity presented itself and the pups performed as usual!

Once we left the complex I wanted to make a quick side trip to Citi Field (home of the New York Mets) which was just across the street. When I was there back in June (as a birthday gift from my parents!) I didn't get a picture in front of the famous Home Run Apple. Debbie and Mina came along as well and we had fun taking some pictures!
Now we are home and resting. Bright immediately passed out and doesn't seem like she wants to do much right now! So I am curled up on the couch and writing this while watching the first football game of the season. Can it get any better than this?

Hope you all enjoy the pictures. It was a super fun day and I hope we can repeat the experience next year!!!

Disney Pictures

2010-09-07T13:14:00.006-04:00

Ok so I think that my blogger account might actually want to be nice to me today and allow me to upload some fun pictures from Disney. Have a fun day today everyone and enjoy the pictures!

At the entrance to the Magic Kingdom!

Bright and Orson. Love how the guy behind them is smiling for the picture too!

We met Princess Aurora! She's my favorite Disney Character. I think Bright liked her too!

Hats anyone?

Hanging out under the big Mickey Sorcerer Hat in the middle of Disney's Hollywood Studios! (It will forever be MGM Studios to me!)
Bright's first Monorail ride!

Grabbed a bus from the Transportation & Ticket Center headed to the Animal Kingdom!

Animal Kingdom! Bright really liked the ducks here....

LegoLand in Downtown Disney. She thought the dogs were real!

Perfect spot for the Electric Light Parade and fireworks in the Magic Kingdom.

Is it starting yet??

Disney was sooo much fun and these pictures aren't even a full representation of what we did. Hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Long Overdue.....Again

2010-09-06T22:28:00.003-04:00

Sorry sorry sorry!! I'm just awful at keeping up with this blog over the past few months. I really am sorry that I haven't been around to post. There really isn't any good excuse except that I have been keeping extremely busy.

Bright had a blast at Disney World and didn't want to leave to come home! We did an awful lot of stuff and we thank Team Orson for inviting us along for the trip! Without them we would not have thought to go down to Disney World and would have missed out on a great time! Thanks guys!

The next few weeks will be jam packed full of CCI events and I will be on the move yet again. This Thursday we are headed to the US Open out on Long Island for wheelchair tennis! CCI NER has put together an opportunity for CCI volunteers, PRS, and staff to go to the US Open and enjoy some great tennis! This should be so cool and I know that Bright is going to have a lot of fun. I will be taking a lot of pictures and I hope to get a post up about that too.

Then this coming weekend we have the start of the street fairs! On Saturday we will be in Cranbury for "Cranbury Day" and then on Sunday we will be at the Red Bank Street Fair. Lots to do! If you're in the area, stop on by!

Until then...happy blogging!

Disney: Day 1 & 2

2010-07-23T00:09:00.003-04:00

Hey everyone!

Well we made it safely down to Florida without too much excitement. Bright travels so well in the car and never seems to mind being cooped up for so long. Awesome! On our ride down to Orlando, we decided to take a small detour and visit the Southeast Regional Center of CCI. It's located just northwest of Orlando and (somewhat) along the way to our hotel.

We stopped there and walked inside. I felt bad just walking in without letting them know we were coming through. Normally the campus gives tours on Tuesday afternoons and we were definitely not there on a Tuesday! But we ended up running into the Puppy Program Manager of SE and he said that he would give us a quick tour of the campus. Yay!

The campus is beautiful! It's fun to visit all the regional centers and see how each on differs from another. In SW they don't have nearly as much property as some other regions, but they can spend a lot of time outside training, so the space works well for them. SE looks like a network of different buildings that all seem to meet in the center of campus where there is an amazing gazebo type area. Everything is spacious and it was great to see how things were done there! We got to watch a bit of a training session going on in one of the training rooms (there was a one-way mirror there!) and saw the dogs getting lunch. There is also a great play yard in the back which has a bunch of agility equipment that was made by a local boy scout troop.
We finally made it to the hotel and checked in, then it was time to get something to eat! Thankfully there was a Cracker Barrel nearby. YUM! Bright was tired and so just stretched out by the table and promptly fell asleep.

We then went and met up with Team Orson and it was off to the parks! Orson had done some talking with the people at Saratoga Springs and he gave Bright a button that reads: 1st Visit. We decided to hit the Magic Kingdom first and hopped on the bus. Yay! Bright's first bus ride! She did so well!

We headed straight for Space Mountain since that's Kimmi's favorite ride. Some of us didn't want to ride, so Orson and Bright went to hang out with them while the rest of us went flying through Space! Seemed like they had a fun time and were getting a lot of attention because they were wearing their booties!

Since I knew that I would be bringing Bright to Disney, I knew that she had to get used to wearing the booties. I started putting them on her a few weeks ago and she took to them so quickly! She does the funny walking for a few steps and then just settles into her normal walk and we are fine.

Afterwards we headed over to the Monsters, Inc Laugh Floor. She slept through that....for the most part. I think she got a bit bored and wanted to see what I was up to, so she bothered me for a bit.

I will say this though, she LOVED the Haunted Mansion! No, she didn't go on the ride, but she loved seeing all the stuff that is along the line. She was looking everywhere because she didn't want to miss anything! She was not a big fan of Pirates of the Caribbean though. I guess the drinking and singing was getting to her a bit and she just wanted out of there!

For all the rides we did a puppy/people swap. Some would ride while others would hold the dogs, then we would swap places and the people that held the dogs before got to go on the ride. It seems to work and keeps the dogs happy....and the people too!

We then decided to call it a night and head back to the hotel. It had been a long day.

Day 2: Up and out the door by 8:30ish....yikes! Today we decided to stay in Disney's Hollywood Studios. We headed over to the Tower of Terror and the Rockin' Roller Coaster. The pups stayed behind again and the rest of us had some fun! We then decided that it would be fun to go see the Indiana Jones stunt show. Bright slept through most of the show, but was woken up when they blew something up. She was definitely awake after that! She then had to do a "Lap" so that she could watch the show for a little bit. I have one curious pup!

Then it was time for lunch, then back to the hotel for some rest and relaxation. With the weather so hot, it works well for us to head back to the hotel for a few hours during the hottest part of the day. This lets the dogs (and people) relax and stay out of the sun. Works out well for all of us! The dogs were wiped out at this point and they both just slept. There was a bit of playing, but it was kept to a minimum.

Then it was back to Hollywood Studios again for our dinner reservations at the 50s Prime Time Cafe. When we arrived we realized that the pavement was pretty hot and so the booties went on their paws again!

The people at the restaurant loved the dogs! Again, Bright and Orson just went promptly to sleep and didn't really move much during the meal. After that we headed out to burn some time before we got into line for "Fantasmic". There was a "dance party" going on in the middle of the park and a bunch of the characters were showing up to dance. Apparently Pluto snuck up behind Bright and freaked her out! I wasn't there, but my mom told me that she was quite spooked. I would be too!

I plan on introducing her to a lot more of the costumed characters so that she can become used to them. Should be a fun thing to do!

The line for Fantasmic was incredibly long and there was no way that we were going to be able to get into the theater if we got online at 9:30 for the 10:30 show. Bummer! But it will be playing again on Sunday, so we are going to try and make one of the shows that night.

Now we are back in the hotel. Bright went right into her kennel and passed out again. This dog is definitely tired!

Pictures will be added soon, I just really need to get some sleep. Night everyone!

A Quick Post

2010-07-21T23:55:00.002-04:00

Well we made it down to Disney in one piece! We stopped by to visit CCI Southeast and then hit the Magic Kingdom with SC Team Orson. I swear there will be more to come, but I'm just exhausted from the day. I hope to have a post up tomorrow complete with pictures!

The best thing to do is to stay updated through my Twitter account located to the right side of the blog. I tend to update that a lot more than write out a long post here!

Headed out on the road

2010-07-20T02:19:00.003-04:00

Bright and I are headed out on the road in a few hours! Any ideas where we are headed?

.....

.....any guesses???

....

....we're headed to Florida and Disney World!!
Bags are getting packed, and so is the car. My parents are coming (they're driving, I am NOT a fan of driving the minivan) and we are meeting up with SC Team Orson at Disney. So much fun I can't wait!

I'll hopefully have enough energy at the end of each day to post here with pictures of the day and any fun stories that came up.

See you all soon!!

Janet Evanovich Book Signing

2010-07-17T19:27:00.006-04:00

Last month we had the pleasure of meeting Janet Evanovich for the second time! We went to another book signing of hers last year as well down in Cherry Hill. Here's a picture from that signing. it was amazing!
This year things were a bit different. We planned ahead and one of the PRs was able to get us wrist bracelets in the top 100 people. Excellent! We arrived around 5pm (the signing started at 6) and had fun catching up with each other. We started off with 4 dogs: Bright, Jensen, Nickel, and Mina. We headed upstairs in the Barnes & Noble to their "Event Room" and waited outside for our numbers to be called.

As many of you PRs know, these dogs get a LOT of attention! We had so many people wanting to take the dogs pictures and were commenting how well behaved the pups were being. Great publicity!

As we were waiting for the signing to start, a woman comes up to us so excited to see the pups. It was Janet Evanovich! She had just arrived and was still taking off her coat and purse. We grabbed a quick picture with her there and she was so happy to see the dogs again!We made our way into the event room and stood in the middle of the room. We were waiting to get into the line to have our books signed and pictures to be taken. So we decided to have a bit of fun with the dogs. Picture time!!
We finally made it into line and Forrest and July show up with their PR! So now we were up to 6 dogs. Awesome! We continued going through the line talking to a lot of people about puppy raising. We were also able to talk briefly with Janet's daughter, Alex. For those that don't know, Alex used to be a PR for CCI many years ago. The Golden on Janet's website is actually the dog that she raised.

We gave Alex a little goody bag from CCI that we made for them. It contained two 35th anniversary mugs, two 35th anniversary key chains, a framed photo of our last time we met her, and an invitation to the NJ Chapter's big event, An Afternoon of Wine & Noses. It was great!
As we were almost up to meeting her, Elvis showed up! And right behind him was Feeney! We were up to 8 dogs. Awesome!
We had a great time taking pictures with Janet and talking to a bunch of different people. We were also joined by Onora and her PR and Team Tomba. 10 dogs! It was an excellent day!

We had books signed and a few of those books will be auctioned off at the Wine & Noses event in October. What a great day with some great people!

A Long Time Coming....

2010-07-16T01:40:00.002-04:00

I swear I will post more often. I really do! Things have been a bit crazy over here and I will try my best to get some new posts out there. I have missed writing here and sharing my adventures.

As a little teaser, there will be a post about our "puppy class" from last month....we met Janet Evanovich again!
And......Bright has a big trip coming up. Any thoughts as to where she will be going?

As well as a new collage at the top of the blog to help celebrate CCI's 35th birthday!

May 2010 Graduation

2010-05-14T19:44:00.002-04:00

To all my loyal readers who keep checking back here for an update, my sincerest apologies!! I hope that I will be getting back into writing on my blog because I really do enjoy it and it's a great way to get the word out about CCI and Service Dogs! (Plus I get to talk, what's better than that??)

Today was a huge day at CCI for we had some regions graduating dogs today as well as kicking off our 35th birthday celebration!

This was a great photo montage that was shown at the beginning of the graduation. It's amazing how this has progressed over the years and the many different things that have happened as well.
As per usual, I did a Team Training lunch for the new graduates about a week and a half ago. It's so awesome to meet the grads on a relaxed level and to learn their stories. I even found that I had a loyal reader in the class! He read my blog and asked why I haven't posted here in awhile (oops!). So I told him that I would make sure to post about his graduation.

The New Jersey Chapter was sending off Ella IV and Estelle II to AT and graduating India III so it was a pretty exciting day! Another exciting event was that Nuri's brother Nico graduated as a Skilled Companion! (And her sister Namiko was selected as a Breeder about a month ago!) Go OMSI pups!

Nico's Puppy Raiser was asked to speak as the Puppy Raiser Speech and she did a fabulous job! It's always fun to hear about other puppy raisers and what their experiences are. At the February Graduation the Puppy Raiser speech was given by a young girl who was diagnosed with a brain tumor when she was 10 yrs old. She was granted a wish through the Make A Wish Foundation which was to raise a Service Dog for someone who needed one. Her dog graduated with the first Veteran graduate for the Northeast Region.

The matriculating pups were then presented and we were cheering on Estelle and Ella (not related!) and their puppy raisers.

Ella being presented by her PR

Estelle being presented by her PR

We then listened to the speaker for the graduating class. Again, an awesome speech! It's great to hear about the graduates' experiences while in TT. It's never easy in TT and I know they work very hard!

Class Speaker

Then each graduate was presented with their dogs and of course the tears were flowing everywhere in the room. It's amazing to see people's faces just light up as their dog is presented to them. When people ask me how I can give up my puppy I just remember the looks on peoples' faces and it makes it all worth it. There's no way of capturing that moment, but when you see it, it makes your mission that much clearer.

India III being presented to his new graduate!

Nico IV presented to his new graduate!

It was a great graduation and, as always, I look forward to the next one in 3 months!

NURI Update: Forever Home

2010-03-03T13:11:00.002-05:00

I'm happy to finally inform everyone out there in the blogosphere that Nuri has found her forever h0me at last! My PPM has been in and out of the office over the past few weeks and so has not been able to give me any news about her. I've been going crazy with not having any news and worrying about Nuri being in the kennels for such a long time since her release. I was told that there was someone coming to see her the week after graduation (February 15-19), but I had not heard anything for the last two weeks. I was worried sick!

I left my PPM a voicemail and emails and I finally heard from her today! YAY! Nuri has been placed with a graduate family in Maine. She will be living with a Service Dog who apparently matches her personality perfectly. I can only imagine! And she will be living in a rural area on a big piece of land where she can run as much as she wants. It's perfect! It would be better if she was closer to me so that I can visit her, but I'm glad that she's happy.

My information was given to her new family and I hope that they are able to get in touch with me and let me know how she is.

Happy 6-month Birthday to Bright II!!

2010-02-17T12:06:00.003-05:00

First let me wish Bright and her littermates a very happy 6 month birthday today!

And second a huge apology for not updating in almost a month. Yikes!!

Bright has still been growing like a weed. She's passed the height of all my COC dogs in the house and I'm sure she still has a lot of growing to do. By far the biggest pup that I have ever trained!

She is doing wonderfully well. Very little seems to distract or bother her which is great! She has been with me at the book store, Dr.'s office, random stores, and even a restaurant! We were out at CCI this past weekend for graduation and went to our favorite restaurant, J&R Steakhouse. She was great! She stayed under the table and, unlike all my other pups, she stayed under the table and didn't bother me. Success!!

Tomorrow Bright goes in for her surgery. It works out well because I have to work tomorrow so I will be going into the back and visiting her constantly throughout the night. Plus, since I'm employee and most of the techs on my shift know me, she will get a lot of attention and kisses! I know she will do fine. Her surgery is set for early tomorrow morning as one of Dr. Heins's first surgeries for the day. I'm sure that by the time I get into work at 4 he will have an update for me and let me know how she is doing. Maybe I can bring her home that night??? We'll see. I'll let everyone know how she does!

Snowing

2010-01-30T22:53:00.002-05:00

Bright is moping because it didn't start snowing here until after it had gotten dark. So we couldn't go out to play since I had company coming over. So she decided to sulk.

Right now she is sitting by the front door looking out the window and wanting to be outside.

Nuri - Change of Career

2010-01-27T14:20:00.002-05:00

(Nuri's first night home)

So I received the dreaded phone call all puppy raisers wish they never get. The phone call to let me know that Nuri is ready to come home, she didn't like college.

Her official reason for release is that she was too excited and it was hard to harness all that energy to get her to train. I think her non existant food drive was a big factor too. She was definitely a difficult one to train! She is such a free spirit and I thought the need for control was always something she battled against. She reminds me of a hippie almost, in the way she would rather rebel against the norm and be her free and crazy self.

She will be staying up at CCI until I can locate a home for her. There were many people that wanted to adopt her while she was in training. So I have placed a few phone calls and text messages to those people since they have seen her grow up. Even people I would not have expected want to adopt her. She's such a sweet girl and loves everyone.(She always loved her blankets)

So am I disappointed she didn't make it? Yes. Am I mad that she didn't make it? No. There are many pups that I think should have made the cut, Shane and Wilara are two of them, but there are some things that come out in AT that I have never seen with them. Could have been a bad day or just some trait that wasn't brought out in my home, but it was at CCI. Each pup reacts differently to the training they receive once they turn-in. It's a different experience than it is in a PR home and that takes some getting used to.

To be honest, I'm more proud of the fact that Nuri made it as far as she did. Since she was so difficult, I know that Lisa gave it her best shot. Katrina, my PPM, made sure to tell me how much Lisa enjoyed working with her and that she made her laugh everyday. That's a great comfort to know and I know my Golden girl had a fun time making everyone laugh. I'll talk more with Lisa hopefully at TT lunch next week and talk about her experience with Nuri.

Even though she has chosen a different path from the one that I was training her for, I'm proud of her. She is going to live the life that she wants for herself. As a PR that's all I can ask for. Her time with me has been the best time ever. Most of the dogs are so well behaved that I am lulled into a sense of ease (cough cough Bright cough cough), but Nuri made sure that I paid attention to her with her antics and she always put a smile on my face.

Lots of love to my Golden child!

Trip to Borders

2010-01-26T12:50:00.002-05:00

Well Bright and I went on a small trip out to Borders this morning. She was great! We worked on walking on the loose leash and not being distracted. We were working on Stay and Here too. I put her in a Sit next to this giraffe they have in the kids section and walked away. She stayed sitting there! Progress!!
Then I was playing around in the kids section with the little girl I watch. Bright was in a Down Stay next to me and she wasn't happy about it! She kept whining and crying because she wanted to get up and move. But I kept being mean and keeping her there. Poor girl!

She seemed to have a good time and it was great to work on her distractions. She likes to watch people and then go over to them and ask for some attention. Guess we know what we have to work on!

First "Official" Outing

2010-01-23T20:57:00.005-05:00

So Bright went on her first "official" outing today with her big girl cape on! I had to run some errands, and since they were going to be quick in and out places it wouldn't be a problem for her. So off we went! She likes being in the car, but she has to see everything I am doing and wants to be a part of it.
Our first stop was Barnes & Noble. She is used to book stores since she did the fundraising at Borders over the holiday season. She was fine, but very distracted by everything around her. Everytime someone came near her, she had to look at them and wouldn't turn to look at me when I called her. Not the best, but we have time to work on that. Whenever I put her in a Down she wasn't happy, but she did stay there. YAY! Small accomplishment!Then we went over to Ulta Beauty to see if I could find my body soap there. No such luck, but it was fun to try her at weaving in and around the displays.

We then went to PetsMart so that I could see what size she would wear for Muttlukks. She seems to be very irritated by the salt used to melt snow/ice so I figured that maybe I would get some shoes for her paws so that she can wear those out. It seems that many graduates want to get their dogs used to them, so I might as well start her on getting used to them now! You never know when it might come in handy. Unfortunately they didn't have a decent pair of Medium sized ones (the mesh bags were all ripped and I was very wary about buying them in that condition) so I just put them on to see if they would fit. It was hilarious watching her get annoyed by that one on her paw! There was an older couple in the same aisle and they were laughing watching her as well. I felt bad so I took it off.

Then we wandered next door to the liquor store and did a quick browse through there.

It was a good outing for her. She was distracted by people, but she never really pulled a lot on her leash. For the most part she was on a loose leash and walked perfectly next to me. YAY! With the other dogs at PetsMart she wanted to go over and play, but I kept her on a firm leash and kept telling her No. She still did great for a 5 month old puppy!

I sure hope the rest of our outings are as easy as this one was! Way to go Bright!

5 Things for 5 Months!

2010-01-17T12:21:00.003-05:00

I think I might try this. Many other bloggers do this when their pups get another month older. So I'll try to remember to do this for every month.

Bright turns 5 months old today and she is doing great so here goes!!!

1. She grows like a weed. Every time I look at her she seems to grow another few inches. She's all legs and looks like a funny puppy with her height. She is the same height as Wilara who is, in her own right, a small lab. It amazes me how big she has gotten and I know she'll continue to grow.

2. She's not afraid of anything. Most of my pups seem to have a fear issue about something while I have them. More than anything, it shows up when they are pups. Bright hasn't shown any hesitation with the things I have thrown her way. She takes everything in stride and is always curious about things.

3. She's a bit too smart for her own good. She has learned how to knock down barriers that we have placed throughout the house. They say that if a dog has a big enough "drive" they can get through anything. She has learned to jump over a gate and knock down anything in her way.

4. She sticks to me like glue. Not the best thing ever, but wherever I am, she has to be. That's why she jumps over everything and knocks things over. It's to get to me. I think she might have to go and spend some time away from me and see how her separation anxiety is. Maybe it's just a trait of hers to stick closely to someone. I hope this helps her in her training as the months go along.

And finally....

5. She's the easiest puppy ever. She never has a problem doing anything and she learns quick. Although she is a bit too distracted by food, we are working on that. I never have a problem with her and it's a great break for me to not have a puppy that needs constant attention and monitoring.

She is really the best puppy ever and I love her to pieces. So today we get to throw aside the "puppy cape" and bring out the "big-girl" cape! If the weather wasn't so awful (it's raining! again!) we would have made a trip out to the outlet mall to start getting in some public work. Guess it will have to wait another day!

Happy 5 month Birthday to my Bright star!!

Almost time to "move on up"!

2010-01-11T14:22:00.003-05:00

Well Bright is quickly approaching 5 months old. Yikes! Has the time really gone by that fast? It's amazing how quick these pups grow up and how quickly the time flies by!

Bright is still amazingly independent and enjoys learning new things every day. Including, and not limited to, jumping over the gate into the hallway from the kitchen. She just sits there, then makes up her mind, and springs into action! It's quite funny and I'll have to get it on video. She's like a little kangaroo! But at least I know that she won't get into too much trouble when she is on the loose. Mostly she will wander around upstairs and then come back down and jump over the gate again to be where we all are.

Her latest fun thing to do is to rip apart garbage bags. I never catch her at it which is frustrating. She seems to hide everything by looking so innocent, then I walk a little ways further and there is a path of destruction. Not good! So we are keeping a closer watch on her (not like we don't already!).

But she is still learning a lot and quickly. She will graduate to her "next" step in her training and be allowed to wear her "big girl" cape very soon! In less than a week she will be 5 months old and be able to wander out in public. Watch out world! Here comes a Bright star!
Her cape was brought to us by Jen when she came to collect all the samples from her study when she was finished with it. She was delivering everything that had to go out to raisers in the next two months. So we got her cape early, but I was being good and not putting it on her and taking her places. It was tempting though! I put her cape on when I took pictures before Christmas of her. It was so big! But she looks so cute in it!

"First Turn-In" Poems

2010-01-07T11:13:00.003-05:00

Every now and then I come across some great poems and stories that graduates and PRs write. The other day on the Yahoo! Groups that pertain to CCI a graduate posted a few poems that she wrote. I love them! Here we go!

Dearest Puppy raiser,

You say we soon will part.

Just be sure to remember

you'll always be in my heart.

So now we must have courage -

both of us you see

'Cause I must learn a new job

And Oh! I want to succeed!

So cry, my Puppyraiser,

but please don't be sad

for you have taught me all about love

for that you should be glad.

Of course, I learned some other things,

like all young puppies do,but

nothing like the love you gave

a task I most must do.

I will ne'er forget you

for you are my first love,

but I have another calling

my destiny from Above

I need help another person

be all that they can be,

despite a damaged body

and sometimes broken heart

So, wish me well with my new task,

I know I can succeed.

"Cause I want to be devoted

to a new friend so in need.

You know about God's angels

With the wings and fancy lace?

Well, I am really one of them,

Just with a puppy face.

Lyn & Vannote 2/99

And then this one as well....

Oh, dear God in heaven,
Are you listening to my prayers?
I'm going to get a puppy,
Oh, dear God in heaven,
Are you listening to my prayers?
I'm going to get a puppy,
Are you listening to my prayers?
I'm going to get a puppy,
The day is almost here!

Please bless me with the courage
for this momentous task,
And is some love and humor
way too much to ask?

My mind may have to struggle
With lessons and with tests,
But if I have Your Presence
I know I'll have success.

I have another worry, too
Can I really love this pup?
He already has nother love
who "had to give him up".

Is any puppy just "OK"
Or will we be so rare,
To hear the rhythm of our hearts
beating as a pair?

This puppy will be special,
More than just a pet.
He's born to be my helper,
that I never will forget.

About his puppy raiser, God,
Please help me in the 'morrow.
understand their sacrifice.
Can parting be sweet sorrow?

Give me grace and gratitude
For all the love they've shared
I really am so thankful
and I know how much they care.

Thank you, God, please guide us
safely through our fears.
For all those slurpy puppy kisses
Have become my weepy tears.

Lyn Geiser

Again, this is why I do this. This is why we all do this. Some people say that it takes a certain person to be able to raise a puppy. I agree. You need to be strong and loving at the same time and many people can't do that.

I love my puppies and I will continue to be a PR for as long as I can.

Happy New Year!!

2010-01-01T12:32:00.002-05:00

Bright and I want to wish everyone a happy and healthy New Year! We both promise to work hard together this year and get Bright ready for her next phase of training (I know, getting a little ahead of myself, but I have to prep sometime!).

We are ready for whatever the new year wants to throw our way!
Well.....Bright feels more comfortable sleeping the new year away.....

NURI Update!!

2009-12-30T12:52:00.003-05:00

(Another new post below this one)
Well true to their schedule, Nuri's December AT report came in my email today! I was sitting at my computer anxiously checking my inbox and waiting. Then my phone buzzed to alert me to a new email and I immediately opened the report!

It's a good report, by Nuri's standards. She is so goofy, I love it. Here we go!!

She is in good health and passed all her medical tests. (phew!)
She is learning Retrieve, Hold and Push. All interactive and working with an ambulatory person.
The only behavior she is exhibiting is "Solicitous" which isn't bad.

Here is what is written in the Notes Regarding Behaviors Section:
Nuri is currently learning to hold various items and polishing her basic commands. She is slow to progress with the push command due to her low food drive. At times she can be very active and solicitous. I am working on her learning to be appropriate with her interactions and response to correction. In public she was distracted by her environment but remained responsive. In the play yard she will play keep away when I call the dogs into the kennel. I am working on improving this. She is easy to manage during grooming although will vocalize during nail clipping.

None of this is any surprise to me. She always wanted to play keep away when she was playing and would occasionally, mostly whenever it suited her, come back when called. Nothing I could do would change her behavior. That's just the way she is. She is also the kind to not want to come any closer to you if she has you in sight. She will just sit there and look at you like you were not that intelligent and be like, "I'm right here, I don't need to come any closer!" Yeah, used to drive me nuts!

It seems like she is having fun and behaving herself which is all I can ask for. I also heard about her brother Nico that turned in this past November as well. He is doing a bit of "fawning" and "excessive body contact" which is quite amusing. Silly Nico!! And Nanette, Nuri's sister who also turned in in November, was released just before Christmas. She is going to live with one of her PRs which is awesome. They were lucky enough to get her home before Christmas and I know they enjoyed a great Christmas with her!

Hope everyone enjoyed the holiday season, and have a Happy New Year!!!

Happy Holidays!

2009-12-30T12:21:00.004-05:00

It's been a very crazy month of December and things have been busy around here! Christmas was a lot of fun and Bright was so well behaved the entire time!! I love it! We took some pictures in front of the tree and she didn't seem very happy with me, but I did it anyways.

(Note: I know she is still under 5 months old, but her puppy cape was delivered to me early and so I put it on her for the pictures alone. She still only wears her puppy cape when doing anything. Plus her big girl cape hangs off of her which is quite comical)

We had a ton of snow over Christmas and Bright loved it!! She was jumping around and doing back flips and kangaroo jumping through the snow. We got a total of around 18 inches so the snow was quite high for her. We cleared an area where she could use the bathroom without sinking in the snow!This picture was taken before it got really bad outside.

We then had a day full of rain which washed away all the snow (yay!) and Bright was not happy. She kept trying to find a small patch of snow to "hurry" on and was sad to see them all get washed away. It was hilarious!

We also finished up our gift wrapping at Borders for the year. Great times had by all and raising awareness for CCI as well as getting donations. Here are some pics from the last day at Borders. Bright slept the whole time, lazy dog!

Bright's Favorite Purple Ball

2009-12-18T12:56:00.002-05:00

We have this old toy that is a round purple ball with cut out holes in it. On the inside is a little green ball that rolls around, but is too big to slip through the holes in the purple ball. Bright loves this toy and I finally had the camera nearby when she was playing with it and managed to get some video of her in action. It's hilarious!!

Yes those are my feet in the video in my awesome slippers. Nuri used to love carrying them around the house and I had to hide them whenever I had them off of my feet.

NURI Update!

2009-12-17T14:18:00.002-05:00

Well we haven't gotten the newest AT reports like those lucky ones in NCR, but something equally as good! Enjoy!Anyone able to tell where my goofy Golden girl is???Yeah, she's the silly one!

CCI Christmas in the Kennels

Twas the night before Christmas and the kennels were still,

With most dogs now asleep having eaten their fill.

The Labradors sprawled out, quite snug in their beds,

While visions of ANYTHING edible danced in their heads.

And the Lab/ Golden crosses curled up on the floor,

The Goldens twitched in their sleep and some even did snore.

The dog food was stacked in the feed room with care,

In hopes that a trainer soon would be there.

On the window ledge, one of the kennel cats lay,

Surveying the lawn at the end of this day.

Something was different, that little cat knew.

Tonight something would happen, it had to be true.

For that day as the workers had left to go home,

They’d wished “Merry Christmas!” before starting to roam.

The dogs had noticed it to during this past week's walks,

The trainers seemed just that much happier and eager to talk.

In the mall where they worked through the maze of people and stores,

There were decorations and music and distractions galore!

Most dogs pranced along without worry or fear,

But some balked at the man on the sleigh and those fake looking deer.

The cat was almost asleep too when he first heard the sound,

A whoosh through the air and a jingle around.

It reminded him of a dog's collar when the animal shook,

But this sound kept on growing. He'd better go look.

From the ceiling there came a faint sort of thunk,

As the kennel cat climbed to the highest pile of junk.

Once before people had worked on the roof,

And come down through the trap door to a chorus of "Woooof!"

But the dogs still were quiet, all sleeping so sound,

As this man dressed in red made his way right on down.

He patted the cat as he climbed past his spot,

Then made his way right to the trainers' coffee pot.

A Labrador sat up, not fully awake,

Then a Golden followed her with a mighty loud shake.

That did it! All the dogs sprang to life with loud noise.

In spite of the din, the old man kept his poise.

He filled the pot full and it started to brew,

Then he pulled up a chair and took in the view.

Dogs all around him, so carefully bred,

He knew well their jobs, the tasks that lay ahead.

Some had stopped barking and looked at him now,

While others delighted in their own deafening howl.

Laying a finger in front of his lips,

The jolly old man silenced the excitable yips.

"You all may not know me, but I'm Santa Claus,"

The old man smiled and took a short pause,

While he filled up his mug with hot liquid and cream,

"I've always wanted to stop here. It's been one of my dreams."

The cat had climbed down and was exploring Santa's sack.

"Yes, little kitty, that's an empty pack."

Santa smiled as he drank and looked at those eyes,

Deep brown ones and gold ones held wide in surprise.

Some of these dogs, he'd seen just last year,

In their puppy homes, cute and full of holiday cheer.

He'd seen the effects of a pup on the tree,

But now they were here at the school, just waiting to be.

"I didn't bring you presents or bones just to chew.

I'll tell you something better, what you are going to do.

You all will work hard and the trainers will share,

Both praise and correction, gentle and fair.

You'll go lots of places and face big scary things.

You'll ride buses and subways and hear fire sirens ring.

Cars will drive at you but your path you will stay,

Not moving into danger let your handler lead the way.

And then just when you think that this trainer's the best,

The kindest, most fun person, toss away all the rest,

That trainer will begin to ignore you and give you away,

Handing your leash over despite your dismay.

Now the person who pets you and feeds you may ask,

For your expert help in many a task.

This man, woman or child whose heart you with snatch,

Thanks to CCI you will make a great match.

So, you well-trained dogs it is no big surprise,

You will work as a team and discover the size

Of this great world we live in, because you will go

A million new places with this person, you know.”

Santa sipped at his coffee and looked over the brood,

Knowing what he had to say next might sound kind of rude.

"Not all of you will make it and become a working pair

Your time here isn't wasted though, please don’t despair.

Some of you will be drug dogs and some will find bombs.

Some will become pets in a home with a dad and a mom.

All these things are important. People wait on long lists

To receive such good dogs as you, the school folks insist.”

The last drop of coffee had gone into his cup

As Santa turned, smiling at each wide-eyed pup.

"The best gift of all is to give something back.

That's why there's nothing for you all inside of my pack."

Draining his mug, Santa went to each pen,

And petted and scratched each dog again and again.

"Now next year and many more years after that,

You all will give gifts wherever you're at.

You might lick a hand that's had a bad day,

Or retrieve an object that’s fallen out of the way.

You might help catch a crook or discover some loot,

Or just bring some joy to a tired old man in a funny red suit.

Your master will love you and treat you with care.

In return, your training and trust will always be there."

After the last dog had been petted and soothed,

Santa put away the coffee pot and made ready to move.

Up the ladder he rose to the door high above,

With a smile and a wave as he slipped on his gloves.

And all the dogs’ ears were pricked as he disappeared out of sight.

"Merry Christmas to all, and to all a Good Night!"

An Update and a Story

2009-12-16T14:03:00.004-05:00

Well Bright and I have been super busy as we gear up for the holiday! We have been at Borders every Saturday raising money for CCI and doing quite well! We also have been handing out a lot of brochures and recruiting some (hopefully) new puppy raisers which is just great. The awareness that we do at these gift wrapping sessions in amazing and so many people are better informed for it too. It also amazes me that now most people will ask about petting the dogs because they see their vests on. Now I get "Oh well they have a vest on and I know that I can't pet them." This is what I call success! When my family first started raising puppies we were constantly having to tell people not to pet the dogs since they are working. Now, 7 years later, most people in this area know about the dogs and will ask first! It's so great.

As of today Bright is finished with her study for CCI. YAY! No more recording poops and keeping track of everything. I can give her treats now too!! I didn't mind the study, it was quite fun actually, but I'm glad it's over. We were at the vest yesterday for the last of her shots and she weighed in at 32.8 lbs! Yikes! I had her at the vet last Tuesday for her serum sample collection and nasal swab and she weighed 30.8 lbs then. So here is a list of her weights since I got her:
November 17th - 25 lbs
November 24th - 26.7 lbs
December 8th - 30.8 lbs
December 15th - 32.8 lbs
She is growing so fast and pretty soon she will be passing Wilara in height. Crazy!In the newest version of CCI's newsletter, The Companion, there was a little story written by an NCR graduate that I wanted to share with everyone. This doesn't just go for CCI puppy raisers, but for all puppy raisers across the country that have opened their hearts to a little fluff ball.

For All the Puppy Raisers
This story was submitted at cci.org/mygreatstory
by CCI Graduate Sharon Heyer

While I was hoping for a miracle and something to make my life better, a Canine Companions puppy raiser was having sleepless nights as she housebroke a puppy. While I was filling out papers and waiting for my name to come up on the list, she was taking a puppy to obedience classes and socializing him to the world. When I was called for Team Training and planning a trip, she was hopeful the puppy would pass tests so he could be there too. When I traveled to Ohio to meet my new partner, she was praying that her puppy would make a placement. When I was nervous and waiting to see what dog would become my arms and legs, she was nervous and waiting to know if all her hard work had paid off. At graduation, when I was excited to leave with my new independence, she was saying goodbye one last time. When I was at home with my new service dog snuggled with me in my bed, she was at home trying to ignore the empty spot where he used to be. When she thought she was alone and feeling her loss, we were thinking of her and carrying her love in our hearts.

Santa Picture

2009-12-11T12:40:00.001-05:00

Well the other day I took Bright to the mall to get her picture taken with Santa! She was excellent and I guess we don't have to worry about her being afraid of people in costume. She saw Santa and immediately wanted to get into his lap. She was so cute! We got a good picture of her.
I'm not sure yet, but I might take Bright to get her picture taken with Santa at work as well. RBVH is having Santa pictures this weekend and I'm considering taking her and Wilara on Sunday to get their pictures taken! I'm still trying to come up with a few good ideas for pictures this year. Still thinking. Anyone have any good ideas??

A New Bed

2009-12-06T12:17:00.005-05:00

A snuggly update:

We got ANOTHER new bed! Bright likes this one a lot better, whenever she can fight her way to getting it of course! Wilara seems to spend most of her time sacked out on this bed.
Look at that cutesy face! Awwwww......

So my mother was at Sam's Club today and picked up a new dog bed for the kitchen that the 4 dogs can all fight over. There is another one, but nothing beats a brand new bed!! The new one is quite interesting because they haven't been able to find a way to stay IN the bed. They keep falling out! Gives a new meaning to falling out of bed.....My sister's Sheltie, Jewely, has the right idea. Seems that she is quite comfy laying there like that. Looks good to me!

So since Bright couldn't really figure out how to best lay down in the new bed, she went over to the older bed and fell into it and promptly fell asleep. Oh the good life....

Goodbye Power Cord....

2009-11-30T12:18:00.002-05:00

So today I was at the doctor's office and left Bright home with my mother to watch. Not good!! She proceeded to chew through my power cord for my laptop! So now I have to order a new one and I'm without a computer until then. What will I do now???? More time for training!

And she looked so innocent when I scolded her for chewing on the cord. She has tried to chew it apart before, but we have always been able to stop her before she got that far. Oh well, hopefully I will catch her next time!!But how can you possibly resist and yell at that face???

And onto Christmas we go!

2009-11-28T20:05:00.003-05:00

I used to work at Borders in Eatontown years ago and I always saw that they had free gift wrapping where organizations and groups would come in and wrap gifts and just ask for donations. So I started seeing if we could get CCI there to get some donations. Here we are, two years later and we are having fun again at Borders!!!We always have Black Friday and the Saturday after Thanksgiving from 9-4 to do some gift wrapping. It's always a bunch of fun and we always try to get a whole group of people there.

We were at Borders yesterday from 7-4 since they opened early for the "holiday". I also made a sign for us so that we can attract some more people on their way out.We were joined by pup in training Spike II and SC Orson and Kimmie. It was a lot of fun!!Today my mom and I were on our own with Bright, but were joined at the end of the day by newly graduated SD Monty and Nancy! Another great day.
We make some money, but really it's a great way to spread the word about CCI and Service Dogs in general. I'm not sure if I have said this before, but Service Dogs in my area are something that people have no idea about. This area is dominated by The Seeing Eye in Morristown which has been there for probably about 30 something years. Seeing Eye, or Guide Dogs really, are the only kinds of dogs that people associate with a "working dog". It's a bit frustrating because I am constantly having to correct people and tell them that no, she is a Service Dog in training. Just a bit annoying, but I know where people are coming from since The Seeing Eye is so prominent in our state.

But this weekend we passed out a lot of brochures and received almost $200 in two days!! Not bad, and we spread the word about working dogs.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

2009-11-26T22:52:00.002-05:00

Like Bright, I'm wiped out from a very great Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!

Nuri Update: November AT Report

2009-11-24T20:10:00.003-05:00

Well with Thanksgiving on Thursday and no one working on Wednesday (well for the most part anyways!) the AT reports went out today instead! So I was very excited to see what Nuri's report read.

For the most part it told me everything that I already knew would be the case. Her trainer is Lisa (YAY!) and she is still pending on her health evaluations. She went on a field trip to Petco and there they take them off their GLs and take their vests off and just see how they react in an environment. Nuri apparently wanted to meet and greet all the other dogs in the store! Very shocking for her since she tends to be a bit more aloof towards other dogs.

She was also forging on her leash which is something that is not really news to me. I have been trying to work with her on a flat collar and she was never very good at this. She worked better while on the GL than anything else. It will be interesting to see how she progresses as she begins to work with a prong collar.

She has also adjusted well to the kennels which is something that I was a little worried about. She has stayed in the kennels before and I hoped that this would calm her down when she turned-in. Seems that it worked out well!!

It really wasn't a bad report, but again, it's only been about a week and a half of her being there. She begins her Advanced Training next week and that's when all the fun begins! It will be interesting to see her next report and see how she has progressed.

Until then I'll have to entertain you all with stories of little Bright!

A Bright Beginning....

2009-11-18T14:20:00.007-05:00

Well little Bright II has been home with me since Saturday and has settled in nicely. She has started to follow me around the house and keep me in her sights at all times! It's hilarious!

Well after Nuri went back into the kennels, Katrina brought out Bright and all the oohing and aahing began because she is such an adorable little puppy! We took a few pictures with her and she is so good! She's going to be a big puppy, I can already see it. Sandy, a fellow PR, did a quick check into her eyes and he pronounced that she will graduate! After having her for a few days, I can believe it.

The love of a puppy can be a big help when overcoming the loss of turning in a puppy. This has been a new experience for me since normally we overlap our puppies by either a few weeks to a few months. I have never before turned-in a pup and picked up another. I was handed this little bundle of fluff and my heart immediately melted. Here was this adorable puppy with the longest ears I have ever seen and so many wrinkles that when she lays down, her entire brow area furrows and all you see are wrinkles. I knew then that a new chapter had started and that it really was off to a Bright new start.

It's weird in the house now that Nuri is gone. It's very quiet! The last few months Nuri decided to start alert barking and nothing I did helped to make her stop. Bright hasn't really barked yet, but did let a yip out the other day! She doesn't seem to like the car very much since she whined a portion of the way home. When my pups are old enough (or big enough) they are no longer in a crate when we travel. Instead we put them into doggy-seat belts! This is an easier way of restraining them than constantly putting in the crate and taking it out whenever we have to go somewhere. Can be a bit cumbersome! Instead Bright wanted to be as close to me as possible.

On Sunday I had to pick my brother up from the airport and Bright came along with me to get her used to the car rides. I have the sling carseat cover in the back fo my car and she managed to flip herself over the side trying to get up to the front with me! So we really have to work on that.

Bright has picked up on "Sit", "Hurry", and "Let's Go" already which is awesome! We have been working on "Shake" since she likes to do that anyways. She's such a bold and independent puppy as well. I took her on her first public outing: Borders! All the employees love it when I bring the puppies to the store to say hello. And it's the perfect place for me to introduce the puppies to larger crowds of people.

We went to the kids section of the store where I knew that they had a big stuffed Golden Retriever. Nuri was a little timid around the stuffed animal. Bright was the complete opposite! She wanted to play and in her exuberance she toppled the thing over a few times.

I took her to the vet yesterday to let the doctor meet her and evaluate her. Dr. Heins said that he sees a little bit of discomfort in her hips but that he doesn't think that should bother her later in life. So that's good! He said that he will just keep an eye on it. She also weighed in at 25 pounds!!! YIKES! Huge puppy! Well she is 3 months old, but that's still a big puppy. Maybe too much loose skin?? LOL

I'm happy to have this new little puppy in the house. I love puppies and I'm excited to see where this new journey will lead me!

The End of Another Chapter to my Story

2009-11-15T20:43:00.008-05:00

I know many people are waiting for this post, and I will try to do it some justice! Turn-ins are never easy for me and I hope that I can get all my thoughts into this post! And to let people know:

TISSUE ALERT! (and very long post)

So I was up early on Saturday to make the long drive out to Long Island and NER's home office. We barely made it 15 minutes on the road when I realized that I forgot my camera! So we turned around at the next exit and went to get my camera. We also realized that we forgot the seatbelt for Bright! We have one for Nuri, but it's waaaay too big for Bright to fit into. Couldn't find the seat belt, but found my camera and off we went again. After picking up Karen we continued on our drive.

We made it to NER with plenty of time and got there around 10 am. I went into the center and headed over to one of the training rooms. There they have three tables set up with signs behind them that have the first two letters of pups names on them to direct people to their appropriate table. Kind of like when you vote and you go by last name, this is by the puppy's name. So we went over to Lauren (who was Shane's trainer!) since she was sitting at the table we needed to go to.

Now many PRs already know how it goes at turn-in. We sit at the table and answer a whole bunch of questions. What nicknames does she respond to? Any medical problems? Anything that we need to know? I always answer as truthfully as possible. I also joked around with Lauren and asked her if she was ready for Nuri to come in and her response was "well physically we are..." I was cracking up laughing and it made the whole process that much easier to go through.

I informed Lauren of Nuri's habit of pulling out her fur near the base of her tail. It's an odd behavior and we really haven't figured out why she is doing it. It's not irritated or hot or anything like that. I believe that it might be behavioral and she does it out of boredom. It could be, not too sure, but they will keep an eye on her with that.

I got Nuri's cape and blue collar and leash that signifies that she is a puppy that is Matriculating that day. Then it was time for pictures! We took many pictures of Nuri in her cape and here are a few of them:We met up with MaryAngela and she's raising Nuri's brother, Nico. We took a bunch of pictures with the two of them on the bench since Nico made that his little bed and didn't want to be moved from it! We all joked that we were going to have to carry him on the bench to Graduation since he didn't want to move!It's crazy to see the differences in the two of them. Where Nuri is light in color, Nico is so red. Nuri is high-energy and Nico likes to sleep all day. Nuri's face is so dainty and Nico has the bigger head. It's so weird!

At 12 we headed over to J&R's Steakhouse for lunch! They love us there and love to see the pups as they come through. It just happened to be the 5 of us this time and just Nuri as the sole puppy. The food was delicious as always and Nuri was incredibly well behaved the whole time we were there. She laid down next to my chair and pretty much stayed there the whole time. I was so proud of her!We went to the Islandia Marriott where graduation was held and I decided to take some more pictures. I was also looking around to see who else from the NJ-Chapter was there. Dave & Regina were turning in India and I wanted to get a picture of Nuri and Indy together. (I managed to catch up to them after the ceremony)We then went in to the ceremony. The ceremony is always heart breaking and I am always filled with so much pride when I see Nuri's part of the Matriculating slideshow. My eyes were watering when it was my turn to present Nuri and receive my certificate from CCI for raising her.

India and Nuri

The ceremony was beautiful and it was great to see all the new graduates receive their dogs.

Now comes the hard part: Turn-In.

We made it back to CCI NER and back into one of the training rooms. I saw other people going through the turn-in process and was glad that I had done that before. This allowed me some time with Nuri without having to just answer the questions and then say goodbye. I'll put it plain and simple, I was a complete mess. Nuri wanted to wander and all I wanted to do was hug her and just tell her how much I love her and will miss her. I spent about another 10-15 minutes with her before Katrina came my way. She had paperwork for me to sign for Bright. After I finished signing everything she asked if I was ready. (Of course I wasn't ready, but what else could I say?) So I whispered "Be good and Behave" into her ear and gave her a last kiss before handing her leash over to Katrina.

As I wrote in my post before, all NER puppy raisers hand over their leash and then watch as their pup walks away down the long hallway and disappears through the doors to the kennels. Well that's what happened with Nuri. Off she went without a glance back. Of course she had to stop right before the door to scratch. I started laughing through my tears as I recognized her usual stall tactic. As always, we stand there with the tears streaming down our cheeks and watch as a piece of our heart walks away to begin a new part of their journey.

I cry each and every time, but know this: I am proud to be a Puppy Raiser. I am proud of the pup that I just returned to CCI. And I am proud to say that I am able to open up my heart time and time again and love these puppies until their time to journey on without me arrives.

So I close another chapter in my CCI story. This one was a lot longer than the others and filled with more frustration and puzzlement than normal. But even through it all, I am happy to have known and loved Nuri for the past year. She is an exceptional dog and as CCI's motto goes: "Exceptional Dogs for Exceptional People" And I truly believe that Nuri can become one of those exceptional dogs.

So to Nuri, I wish you the best of luck in Advanced Training. Pay attention and work your hardest to be the best that you can. Know that I love you and miss you every day and I'm wishing you all the luck that I can. You have made me a smarter Puppy Raiser and I thank you for that. You have also helped me to become a more patient person and to listen to my pups when they tell me things. You have taught me so much that I will never forget any of your lessons and I will use those lessons well.

Love to my little Golden Girl...

Almost time for Turn-In

2009-11-11T10:54:00.002-05:00

(possible tissue alert)
Well the days are quickly winding down and I'm preparing Nuri for turn-in. It's one of those days that puppy raisers across the country know so well. These little fluff balls come into our lives not knowing much and we accept them each for who they are. Through patience and constant repetition we begin to guide these dogs to an ultimate goal of graduating as a working dog. Whether you are raising a Service dog or a Guide dog, all puppy raisers travel the same road and have the same temporary ending. We all must give them back to the organization that they truly belong to.

But I always remember that I am doing something for a greater purpose. I am working hard to make another individual's life easier and more independent. This purpose alone helps me to get through the difficult day of Matriculation. I go with a heavy heart, but one that is also filled with an incredible amount of pride and accomplishment. I have started this amazing dog on a great journey and helped them to become a well behaved, well trained dog.

So on Saturday I will be a complete mess. I will be laughing and smiling on the outside, but inside my heart is breaking yet again, as I let another puppy begin a new phase of their life. I am usually ok during the ceremony (tearing up of course!) but I truly fall apart when the trainers or kennel staff come to take the puppy from me and escort them to the kennels. As any NER puppy raiser knows, they take the pup and we watch them walk away praying that the pup doesn't turn around to look for us. When they disappear through the doors to the kennels we stand there, left behind, with tears rolling down our faces. I hope that my pup doesn't turn to look for me, that shows that they have been well trained and are trusting towards others. They will follow others and not constantly be looking for us. I will know that I have done the best job I can and I'm sending them off to "college" with some great training.

This year has been an unusual one for me. I have been one of those "lucky" ones that has to turn-in two puppies in one year. I had to turn-in Wilara in February and now I turn-in Nuri in November. I let each puppy go with a whispered "be good and behave" hoping that they will follow my warning and act like the good little girls that I know they are.

To all CCI Puppy Raisers with dogs matriculating on Saturday, or the following Saturday depending on your region, good luck to all of you and stay strong. The puppies have been trained well and have had an amazing time with you. Know that they will try their hardest to do you proud and if they happen to have a Change of Career, I hope you welcome them home with loving, open arms.

A trip out to SouthWest

2009-11-10T12:19:00.010-05:00

So last week I went out to the SouthWest, aka, Los Angeles for a short mini-vacation! It was incredible and I had a great time! We decided to stop in to the SouthWest Regional campus of CCI and check out the facility. They are also in the middle of Team Training now and so we weren't sure whether we were going to be able to see the campus or not. The campus normally gives tours to the public on the first Thursday of every month and we were hoping to make it to the campus on time!

Instead we arrived about a half hour after the tour began and it turned out that no one showed up for the tour so the woman left! We were very disappointed, but I had been communicating back and forth with SWR's PPM and Stu said that he would be happy to give us a quick tour! I was so excited and very thankful to him for taking an hour out of his extremely busy day to show us around the campus. He really is a great guy and I can see how he makes a great PPM.

So here are some pictures that I took!The front of the campus

My mother and I in front of the sign for the SouthWest!

An area dedicated to PRs and Graduates. The bricks all have names and such on them.

This is what the sign reads. I love it!!

One of the resident cats. I don't think it liked being disturbed!

This is on the outside of the campus wall. I saw this first thing as we came up to the campus which alerted me to the campus! What a great sign!

The campus really is beautiful and is so open and airy! It's so different from NER since they have such a constant in temperature and can do a lot of work outside on the grounds. It's a lot of stuff packed into a small (2+ acres I believe) area, but it really works well for them. Stu was saying that they would like to expand, but there is no more room! They are boxed in by the roads on three sides, and a therapeutic riding school on the fourth side. But, like I said, it is so nicely spaced out that they are well situated.

Gorgeous campus!!!

Also, while at Downtown Disneyland we spotted a puppy-in-training from Guide Dogs of America! Having this blog has helped me to see a lot of the other organizations and recognize their capes and vests. So I saw this dog and immediately recognized it from a distance! Was anyone at Downtown Disneyland on Saturday Nov. 7th from GDA?? The pup was a yellow lab/golden cross from what I could see and very well behaved! The woman was too far ahead of me to catch up to her and have a quick chat.

Then a little while later I saw ANOTHER dog walking around! I'm not sure where this dog was from, but again looked like a yellow lab/golden cross with a blue cape on, but not CCI. I didn't recognize anything about the vest, but that doesn't mean anything! I tried to get a picture and this is what I ended up with!

As you can see, I barely got the dog's behind! Anyways, it was a fun trip and I wished I had Nuri with me since there were so many experiences that she would have loved to experience!

Nuri was spayed!

2009-11-04T12:53:00.003-05:00

Well we received a decision from National about whether Nuri would be kept intact or not after she was turned in. I told NER that if she was going to be spayed anyways, then I might as well get it done before she turns in. Working at the vet office lets me get the spay at a discounted rate and so it saves everyone some money!

So Nuri went in on Monday and she had the surgery in the afternoon. Dr. Trotter came out to find me in Reception to tell me how the surgery went. She did great! There were no complications or anything and she was back in the Dog Runs recovering. I went back there a few times throughout the night to see her. She was really out of it and a bit depressed. I tried to coax her to eat her dinner, but she wasn't very interested in it.

When I left work at midnight she looked at me like I was abandoning her. I felt so bad!!

I picked her up yesterday after coming home from NER for a TT lunch (more on that in another post!) She was so happy to see me when I went into the back to get her! Of course she wasn't eating her breakfast either (typical!), but she was so happy to get out and go home.

Thankfully she has not gone after the incision and so does not have to wear an e-collar. Although that would be hilarious to see her with it on! I'm sure she's happy about that too.

Please keep Tiffany in your prayers

2009-10-28T14:37:00.004-04:00

(Another new post is below this)

I wanted to let everyone out there know about my lovely Golden Girl, but not the one most of you are familiar with. Most of you know about my girl, Nuri, but she is not who I am talking about

Pup #3 is Tiffany III and she has always held the biggest part of my heart out of all the pups that I have raised. She is the one that I hoped failed the program and I could get her back. I was beyond thrilled, however, when she was paired up with James III and the two of them began their incredible journey together. With Tiffany, James is a whole new teenager and is living a life that has small signs of autism still remaining.

We received an email from Tiffany yesterday telling us that Tiff suffered a stroke the other day. Her family noticed that she was drooling a lot and her jaw was hanging open more than usual. She was taken to see the Vet and saw a Neurologist. They are not positive as to what caused the stroke to occur, she's only 5 years old. They think that it could possibly be an infection that did it (that's what they hope) but it could possibly be something as serious as a brain tumor.

Tiffany has to go through Physical Therapy and do jaw exercises to strengthen her jaw again. She says that it hurts to lick and she can't even do that right now. She can stick her tongue out a little bit, but that is all. I know how much she loves to give James kisses every day. James is still taking care of Tiffany by brushing her teeth and grooming her every day. The two of them have a very special bond and I know that Tiffany is trying to get better fast so that she can get back to work.

Tiffany is restricted to little work right now and will hopefully be back to work within a months time. LA, Tiffany's trainer and NER's graduate Coordinator, says that once Tiff gets her jaw strength back, it's time to go back to work!

We are all praying for a speedy recovery and to many more working years for Tiffany and for James and Tiffany to be together for a long time. My little Golden Girl thanks everyone!!

Puppy Class

2009-10-28T13:19:00.007-04:00

Last night the NJ-Chapter had their monthly puppy class. We had a huge turnout this time!! It was a Halloween themed night and we had fun playing games and the dogs played dress-up! We wanted to see how the dogs reacted to having costumes on their bodies and dealing with things on their heads. It was hilarious!Service Dog Tomba and pup Onora representing "Jack" and "O'Lantern"!

Little Miss Devil Mina

Cool guy Feeney

Suave Zack

Horse-like Story

It was a fun time seeing the pups all dressed up. We also had someone put on a dog costume that had a huge head and had the pups greet this person. It's similar to one of the temperament tests that the pups will encounter upon turn-in. We also played a little bit of Limbo, having the dogs go either over or under a bar.

We also pretended to "trick-or-treat" with bags of delicious smelling chocolate candies! The dogs did great and none really seemed concerned about the bags being shaken around them. Good dogs!!

We also sometimes have a Q&A session near the end of the class to discuss problems we are having with training the pups. Everyone offers advice and it's a great way to share ideas and get some guidance from other PRs.

the secret is out...

2009-10-27T13:59:00.006-04:00

I was going to keep it a secret for a bit longer, but I goofed and posted a message on the CCI Yahoo! Groups with information about....you guessed it! My new puppy!!

So meet............

Bright II
Thanks to Bright's BC Rachel for the pictures!!

I will be picking up Bright on Nov. 14th when I turn-in Nuri. I would take her earlier, but Nuri is still a bit of a handful and another pup would be too much for me to take care of at one time! I'm very excited about a new puppy, but it's bittersweet since I have to let Nuri go off to college.

Bright is also a pup that is involved in CCI's fecal sample study. I'm not positive on all the details, but there are a lot of things that have to be done (collecting fecal samples, getting vaccines, collecting a serum) and they have to be done on certain dates as well. It's interesting and Bright will have about a month and a half left of the study by the time that I get her. Well, I was hoping for a new challenge and it looks like I will be getting one!

Cole & Ilia Video - Tissue Alert!!

2009-10-24T11:53:00.000-04:00

Many people ask why I do it. How can I give up that cute puppy? This is why. This is the reason I can let my heart break every 14-16 months when I turn-in a puppy. This is why I will continue to be a Puppy Raiser and help create miracles.

W Litter Update!!

2009-10-18T00:55:00.003-04:00

So before I had written that a lot of Wilara's litter mates have graduated. Well here's another! Congratulations to Whisper II and her PRs as she graduated yesterday as a Side Placement Service Dog!!

So here are the graduates from her litter:
Weston - Skilled Companion
Walker IV - Skilled Companion
Wessex II- Successor Service Dog
Wyatt - Successor Service Dog
Wexler - Service Dog
Whisper II - Service Dog

Incredible is all I have to say. I can't remember if Whitley graduated or not, but still. It's just great to see so many of her littermates graduate. I know that all of Baumann's puppies have a higher rate of graduating since he is such an amazing dog.

So again, congratulations to all the graduates and their new partners. Congratulations as well to the PRs that raised these amazing dogs. Wilara was a joy to raise and she is a joy to have at home with me now.

Good luck to everyone!!!

Chapter Meeting

2009-10-15T11:57:00.005-04:00

So on Tuesday night we had our monthly Chapter meeting. We were meeting at Kessler Rehab as usual and it was a pretty big turnout! We were lucky to have Katrina, our PPM, there at the meeting offering to work with some of us PRs on commands and behaviors. She was there at 5 and we had to make appointments with her to get some help. It looked like a great training session!

We were also joined by NER's Develpment Director, Debbie, and our new Volunteer Coordinator, Tracy. Debbie met with my mom and me before the meeting to go over some things and talk a bit about a few ideas that we had. All went well and I'm working hard on some window decals! YAY!

The meeting was very informative as usual which was great. We began to discuss our bi-annual fundraiser, Wine & Noses and it seems to be getting off the ground. The new task is to find sponsors which is always a big task. I might have to hit up RBVH (Red Bank Veterinary Hospital) where I work for a sponsorship. I know that they do a lot of work with The Seeing-Eye and I'm hoping that they will help out another branch of working dogs. They also do a lot with Police Dogs which I am always seeing in the waiting room! I know that a lot of CCI dogs come through the hospital so I might have to appeal to that. I have seen working dogs come through and I know that a few PRs use RBVH as well.

There was also two little pups in attendance! Katrina's new pup that she is raising, Angus, was there and is an adorable little Border Collie. He's a special dog being raised for a National Board Member which is so cool. The other pup is Onora (Omeeka x Zorba) who is an 11-weekold Golden. She was being given to Team Tomba to raise! So Abbey has a new pup now that Harlin has been released. I'm so happy for her! And Onora is absolutely adorable. She's actually Nuri's cousin if you look through her bloodlines. OMSI III and Omeeka are siblings and therefore Onora and Nuri are cousins. Hahahahaha. I love it! Anyways, here are some pictures that I took of Onora:
She's got that Blaze "splat" or "frog" position that just seems to be genetic for all puppies of his! She is so cute and it will be fun to watch her grow up! She just stretched out and promptly fell asleep. We were all laughing!

Turn-In Paperwork

2009-10-08T14:40:00.004-04:00

As many PRs can tell you, probably the most draining part of puppy raising is filling out all the turn-in paperwork!! At CCI they have us fill out a repeat puppy raiser application in addition to all the standard forms. The repeat application is about three pages long and I never look forward to filling it out! I should just submit the last application.....who knows? Might be easier that way!!

They also look for pictures for the slideshow that they will be showing at the graduation/matriculation ceremony. I have been combing through all the pictures that I have of Nuri and trying to come up with the best ones to send in. There are so many!!! It's hard to pick just a few! So.....here are the ones that I have chosen to send in, and then I have to get another picture of me and Nuri as well.
I always send in at least 8 pictures so that they have a few to choose from. Plus there are too many great ones to narrow it down!

It's amazing how fast this past year has gone by. I can't believe that it's already time to give Nuri back to CCI. It gets harder each and every time I have to give one of my fluffballs back to CCI, but it's worth all the hard work and sometimes frustration. With Nuri it's been an interesting adventure and a wild ride! She has taught me so much over the last few months and for that I am grateful.

Event at Kessler Rehabilitation Center

2009-10-03T17:57:00.008-04:00

So today Nuri, my mother, and I went to West Orange to Kessler Rehab for their 2nd Annual Adapted Recreation Expo. We got a message from NER's applicant coordinator, Jess, and we packed up everything and off we went! We knew that the event was being held, but NER did not ask anyone from the NJ Chapter to be there since it was going to be such a small event that it didn't seem to be needed. Jess, however, called us in at the last minute to give the event a bit of a boost. It seemed that everyone at Kessler was wondering where the dogs were! So Jess decided to go through her phonebook and give us a call.

We showed up and we had fun meeting people and Nuri was given an opportunity to work around many different kinds of wheelchairs. She was the center of attention and loved it!There was a table there for a local therapeutic riding school and with them they brought a large stuffed horse. Nuri has been around horses before, but from a distance watching as they circle around at street fairs offering pony rides. This stuffed horse was kept in their barn so it smelled like a real horse which was a good thing for Nuri to experience! She enjoyed it.There was also a table that had one of those electronic dogs. It was little and Nuri was completely fascinated with it! It was hilarious! She played with it and had a blast.I took some videos of Nuri with the electronic dog. She was having a fun time with it and it was a good thing for her to be exposed to. So here are two videos I took today.

Please VOTE again for CCI!

2009-10-02T11:02:00.003-04:00

CCI has entered a contest to win $10,000 in a donation from The Christie Cookie Company. Just go to http://www.ilovechristiecookies.com/contest/ and CCI is already listed. Just scroll down to the C's and they are listed under Canine Companions for Independence Santa Rosa, CA.

Thanks everyone in advance!! Every little bit helps make someone's life that much easier and they can live more independently because of it.

To all the Puppy Raisers out there across the country (for this organization and every other one) you and I are doing an amazing, selfless, thing and you should be proud of yourself!!

San Francisco 49ers and CCI 2010 Calendar Release Party

2009-10-01T16:07:00.004-04:00

The other night CCI and 49ers players got together for the launch of the new 16-month 2009-2010 calendar! It's filled with pictures of the players with the pups and graduate working dogs. It's great! They can be ordered here and click here for a video of the release party! It seemed that everyone had a great time and it looked like a good experience for the pups as well. They had fun playing with the mascot!

Also, Trixie Koontz, world famous CCI retired Service Dog, has a new calendar out as well.
It can be ordered at your usual book stores or you can go to Dean Koontz's actual website and buy it there which is probably the better idea! I'm not sure if proceeds from these sales benefit CCI, but I wouldn't be surprised. We all love the Koontz family for their donations and love for our wonderful organization!

A New Turn-In Date

2009-09-29T13:09:00.002-04:00

There is another new post below this one so keep reading!

So on Friday I got an email from Katrina that Nuri's turn-in date has been pushed up to November 14th. YIKES! I had originally asked Katrina if it would be possible to move up Nuri's Turn-In date because I felt that it would be a good thing for her. I was told that the list for November had been finalized and there was not enough room to add Nuri to the list. I was fine with that and began a slow training schedule to help her overcome her bad behaviors that she has exhibited. It's been going well, but this new date has thrown a major crimp into my plans! I am thankful that she is going in early, but I will still miss my little girl!

I have just over a month left with her and I am trying to cram as much training in as possible. Not as easy as you would think! We are working hard though!

Nuri's brother Nico who is being raised in New York is also being turned in early as well as their sister Nanette.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for this N litter as they really do have a lot of promise!

I just realized yesterday that I will have had two turn-ins in one year. How crazy is that??? Wilara turned in this past February and Nuri goes in this November. How the time has flown by!

I'm so bad at this!!

2009-09-29T12:39:00.005-04:00

I am the worst blogger!! I kept meaning to get a post up, but things have been super hectic over the last few weeks. If you can be patient, I will catch everyone up on the past few weeks.

In happier news though (and a switch in dogs!) Wilara has been certified as a Therapy Dog and Canine Good Citizen!!! YAY!! The test was a week ago Saturday and was incredibly easy for my very well trained girl! She tended to do the commands needed just before the instructor told me to give them. It was hilarious! And there was a section of the test where there was a girl and her dog that were to come meet me in the middle of the room. We had to put the dogs in a sit next to us and then we shake hands and introduce ourselves to each other. The dogs just had to sit quietly next to us during the whole thing and not try to interact with each other. Wilara sat perfectly next to me when I stopped and then turned to greet the girl. She was having issues getting her dog to sit! It was hilarious! And they do a seperation anxiety test where someone else takes Wilara into a small room and see how she does without seeing me. Again not an issue with my Wila! The guy that took her into the room actually forgot that she was there she was so good! I was laughing the whole time. Needless to say, she passed with flying colors and is now a TDI dog and a CGC!! Yahoo!!!

We have been doing many street fairs on the weekends and generating awareness for CCI which has been so much fun. I have been ALL over the state this month and because of that this blog has been put to the side. Hopefully now things will settle back to normal with not so many events headed my way. Yay for a break!!!

This past Sunday we were at the Kessler Stroll and Roll at Verona Park and there we met 2009 Miss Wheelchair New Jersey!! It was so great! And I also had to give a few interviews to the people that were there for the press. Yikes!! Hopefully I did a good enough job. Eek!

Please VOTE!

2009-09-22T13:25:00.002-04:00

http://www.nameyourcause.com/view-charity/105/?ref=nf

CCI has been nominated to get a chance to head to Blogworld for free, but we need more votes. Sorry to not post this sooner, but voting ends today and we need to get into the Top 10. We are currently #11 and need a few more votes to push us into the top 10. It takes a few seconds of your time to vote!!

Thanks everyone!!!

Nuri's Evaluation

2009-09-15T16:50:00.004-04:00

So today was the BIG day up at NER for Nuri. We had an appointment with Katrina, our PPM, at 10 am and were determined to leave with enough time to spare. As it always turns out, this didn't happen, but we did leave just before 8 am this morning to make the 2 hour drive out to Long Island. There was soooooo much traffic this morning! It was a sign that Nuri shouldn't be going for an evaluation. Hahahaha. It ended up taking us about 2 1/2 hours to make the trip which wasn't so bad and we arrived shortly after 10:30.

We met up with Katrina and headed into one of the training rooms to let the dogs run. I was told to bring Wilara up as well so that Katrina could see how the two of them interact with each other and to see how we correct them during play. Wilara was a model citizen as usual and Nuri was acting on her best behavior. We went over a few ways to give corrections which was great and what I had already been doing. It was a relief to see that I was correcting her the right way when I need to.

For the most part, that entire time was a complete wash since Nuri didn't act up like she normally would at home. It's a different setting so it makes sense that she wouldn't be acting the same. She didn't bite Wilara nearly as much as she usually does. We all came to the same agreement that it's mostly a "sibling rivalry" thing that is going on between them which makes a lot of sense. Those that know me are aware that I overlapped Wilara and Nuri for 6 months (from September to February) and they both did a lot of growing up together. It was just nice to have another opinion from someone.

We were going to see how the dogs did outside, but the trainers were about to run their strings in the outside grass run and we didn't want the dogs all wet, so we couldn't go to the pond. Nuri also showed Katrina how she hates getting her nails clipped. I purposely left them uncut so that she could try working with her and cutting her nails. She just likes to squirm a lot and it takes a looooooong time to cut her nails!

Then I had to say goodbye and let her wander off to the kennels. She went off with Katrina with no problem which was great to see. At least I won't have to worry about that! They are going to try and put her in a foster home for a day or two to see how she acts in another home environment. They are also going to let her run with other pups that are in the kennels to see how she plays with them and how she gets along with them. Nuri is very very very independent and prefers to play by herself and not really interact with other dogs, so this should be quite interesting.

They are going to call me in a few days and give me an update as they go along the process. Katrina agrees with me in the fact that she is far from a "lost cause" and that she can be worked with to get her to stop behaving so badly. She has the energy and the drive to be a great working dog, but I believe that she would be better off as a hearing dog. But like I said before, we just have to see what happens!

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that something positive will come out of this experience for Nuri. She just takes a lot of work and this downtime for me might be the trick that gets both of us to work that much harder.

Wilara is very sad that her playmate is not here and keeps on giving me her very sad look and wondering where Nuri could be.

I must admit though, it's awfully quiet around here...

New Layout

2009-09-14T15:34:00.001-04:00

Had a little fun putting together a new layout for the blog. Hope you like it! I'll post about the two street fairs we attended this past weekend a little later when I have all the pictures loaded onto my computer. It was a busy and very fun weekend!

Nuri's Evaluation Has Been Set

2009-09-11T11:08:00.002-04:00

So Nuri will go in for her evaluation on Tuesday. I'm a bit apprehensive about the whole thing. I know that I pushed for it to happen, but it's still a "scary" kind of thought. She hasn't calmed down at all no matter what I do. On Labor Day we took a walk to tire her out and walked for over a mile. She got home, completely wiped out and lay down. She was asleep for not even 5 minutes and then up and running around the house like a wild child all over again, like she hadn't even taken that walk at all!! I swear there is nothing that can wipe this dog out for a long period of time.

But Nuri's evaluation should be interesting. I will be bringing both Nuri and Wilara up to CCI so that they can watch how the two of them interact with one another. It seems like most of the bad behavior is with Wilara so they want to see how that works with them. Then Nuri will be staying at CCI for a few days to see how she acts around the kennels. Hopefully she will be able to go and stay with a foster home where they can evaluate how she is in a home environment.

I'm also looking to Puppy Swap with another PR so that I can see how she acts away from home. It's difficult since not many people want to deal with her and her issues! But I am still looking around for help. Any volunteers? Hahahhaa.....just wondering!

I'll keep everyone posted on how Nuri's evaluation went.

And we have two street fairs this weekend that we are going to be at. Cranbury Day and the Red Bank Street Fair. It's a busy CCI weekend! I'll try to get some pictures up here at the first chance I get!

Update - Skilled Companion Tiffany III

2009-09-09T13:33:00.003-04:00

We got an update on my Tiffers today! I was so excited to hear from her, it's been awhile since we last heard anything from James. For those that don't kn0w about Tiffany, she was the third pup that my family raised. A female Golden who is the cutest thing ever and graduated 3 years ago this coming November with her companion James. James is autistic and Tiffany helps him stay calm and helps him to be motivated to start talking. It's GREAT!

Tiffany sent us a note saying that she is still living the good life and that she had a great time at Disney World!! She sent some pics of the trip and my girl is all gray in the face! She's still my little cutie and good girl though.
I laugh as I look at these pictures because James isn't in most of them! But I know she loves James the most and sticks by his side through everything. He just didn't want to take her on all the rides. She did go on "It's A Small World" (shudder), Dumbo's Air Ride, and "some spooky ride that had some poor dog and he/she looked like she was starving to death!" Sounds like she had a great time and I'm sure she was smiling for everyone and posing for pictures.

Love to my Golden Girl!!

Nuri's Photo Shoot

2009-09-07T15:42:00.005-04:00

Well Nuri and I decided to make use of the nice weather on this lovely Labor Day and take some photos outside next to a bush by my mother's garden that has some HUGE flowers on it! Nuri was so well behaved during the whole picture taking extravaganza! My mother came out to give me a hand just in case Nuri decided to pull any tricks. We do not have a fenced in yard and so it was a bit of a daunting task to get the photos. I wanted pictures where Nuri does not have on her GL or a lead attached to her so I had to make sure that I gave her a lot of praise and attention so that she didn't decided to get up and bolt on me around the neighborhood. Here are the photos from that photo shoot!
And before we did those fun pictures we were playing around in the pool area which is fenced in, but my father refuses to let the dogs run around in there. He doesn't want the grass to get ruined. So not fair! But Nuri and I decided to play around a bit anyways. So here are some pictures of her being cute....

A Great Day for Shopping

2009-09-04T15:48:00.004-04:00

Nuri and I decided to head out to the outlet mall not too far from our house with my mom and the two kids that she watches in tow. We had fun walking around and in and out of stores. I like the outlets because when I have a little 5 month old puppy I can be quick in and out of stores and still get them used to being in that environment. It's better than a mall since I don't have to be completely embarrassed if the dog happens to get freaked out or "hurries" on the walkway between stores. It was great fun and Nuri and I were able to work on some of the commands that she has been having issues with. One such problem command is the difference between Up and Jump. So we got to practice it on a bench along with Stay to allow me to take these pictures:
The pictures don't show any people around which is funny because there were a bunch of people watching Nuri perform her commands. I thought we were going to have an audience! And Nuri did very well and didn't pull so much on her leash, so hopefully we are making some improvement in that area! YAY!

She does have a leash attached to her GL. It's a training leash so it's only about 18" long and it's draped over her back!

But I have to make this post quick since Nuri is telling me that we have to go outside, NOW!
She likes to put her head in my lap and nudge me to tell me she has to go out. I like this way better than her barking like crazy!

Puppy Shopping

2009-09-03T14:53:00.004-04:00

Well I did some online shopping today for the dogs! First purchase was Wilara's new vest that she will wear for her Therapy Dog duties. She will not have any sort of patches on this vest, but I have asked a friend of mine if she will embroider some things on there for me. It should be awesome! All of our pups were color coordinated as a little bit of fun for us. Shane III was all in red (GL, collar, and lead), Wilara was all in purple, and Nuri is currently all in green. There was a website that I really did NOT want to order from that had this purple vest, but it was the only one that was what I was looking for. So I placed my order and that's the last that I will be ordering from them. I just have a problem with what they have written on their website about Service Dogs.

And then I went and placed an order to get the new favorite thing - goughnuts! So I placed an order for both the stick and the round wheel. We'll see how they work. You can read about them at www.goughnuts.com. They are supposed to be indestructible and they have a lifetime guarantee on them which is just awesome! We'll see how the dogs do with it since Nuri has become a semi-power chewer, and Wilara loves things like this too. They float which is great so that I can use them in the pool as well.

I am still waiting to hear from my PPM about Nuri's evaluation so I am just in that waiting period. I want this to be addressed as soon as possible so that we still have time to work through it. Here's to hoping!

Oh right...I have to send out Nuri's August Progress Report.....

Nuri's Possible Evaluation

2009-08-31T12:57:00.006-04:00

With the many troubles I have been having with Nuri and her training, I have written an email to my PPM to get her advice and to see when I can bring her in for an evaluation. What I really need is someone to see her in action and give me some other advice as to how to get her over her bad behaviors. I'm fresh out of ideas and I hope that someone at CCI can give me a hand. We are currently setting up a time when I can bring Nuri up. I'm not sure whether I have to leave her there for a few days or if it will be a one day thing.

The other option (which I REALLY don't want to do) would be to send her off to another PR for the last few months of training and see if a new environment will do her some good. Here she is a wild child and is taking all my patience and time to try and correct her.

She has been having many issue which include:

Mouthing - she nips at Wilara (one of my COCs) on her neck as well as her legs and occasionally at Glenda (my sister's COC)
Mounting - yes she did this to Wilara twice, but hasn't done it again in a few weeks so hopefully that's over with
Barking - she never stops and does not listen to a correction and doesn't care about the vinegar/water spray or even me spraying Bitter YUCK! in her mouth and giving her a Don't command. The Quiet command seems to make her want to bark even more which is just crazy!
Possession of Toys - she steals everything that the other dogs have and I think, snapped at Wilara once when she tried to get a toy. I was not looking in that direction so I couldn't tell who did what.

All of these issues are a no-no for CCI pups and I have been working with her for over 3 months now trying to get her to calm down and stop. Nothing seems to be working, so I am using one of the last resorts available to me.

I'll keep everyone posted on what was decided....

Another rainy day

2009-08-29T19:11:00.005-04:00

So today was another day where it rained. What is up with this weather?! So Nuri and I decided to joke around in the house and have fun. Here are some photos from today:
I have been having many issues with Nuri over the last few weeks and mostly it has been her barking and craziness that is frustrating me. Here's a small example of that. I took this before the battery in my camera died...

Any advice would be a big help! I put in a word with my PPM over a week ago and have heard nothing back yet. I'm fresh out of ideas!

You can email me as well, I think you can do that on here....

Thanks in advance

Dean Koontz book

2009-08-26T15:10:00.002-04:00

This new book by author Dean Koontz is a must read! In the book he writes about his late dog, Trixie, who was a retired Service Dog for Canine Companions for Independence. Trixie, as Dean tells it, saved his life (not in the dangerous way!) and gave him a new purpose in life.

I'm currently still in the process of reading it, but the reviews from fellow CCI people and PRs are overwhelming in praising this book. It's been very long awaited by CCI folks and we thank Dean Koontz and his wife, Gerda, for all that they do for CCI.

All proceeds from this book benefit CCI....so go buy one now!!

W Litter Graduates

2009-08-24T13:02:00.005-04:00

Wilara and I have been patiently waiting for all the regions to have their graduations so that we could see who from her litter made the cut. It has been a long wait, but we now know who has graduated!

I want to give big congratulations to:

Weston - Skilled Companion
Walker IV - Skilled Companion
Wessex - Successor Service Dog
Wyatt - Successor Service Dog
Wexler - Service Dog

This litter was a great litter to raise and it was so much fun to keep in contact with most of Wilara's siblings. They all seemed to be the sweetest of dogs and I was really happy to see that so many of them graduated! That's 5 out of 10 which is pretty good to me!

As for the other 4 puppies, and Wilara of course, I hope that you succeed in your Change of Career and do what you were meant to do. Wilara will be heading off to Therapy Dog testing on September 19th and I hope she does well!

Just a quick post

2009-08-20T13:56:00.003-04:00

Things have been really busy around here and I promise that I will get up a post about graduation a week ago. Has it really been that long?? Anyways here are a few photos that I took today of the pups!Wilara and Nuri hanging out! Wilara had to blink and Nuri put on her best "pity me" face!

The three girls...I have one of each breed that CCI uses! Awesome! Glenda IV, Wilara, and Nuri.

ARC Kohler School Demo

2009-08-09T14:00:00.003-04:00

On Friday, Nuri and I went up to Mountainside, NJ to meet up with fellow PR Jen and pup Callie and Skilled Companion Team Bob and Efram and facilitator Sarah. We had a demo that we were doing for a school with children that have developmental disabilities. It was a lot of fun! Nuri did very well and loved to have the kids play with her and pet her. She especially liked the kids where she could lick their faces. (Obviously the licking thing is still a work in progress!)

First Bob and Efram did a demo where they showed how Efram helps Bob with everyday tasks. He opened and closed a door for him, picked up his keys, went Under his chair, did a Lap and a Visit while also displaying a great knowledge of the Side command! Go Efram! They had one of the kids help out by throwing the keys on the ground for Efram to go and get. I always love to see a team working so well together. It makes my "job" that much easier and more fulfilling.

I would love to post pictures of the demo here on the blog, but do to the kid's releases I can't. I don't know which ones are allowed to have pictures of them posted and which aren't so we will leave it that I won't post any pictures. I will leave you all with this picture though...
Nuri was exhausted after the demo and fell asleep on the way home. But in typical Nuri fashion, she had to do things the hard and difficult way. So she slept this way! Yes, she is actually asleep. She wasn't so thrilled that she heard the camera click when I took the picture. She looked at me all sleepy and annoyed. It was hilarious!

Team Training Lunch

2009-08-06T12:41:00.005-04:00

Well on Tuesday I was off to CCI early in the morning to go and serve lunch for the TT class! My mother and I decided to invite others to join us and we had a big turnout! We all had a fun time and it was really great to get to meet the graduates. People were really nice and no one was without someone to talk to. I knew two of the dogs up for graduation and it was fun to see who could possibly be getting them. I did know a girl who was getting her Skilled Companion and it was fun to chat with Mel and see what she thought so far of TT. It was only Tuesday so things still had to pick up in pace and she was really excited for that part to come!

Here are some pictures from the lunch:
We had a wide variety of food this time which was great. The menu was....chicken marinated in italian dressing, salad, baked ziti, couscous salad, corn casserole, cheese quesadillas, chips with salsa and homemade guacamole, tomatoes and mozzarella, fresh fruit salad and a tray of veggies. For dessert we had chocolate chip bars, brownies, carrot cake cupcakes, vanilla cupcakes, and chocolate chip raisin cookies. We also bring wine to the lunches which is always a hit and everyone gets a good laugh about it being there. It was a great feast!!! Everything is homemade which makes it that much better and the teams all really enjoy that! People kept eating and eating and surprisingly there was still some food leftover for us to eat!

As a rule, when we do lunch, we always let the staff and teams eat first and then when they all head back to class we dig into whatever is left. There have been many classes where there has been nothing left to eat and we have had to stop at McDonald's on the way home because we were starving!

Also, we leave behind any leftover food from the lunch. The graduates don't have dinner provided for them so the leftover food is usually reheated and that's their dinner. A lot easier than having to go out to find a restaurant or order in food. One of the women who helped out this time even left them a whole other tray of ziti that they can just pop in the oven and have for dinner another night! I love how people are so willing to help out the teams. Even those little gestures are a big help.

It was a great day and we all had a fun time....until next time! We're already beginning to plan out that menu....

Puppy Class - A Walk Through Morristown

2009-07-29T12:03:00.008-04:00

FYI: very long post!

Well last night we had our monthly puppy class, but this time with a summer twist! Every summer we like to make the puppy class outdoors. We head over to downtown Morristown and we have come up with a walk through the town that has the pups walking over different surfaces and coming across different objects and people. We almost didn't have this walk since the weather was threatening and looked like we were going to get some more rain. Not like we need anymore!
We all met around 7:15 at the Creamery and oohed and aahed at the new little fluffballs that have come into our chapter. Little FEENEY II, PATCHES, PERCY, MINA, SHELBY. So cute all of them!
We begin our walk and head down the street. It's great for the pups to be around all the sounds of a small town/city place. There are usually sirens that can be heard, lots of cars driving by, and a lot of distractions around.

We find little places where the pups can work on their commands. There are some low walls that the pups can use the Jump command and hop on up. Then we let them walk along the wall since it's narrow and they have to learn to navigate that.

There is a small little area that's surrounded by a fence that we walk the pups along because it is all grating. Many pups balk and hesitate when going over the grates and they have to learn to ignore it and just keep walking. We can't have them stopping or walking so far around them when they are out in the working world. It seems that everyone did well! Even the pups!

We then come to a park or really something like a "square" like you would find in a bigger city. It was surrounded by the roads and it was great for distractions and working on commands. There's a big fountain that all the dogs like to use the Up command with and have a peek into the fountain.

I think STORY wanted to take a swim!

Nuri and I at the fountain

Someone decided to get a group picture here at the fountain on one of the benches that surrounds it. It is always a process and its so funny to try and get all the pups to stay and not move!
After all of this we head across the street so that the dogs can be introduced to a statue! (A little background info: Morristown is widely known as the home of The Seeing Eye. The statue we visit is of William Morris with a Seeing Eye Dog complete with harness) Most of the dogs do not like the statue and will shy away from it. It seemed that everyone was pretty good and I don't remember seeing any of the pups really fearful of it which was awesome! Nuri was a bit hesitant, got up there and figured that it was a statue, then walked away cause she was bored with it. Yay Nuri!!

It then started to really rain so we all ran back to the Creamery for some ice cream! The pups were exhausted and everyone seemed to have a good time just catching up and talking some puppy news. All things considered it was a great and fun puppy class!

PATCHES asleep on the bench

FEENEY was wiped out and all wet!

Wilara - Change Of Career

2009-07-25T12:28:00.003-04:00

Well yesterday we got that "dreaded" phone call from CCI that Wilara was being released. She was still not able to overcome the issues on her last progress report and so she decided to come home. We are going to keep her which will be nice and it helps fill the void left from when we had to put down one of my sister's Shelties on Monday night.

We are happy to have Wila back home with us and are planning on having her tested and become a Therapy Dog and get her certified as a Canine Good Citizen. I have to get in touch with Stacey, her trainer, to get a list of commands that she has learned so that we can keep on top of everything and make sure she practices! At work last night she was showing off for everyone and pushing drawers and cabinets closed. All the other dogs at the vets have nothing on her!! She really impressed people.

Hopefully she will be a good influence on Nuri and get her to settle down enough to focus on her commands. Maybe watching Wilara perform them will help her to understand them. Here's to hoping!! Wilara on the ride home hanging out in the back seat. Nuri likes the floor better so she was happy to let Wilara have the bench seat!

Wila hanging out at home, loving sitting outside on the deck and hanging with the other pups!

Swim Lessons!

2009-07-19T14:47:00.006-04:00

So Nuri had her first swim lesson today! I have been trying to get a chance to get her into the pool and haven't had one until today. She was pretty indifferent to the whole idea of the pool but seemed to like it a bit anyways. Way more than Wilara liked it, but not nearly as much as Shane and Tiffany and Glenda like the pool. Those three you couldn't get out of the pool while Wila went in once and that was enough for her!

So here it is in pictures!first trick up my sleeve was to use treats as a motivator...

that didn't work so I resorted to Plan B and grabbed her front legs to put them on the first step which is about 2 inches deep.

back to using treats to get her in further down the steps.

yeah, then she ran away from me...

Plan C! Pick up and carry into the pool...

Let's learn the Doggy Paddle..

And she's off and swimming! Heading towards my sister's COC dog Glenda IV to ambush her...

Shake all over everyone!

August TT photo!

2009-07-17T13:28:00.002-04:00

I get so excited when I see the new photo for potential graduates. It's so much fun especially when you know a few of the dogs in the picture! NJ has a great representation in this class! There's Faizah, Wexler, and of course Wilara! I know that Wexler and Faizah are going to graduate, this is their last rotation through TT so they're chances are excellent. Wilara can still go on for another 3 months but I am hoping for a graduation this time around!

Enjoy!

(And on seeing the photo before they added the names to it, I guessed right as to which one was Wila! Go me!)

Wilara Update

2009-07-16T12:22:00.002-04:00

Well the TT photo for NER's August graduation was sent out in the monthly e-newsletter from CCI! It was very small and hard to make out which dog is which. I'm waiting on my postcard with the picture and the posting of the picture on the website. I believe that Wilara is the middle yellow lab in the back row. From what I could tell when I blew up the picture (which was not so clear) was that that dog looked the most like her. I was looking at their faces and that's the one that I thought looked the closest. Will soon find out when I get my postcard!

And I have no idea which one is Wexler, the black dogs are always so hard to distinguish as to who is who!

Happy 2nd Birthday "W" Litter!

2009-07-13T13:05:00.001-04:00

Today Wilara and her siblings turn 2! Happy Birthday to everyone and I hope those of you that are still in AT are doing well and having parties today! Congrats again to Walker on graduating in May, I hope you are enjoying your first "working" birthday!

Happy 1st Birthday "N" Pups!!

2009-07-11T21:42:00.002-04:00

Today I would like to wish Nuri and her littermates Naelyn, Namiko, Nico, Navarro, Nanette, and Nevada a very happy first birthday!

W Litter Update - Wexler

2009-07-11T13:03:00.003-04:00

Well Wilara's brother Wexler is due to graduate next month (YAY!) and I just love looking around for fun pictures. Saw this one on Lauren's (his trainer) page and had to post it to show everyone how well he is doing!
Wex is the one on the right laying next to Lauren and being the big mush that he is! Looks like he's wearing a vest that has a strap for someone who needs a dog to pull his/her wheelchair on it. Cool! I knew he was building up the endurance for it and it's so neat to know that he is working hard at it!!

Trixie's new line of products!

2009-07-10T15:55:00.001-04:00

Hey gang! Trixie Koontz, beloved pet of author Dean Koontz, has out a line of dog products! They launched the new line at PetsMart on July 1st so everyone should go and check them out! Trixie was a retired CCI pup who worked for about 6 months before having surgery and officially retiring. She went to live with Dean and his wife Gerda and really made a name for herself in the writing world! Many people know her as the author to Life Is Good and Christmas Is Good, while writing Bliss To You after she had passed away.

So make sure you go to PetsMart and see the new stuff! All proceeds from each sale goes to CCI and the stuff is really cute!

Team Tomba Video!

2009-07-07T22:11:00.002-04:00

Great stuff for the NJ Chapter today! Congrats to Morgan and SD Tomba on this video. I know Team Trouble, umm I mean Team Tomba, is going to keep turning heads at college and educating people about CCI. Great video guys! And of course Congrats to Morgan on graduating. You did it!!

Jen and CALLIE video!!

2009-07-07T15:03:00.001-04:00

Jen is a fellow NJ PR raising Callie. Callie reminds me so much of my little Wilara! Great job in this video. Callie goes off to CCIU in August!

Janet Evanovich Book Signing = SUCCESS!

2009-06-26T12:10:00.005-04:00

Sorry that it has taken me so long to post about the book signing but things around here have been pretty hectic! But anyways, here goes!

On Tuesday morning I went on a "puppy run" to pick up Nickel II from two of the staff members of NER as they were heading down to Philly for a demo. Little Nickel is so cute! Nickel II

So I did that and afterwards, we did a few things at home and then set out for Cherry Hill for the book signing. Mom and I got there about 90 minutes after other Chapter members arrived. The place was PACKED! There were no parking spots open and we had to park quite a bit away. Not a big deal, so we walked through the crowds to get to the Barnes & Noble. I had called the others and found out what to do, so we went over to where they were handing out bracelets and received ours. We were numbers 1234 and 1235! We were also given a paper that told us to return at 9:15 to get in line to get our books signed. I guess we had gotten there around 6:15 and the signing was supposed to start around 6:00. Ok, so we were a bit late, but I didn't expect nearly that many people there before us!

In talking with people that were waiting, the ones that have the lower numbers got their bracelets at 9 AM! The others in our chapter were in the 700s and they had gotten there around 4:30 and were told to come back around 7:15 to get their books signed. Well that was just crazy! So they had gone over to the Cheesecake Factory and decided to have dinner. Mom and I joined them and figured that we might be able to squeeze in with the others for at least the picture which was the whole point of going in the first place!

So a little after 7 we all walked back over to the B&N and waited to hear their group numbers called. Around 7:30 a staff member came out with a megaphone and announced that they were now taking numbers 151-200! We couldn't believe it! I don't know what it was that was making them move so slowly, but we figured that we would not get called anytime soon and we had all driven over an hour to get there. But we decided to wait anyways and see how quickly the line was moving. It was also great for awareness and we were able to talk to a lot of people and hand out brochures. We also decided to get some pictures outside to show that we were there and why we were there. It was fun!

waiting outside the Barnes & Noble

Zach and Nickel

Two of the Chapter members decided to go and see how things were going inside the store and off they went with Zach and Danby. Later they told us that they had met up with Janet's daughter and took some pictures with her! Exciting! For those that didn't know, Janet Evanovich's daughter used to raise puppies for CCI. I'm not sure how many puppies she raised, but it's still kind of neat. meeting Janet's daughter
picture time! Puppies, Danby and Zach

Finally, after 8:00 we decided to just forget the signing and just try to get pictures nearby where she was sitting. (I believe at this point they were only around the 300 area for the signing) We went in with the 4 puppies and squished ourselves into a small little area right by the fenced off are where Janet was sitting. It took forever to get any good shots because it seemed that people would walk in front of her when we took the picture! It was a bit frustrating. trying to get a good picture wasn't easy!

When we thought we got the pictures as well as we could, the guy that was running the signing started waving towards us and saying "Puppies are next, puppies are next!!" I couldn't believe it! So we got to cut the line and take some pictures! We chatted a bit with Janet and I know she would have loved to talk some more but we all felt bad about holding up the line and wanted to get out quickly. She was so sweet! It was crazy though while we were taking the pictures because EVERYONE there was taking our pictures too. It felt like we were on a red carpet with the paparazzi all over the place. It was crazy! But again, so much fun!

L to R: Nickel, Nuri, Danby, and Zach
SUCCESS!!

After that we decided to leave since we didn't think our numbers would ever be called and we had such a long drive ahead of us to get home. But it was a success nonetheless and a great time!

I hope you enjoyed the pictures!

Wilara Update - AT report

2009-06-24T14:34:00.002-04:00

Well let's just say that it wasn't the most positive report to receive. Wila seems to be getting a bit worse when it comes to getting excited and acting approprietly when working. Here is what her comments section of her report reads:

This month in training, Wilara has been picking up more difficult items next to the wheelchair and has begun delivering them using step and visit. Wilara is doing well with tug and has begun to tug open lighter doors. She has learned to retreive her leash. In anticipation of feeding, running, or training, Wilara becomes overstimulated and loses emotional control including barking, whining and displacemet behaviors. I have been giving her some extra time out of the kennel as well as working on her settling in her kennel before she is rewarded with play or coming out to train. We continue to work on impulse control and maintaining down stays in the face of distraction as well as appropriate boundaries and energy level during "snuggle" time. Next, we will add lap as a delivery for retrieved items as well as continuing with tug on heavier doors.

She also has a few more behaviors checked off on the list of things shown. I hope that she can work through this and get over whatever it is that has her acting so badly. She is such a sweet little girl! I'm keeping my fingers crossed for her and sending her good wishes and telling her to behave!!!

A quick update

2009-06-23T22:40:00.001-04:00

So Mina went home yesterday which gave me a night where I could just sleep. It was wonderful!

I'm puppy-sitting another pup now, Nickel II, and he's just adorable.

Went to see Janet Evanovich tonight for a book signing which was neat.

Will post a full story tomorrow with (hopefully) some pictures attached!

the rain has got to stop

2009-06-20T13:30:00.002-04:00

This rain has GOT to stop. It's been raining almost nonstop here in New Jersey and there is little for me to do with Nuri on days like this. Nuri is very good with most of her commands, but she needs the socialization part the most. She still stresses out easily and so we have to work on her public behavior. But with the rain coming down hard everyday, we haven't gone anywhere. No one likes a wet dog around and I know that Nuri isn't that big a fan of the rain. (unless it means that she gets to be toweled off after!) So we are going to cross our paws and fingers for some nice weather to head our way, and soon!

With Mina here, Nuri has had to adjust to having a puppy in the house and she pretty much just ignores her. Typical! But you do get those rare moments where they get along. It's so cute to see the pups cuddling up to the older dogs.

Enjoy your rainy days and hope for some nice weather soon!

Long Overdue Post

2009-06-17T14:04:00.002-04:00

Sorry for the delay in posts! Things have been busy around here and my computer went on the fritz. But hopefully back up and running for now!

There was a great video that was sent to me from another puppy raiser just this morning. Go here to see a broadcast that was done about the "B" litter that was turned into CCI Santa Rosa. These are the half-siblings to India and are absolutely adorable! Good luck to all of them!

This week I am puppy sitting for Mina while a fellow PR goes on vacation. Mina is a cute little black lab (pure) and she is so mischievous! But she has found her favorite place to sleep...
Maybe she's trying to keep cool???

CCI Facility Dogs in a Courthouse

2009-06-15T12:49:00.002-04:00

This is a great video I saw on CCI Milano's blog that I felt I should share with everyone! It's great to see the dogs at work and see how they are changing and helping people in the courthouses. It really is a fantastic idea to have the dogs in the courthouse to help those afraid to testify. Good work everyone!

Rain, rain, go away.....

2009-06-09T09:07:00.002-04:00

It's been raining here for sooo long! It really needs to stop!! This weekend had some nice weather so Nuri and I were able to go out for a little bit. We went to Target and Pearle Vision and worked on some commands. She did very well! We're back to taking baby steps while out in public and it seems to be helping out a bit.

But now with the rain back for the week we are stuck inside again! Hopefully some nicer weather is coming our way. Tonight is a NJ Chapter Meeting and there will be a new little puppy in attendance! We're very happy to welcome Mina to the group! I'll try to get a few pictures of the little girl.

Hope everyone has a fun, rainy day!

"W" Litter update - Walker

2009-06-02T11:08:00.002-04:00

I want to give a big shout-out to Wilara's brother Walker who graduated last Saturday as a Skilled Companion dog! Sorry, I had information that none of the "W" pups had graduated on Saturday. Thank you Thida for the correct information!

So congratulations to Walker and his puppy raisers! Great Job!

"W" Litter update

2009-06-01T11:45:00.002-04:00

Wilara's littermates who were still in training rotated through TT this past month. Unfortunately none of them graduated as working dogs :( We are hoping for a BIG graduation in August when all the littermates go through TT together. Fingers and paws crossed!!

Wilara Update - AT report

2009-05-27T13:23:00.002-04:00

Wilara's AT report came through this morning. YAY! She had a good report which was awesome. She is still doing the hackling/whining/barking thing which is not so good. Other than that the report was very positive. yay! This is what PRs wait for, and to see our pups doing well is awesome. Wilara seems to be able to do many different things already and seems to be on the path to be a SC if she graduates. We'll see because that can always change along the way. She is such a sweet little girl!

Here is what the comment section of her report reads:

"This month in training, Wilara has begun retrieving new items including a sneaker, an Altoids container, a cell phone and a marker. She has also learned to activate the automatic doors by using her nose to push the push plates. In the play yard, Wilara has shown improvement with returning fetched toys to my hand. We have been working on controlling her impulses around toys and have been patterning her drive with toys to a fetch our students can use. Wilara will often bark and whine in anticipation of group run time and we have been working on being quiet and holding a sit before being let out to play. Next month, we will continue to progress with tug and the retrieve as well as finishing the step behavior in order to begin using it as a delivery for retrieved items."

(There is another new post just below this one, so keep reading!)

Puppy Class

2009-05-27T11:49:00.002-04:00

Well last night was the 4th Tuesday of the month and that meant Puppy Class!! We decided to do something different this class and I loved the ideas. We worked on stimuli that would scare the puppies. Here's the background to why we worked on these things tonight:

CCI, after turn-in, performs a variety of tests on the dogs to see how they react to certain things. They check everything to see how a dog's temperament is and how they perceive certain people and objects. For example, they have one of the trainers dress up as a scary person and then have the dog interact with that person to see how they would react. Most dogs will be a bit hesitant and then wander over to see what this "thing" is and then usually they are fine with it. They also test them on prey drive by attaching a plastic bag to the end of a rope and waving that across the floor down a long hallway to see what the dog does. According to LA, most dogs will want to play with it, eat it, or pounce on it. There are the few that get freaked out from it and those are the dogs that get released.

We, as PRs try to expose our dogs to everything that we can think of. So one of us went online and tracked down a list of stimuli that can be used to test dogs with. It had a lot of the same stimuli that LA had explained to us at the PR Workshop last month.

We worked on walking across different surfaces. This time we used a shower curtain and tin foil. The tin foil was the one that most of the pups had a problem walking over. Nuri thought it was something to play with and also wanted to stay sitting on it and didn't want to get off of it. One of the little puppies, Wilbur, who is 3 1/2 months old, had a blast on the tin foil when it was all rolled up. He wanted to play with it and then he just stretched out and made himself comfortable! It was hilarious!

We also worked on strange sounds from an unknown area. Some volunteers went behind a wall and clanged metal chairs, sticks, tables, and anything else they could find that would make a lot of noise. This was a way to see how the pups would react around unseen sounds. Most of them were a bit startled, but recovered well and some just plain out ignored it. I think Nuri was more interested in the food bags that were in the corner that we passed by! There was also an exercise we did where two people went behind a table placed on its side and used whistles and a duck call thing to make noises. The dogs were in a Down Stay and had to stay there while the sounds were made. If I remember correctly, they all stayed where they were supposed to!

Another stimuli we worked on was the opening of an umbrella. Now I know that CCI uses this test on the dogs that are turned-in because it was used on our first pup, Hadlee, and she freaked out and couldn't recover from it and was then released. So we had a few people go around and pop open umbrellas in front of the dogs. Most jumped a bit at the sound and motion, but they all recovered from it well and most of them went to inspect the umbrella to see what it was. We did it from a bunch of different angles and directions so it was a good exercise to work on!

Another good exercise we did was the surprise of seeing an unknown object while walking around a corner. We had a table on it's side and a stuffed dog on the other side, out of view. When the dogs came around the table, they were surprised to see the dog and some were scared by it. I knew that Nuri was not going to be a fan of this one. When we were out at Sears one day, she freaked out about a stuffed dog in the Land's End area of the store. We haven't had much time to work on that, but last night was a good test for her. On the second pass by the dog, I let her sniff it and inspect it. After awhile she was a bit better with the stuffed dog, but not completely convinced. We're going to have to work on that some more.

Over all, it was a great class since we worked on a lot of things that we know the dogs will be tested on. I believe that we are going to try a walk through Morristown as our next class which is always fun.

Nuri and her blanket

2009-05-21T11:10:00.003-04:00

Nuri has a love for little baby blankets. When she was a puppy another PR told us how they got small fleece baby blankets for her Golden to play with. So we decided to get a few for Nuri and see what she did with them. She loves them!! Every day she has to play with them and carry them around. She loves them! Throughout the house she has about 5 of them and plays with them all! Here are just a few fun photos of her and her blanket.

The first was taken a few months ago when she was closer to 6 months old. The other two were taken just a few minutes ago!