What's Going On?

What is going on in our household right now? Read it here. If you aren't a reader and would like to be, let me know.

I have an update on Charlie I need to post, just can't seem to get motivated at the moment to post it. He is doing well though.

Bring Gannon Home!

This story scares the willies out of me and I've never met three-month-old black lab "Gannon" from GDB. Gannon has been missing since Friday, I can't imagine the pain his family is going through, let alone this little pup! Please, help spread the world of little Gannon and if you are in the area, please help find him!

GDB's posting

Evett

Although Evett was only here for four weeks total in her time as a service dog in training, I love her. She was my big girl and I knew her, very well. When I decided to give her back to JLAD, in part, it was because of the problems she was having while working were severe enough to make me seriously uncomfortable with working her.

Evett is a doll of a dog, would make one heck of a pet! She just wasn't cut out for service work, I knew it, she knew it, we just had to wait for others to know it too. Evett is not being offered back to me, although I was a raiser of hers. I was not told she was career changed, I had to read it on a blog just like the rest of you.

That makes both pups I raised for JLAD career changed. If it were up to me (and I had a bigger house with a fenced in yard) both my special girls would be home with me. At least I have the lovely Eva sitting at my feet!

Here are some pictures of Evett's time with me, I miss the big, beautiful, loving girl! Evett, where ever you end up, may you always be heard and loved, the way you deserve to be!

Eva - One Year

For those of you not invited to read my private blog, here's a quick little update on Eva.

Eva is a pleasure to have. It's been a long journey, full of heartbreak, lawyers, betrayal, fear, love, fun, shut-downs, pounces, wrestling, walks and many many hours spent cleaning up.

Eva has been here for ten months and this is where she belongs, obviously. She is happy, loved and loves. Eva is my baby girl and she's known it since day one, just as I have. I never thought sweet little Eva would live past 3 months, here she is now a beautiful, healthy (relatively, of course), fun-loving one year old dog! It's still a weird feeling having her home as a pet at this point.

With puppy raising, one year is a big step! Generally there is a a recall date or a soon impending recall date. You know the dog at this point and are intune with them and know when too much is too much or something is boring or scary from body language. You know this dog, you can depend on them, they can depend on you and there is a deeply instilled trust and love there. You know for the most part if their personality is stable enough and suited for the work you are raising them for. Of course, there can be surprises, but spending 10 months with a dog 24/7, you know them and can read their potential. Our puppies tell us, from the beginning generally, what they want to do. Whether they are suited for service work or not. After having them for so long, we know them, we know (again, for the most part) where they belong and it hurts when people who don't know them the same way make choices about their future without our input.

Eva, was one of those cases, just in a different way. I Knew, when she was 11 weeks old, that she was done as a service dog, those two weeks of training nearly killed her. We were not heard. Eva was put through many more "classes" and outings that she had no interest in and made evident. She would shut-down, refuse to look at me and not respond. She hated it. For the next nearly 5 months, she was forced to work and she was miserable. The girl that is in my home and heart forever now is a completely different dog then she was when she was being forced to work. She is a care-free, stress-free, loving, fun-loving girl that loves life and we love everyday she chooses to bless us with.

Somedays are messy, sometimes she drives me crazy, she can be annoying, loud, rough and just all around a bad dog. But that's her right, she endured so much that she hated early in life, I permit her to let loose every one in a while! *wink*

So Eva, at one year, had a very bad day yesterday. Hopefully she doesn't continue to have bad days and decides to spend another year with us. My only wish is that she had her best friend by her side through all of this.

What is really important?

Why are so many wasting their time on such petty, "silly" things right now? Resources, time, energy, money and emotions are being spent, unneccesarily, on things that are benign. People all around us are jobless, uninsured, starving, homeless and dieing. Not to mention those with disabilities and other medical conditions. I know as puppy raisers, a large part of our lives is helping others that need our help. For that, I must commend each and every one of you. Good job puppy raisers, employees and volunteers of any organization that helps those less fortunate or that need assistance.

Having a "disabled" husband, that is uninsured, I know how tough it is on everyone out there right now. Thankfully, he will have insurance again in January. Today, already being emotional from a letter we recieved, I watched a recorded Dr. Oz episode on the uninsured, children with holes in their hearts, people with cancer, a woman with heart failure, all untreated because of the lack of health insurance. During and after each story, I cried. These people don't deserve to not have health care. I don't have a stand on politics, I'm neutral, but I do know that every being as a right to healthcare. If you don't provide a dog with veterinary attention when needed, you are fined and banned from having a domestic animal for years. On the other side of the coin, millions of people are without health care, and that's ok? As a lesser being, domestic animals have the right to healthcare, governed by humans, yet humans don't? Not very logical.

With my health problems, although currently they only affect certain parts of my life, they are very serious and can lead to very serious complications later in life. It is no joking matter. Thankfully, I have health insurance. My sister, does not. Her health problems are much more serious at this point in time then mine and I feel guilty for having insurance and her not. Makes sense? Maybe not, but I wish I could give my insurance to her.

I'm a very logical person that seems to not realize that not everyone has the same level of common sense as my Mom and sisters. To me, common sense would be to ensure the health of the working population to ensure that the workforce of the country is upkept and maintained. Of course, the rest of the population is just as entitled to healthcare, if that sounded bad, it wasn't meant to be.

I, for one, realize that when you have a health problem you cannot control that you need support, not to be torn down, degraded, humilitated, dismissed or berated regarding it or the results of it. Working with service dogs, but more importantly the recipients of the service dogs, has made me realize more than ever that everyone, inside, is mostly the same. There are bad people out there, even evil, but they are few and far between. Most want to do what is best for themselves, less want to do what is best for others, even fewer Do what is best for others. The majority of puppy raisers fall in that last category of doing what is best for others. Having a puppy with you is not always, if rarely, best for us. It takes time, energy, attention, patience, commitment, consistancy, and emotions for the puppy, public and most importantly, the possible future partner of our charges.

When you Know that the puppy in your care is not going to graduate, like while I was raising Eva, that motivation lessens. The commitment to provide a well trained service dog to someone who will benefit from it is done, this dog will not graduate, or will not be a quality service dog, it takes away the pleasure of raising. *FYI: This is not about the organization I raised Eva for, this is about raising a dog that you know will not graduate for any organization* You puppy raisers that raise these same puppies with the same motivation, drive, commitment and compassion, I applaud you!

What is the point of this post? Just a little sample of my thoughts on what is important. Helping our fellow humans reach their full potential and feeling love from their neighbors. There are some in life that we could do without, that you can't help because they choose to belittle and degrade you when they have no more use for you. For those, we must move on in life and ignore their pitiful attempts at making us feel bad about ourselves. The vast majority of humans are good, kind, honest people, we can't label all bad because of the few evil.

Update?

So... you all want an update? What to update on? Hmm.... I'm sure you all don't want to hear about work, married life, grocery shopping, my last update with my confused reproduction system or ordering checks! *wink* Would you like to hear about Charlie, Eva, Rizzo and Elijah? The four furry kids in my life?

Let's see.... Elijah. I don't think I've ever properly introduced Elijah on this blog. Elijah is the most amazing cat in the world, and I'm not much of a cat person. *wink* We've had Elijah for almost three years, which means he's somewhere around the age of 4.5 years old! We just recently found a different cat food that he'll eat, he's a pretty picky eater. He used to only eat Alley Cat and wouldn't touch anything else. You can only find Alley Cat here in little bags, we got a little four pound bag of Meow Mix Seafood Medley for him to try. He loves it and is actually getting slightly fat on it! Elijah loves to go outside and doesn't use a litterbox, never. He will sit at the door like the dogs when he has to use the restroom and go in the yard. He loves to play with the dogs' draglines and although he has lots of cat toys, very rarely plays with any of them. He'll play with the dog toys and chase the dogs or just puffs his tail at them..... he's a bit of a brat! Sometimes he'll sleep in bed with us and in the middle of the night, if he feels like he wants a good ole' scratching, he'll bite my hand. When that fails, he'll take a nice bite of my nose to wake me up! That usually works, which is followed by a pushing the darn cat off the bed and hiding my face under a pillow! I love the silly cat!

Rizzo is now 26 months old and still looking very much like a puppy. She has a horrible case of seperation anxiety and is afraid of the vacuum. She loves to cuddle and be held and hear herself bark. Be careful to not leave any fluffy, warm, dry anything where she can reach it or find a way to it's level, she'll be curled up under, in or around it in two seconds flat. Must be the dachshund in her! I really need to work on her obedience more, really bad. Her seperation anxiety is in the works of being worked on as well, with or downstairs neighbors moving out and new people moving in in a little over a month, I'm sure they don't want to have a little weiner dog yipping all day long above their bedrooms.

Eva, you'll just have to read her update on her blog, once I get it up. She is nearly to her first birthday though! I can't believe my little baby girl is almost one. Oh, how the time flies!

Charlie-Moe is the sweetest, calmiest, bestest cream labradoodle ever! He is caring, considerate, responsive, eager to please, excitable, calm, loving, adorable and just all around amazing. He loves going out and about and loves his sisters. He loves carrying things and walks and working and learning. He really is one amazing service dog in training and one day, if he so chooses, will be an amazing service dog! If he chooses not to, with the help of the professional trainers at CST, he will make an amazing pet for one deserving family!

Ok, yeah, it is a pretty sad update on Chalie. Sorry. I need to get better about blogging about having a real puppy in training again after not having one for years! Ok, Eva was a real puppy in training, but we didn't go any where because of her health problems. Anyway, more updates to come over the next couple of days, I promise!

Our Roles

On of our roles as puppy raisers that I take very seriously is that of being a representative of working dogs around the world. If our dogs are misbehaved or not legit, we are representing poorly and are bad ambassadors for the ones that have the rights. As puppy raisers and or dog trainers, we have no rights. The dogs have no rights. The disablied persons that recieve these dogs are the ones with the rights to have their helper accompany them in public.

I do not support the impersonation of a service dog or service dog in training on any level. I am glad I am no longer involved with a school that is now doing so with several dogs. They very nearly ended my roll as a puppy raiser, thankfully I was shown what real organizations are like with CST and reminded of the goal at the end of this journey, not a $5,000 check in the bank but the enhanced independence of a disabled person and the life that a service dog helps them achieve. Thank you CST!