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How can you give them up?

Posted on May 17, 2010 by Donna Black-Sword

It’s a question a CCI puppy raiser hears a lot, but not an easy thing to answer. We take in these furry little carpet stainers at eight weeks old. We feed, train, groom and socialize for the next 14-16 months, then return the pups to CCI. How can you give them up? With a lot of pride and a box of tissues is a quick quip, but that doesn’t capture the essence of what a puppy raiser truly feels.

What follows is authored by fellow CCI puppy raiser, Elizabeth Holman, who has successfully put into words what is so difficult to say. Thank you, Elizabeth, for allowing me to share your thoughts here.

“How can you give them up?” As puppy raisers, if we had a quarter for every time we heard that question we could buy enough toys to keep even the strongest chewer busy for a year. It’s always well-meaning people (well, almost always) who marvel at our kindness. I appreciate it – but sometimes I want to ask them to lean in close so I can whisper something in their ear.



Let me tell you a secret: You will say goodbye to everyone and everything you love. It may be soon or it may be a long time from now, but the reality of our existence is that we keep nothing. Many of these partings will be surprises, and many will be filled with tears. As puppy raisers, we have given ourselves a great gift – we give our puppies up to life.


We know exactly when we will say goodbye. We pass their leash to loving hands and watch them walk off, tail wagging, to an exciting new world. We know they will be cared for by people who love them (nearly!) as much as we do. We know they will discover their joy in working with one special person, or be released to find their heart’s home. They come to us as little squirmy sparks of life, and after watching them grow we say farewell when they are young, strong, and on the verge of new adventures.


So don’t pity us or admire us as puppy raisers for being strong enough to give them up. Envy us for being lucky enough to give them up in precisely the right way.

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It’s a family affair

Posted on April 24, 2010 by Donna Black-Sword
The mighty Mr. Micron comes from a litter of nine pups; all stinkin’ adorable. Now that these nine cuties have celebrated their seventh month birthday, it seems a good time to take a look at how a couple of them are doing.
The dad, Blaze, is a full golden retriever and mom, Nyrobi, is a lab/golden cross with a black coat. Some of pups sport a fluffy coat and the rest are smooth coated. Some black, some yellow and some, well . . . a little of both. 
Madden
Hey, I’m no geneticist, but I really thought labradors came in just the basic solid colors. Black crossed with yellow makes either black or yellow, you know? I’m glad to be wrong, cuz check out the stunningly handsome Madden.  Is that coat just amazing or what? And as a bonus, his puppy raisers Regina and Dave say he is a wonderful pup to raise. They took this photo on Easter Sunday and noted that he didn’t need any bunny ears to dress up; his gorgeous coat and markings need no adornment.
I would agree.
Marco
Littermate Marco is being raised in Ohio and within driving distance for us. Marco is another black, fluffy coated pup. We met up last month for a CCI puppy raiser event and the two boys made time for a play date. Marco has a bit of brindling in his black fur as well. Yeah, I know he has his eyes closed in this shot on the right. Sincere apologies to puppy raiser Roxanne, but I really liked the wind-in-his-hair look that Micron is sporting.
And here we have Micron offering knot tying advice to puppy Yahtzee as he attempts to hog-tie Marco with the leashes.
Cute puppy alert
It wouldn’t be right to fawn all over the successful M litter without giving heart-felt praise to Marti Madias. Marti cared for the pups from birth until eight weeks. By the time I received Micron to raise, he had been introduced to crate training, early socialization and had learned some fundamental skills. All thanks to Marti. This is cool enough, but realize she did this with nine puppies over two months–as a volunteer for CCI. Talk about a labor of love. Awesome work. 
The young puppy photos are courtesy of Marti. Above we have a newborn Micron ready to be weighed and measured. The shot at the very top of the post is Micron before Marti sent him off to our CCI regional center. Before being named, the puppies are assigned a color to avoid any mixups of who is who. You see that Micron is “neon green.”
This is good to know because now we can identify him in the feeding frenzy below. And there he is bottom center with the neon green spot on his adorable butt. Check out the real estate that body stance is taking up. I’m told he was the biggest of the litter. Kinda makes sense after seeing this.
Here’s a pair of fluffy yellows taking advantage of the California sun.
I’m not sure if this is Micron or not, but based on what’s going on here, I’m willing to make an educated guess.
And how is the mighty Mr. Micron doing these days?  He’s doing great, thanks. Except for when he’s getting the snot beat out of him by smaller puppies.

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Would you rather . . . ?

Posted on April 11, 2010 by Donna Black-Sword
In a past life I spent a few years as a catechist at my church teaching a faith formation course to seventh graders.  “What?” you’re thinking, “Seventh graders!  A few years?  Are you nuts? Why would you do that?”  I can actually answer that in one word:  penance.
Ah, kidding, kidding. No, actually I’m just an idiot and had no idea what I had signed up for. Although, once I got into the groove of things, it was a great time and I have wonderful memories to take with me to old age. So, you want to know the secret of how to teach morality lessons to 12 year olds without all the eye-rolling and sighing?  News flash . . . you can’t. Disdain just comes with the territory. But I did have a super special secret weapon that got their attention every time. The book of Would You Rather . . .? This little tome peddles itself as “four hundred and sixty-five provocative questions to get teenagers talking.”
Provocative questions, indeed. Want to do a quick morality check on your young ‘un?  Ask question #341:
     Would you rather . . . wear dirty underwear or dirty socks?
Not provocative enough? Then think like a 12-year old for question #148:

     Would you rather . . . eat a hamburger in front of a starving child or destroy a child’s self image?

That one was a little deeper. But to get a rise out of the entire classroom population, this one single question brought the most riotous response. Question #333 asks:

     Would you rather . . . watch Barney or Sesame Street?

There’s something about Barney that just put seventh grade young people on the defensive. If a child psychologist hasn’t written a paper on that subject, well they should.
All interesting stuff, you say. But why am I sharing this with you? Because I received something in the mail that raised a would you rather question for me.  Totally wonderful news, but caused a morality check.
I’m told that my first CCI puppy, Inga, has been selected for team training in May. I’m so jazzed about this, that it’s crowding out any other thoughts. We are so close to seeing her be matched with someone. Cautious optimism; we’re close, but not there yet. If a match isn’t made during this team training, she’ll wait until the next team comes through. But still, she made it this far! I’m doing a happy dance. Just in my mind, though. Otherwise, I’ll just hurt myself.
Now that this is all in-my-face real stuff, no more imagining what to do if she doesn’t make it. This beautiful dog I raised for 14 months, who was my constant companion during that time. This dog I loved and worked so hard with. Would I rather she graduate from CCI and become a service dog or do I want her back in my life? I’ve said all along that I wanted to raise a service dog and I meant it. Now I know that Inga is not ever coming back to my home. How do I feel about that?  Ah, reality smacks me in the face yet again. 
I do love that dog. I loved the time we had together. And I love that I was able to be part of something that could possibly change someone’s life in a profound way. Hey, you know what? I’m ready to share that love. My dog, who is not my dog, is moving on. This is bigger than just me. That’s my morality check and I’m feeling pretty damn good about it. 
Puppy raising for CCI rocks!

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Mudpuppy [muhd-puhp-ee] –noun

Posted on March 29, 2010 by Donna Black-Sword

Mudpuppy [muhd-puhp-ee] –noun; any of several often large mammals of the genus Canis Smelliness of the southwestern Ohio region

It finally stopped snowing here in southwestern Ohio. We know spring is just around the corner because, of course, now it’s raining. And since this is Ohio weather, the rain held up for one day so it could snow again. But that was resolved the next day with more spring rain. They don’t call this Sinus Valley for nothin’.

The dogs were desperate to play outside in the backyard. I’m motivated to keep my beautiful taupe carpet free of muddy pawprints. So who won?  Oh right, as if I had a choice in the matter. After yet another day of the zoomies and overturned dining room furniture, I thought perhaps the backyard was finally dry enough for a hearty frisbee session. But hey big surprise; I lost on that one too. A modest little pond had formed back there, surrounded by a six foot radius of a shoe-sucking mud moat. 
But I’m making too much of things, really. Most of the yard was pretty dry. The two dogs could just let loose and run without me squealing like a caught rabbit every time they wrestled each other to the ground.
Sharing some action shots of Micron and Jager. Note the common theme, though. Jager may be in front of Micron, or behind him. Even nose to nose right next to him.  But not once does the hapless spotted dog get to carry the frisbee. He does look happy though, doesn’t he? In a maniacal sorta way.
Moving on to another topic. I’ve expanded the blog roll over there in the side panel on the right. I’m adding some wonderful blog sites that I’ve recently come across that are written by hearing dog teams. Cathy shares her experiences from Canada with Bosley in Life with a Hearing Dog.  And Hearing Elmo is an amazing blog that shares yet another perspective of a hearing dog team. Insightful stuff; I do hope you can take a few minutes to check these out.

It kinda looks like Micron’s eating the mud doesn’t it? Yeah, well.  He is.

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Pomp, Circumstance and . . . hand me that lint brush, will ya

Posted on February 14, 2010 by Donna Black-Sword
I cried yesterday. In public. But they were all happy tears and I was just joining in with everyone else at the CCI graduation for the North Central Region. Some seriously positive Karma going around in that auditorium. Good vibrations, if you will.
Canine Companions for Independence holds graduation ceremonies four times a year. People who have been partnered with a skilled assistance dog by CCI complete two weeks of team training at the regional center. A graduation ceremony is then held after the successful completion of this unique bonding and training experience. Let’s stop here for a second. Those last two sentences hold so much and it is truly difficult to put into words just how profound this process is. It would take a book to hold all the words, I think.
And how to explain the emotions at a Team Training Graduation?  It’s one of those “you had to be there” kinda things, but I’ll give it a heck of a try. Ok, so imagine yourself in a auditorium. It’s a sold out event and late comers are left standing in the back and sitting in the aisles. Now imagine that for about every three or four people, there is also a dog. Except for the occasional dog hair in the dust motes, a casual observer would have no idea that the auditorium is filled with dogs. No barking, no dog smell, no dogs moving around. 
Board of Directors VP, Carolyn, takes the stage and asks everyone who has attended a graduation before to please stand. We look around to see who is still seated, there are so many first timers here. These new people are our future, she tells us. These are the CCI supporters, volunteers and maybe even new puppy raisers. We’re to make sure they have tissues for what’s next.
The puppy raisers with matriculating dogs are now on the stage to be recognized. After the ceremony, they will drive to the regional center to turn the pups they’ve raised over to CCI for the next phase of advanced training. These folk and the pups have been together for the last 14 months or so. Some stand there straight and strong on stage. Others may have a tear or two roll down. For those of us who have stood on that stage, we understand.  How do we give them up, we’re asked. With a lot of pride and a box of tissues, we say.
Now it’s time to meet the new teams. Yesterday’s ceremony had eleven graduating teams, some adults and some children. One team at a time is brought on stage. The individual first, then the puppy raiser of their skilled companion joins them on stage. We’re not going to see a paper diploma handed over here. Something else intended to help them on their journey as they move onto this next path in life. The puppy raiser walks their new skilled companion to them to “pass the leash.”  This is it, people. The proudest moment for a CCI puppy raiser; whatever we did over those 14 months, everything that the amazing CCI trainers did, everything the dog can offer. The puppy we love so much is now in the hands of someone who will love them even more. Our dog, who is not our dog, has found their destiny. This is it.
To repeat what I said before, you really have to be there to get this experience. I’ve shared how I feel as a new puppy raiser. It’s an experience unique to each person. Information on the next graduation ceremonies for each regional center can be found on the CCI’s website (CCI graduation dates).  A search of youtube will bring up some excellent presentations like this one: puppy raiser presentation.
Each CCI Team Training Graduation is a feel-good time, but this particular one had even more meaning for me than most. Fellow puppy raiser, Jeff, turned over Nao’s leash to a young boy and his family. That’s Nao in the photo (top) and the other is with the lovely Inga on their last play date. I’ve known the ruggedly handsome Nao since he was a young pup as he grew up in the office as the same time as Inga. I’ve not yet had the honor of “passing the leash” so I can only guess how wonderful this must feel. I am so happy for Jeff, Nao and especially this young family. What a perfect, blessed match.

Please excuse me now. I think I have something in my eye.

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