It’s Perfectly “Logic”al! Another Pup meets his destiny!!!

July 11, 2019July 11, 2019Leave a comment

I’m so excited to see another one of Sugar’s Amazing L’s finding their forever person!!!!

Logic was sent as a young puppy to be part of the Bergin College of Canine Studies. He’s been training there ever since and has been matched with his forever person!!!! I love the look of excitement on her face seeing her new partner!!! (Top 2 photos)

I wasn’t sure Logic as a litter puppy in our home showed the ‘obvious’ personality and behavior traits to make it all the way to graduation, but we all know that greatness takes time! I’m thrilled that time, training and the hearts of volunteers are what turns a puppy into a Champion of Hope!!!!

It’s also amazing to realize the teamwork that goes into making, training, and matching service/assistance dogs! In this case, Sugar started her career with Guiding Eyes in New York; wonderful staff and volunteers worked with her for two years. She then was placed in the breeding program with Can Do where she lived with us as her breeding and whelping foster home. The training continued where I took her to classes when she didn’t have puppies to keep her skills up;

When she had her litters, some were sent to various other organizations through a co-op in the service dog world to enhance the quality of service dogs around the globe. (She has puppies in Asia, California, Vancouver….and Grandpuppies in Hong Kong!)

There were countless other volunteers helping throughout Sugars career including two other fabulous Whelping homes (Sugar says hi to Mamas Dana of the C litter and Julie of the Z litter!), fosters when we were on vacations and the staff that guided her through her pregnancies and delivery with wonderful expertise!!!

And this is how Logic from her 3rd litter ended up at Bergin College of Canine Studies! If this doesn’t epitomize the statement of “it takes a village”, nothing does!

I’m thrilled that Sugar and her Sires (Shout out to Grainger from Guiding Eyes, Sire of the L litter!) made such reliable and wonderful puppies that will be changing lives for years to come!!!
#ChangingLives #MakingADifference

logic meeting partner

The Very First Day of the Rest of Their Lives!

October 13, 2018October 13, 2018Leave a comment

Friday was an unimaginable day for me! It is the day that I got to share in just a SMALL piece of the joy that someone encounters on the very first day that they bring their new life partner home with them! This is the culmination of a Sugar Babies journey!

Whelping homes don’t often get to see the results of the litter they raised up close; rather, they get to hear about it from a distance, watching the journey from afar and seeing the pups we’ve loved from the moment they were born growing into the dogs we dream of and changing the lives of others in ways we can’t POSSIBLY imagine as hard as we might try. We hear bits and pieces, we watch facebook posts to see how they are doing, and we catch glimpses of them as they grow if we are lucky.

For me, the L litter gave me more opportunities than I could have ever hoped for in following their journey! I heard the stories while they were in the prison program and got to meet their inmate handlers; I got to see them with their puppy raisers and long-term fosters while they were in training, I got to say hi to them on occasion and give them some love from their whelping mom-and I watched their journeys unfold.

One was career changed and gets to live a wonderful life with a family that loves him; One is in the breeding program and hopefully one day very soon we will hear that she will be a mama herself; two are currently in final training locally; two are in other programs (Canada and California) and will hopefully be finishing up their formal training soon; and ONE of them is going home with his forever person TODAY! He’s made the long journey, he’s passed the tests along the way, and he’s ready to start the journey of his lifetime!

Today is the most special of days that rarely we get to experience-but when all of the stars align and if you are exceedingly fortunate you get a glimpse into what the once little ball of fur that couldn’t see or hear gets to do change the world! This is the day that makes the work, the time, the stress, the sleepless nights, the endless laundry, the weeks of no life, the brain exhaustion, the challenges, the illnesses, the vet appointments, surgeries, emergencies, and everything else just melt away as if it never existed for those who volunteer to help bring assistance puppies to their final life point! Breeding fosters, Whelping homes, Great Starts, Puppy Raisers, long-term Fosters, Prison Programs, and all of the volunteers in between!

Down the road there’s a graduation-but that is months after the dog is placed. TODAY is when everything culminates into that PERFECT combination and you can FEEL the earth shift on its axis almost. You KNOW that this dog will change the course of their person’s life, of that there’s no doubt! It’s NOW, it’s HERE, it’s TODAY, and it’s AMAZING.

Love comes in many shapes and sizes-but this kind of love, commitment, bond, and energy supersedes the love we talk about in general terms. THIS dog, THIS person, THIS moment…..

The pages of the past have been written, but the pages of the future hold no bounds. The journey isn’t always a straight one; but with time, energy, hope, and a little bit of faith it is a journey worth having! Sometimes we don’t know how we arrived at this place, and sometimes we’ve had to endure a bit of sadness and disappointment. But then we look at where we are and we can’t imagine not having this moment that is presenting itself right in front of us, waiting for us to seize it and run with it full of joy and laughter.

Sugar’s New Journey!

July 24, 2018July 24, 20182 Comments

I think everyone who knows Sugar and who knows me had no doubt that “being retired” just meant no more babies for her, but it definitely didn’t mean her work was done!

Krackle and Sugar enjoying a beautiful summer day together!

So, this fall, Sugar and I will be working and practicing to be able to pass the exam that will allow her to become a Certified Therapy dog and hopefully we will be a team for a different mission-helping kids, those who are ill, the elderly and others find joy in the simple things like petting, talking and reading to a dog!

Sugar didn’t feel like picking up her toys today-and it’s not a task she needs to learn now, so they just stayed on the floor…..

I have no doubt that once Sugar gets into this new career she will be fabulous at it! She won’t have an opportunity to test until this fall but once we get further along in the journey I will definitely update her blog to let everyone know how it’s going! We will bring you along on the adventure……

We are ready for our next adventure together-learning to be a Certified Therapy Dog Team!

The Big Long Wait…and Time for a Celebration-Part 1

July 3, 2018July 3, 2018Leave a comment

While she has spent a few years learning to be under the benches and chairs as part of her training, as a retired girl she just may be spending some time ON the benches now!

Monday, July 2nd, 2018 is a fabulous day for me! Yesterday is the day that I received the final paperwork and approval for the adoption of Sugar to our family!!! We are absolutely thrilled that Sugar is ours and we can’t wait to enjoy her retirement with her!!!! What is next in her future? How will she spend her retirement? I decided before I thought about her future that I would first reflect on her past that brought her to us in the first place.

On June 9th, 2015, I received word from Can Do Canines that they had received an email from Guiding Eyes and there was a possible breeding dog from their program available to them. They asked if I was interested and up for the task of having a breeding program dog in my home, and to let them know once I thought about it. It had been a tumultuous year; my father passing away from Alzheimer’s, a family member having serious medical issues that required 2 months of intensive care and hospital visits around the clock, and having to deal with the loss of a program dog that I was unbelievably attached to from unexpected complications of Lyme’s disease. Honestly, I just wasn’t sure I had “enough” of what it would take to have another program dog in our home. The questions swirled around in my head like a blur – “Could I keep my emotions intact to have another dog that wasn’t mine and not get too attached?”, “Was my heart ready for another investment of time, energy and love?”, “What would happen to the dog if it wasn’t able to be a successful breeder and could I deal with the disappointment?”, “Would the worry outweigh the joy?”

This is the very first picture I got of Sugar when she was at her first organization. Here she is in her harness out in New York.

After talking with my husband about it (who knew there really was no decision to be made, that I just had to realize the answer was yes all along:) we said yes to a dog named Sugar! We had a little apprehension but knew that this was another opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others by providing a breeding home for a program dog. We had whelped two personal litters and were even toying with the idea of being a whelping home, but figured that a breeding home foster was a good compromise! A breeding foster keeps the dog in the home including during the breeding, vet appts., ultrasound and x-rays until one week or so prior to the due date when they move into their official whelping home. So, some volunteers are breeding foster homes, some are whelping homes, and some are both! I think everyone was well aware that it was only a matter of time before I realized what they already knew – that there was no way I was going to be a breeding home without jumping in with both feet and becoming a whelping home too! There was just too much about puppies that I loved!

And the good news was that she was already bred while she was in New York the week prior, so all we had to do was to wait and see what the ultrasound would reveal during the week of July 4th!

Unfortunately there were some cases of kennel cough in the program and one of our temporary foster’s contracted it and passed it along to our daughter’s family dog who began showing symptoms on July 3rd-so while we were planning to get Sugar after the holiday, take her to her ultrasound and move her into our home, things didn’t go as planned. It seemed like unusual, unexpected events were the norm for me that year, and disappointment continued with a delay that could be weeks or months in the making. There was no way we could move a possibly pregnant dog into a home that had been exposed to kennel cough or it could be detrimental to the puppies that she could possibly be carrying.

And my life and plans weren’t the only one that had to change-this meant that Sugar had to remain somewhere else for an undetermined amount of time; would my house be ready in time for puppies if she was pregnant? Where would she go if it wasn’t? Who would be available to whelp a litter of puppies at the last minute and change their life for 8 weeks??

So, I swallowed my disappointment and it was determined that the Director of Training would bring her to her ultrasound while she was being fostered with her during this time. Then I got the call from her after the ultrasound saying she had a belly full of pups and her due date was in August! I was over the top excited and I think it was right then and there that my whelping journey and desire began! The due date was estimated as August 9th, but Guiding Eyes had put August 2nd as her due date so we had a range to work with! With the first hurdle being cleared, we had to just figure out how to tackle the second hurdle of the kennel cough clearing.

We had 3 dogs that had been exposed in our family, so we had to wait until the set time after all coughing had stopped and then verify that none of the other dogs were showing any signs of coming down with it for a set amount of time to make sure that all opportunities were gone for Sugar and the pups to be exposed unnecessarily. That also meant sanitizing both our cabin and home on every surface imaginable to prevent anything from being a concern. For those who know me, they are well aware that for these things I don’t leave ANYTHING to chance! Dog beds, bedding, floors, dog toys, leashes, crates……everything my mind could POSSIBLY think would be contaminated got disinfected, and that was basically everything. I think that I was in hyperdrive as well because of the unusual circumstances of the other dog in our home that we lost to Lyme’s disease. For almost every dog that contracts the disease, there is a treatment protocol that typically takes care of the issues and most dogs can live a full life after diagnosis. But since the unusual and extremely rare events unfolded then, my mind was sure that this was yet another case ready to rear its ugly head and I was going to do everything possible to prevent any opportunity for an illness in my home.

And so it went. Waiting. Hoping. Wating some more.

FINALLY, the kennel cough had cleared and it was time to start making arrangements to bring Sugar to our home! It was determined that Wednesday, July 23, 2015 would be her move in day. I had approximately 10 days to get to know this new girl, clear my schedule for the next 8 weeks, get our house ready for a litter of puppies, and begin a journey of whelping assistance puppies!

Below is a look into some of the communication that we had figuring out all of the moving pieces of Sugar’s beginning with the organization-some snippets for humor’s sake:

—————————————————————————————————————————————–

Holly:
Wait for it……YEP! I have questions!!!! 🙂

Her weight when she arrived; her latest weight that’s been recorded
Her Birthdate
Any info on the number of siblings, etc.?
I discussed with staff about any restrictions during pregnancy, but if there is anything else you think I should know?
Did you find anything while she was with you that she enjoyed playing with? Balls, bones, ropes????

Okay, enough for now. 🙂

Holly

Training Director:
Holly,
I would have been worried about you if you didn’t have any questions 😉

Holly:

Also, I think I may have figured why she is whining/barking! We have been watching her and trying to pinpoint when she is barking what it may mean-she is barking/whining when we are sitting down, but every time we bring her out she goes to the bathroom right away. Is it possible that this is one of the trained behaviors of a seeing-eye dog-that since people may not be able to SEE her need to go outside that she has to alert them in another way? After she comes in she’s fine, lays down and no more barking or whining. (Although she does try to sneak up on the couch in our laps!) If you happen to talk to the organization, I would LOVE to find out if this is one of the trained methods!

Director of Training:

Holly,

I can tell you for sure that the whining/barking isn’t a trained thing. The staff person that had her prior to shipping her to us warned me about it. She thought it was tied to wanting attention as well.

Sidenote: (What I found out once I got to know her is that her whining and barking was because she is ALWAYS hungry! And that with only a few weeks to go, whining and barking was her way of telling me that she did NOT approve of the amount of food she was getting…. :))

Our very first day (and first hour) with Sugar!

Day 81 – Continuing the Journey of a Lifetime, 11 Weeks in the Making!

June 27, 2018June 27, 2018Leave a comment

It’s been an emotional 7 days in our household with a variety of different “Sugar news”. Last Tuesday, it was time for Sugar to be spayed and begin her journey of smelling the roses! In the very near future, she will be retired and we will be adopting her! She is well known and liked at the Vet Hospital due to her litters, and the cutest thing I heard was when the news was spreading amongst staff that Sugar was in for a spay one of the staff came up to me and said: “What do you mean, no more Sugar Cubes????” After a good chuckle, I told her no, it was time for Sugar to turn that over to the younger pups in the program!

The spay didn’t go as well as we had hoped. Due to her C-sections and litters, she had a bit more of a complicated surgery. It was a long night at our house with her. As the night became early morning and we still weren’t seeing the progress we had hoped, it became evident early the next morning that continued medical care was needed. Unfortunately, there was some unexpected internal bleeding which required her to return back to the vet for an additional procedure the next morning, some extra medications, and observation. She came back to our home on Thursday after her extended stay and has been recuperating while we spoil her rotten and get her back on the road to long walks, fun playdates and some great exercise in the not so distant future.

So it was wonderful to have a fun and rewarding time to play with adorable Sugar Babies tonight and unwind from an otherwise stressful week!

Seriously, how do you resist such an adorable face??

Today was the special opportunity that many whelping homes wait for patiently – the evening to see “their” puppies after they are away at the Duluth prison! They left around 6 weeks and now this N litter of Sugar’s is over 11 weeks old-the 7 pups have been away for almost half of their life and I couldn’t get to the facility quick enough for my play date with them! It felt like when my girls returned from college!

Norton offering his best sit on command!

When I arrived they were just getting taken out of the vehicle. Then they were corraled over to the training room where my husband and I would have the opportunity to play with them for about 45 minutes prior to their great start and puppy raiser families arriving to come to pick them up. Tonight would be their first official time away from their littermates. They spent time away from their siblings at night when they were all with different handlers, but they got multiple opportunities to play with them during the days while they were there. The first two weeks they still had Sugar there with them and the last 3 weeks they had the comfort of their other 6 siblings. They’ve been busy learning while they’ve been there, but that doesn’t mean that tonight won’t still be a tough adjustment for them! I will be curious to hear how the evening, the overnight and tomorrow go for these wonderful puppies!

While I thoroughly enjoyed playing with them, about halfway through I had to step away and detach a bit. This litter, in particular, I was a bit sad because I knew it was the last litter Sugar would have, so this goodbye seemed a bit more emotional and final than I had prepared myself for. I wanted this to be a happy celebration for these puppies who are going to do amazing things during their lifetime and I didn’t want that to be lessened by me falling apart into a puddle of tears, so that meant I needed to step away from the “playing” and observe a bit more from distance. Over the years I’ve learned a bit more about controlling those emotional stepping stones(but I’m still terrible at it!); I’m not sure if it’s because you get used to it, or you start learning how to protect your heart a bit more from the emotions of the experience.

You never get tired of seeing your whelping litters

Using a “settle” to keep this pup quiet during some of the filming from the news station

After the litter drank the WHOLE bowl of water, those eyes were expectantly looking for more!

The puppies were having a great time with the space and the toys

And as I was playing and watching the puppies, I started seeing the anticipatory faces of the volunteers who were coming to pick their new “adventure” up through the observation windows! I thought back to the time when I was the one picking up a puppy to puppy raise and how excited I was for the new opportunity I was embarking on! I can’t believe how many years have passed since that first experience, but my heart feels like it’s been way more than 6 1/2 years! It is FULL of experiences that 7 years ago I couldn’t have even imagined in my wildest dreams! Happy, sad, funny, exhausting, overflowing with joy, amazed, scared, determined……Offhand I can’t think of any emotions that I haven’t experienced through the puppies that I have been so fortunate to have in my house whether it was for a short foster, a long-term foster, a great start, being a puppy raiser, having a litter of puppies, or hosting a breeder dog (or two). Each of them has taught me something that is now part of me and that I can’t separate from even if I wanted to

Ken enjoyed the opportunity to say hello again as well

Norton wanted to sit and watch the other puppies roughhouse, but he wanted to catch a quick rest rather than joining in!

The mirror in the training room is always a big hit when the puppies arrive!

So, with time, things change. I get to say another goodbye and think of how my life will change again in the near future, with new and different adventures. Soon, Sugar will be OURS and we will get to write a new future together! I’m not sure what that future holds, but I know with Sugar by my side it will be amazing!

Right when we got home, Sugar went crazy when she smelled the puppies on me, grabbed a toy and looked at me like “where are they”??! Due to her surgery last week, we had to try and keep her calm and quiet, but she was waiting to play with her puppies!

Even though Sugar won’t be having any more puppies, I hope people will still read this blog! Since the blog is called “Life of Sugar” we still have a lot of things to say!!!! I think Sugar has many new things she will be enjoying! Hopefully, the next post you see will be about her official retirement from the program!

Day 8-What Blizzard? It’s Sunny, Warm, and 80 Degrees-At Least in the Whelping Box! (Perspective is Everything)

April 14, 2018April 14, 2018Leave a comment

THE GLIMMER OF POTENTIAL BEGINS TO APPEAR

As you can see by the picture below, it’s hard to remember it’s spring right now……

But perspective is so important! We may not be having the nicest weather currently, but hopefully, everyone will be able to settle inside somewhere and enjoy some good music, television, family time or just catching up on their to-do list. This won’t last forever….at least that is what I keep telling myself day after day after day…… 🙂

Perspective is also important when it comes to assistance dogs. There are all sorts of storylines regarding assistance/service dogs in our everyday world-from those who make training service dogs much more difficult because they try to pass off their pet as a service dog, to those who ask us questions about if assistance dogs are happy and ever get to “just be dogs”, to the dogs who have “made it” and are happily serving clients all over the world, changing their lives and wagging their tails! And let’s not forget the dogs who started in the journey of becoming an assistance dog and for a myriad of reasons were unable to complete THAT journey, but have gone on to lead wonderful lives of purpose as comfort dogs, therapy dogs, and precious pets. The great thing about dogs is that they change lives everywhere they go, and it’s not limited to those in only in the assistance/service dog world! They are truly amazing, and if you haven’t had the opportunity to see that then just take time to stop and observe one day and watch the dogs around you. They read their humans like no one can; they adjust to the changing world around them that’s out of their control with a calm stride and they make others laugh and smile-sometimes they are the only ones that can do this with such little effort!

People ask me why fake service dogs are a problem and I talk to them about how poorly behaved dogs that aren’t qualified to be out in public give ALL dogs a bad name in public places, not to mention the safety factor which is unfair to the dogs who aren’t adequately trained to be in all of those situations as well as the humans who encounter them. Just like you wouldn’t pay an untrained person to be your doctor or fix your furnace due to safety issues, having people who aren’t trained to handle public situations with dogs is a recipe for disaster in my opinion. Dogs that are put in environments that they haven’t been exposed to regularly can suffer from stress and anxiety, and that can lead to a bad reaction or interaction in a crowd. One bad experience with a fake service dog that you think is a legitimate service dog will taint the viewpoint of how these dogs serve clients in public spaces. The more issues that people and businesses encounter with fake service dogs, the more they question us volunteers about the dogs we are training in public. That’s exactly why it takes assistance dogs 2+ years to get enough experience and training to be successful in their careers and that’s why it’s so frustrating for fosters, puppy raisers and volunteers to have to endure the increased challenges of justifying why we have the dogs we are training out in public. If assistance dogs in training don’t have the opportunity to get out in public and experience all of the things they will need to know about before they go into service, this can decrease their confidence and make them less able to perform their tasks as needed.

As for dogs in training “just being dogs”, I can assure you that the dogs in training that I have personally fostered, short or long term puppy raised or have been a breeder host for have more opportunities, more fun times of play, more one on one attention, more toys (just ask my husband how many baskets of dog toys he begrudgingly has to tolerate in our living room) and more “just being dogs” than other dogs I have owned in my entire life! We experience life as a TEAM, and they get to enjoy things with me that I never got to enjoy with my own personal dogs. Movies, restaurants, cafes, parks, buses and light rail, pancake breakfasts and the list goes on! They’ve allowed me to see the everyday things in my life from a completely different lens and my perspective has changed in ways I could have never imagined!

When I had ankle surgery and was in a wheelchair and on crutches for 4 months, I realized how difficult it was to get places, how hard it was to open doors and how every task for me seemed so much more difficult to accomplish. I also realized that people are so busy in their lives that sometimes they don’t take the extra few seconds to help someone around them-not wanting to “offend” them by offering help or they are just too busy to stop. But when you watch clients with assistance dogs, part of the difficulty in some tasks gets removed but their companionship also provides comfort, and these dogs draw a great sort of attention that makes people react differently which is so incredible to watch!

And, don’t ever feel TOO bad for a career changed assistance dog; their lives are full of people who love them, families who play with them, and opportunities to continue changing lives! Many become certified therapy dogs and bring joy to another whole plethora of people!

So, on this blustery winter day, my suggestion is to change your perspective, and feel the warmth of these puppy pics-and just TRY not to smile!!!!! Feeling warm inside from the cuteness of these adorable puppies is a pretty good alternative 🙂

Miss Pink, Mr. Orange and Mr. Red making sure I remember what’s REALLY important-the small things!

Miss Pink-I just call her heart stealer……

cuteness overload! Check out the extra skin on the leg of Mr. Red-he’s sure got his Mama Sugar’s extra skin gene!!!!

Sugar just relaxing on this cold blustery day with her beautiful pups!

Mr. Blue getting comfortable

NOW he’s comfortable!

A little snuggle time with Miss Pink

Glimmer

Day 5: The Gift You Can Only Give Once-Puppies of Purpose Have a Busy Schedule Ahead of Them!

April 11, 2018April 11, 2018Leave a comment

Many people love seeing Service/Assistance Dogs when they are working with clients, but often don’t realize the work that has gone into those dogs over their entire lives to get them ready for the job at hand, and the work begins as soon as they are born. As a whelping home for my first time in 2015, I was a bit amazed at everything that these puppies are exposed to in the early days of their lives which research has proven has a direct impact on how well adjusted they can be as an adult dog! I also had to learn that holding and loving these puppies is critical, but it doesn’t replace the other things that puppies need to experience; new environments to experience and changing their environments to teach them to adapt to their surroundings, exposure to a whole variety of sights, sounds and smells, socialization with every possible opportunity once they are old enough (but at the very least with me and my husband handling them frequently until they can socialize with others) creating brain challenges for them to keep their neurological stimulation at its very peak so they can transfer that to becoming a dog that loves to work and help with tasks.

Here are the stages of these tiny pups and what they should experience in order to give them the perfect building blocks for success!

The excerpt below is taken from a Healthy Pets article by Mercola and does a great job of explaining the first 8 weeks of puppy development.

5 Milestones in Every Puppy’s Life

•Stage 1: Whelp. A whelp is any just-born carnivorous animal. The word is most often associated with newborn puppies. Whelping means birthing; to have whelped means to have given birth.

•Stage 2: Neonate. Neonate refers to a newborn pup from day 0 to day 13 of life. Neonate puppies can’t see (their eyes are still closed), can’t hear (their ears are sealed shut) and can’t pee or poop without stimulation (licking) from mom.

They have no teeth, nor do they have the ability to regulate their own body temperature.

These tiny babies depend on mom and their littermates to stay warm, which is why they tend to snooze in furry little piles. Neonates sleep about 90 percent of the time, and when they’re awake, they’re nursing.

Fortunately, they’re born able to smell, which helps guide them to mom’s nipples at mealtime.

The first milk a mother dog produces is colostrum, which contains the antibodies that transfer maternal immunity to help protect the pups from opportunistic diseases during their first weeks of life.

NEUROLOGICAL STIMULATION

Virtually all the energy a neonate’s body generates goes toward growth. They typically double their birth weight during the first week of life. Since they can’t yet stand, they sort of paddle around using their front legs. This soon leads to crawling.
It’s during this time (days three to 16) that its beneficial to institute early neurological stimulation (“super puppies,” as some say) which can oftentimes result in more balanced adult dogs.

The U.S. military did studies on raising puppies, and they found that doing certain exercises with puppies during the time of rapid neurological growth, between the puppies third and sixteenth day of life would increase the pups performance in later life. They created a program called the Bio Sensor program consisting of 5 exercises to be done once a day with the pups. They found that not only were puppies able to cope more with stressful situations, and problem solve better than other puppies, but that they were actually physically healthier with higher cardiovascular performance, stronger immune systems, adrenal glands and heart beats.

They are only done for a brief 3-5 seconds so as to stimulate the neurological functions without stressing them too much.

Holding them upright encourages neurological stimulation and blood flow

Holding them upside down for 3-5 brief seconds causes additional neurological stimulation which is different than when they are held upright!

The supine position has them laying on their back or cradled-I can just imagine those brain cells developing as we go through these exercises!

Using a Q-tip on the paws and between the pads is a tactile stimulation that can help them be adaptable in future situations where there is a flooring change, a different surface that they need to manipulate, etc. and keeps them learning to be adaptable to their surroundings

Placing the puppies on a cool, wet rag briefly continues to stimulate the neurological connections that they will use as they grow into adult dogs!

Below is a video explaining neurological stimulation by a veterinarian.

•Stage 3: Transition period. The transition period covers days 13 through 21 of a puppy’s life. The ears start to open at around day 14, and the eyelids between days 10 to 16. As you can imagine, these events give the pups a whole new outlook (literally) on their world.

They begin to respond to smells and tastes, and their little puppy grunts evolve to whines, yips and barks. By day 15, most pups are standing up, and within the next several days they take their first unsteady steps. At this point, they go from total reliance on mom to a bit of independence.

•Stage 4: Awareness period. The awareness period is day 21 to day 28. By 3 weeks of age, pups are using their senses of sight and hearing to learn. They’re beginning to play with their littermates and explore their environment.

This is also the time during which puppies gain some control over elimination and begin moving away from their “den” (sleeping area) to pee and poop.

•Stage 5: Socialization period. The initial socialization period encompasses weeks 3 to 8 in a puppy’s life. It’s during this period that her interactions with other pets and people increase, and she’s able to form attachments.

At about 4 weeks of age, mom’s milk production begins to taper off, and the puppies’ calorie requirements increase. As mom gradually weans her pups, they begin showing serious interest in solid food.

As luck (and more importantly, nature) would have it, at 3 to 4 weeks, the canine teeth begin to push through, and a full set of puppy teeth make an appearance between weeks 4 and 6.

Age 6 to 8 weeks is considered a critical time in every puppy’s socialization period. This approximately two-week window is when puppies are most accepting and least fearful of others.

How quickly a pup’s mental development occurs is a direct result of the environmental stimulation she receives during this period. By week 8, most puppies are fully weaned. Puppies need additional, expansive socialization from 8 weeks to 6 months of age to best acclimate to all life will throw at them as adults. At 3 to 5 months, permanent teeth begin to replace puppy teeth, and by 7 months, puppy has a full set of permanent teeth.

Here is a video that I believe explains the process of Super Puppy Training that Whelping Homes perform with their litters to help them have the best possible start in life on their journey to becoming an assistance dog!

Day 2 – The Wonder of Love in Progress

April 7, 2018April 8, 2018Leave a comment

As I sit here during the pre-dawn hours, I watch with wonder at this moment in front of me. Just 24 hours ago, we were at the Vet Hospital getting an earlier than planned assisted delivery of future assistance puppies.

But now, as I watch with only the light from the streetlights and the heating lamp, I am on the sidelines, watching this beautiful bond being formed between a mother dog and her puppies. I quietly sneak a peek into her private world-where humans aren’t part of the equation. You would think that she was too tired, in too much pain from the surgery, or too concerned about herself to concentrate any of her limited energy on her litter of 7. But, what I witness is exactly opposite of that; I see Sugar-who with every litter has given it her all in ways I would have never guessed would happen in the canine world! You see her watching the puppies as if she were studying them to get to know them; at the first sound coming from them she immediately reacts to see what the issue is and she offers the only thing she has to make them feel better -herself. And tonight is no different because she searches for them even if she is out of the box for a couple of minutes-wanting me to bring her food into the whelping room area where she will be close to the puppies. She chooses to only leave the room to go outside to the bathroom, preferring a 4X5 whelping box in the office in our house instead of the freedom of our entire house where she could relax! Now that the babies are here, she knows where HOME for her is!

Nothing better than puppy kisses

And her mother’s senses which are laser sharp seem to gain clarity with each litter and each day, like when she finally decides to come out of the box to sleep right at the entrance but wakes up for no apparent reason, goes into the box and walks directly to ONE particular puppy who magically goes to the bathroom only seconds later- and she is right there to clean her baby up! What is it that tells her which puppy would need her a few moments into the future? Is it a particular scent that gives her direct cues of what she needs to do with which puppy?: She also hesitates and doesn’t step into the box; preferring to wait for us to come check on her when she gives a little whine so that we can move the puppies out of her way and she can get into the whelping box without incident! She also exhibits this behavior if she is going to get out of the box and puppies are on her. Rather than jumping up and displacing the puppies she waits for them to be cleared from around her before making her exit.

The puppies found the sun!

I sit outside of the box with a sense of wonder at watching this critical bond with her puppies unfolding right before my eyes! I wonder what it must be like for her to wake up and all of a sudden have someone placing puppies on you. I can only imagine her instinct is so strong that taking care of these babies just seems like another everyday experience that came her way!

Some of those questions got me to thinking about whether scent makes it possible for dogs to ‘smell” their relatives even years after they have been separated. The studies seem to show that indeed they do! See the article below for some of the backgrounds on studies done by Cornell University.

Sugar for sure is a natural at this motherhood thing, and the pictures below give you just a tiny glimpse of how evident that is when you watch her with her puppies, the “N” litter!

Miss Pink having some one-on-one time with her Mama

Mr. Blue showing he knows what he wants and how to get it!

Sugar and her puppies are enjoying a sunny afternoon catching up on some much-needed sleep after 2 night shifts!

Mr. Blue showing me he’s just the perfect size to love!

14 days and counting!

March 26, 2018March 26, 2018Leave a comment

April 8th is Sugar’s due date, and that means just two more weeks until we get to discover how many puppies are waiting to join the ranks of life-changing “puppies in training”! She is 46 days along currently and the pups will start growing rapidly during this last stage of development!

Their organs have developed, claws have formed, hair has grown, and on Friday I was able to feel them kick for the very first time! No one else could feel it, so I thought maybe I was mistaken, but Saturday I felt it again and today there was no doubt that what I was feeling was some tiny puppies making their presence known!!!! This may not sound surprising, but when you realize they are only about 5 inches long at this age of their development it might change your mind!

Sugar showing one of her former whelping moms who stopped by for a visit what she’s growing….

So, the journey begins over the next two weeks! I will be picking up the whelping box, whelping kit, and some supplies to start preparing for a home with puppies; the room they will call “home” will be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected to make sure they have a great area to start life on the right track, and our schedule starts slowing down to make a calmer environment for Sugar to just rest and relax!

At this time, we have no idea how many puppies to expect other than the fact that during her ultrasound they were making an educated guess of somewhere between 2 and 6 puppies! So, when delivery day comes-I will be just as surprised as to the number of puppies as everyone else!

And now the waiting begins….this is the two weeks that can feel like an eternity:)

Some interesting things about the puppies growing during the pregnancy;

The Rate of Growth of the Fetus:

At 10 days the ova is approximately 1/12 to 1/20 inch long.
At 3-4 weeks old they are approximately 1 inch in length.
At 6 weeks old they are approximately 3 1/2 inches long.
At 7-8 weeks old they are approximately 5 inches long.
At the 9th week, they are 6-8 inches long.

The stages of development are interesting as well:

At 10 days the fertilized ova have reached the uterus.
At 10-21 days traces of the fetus appear, and traces of head, body, and limbs can be discerned.
At 3-4 weeks the first indications of claws can be seen.
At the 5th week, the stomach is well defined. At 6 weeks large hairs appear on lips, eyelids, etc.
At 7-8 weeks the eyelashes have appeared, and hair is beginning to appear at the tip of the tail, head, and extremities.
By the 9th week, the puppy is getting fully covered with hair and ready for its birth.

The killer puppy dog eyes waiting to be fed….

Learning Every Day-A bunch of ZZZZZZ’s

March 14, 2018March 14, 2018Leave a comment

Today was the first time I went back to Stanley Correctional Institution since Lyric and Liam left. They were going to get an opportunity to see some of the footage that was shown at the Fetching Ball Gala for Can Do Canines and I was excited to be able to say hi again to the handlers in the program. We also had the added bonus of bringing 4 puppies from the “F” litter (who are Sugar’s grand puppies-their Mom Clover is from Sugar’s first litter ) to them to begin their journey in the program!

Although it was the 4th time I had seen the footage, it still grabbed my heartstrings and brought me to tears. There is something about watching the process of others loving and letting go that gets me every time. And it’s not because of the sadness of saying goodbye, but rather the magnitude of people giving of themselves in order to get a dog to its final destiny. I’ve experienced the part where you say goodbye myself, and I’m not one to say it’s easy, but I’m so thankful that people are able to see themselves through that momentary sadness for the joy that their dedication brings to others-it’s a magical experience to see dogs with their clients and know that volunteers make that happen!

So I was thrilled when I returned today and was equally as excited to see the program handlers, watch their dogs and the progress that’s being made, and I got the opportunity to ask them how they are teaching these puppies such amazing things! I watched the puppies attention to their handler, the obvious bond they have formed even at this young age, and I wished my training skills were remotely as good as theirs! These dogs were on waits/stays all around the room and when their handler called them, they came and found them-and almost all of the other dogs still held their position. I felt honored to be able to watch them train, and I realized that if you stay honest you will realize that you can constantly learn from others throughout your day!

One of my favorite comments I heard while they were training was when I heard a handler talking to his dog and saying “Wait-think about what you’re doing. It’s all about choices.” and when the dog did what was expected, the handler responded “good choice”. I marveled at how that simple interaction could sum up many of life’s moments in a nutshell!

As I looked around the room, I was so happy to have the opportunity to see Sugar’s previous litter, the Z litter-as well as our other Breeding Foster in our home Krackle’s puppies-the X litter! I wanted to hear about how they were all doing, and I loved being able to answer the questions from the inmate handlers about Sugar and Krackle’s personalities, whether the puppies looked more like the moms or the dads, and I loved hearing how happy they were with their pups in training!

This journey continues to amaze me at every turn, and today I appreciated the opportunity to try to comprehend a few of my takeaways from the day: the difficulties of letting go through the eyes of another, the gift of acceptance of ourselves and others, the responsibility to yourself to grow as a human and strive for something greater, gratitude for others to recognize the sacrifices that are made…..and to make sure I always try to keep an open mind and not take another’s journey for granted.

It was obvious; the puppies have grown-but all of us who are involved in this journey have grown equally as much along the way, and for that, I will always be thankful!