assistance puppies in training

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

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!