Ben and his mom and dad. Ben is getting a Skilled Companion Dog.
Chelsea and her mom. Chelsea is getting a Service Dog.
Susan is getting a Facility Dog to take to hospitals.
Bram and his mom are getting a Skilled Companion Dog.
Josh, John and Calvin are all Iraq War Veterans and are getting Service Dogs.
Pam is getting a Facility Dog for her school.
Dave and his wife. He’s getting a Service Dog.
Me too, and also Frank.
And who would have ever thought two 10-year-olds, one Autistic and one Downs could sit still, listening, all day.
We had a couple lectures, watched a video, then we worked with “Carpet Dog.” He lacks personality but is always consistent. Bram named him “Ace.”
You clip a leash to his collar, hold the leash a very specific way, Todd holds a handle in each hand, follows you around the room and does exactly what you command. It is surprisingly difficult to command a carpet remnant to do tricks.
"Ace, DOWN." -- "Good Dog."
"Ace, SIT. Good Dog!"
This is Ace jumping up on the chair. "Ace, DON'T!"Our three trainers are Patti—she lectured, Simi coached, and Todd was Ace's brain.
We met the staff—there are 30+ people that train, clean kennels, raise money, write programs, apprentice, organize volunteers, and keep the dogs healthy. It definitely takes a village…
And there were six volunteers that made an amazing lasagne lunch. The fridges are stocked with so much FREE food that I'm guaranteed to gain at least 5 pounds.
Gotta run. I have two essay quizzes that are due at 9:00 a.m. and a gallon of Breyers ice cream to eat.
Oh, and Josh taught me a magic trick too. Remind me, I'll show you.
2 comments:
Thank you for the posts! I'm on pins and needles.
Ace cracks me up. Reminds me of those exercizes where you have to tell someone how to make a PB&J and they do exactly what you tell them to do.
If you get a chance, please thank Josh, John and Calvin for me.
Good luck with your essay. The staff is lucky to get to read your stuff b/c you are such a good writer.
Your commentary is the best! I'm looking forward to it every day. Thanks for checking on Connor. Having three veterans in your class is awesome. Thank them for me, too.
Hugs to the Utah team of Susan and Kelly.
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