Service Dogs

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AWOL

We have a Canine Companion for Independence (CCI) visitor so we will be AWOL for a little while as we will be busy showing him around town. Our visitor is about seven months old and has an out of jail card for seven days.

The little guy who is actually quite a big guy already is a service dog in training and being trained by inmates at a correctional institute for women. He needs some real world experience such as shopping, riding in a car, going to the doctor etc., hence the out of jail card. The women who take care of these puppies are doing a fabulous job so it’s always a joy to have these guys around.

I promise to catch up with you later,
Benji

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A Day of Rest

No agility training today.  I have to wait another week. I have only two more sessions left. Next on our list is Advanced Agility Training. In the meantime a photo of me and my CCI Labrador and Golden Retriever buddies showing the wheel in a training session last Thursday. It was sort of the wheel of fortune. I got treats if I performed the commands correctly. The two buddies on my right are full-fledged assistance dogs, the two on the left are in training, hence their yellow vest.  I’m the only Brindle X and therapy dog.  I’m fur-iends with everyone.wheel.jpg

Happy Sunny Day, 

Benji

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Gone with the Wind: 2

Each our own lounge
Close together is way more fun
Where is the graduation channel?

After the yummies-out-of-the-tummy affair earlier in the week we now seem to be back on track. High Ten to the staff at the ER and my own vet! So finally I can show you more of the stuff we did when Adonis was here. Of course, we had to have a slumber party. We put our lounge beds close together and discovered that with a new friend there is lots to woof about. I was especially curious to find out if puppies interests nowadays are different from the ones I had as a pup. There doesn’t seem to be much to report on that front yet.

I assume my generation is still pretty up to snuff. Like many of my peers, I have attended school and still do. I also have play dates, doggie TV & music, sailing & canoeing outings, agility fun, secret missions, educational toys, as well as pie and ice cream. And now you know we even have slumber parties. This is a bit different from when Ms. Zulu was growing up. Her puppy years are way behind her so it isn’t odd that she can’t remember everything. I do know that she has been around quite a bit; she has told me some unbelievable stories of her outings long gone. Still, Ms. Zulu is pretty sure that she didn’t have slumber parties with doggie music and TV.

We tried to watch Capone’s graduation ceremony on the day it was aired but unfortunately, the link was not working. We checked the link today and now it is up and running. It can be found here. BTW, do you remember Keane? He was the first CCI puppy who stayed at headquarters. He graduated the same day as Capone and you can also see him on TV. Two famous dogs who crossed my path; pretty amazing isn’t it?!

Happy Weekend; be sure to make time for play and slumber parties,

Benji. 

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Gone with the Wind

Gone with the wind are my best buddy Capone and my new CCI friend Adonis. We took care of Adonis for only two days but when he left it felt like he was already part of the fur-amily.

Lots happened in the last three days. The evening before Capone had to drive south for his graduation, we had one last playdate. You can find the video of Capone’s graduation here. Adonis stayed with us for two days since both his puppy raisers went with Capone to the graduation ceremony.

Someone at my house, you can guess who, loves taking pictures especially puppy pictures. So there are now a gazillion plus pictures in addition to the ones we already have that have to be sorted. Here is a photo showing Adonis on my red bed. OK, ok, it is Ms. Zulu’s bed too.

Moi 7 weeks
Moi 10 weeks

Adonis is only 10 weeks old. Just as a comparison there is one photo of me when I was 3 weeks younger than Adonis is now. At that age, I didn’t have a magic cape like Adonis. Remember, I had just escaped been adopted from the shelter. Nonetheless, I had my football and an angel on my chest. Since we didn’t have a photo of me when I was 10 weeks old on the red bed (how come???!!!) we threw in the one that shows me when I went sailing for the second time in my life.

Enjoy your Sunny Day and wishing you smooth sailing this week,

Benji

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We are currently unavailable

We are currently unavailable… because we are puppy sitting a CCI puppy! It’s quite a job. There is lots of going for a walk, business # ones and twos, playing, making sure nobody gets into trouble, and what not. Never knew puppy sitting was this busy.  It’s loads of fun but am wondering when I can catch up on my sleep…

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Hi, nice to meet you!

More later, gotta run,

Benji

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Sweet Goodbyes

Yesterday was Capone’s Goodbye Party after our bimonthly training session with my CCI and therapy buddies. Our bimonthly training group provides practice and socialization outings for service dogs, therapy dogs, and pups in training to be service dogs or therapy dogs. So far I am the only shelter dog with an unknown pedigree in that group but we are hoping to change that because shelter dogs do rock. *

Me and Capone
The new guy
Party fun
More party fun
In training

The party after the training was a blast. Fortunately, we have one more week before we really have to say goodbye to Capone. Since we are best buddies I will get to play with Capone the evening before he travels south where he will start his professional service dog training.

We also welcomed a new CCI in training puppy. Isn’t he adorable? We call him the easter bunny as he arrived Good Friday and is just as fluffy. He is a Golden Retriever. All of the CCI dogs are either a purebred or mix between Labrador and Golden Retriever. Operation Delta Dog has decided to take service dog training to a whole other level and is solving two big problems with one great solution. ODD is helping shelter dogs by adopting them and training them to assist veterans with PTSD and traumatic brain injuries. Purple Heart Greyhounds is another organization that’s worth mentioning. This organization trains retired racing Greyhounds to become PTSD Service Dogs.

Saying goodbye is hard but it is like Winnie the Pooh said: “How lucky we are to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” 

Benji

* Notice that four of the six dogs are wearing a Gentle Leader. This leader is not a muzzle but helps provide stress-free walks.

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Training with a Purpose

petsmartToday I got together with my CCI buddies. There was no time for play but we got to practice tons of stuff at Petsmart and Home Depot. Lots of maneuvering around garden items, toys,  FOOD!, and other distracting savory objects. We even had to crawl underneath tables and lie down in tight corners. It’s like agility training to me, and that I do love.  The reason why we practice this is because CCI dogs have to be able to make themselves as small as possible so that they can travel on an airplane with their person or accompany them into a restaurant.

Afterward, there was lots of socialization with people who wanted to know more about us and the difference between assistant and therapy dogs.  And then there were people who needed some loving for one reason or another. An elderly man approached us and said he had recently lost his longtime dog-buddy due to an injury. He seemed to want a listening ear and some consolation. I’m good at both, so we stayed with him for a bit. Another person wanted to pet me since she misses having a dog at home. Because of her husband’s preferences, they settled on cats. She loves all animals, she said and wouldn’t mind a house full of them. Now that’s my kind of woman.

I met three cute looking tuxedo cats too. They are up for adoption at Petsmart and fostered by a nice young lady. We forgot to take a picture of the kitties but they looked a bit like the ones M and Q took care of gazillion years ago. They were just older; 1.5 years instead of 2 months. I liked them and M almost took them home. I think M wouldn’t mind a house full of animals either.

Sunnydays are my favorite days, that’s when I will be going to agility training again. Wishing you a sunnyday tomorrow with lots of sunshine. Stay safe and I will try to do the same,

Benji