Short, Sweet, and...Fun!

I have been writing on this little blog for over two-and-a-half years.  Not only has it been a place for recording and remembering my journey of puppy raising, but it has also been a means by which I have "met" many wonderful people from across the country who also are hooked on this volunteer gig.  Over the last year especially, there have been several people who I originally met because of this blog that I now consider dear friends.

My parents, Moray, and I recently headed up to Missouri to visit a college.  While we were there, we had the privilege of meeting up with Lisa and her Canine Companions puppy in training Liza!  They live a couple hours away from where we were going, but graciously agreed to meet up with us!

We first met up at a castle that touts to being haunted.  It was a fun place to work both pups together!  Liza is a complete sweetie!  She is so beautiful and dainty, and she and Moray hit it off instantly and were completely in love.  When Moray meets new dogs, he usually just tries to play with them.  Not these two.  They worked very well together, but just wanted to be together and would lean over and steal kisses every chance they got!

They not only fell in love in one day...

Uh oh!

...but also got married...

...and honeymooned! ;)

We went up stairs...

...and down stairs.

We worked on various commands like "up"...

...and jump.

And although no ghosts were seen, it was soon time to head out!

Pretty Liza!

"Let's go!"

We headed to downtown Springfield to walk around some more, but also got to spend time talking to people all about Canine Companions!  Of course Liza and Moray were excellent representatives!

Soon it was time for a water break!  Its good to have polite puppies who don't mind sharing!

After some dinner where these two smooched under the table...

...We switched puppies and worked through some basic and advanced commands and obedience!

"Jump!"

"Jump" and "under" and more kisses!

Liza does a "let's go!"

Handsome boy if I do say so myself!

"Down" of different surfaces.

Liza mid "heel"

They even practiced holding "downs" and "stands" with major distractions -- each other!

Another stop for rest for the pups and some dessert for the humans, and we had to make our goodbyes.

Lisa with Moray and Liza and I

Moray was out cold on the way to our hotel that night, and I would put money on the fact that his good behavior the whole next day was due to the pure fun and excitement he had!

Sleepy head!

It was such a fun day spent with dear friends, and I know I can speak for Moray when I say he was exhausted all the way home!

**Most photos here were taken on Lisa's camera by herself of my mom**

May Graduation Part 3

Friday was graduation day!  We got up, and during breakfast in the hotel talked to many people about Moray and CCI.  I find it so funny that up there, we got SO many more comments about him being a "seeing eye dog" than I do down here.  It was fun to get to educate about other types of assistance dogs and CCI too!

We soon headed over the the venue for graduation.  We were there about an hour early and were talking with each other and other puppy raisers there too.  There were several local news reporters who were there, and of of them asked to interview Moray and I.

They ended up only using a few seconds of the clip, but it was still fun!  And Moray enjoyed a brief break in the "no licking" rule to ham it up!

This was Moray's first CCI event, and he had to work very, very hard to keep focused with 50+ other dogs there.  It definitely helps that all the others are as well behaved as he is, but it still took a lot of self control, and he ended up doing really well.  it took it out of him though, and he was out like a light the whole four hour drive back to my aunt and uncle's house afterwards! 

Lots of other awesome CCI dogs!

Good boy, Moray Man!

If you have never been to a Canine Companion's graduation, you are truly missing out on an amazing presentation of genuine love, sacrifice, joy, and hope.  I have said it before, and I'll say it again: CCI knows how to do it.  It was even more amazing to be "part of" it and see my uncle receive his new service dog, Hickory.  

Hickory's puppy raiser handing over the leash

With Hickory's trainer and puppy raiser 

All graduated!  I know your raiser is SO proud of you, Hickory!

We spent our last day at our family's house visiting, taking a nice long walk, and having some puppy play time with Hickory!

Hickory settling in at home

They played so well together and loved each other!

Hickory! And a squeaky ball, lol

Smart boy kept coming over because he knew I carried treats for Moray! ;)

It was a whirlwind trip, but great on all fronts.  Moray did so well and really showed me how much he is growing and maturing, and proved that he is able to handle more and more distractions and environments.  He was a sleepy boy all the way home!

May Graduation Part 1

There have been lots of happenings in our lives in the more-than-a-month since I've last updated this corner of my life.  End of school busyness and some computer problems have kept me off, but Moray has had some exciting highlights and defining training moments that I would hate to skip.

About a month ago, my uncle who has been on the waiting list for almost two years for a dog from Canine Companions got the call that there had been a cancellation for the May Team Training and they had a spot available for him to attend.  

Team Training is period that lasts two weeks where students stay at CCI and learn how to work with their new assistance dogs.  This happens four times a year at all of CCI's campuses, and is culminated with a graduation ceremony where the puppy raisers of these dogs hand over the leash for the last time, but is also paired with matriculation of puppies into Advanced Training.  

I have only attended one graduation: when Dante Turned In at CCI's Southeast Region in Orlando last August.  To say the whole family was excited about my uncle finally being invited to team training at the Northeast Region in New York was an understatement.  We have family up north and my mom and I made the decision to drive up there to see them and attend graduation pretty off-the-cuff.  But with school ending just two days prior to leaving, and several other things, it all seemed to work out pretty perfectly.  

This was Moray's second road trip, but his longest at a grand total of about 2,500 miles covered in five days.  This trip challenged him, but didn't push him too far.  His skills grew noticeably and it was really neat to see how much he is maturing and learning, as well as how hard he tries and how willing he is to please.  

Good little traveler

We drove twelve hours the first day.  Moray was so good rotating between the backseat and his kennel.  We were gone five nights and we didn't stay in the same place two nights in a row.  Moray was so flexible and went along with the flow beautifully.  He may or may not have gotten some cuddles on the bed, too!

On our second day we got up bright and early and drove our last four hours before 9:30am!  We arrived at my grandparents' farm where Moray got lots of hellos and much needed play time in the yard, and his favorite - the stream!  He had SO much fun splashing, sniffing, and biting at the water.  He is unmistakably a labrador!

After some time to calm down again and visit, we went downtown and walked, window-shopped and just had fun.  Moray was curious and took some work to keep his focus, but did really well overall and enjoyed taking it all in.  We went into a frozen yogurt shop where the lady was very nice, but extremely worried about "all" Moray's fur.  She asked us to stay in the corner and not go by any of the food, and when kindly explaining didn't change her mind, we complied.  It's not always worth it to push, especially when you have the chance to leave as a fantastic representation of the behavior of how a working dog should act as Moray did.

This sums up his attitude perfectly.  Always happy, he is!

My grandparents, Mor, and I

Dinner for the two and four-legged, and a nice bone to chew rounded out our busy but fun first two days!