Lazy Paw - Puppy and Kitten Workshop

Helper was invited to attend a workshop today at Lazy Paw Animal Hospital for new puppy and kitten owners.  She was treated like a princess!  The pic above features the entire staff including both Dr. Hunter and Dr. Bilhartz posing with Helper.

While at the clinic Helper made friends with the Bilhartz' beautiful dog Katie.  They even had the chance to play in the hallway before the workshop got started.  This was a good experience for Helper to learn how to play with a larger dog.  They both had a blast!

Here Helper is getting her paw print by Lazy Paw Manager - Kinsey.  A special keepsake!

As a service dog in training it is important for Helper to always look to her leader for direction.  Here is a great shot taken by Dr. Hunter of Helper watching me before the workshop got started.

Another important command that Helper must learn is "under".  This is a pic of Helper under my chair during the workshop.
Thank you Dr. Hunter for taking all of these great photos!  Helper and I learned a lot and had a great time at the workshop!

First Vet Visit-Lazy Paws in Frisco

One of the most important responsibilities a PR has is to ensure that the puppy gets great health care.  My Vet of choice is Lazy Paws in Frisco...they are wonderful!  I have been taking my cats (Max and Stoli) to Dr. Hunter and Dr. Bilhartz for several years and I would not have trusted anyone else with Helper's care.  The pic above is Helper's first visit with Vet Tech Tammy.  Dr. Hunter started her series of shots and she got weighed.  It is very important for a service dog to maintain a healthy weight.  Today she weighed 18 pounds.  She did great!

Helper Stays with Other Puppy Raisers

March 11-18, 2012
Since my sister (Holly) was visiting from upstate New York, we had planned to tour New Mexico and then spend a couple of days with our cousin Ron in Austin.  This presented a great opportunity to let Helper stay with other Puppy Raisers for the week.  CCI encourages this because it encourages the puppy to be flexible, confident and take direction from another person.  It also exposes them to different pets as is the case in this photo.  The above picture was taken by  PR Jackie.  She has an adult CCI dog that she raised named Houston.  Although he is a great dog, he was released from the advance training program early so he is happily living with Jackie as a pet.  CCI calls these dogs "Change of Career" dogs.  Only 36% of the CCI puppies actually make it thru the advance training and get paired up with a graduate.  Those dogs that do not make it are so well bred and trained that there is a very long list of people that want them should their PR not be able to take them.

During this week Helper also went to work with another PR named Debby.  She works in a medical office and is allowed to bring service dogs in training to the office.  This is excellent training for Helper because she could end up being paired with someone who goes to work everyday.  Debby told me that she was wonderful!!!  She was quiet, well behaved and delighted everyone who saw her!

Finally, Helper also went to a convention this week!  CCI has booths at conventions to get exposure to groups that may need the use of a service dog.  This pic is of Helper at the Case Managers Convention in Dallas.  She was the youngest pup at the convention and very popular with attendees!

All in all she had a busy and productive week!

First Night In Helper's New Kennel

Last night Helper was great!  She slept all night in her big kennel with no messes!  These are bedtime pics.  She loves her yellow Duck and used it as a pillow for part of the night. She is so cute flopped over the side of her bed with her head resting on the duck!
If you take a close look at Helper's right ear you will see that there appears to be green between her ear and her head.  That is because CCI puts a green tatoo inside their ear flap for identification purposes before they send the puppies to their Puppy Raisers.  Helper's tatoo reads 12018.  The 12 means she was born in 2012 and the 018 means she was the 18th puppy born to CCI this year.

Helper Arrives in Texas!

This was the big day!  One of the other Puppy Raisers (Virginia-also my mentor in the CCI program) took me to DFW Airport to get Helper.  We arrived at the freight terminal at 9:00AM and waited for one of the employees to bring out the crate.  All of a sudden you could hear puppies barking and then out came two dog kennels.  As it turned out one of Helper's litter mates was also flown to DFW to meet her Puppy Raiser.  I took my crate outside to let Helper get out to toilet.  As you can imagine there was not much grass to be found at the airport so I immediately plopped down on the first piece of grass that I saw.  After thought...how many other animals have used this same piece of grass that I was sitting on to do their business before or after a long flight???  Bad choice of a place for me to sit down...ugh!!!  This picture was taking by Virginia as I first took Helper out of the kennel...she calls it "Which End Is Up?".  As you can see when I grabbed her from the mid section to remove her from the crate I was caught off guard by the fact that her front end was so much heavier than the back!  So basically she did a nose dive into my lap!   The ride home was wonderful...as Virginia drove I cuddled with my sweet 8 week old puppy.

"H" Litter

I am so excited to pick up Helper in the morning I can not sleep.  So I decided to show you a picture of  Helper's litter mates.  They are just too cute!  All of CCI's litters are assigned a letter of the alphabet when they are born.  CCI then names the dogs using names that start with the letter of the litter.  This litter is the "H" litter born on January 5, 2012.  They were turned in to CCI yesterday.

This was Oribel's first litter and she produced 8 wonderful puppies that hopefully will go on to be service dogs, facility dogs, skilled companions or hearing dogs for people in need.  In the pictures below of the nursing puppies, Helper is the puppy on the far right with the dark green ribbon.  The puppies are all so young that their eyes are still closed.  Many thanks to the Poole family (Oribel's Breeder Caretaker) who took these pictures!

Helper's Mother and Father

Helper's Mom is Oribel and she is a Lab Golden Cross (97% Lab).   She is a beautiful dog!  She lives with her Breeder Caretaker family in Northern California.  Helper's Father is Hickman and he is a full Lab.  He is a handsome boy!   He lives with his Breeder Caretaker family in Northern California.   All breeding dogs must live within a short distance of CCI's National HQ in Santa Rosa, California.  This is a requirement because when the female goes into heat they are taken to Santa Rosa and matched with one of the breeding males that has been brought to the center for this purpose.  Once the female is pregnant she returns to her family and they take care of her during the pregnancy.  The Breeder Caretaker family also helps the female deliver the puppies at their home and they are responsible for socializing the puppies during the first 8 weeks of their lives.  It is a big job!  At 8 weeks of age the Breeder Caretaker brings the puppies to Santa Rosa for a check up before they are sent to various Puppy Raisers around the U.S.