Allergic Reaction...Very Scary!

This morning after Helper had her breakfast we went outside so she could "hurry".  We were only outside a few minutes and as usual Helper was sniffing the ground as she looked for a spot for her bathroom break.  Nothing in her behavior was unusual.  However, when we came back into the house I noticed that Helper had swelling around her eyes and it quickly got worse and spread to her muzzle.  I was pretty scared but Helper was normal and she even wanted to play!  Even though it was Sunday I sent a text to my Vet before heading out to a 24 hour Animal ER.  Luckily Dr. Hunter called me immediately and told me to give Helper 75mg of Benedryl.  Since Helper was not in distress we decided to wait an hour to give the Benedryl a chance to work.  When the hour passed Dr. Hunter called and I told her Helper was not much better.  She was wonderful and told me to meet her at the office (Lazy Paw Animal Hospital).  Once there she gave Helper a steroid shot.  Within a couple of hours Helper was back to normal.  The only thing I could think of that caused this episode was that Helper probably made contact with Fire Ants or some other type of insect when she was nosing around the yard.  I am so grateful to Dr. Hunter/Lazy Paws for her wonderful response to my emergency!

This is a picture of my sweet puppy...she looks like an alien!

Puppy Outing at RISE

One of the responsibilities of a Puppy Raiser is to take your puppy to some of the events where CCI has a booth or presence.  By attending these events the puppy benefits by being in a new environment and gets to interact with lots of people and other dogs.  One of these events occurred this weekend.  RISE is an organization that modifies sport equipment so that people with disabilities can partake in the activities they love.  Because CCI had a booth at this event we were able to educate potential clients on  the great benefits of having a CCI dog.  The picture below shows five of the puppies that came to this outing with their PR.  Helper is on the far left hand side of the photo.

Helper and Nessie

September has been a very busy month for both Helper and me!  I was on vacation in Alaska during the first two weeks of the month so Helper went to another Puppy Raiser's (Marsha) house while I was gone.  It was a great experience for Helper because Marsha G. is a very experienced PR and she has a 13 week old puppy that she is raising named Nessie.  Because Helper is the only dog in my household, she gets very distracted when she sees dogs at various events...all she wants to do is play with them!  This is a bad trait for a dog that is training to assist someone with a disability.  My goal is to have her interact more frequently with other dogs so that it becomes routine and she does not lose focus when we are working/training.  Helper's time with Nessie was a great start to more dog to dog interactions.  This first picture is a great photo that Marsha took of "the girls" practicing their door manners at Marsha's back patio door.  They are beautiful!!!!

While staying with Nessie, Marsha took great care to expose Helper to new situations.  One day they all went to visit another Puppy Raiser (Terri) that has a horse in a nearby stable.  Terri introduced them to horses and mules!  Helper was very interested in making these new friends...she is not afraid of anything!  Take a look at the picture below.  That is Terri in the left corner holding Helper's lease as she lets the mules sniff her and makes her way to the ponies on the right.  Nessie let Helper go first!

I owe a big thank you to Marsha for taking such great care of Helper while I was gone!  

Puppy Class

One of the important requirements for a CCI Puppy Raiser is to go to class with your puppy twice per month to learn basic commands.  We are lucky in our area to have a great trainer!  Jeanie has been a trainer and owner of her own dog care/training business for many years.  She has attended sessions at CCI's regional offices in Southern California so she knows what it takes to prepare our puppies for advance training and ultimately graduation.  This picture featuring Jeanie with two puppies was taken after our class today.  When you are looking at the picture, the dog to the left is Hala and the dog to the right is Helper.  They are sisters from the "H" litter raised until they were 8 weeks old by the Poole family!  Tomorrow they will be 8 months old.  Happy Birthday to Hala and Helper!!!  It was fun to see them together at training today.