service dog day

On the road, bright and early this am.... Camille, Chester and I....

This "service puppy raising" thing has brought some very interesting things into my life. One being the "questions" we're asked when we are out and about .. and there seems to always be the top three... "who is NEADS".... "how old is he"... and "how are you going to give him up, I could never do that"....

"give him up"... well, first off "he" was (is) never mine, second, I knew what I was "asking for" when I signed on board and third....

Say Hello to Deb... an amazing young woman, who is waiting anxiously for her service dog!!!!! Deb is deaf and in a few "short" months, she will be matched with a hearing dog trained by NEADS. Today, we attended a fund raiser that she hosted to help pay for her dog.

It was a "silent auction" with the nicest donations... a live band... nice food.. and a great group of people. I met up with Kathleen & Kelly and Teena & Freedom... and we arrived to support Deb and show off "future service dogs".

Everyone was so gracious and really enjoyed seeing the dogs. Course, when that ever famous question came up (how can you give him up).. it had an easy answer... "Well, Deb can't get her dog until someone "gives it up".. and then we got smiles.. they knew what we were talking about.









Kathleen and Kelly, enjoying the music....it was a great day of "training"... lots of attention, and some good ol' fashion dog time.

And since LL Beans' was just up the road from where the fund raiser was held. We all took advantage of that, and took the puppies in for a bit of training. People, stairs, ramps, elevators... questions, children.. staff... all kinds of "great things"...

After such a busy day, three very tired dogs rode home.( And no, Camille isn't a "service dog".. but I like to take her where I can, we don't want any "hurt feelings!!!!) So another busy day to add to our list of "experiences".. later this coming week, it's a trip back to NEADS.. looking forward to that.