SD workshop

I have probably stated this a hundred times, but honestly, I just don't know "where the time goes". It seems just days ago, we had our first Maine Chapter service puppy night, and here we are... another one!!! It's scary when I think of it...(time going by so quick that is). Each month I am trying to come up with new ideas for "experiences" for the puppies... this month I asked Ed if he would come in with his fire gear. Fortunately, he is a good sport and not only brought his gear, but an air pack as well. We started out with having the puppies just "check things out".. a couple of sniffs and they were..."big deal.. what's next??"

So, Ed put all the gear on - minus the air pack - and just allowed the puppies to come up and greet him. He had a few cookies in his pockets, just in case, someone was afraid.. but for the most part, they all ran over to say hello.

Then he put on the air pack, and sort of surprisingly to me.. that did make a difference with a few of them. Especially when he breathed in and out of the mask, and allowed the "still alarm" to go off. But the "power of the cookies" usually got the dogs to over come their caution and take the cookies from his hand. It was a neat experience, and who knows when a service dog might need to "handle something like a firefighter in full gear"

We did the "usual" work as well... stays, sits and downs, walk polite. And as you can see, we had a number of "new dogs" join us this month. There were also several folks who said they would be joining us in the months ahead. It makes me happy to see our "service dog community" coming together and learning from one another.

Ginger thought the fireman was way more exciting than her down work!!!!

Teena brought her tunnel for the dogs to play with. Something different and fun, great for building confidence and giving them an interesting item to conquer. But, I loved the way folks got together to talk, making new friends (in some cases) and just enjoying dogs.

Mindy, Rusty and Ginger ... seemed like a good time was had by all..

(and thank you hunny!!!!!)

spring graduation

After we kidnapped Rick this morning, Kathleen, Teena and I (along with various k9's) drove down to celebrate the spring graduates of NEADS. I say "spring", but with all the snow and cold we have.. it certainly doesn't seem very spring like just yet!!!

We arrived at the hotel and got a nice group photo of (some) the Maine gals... Here is Deb with Hearing dog Rusty.. Me and Ginger, Kathleen and Leo.. Teena and Freedom. Camille was with us as well in her role of "service dog supporter" but she didn't get in on this photo.

During the ceremony, the dogs waited quietly under the seats. This was a first for Ginger and Leo, and it took them a little bit to get used to the crowd and noise.. especially the clapping!!! Camille is used to clapping from her dog show days, but that was new for the puppies. Once they figured it out.. it was no big deal.

This is Heather... she's from Maine, and was matched with her hearing dog back in January. She spoke a few words about how her dog has made such a difference in her life. We'll be seeing Heather and Savannah from time to time at our Maine chapter puppy nights. (Congratulations to you both!!!)

Ginger --- "mom how much longer do we need to sit here??"

In celebrations of their 35 anniversary... NEADS has unveiled a new logo. The old logo was great, but NEADS has branched out over the past "few" years and felt that a new logo would better described their mission these days. I think it's pretty.....

As always, after the ceremony is there always time to chat and get lots of hugs and attention. All the puppies love this. Camille even had her own little fan group, and people asking "where her vest was".. I am going to get her one, but it won't say "service dog"... it will say "service dog supporter!!!"

It was a nice crowd that attended.. I believe (if I counted correctly) there were 19 dog/handler teams that attended. Course, next fall will be a special graduation for sure... it will be Chester's!!!! and who knows, next spring could be Ginger's and Leo's.......

It was a fun, but long day. Camille finds all this service dog stuff rather tiring... and has already found a good use for Ginger... pillow!!!

And on one last note, the "official - official letter" about Chester came in the mail this week. It tells a little about his new owner and his tasks.. but the part that I noticed.. his new owner loves the water and goes boating, swimming and water skiing... how perfect!!! Growing up lakeside last summer, Chester loved the water!!!! and it appears that he will have that opportunity (among others!!) with his new owner... it just gets better and better!!!!

it's Official!!!!!

Do you all remember this little chap. A little gold fuzz ball that came to our family and we had a year to help him on the way to service dog....

we had some melt downs in the mall... but lots of great fun....

and lots of laughs!!!! and wonderful experiences...

and many memories.....

But today, has to be almost the most special of all. Because the official word has come thru NEADS... our Chester has completed his service dog training... and he has PASSED with flying colors. He is now an "official service dog" and has been matched with a new owner.

He will be working back at NEADS with his new person for two weeks at the end of the month, learning the detail work of his future. I will have the opportunity to see them both the first part of April when the training is done...

Our boy has made it!!!! Chester I am just so proud of you!!!! (and can't wait to see you again!!!!)

stories for a birthday

Another "non-birthday" year for Sadie. No February 29th this year, which makes me think of a couple of "childhood" stories to share on Sadie's birthday. The first one .... One day Sadie was really being "awful" to Kassy. I don't know how Kas thought of it.. but she said to Sadie.. "you are being so bad that Mom took your birthday away". Sadie, of course, didn't believe her sister, so Kas got a calendar and said... "see there is no 29... you don't have a birthday this year, because Mom took it away"....Sadie was certainly upset about that..... we thought it was

funny!!!!
The next story that comes to mind, when we were "expecting Sadie" we took Kas to a "big sibling class". They took the kids on a tour of the hospital, had some "babies" for them to play with, had some cookies and milk, and then took them to see the real babies in the nursery. Kas noticed that there were "blue babies" and "pink babies" (the little hats that the babies wore). Kas looked at me and said "Mom, please get me a pink one" I told her, I would see what I could do. And as "luck" would have it, we did get a "pink one"... Miss Sadie. A few years later, Sadie (again) "bugging" her sister, and Kas came to me with her complaints. After I listen a while, I said to Kas.. "well you were the one that wanted a "pink" baby, and now you just have to share with your little sister"... Kas says to me... "what was I thinking!!!"

The last story that I want to share on this "non birthday"... Sadie was an infant, and in one of those "fussy" modes. I was having a bit of a frantic day and having a fussy baby wasn't helping. I saw the mail man walking down the street and I said to Kas... "if this baby doesn't settle down, I might just mail her away". A few weeks later, I had to mail some things at the post office. I got Kas out of the car, and then took Sadie out. She was in this seat that we called a "bucket".. so I just carried baby and bucket into the post. I didn't want to put a baby on the floor, so I set the bucket up on the counter. Just as I was trying to talk to the post clerk, Kas went "crazy". Crying and carrying on and acting just horrid.

I kept telling her to "behave" and that I would be done in just a few moments. She was so upset that she couldn't even talk to me. I quickly did my business and got out of the post with baby in the bucket and a very upset two year old. I was mad!! and wondered what in the world set Kas off like that. I got both kids buckled in and waited for Kas to get her act together. Once she calmed down, I asked her what that episode was all about. She looked at me in surprised and said "Mom when you put the baby up on the "table" I thought you were going to mail her away"...needless to say, it taught me to think before I spoke!!!!

So, to our dear Sadie... happy "non birthday"... I hope you had a great day.. and next year... there is a 29th, and I promise not to "take it away"....

a day in the BIG city

Oh goodie.. more snow!! which is just about how we felt getting up this morning. We had plans to go to Boston for the day, in celebration of Sadie's birthday, and even though the weather looked like this, we decided to go anyways. It's sort of getting to the point that if you stayed in on account of the weather, you probably wouldn't be going anywhere!!!








Sadie thought it might be a fun, family day.. to take Abbie to the aquarium in Boston. We were all up for it, and I decided to bring Ginger as well, and do a bit of service dog training in the "big" city. Abbie loves to travel, and is getting to the point where she notices things "outside" of the truck and likes to "comment" on them. Rides are now full of all sorts of "conversation" with Abbie!!!




I must admit, I am far from a city girl.. but it did look kind of "cool" in the snow. We thought it might be raining by the time we got there, being "south" Boston has weather very different from ours... but we didn't find any rain.. just more snow.









I was a little surprised at how busy it was at the aquarium. Course, a winter Sunday afternoon, and the end of school vacation, I guess I should have known better.










Here's Tom, Sadie and Abbie.... waiting to go inside....











Kas, Nate and Abbie......

Once we got in, there was much to see. It's quite a wonderful place and really great for any age. Sadly, I didn't get any pictures of Ginger there, but I can tell you, she was wonderful and wasn't at all "bothered" by penguins.

Abbie was totally fascinated by it all. She loved watching all the fish in the big tank. They have sea turtles, sharks and sting rays to name a few of the creatures in the center tank.

They also have "touch" pools where the kids (anyone) can handle different sea creatures. Abbie had a great time playing with all of them.

We stayed just a few hours. For the adults, it was plenty of time to see it all, and for a little girl and a puppy, it was more than enough time.

The parks in the city were pretty with the new snow. Once we got out of the city, we stopped and had supper together, and it was just a nice way to end a very fun day.

And this pretty much tells you how much fun we had... and how tiring it was. A full tummy, lots of things seen and a new penguin, makes for a happy little girl.

winter evening

"Winter, are you back again? We all thought the groundhog said you were leaving.... guess the groundhog didn't know what he was talking about"... and so, this was the view this morning... howling winds, snow... cold.... spring isn't looking very close. Thursday night's forecast was 2-4 inches, and in the morning it was more like 10-12... ugh!!! I will certainly enjoy seeing the field green again, and watching the horses venture out more than just a few feet from the barn!!!!





All in all, it was a good day for "inside" projects, Ed is finishing up the final touches on the new pantry shelves and I am getting into paint mode. The shelves will be the same red as the lower cabinets. I am trying to organize this space in my head while getting it ready. I'm pretty excited about all this space and I'll even be able to finish unpacking some boxes in the basement that contain "kitchen things"... Abbie, by the way, supervised it all.




Despite the weather, we headed down to the hometown for an evening with the family. My brother in law - Ed - makes the most amazing home made pizza and fried dough!!! I had been hoping to get the family here for a pizza night, but with our heavy snow and icy conditions (that they don't get on the coast).. I haven't felt "safe" asking everyone. Doesn't matter, it's just getting together that is fun, and so we went to my parents house.






Here are my folks, brother in law Ed and my sister Becky... the pizza was just grand, and so good with all kinds of fresh items on it!!!! We're definitely going to have to do this again!!!!









The entertainment of the evening.... old slides!!! My sister Becky, especially loves to have my Dad pull these out and we have an evening of laughter. My Dad has taken such good care of all his slide equipment, and it works like a charm . Some different from all the digital stuff we have today, but at one time... all this was the "latest"....







The three cousins always seem to have a good time together. Kelsey is so wonderful with the little ones, and they truly adore her. Naomi is getting used to the idea of Abbie.. hard to share the spotlight sometimes!!!! It was such a fun evening, and we are so blessed to live close to each other and be able to do this sort of thing at anytime....










and just to give you an idea of how "old" the slides were (are)..... well, a picture with worth a thousand words!!!!

golden girl day

Another check in day at NEADS, goodness the months fly by. We go down once a month to check in with Dave and make sure everyone is on track. Ginger and Leo love to go, and some of the gals from the puppy house got to see the two puppies and see how much they have grown.









Dave ran us up to the training room, we took the elevator up and he was pleased to see how well the pups are doing with that (thanks to our trips to the hospital) Then he went thru the "check in list" and I am proud to say that both Leo and Ginger are right where they should be. He gave us some homework lessons, and then we all piled into the van and headed to the local grocery store.







We sat and chatted a bit while Dave observed the puppies around the "traffic" going in and out of the store, how the handled the noise of the shopping carts, and all the people that stopped to admire them.









As you can easily see, both of them thought... "this isn't any big deal"......












But, here's the surprise... the Maine puppy chapter has a new puppy raiser and puppy..... the gal is Bernice and the puppy is Loyalty ("T" for short). He is a four month old St. Poodle.. NEADS uses a number of Standards in their program. Bernice is an experienced "poodle person".. so this is going to be a great match. And the nice(er) thing, Bernice lives close to Kathleen and I, so it's going to be easy to do puppy training together.....

Look out goldens!!! There's a new kid on the block (and I think he can give them a run for their money!!!!!)

Some parting words and advise from Dave... and it was time to head for home. Goodness the day here goes by fast!!!!

Ginger was happy to hop in the car and sit with her "kitty"... she was pretty tired at the end of the day. I forget sometimes that she is just (almost) six months old, and still gets tired!!!!

Course, we can't have a trip without our usual stop for "lunch/supper"... they're so good to us here and the puppies are more than welcomed. So, good day, good fun and another month come and gone. Hopefully when we head down next month, some of "that white stuff" will be melted away.