We got our official invite in the mail today! Ryan was invited to "Meet the Dogs". This is the first step of actively being matched with his future service dog. Next Thursday, September 23rd, he will get to meet several service dogs in advanced training. Ryan will be in a room and will interact with each dog on an individual basis. He will need to give the dogs commands to see how they respond to him. All of these interactions are videotaped to be analyzed by the trainers at a later date. Ryan will also get to rate the dogs he likes the most. After the "Meeting", it will take another 2-3 weeks to find out if he is matched with his future service dog. Will post more after his "Meet the Dogs" meeting next week!
This past Sunday, we ran the Harrisburg Half Marathon as a way of raising awareness and funds for Ryan's future service dog. We were a little nervous because it was pouring rain when we drove up to Harrisburg, but it stopped raining all during the race & we all finished! Yeah! It was neat because Ryan and Mark were able to be there to see us cross the finish line. We have been overwhelmed by the generosity of all the donors - thank you!! We are so close to reaching the full amount we need to obtain the service dog! We know people donated online, but have no idea how much was donated so we may have very well met our goal! If you did donate online - please accept our sincerest thanks. We anticipate getting the list of online donors this week, so your formal thank you will be coming soon!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Last Day of Seeing the Gemstone Litter
We went to the SSD Kennels tonight and did some more "intensive" puppy hugging. All the puppies have a checklist of tasks they need to work on throughout the day. They include anything from loose leash walking to taking them for car rides!
We put their vests on a few of them - most of them did great. We also practiced some clicker training with one of the puppies. Every time the puppy would make eye contact we would click the clicker and give him a treat. It didn't take long until he figured out the click/treat sequence!
Next task was taking them for car rides. We loaded the one little puppy into a crate and placed her in the car. She howled/whimpered/barked the entire time!! It was the one of the longest rides of my life! Well, not really, but it definitely wasn't a pleasant ride (and it was only a mile!)! The next puppy we took for a car ride was a champ. He just sat in the crate looking at me. One little bark and that was it. What a good puppy!
It was a bittersweet time. This is the last time we will see the Gemstone Puppies on a regular basis. Best wishes to all the puppy raisers who will be receiving one of these "Gems"!
We put their vests on a few of them - most of them did great. We also practiced some clicker training with one of the puppies. Every time the puppy would make eye contact we would click the clicker and give him a treat. It didn't take long until he figured out the click/treat sequence!
Next task was taking them for car rides. We loaded the one little puppy into a crate and placed her in the car. She howled/whimpered/barked the entire time!! It was the one of the longest rides of my life! Well, not really, but it definitely wasn't a pleasant ride (and it was only a mile!)! The next puppy we took for a car ride was a champ. He just sat in the crate looking at me. One little bark and that was it. What a good puppy!
It was a bittersweet time. This is the last time we will see the Gemstone Puppies on a regular basis. Best wishes to all the puppy raisers who will be receiving one of these "Gems"!
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