Some Exciting News!

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!

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"!

Mark & Ryan doing more "Puppy Hugging"

We have a little more "news" on the Service Dog front. We got a call yesterday. The Patriot News may interview our family about the process of raising funds for a SD. We will keep you posted on any developments.

.

The next Meet the Dogs is tentatively scheduled for the end of September. They have not determined who will be invited at this time. A lot depends on the skills of the dogs in Advanced Training and the people on the waiting list. It's a large waiting list. Ryan is near the "top" of the list so maybe we will get a call?? They seem very particular on selecting the right dog for the right person so we will trust that whatever happens is for the best. If he doesn't get a call this time around the next potential time he would receive a SD would be June 2011.

We've been faithfully visiting the Gemstone litter weekly. It is so neat to see them grow and their personalities blossom. The puppies are going to the kennel this Monday for a week of evaluations and more interactions with the SSD staff and puppy huggers. Next Friday they will be placed with their puppy raisers for approximately 18 months. I am so grateful for these wonderful volunteers who put some much time and effort into raising and training these future service dogs.

Puppy Hugging

We had a great opportunity to participate in "Puppy Hugging" this Tuesday with the "Gemstone Litter" from Susquehanna Service Dogs. Puppy hugging involves visiting and interacting with a litter of future service dogs starting when they are 4-5 weeks old. This early socialization lays a solid foundation for different people handling them . As you can see from the picture, some of the puppies are even wearing their service vests at this early age!

From Puppy to Service Dog

I wanted to share a little about the process of training a service dog. It begins very early while the puppies are still in the whelping box. They are exposed to various sounds, textures, and experiences. "Puppy huggers" start to visit around 5 weeks of age to provide more socialization. These exposures help to provide the foundation the puppies will need to become a service dogs.



At approximately 8 weeks of age the puppies will go to a puppy raiser. This person teaches basic dog obedience and housebreaking and continues to expose the puppy to as many experiences,people, and settings as possible. As the puppy matures they will learn more advanced commands such as becoming "invisible" (lying still under a restaurant table), opening doors, retrievals, etc. They will also go out in public to places such as Zoo America, parades, and malls. It is very important that the dog maintains attention to its handler and follows commands even when there are many exciting smells and people around.



When the dogs are approximately 18 months of age they will enter "Advanced Training". The trainers begin to evaluate the dogs to see if they will make good service dogs and what work the dogs are best suited for. Some of the dogs do not make "the cut" because of various issues.



The dogs who qualify to become service dogs are then matched with their new partner and are trained for 6 months specifically for their partner's needs.



The last step is team training. This is where the service dog and partner learn how to work together. The training lasts for 2 1/2 weeks (8 hour days). The training commences with a graduation ceremony where the dog is presented to the its' new partner.

Dinner with the Dogs

We went to a "Dinner with the Dogs" event the other week. There were approximately 15 dogs there ranging from fully certified service dogs to a 12 week puppy in training. It was awesome to see the handlers/puppy raisers work with the dogs. One of the things that impressed me the most was the way the dogs gave their handlers their undivided attention. Ryan was visiting with some of the dogs and the dogs didn't even break eye contact from their handler while he was petting them!

Maybe one of those dogs will be Ryan's service dog??

Ryan & Cylo

Ryan posing with the Lancaster Barnstormers' mascot, Cylo, at his last very hot baseball game.