Sometimes, especially in the beginning, puppy raising feels like that: parenting a child no one else wants around. But more recently I've collected a lot of success stories, not the least of which was Trego's first trip to the movies.
Jan Boxterman pulls her puppy in training. Paisley, in close to calm her down after she gets excited at work.
Trego sat through all of Last Chance Harvey with only a few whimpers. She thought (and I have to agree) that the middle of the movie was kind of boring. As we walked out of the theater that day, several people stopped us to say they didn't even know there was a dog in the theater until they saw us leave. Score.
Photo by Allison Richardson
It's obvious to me that the time I put in to taking Trego out is paying off. Giving any dog constant and consistent correction helps the dog behave better, and makes each day a bit easier. And after spending so much time with these puppies, the mental and emotional bond is incredible, says Jan Broxterman, a puppy raiser from Overland Park.
Giving them back
But puppy raisers have to be careful about how they think about that bond, because when the puppies are between 18- and 24-monthsold, KSDS sends each puppy raiser "the letter." The letter tells the puppy raiser that it's time to bring the puppy back.
"The day they go back is the worst, but it's the best at the same time. You're so attached, and you don't even know how attached you are." Langdon says.
Braddy doesn't know when he'll get the letter about Cinnamon,but he's guessing it will be sometime next month. Then Braddy will load Cinnamon into his car for the drive back to Washington,Kansas, making sure to take along one of Cinnamon's favorite toys.
After an exit interview, during which the puppy raises answers questions about the puppy's progress and shares information that will help the dog's transition to living at the training facility go smoothly, the puppy is taken away. It's sad. Braddy says, but you want your dog to go off to doggie college to learn how to do its job.
After the dogs are called back, they are sent to Kansas State University, where their eyes and hips are tested to make sure they don't have any problems that will keep them from having a long career. The dogs are also temperament tested every day.Tegethoff of KSDS says. The trainers at KSDS watch the puppies closely. They decide which track the dog will take—service dog, guide dog or social dog—based on what tasks the dog is good at performing and what it seems to enjoy doing.
Some dogs, Tegethoff says, aren't ready to begin advanced training as soon as they get back to the training facility."Some of the dogs are kind of like teenagers. They don't know what they want to do," Tegethoff says.
Pairing up
After advanced training, each dog is paired with a person whose needs, personality and lifestyle are appropriate to the dog's skills and personality. Then, the dogs and their partners go through team training, which lasts between one and three weeks, depending on what type of service the dog will be doing.The dogs and their partners are taught to work together before the dogs graduate.At graduation, the puppy raisers present the dogs to their partners and the KSDS community celebrates the teams' success.
were there to introduce children and their parents to the idea that a service dog could change their lives,but the children I met there changed mine.
One of the first people Trego and I met that day was a 6-year-old named Alex. When he saw us, he dropped the braces that were attached to his arms and fell to his knees to play with Trego, who, at 3 months old, was still swimming in her vest. Alex told Trego that he was about to fly in an airplane while I talked to Alex's mom. She told me she had been planning on applying for a dog for him already, and seeing him with Trego solidified the thought.