Road Trip To California

We left two days prior to CCI Turn-In in order to make it on time without killing each other in our mini-suv on the way to California. Long days of driving, but what a blessing to have two kiddos who are used to road trips, and a CCI Puppy who is a gem traveler. Haddie didn't complain one bit for the two day journey (and neither did our kids), and seemed to get her wiggles out enough to still perform great behavior on our breaks for food and stretching (and so did our kids).

Our first night was in the Middle of Nowhere, USA, and the hotel of choice turned out to be very similar in style to my Grandmother's Retirement Center. Complete with oil paintings on the wall, intense smell of cleaners, and a unique shade of green carpet that showed every spec of hair fallen from Haddie (oh my!). But it was a clean place to lay our heads for the night and made Day #2 doable with only six hours in the car, compared to eight the day prior.

We had a tip from our Region before we left that the Jelly Belly Factory was on the way to Santa Rosa, and it was tradition to swing in with the CCI Puppy for a tour and shopping. Although camera's were not allowed on the tour, we enjoyed taking some pictures with Haddie in the gift shop.

The two days drive was nothing extra extraordinary to share. We enjoyed having time with Haddie in new cities and places, but it was somewhat surreal that this was the journey closer to her final stay with us.

Dear Haddie

There was a time shortly after you arrived that I was overcome with the realization that our family was starting something big. One of those moments as humans where we pinch ourselves and ask, "Is this really happening?" I am sure it was the combination of feeling completely out of my league in the task of training you to the level of expectation that I had set before me, and the overwhelming feeling that you would not be under my care forever, and that in the process you would be changing lives.

The more I became involved with asking questions to our CCI Trainer, Terri, during our weekly puppy classes, the more I felt confident that perhaps I really could do this. Terri has this way of speaking that is clear, and very concise. She doesn't mess around - the answer is the answer. And I learned quickly to trust her; and as a result, everything she said worked. I am positive that without her leadership, this whole Puppy Raising experience would have turned out differently. I am not saying we are perfect, but I am saying confidence is key. Terri gave me confidence.

You, Miss Haddie, have been a blessing in so many ways. Without you, I would not have met the strangers that I did in the last 18 months. Every character has come to see you, from the screaming toddler whose mother thought it was a perfect opportunity for me to babysit her chid while she shopped and the kid loved on you, to the man who thought it made perfect sense to bark at you, to those who tried desperately to get an answer on where to buy a vest for their dog too, to the kind spirited who gave a genuine-look-me-in-the-eyes-while-touching-my-elbow to say, "Thank You", to those that just wanted to pat your head, look into your eyes and melt, to those that were just strict with the rules and would not come over to you, but would compliment how beautiful you were. All those people, I would never have spoken to, nor affected one way or the other, had you not been in my life.

And then there is the entire group of amazing priority people that we are working hard for. The people who will ultimately become part of the CCI family as a Handler of a Graduate Dog from CCI. We have class with wonderful Handlers with Graduate Dogs and they in fact make this journey the reason for everything we do. There are no words that can express how proud I am to know them, to see how dogs just like you, Haddie, change their life. It is the number one reason why we are in this together.

My family. You have brought a huge responsibility of hard work and dedication to the daily view of my children. When we started this family volunteer role, we were all on board, sharing ideas of how this and that would work in raising you. Sometimes in the Cloud 9 discussions before an event actually takes place, we tend to forget reality. Everything seems to work perfectly in our minds. But ya' know, Haddie, it really has been. There has not been a day when the kiddos did not step up to raise you. There has not been a day where they have complained about you being in their life; and let me remind you that not every day you chose to make it easy on any of us (you had your naughty streak, Girlie!! haha). Haddie, you have brought out the best in our family in working together as a real team for this outreach. I am so happy you have taught our family how to love big for others.

Haddie - your future is bright, Girl. No matter how you choose to behave in College, you have the perfect family waiting for you off campus. If you study hard and work your best-side, I will see you at Graduation with tears of support and joy as our family walks you across the stage to your forever Handler. All the puppiness you brought to our house, the love, the stoic nature when working, the 18 months of adventures we found together, the quiet times, the ball chasing, the little games we played will be flooding back to our minds with happiness when we transfer that leash. We worked great as a team, Haddie, and you are so deserving of Graduation day.

We will be just as proud if you decide that College life and working is not your passion. We understand the intensity of this job, and we know that not every pup feels it their calling to work in this way. But I have no doubt, that you will continue to change the life of others - as you already have. Know that if you decide that this is not for you, that your forever family is waiting back here for you. You already know them; the 13 year old boy that plays jazz piano like a rock star every Monday evening at our house. Oh yes, same family - his mom is the nice lady that plays ball with you every Monday evening at our house.  Yep, the dad? He is the guy that came to play ball with you one night too; he's a baseball coach for his son's select team and he really knew how to throw you that ball!! You were worn. out. when. he. said. goodnight!!

Either way you choose, you will have the BEST life and I am confident that you will know so too.

So. This is our final chapter in Puppy Raising wonderful you. I really don't know how to end this post. I know my heart is forever changed, I know you will forever be my Puppy in Training, and I know that I will always love you, think about you, and care for you no matter the distance between us. You are forever My Haddie Rosa.

I love you.

Family Walk with Haddie

Bone Voyage!!!

I know we will be Puppy Raising again, but I want to capture the "firsts". Sometimes I think the more I get involved, or the more time passes and things are no longer new, I forget those "firsts".

Four times per year our Chapter of CCI throws a Bone Voyage Party for the dogs who will be Turning-in. The week prior to turn-in is considered the dogs last day in our Chapter, because we have to leave the week-of open for all of us to travel to Santa Rosa.

Wednesday was the February Bone Voyage Party. Although the party is open to every Puppy Raiser and family, I have never attended one of these events; which was never on purpose. However, I am glad that we experienced our first goodbye party when we were one of the ones leaving.

About seven dogs are turning-in next week, two are currently in heat (insert very sad face), which left five dogs to enjoy the party. There was a mix of turn-in puppies, change of career dogs, and puppies still in training at the party. It was a comfortable size crowd to enjoy evenly split teams for Relay Races.

It worked like this: three evenly spaced mats were set in front of each team with a table at the end. Our Trainer announced what the Command the dogs would need to perform on each mat and table. When each task was completed correctly, the PR and Puppy moved forward until all tasks were complete before returning to their line to start the next PR and Puppy's turn. The first team finishing the task was the winner.

My son's team won every. single. time. and it was made up of all the Turning In Puppies. (YAAY!! Perhaps it is a sign. HaHaHa).

A small presentation with a goody bag stocked with treats and gifts for the two legged, and certificates for each Puppy Raiser rounded out the party before the dessert table, lots of photographs, and mingling completed the evening. It was a wonderful celebration of our hard work, and a perfect send-off to the pups.

It reminds me what a great CCI Family we have in this organization - for the support we give each other, the fun we have at each meeting, and the genuine good wishes for every dog and raiser. Everyone is rooting for everyone. We want so badly for every puppy to shine. So happy to live in this State with this group of like-minded friends.

Our Trainer's concluding statement which captured the next phase perfectly; It is like sending your kid off to college. They could either choose to party, or study. But know that you raised them well, and that you have done the Best that you could. You are all Wonderful Raisers.

The Art of being Polite

I think there is an art to being polite when you really just want to share the truth in a not-so-sweet-and-understanding way. There are times when being frank is perfectly acceptable. But when I am representing CCI, I think the less-is-more with a smile approach is best. 

Today's puppy adventure brought us two different sets of people. The first were two women shopping together who were just dying to pet Haddie. You can tell the type, they were whispering to each other just loud enough for me to hear. They were talking about Haddie's sweet face, ohh the eyes, and how it would be so much fun to do "that".  Acknowledging their interest to the four legged beside me, I offered them to pet Haddie. Swoon. They were in love. We had a nice conversation about the program, about CCI, and about their desire to "one day" do something like this. Genuine. They got it. 

Then, as I was nearing the end of my list and time at this large store, I heard a man ask from behind us, "How old is your dog?" I turned and answered the question, and that just started an entire nonsensical discussion that I eventually had to politely try to find a way to exit from. At last I got in, "Well, have a nice day! We must be going now." to which he kept talking even though I was slowly walking away from him. Half way down the aisle and out of sight, I could still hear him talking. 

Smile. 

His quick opener after the age question was "Where did you get the dog's vest?" My gut reaction was  that I had someone wanting to cheat the system; to get a vest for his dog that does not qualify for one. The standard answer that it came with the dog from the organization that she is owned by, did not suffice. He was trying to break me down as if I needed to tell the truth. He did not understand that I already was. 

It wasn't until he was saying his Therapy Dog tears up his house when he is away, and that the dog doesn't listen or pay attention to him, and that he can't understand why it has been five years and still no vest, that I clued in that perhaps he was not trying to skirt the system, but perhaps he had challenges of his own. At this point it just became a matter of me trying to encourage him to have a good day, with a smile, and lots of nodding. 

During the stand still - Haddie sat between the cart I had been pushing and me - just staring at me with out moving. She sensed this was important to keep watch on me. I kept smiling at her; I like to think she caught my vibe that this was just a situation we'd have to wait-out with patience. She did fabulous. I love her attention. 

While his second line really got to me at first, the more I stood listening to his stories (not even a smidge of what I typed), the more I realized that not everyone is trying to break the system. Some perhaps do quality for a therapy/service/companion dog, but they just don't know the correct means of going about it. And taking time to listen, and thinking positively, is what they really need from us representing an organization such as CCI. 

The Art of being Polite can be a positive lessons learned. 

Soooo Close!

Today I was rationing out Haddie's food into baggies for our road trip to Santa Rosa.  Then I scooped up portions into a bowl to see if I could squeeze the remaining Eu*anuba Adult into the remaining days at home between now and road trip day. I am short by about four days.

Of course the Rock Star will not be going without, so I went to the pet store to purchase the smallest bag on the shelf in the brand that is required. Apparently the twelve dollar bag does not come in her size (or at least not at our store), so twenty-six dollars later and I have food for the remaining days of Haddie's stay with us. We were sooooo close to making it fit perfectly.

Sharing my story with the clerk who rang up my purchase, she assured me the opened bag can be donated back to the pet store for a specific pet shelter in our area and those on low income housing. Glad to know my purchase will maintain value after Haddie's departure. But still ... sooooo close! Ha!

The next time I venture to the pet store we will be back to purchasing Puppy Chow. Ohhh, how fun.

Rear View Mirror

Even though my kids are in Junior High and Middle School, I still pick them up from their different schools via car every day. I am not a fan of our district bus system, but the main reason for the Momma Taxi is because my kids share so much on the ride to and from school. Silly as it sounds, I cherish those car rides. I know one day it will no longer be a choice; they either will be driving themselves, or they would have graduated.

Haddie accompanies me to pickups. She knows the routine that by 2pm if I say, "Car Ride" she is headed to pick up her favorite teens. She gets just as excited as if I were going to lay down her bowl of food. It is adorable. 

Haddie started riding in a kennel from day one. But when her kennel continued to switch to the next size up, my car did not change in volume to keep up. Eventually, the kennel was too large to fit into the cargo area and have room to spare for anything additional. 

I am a safety-conscious gal by nature, and especially when it come to things that are not mine. Haddie does not belong to me and one of my biggest heartbreaks would be something tragic happening to her. I would be letting down not only my family, but an entire Organization! Car safety without a kennel to me meant buckling her up in a safety-approved pet harness to the clips in the back of my car. 

(side note: I know that Service Animals need to know how to ride in the car at the feet of people, or on the bench seat. And I know many pets that have free roam of the car while traveling. Both ways honestly do not make me nervous, I don't even think twice about it. But my own responsibility, and comfort level, in addition to our Trainer's opinion, helped make this decision.) 

Haddie was not a fan at first. It took many repetitions months for her to want to jump in the back of the car, for her to accept the harness, and for her to get the gist that she could still get up and reposition herself. Those first few tries she would hold perfectly still until that harness was released. Poor girl. 

Now, she will jump into the car, turn around to face me, Sit, and hold up her left paw so I can slip the harness around her shoulder. Then, while I'm reaching in and across and behind her, she will sometimes nuzzle my ear, or stare me down with her eyes about three inches from my face.  She makes me laugh. 

Haddie will then wait for the door to close, and then she will disappear. She will lay down and not sit up again until we have stopped. And then I get to see this ... 

She is so fun to watch in the Rear View Mirror. A curious pup that will not bark or show an exaggerated amount of excitement - until her kids are walking closer, and closer to the car. And then, puppy patience is over and she thumps her tail against the wall of the car and stands up and tries to get the kids to lean in for a kiss and head rub. 

I'm gonna miss these Rear View Mirror moments with Haddie.