Just when I start to lose my motivation and feel some of the negative emotions that inevitably comes with the puppy raising journey (frustration, anger, disappointment, etc., you can fill in the blanks...), attending a CCI graduation always seems to renew my spirits about puppy raising and what it is all about...the graduates who are at the receiving end of what we are doing. It also makes me realize how many special people and dogs have entered my life since I began this journey. And yesterday was no exception...
Nick and I drove down to Santa Rosa with our co-raisers and some good friends who raised Nick's half-sister Orsa who was graduating. Our local CCI Chapter, the GRC (Gold Rush Champions), rocked...we had several dogs raised in our area that graduated yesterday and we will have several new graduates who live in the Sacramento area. As always, the graduations are so emotional and the speeches were wonderful...another tear-jerking ceremony.
This is a picture of Nick and his half-sister Orsa before the ceremony. Orsa is from Niobe's (Nick's mom) second litter. She graduated as a Skilled Companion for a 7-year old autistic boy. Before he received his CCI dog, he had opened a lemonade stand to earn money for a dog. During the ceremony he gave the money (which he was carrying in a plastic bag) to CCI...it was such a special moment. He now says he is going to sell orange juice to help pay for Orsa's food...how sweet is that?
After the ceremony, we had another "Winnie Round-Up" at CCI. Our co-raisers have an RV that they park in the back parking lot at CCI, and we hang out (with adult beverages and snacks, of course) to support our friends who have the hard part of turning in their puppy that day.
Nick poses for a picture at CCI, such a handsome boy - all 65 lbs of him!
I just needed another reminder of what it is all about and graduation reminded me of that...
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