Reflections....

Yesterday, was another CCI graduation. I always come back from graduations with a renewed spirit about what dogs can do for people and why we raise puppies for this program. Puppy raising is certainly a roller coaster journey especially when the dog you have raised for a year and a half is in Advanced Training and at that point, everything is out of your control. That's where we are with Nick...if only we had a crystal ball....

This video has been going around the past few days...



In many ways, this video has many parallels to my life with Hope. There are still times when I am disappointed that she was released by CCI. She still has such a strong work ethic. When I am getting ready for work in the morning, she will jump up from a deep sleep to come close a drawer or close my closet door if I ask her. When I am puttering around the kitchen she will often stand around waiting for me to ask her to open the fridge, close a drawer shut, or pick up something that I may have dropped. But I also know in my heart of hearts that she deserved to be released as I still see traces of her surface issues on occasion or she hesitates in new situations or environments. These traits would be dangerous for a disabled person who needs her to work for them 100% of the time.

This video serves as a good reminder for me as to how Hope is doing what she is meant to do. As a puppy, she used to be independent and not as affectionate or cuddly as my first two CCI pups who graduated. It was not unusual for her to go into a different room to take a nap even when Molly and I were hanging out in another room. I sat with her for over an hour forcing her to cradle when she was 8 weeks old until she relaxed for even a second because as us puppy raisers say, "puppies don't win", cradling is something we teach the CCI pups from the very beginning. When she first came home from Advanced Training, I wasn't even sure I was going to keep her, she was aggressive and just seemed to be a little "off". It took a few months for me to decide that it was just stress and she needed to relax after being in Advanced Training for over 5 months and turn into the dog that she was going to be.

How far she has come since then...she is very attentive to me, a lot more cuddly and affectionate and fits nicely into my life going hiking, swimming, doing stuff outdoors, and even has a decent recall now. I started doing pet therapy with her knowing from the outset that if she didn't enjoy it OR if I didn't enjoy doing it with her, we would quit.

She has matured into a wonderful therapy dog, I have never seen her tail wag as much as when we are on our visits (she was never a very "waggy" dog). Her hesitation in new environments, especially on our crisis response callouts, has never been an issue. She has done well on a variety of different types of therapy visits.

Who would have known that a place that we visited when she was a CCI puppy in training would see her return a few years later as a therapy dog? I have a special place in my heart for visiting Assisted Living Centers as we were about to follow this path with my dad when he passed away and I know he enjoyed interacting with my dogs.

Then (as a CCI pup at around 11 months old):

Now (as a Therapy dog):

I have been especially proud of her during our therapy visits to Sutter Hospital. For the past few months, we have been visiting a patient who was deemed "non-responsive" when she first was admitted to the Rehab hospital. We have been visiting this patient almost every week and I see progress every time. The first time it was a young girl who was staring into space and managed one smile, on subsequent visits, the one smile has turned into several smiles, to moving a finger to touch Hope, and lately to reaching up to pet Hope. I'd like to think that Hope has played a part in helping her in her recovery. It is very rewarding to be a witness to this, I am just the person holding her leash, Hope is the one who knows what to do. We are also visiting a Hospice patient who lights up when Hope visits. I know our time will eventually come to an end with this patient, but I'd like to think we are making her last days a little brighter.

Even though it took us almost a year to go on our first HOPE AACR callout, it has been an amazing experience each and every time. I have learned a lot and watched her shine, she knows what she needs to do. She has reached out to a TON of people and I hope has provided them with some comfort and/or stress relief.

I am proud to be the person at the end of her leash and I cannot imagine not having her in my life...Like Richochet, although Hope's life started out on one path, she followed a different one and is doing what she is meant to do and she certainly has the perfect name that fits - HOPE.

Hope, you DO make me proud!