Termination

Dash has been terminated from the Dogs with Wings Service Dog Training program. Actually, all of her siblings of any age (14 dogs) have been terminated. It isn't specific to her or related to her abilities or lack of abilities directly. The organization has had issues with some of the older dogs of her parentage and at the same time has had 11 new puppies from their in-house breeding program who have demonstrated that they are tried and true service animals. So with limited resources in staff and space, they've decided to cut their losses with this crew and move on to dogs who are more likely to be successful. We were offered Dash as a pet but our busy family is unable to keep a pet who has never been left alone and has not been kenneled. They will be finding a home, hopefully with young children and a mom at home, as Dash is very patient, loving and protective of children. She will make a wonderful pet.

So here ends Dash's blog. I hope you've enjoyed hearing about Dash's journey as a service dog.

Having Supper

Me and my girl

Exhausted

My girl had another balloon job in a town far away (near Lac LaBiche). We took a long drive and when we got there the smells were AMAZING. I've never spent so much time sniffing before. While trucks and strange cars raced around, I enjoyed the shade. I met a number of friendly stray dogs, and met many people unfamiliar with service dogs. Eventually I got very tired - so tired that I fell asleep in my water bowl. It might have been shielding for the distracting smells!

Vacation

Well, I've been home a week now, but my vacation really was spectacular. Mom keeps saying that I came home "sleek, slim, and sedate". I guess all the playing with Schooner and trips to the off leash park were good for me! I hope I can go back sometime soon! My girl brought me back a new stuffed bull. I can't wait to dig into it, but she says it's for supervised play only. Sigh.

Our training this week was in Ikea. My girl says that for once I wasn't the class clown. I'm very good at escalators and elevators, so it wasn't difficult for me. My "up sits" are getting very good on the left side, but I have no idea what they mean when they ask for it on the other side. When they give the "up sit" command I need to sit right close squashed up beside them, touching their legs. Sometimes they move farther from me and say "closer" and I slide into position again. It's always worth some good kibble and makes them quite happy, which makes me happy!

But now, my bone is waiting...

Rodeo Pup

My girl is off to the Strathmore Heritage Days Rodeo this weekend, so to get in the spirit I tried on a cowboy hat. They all thought it looked pretty good!

Have a great long weekend everyone. I bet my vacation is going to be spectacular. I get a built in buddy who lives just off the off leash park. Can life get better than this?

On the Bus

Last week my litter had our bus class. We practiced getting on and off the bus with grace. I didn't like going under the seat too much, there were bars in my way. I did managed to do it but I preferred to sit in front of my girl. There were lots of loud noises on the bus. Fortunately I don't care about those. We did a few difficult down-stays. We all lined up in a row and the end dog did a down stay until their person called them. They expected us not to play with all the other dogs in the row, but come directly to our person. Not everyone had time to do that at the bus station, so afterwards we all lined up in the office with our jackets on and did more down-stays so everyone got a chance. I did well, but truthfully, I the other dogs were distracting, as I just want to play. We did get a chance to play afterward and I met Gidget.