you're first clue to our good news ... was a photo of just a Standard Poodle.
That is not our dog exactly. OOPS! Did I let the 'cat out of the bag'? ;) Alright, here's the news ... The Lion's Foundation of Canada DogGuides program has accepted my application for a fully trained Special Skills Dog!!!
They phoned a few weeks ago and invited me to attend training at their training centre on October 24th until November 11th. That's right, a full 19 days away from my home and family. Why so long? For one thing, I need to learn everything out there about dogs because well ... I've never really owned a dog (shhhhhhhhh). Sure my dad got a German Sheppherd when I was a kid but Rocky was kept on leash (for the most part) in the backyard and that was just for a very short time. Naah, me? I've primarily been a cat or parrot person as most of you know.
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| ...this is Abbey! |
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| ...this is Gambit! |
So another very important reason they require us to go away full time for all this time at the training centre is to (very important now...) BOND with our helper/companion and care for it while attending training classes 6 days / week from 9am to 5pm and sometimes evening classes also!
Am I excited? You bet!
Am I nervous? Yep!
However ... what a tremendous gift! Oh, did I mention that it's all FREE to accepted applicants? Amazing huh?! The DogGuides school invests somewhere around $24,000 or more into training each dog then they give free room and board and classes to applicants. OH, and apparently there's a cook on premises also!! Gotta love the fact that I won't have to cook or clean house for 19 days!
Another little bit of trivia that needs to be mentioned here is that Helen Keller (the very famous deaf blind person that was one of the very first disability advocates) was one of the Original Lions! That's right ... she helped start the movement of 'assistance dogs' a.k.a. guide dogs, special needs dogs, handicapped dogs (but please don't use that word anymore) etc ...
Pretty cool eh?
Congratulations Pina! That is awesome. Do you know yet what breed of dog you will get and what types of tasks it will perform? My breed, the little corgis often serve as service dogs but being so small they are limited to being hearing-ear dogs and other similar tasks.
ReplyDeleteFANTASTIC !!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations Pina!! very exciting news!!
ReplyDelete@Melinda - yes, I'm getting a Standard Poodle. S/he (I don't know the sex or colour or name yet) will be trained to pick things up and pass them to me, turn light switches on and off, open doors, call for help, take things out of the fridge, take clothes out of the washing machine, move my feet or nudge them forward and give an object at my command to someone in my household or retrieve it from them. There are probably other tasks the dog will be trained on too!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations!
ReplyDeleteI know you're just going to have a wonderful and amazing time. This will be a very special moment in your life - enjoy it, leave the worrying to the other folks *grins* - they'll manage just fine.
@oceansedge: Thanks for always encouraging me, especially with this. I really appreciate it! I have chosen to STOP worrying about the 'other folks'!
ReplyDelete