puppies inside: FLD Hershel

Showing posts with label FLD Hershel. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Sit, down, around, exam

October 22, 2014

Baraga

It was time to work. Deb led the teams through SIT and DOWN exercises that become progressively more difficult. I handed FLD Henry off to Corey so I could concentrate on taking photos.

A man wearing the blue prison uniform and a blue jacekt and navy blue knit cap is sitting with his forearms on his knees. He is smiling and leaning slightly forward toward a yellow lab/golden retriever mix puppy that is sitting in front of him, facing him. The puppy is wearing the baby blue Future Leader Dog "working" jacket. There are other men just out of view on either side of the photo.

FLD Henry is focused on Corey, who seems pretty happy to work with the pup.

An african american man wearing the blue prison uniform with a long sleeved white shirt under the short sleeve blue shirt is standing in front of a metal wall. He is looking off to the right and holding the leash to a small chocolate lab in his left hand. The lab is sitting at the man's left side and is looking at the camera.

FLD Hershel holds a nice sit for Brown.

SIT

With no distractions, holding for more than 30 seconds.
With people walking around.
With people greeting the teams.

A man wearing an orange kint cap, salmon colored sweatshirt and blue prison pants is on the left of the photo stretching with his right hand to reach something out of the shot to the left. His left hand is holding the leash to a yellow lab puppy sitting on the tile floor on his left side. The puppy is watching the man. Another man is standing in front of a metal wall on the right. He is wearing the blud prison uniform with his arms at his side. He is holding the leash of a small yellow lab in his left hand. The lab is sitting at the man's left side.

Beano (left) reaches for some extra kibble for FLD Axel when Deb asks the men without puppies to start walking around. FLD Farley (right) sits nicely next to Paul.

At least six men are either walking from left to right or are standing with their puppy sitting on their left side. Two men on the left closest to the camera walking by are wearing green sweatshirts and blue prison pants. An african american man is standing with his small chocolate lab, a man wearing a white shirt and blue prison pants is walking by him. A woman is standing behind him wearing an orange sweatshirt and black pants with a large german shepherd puppy sitting on her left side. Another man wearing the blue prison uniform is walking on the far right side, with an african american man dressed in a white shirt and blue pants standing behind him with a small golden retriever sitting at his left side.

Here come the distractions!

DOWN

With no distractions, holding for more than 30 seconds.
With people walking around.
With people jogging by.

AROUND - without a door. Really? Yep, we can practice "around" even if we don't have a door. (For a description of how we work around, visit this post "Training take 1."

A young black lab is standing on the left, curved slightly behind the legs of an inmate wearing blue prison pants and black shoes. The puppy is looking up at his handler, and is wearing the blue Future Leader Dog bandana.

FLD Eco moves into the "around" position while keeping an eye on his handler.

HANDLER'S EXAM - Each puppy's handler checked eyes, ears, teeth, felt each leg and paw, and ran a brush down its back. Then other team members did the same exam so the puppies get used to other people handling them.

An african american man who is standing is leaning over to a small chocolate lab puppy and his hands are on the puppy's head, checking his teeth. The man is wearing a prison blue uniform with a long sleeve white shirt under the blue shirt, and white shoes.

Brown checks FLD Hershel's teeth during the handler's exam.

A man is standing on the left with his arms at his side looking down. The man is wearing blue prison pants and a blue jacekt with orange stripes, with a white shirt underneath. Another man is standing on the right, leaning over to check the teeth of a yellow lab puppy who is standing between the two men. The man on the right is wearing the blue prison uniform with a long sleeve white shirt under the blue shirt. The man has his hands on the puppy's head and mouth.

FLD Farley leans into his raiser, Steve, while another inmate checks him over.

And just because...

A man wearing blue prison pants and a blue t-shirt is standing on the left with his hands clasped at his waist. He is holding the leash to a young black lab that is sitting on his left side. The man is looking down at the puppy. The puppy is looking toward the camera and is wearing the blue Future Leader Dog bandana. Another man is standing next to a metal wall facing right with his legs crossed. He is wearing blue prison pants and a blue jacket with orange stripes. At his feet in front of him is a yellow lab puppy lying on a green mat facing him.

FLD Copo holds a nice sit next to his handler, Black. In the background, FLD Farley lies on his mat in front of his handler, Steve.

A closer shot of the black lab puppy sitting next to the man. The puppy is now looking straight up at the man.

FLD Copo looks up at Black.

Now the man is leaning down with his face close to the nose of the black lab. The lab is reaching to the man's face.

Black leans in for a puppy kiss.

Sunday, January 25, 2015

Ten years to tell a story

October 22, 2014

Baraga

When Deb Donnelly and I arrive, the teams in Unit 8 are ready and waiting for us. Puppies are settled on mats with Kongs and Nylabones at the ready.

A low shot of a young black lab puppy lying on a green thick mat. To the left are the lower legs of the puppy's raiser, he is wearing blue prison pants and black shoes, his right hand is just visible between his knees. The puppy is wearing the blue Future Leader Dog bandana and there is a red Kong on the mat by his right shoulder. The puppy's head is resting on the mat.

A relaxed FLD Eco seems to be listening intently.

Another low shot, this time of a small chocolate lab lying on the tile floor with his chin on the floor between his front paws. He is just behind the lower legs of his raiser, who is also wearing blue prison pants and black shoes. To the left in the background is a blue mat, but the puppy chose to lie on the floor instead. There is also a yellow, green and blue Nylabone puppy chew toy on the tile in front of the mat.

FLD Hershel, on the other hand, doesn't seem interested. What is it about the floor that is more comfortable than his mat?

Deb has lots to talk about. She's come from a circular road trip to prisons in Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin before getting to Baraga and continuing on to Chippewa. She reports that Minnesota's Lino Lakes Correctional Facility, which started raising puppies in July of 2013, had their first puppy issued to a client the day before. Leader Dog "Lino" is now a working guide dog.

With the return of the first Baraga puppies looming in December, the men are interested about the process. Deb explains that Leader Dogs for the Blind takes in 44 puppies each month. Leader Dog veterinarians can only accommodate 11 dogs a week. (This places a demand on the breeding department on the other end.) When the puppies return they are subject to a series of medical exams and x-rays to assure excellent health. Some are pulled for breeding; those that aren't are spayed or neutered. About 14 percent are career-changed for medical issues. The rest go into formal guide work training.

"We always train more dogs than we need," Deb says. Up to 24 blind or visually impaired clients in a given "class" live in the Polk Residence at Leader Dogs for about three and a half weeks. Here they learn to care for and work with their new partner. Extra dogs are necessary so the trainers can make the perfect match with each team.

There are questions about what will happen in December when she comes to bring FLDs Axel, Bear and Copo back to Leader Dog. Deb suggests that the men develop a "good-bye" ceremony for themselves, something that can be consistently recreated for each puppy that leaves.

Saying good-bye to your puppy is hard, no matter whom the puppy raiser happens to be. After returning five of my own puppies I can attest that it never gets easier.

"The dogs do way better than the people do in this," Deb says. "They adapt very well, most of them, very quickly. It's like going to camp for them." A collective sigh and the looks on the men's faces make me believe they are not quite convinced.

A black lab is lying on a thick green mat between the legs of his raiser, who is sitting on a lunchroom table stool. The man is on the left side of the table and is wearing blue prison pants and a long sleeved white shirt. His elbows are resting on his knees and he is looking up toward the right. A second man is sitting on the stool opposite on the right. He is also wearing the blue prison pants and a long-sleeved white shirt. This man also has his elbows on his knees leaning forward with his hands clasped. He is looking at the camera. In the background are two other men sitting at another table. The puppy is wearing the blue Future Leader Dog bandana and has a white Nylabone chew toy between his front paws, and a second one on the tile floor next to his mat. The puppy's chin is resting on his right leg and he is looking at the camera.

Ricky (left) and Doug (right) sit with their puppy. FLD Bear is one of the puppies slated to return to Leader Dogs for the Blind in December.

An african american man is sitting on a lunch table stool, bending over to pet a golden retriever puppy that is lying on the lile floor between the man's feet. The man is wearing the blue prison pants and a long sleeve white t-shirt and white shoes. The man's left forearm is resting on his left knee and he is petting the puppy's side with his right hand. The puppy is lying on its left side with its head toward the camera. He is wearing the blue bandana. A nylabone chew toy is on the floor by his head.

P reaches over to give a sleepy FLD Gage a pet. This little guy will be staying for a while, but P will be sad to see FLD Bear leave. P was promoted from FLD Bear's team to raise Gage.

A man wearing blue prison pants and a green jacket is sitting on a lunch table stool with his left forearm across his left knee and his right elbow on his right kneww with his chin in his right hand. The man is looking forward to the left. At his feet is a black lab that is lying facing right. There is a lunch table in front of the team, and another one in the back ground.

Black and FLD Copo, who is also slated to return in December.

Inmate raiser Black will have it especially hard in December. He was promoted from FLD Bear's team to take over as Copo's raiser, so he'll be saying good-bye to two puppies.

Black feels so changed by this program that he recently made a generous donation to Leader Dogs for the Blind. (His job in the Baraga Correctional Facility pays him 74 cents per day.)

Deb feels their pain. FLD Jedi, the 20th puppy she's raised, is due to go back to Leader Dog within a couple of weeks.

A woman dressed in black pants and an orange fleece jacket is standing with her hands on her hips on the right of the picture. At her feet is sprawled a large german shepheard dog, he is practically lying on her feet with his chin resting on the tile floor. He is facing to the right. On the left of the picture is an african american man sitting on a lunch table stool facing the woman. He is wearing the blue prison uniform and white shoes. At his feet in front of him is a small chocolate lab that is sitting on a blue mat with a yellow, green, and lbue nylabone puppy chew toy in front of him. The puppy is wearing the blue Future Leader Dog bandan and is facing the right.

Deb Donnelly speaks to the inmate raisers with FLD Jedi sprawled at her feet. Brown (left) sits with his charge, FLD Hershel.

"There's somebody out there who needs this dog more than I do," she says. She tells a story about one of the puppies she raised long ago. The puppy "graduated" and was matched with a young man, it was his first Leader dog. Deb got the chance to meet the painfully shy and reserved man. He had a difficult time speaking to her.

Some years later, when he received a second dog, Deb witnessed an amazing transformation. The man stood up in front of everyone. (Back then the graduating teams were introduced as a group to the raisers during "visitation" night at Leader dog. Now the puppy raiser has an individual visit with the new team.) Deb says he would never have done that the first time she met him. He announced that his goal was to meet one million people. He asked that each and every person should come up and shake his hand.

With a catch in her voice, Deb says, "It took me 10 years before I could even tell this story."

A close head shot of the large german shepherd puppy lying across the woman's purple running shoes. The dog is facing the camera with his chin on the tile floor. His leash is lying on the floor by him and his left front leg and paw are across the woman's shoes. He is looking directly into the camera. He is also wearing the blue Future Leader Dog bandana.

FLD Jedi makes sure he stays close to Deb.

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

All flavors

September 12, 2014

Baraga

"Puppies are awake, but quiet," I report as Tammy turns the Leader Dog van west. We plan the afternoon's training session as we drive. September's topics are STAY, TRAFFIC, and STAIRS. Of course, traffic is out.

As an American Kennel Club (AKC) evaluator, Tammy can "test" some of the older puppies for the AKC Canine Good Citizen program. She plans to have all the teams participate (good training), with the assistant raisers marking the scores she gives. We'll do FLDs Axel and Bear's In-For-Training (IFT) assessments at the same time; everything except traffic.

Poor FLD Chewy gets carsick during the long drive. We stop in Ishpeming to clean out his crate and park FLDs Hershel and Henry. Although we arrive at the Baraga Correctional Facility about 1:30 p.m., we don't actually get into Unit 8 until after 2:00. Evidently, chocolate labs are popular in the UP and some MDOC employees want to meet the little guy before we present him to his raiser.

"Now we have all flavors," RUM Steve says as he picks up Hershel. Eight puppies now - two yellow labs, three black labs, one German Shepherd, one golden retriever, and a tiny chocolate lab to round out the mix.

When we get down to Unit 8, we hand off FLDs Chewy and Henry to the inmates. I race in ahead of Tammy to be sure I capture the delivery of FLD Hershel.

An african american man dressing in prison blue pants and a white long sleeved t-shirt is sitting in the foreground on the right, facing the camera. His hands are clasped in his lap. On the left is a group of inmates sitting at metal lunch tables. There are two puppies visible sitting in front of their raisers. In the background, two women are coming in through the lunch room door. The first woman, wearing blue jeans and a grey shirts, is carrying a small chocoalte lab puppy.

Raiser Brown patiently awaits his new charge. The room fills with "Awwwwwws" as Tammy shows off Hershel to the other teams.

A clsoer shot of the man sitting in the chair. He is looking at the camera with a half-smile on his face. The woman wearing the grey sweatshirt is standing behind him to the left and and smiling. She is about to hand the small chocolate lab puppy over the man's left shoulder. The puppy is already looking at the man.

Tammy loves this part of her volunteer job - handing off a new puppy!

This is a head shot of the man and the chocolate lab being set on his left shoulder. The man is smiling broader now, and his eyes are sneaking a peak at the puppy. The puppy's front paws are resting on the man's shoulder, still being held by the woman.

The meeting - a bit tentative?

Another head shot of the man, who is now REALLY smiling! He is reaching up to hold the chocolate lab puppy with both of his hands, his left hand over the top of the puppy and his right hand supporting the puppy's chest. The puppy appears to be sliding down the front of the man's chest.

Tentative? I think not. FLD Hershel, meet Brown!

Two african american men are standing in front of a metal wall, both are wearing white long sleeved t-shirts. The man on the left is cradling the small chocolate lab puppy in his arms, the puppy is on his back and the puppy's leash is lying across his body. Both men are smiling at the camera.

Team FLD Hershel. Brown and Phil, one of his two assistant raisers, pose for a team picture. The third team member was not present.

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Supposed to do

September 11, 2014

Chippewa

What I was supposed to do while Tammy did the new puppy paperwork was greet all the teams and evaluate the puppies' weights. What I ended up doing (mostly) was field questions from the men. They wanted to know why there were changes, why Deb Donnelly would be coming next month instead of Tammy. (See my post 'On my pledge" from December 3.)

I explained how the prison puppy-raising program has grown, maybe too quickly. For it to be successful in its growth, it needs the oversight of a full-time paid employee. Leader Dogs for the Blind will be hiring someone in January, but for now Deb would be taking over to get a good sense of how things work.

A young chocolate lab is lying on a carpeted floor underneath a plastic chair facing the camera. The puppy is wearing the blue Future Leader Dog bandana and his leash is hanging free in front of him. A man dressed in the blue prison uniform is sitting on the chair with his legs on either side of the puppy. The man's hands are clasped with his forearms on his knees, but you cannot see his upper body. Another man is sitting next to him to the right, holding a leash. This man is mostly out of view.

FLD Bandit seems to be listening as intently as his handler.

"Are you two ever coming back?" the men asked.

That was a complicated question. Leader Dog pulled the volunteer puppy counselors from the prisons, but gave me permission to tag along with Deb so I could continue to document things. (Luckily, everyone agrees that telling the story is important.) As for the reinstatement of counselors, that is an unknown, and will likely depend on what the new hire decides to do. Tammy and I have always been aware that a change might occur in 2015. It just came a bit sooner, taking us by surprise.

The men weren't happy that we were being replaced. I reminded them that they would benefit from having "the best" (Deb) work with them. Ro said, "But we have a relationship with you guys."

An african american man with corn rows in his hair is cradling a small black lab puppy in his lap, holding her with both of his hands. The puppy is on her back with her legs sticking out. She is wearing the blue Future Leader Dog bandana. The man is looking down at the puppy with a scrinched up smile on his face.

Ro has a relationship with FLD GeeGee, too. She has captured his heart. "She's spoiled," he says. Ro says she was already housebroken when he got her. "She came to me already trained!"

I only managed to feel the ribs of FLDs Coda, Adell, Andie, Ashley and Harley (Henry's brother). Tammy rescued me and finished checking FLDs Teysen, GeeGee, Bandit and Chewy. She glanced at the clock. It was already ten minutes to five. There would be no time for training. She promised the guys we'd be back one more time before the end of September so we could do the work we didn't have time for today. Ro said, "I'll hold you to that!"

A woman wearing blue jeans and a royal blue windbreaker is squatting done in the middle of a room full of men inmates. She is facing the right and her hands are reaching down to a young yellow lab puppy lying on the carpeted floor in front of her. She is looking at the men seated behind the puppy.

Tammy talks to the men after helping me check the puppies' weights. She brought the 2014 Leader Dogs for the Blind poster to share.

Many of the men were concerned about the future of this blog. Would I still be able to write it? While they don't have access to my blog, their families do; one raiser said his wife reads it all the time. I assured them that I had Leader Dog's blessing to continue, that I'd do my best to return with Deb in the following months.

Tammy glanced up at the clock again. It was 5:30! So, we'd be late for dinner at the Antlers. Two outside raisers were meeting us there with their puppies, and two volunteers were handling FLDs Chewy and Andie on furlough. Afterwards, we would have a training session at a local school.

Two bald men are sitting next to each other, looking at the puppies in front of them. They are both wearing white t-shirts and glasses. The man on the left is holding a small chocolate lab puppy in his hands, dangling the puppy's legs in front of him. The puppy is facing left. The man on the right is stroking the head of a grown german shepherd that is sitting in front of him. The german shepherd is wearing the blue Future Leader Dog bandana and he is facing left looking at the chocolate lab.

Scott (left) is holding FLD Hershel (who will be going to Baraga) and Doug (right) is stroking the head of FLD Chewy. We say good-bye to Scott as he will be paroled before Tammy and I get back to Chippewa in two weeks.

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Sit, down, around, exam

Sunday, January 25, 2015

Ten years to tell a story

Tuesday, December 30, 2014

All flavors

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Supposed to do

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