Showing posts with label FLD Tara. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FLD Tara. Show all posts

Sunday, December 14, 2014

So little time...

September 11, 2014
Chippewa

Logistics for our trips to the UP prisons can be tricky. Tammy leaves from her house to travel about an hour to Leader Dogs for the Blind. Here she picks up the van and loads whatever she needs to deliver to the two correctional facilities. Usually that includes several 50-pound bags of Purina Pro Plan dog or puppy food.

This trip we are also delivering two puppies - a male black lab (Dylan) to Chippewa and a male chocolate lab (Hershel) to Baraga. Unfortunately, they aren't ready to leave Leader Dog until after 9 a.m. This means a late start, made a little later when Tammy tries to get sleepy Hershel to "park" before being tucked into his travel crate. No luck, so in he goes.

About an hour and 15 minutes from our meeting place on northbound I-75, I get a call. "Bring clean up material," Tammy says. "I was driving down the road in the van and smelled it and thought I should have given him more time." She stops to check and finds out "it wasn't even him!" Dylan was the poopy culprit.

We clean things up and head north. I brought sandwich makings so we only have to make pit stops for the puppies. Still, we don't get across the Mighty Mac until 3:30. We arrive at Chippewa after 4. Lots to do in little time.

PUPPY PRESENTATION

A man wearing a green sweatshirt and a blue ball cap and glasses is facing the camera on the left. On the right is a man wearing a white long sleeved tshrit. He is looking at the other man. Between them and behind them is a woman with short white hair and glasses, wearing a blue windbreaker. She is holding a small black lab puppy over the left shoulder of the man on the left. The puppy'es front paws are reaching over the man's shoulder.
Tammy lifts FLD Dylan over Dave's left shoulder as Eric looks on.
The man wearing the blue ball cap is holding the black lab puppy and giving the puppy a big smooch on its right cheek. The woman behind is out of focus and she is smiling.
Some puppy-lovin'.

Another close shot, this one of the man wearing the white t-shirt. He is holding the black lab puppy close to him and is smooching him on his left cheek.
FLD Dylan doesn't look too sure of the attention.

The two men stand together (the man in the ball cap on the left and the man in the white t-shirt on the right( and hold the black lab puppy between them.
Team FLD Dylan.

JUST RIGHT

As Tammy goes over the puppy contract with Dave, I am supposed to greet the teams and check the weight on each puppy. We use the Purina Body Condition chart as a guide and like to see a rating of 4 or 5. I ask each team to rate their puppy. It is interesting that the men rate each puppy at least one number lower than I do. 
Because guide dogs will walk a lot during their career, it is imperative to keep their bodies lean. A lower-than-the-normal-pet-dog-weight will assure less wear and tear on the joints - and a longer working life. The men need to learn what a good Future Leader Dog physique looks like.
I like to tell people to use their own hand as a guide to compare how the puppy's ribs feel. If the puppy's ribs feel like your open palm at the base of your fingers, then the puppy is probably too heavy. If the puppy's ribs feel like your knuckles when you make a fist, then the puppy is likey too thin. The puppy is just right if its ribs feel like your knuckles when your hand is held open.

BANDANA-RAMA (just because it sounds fun)

A young golden retriever/lab mix puppy is sitting on a carpted floor, with his head turned away from the camera. His leash is hanging loose on the floor. He has the blue Future Leader Dog bandana around his neck, and a second blue Future Leader dog bandana over his head. In the background are the legs of several men sitting in chairs.
FLD Harley models his new bandana that was embroidered by a volunteer named Jean.
Now the same puppy has turned his head toward the camera. The bandana on his head has his ears pinned back.
"What?!"
A head and shoulder shot of an African American man wearing a grey and blue jacket. He is holding a folded blue Future Leader Dog bandana at his chest with his right hand.
Ro likes FLD GeeGee's new bandana. He named his puppy after his daughter. "She thinks every puppy I get will come home with me," he said.


A man weraing a long-sleeve white t-shirt is sitting down facing the camera. He is holding a blue bandana up between is outstreatched hands. Embroidered on the bandana is the outline of the Upper Peninsulat with the word "Chippewa" under it. There are two black dogs with a yellow dog between them embroidered on it. Under each dog are the names (from left to rigth) Tara, Granite and Coda. These are the three "finsihing" dogs the man has raised. Behind the man is another man who is holding up a poster facing away from the camera and reading it.
Jeremy holds up the bandana he received with the names of the three finishing dogs he raised. He said he likes getting the "rehomed" dogs because "they have character." He admitted that he enjoyed FLD Granite the best, but is very pleased with the progress he's made with FLD Coda.

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Thursday, July 10, 2014

The rest of the journey...

April 11-12, 2014
NOT in the UP

Thus began the long ride back to Leader Dogs for the Blind for Nell, Zella and Tara. Here is the "rest of the story," as reported by Tammy, Leader Dog Puppy Counselor:
All the girls were great on their ride downstate. When I dropped Patti off...she helped park all the dogs. They willingly jumped back into the van ready for an adventure!
The girls were to stay at my house for the night and return to Leader Dog the following afternoon. As many of you know I have four dogs living in my house, so with the girls this would make seven! I do not have a large house, but do have a large yard for them all to run off some energy. I brought the girls in one-by-one to meet my crew and released them into the backyard for a free-for-all! Fun was had by all. By the way, Zella was in season (her second one since being placed in the prison setting.)
A slightly blurry shot of a fenced in back yard with seven dogs running around. The dog in the foreground facing left is a yellow lab, wearing panties because she is in heat. Close beyond her are two black labs running toward her. There seems to be a couple of posts in the background on the right where there are two more black labs and two golden way beyond them, running away from the camera.
Seven dogs romp in Tammy's yard.
There are five dogs sitting and one dog standing facing the camera. From left to right, a black lab sitting, a yellow lab standing, a black lab sitting, a golden retriever sitting, a black lab sitting, and a golden retriever sitting. There is a black lab's right paw just inside the frame on the far right side. The dogs are sitting on a wooden deck against a vinyl sided wall.
Seven dogs in a row: Ivan, Zella, Ruckus, Midas, Tara, Harper, and Nell. (Nell was sitting there so nicely but I only got her foot in the picture.) So then, everybody was put on a down stay but Miss Zella decided she had enough and decided to go explore.

Here is the final installment of our adventure. We arrived at Leader Dog around 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 12. Tara was the first to be returned. I took pictures of her by the German Shepherd statue outside the kennel entrance and then by the front desk.
On the left, a black lab, wearing the blue Future Leader Dog bandana sits next to a stature of a german shepherd, facing the camera. The dog statue is all black and the dog is in a sitting position. The lab's leash is looped around the statue's front leg. There is a brick wall below a window behind them.
FLD Tara posing in front of the Leader Dog kennel.
 In the in-take room she weighed in and checked out the toy box.
This shot is taken from above, looking down into a wooden box with about 14 large Nylabone dog toys in the bottom of it. A black lab's head is over the right edge of the box, the dog is standing on white tile.
"Is that all there is? Then I don't want one."

Next came Miss Nell. She had to say "hello" to the nice German Shepherd statue before posing for her picture.
In this shot of the german shepherd stature, the statue is on the left side and a black lab is sitting on the right with its leash wrapped around one of the statue's legs. The lab is leaning toward the statue and sniffing its muzzle. The lab is wearing the blue Future Leader Dog bandana.
Nell gives the statue a sniff.
Nell explored the intake room, weighed in, and looked in the toy box. She decided she didn't want to bring one back to the kennel with her, either.
A black lab is walking toward the camera with its tongue hanging out, its tail must be wagging becuase it is blurry! The dog is right of a couch that has a beige background and blue, maroon, orange, red and other colors of designs in the fabric. There is a yellow and blue plastric chair in the background beyond the couch. There is an off-white desk in the background mostly out of view on the right side. There seems to be someone standing by the desk, only the lower leg and foot is visible. The floor is a cream coloredtile.
Nell checks out the intake room.

 Finally, it was Miss Zella's turn.
A yellow lab is now sitting on the left side, next to the german sheperd statue. Her leash is also looped around the leg of the statue and she is wearing the blue Future Leader Dog bandana and looking at the camera.
Miss Zella poses by the statue.
The yellow lab is sitting on the left side in the picture, looking up to the camera on the tile floor. To the right is the wooden box, the lid of which is closed now and there are pictures of toys and a bandana on the top with the word "Toys" in red.
"Can I look?"
Zella made her selection and in true Golden fashion (she is a golden retriever/lab mix) had to parade around the room showing it to everybody. She even carried it almost all the way to the kennel.
A yellow lab is standing in a large commercial dog kennel, looking forward and to the right. She is standing on a blue karunda dog bed and there are a couple of toys on the floor to the left. There is a blue sign on the right top that says "Dog care only."
Miss Zella hangs out in her new kennel.

We wish Tara, Nell and Zella all the best in their new adventure!
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Tuesday, July 8, 2014

There comes a time...

April 11, 2014
Chippewa

The games are over.

This day's training is complete. We retreat into a small classroom in Pike Unit to process the three puppies that are returning to Leader Dogs for the Blind. It is time for them to start formal guide dog training.

FLDs Nell, Zella and Tara - the "parolees" as the guys dub them. 

Three portraits of inmate raisers and their puppies that are leaving to go to Leader Dogs for the Blind. The man on the left is kneeling on one knee with his black lab standing on his left side. The man is bald and is wearing a white t-shirt and blue pants. He is smiling and has his left arm around the dog's back. The dog is wearing the blue Future Leader Dog bandana. The middle picture is a closer shot of a darker skinned man with his right arm wrapped around a yellow lab's neck in an embrace. The man is wearing the prison blue uniform and looking seriously right at the camera. The dog's head is facing up and to the left and appears to be trying to get out of the embrace. The man has the dog's leash in his right hand. The man on the right is squatting with a black lab sitting on his left side. The man is smiling at the camera, he right forearm is resting on his right knee and his right hand is holding the leash. His left arm is draped over the back of the lab. the dog is looking at the camera.
From left to right, raiser Justin with FLD Nell, raiser Abe with FLD Zella, and raiser Jeremy with FLD Tara.

 There are not many questions from the somber group. 

Four men are sitting on light blue plastic chairs in a row facing the camera. The first man, left to right, is wearing green pants and a white shirt and glasses, the second man is wearig blue pants and a white shirt, the third man is wearing maroon pants and a white t-shirt, and the fourt man is wearing the blue prison uniform. All the men have puppies lying down beneath them on the floor and under their chairs. The dogs are, left to right, a golden retriever, a yellow lab, a golden retriever and a yellow lab. The dogs are all lying on their left sides with their heads facing left and are asleep. The men all have sad faces.
Everyone seems tired out.

Tammy asks me to share my story about meeting Gail, Leader Dog Dutch's new partner. I meant to tell them how proud and sad and anxious I felt when I left that silly Golden at Leader Dog last November, how I tried not to think about him living there in the kennels, how waiting so long for news of his progress was excruciating. I wanted to tell them how my heart burned, especially when I chose not to take another puppy right away, yet how this prison program gave me "puppy fixes" to help with the waiting.

I only remember to tell them it was a long wait, but it was great to see Gail pick up the harness and say, "Dutch, find the door." Off he went, his tail wagging in time to my heartbeats. In the end the long wait was worth it, seeing the happy team.

A group of about 11 men circle a small carpeted room, some kneeling on the floor, others standing and the rest sitting in light blue plastic chairs. The man staning in the middle is taking a photo of the man sitting on the right with a black lab sitting between his knees. There are yellow labs, golden retrievers and a german shepherd puppy with the men.
Doug snaps a photo of Jeremy and FLD Tara. The men share a long good-bye to the three that are leaving.

Tammy asks for stories in return. Abe laughs at Zella's "snorting." Harlin remembers the first day Abe got Zella. "She dragged him all over the place!" Everyone agrees that now, Zella is Abe's "champion."

Justin is animated with his falling-on-the-ice-taking-Nell-out-to-park story. Nell stole her bandana and then Justin's full cup of coffee. The poor guy slipped and fell three times trying to round her up. "I was so mad!" he exclaims, but laughs at himself with all of us. Justin describes how the guys stored small cartons of milk in the snow banks to keep them cold. "She grabbed one of those and bit it and drank it all," he says.

Churchard tells an elaborate tale about Tara and Nell. Tara, leash dragging behind her, snuck into Nell's cell, grabbed her Kong and took it back to her own cell. Nell would have nothing of it; she trotted down to Tara's cell and took the thief by her leash to bring the toy back.

The mood lightens with the stories.

Tammy announces each puppy's grown up "dog" number as she drapes an official Leader Dog chain collar and new tag over each neck. "That's the first time a parolee gets a number going out!" Harlin says.

A close shot of a woman (on the left) wearing a purple sweatshirt putting a chain collar over the nost of a yellow lab, which is being held by the man on the right. He is wearing the blue prison uniform. Both the woman and the man are bending toward the middle over the lab. A second yellow lab is sneaking into the middle of things from the left, its leash being held by a man behind wearing a green sweatshirt and blue pants, sitting down on a blue plastic chair. This man's head is out of view.
Tammy slides the new collar over Zella's head. FLD August is curious. His turn is coming.
A man wearing a white t-shirt and the prison blue pants with orange stripe is sitting on a light blue plastic chair, leaning over onto a desk and facing away from the camera. A black lab is lying on the carpeted floor under the chair. A woman wearing blue jeans and a purple sweatshirt is standing on the right side, leaning over the desk.
Nell relaxes while Justin and Tammy fill out the turn-in paperwork.
A bald man wearing a white t-shirt and blue prison pants is on the floor with his hands on the body of a black lab. The lab is lying on its left side with its head toward the camera. The man is resting his head on his right knee.
Justin and Nell.


It is time.





There are two men on the left in the background sitting on chairs facing the camera. The man on the far left is wearing a white t-shirt and maroon pants and there is a golden retriever sitting on the carpet between the man's knees. The man next to him is wearing the prison blue uniform and is resting his forearms on his knees with his hands clasped between them. There is a man to the left coming in a door, leaning over a black lab wearing a light blue jacket. This man is wearing a white t-shirt and blue pants. On the right side are two men stting on light blue chairs facing the left. The man closest to the camera on the far right is wearing a light orange shirt and prison blue pants and is leaning over to pet a german shepherd with his right hand. The german shepherd is lying on the carpet under his chair. The next man is wearing the prison blue uniform and has his elbos on his knees. A black lab is lying on its left side under the man's chair.
Cody and FLD Baker can be seen in the background coming in from the yard.



















In the bustle to leave the room, I remember FLD Baker. Cody has been handling her since we left her on our way to Baraga, but I don't see them. I finally find him in the doorway to the yard. "I took her outside because I was crying a little," he whispers.

There comes a time in every puppy raiser's life to let go. To wish one's puppy "dogspeed." This time came early for Nell, Zella and Tara's raisers. The three pups came to Chippewa as "finishers," a little older than the rest. Their leaving is bound to leave a big hole in Unit 8. The raisers still with puppies feel the pain, too.

Justin, Abe and Jeremy walk their puppies out to the Leader Dog van and put them into crates. Morrison says that when it is time for his puppy to go, "I'm going to put Bravo on a down/stay and just go to my room."

The bald man in a white t-shirt is holding the chin of a black lab and pressing his face toward the lab. The lab is inside of an airline dog crate, facing out, with the wire door open wide.
Justin says his final good-bye to Nell.
The man in the prison blue uniform is leaning in toward a yellow lab that is inside a dog airline crate. The man is gripping the wire door with his left hand and holding the jaw of the lab with his right hand, his face pressed against the face of the dog.
Abe already said good-bye, but returns to Zella one last time.
A man waring a blue shirt with a long sleeved white shirt under it is walking away from the Leader Dog white van, he is looking down and is holding a green treat bag and a leash in his hands, which are by his waist.
Jeremy turns away from the Leader Dogs for the Blind van after putting Tara into a crate.

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Monday, June 30, 2014

The worst thing

April 11, 2014
Chippewa

No matter how early we wake up to park the puppies, feed the puppies, feed ourselves, haul crates and puppies and luggage back into the van, we always fall behind schedule. Today we end up 15 minutes late.

Upon arrival at the Chippewa Correctional Facility, we apologize to the staff members who meet us at the visitor entrance. They tell us they joke about it now. They never expect us when we say we're going to be there.

We must be infected with "yooper-time."

Our session starts with a bit of social time. The lunchroom tables are pushed to the perimeter of the room where the guys sit with puppies "under" their seats.

Four men sit on stools attached to a table on the left side of the picture. On man sits just out of view on the right side. The first man is an african american wearing the prison blue uniform. He has this hands clasped on his lap and below him a black lab is lying on the tile floor. The next man is leaning back with his arms folded, he is wearing blue pants and a white t-shirt. The next man is wearing a white t-shirt and light maroon pants. He is leaning over looking down at a golden retriever that is lying under him on the floor. He is petting the puppy with his left hand and his right elbow is on the table. The fourth man is just visible behind the third man, he is wearing a white t-shirt and looking away to the right. The man out of view is wearing the prison blue uniform and hs holding the leash of a black lab that is lying on the floor between his legs.
Teammates Ro and Aaron sit with FLD Sammy; Morrison tends to FLD Bravo with Cory at his back.

Tammy and I circle the room, an informal "meet and greet" with each team.

After a quick rundown of the skills we want to work on, Tammy takes John aside to sign the puppy-raising contract and review the paperwork for the newest arrival, FLD Ekco. I visit each team to ask the same two questions Tammy asked the inmates at Baraga.

1. Tell me something good about your puppy.
Many of the puppies are smart, intelligent, and attentive. Others are confident, loveable, and have a great recall. FLD Bravo's team says that the pup's "clingy-ness" is both good and bad. "We call him the old man."
 2. What are you struggling with and need to work harder on?
Some puppies are overly friendly, or "ambitious socially" as Abe describes FLD Zella. A few rush stairs. Cori says that FLD Baker has a great stay, but is jumpy with loud noises. "She spooked at the cleaning cart," he reports. Baker got away from him and bolted. She ran through Unit 8, up the stairs and almost to his room before someone caught her. "She is fast!" he says. The worst thing, according to Scott, is the thought of giving FLD Drummond away.

Saying good-bye is on everyone's mind today. When Tammy and I leave this afternoon, we will be taking FLDs Nell, Zella and Tara back to Leader Dogs for the Blind to begin their formal training.

But first, we have work to do...



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Tuesday, May 13, 2014

The dogs, they had a party...

Chippewa
March 6, 2014

...and thought it was training!

RELAXATION PROTOCOL

To begin our session, puppy counselor Tammy led the group in three versions of the relaxation protocol. The relaxation protocol helps our puppies learn self-control. Basically they are asked to stay in position while the handler does all sorts of distracting behaviors - and they get a treat for not moving! It doesn't take them long to figure out what to do not do. 

(You can read about this protocol and download MP3 files at this link: http://championofmyheart.com/relaxation-protocol-mp3-files/.)

First up, relaxation while in a sit position.

Three men are standing in a row, a fourth is just out of the frame on the right side. Two other men are sitting behind and between the standing me. They are wearing prison blue pants and white t-shirts. The third and forth man (from left to right) are wearing the prison blue shirts over their t-shirts. The first two men have golden retriever puppies (almost adult) sitting on their left sides, they pups are wearing blue Future Leader Dog bandanas. The third man, and african american, has a black lab that is lying on the floor at his left side. The man just out of the frame has a yellow lab next to him, but you can only see her head. The men sitting down do not have puppies, they are just observing.
FLDs Harper, Bravo and Zella are sitting nicely, but FLD Sammy would rather lie down.

Second, relaxation in a down position.

Photo is taken from behind. Three dogs, from left to right a black lab and two golden retrievers, are lying down on a tile floor in a semi-circle; the legs of two men in prison blue pants with orange stripes are standing between them. All are facing away from the camera.
FLD Sammy can do this, just like FLDs Bravo and Harper. Good boys!

And lastly, relaxation in a stand position.

Now the three dogs are standing next to their handlers. The black lab is looking up his handler, as is the furthers golden. the middle golden is just looking ahead. In this shot you can see three men in the background on the left with smaller black labs, one is sitting and the other is down. There are two men sitting on the right side. A large black TV screen is hanging on the far wall in the background.
A standing FLD Sammy looks up at his handler as if to say, "This is it, right?"


OBEDIENCE: SITS, DOWNS and STANDS

Tammy likes to make training a fun experience for all. When she told the guys she needed nine chairs because they were going to play tic-tac-toe, they frowned. Who wants to play silly games? they seemed to be thinking.

It didn't take long before the competition turned fierce. Whose puppy could hold position? Whose puppy could not?

Lots going in in this picture. There are three rows of light blue chairs. Two men are sitting in the row to the far left, both with golden retrievers. The man closest to the camers has his down in a sit between his legs facing out, and the other man's do is sitting in front of him facing him. On man is about to sit in the middle chair of the middle row, the other chairs in this row are empty. His yellow lab is lying under the chair. The man is pointing with his left arm at someone in front of him. The last row to the right has threen men sitting int he chairs, the furthest one has a black lab sitting and facing him. A woman with a purple t-shirt and blue jeans is in the background with her hands raised about shoulder high. There are five other men inthe background.
Teams are SITS and DOWNS. Someone from the sidelines tosses a treat into the middle, trying to distract the puppies. Unfair? Well, that can happen in real life and our puppies must learn to ignore it! Who says games can't be training? (wink)

Still lots going on here. The photo is taken facing the fronts of the chairs, there are three rows of three chairs, and all chairs are empty. Several men and the woman are around the tic-tac-toe "board," and there are three puppies (a german shepherd and two yellow labs) lying down under three of the chairs, completing a diagonal. There is one golde retriever in the last row in the middle standing up. There is also a black lab lying down on the left side, but not inthe game. He is looking to the left.
Teams are DOWNS and STANDS, but this time Tammy makes the game more challenging. Only puppies stay on the board - the handlers place them and have to walk away.


Realizing how much fun tic-tac-toe turned out to be, the guys jumped at the chance to play musical chairs. Tammy brought a CD loaded with songs about dogs. Her rules were a bit different than regular musical chairs. When the music stopped, there were seats for everyone, but the last puppy to get into a down position was out.  I dare say the game was just as amusing to watch!

There are four men in frount sitting on the blue chairs that are in one row, their puppies (black lab, yellow lab, black lab, and golden retriever) are lying down under the chairs facing out. There are three men standing behind them and one woman.
When the music stops...it's a mad rush. Who can get their puppy "under" first?

There are three chairs in a triangle, all facing away from each other. Three men are walking around them with their puppies, a black lab, a yellow lab, and a black lab. There are men and the woman inthe background, and an african american man sitting down at a table in the background, running the music.
Puppy by puppy, all but three are eliminated. It is no surprise (to me) that the oldest pups are the last ones standing. Eventually, FLD Tara wins the round! And no surprise there - Tara was class-ready before coming to Chippewa, so she has had much more training than FLDs Zella and Nell.


HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO FLDs ZELLA AND NELL!


Two young men dressed in prison blues sit on cafeteria stools. The man on the right is gesturing to the camera, his yellow lab is lying between his legs facing the camers. The man on the left has his arms folded and is looking at the other man.
FLD Zella's handler leads the group in singing Happy Birthday to Zella and Nell. The pups turned one year old and are almost ready to return to Leader Dogs for the Blind for formal training.

A bald young man wearing a white t-shirt and prison blue pants is sqatting next to a black lab that is lying down under a chair facing out. The man is clapping his hands and looking at the dog. The lab has her chin on her front legs as if she is embarrassed! She is wearing a blue Future Leader Dog bandana.
FLD Nell's handler giver her applause.


There is an anonymous poem about why dogs greet each other by sniffing their hinders. For the curious, here you go...

 

The dogs, they had a party
They came from near and far.
Some dogs came by taxi
And some dogs came by car.

Each dog signed his name
Upon a special book
And each dog hung his a**hole
Upon a special hook.

One dog was not invited,
And this aroused his ire.
He stormed into the party
And loudly shouted "FIRE!"

In the scene that followed,
The dogs forgot to look
And grabbed just any a**hole
From off of any hook.

And that is why when dogs roam
On land or sea or foam,
They sniff each others' a**holes,
In hopes they’ll find their own!

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Tuesday, March 11, 2014

A day in the life...

January 29-30, 2014

Transporting puppies north from Leader Dogs for the Blind to the U.P. prisons requires careful planning and some amount of juggling. At the end of January, puppy counselor Tammy was charged with picking up four puppies in Rochester Hills; three would be delivered to the Chippewa Correctional Facility and one to the Baraga Correctional Facility.

"This is my life," Tammy said, describing her saga. "I worked Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Every day my whole client load showed up and then I had to do the paperwork." She works at a medical center doing diabetic nutrition counseling.

While Tammy had full intentions of leaving work at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday to get an early start, she was delayed until 3:00. She went home and picked up her son so she would have some help, then drove about one hour to Leader Dogs. Here she swapped out her car for a Leader Dog van. From 4:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. they organized and hauled crates, 50 pound bags of dog and puppy food, and finally, four puppies - a German Shepherd (Chewy), brother and sister black Labs (Copo and Ashley) and a class-ready black Lab (Tara) who needed some extra help with stairs.

After an hour drive back home, they had to get all the puppies inside for the night. "I brought each dog in individually," Tammy said. Her three large and excited dogs met them at the door: retired Leader Dog "dad" Midas (a Golden Retriever), career-changed black Lab Ivan, and Leader Dog "dad" Ruckus (a black Lab). Tammy's Future Leader Dog Harper was on loan at my house for the week, but I'm not sure that his absence was noticed amongst all the mayhem.

"By the time I got them all in it was time to park them all!" Tammy said. And then it was feeding time, followed shortly by more parking.

"I got to bed about 1:00 and got up about 6:00," Tammy said. "All puppies slept all night." That was great, but now she had to park them all again, feed them, park them again, and get everything back into the van, this time without her son's help. "My goal was to leave at 7:30," she said. By 7:45 she had the puppies in the van and headed north.

Tammy stopped three times to park puppies before picking me and FLD Harper up at a park-n-ride along I-75. We stopped twice more along the way. At one rest stop, we took turns trying to get FLD Chewy to park (hey, we have to park too). "He peed!" I exclaimed as Tammy returned to the van from the rest rooms.

Road conditions were not as bad as we have driven other times this snowy winter of 2013/2014, but not 70 miles per hour good.

"After all that, we were only a half hour late," Tammy said.

A white-haired woman wearing glasses is carrying a puppy under each arm. She is wearing a maroon fleece jacket over a blue hooded sweatshirt. The puppy on the left is a german shepherd and the puppy on the right is a black lab. Both have brown leashes hanging down.
Tammy carries in FLDs Chewy and Ashley to present to their new raisers.



Coming up next...new puppies at Chippewa!

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