One year already!?

I left you hanging in time with my last post, patient readers, which took place in April at the Chippewa Correctional Facility. I have yet to tell you of our May and June travels to the UP prisons...the delivery of two more puppies to Chippewa and two more to Baraga, "tagging" and games, puppy furloughs and more. I will go back, I promise. But first, this...

July, 2014
Chippewa

Any puppy raiser will tell you - a year with a Future Leader Dog passes by much too quickly. Even when there are times you wonder if your brand new puppy will ever sleep through the night, never mind when it will get the idea that outside is the place to "park," the year is over before you know it.

Just when you've survived adolescent aggravations, it is time. Time for your puppy to return to Leader Dogs for the Blind. Time for your puppy to make good on all your hard work. Time to see if your puppy has what it takes to become a working guide dog.

For puppy raisers who are also prison inmates, this fast-fled year comes with mixed emotions. While never having spent a night in prison myself I can only guess that, normally, prison time creeps by for inmates counting the days until parole. For a select group of puppy-raising inmates at the Chippewa Correctional Facility, caring for Future Leader Dog puppies has made this past year fly. Now puppies must leave. And soon some raisers will make parole.

In July of 2013, Deb Donnelly (Puppy Developement Supervisor at Leader Dogs), along with puppy counselor Tammy, myself and volunteers Dave and Paula, met with Warden Jeffrey Woods and his staff at the facility. ARUS Rob gave us a tour of Pike Unit. We met a polite group of carefully selected inmates who hoped to become puppy raisers. We showed off Deb's career-changed German Shepherd Tripp, and FLDs Strider, Harper, and Dutch.

Deb gave the facility a Leader Dogs "paws up." A month later, she and Tammy handed off two male golden retriever puppies to the first two-men teams. FLDs Drummond and Bravo blazed the way for Michigan's first prison puppy raising program.

You might have been reading the "rest of the story."

Now, almost one year later, the two-golden boys are due to return to Leader Dogs for formal guide dog training. But not until the Chippewa Correctional Facility opened its gates for supporters of the program. On July 17, 2014, over 100 guests willingly entered the prison to enjoy a one-year-anniversary celebration, Chippewa Puppy Days!

A prison committee consisting of staff and inmate raisers planned the party. Speeches by the warden, ARUS Rob, and Deb pointed out the benefits of this win-win arrangement. Dr. Richard Bennett, DVM, who donates his services to the program, joked to the Lions Club members in the crowd that he had brought some feline distemper shots along with him. Elaine and her working Leader Dog Ischgi expressed heartfelt thanks to the raisers for their hard work in helping give independence to the blind and visually impaired.

It was all very moving.

The puppy raisers performed a demonstration with their puppies to show off the self-control the pups have learned. Basketballs, recalling dogs, men running and clapping and stepping over the pups and every puppy did their best.

The Chippewa raisers and their Future Leader Dog puppies line up for their demonstration.

 
It was impressive.

And then. Four of the raisers spoke about what the experience over the past year has meant to them. Morrison, who is raising Bravo, Scott raising Drummond, Ro raising Sammy, and Doug raising Chewy. (Stay tuned for more on what these men had to say...)

There was not a dry eye in the place.

Afterwards, as the raisers stood along the sidewall of the gymnasium with their teams, the crowd filed by and shook hands with each one and greeted their puppies. Later, one raiser expressed his amazement over the attention. "I thought everyone would head right over to the food," he said. (Chippewa has a culinary arts program - the homemade gourmet pizzas and sweet deserts were delicious!)

I am proud to be associated with this group of dedicated individuals. Per ARUS Rob and the raisers' request, I put together a slideshow of our year at Chippewa to show at Puppy Days. Here it is!

To view Northern Michigan's 9/10 News coverage of the event, visit

MIGreatPlaces; Visionary Partnership in the Upper Peninsula.

Furlough fun

April 10, 2014

en route to Chippewa

We have the rest of the day to get back east across the UP. Along the way we head straight onto E. Munising Ave in the town of Munising, instead of taking the sharp right turn that is a continuation of M-28. It is less than two miles to Munising Falls. Tammy thinks it is a good idea to take the golden boys, FLDs Drummond and Bravo, for a short hike. We are eager to stretch our legs, too.

The trail to the falls is snow covered, but packed down enough to walk on. Mostly.

No, Tammy is NOT kneeling next to FLD Drummond. Her right leg sunk into the snow up to her knee!

FLD Drummond holds still as Tammy extracts her leg.

FLD Bravo takes a snow bath.

FLDs Bravo and Drummond strike a post at Munising Falls.

Silly Bravo can't get close enough to his buddy Drummond.

Tammy asks me to videotape FLD Drummond walking because she said the guys had some concerns about his gait. (We don't notice anything unusual.) The beauty-boy does a nice job of what we call "connected walking." He keeps a loose leash, yielding to gentle pressure, but is not expected to maintain a tight heel position at Tammy's left side. At one point a family carrying a small, yippy dog exits the trail onto the parking lot where we are shooting; Drummond is interested, but quickly refocuses. Good boy!

En route to Baraga

January 31, 2014

FLD Copo wasn't too happy with our long drive across the U.P. to the Baraga Correctional Facility, his new home for the next year or so.

We weren't too happy either.

It started to snow when we were at dinner the night before and by morning there was at least six inches on top of the snow that was already piled up. Even though our alarm woke us before 6:00 a.m., we weren't able to get ourselves underway until after 8:00. Traveling with puppies sure slows you down!

On M-28 heading west across the UP. Sunshine!

Driving was slow too. Forty-five miles per hour slow all the way to Seney. Copo had to park and there was nowhere to stop except on the side of the road. Good thing the plow trucks clear snow far off the shoulder and traffic volume in the U.P. isn't too bad.

Then a tire pressure warning light on the van's dashboard came on. We stopped to make sure none of the tires were flat and guessed that they were just low given the recent sub-zero temperatures. We didn't have a tire gauge. We needed a gas station and drove a long way before we found one. No air, the compressor was frozen. Miles later we spotted another air station winterized with plastic and duct tape.

Finally, a gas station east of Munising had working air. There were about 50 snowmobiles parked at the pumps or off to the side. When I went inside to buy a tire gauge I had to work my way through a heavily suited crowd. Many of the snowmobilers had come inside the station's small cafe to warm up. They reminded me of spacemen with their full-face helmets and air warming masks.

I finally asked the counter clerk where I could find a tire gauge. He pointed me to the automotive section, where I had already looked. As I walked away to look again he asked, "Are you just needing to air up a tire?" "Yes," I said. "Here, you can use this one," he said, handing me a gauge.

Yay! All tires were low. We took advantage of the stop and parked Harper and Copo. Again. Luckily there was a cell signal so Tammy could call RUM Steve to let him know we'd be late. He said they would adjust, but asked us to come to the main entrance when we arrived.

"There are people who want to see Copo," RUM Steve said.

The morning after, part 2

PUPPIES CAN PLAY

Life is not all work for Future Leader Dog puppies, inside or outside. It can be helpful for puppies to burn off energy and learn bite inhibition by playing together. But there are some important rules of play for safety and to help prevent a common reason for career-change later: too dog distracted.

1. Puppies should be well-matched. This can mean puppies of similar size or age, or with temperaments or physical traits that even the playing field.

Chippewa FLDs August and Sammy, while within one week of age, were not close in size when they were younger. Even though Sammy was much bigger, August was faster and more agile, so they made nice playmates.

2. Puppies must be calm before being releasing into play with other puppies.

Puppies must never play together when they are on leash. Working bandanas and/or jackets should be removed. Puppies should be able to sit calmly while the leash is unclipped and wait to be released into play.

3. One puppy should not control the play. Puppies should change positions. For example, one puppy should not always be "on top."

Playing puppies can get very noisy; Labs are especially vocal. When Chippewa raisers were just getting to know FLDs August and Sammy, they were concerned that Sammy's play was inappropriate. In November, when Deb and Tammy and I traveled to Baraga to check out the facility, we took the two pups with us - not only to show them off to the potential raisers in Baraga, but also to evaluate their play behavior.

We let August and Sammy play in our large hotel room in St. Ignace the night before heading to Baraga. As mentioned above, we determined that the two pups actually played quite well with each other.

4. Puppies should not get overly ramped up; they should be able to be called out of play periodically.

It is good practice to call puppies out of play before they get too excited. A reward for "settling" can be a re-release into play.

In that St. Ignace hotel, something interesting developed during puppy play. A much older and larger FLD Harper (who was also with us) started to roughhouse with August. Their energy ramped up. It was clear that Harper was calling the shots. Sammy, who had been pacing around the periphery of the action, plodded calmly into the fray and forced his stocky Lab body between Harper and August.

Sammy - the play police!

PUPPY WRESTLING AT BARAGA

January 10, 2014

Deb demonstrated safe and proper puppy play with the Baraga pups and FLD Jedi. She suspected that Bear's handlers would be apprehensive about letting him loose with Axel and Jedi, both of whom were a bit larger, so she talked the men through releasing Axel and Jedi into play first.

Deb oversees the play of FLDs Jedi and Axel while the inmate raisers observe.

FLDs Axel and Jedi duke it out.

After some play time, and calling away and calming time, Deb had Bear's handlers release him too. Axel and Jedi made a beeline for Bear, almost smothering the tiny guy.

Bear squealed.

Deb reminded me of FLD Sammy as she practically body-blocked Bear's three inmate raisers from coming to his rescue. "Let them work it out," she said confidently.

"I'm shaking here," one of them said.

Before long, Bear got into Jedi's face. He meant business. Jedi backed off and headed for the door. "I'm not really scared of you," said his demeanor, "I just have to pee." An inmate took him outside. Axel took over in his place. Much to everyone's surprise, sweet little Bear growled and shook himself away, stomping off as if to say, "I showed you!"

"You see," Deb said. "Bear had to show Axel that he couldn't be bullied."

Honorary member

November 21-23, 2013

All I said was, "Well, that's no good for you two."

Really. That's all I said.

Deb and Tammy and I were relaxing in our room in a Marquette hotel. FLD Harper was entertaining himself by tossing a Kong in the air and chasing after it. FLDs August and Sammy were blowing off some steam. They had a long day in the van and then did some great work during our visit at the Baraga Correctional Facility.

So, while calmly retrieving a laptop charging cord from the tug-of-war play of the August and Sammy, all I said was, "Well, that's no good for you two."

That's all I said and then a giggle broke out from across the room. I caught it faster than a stifled yawn in a boring meeting. I giggled in return.

"Wait," I said. "What's so funny?" Deb's giggle escalated. "Well, that's no good for you two!" she chortled, mimicking my cheery admonishment of the pups, who by this time were happily playing with the Nylabone I had exchanged for the cord.

I giggled harder. Her giggle grew. We volleyed our giggles like tennis player pros. By the time Tammy came out of the bathroom we were practically rolling around on the floor in uncontainable laughter, tears rolling down our cheeks. I thought I might need my inhaler.

"What's so funny?" Tammy asked. This only resulted in another burst of unabashed giddiness. We cackled.

I guess you'd have to be there. It was the second night on the road for us and maybe, just maybe we were a little bit tired.

DAY ONE

On Thursday morning, Deb picked up Tammy and I at stops along I-75 for the drive north. We had an afternoon training session scheduled at the Chippewa Correctional Facility. As usual, the inmate raisers were lined up in the yard outside of Pike Unit waiting for us. But we were in for a surprise...

 

After that amazing presentation, Deb and I took FLDs August and Sammy out on furlough. We met a group of outside puppy raisers for dinner at the Sundown Lounge in Pickford and then gathered at the Pickford Fire Hall. The puppies got to meet firemen in full gear and were exposed to the distracting noise of the fire trucks.

Future Leader Dog puppies and handlers pose with Pickford firemen.

Dave Bardsley holds the leash of FLD Drummond while the other pups and handlers walk by the Pickford fire truck.

That night we stayed in the Soo. A short walk and a play session in the room assured a good sleep for all of us.

DAY TWO

The next morning started early with another long drive, this time west across the U.P. to Baraga. Warden Thomas Mackie's staff had been busy following their visit to Chippewa in October. Everything for a puppy-raising program was arranged; they just needed Deb's approval. (See the Baraga Correctional Facility page.)

RUM Steve Niemi met us in the parking lot when we finally arrived. He gave us a tour of Housing Unit 8. We met with the potential raisers in a small classoom. Deb talked to them about Leader Dogs for the Blind and the responsibilities they would have as puppy raisers. FLD August impressed everyone with hid demonstration of things he had learned at Chippewa - sit, down, "leg," and under. We handed our leashes over to the inmates.

Now Christmas had come early to Baraga.

That evening we drove east to spend the night in Marquette. The next day we still had to drive back to Chippewa to return FLDs August and Sammy before heading home. Oh, and break out Strider, Deb's career-changed German Shepherd, who had spent the night in Pike Unit.

Career-changed Strider gazes back at FLD Bravo.

After drying our eyes from the hilarity that we shared, I told Deb, "You could be an honorary member of the Cackle Club."

What's that, you might wonder? Some years ago one of my nieces dubbed my sisters and me the "Cackle Club" during our annual Christmas cookie bake. Get one of us giggling and it's all over.

Welcome to the club, Deb!