Service Dogs-Who And What You Meet Along The Way

 

 

This is a picture of a very special service dog.  Carly came to live with a bride and groom that I worked with in the summer of 2007.  He was one of a few dogs trained to service autisitic children at the time.  The family has twins, a boy and girl- age 6, and the little boy is non verbal.  His mother tells me that he is a bolter, and will run after anything with wheels.  This family became very special to me in the process of making their wedding arrangments, and I was fortunate enough to spend a whole Saturday afternoon and evening with Carly.  As we were having a barbecue, on another occasion, one of the guests that arrived was another service dog that trained with Carly.  These two dogs ran and played together until they were both exhausted, and so happy to be together again.  I cannot tell you what a privilege it has been for me personally to be involved and get to know what goes into training and support that comes with having a service dog. I commend the trainers, foster families, and the owners that the dogs end up with.  The mother of this little boy can now relax just a little bit knowing that the dog will prevent her son from running.  All we need to do now is educate some places, specifically family fun parks as to what service dogs are for and what they do. 

NOW MEET KEESH -(He’s not fond of Barney)

Being an avid dog lover, I couldn’t go without posting a picture of my very special dog.  If I thought I could clone him I would.  He is without a doubt the best behaved dog I have ever owned.  The multitude of tricks he can do and remembers astounds me.  When working with him as a puppy, I used hand signals for a lot of his learning.  On command he can sing, dog talk, fetch whatever I ask for, change his leg position when on his hind legs from begging to praying and so many other  positions he can get into. He does however believe that every visitor is exclusively for his entertainment, or he is theirs.  We were told he is a cross between a Vizsla and Keeshound, however I tend to think he is Golden Retriever and Collie. What an absolute joy this dog has brought to my life.

With so many contacts and comments about funny dog pics on blogs, I had to show you these pictures. Keesh is the best behaved dog, I have ever known, and never gets into trouble, however the exception is in the pictures below. As a puppy, he was left alone with a door open to the garage for him to use his paper. Being bored he decided he’d do some re-cycling of his own. The pictures are self explanatory.