One last pupdate – plus news!
Cathy and Chris Wright went on vacation to Costa Rica in January, and while I missed them a lot, I had a chance to spend a lot of quality time with the trainers at PADS while they were gone. It was heaps of fun, and PADS had a good opportunity to figure out if life as a service dog is the best life for me.
Since I am such an exuberant boy, they decided I might not be happy as a service dog. So, I’m hanging up my yellow service-dog-in-training vest for good.
But…I do have some very good news!
Part of the training Cathy and Chris have been doing with me since I was a wee pup is a game called “find it.” They hide my favourite toy, then yell, “FIND IT!”. I have to search it out using only my nose. When I find it (I always DO)…they cheer as I’ve just won the lottery. It’s my absolute favourite thing to do. We all really thought it was just a fun game to play on rainy days.
Because I’m so good at that game, and I’m so enthusiastic about playing it, and because Chris and Cathy have trained me so well in all kinds of environments with some of the craziest sights and sounds…I’m off to learn how to be a sniffer dog!
If all goes well, I’m going to have the most exciting job any dog could have – ever! I’ll get to play “find it” all day long.
I’ve had my final health check and vaccines (I hate needles!)…and very soon, I’ll be boarding a plane to eastern Canada to start my formal training. I’ll live with a special handler and go to school every day to learn to detect all kinds of cool things.
The organization that is doing the training said they’ll know within 90 days if I’m up for the job. I’m going to work very hard to learn how to sniff out everything they ask me to. That could be just about anything – maybe even food!
I just turned 15 months old, and have been with Cathy and Chris since I was only 9 weeks old. It’s been a lot of fun and a lot of hard work, and I’m sure there will be some tears when they say goodbye, but they said that they couldn’t be happier that I now have a chance to have an amazing life as a detector dog – and have a job doing what I love every day.
Cathy and Chris are confident I’ve got what it takes. I sure hope they’re right!
Submitted by: Cathy Demers and Chris Wright
