Caroline was okay for about a half hour but then, from that point on, was a complete pain in the doopa. Seriously. Oy. But we made it through, and I'm still glad we went because...
Four puppies have been selected by Service Dogs of Virginia! Here's the scoop: one yellow male, one black male, two black females. They are adorable. Too cute for words.
I wonder which one we'll raise?
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When I got there I was not disappointed. These pups are really something special. They are beautiful, and so are their parents. Their mother was out to greet us as we arrived, wagging her tail and walking around the visitors. And the puppies? They were relaxing in the shade of some trees in a special puppy playpen of sorts.
Ten puppies. Ten of them. As my sister put it when she saw the pictures, "Be still my puppy-less heart!"
I melted.
And I think I was smiling. A lot.
Next, we observed how they resonded to us touching their feet and ears. (Which is basically code for "we played with the puppies.") Tough work.
Two of them have a special place in the line-up so far. They were both males, one yellow and one black. They stand out because they are very calm and relaxed, and not too interested in getting attention. They are basically chunky little lumps on a log.
Surprised? I was a little. I thought they would want ones who showed a bit more curiosity. But experience has shown them that the very mellow, chilled-out pups make the best service dogs. They will all be active enough, no need to worry. Come to think of it, have any of us seen a six-month-old pup and thought, "Gee, if only he had a little MORE energy..." Not I, and I've seen quite a few puppies in my day.
So we'll go back again next week and see how things are shaping up at that point. Their personalities will be more evident by that time, and even more so by the week after that. Typically, they make the final decisions when the puppies are seven weeks old. Then we take them home at eight weeks old. Yay!
And on another note, Tom completely surprised me by building the fence we needed for the puppy while I was still in Ohio. I pulled in after the long drive back to Virginia and just stopped at the end of the driveway. Unbelievable. He's a pretty great, if I do say so myself.
This coming week is our home visit. The two trainers from Service Dogs of Virginia will be coming out to our house and making sure things are all set for the puppy. They'll give me some tips, drop off the puppy raiser manual, answer any extra questions I have, and verify that I'm not an animal hoarder with eighty cross-eyed cats or something...
Ha ha ha!
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