The long journey home!

It was a long journey home!

First, I had to pack up my van. I had my large suitcase with 2 weeks worth of clothes and personal care items plus the huge Training notebook I started with. But now I also had a 72 lb dog, tons of class materials (tons!), a 20 pound bag of dog food and big starter-kit full of things from CCI (grooming kit, food dishes, etc.), items I bought at Petco (large dog bed, large pooper scooper and toys) and new clothes I picked up at Kohls to fill in short-falls. Oh, and also my travel scooter and crutch. Whew!

The Ferry Ride

It was just a 20 minute drive to the ferry dock. Lucah stayed right on the back seat, just as he had done on our class outings. At the dock, we were directed into the "handicapped" car lane so we'd get a parking spot near the ferry's elevator.

Once parked, I contemplated staying in the van for the 1 1/2 hour ride. I had a dog chew for Lucah and things I could read. But I decided to venture out - after all, that was the point of everything, wasn't it?

Lucah watched patiently as I unloaded my travel scooter. When I was ready and gave the signals, he jumped off the back seat, out of the car and positioned next to me. As we got going, he paced himself right by my side and we made our way up a short ramp and into the cabin.

The first challenge was the elevator. The path was narrow with a few sharp turns, requiring a lot of repositioning of the scooter and Lucah. We took up the entire small elevator space, rode up, got out and made our way to a corner spot at a railing under an overhang. Yea!

The weather was fabulous and Lucah was great. He lay quietly at my feet and looked up and wagged when people came by. I had him Sit and Shake with some delighted kids. One woman told me all about her friend who puppy trains dogs for the blind - she took our picture.

After a while, we went inside the main cabin to get our ticket for getting off the ferry. No issue - Lucah stayed right at my side and sat while we were at the counter. Then came the next challenge: the bathroom. There was one step to get into the bathroom so I parked my travel scooter and got off (no access for people in wheelchairs...). As I expected, the room was small and the stalls minuscule. Lucah went in with me but refused to squish into a stall. I didn't want to have him separated from me so we left. I hoped there would be a gas station or fast food eaterie near the dock.

We made our way back to my van with people politely getting out of our way, holding doors and otherwise trying to help. The final challenge came when the ferry blasted its horn, just as we got to the van. We jumped and looked at one another. I grasped the leash a tad tighter in case Lucah decided to bolt and opened the van side door. He was anxious to jump in but waited for the command. Good boy! Man, did he scramble quickly when I gave the word! Safe and sound!

The Car Ride and Arrival

What should have been a three hour drive home turned into nearly six hours, due to traffic back-up after back-up. We stopped twice at rest stops. At the second one, I rode my travel scooter around for ten minutes to give Lucah a short walk. It's tough to sit in one place for so long!

We finally made it home with no further ado. Ed heard the garage door open and hurried out to greet us and meet Lucah. Before I could say anything, Ed swung the van side door open, looked at Lucah and excitedly exclaimed, "Hey Lucah!"

Guess what happened next: Lucah excitedly bounded off the seat and scrambled towards him without waiting for any commands from me! As the Trainers told us over and over: our dogs may be expertly trained but a dog's still a dog's still a dog and sometimes, they are just going to do what they want. Lucah got away with that one.

Guess I need to train Ed on how to handle Lucah...

I've been home for almost a week now so will post again on how our first week has gone. Check back!

Gradution Day - plus surprise TV interview!

Graduation Day was intense! Click on the thumbnails below to see larger pictures!

The morning started with a final class on responsibilities to our dog and CCI, public access and travel. CCI staff in the photo below: Jen in the back, front row, from left: Ellen, Laura Ann, Stacey, Lisa, Lauren, Jessica and Flora.

Rickie Robinson, Lucah's Puppy Raiser, loved the framed photo I gave her and will proudly display it in her home. Rickie gave me a wonderful Puppy Scrapbook filled with photos and mementos.

A big surprise was that Rickie, her husband and I were selected to be interviewed on News 12 Networks television, the largest regional news network serving NY, NJ and CT with local news 24-hours a day.

After the TV interview, Rickie, her husband Wil and daughter Raine, Lucah and I joined the others and their dogs at the delicious Graduation Lunch buffet. Everyone, including the dogs, were perfectly behaved!

Graduation was held in a Marriott ballroom. It was filled with Puppy Raisers of our dogs, dogs entering the next Advanced Training Class and dogs who are being released for adoption as well as us graduates with family and friends, CCI staff, donors and volunteers. Oh, and lots and lots of dogs! Lisa, Lucah's Trainer, sat with me for the audience picture below.

Bernice and Floyd, friends of mine on Long Island and dog lovers, came to cheer me on. They were touched by the Puppy Raising Program and wished they were able to participate.

We saw two fabulous Slide Shows - one of pictures of our dogs' growing up months and the other of us during Training. Cortney's reading of our personal comments about what the program means to us was spellbinding. Even more touching was the proud moment when Puppy Raisers turned the leashes over to the graduates on stage, one by one.

Tomorrow, I pack everything back up in the van plus tons of new things including a large dog. Lucah and I will take the ferry from Long Island over to CT and then make the long drive back home.

Check back for more posts about the journey home and a new life with Lucah!

Photos

And his name is...

Lucah!

We passed!

With flying colors!

Emotions were high last night with preparing for the CCI Final Exam and Public Access Certification test.

After nine full days of class lectures, practical exercises and outings, I was exhausted. I went to bed at 10:00 p.m. but was wide awake at 3:30 a.m. After tossing and turning, I finally got up at 5:30 to get the coffee brewing. I took my tall cup, lecture notes, program notebook and home-made flash cards into my dorm room bathroom for a final review as I didn't want to wake Lucah! Fortunately, our bathrooms have walk-in showers with a large benches so I could sit there instead of on the toilet!

At 6:30, I ventured out to wake Lucah. He was awake, looked up and wagged. Guess I don't have to worry about him demanding to be let out before I'm ready! I got him out of the crate, put his collar and leash on and took him out to Hurry ("go"). He went, had breakfast, had some play time and then rested on a mat while I went back to studying.

By 9:00, everyone was in the Training Room for the Final. The first person was done in just over an hour. I took one and a half. Almost everyone was done within two hours although one person took the allotted three.

At noon, we had lunch, again provided by volunteers. Most of them are Puppy Raisers (but not of our dogs) and love preparing the meals, chatting and seeing our dogs.

Then it was time for the Public Access Certification test. It began with the Trainers evaluating us loading our dogs into our cars. We drove to the Mall and were critiqued as we unloaded them. In the Mall, we performed commands and handled our dogs in the face of distractions.

I made a big mistake on the elevator exercise, which I realized as soon as I finished it! Although I had properly blocked the door as I commanded Lucah into the elevator ahead of me and had him sit while I entered the elevator, I screwed up the exit. I got out of the elevator ahead of Lucah - bad, bad bad. There are horror stories about people being in (or out) of the elevator as the door closes with their dogs on the other side. I knew better but I was nervous!

However, Lucah and I performed well with other commands and handling distractions so I kept telling myself we'd be ok. After everything was done, all of us and our dogs huddled together and waited. The Trainers went over clip charts and discussed performances. Everyone despaired over a thing or two that didn't go perfectly.

The good news: we all passed! There was a lot of hand shaking, hugging and some tears.

When we got back to the facility, we had another 1-1 with the Trainers to go over final concerns and questions and got the results of the exam. I got a 96 1/2%. We also heard about the plans for tomorrow's Graduation day.

Graduation Day Preview

We'll have a final class about having a CCI Service Dog. Although the dogs are released to us, they are still CCI property and we need to follow rules and regs as well as get periodic Public Access re-certification. Right now, I'm good for six months.

Also in the morning, our dogs' Puppy Raisers arrive. They had the dogs for 1 1/2 years, teaching them manners and basic commands and socializing them in community settings. At that point, the dogs underwent rigorous evaluation. Some got selected for Advanced Training while others become available for adoption. After six to nine months of Training, there's another evaluation and selections are made for the Service Dog program. Only 40% of the dogs bred (in CA) for the program make it all the way. Those who don't are in high demand - there's a 5-year waiting list!

The Puppy Raisers and their dogs will not have seen one another for 6-9 months so there will be a lot of excitement. They'll have private time before we meet and have lunch together. All of us went out yesterday to buy picture frames to hold photographs taken of us with our dogs (ours above) to give to our dog's Puppy Raiser.

After lunch, the Puppy Raisers will take the dogs with them while we head to the Marriott for Graduation. The ceremony will include an Introduction about CCI, a Welcoming of the next batch of puppies for Advanced Training, Honors to the Puppy Raisers and a Slide Show of photos taken of the puppies and throughout the Training. More than 2,000 shots were taken of us so I'm glad I'm not the one picking the photos out! We'll get CDs with all our photos.

Then Courtney (one of us ten Graduates) will give a 5-minute presentation. We gave her a personal paragraph or two we wrote to read to the audience so it will be powerful. We'll come up, one by one, to the stage and our Puppy Raisers will cross the stage with our dog and hand their leashes to us.

We'll have the usual post-Graduation congrats, photos, gifts, flowers and festivities. Our kitchen fridge is full of flowers that family members brought for the Graduates. It's been fun to see spouses and children arrive and meet them. Many came last weekend and some were here for some of the training days as well.

Hope I can sleep tonight!

Last class day - off to study!

Today was our last class day with one final Going Home lecture yet to go before Graduation Ceremonies Friday afternoon. Typically, there's some 300 people at Graduation with family members and friends showing up in full force as well as past assistance dog recipients, CCI staff, donors, volunteers, and anyone otherwise interested. It's a media event!

Today, we heard a comprehensive lecture from the vet, got all the health information about our dogs, went over what to do when we return home and set up routines, took ID photos that will go on our Certificates for Public Access cards and had group photos taken as well as individual photos for the Graduation slide show. Our outing was to Pet Smart and we stocked up on essentials and toys. I bought a filled bone for the long trip home via ferry and car.

It's a big day tomorrow with the Final Exam in the morning and the Public Access test in the afternoon at the Mall. "Fido" wished me well (in the photo above), after we did some training on Get the Leash (for when he drops it). After graduation, I can let you all know what Fido's real name is.

I'm off to a study group. Wish me good luck!!!

Cleaning up

After another full day of lectures, practices and an outing to the grocery store, we had a fun exercise!

The Mall! And the Food Court!

We all went to the Mall! Our trainers tried their usual tactics to distract our dogs but we and they were amazing! I challenge the London Guards marching at Westminster!

The trainers instructed us to command our dogs to squeeze under low benches and tables and stay there. We practiced getting on and off the elevator, followed the trainers past kiosks with colorful, noisy, jumping toys and dropped personal items on the floor for them to pick up. Fido is terrific at retrieving my keys and wallet.

While all that was going on, we also had to handle the usual activities in a busy mall - noises, bright lights, kids running by, people cutting us off, etc. One woman stopped by me and was gushing about the dogs but keeping a bit back. I offered to let her Shake with my dog and she was thrilled.

The big challenge was lunch. We went to the Food Court, bought our food, settled down at tables and had our dogs go Under and lay Down. But it was no time to eat and shoot the breeze. Our trainers came by and sprinkled food right at our dogs' feet. Four pieces were thrown down around Fido's face with one piece falling right under his nose. Did he go after any? No! Good dog!

After lunch, it was time to head back but before doing that, we all had to "go". Using the mall bathroom (for us) was no big deal, as we've now had the dogs with us 24-7 for a few days. We took our dogs outside to the small mulched areas at the base of trees. The areas are about 4' by 4'. We commanded Release and Hurry and they all went.

By now, I've got the loading the dog into the car down pat for this vehicle so that was a snap and off we went. As I'm using the travel scooter for the Training, he's used to me putting that in the van after he's settled. Back home, I only use it when I'm going somewhere with extended walking so we can skip that step. When I get to FL, we'll have to adjust to a different car but I'm confident that will go just fine.

You are invited to Graduation

You are invited to the Graduation

Friday, August 14th
2:00 - 3:30 PM
Islandia Marriott
3635 Expressway Drive
North Islandia, NY 11749

Graduation is free and open to the public.

Some of my friends who live here are coming and I'm sure they'll take photos of me. Feel free to come, too!

It will be cool to see the families of all the other students. Some of them were here over the weekend. They were shocked at how amazing the dogs are. Their other family members and friends who come on Graduation will be even more shocked!