KSDS, a great small ADI-accredited assistance dog organization in Kansas founded 20 years ago, has a tradition of naming its puppy litters for specific themes.  Most recent one was a military theme – they named all the dogs for military bases – what a fantastic idea!

That’s Miramar pictured above – here are all nine names:

• Barstow  —  Marine Corps Logistics Base Barstow, CA
• Beale  —  Beale Air Force Base, CA
• Hood  —  Fort Hood, TX
• Meade  —  Fort Meade, MD
• Miramar  —  Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, CA
• Oceana  —  Naval Air Station Oceana, VA
• Riley  —  Fort Riley, KS
• Schriever  —  Schriever Air Force Base, CO
• Whidbey  —  Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, WA

You can see pictures of all the dogs in the litter here (BTW, the bandanas look way too close to an actual US flag for me, a common problem with lots of well-meaning stuff and a pet peeve of mine, but that doesn’t really detract from an otherwise tremendous idea.):

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=143581&id=59272557571

NAS Whidbey Island has already written about their namesake dog Whidbey in Thursday’s base newspaper:

“Future service dog named ‘Whidbey’“

Big points to KSDS for having this wonderful idea.

When they’re 8 weeks old, Canine Companions for Independence puppies are brought to the national headquarters campus in Santa Rosa by the breeder caretaker of the mama dog who gave birth to them. They are checked out thoroughly by the veterinary staff, given an identifying tattoo in their right ear, washed, and then sent on their way to puppy raisers across the U.S., who will raise and train them for the next 15-18 months. (You can read more about breeder caretakers and CCI’s very carefully controlled breeding program here.)

This new short documentary video shot just last month by Alex Lowry, an Academy of Art San Francisco student, gives you a rare inside look at that process. It’s not secret or anything, just something that even the vast majority of CCI volunteers and staff never get to see simply because you’d have to be in Santa Rosa and on days when this was happening (not to mention those puppies leave at the proverbial oh-dark-30 for early morning flights at SFO).  For example, I’ve spent time at the campus, know the places and most of the faces in the video, and I’ve never gotten to actually witness this.

Here you go – enjoy this great inside look at something very special (thanks to Brenda Voght from the CCI Puget Sound Chapter for posting this).

A Pups Journey to Greatness

When you see someone talking about service dogs for veterans, I want the image of this team to immediately pop into your head, because this is the model, on both ends of the leash.  Beyond just being a great story on its face, as you read it, compare what you see here – and, just as importantly, don’t see – with some of the other very visible “service dogs for veterans” stories of late.

Andrew Pike is a young Operation Iraqi Freedom veteran from Idaho who was paralyzed below the waist by a sniper in Palaji, Iraq on March 26, 2007.  He graduated with Service Dog Yazmin from Team Training at the Canine Companions for Independence Northwest Regional Center in Santa Rosa, CA on November 21st.

You can read all about them here:

“A wounded vet and black lab become partners”

Please watch the following two videos which will tell you even more. (Guess it’s not my day for embedding videos since I couldn’t get either one to do it, which is very odd.)  First one was taken during Team Training; second one was filmed after they returned home to Idaho.

“Iraq War Vet gets service dog from CCI”

“Andrew Pike: New life after the war“

You can make your own list, of course, but here’s just a few things I’m hoping you noted and will file away for comparison:

• Very calm dog under all circumstances – no evidence of stress, such as panting or pawing at her human partner.

• Dog under control by the human at all times, and that means a leash – shoot, Andrew even held onto the leash when Yazmin was at home – now THAT’s control.

• Dog actually performing physical tasks for the veteran, e.g., opening doors.

• Calm, stable, grounded veteran discussing his future in very positive terms.

• Veteran who’s very active in nonpartisan positively focused wounded veterans organizations like Paralyzed Veterans of America and US Paralympics.

I know there are more, but you get the idea.

Not really much I can add other than to say Andrew is a wonderful example to me of someone being positive under far tougher circumstances than I hope I ever have to deal with, and a great reminder of why those of us involved with CCI do what we do.

Left to right – Buddy Hayes, her Service Dog Ellie, Kristin Valent, physical therapist at NMCSD Comprehensive Combat and Complex Casualty Care (C5), and Facility Dog Tommy who is assigned with her there. (Click the image for a larger version.)

I wrote about Tommy right after his graduation back in May (“CCI Places First Facility Dog At A Major Wounded Warrior Medical Care Center”), and you can read lots about Buddy and Ellie if you look around – they’ve been on Montel, among other things.

Not only a great picture, but a perfect example of something I mentioned just the other day about not confusing how much you hear about a service dog organization’s program (particularly where veterans are concerned) with how good that program is.

There are many cases of highly trained service dogs (CCI dogs being the prime example) helping veterans like this that happen every day without a lotta fanfare, hype, or drama. No big publicity push from the organization that placed the dog, no big screaming headline about how a veteran and his dog are being unfairly treated by (fill in the blank), no big pronouncement from a celebrity or legislator about yet another new dog program that will help veterans – all stuff that I see daily and, frankly, am worn out on.

No, none of that – just someone’s personal picture in a group of pictures linked on Facebook that caught my eye because I know everyone in it and that I asked if I could use.

And a coupla working dogs working.

L to R – Zephan, Aubrey, Alexander, and Bannon. (Click to enlarge).

I’ve mentioned being at the Canine Companions for Independence graduation at the Southwest Regional Center in Oceanside, CA on Saturday. The primary reason for the trip was actually to pick up three dogs that were just released from advanced training and bring them home to Colorado.

The four dogs who were on the trip with me are pictured above.  Left to right: Zephan (our dog who was released last May and made the round trip with me to get the other three), Aubrey (raised by Kelly Gorman), Alexander (raised by Sara Igo), and Bannon (co-raised by Darine Cole and my wife Jo and I). (You can click on the picture for a lot bigger version.)

Much longer discussion, but for those of you not aware, dogs can be released from advanced training for many things, the vast majority of it stuff that would not be a problem for a “regular” dog.  Living in a kennel environment and learning new commands for six months is a huge change from what they’ve known before, and it will often either bring out old undesirable behaviors that had been seen by the puppy raisers during the 15 to 18 months they have the dog, or, in many cases, new ones that had not.

Dogs are never released lightly – trainers will work with them…work with them…and work with them some more.  They give the dogs every opportunity to make it, until it’s clear that they aren’t getting anywhere and things can go no farther. Most of us who raise them will tell you we think it’s just a case of the dog deciding they’ve had enough and want to go home, and that will then manifest itself in any number of ways.

Because the standard for completing advanced training is so very high, the result is that the dogs released from the program are still at the very top end of the spectrum for behavior, obedience, you name it.  They are all wonderful, as anyone fortunate enough to spend the rest of their lives together with one knows.

While I will continue to be around two of the dogs, this was really a one-time thing to have all four of them together like that with three of them making their return trip home. I feel very, very blessed to have been around them as a group for the coupla days it took to drive back.