Snow Thinking

Bella looking for sticks

It is continuing to snow heavily this morning. A friend is here with his snow blower to clear out some paths so I can get out with Bella. It's hard to walk with a bad knee in snow this deep. Bella and I, bundled up like two Eskimos, headed out this morning so she could "take care of her business". I've had Bella on strict leash walking since she had a pinched nerve in her back 2 weeks ago. But there was no way that we could do the leash this morning. She tried to run this morning but wound up just leaping from place to place in the deep snow. She has on one of the wonderful outdoor coats that I had for my other retrievers. Bella keeps a pile of sticks in a mossy area in front of the house. She loves to lay on the moss and chew on the sticks, spitting out the wood chips. I call her my wood chipper. She looked and looked for her "stick pile" this morning.

Howdy at 3 months old

On Friday, the Canine Companions for Independence (CCI) dog that I helped raise as a puppy will graduate and become a companion dog for a teenager with disabilities. I had hoped to be in Orlando, FL to help Howdy be handed to this young woman. But instead I am "snowbound". I was quite anxious about this earlier in the week but I now feel content to watch the graduation from afar. CCI live streams the graduation event. CCI is a wonderful organization. They provide dogs free of charge to handicapped persons, wounded veterans, hearing impaired and other disabilities. To do this they depend on volunteer puppy raisers to raise their dogs for 18 months and then they take over the training. I'm not really sure of the statistics but only about one in three of the puppies raised becomes a companion dog. Puppy raisers usually have the opportunity to adopt a dog that does not qualify for companion work.  So, I am feeling extraordinarily proud of Howdy. I worked with Howdy for 9 months and then realized that because of his size, I could not finish the 18 months. CCI re-homed Howdy with a family near their Southeast Center near Orlando and his "other mom" Pam took him on with help from CCI trainers. So, as the puppyraiser coordinator put it, "It took a village to raise Howdy!" There was no doubt that he was a special pup from the moment I got him. Here are some of the memories that I am sharing in a letter to the young woman who will receive Howdy tomorrow.

I remember picking Howdy up at the airport in Greensboro. He was 8 weeks old. When I entered the building at the airport I could hear him crying. He was such a little fuzzy ball. I took him in his crate to the car and cleaned him up, then let him out to go to the bathroom. I gave him some water and food then held him and played with him for a bit. I put him in his crate in the back of my car. He cried just a bit, then was quiet. I drove about a little over an hour to my house which is in the mountains of North Carolina. Howdy was so sound asleep when I got him home that he did not wake up when I took him in.

Howdy is so smart and he learned very quickly. He grew very fast. The veterinarian here in Sparta recently told me that every time she blinked, Howdy grew! He has always been quite “handsome” and attracts people both by his personality and his “good looks”.

I took Howdy to church with me when he was old enough. He immediately connected with the young people at the church. One young man in particular was attracted to Howdy and Howdy to him. They became “good friends”. I sat in the back of the church with Howdy in case we needed to go out. One day just before church started, Howdy’s leash slipped out of my hand. When he realized that he was free. He ran as fast as he could to the front of the church with me in pursuit. He did a complete “lap” around the sanctuary before we were able to catch hold of his leash. I was embarrassed but it only served to endear him more to the church members. He might be a bit restless during the service but every time I went up to communion, he would walk beside me and stop and sit while I received communion. It’s almost as if he sensed that something “holy” was happening. Of all the people Howdy met here in Sparta the people of Christ Episcopal Church loved him most of all. They continue to ask how he is doing and are very proud of his graduation and service.

Howdy did some traveling with me. We traveled to Fayetteville, NC and to Topsail Beach. He loved the beach. When I was in Fayetteville I stayed with a friend. My friend and I went out one day for lunch and I left Howdy in his crate. He apparently began to cry some while we were out and my friend’s grown son, Andy, called his mom and said, “How do you turn the dog off?” We all laughed.

One of Howdy’s favorite entertainments as a puppy was chasing ice cubes in the kitchen. When they would slide out from under him he looked so puzzled. Eventually he would catch them and crunch them up.

I am so glad Howdy was with me because he taught me so much about myself. He knew where all my “soft spots” were! I had to learn how to be the “one in charge”. I loved watching how he responded to my being excited. I think I had forgotten how much fun it is to just “play”. I think I am a lot more playful as a person because of Howdy. We learned all sorts of games that helped him learn his commands and now I use those same games with my Golden Retriever, Bella. I adopted her 5 months ago and she is almost 6 years old. She came to me with lots of good training but I still use lots of games to help reinforce her commands and help her be a good “citizen”. Learning how to play with Howdy and how to show him my excitement as well as my love has helped me be a better mom to Bella.

You can watch the graduation at 2 pm on Friday, February 14, 2014 by pasting this site into your browser:

http://celebrationofpraise.sermon.tv/9841669

The site stays live for 7 days. You can learn more about Canine Companions for Independence at www.cci.org. There are regional centers throughout the US  and you can find links to those centers at the main site. They are always looking for puppy raisers!