My trainer

From the age of 18 months till I turned 2, I attended advanced training at CCI North East headquarters with a team of wonderful trainers led by Ellen and L.A. L.A., Flora, Lauren and Lisa all helped us turn into CCI graduates. But my heart is with Lisa because she was my main trainer. Check out her picture with me above.

Lisa is also one of the trainers who works with the humans who are partnered with us canines. She is very funny when she works with humans and was always reminding Sam's dad to correct and praise me. I think he finally got it - but he is not as good as Lisa or LA when it comes to correcting me. Thanks Lisa for turning me into a CCI dog.

My puppy raiser

From the age of 8 weeks till I matriculated at 18 months, I lived in PA with my puppy raisers Crystal and Judy. Words cannot express how much love and affection I have for these 2 selfless individuals. When I got to meet them at the graduation ceremony with Sam, I realized how much they had both given me. Crystal had undertaken to raise me as a high school project and her care and attention gave me a good basis for advanced training. There would be no CCI dogs without the puppy raisers and I know Sam and his dad will always be grateful to Crystal and Judy. I hope I get to see them again - Sam's dad promises I will. And Crystal: I love the duck and bone you gave to Sam at graduation.

Public Hearing

I attended my first public hearing yesterday evening on Virginia's special education regulations at Oakton High School. It was great to meet so many supporters of children with disabilties. Everyone was very friendly and I even got to meet another service dog. Mind you - what a lot of speeches :). I helped keep Sam calm during the long speeches.

Please support kids with disabilties and their parents. Send comments to the Virginia Department of Education on why it is important to preserve rights for parents and children in the Virginia Regulations. Check out the incredible Arc of Virginia for more information on how to comment http://capwiz.com/arcofva/issues/alert/?alertid=11371526&queueid=[capwiz:queue_id]

What a day

Had a busy day today. Went for a hike with Sam and his dad on Roosevelt Island. Lots of interesting critters to see but Sam's dad kept me in check. The best thing was one of the other kids had a Lab/retriever mix called Bernie. Lots of fun as we sniffed each other out and walked around the island together. Bernie's caretaker said he was well behaved - must be because I was around :)).

Then we went to the hockey rink and met some more of Sam's teammates. It is amazing - many of them are apparently scared of us but they like me. Must be because I am so well behaved and CCI-trained :).