I put off going to sleep as long as possible as my face was still sore, and it felt like an infection would be there in the morning. (Fortunately there was no infection this morning, but it was still a bit sore.)
To put off going to sleep, I read blogs and watched a podcast (Poh's Kitchen).
One blog I read from start to finish was Raising Ruby.
Raising Ruby details the journey of a puppy in training, based in Colorado America.
Ruby is a Labrador puppy training to be a special assistance dog. A service dog.
When she completes training at 18 months old, she will go onto advanced training and then hopefully be a partner to a special person.
She will assist her partner by guiding them, alerting them to things, and maybe even opening fridges and pressing lift buttons.
Reading this blog was so moving.
Ruby is a very intelligent, gorgeous and cheeky puppy. She is around nine months old now.
Her foster parents are dedicated and loving, and I marveled at the range of places they've taken Ruby for her training - a firestation, a noodle bar, the Apple Store... Of course, when Ruby graduates to working as a service dog, she will need to go to lots of different places and do many different things to assist her partner, but I guess it has really amazed me at the level of devotion her foster parents have put into training her.
This is what I wrote to Ruby's raiser:
Gosh I have read the entire journey you have shared with Ruby until now.
I am moved and amazed by:
1) how clever and beautiful Ruby is, and
2) the wonderful work you are doing readying her for her life as an assistance dog.
The dedication and love you are putting into her training is commendable. I don't know too much about puppy trainers, other than what I've seen on your blog and a few things that I've read, but I imagine it is one of the most selfless jobs you can do. Not only are you training a gorgeous dog to do very intelligent things, but you will be making a huge difference to the life of s special person and their family, who will one day have Ruby.
Well done, and I will keep following Ruby and your adventures on this blog. Thank you for sharing.
I think you should all have a look at Raising Ruby, and also have a look at how you can help assistance dogs with their training and development in Australia.
Guide Dogs Victoria
Assistance Dogs
Aware Dogs Australia
