Everyone, I would like to introduce you to the original girl. And my 8 week old self. I know, I’m cute, but this is about the original girl. Well, and me too.
She was half of the puppy raising duo that gave me my solid upbringing…..and started me on the path to greatness. (More on the original mom soon). The original girl loved me from the day I arrived in Arizona. Just look at that smile. This was the first day we met. She was ecstatic. I was whatever. I mean, wouldn’t you be if you had been taken from your mom and put in a car with strangers to drive from SFO to Arizona?!? Yeah, maybe that’s where I got it from. Whatever, I was born this way.
Anyways, I’m lucky to have had the original girl in my life. She loved me so much and always wanted the best for me. She prepared me for the human world so I could be confident. (Some say too much so actually). And poised.
She wants to go to college to work with animals and I hope she can. Those would be some lucky animals! Even if they are “big carn” whatever that is. They sound scary. I hope they don’t eat her. Whatever, they won’t. She’s loving but tough. They will respect her. Just like I do.
I’m thankful that she is such a giving person that she would ultimately share me with the girl. I hope now that she knows I help the girl and the mom and the dad and the grandma and the grandpa and so many others who are in the girl life so much that giving me up was worth it. I am doing great work. I hope she is proud.
The little girl is pretty great, but I will always have a special place in my heart for the original girl. My original girl. Love you. Whatever, I can cry sometimes. Don’t judge.
Darwin the Diabetic Alert Dog 
As a former puppy raiser and current puppy sitter for Guide Dogs for the Blind, thank you for this special acknowledgement to your puppy raiser. It’s sooooo hard to send these dogs off to their next step in life and leave them at the campus for formal training. It was so difficult for me that I don’t raise anymore. But I’m one hell of a puppy sitter and that’s a good thing too. Don’t judge. 🙂
Gloria Mathews’ reply, well her first sentence, beat me to it. I’m a puppy raiser for Canine Companions for Independence and it is so rewarding to see our pups move on to graduate. It’s definitely emotional along the entire path of raising these pups, but especially so, handing them back over to their organization. When I got the call from Canine Companions for Independence that the pup I had raised was being given to Early Alert Canines to be trained to become a diabetic alert dog,(hypoglycemic alert dog) it was both exciting and sent me to revisit some heart-tugging. I didn’t know if I would be getting the feedback/support from the organization as I was unfamiliar with EAC. I also knew that having “my” pup in a different program, I would no longer be in the middle of a big support group of fellow puppy raisers who could tell me of their experience, show me the ropes, assure me….or if I would even get to see her again or meet her person/people. I was thrilled to be able to finally see her proudly wearing her EAC vest and to meet her forever person and family at their graduation. The pup I raised now has a very important job and is surrounded by love and affection in her forever home. Just a heads up to every current and future recipient of a trained adult dog: puppy raisers can’t hear enough about the dogs they raised. Updates of photos, quick emails, are truly savored. Believe me. Your dogs will always have a piece of their puppy raisers’ hearts. Despite their high level of training and all of the tasks service dogs perform, dogs can’t update their puppy raisers. It’s up to the dogs’ forever people to do that. Well, unless you’re Darwin.