Well, we haven’t got enough stress in our lives so, after some soul searching, we decided to foster again.
So we’ve turned in our paperwork, done the required class…
The woman who did the home inspection also met Granny and The Boy (our 24 year old son) and spent forever chatting with us, going over our file, then at the end, declared we were suitable unless the background check turned up something negative.
We’ve now been matched with a baby who will be eight weeks old upon arrival in a couple of weeks. Oh, my god, an infant…
And we immediately have to start classes to make sure we raise it appropriately.
All this might seem a little extreme, but after all, it’s a $60,000 dog.
No, no, no, we are not paying sixty thousand smackers for a hound. That’s what it’ll cost to get this pup ready for his/her career.
We’re gonna raise a guide dog puppy. Or a service dog. When s/he is ready to go to full training, they decide which is a better fit. The guide dogs work with the blind, but service dogs will do anything from helping vets with PTSD to the physically disabled to autistic children.
So yesterday morning we went to a puppy gathering. Nine puppy raisers brought their puppies-in-training to walk around the mall. Somehow, I was expecting beautifully behaved dogs who stared adoringly at their raisers, obeying every murmurred command.
Oh, hell no. These dogs are adolescents and it shows. The puppy raisers are doing their best to train these dogs with the basics but they are, after all, juveniles. Just because they’re gonna be guide dogs doesn’t mean they pop out all well behaved and polite.
They’re almost all labs, although they have some lab/golden mixes, with a few golden retrievers and German shepherds. The problem with the goldens and the shepherds is they tend to bond too much to their raisers, while labs are very much love-the-one-you’re-with, so the non-labs require more work to prevent strong bonding.
Guide Dogs of America (GDA) has their own breeding program, so they control the output. Except a while back, when a bunch of the breeding mommas got pregnant at once. They have a bumper crop of puppies… especially as one whelped 11 pups.
So we’re off on a new adventure. I’m hoping MaeMae doesn’t lose her liver when we appear with an overeager puppy, but considering she gets the zoomies every night, maybe it’ll be okay. She seems to really like being an only pet, so this could be a rude awakening.
She’s being a PITA lately because she’s decided she particularly likes the treats we used to make for Abby. Dehydrated chicken breast. Before Abby passed, the two of them would get the treats every night. Since then, MaeMae decided she still needs her evening treaties… but she wats more, dammit, more. So she was scratching at the duvet cover.
Dammit, cat! So instead of scratching the cover, I got her to tap her paw on my hand twice (without claws). Tap-tap, and I’d give her another treat.
Well, that worked for a short time, but then, she kept scratching at the bedding… and she was PISSED she wasn’t getting the treat. UNNGH how do I explain you can have a treat if you gently tap-tap my hand but NOT if you claw-claw my bed? It’s like she doesn’t WANT to understand. Squirt, squirt goes the water bottle.
We’ll see what she thinks. I have a suspicion it won’t be positive, but hopefully she’ll surprise us.
ExaminingMisadventures 