Wow… time sure does fly. I am fast approaching my second birthday in May! I have been at the Hero Dogs training facility since last October working on my advanced skills. My retrieving has improved quite a bit; I can open and close several types of doors; I am very good at retrieving an object to or from a counter, basket, or other person; I am the BEST dog at holding still while bracing a person to help them sit or stand; I can operate a light switch with my nose and a door button with my paw; I can find and alert a person, and I am learning to alert to a timer.

Unfortunately, I have also been having some problems with what the humans call “allergies.” All I know is that my paws and eyes and ears itch so much I want to just chew them right off! I had to take a LOT of shots (I was very brave) (well, the snacks helped), and the itching didn’t bother me much this winter. But then a couple of weeks ago the trees… ah… ahh… ahhhh… CHOOO… the trees started dropping things and now my eyes are all red again and I keep shaking my head to make my ears stop itching. How am I supposed to think about retrieving and stuff when… wait… can I just rub my ears on the rug for a second… what was I saying? Well, sometimes I take some more medicine and it really helps with the itching but then I get sooooo sleepy. Too sleepy for myself.

Anyway, I got some disappointing news this week. I will have to keep taking the shots FOREVER and even then I will still probably have allergies sometimes and have to take the sleepy medicine. So Jennifer told me that I can’t be a partner with a veteran because it’s not fair for them to have to take care of me when I’m supposed to be taking care of them. I was not too happy to hear that ’cause I’ve been working really hard!

But then I got some better news. I am still going to be a Hero Dog! I am going to be the official Hero Dogs Ambassador. I will have many important jobs at Hero Dogs – attending events, giving demonstrations, teaching the new puppies some manners, going on home visits for volunteer puppy raiser/sitter approvals, doing needs assessment interviews with veteran applicants to the program, and assisting in the client training as the “practice dog” when the veterans come for pre-training before they are matched with their own dog. I guess I am actually going to be BUSIER than I was before! But if I don’t feel good, it won’t matter too much if I have to stay home sometimes.

Most of the time I am going stay with my puppy raisers, Shannon and Jim, the kids, ZORA, and Hammie. Who is Hammie, you ask? Can you believe Shannon and Jim went out and got a PUPPY when I left???? Seriously??? I will show him a thing or two, let me tell you. I’m not the puppy anymore. Sometimes I’ll stay at the kennel too when we are busy with events, when a new veteran comes for training, or when new dogs come into the kennel and need a buddy to learn the ropes and the routines.

Anyway, I just want to thank you all for your support in helping me on this journey. I know it is disappointing to find out that I won’t be a service dog for a veteran, but I will actually get to help many, many veterans over the next few years. I will have a busier and more fulfilling life than a dog could hope for, more than enough love, and still be a vital part of our mission of aiding our nation’s injured veterans.  I promise to keep my journal updated from time to time to let you know what’s going on at Hero Dogs and what I’ve been up to! 

P.S.  I can’t believe I almost forgot to ask you for a HUGE favor…because of my health issues, my puppy sponsorship fund is just about depleted.  Of course Hero Dogs, Inc. did not expect to keep me forever (I did overhear the humans talking about me in terms of the budget at Sunday’s Board Meeting).  Like I don’t have enough on my plate, now they want me to conduct my own fundraiser.  Not for Hero Dogs in general, for me Hero Dogs Theodore Roosevelt “Teddy” specifically!  

Here’s what I need…I eat twice a day and I enjoy a special treat now and then.  Both of these items are what they call “Teddy” specific.  Not sure what that means but I do like the sound of it.   I take several kinds of medicine, plus weekly allergy shots, and i have special stuff for my ears.  Oh and I do appreciate an occasional new toy now and then.  

Will you please help me by donating to the Hero Dogs  “Teddy” fund?  Thank you for your support!  Please stop by and say hi to me at the next Hero Dogs event so I can thank you in person.

Teddy really appreciates the Hero Dogs volunteers who brush him, play with him and fix his meals.  All the special treatment helps him feel better after the hard work of pulling things, alerting to sounds, and finding people and objects.  This is tough work for a young dog.  In spite of the challenges, Teddy knows that he must train really hard for the special work ahead of him. Teddy has attended many events as a Hero Dogs ambassador and always been perfectly behaved.

Teddy left his puppy raising family and moved in with Libby at the Hero Dogs facility for more advanced training. In addition to perfecting the skills he learned as a puppy, he is working on grasping and pulling, targeting, greetings, and on “leave it”. He continues to be a very affectionate dog who loves other dogs and people.

This has been one busy summer! I went on outings just about every day. Now that I am full grown and pretty reliable, Shannon and the family can take me with them every where they go. We went to stores, restaurants, meetings, parks, and anywhere those people needed to take me. I have become very good at many things while we are on our outings. I know how to pass through doors correctly, push buttons (Though I am best with my paw; my nose is not too accurate yet.), put items up on the conveyour belt, navigate around shopping carts, and put things in baskets. I still love children very much, but I have even learned to just walk by them when I am working. Shannon often rewards me – and maybe them – after I have done some work by letting me “say hello” to them before we leave.

At home, I have training every night, too. We work on things like going to my “place” no matter where in the house I start, doing fancy “heel” work, turning on lights, pulling things across the room to Shannon, opening doors, and finding specific items like the “phone.” I am amazingly good at getting things Shannon asks for around the house. I do low lights pretty well, and I am still working on lights that are high up on a wall. I also LOVE to pull a rope to move things. What I do not like is heeling and “side”. I do not like to heel in specific places too much. If I am standing near Shannon and looking at her, that should be good enough, right? Well, apparently not. I have to be standing in a certain way at a certain distance, etc. etc. These humans sure are picky about what they are looking for when they say “Heel”!

Of course, my life is not all work. Zora and I spent lots of time this summer running around the yard. She taught me about squirrels. Apparently you chase them and then bark at them when they go up a tree. I do not bark. That makes no sense to me. I do understand about the chase part, though. What fun! I even caught a baby squirrel one time, but I did not hurt it and Shannon made me stay while she let it run away. I stayed so well that she gave me some duck treats… my absolute favorite. Then it was back to running around with Zora.

Inside, the family lets me participate in all of their fun. On Jim’s birthday, I stood right next to him with Zora while he opened presents. We sniffed each one to be sure it was safe and not food. When Shannon asked us if we wanted presents, too, we looked at each other with a thought of, “Is that a silly question or what? We always wants presents that are chew toys!” In my capacity as house dog, I play many roles. You can see here that I make an excellent dawg for a young cowpoke.

One week, I played the part of “role model” to a dog named Sherman that the family fostered before he found his forever home. You can tell what a good job of “role model” I played for Sherman. He jumped up on the couch to sleep and I followed him right up there. I cannot read, so in the puppy raiser manual where it says “Do not allow your Hero Dog on the couch,” well, I can’t read that. Instead, I decided to be near my friend to make him feel safe. Shannon made me get off after this picture.

Sigh. Speaking of sighing, man was July hot! One thing I do in the house on hot days is sleep. On this particular hot day, I came in to get a drink from my bowl and I was so tired that I feel asleep with my head still on it.

You try having all this fur when it is over one hundred degrees! This position at least let me rest and drink easily. When I am feeling a little peppier, I will play hide and seek, too. The kids have so much fun calling out, “Where’s Teddy?” and then finding me with giggles. This little tent is just the perfect sized place for me to hide!

Now that summer is winding down, I am getting ready to move on for my big boy training. We’ll keep you posted!

This month, Shannon started taking me on longer outings. Before, I was so young that long outings would tire me out too much. I just wanted to fall asleep, which could lead to me forgetting to behave. No more! I am ten months old and I can work for hours at a time. Well, sort of. I am still a little bit of a puppy. With spring in the air, I do like my play time outside. I run with my best friend Zora, play fetch with Shannon and play soccer with the kids. I even have my own doggy soccer ball. I play sweep. I am pretty good at keeping the ball from getting too close to the net. It helps to have four feet to use plus a mouth to pick up the ball if it starts to get away. That rule about not using your hands doesn’t really bother me at all.

Anyway, now that I am bigger, I can go on full length shopping trips, run a whole morning of errands and go to meetings with Shannon. We go to a meeting about once a week. Our meetings require us to drive for a while. Then, we have to maneuver very carefully together through some heavy traffic. I have to keep a close eye on Shannon and follow her directions to stay safe. I am pretty good at this, except every once in a while when we pass by a city light post. Do you know how much I learn by smelling a city light post? I can tell you about every dog in the neighborhood! I can usually remember to ignore these things, but sometimes Shannon still has to remind me to focus by putting a yummy treat under my nose. I smell that and forget all about that city light post!

Once we get to the building, we have to carefully navigate automatic doors, an elevator, and narrow hallways. We have to do things a certain way so that we do not end up on opposite sides of the door or tripping over each other. When we get in the meeting room, there is a lot to do while helping Shannon get settled. I have to wait while she pours some coffee and chats with people (but I have to remain in my stay – no sniffing), carry some things to the table, help her balance while she gets in her seat, and then neatly tuck myself under the table. During the meeting, Shannon drops things all the time and I have to pick them up for her. Sometimes a pen rolls down the table and I have to do “paws up” to get up there and retrieve it for her. I love to work like this. It makes me so happy to have jobs to do. I will say, though, you shouldn’t hand Shannon something and expect her to keep a hold of it. Otherwise, she’ll just drop it and then tell you to “take it” or “bring it.” I like this kind of work. You might feel differently.

Thank goodness it is still cold outside. I do like cold weather, snow, and most especially ice. In fact, Shannon and Jim have discovered that I think ice is a great treat. If I do a hard trick well or if I come at top speed when called, I often get rewarded with a piece of ice. I love it!

As you might guess since I live with children, I really like to meet children when we are on outings. Shannon or Jim have me sit on my bum and so long as I am seated, children can come say hello. My problem, however, is that when I see a child, I can sometimes forget to heel and I start leaning toward the child. Here’s the thing: kids smell like Cheerios and Goldfish and my personal favorite, Teddy Grahams. They come up to me and want kisses. I oblige and I get to lick off all the snack dust. Everyone is happy.

Shannon decided to give me a good lesson in not leaning toward snack-smelly children. Here’s another thing: I REALLY like bacon and cheese. I love these things even more than snack dust. So, Shannon took me on a trip to Annapolis. It just happened that families with young children converged on the State Capitol this month to advocate for some of their favorite programs. Shannon brought me with her to this meeting and she also brought bacon and cheese. I heeled. I mean, I really heeled. While Shannon had that bacon or cheese in her hand, I kept my eyes and body focused on her like glue. Kids with cups full of snacks passed by and I did not turn my head. We practiced going back and forth and around crowds and I was the most well-heeled dog you’ve ever seen! Shannon did stop periodically and let children come and pet me because they kept asking to pet the doggy. Pretty good deal, right? I heeled and earned that bacon and cheese. I also got to visit with tons of kids and lick snack dust. There are no pictures of me behaving so well in the State Senate building because Shannon was so busy helping me heel and making sure no one pulled my tail that she forgot to take pictures. Handler error!

Ah, January. How I love the snow! I love to run in it, jump over it, and eat the ice that forms in the evening after a sunny day melted some of that wonderful snow. Playing outside with the family is fantastic. The do make me work, though, which is okay because I like having jobs. The kids ride their sleds down the hill and then I grab the string and bring the sled back up the hill. Shannon seem thinks this is particularly wonderful as it saves her many trips down the hill! I like playing in the snow with sleds, so long as I am not on them. One time, however, I tried to bring up a disc sled by the edge of the sled. I ended up sitting on the sled while biting the side and much to my surprise I SLID DOWN THE HILL. It was an interesting sensation, yet I did not try that trick a second time. I also got to go to church for the first time this month. I did such a good job. I sat through the entire service and remained calm. Many children came up to visit me, and I held my stay position while getting some lovely pets. How nice! Then it was time for communion. Let me tell you how good I am at heeling! Shannon held my leash and had me heel the whole way up to the front of the church. I looked at her the entire time and was close by her side. Here is what is truly amazing – I did this even with a major distraction. Shannon didn’t know this until after church when Jim told her, but there was a little old lady behind Jim in line. Every time I sat because Shannon stopped in line, this sweet woman reached around Jim and scratched my back while I sat there. I did enjoy the scritches, yet not once did I turn to look at the person giving them. I kept entirely focused on Shannon because I know that she is training me to be a wellbehaved working dog.

Target, Michael’s, and the car wash today! The car wash was very interesting. All the sights, smells and sounds were new and a little stimulating. I waited patiently with Shannon and the kids watching as the car went through the wash. She let me put my front paws up so I could see what was happening through the window. Shopping in Target and Michael’s we practice sits, downs, come when called, wait, stand, fetch – everything. With everyone walking around us, some stopping to watch…I like putting on a little show. It’s not hard when you know everyone thinks you are adorable! Then I just did some chilling out at home. In the snow. Ok, don’t laugh, it was my first snow so I was excited anyway. I did some puppy scoots around the yard, nabbed a few mittens (uh oh – wasn’t supposed to do that. Note to self: do not fetch mittens while still on children’s hands. Check.) and generally acted like my ridiculous self. So then Zora-dor and I had to practice our down-stays. Sigh.

Another busy month! Since Veteran’s Day is this month, we had a lot to do. First, I was on TV!! I showed everybody how to target with my nose and my paw. I will use these skills to open and close cabinets and turn on lights and push buttons. Pretty soon! If you want to watch me, check out the second of the three videos here:

I also went to a Veteran’s Day celebration downtown. Lots of school groups came by and petted me, but since I am a professional kid-dog, I handled it with aplomb (Shannon told me to use that word; I don’t know what it means). Later this month, we went to Annapolis and met many friendly Navy people. Jim is a Navy man himself, so he knows lots of people here. They all LOVED me! Everyone wanted to meet me. When Shannon put me in my sit I stayed put almost every time. I almost caused a traffic jam when a man in a wheelchair wanted to pet me and I just snuggled right up to his legs and put my head in his lap. I swear, I oughta be on TV. Oh yeah, I was!

We also went to the post office and I stood still at the counter in front of Shannon while she bought some stamps. Then we went to puppet show! I practiced lying quietly with Shannon and the kids while they and all the other families were watching the show and laughing at the puppets! It wasn’t easy at first, but Shannon gave me lots of little pieces of chicken every time I did the right thing. It didn’t take me long to catch on to what I was supposed to do.

We went to T.J.’s preschool for a very special day. We went to each class and taught the children how to approach an unknown dog safely. I practiced by being the “unknown” dog by staying on my butt. Shannon and the teachers thought I was AMAZING. Everyone loved me. I bet I got a million scratches under my chin before we left. And I have perfected “give kiss.” Hey, politicians kiss babies, why not service dogs? Now it’s time for some well-earned rest.

Did I tell you about how I was going on vacation again? Well, I went to stay with Shannon and Jim and T.J. and Gabby and Zora-labradora. I loved it. I love having kids of my own. Sometimes Gabby pretends she is the doctor and I have to get a check-up and bandages and my temperature taken. Most dogs hate going to the doctor. I love it! I am the perfect patient. And they loved me too! They loved me so much that I am staying!! I cannot believe my luck. They wanted to raise a puppy but didn’t want a baby puppy because, let’s face it, a 2-year old and a puppy can be a tough combination. But not when I am the puppy! I will miss Laurie and everything but now I have my very own kids!!

Today Shannon and the kids took me to a fall festival at the Agricultural History Farm Park. We meet many new people and Shannon made sure I sat every time I met someone new before they could pet me and give me some chicken. I’m getting it now! There were a lot of pesky leaves blowing around though. I tried to catch as many as I could. I am supposed to practice my retrieving, you know.

Went to Puppy Kindergarten this evening and it was AWESOME! I showed Shannon everything Laurie has been teaching me: sit, down, and look at me when she says my name. I love doing whatever I’m asked to in class because when I do it right I get a yummy stinky treat. And people say these classes are hard. Not for smart puppies like me!